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[thanstoiccage]

Tumblr kept breaking when I tried to reply to the ask about this since the post is too long, so answering this here finally:

A non-comprehensive list of misc things I’d change in HoO, since apparently people wanted me to elaborate further (Re: [This post]). Semi-off the top of my head since I don’t feel like re-reading all of HoO with notations right now. Also this will be followed up by a Things I Would Change About TOA post as well at some point, since that was also requested and kept breaking, but my brain is exhausted from getting this post set up so that will wait. I will link it [here] when I complete it.

Going under a read-more cause it’s very long. Literally Tumblr crashed like three times while I was trying to answer the original ask:

Keep reading

[thanstoiccage]

It’s confirmed with that Alexander Lightwood and Zachary Carstairs are the one who pass on their family lines, and there’s a chance that the Fairchild babies might pass on the Fairchild line. Zachary makes sense as an ancestor of the Carstairs but the choice to make babies the ancestor of two important families is a weak one. Christopher had a weakly written death and not handled well. If Alexander had been the one that Tatiana killed when she had kidnapped him instead would it have been more tragic? Or too much like Max’s death? It would be very dark. Alexander doesn’t even have to be killed off for Christopher to be the ancestor of the Lightwoods. I’d love to know other people’s thoughts!

[thanstoiccage]

Does anyone know where the hc of Grace being asexual came from? HCs are fun but I wondered if there were examples in the books for Grace. know when Christopher was asked who he liked he didn’t really answer. Is there a line like that in the books for Grace?

[thanstoiccage]

TLH questions

wookiezn said:Hi, Cassie. Can you tell me anything about Thomas Lightwood? It really can be anything… I just want to know more about him.

When the Last Hours begins, Thomas has recently returned from Spain, where his dad Gideon sent him because he feels Spain improves people. ;) In Spain Thomas gets a tattoo all his friends tease him about. You’ll all see what it is. Also, he and Lucie often sparred together, since for years they were by far the smallest kids (though no longer…). Each knows and admires how the other fights.

xserapherondalex said:Hi, Cassie! Hope everything’s going well. I was wondering if there’s a chance that you can tell us more about Matthew and his dog?

James found a puppy in the streets and gave it to Matthew for his birthday because it was the best present James could think of. Matthew’s dog is named for his favorite writer, and he loves Matthew so much that he is almost absurdly obedient.

nandawrites said:

Hi, Cassie, thank you so much for writing all these amazing stories and always being so awesome and strong and taking the time to answer our questions, I really admire you! I was talking to a friend and we were wondering if Woolsey will appear in TLH, like Camille? We think it would be really fun to see him interact with Matthew since they are both aesthetes. Even if he isn’t, do you think they would get along if they ever met in spite of Woolsey not caring much for nephilim? Thank you!

Woolsey does appear in TLH, though his appearance is actually a little bittersweet, because it has to do with Magnus, and Magnus hasn’t aged at all while Woolsey has aged twenty-odd years. It’s a hard thing for Woolsey to deal with, especially as Magnus is dating someone else in TLH … Well, maybe Matthew can cheer a werewolf up with a chat about aesthetics!

[thanstoiccage]

TDA&TLH

evensfive said: How will QoAAD connect to TLH? I recall reading that parts of it were intended to overlap, however, with the release date for TLH pushed back, has that changed?

The schedule change doesn’t affect the books so much as it will affect the reading experience. While I do like to interweave two series at a time, I always have to write books with the idea that most people won’t read them in publication order, so I do have to keep the major plots of the two series separate. No book is an island; mine tend to be more like archipelagos. The TDA books need to be able to be read without any knowledge of the TLH, and vice versa. There are a few scenes in TLH 1 that I’m sad people won’t get to read before Queen of Air and Darkness comes out, but they won’t be anything vitally important to the plot.

All that said, rest assured that the two series will still share some thematic elements, fun easter eggs, facts about Blackthorns, Cortana, etc.

[thanstoiccage]

Walker Books has acquired the UK, Australian, New Zealand and export rights to The Last Hours, a new Shadowhunters trilogy from Cassandra Clare …

  The beans are spilled! TLH, yes, stands for The Last Hours. 

The Last Hours is a new Shadowhunters series set in 1903. It deals with Will and Tessa’s children, James and Lucie Herondale, as well as Cordelia Carstairs, Charlotte and Henry’s children, Tatiana Blackthorn’s children, the Lightwood kids, and many more. 1903 is right around the time the Victorian era tips over into the Edwardian era — beautiful clothes, fabulous history and so much more that I’m excited to write about! (I’ve even been keeping a crazy Pinterest board for inspiration.)

The title is taken from the book Great Expectations, of which the series is a retelling: those of you who’ve read The Midnight Heir installment of the Bane Chronicles probably have some ideas about certain of the characters!

You have been in every line I have ever read, since I first came here, the rough common boy whose poor heart you wounded even then. You have been in every prospect I have ever seen since – on the river, on the sails of the ships, on the marshes, in the clouds, in the light, in the darkness, in the wind, in the woods, in the sea, in the streets. You have been the embodiment of every graceful fancy that my mind has ever become acquainted with. The stones of which the strongest London buildings are made, are not more real, or more impossible to be displaced by your hands, than your presence and influence have been to me, there and everywhere, and will be. Estella, to the last hours of my life, you cannot choose but remain part of my character, part of the little good in me, part of the evil. — Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

There will be three books: Chain of Thorns, Chain of Gold, and Chain of Iron — also a reference to Great Expectations.

(“Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day.” — Great Expectations)

The books will interconnect with The Dark Artifices trilogy as two separate trilogies that are also the stories of the Blackthorns, Herondales and Carstairs, much like TMI and The Infernal Devices interconnected despite taking place in different time periods and locations. The exact order of publication isn’t decided yet. Lady Midnight, the first of the Dark Artifices, will certainly be the next Shadowhunter book coming out, and I’ll keep you up to date on the publication order when it’s nailed down.

I hope you’re looking forward to reading about Jem, Tessa and Will and their immediate families and descendants as much as I am looking forward to writing about them!

[thanstoiccage]

Walker Books has acquired the UK, Australian, New Zealand and export rights to The Last Hours, a new Shadowhunters trilogy from Cassandra Clare …

  The beans are spilled! TLH, yes, stands for The Last Hours. 

The Last Hours is a new Shadowhunters series set in 1903. It deals with Will and Tessa’s children, James and Lucie Herondale, as well as Cordelia Carstairs, Charlotte and Henry’s children, Tatiana Blackthorn’s children, the Lightwood kids, and many more. 1903 is right around the time the Victorian era tips over into the Edwardian era — beautiful clothes, fabulous history and so much more that I’m excited to write about! (I’ve even been keeping a crazy Pinterest board for inspiration.)

The title is taken from the book Great Expectations, of which the series is a retelling: those of you who’ve read The Midnight Heir installment of the Bane Chronicles probably have some ideas about certain of the characters!

You have been in every line I have ever read, since I first came here, the rough common boy whose poor heart you wounded even then. You have been in every prospect I have ever seen since – on the river, on the sails of the ships, on the marshes, in the clouds, in the light, in the darkness, in the wind, in the woods, in the sea, in the streets. You have been the embodiment of every graceful fancy that my mind has ever become acquainted with. The stones of which the strongest London buildings are made, are not more real, or more impossible to be displaced by your hands, than your presence and influence have been to me, there and everywhere, and will be. Estella, to the last hours of my life, you cannot choose but remain part of my character, part of the little good in me, part of the evil. — Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

There will be three books: Chain of Thorns, Chain of Gold, and Chain of Iron — also a reference to Great Expectations.

(“Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and think how different its course would have been. Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day.” — Great Expectations)

The books will interconnect with The Dark Artifices trilogy as two separate trilogies that are also the stories of the Blackthorns, Herondales and Carstairs, much like TMI and The Infernal Devices interconnected despite taking place in different time periods and locations. The exact order of publication isn’t decided yet. Lady Midnight, the first of the Dark Artifices, will certainly be the next Shadowhunter book coming out, and I’ll keep you up to date on the publication order when it’s nailed down.

I hope you’re looking forward to reading about Jem, Tessa and Will and their immediate families and descendants as much as I am looking forward to writing about them!

[thanstoiccage]

‪Alastair Carstairs is a character I went into the book prepared to be thoroughly annoyed by and then about halfway through wanted to just give him lots of candy. Which he probably wouldn’t have appreciated. ‬

[thanstoiccage]

semi-unidentified snippet from Chain of Gold

Keeping the secrets of who might get together with who, end up with who, or even have a fling with who is important to me where it comes to TLH…so I found this bit that doesn’t give anything away after a tiny edit. ;) 

He took a deep breath, and crossed the floor of blades and constellations to the other boy’s side. He stood at the foot of the stairs, looking down.

“But of course,” he said, very softly, “your sentiments are reciprocated.”

He stooped over him, tilting his chin up. Their lips met. The other boy made a soft sound, almost like surrender, stretching under his body. He slid an arm around his neck and pulled him down onto the stairs.

[thanstoiccage]

the last hours snippet

As promised!

From where they were, they had a perfect view of James, standing straight and polite as Tatiana Blackthorn, wearing a faded fuschia dresses stained with dark spots, advanced on him, a witchlight torch in her hand.

“How dare you come here, Will Herondale,” she said, a savage tone to her voice. “What is left for you to destroy? You murdered my husband and my father —“

Lucie made a small whimpering noise. Cordelia clutched at her cold hand, squeezing it for comfort.

“That’s James.” It was Grace, dressed all in a long white nightgown with a white dressing-gown over it. White slippers covered her feet and her blonde hair was loose, falling over her shoulders. “It isn’t Mr. Herondale, Mama. It’s his son.”

[thanstoiccage]

tlh snippet

A Jordelia bit, by request…I had to search a great deal to find something unspoilery!

James and Matthew separated, Matthew to dance with Lucie, and James to speak to his parents. Cordelia saw them glance over toward her and looked away quickly; still, she was not at all surprised when James appeared a moment later in front of her, flashing a smile at his aunt and uncle.

“Miss Carstairs,” he said, with a slight bow in Cordelia’s direction. “Would you favor me with this dance?”

“It’s a waltz,” said Cordelia’s mother, before Cordelia could speak. “My daughter does not know how to waltz.”

Cordelia bit her lip. She certainly knew how to dance: her mother had engaged an expert instructor to teach her the quadrille and the lancer, the stately minuet and the cotilion. But the waltz was a seductive dance, one where you could feel your partner’s body against yours, scandalous when it had first become popular.

She very much wanted to waltz with James.

[thanstoiccage]

TLH snippet — the Beautiful Cordelia

Snippet from TLH 1:

Cordelia glanced over her shoulder. “Is it — I mean, I wish to chat alone with you, too, but are we being dreadfully rude asking your brother to walk behind us?”

“Not a bit,” Lucie assured her. “Look at him. He’s quite distracted, reading.”

And he was. James had a book out and was calmly reading while he walked. Though he seemed entirely caught up in whatever he was perusing, he nevertheless skirted oncoming passers-by, the occasional rock or fallen branch, and once even a small boy holding a hoop, with admirable grace. Cordelia suspected that if she had tried such a stunt, she would have crashed into a tree.

“You’re so lucky,” Cordelia said, wistfully, still looking over her shoulder at James.

“Goodness me, why?” Lucie looked at her with wide eyes. Where James’ eyes were amber, Lucie’s were a pretty pale blue, a shade lighter than her father’s. The famous dark blue Herondale eyes had gone to Will’s sister’s children.

Cordelia’s head snapped back around. “Oh, because —“ Because you get to spend time with James every day? She doubted Lucie thought that was any special gift; one didn’t, when it was one’s family. “He’s such a good older brother. If I’d asked Alastair to walk ten paces behind me in a park he would have made sure to stick by my side the entire time just to be annoying.”

“Pfft!” Lucie exhaled. “Of course I adore Jamie but he’s been dreadful lately, ever since he fell in love.”

She might as well have dropped an incendiary device on Cordelia’s head. Everything seemed to fly apart around her. “He’s what?”

“Fallen in love,” Lucie repeated, with the look of someone enjoying imparting a bit of gossip. “Oh, he won’t say with who, of course, because it’s Jamie and he never tells us anything. But Father’s diagnosed him and he says it’s definitely love.”

“You make it sound like consumption.” Cordelia’s head was whirling with dismay. James in love? With who? The look he had given her when she stepped down from the carriage, perhaps she had imagined that?

“Well, it is a bit, isn’t it? He gets all pale and moody and stares off out of windows like Keats.”

“Did Keats stare out of windows? I don’t recall hearing that.”

Lucie plowed on, undeterred by the question of whether England’s foremost romantic poet did or did not stare out of windows. “He won’t say anything to anyone but Matthew, and Matthew is a tomb where James is concerned. I heard a bit of their conversation once by accident, though —“

“Accident?” Cordelia raised an eyebrow.

“I may have been hiding beneath a table,” said Lucie, with dignity. “But it was only because I had lost an earring and was looking for it.”

Cordelia suppressed a smile. “Go on.”

“He is definitely in love, and Matthew definitely thinks he is being foolish. He does not like her.“

[thanstoiccage]

q&a the great matthew and lucie question spree

I’ve a lot of these, so … spoilers below!

cbyc111 said:  I had a feeling Matthew has a crush on Lucie, how does Lucie feel about Matthew? Does she thinks of him as maybe more than a friend? That’s a tricky question you ask about Lucie! What does Lucie think of Matthew in Cast Long Shadows, when he’s the adored best friend of her much-loved big brother, who is always happy and carefree and compliments her? Or what does Lucie think of Matthew in The Last Hours, when he’s still sweet and seems carefree, but is much more distant emotionally, pulls back from her touch sometimes, and is drinking up a storm? She thinks differently about him at different times. Lucie is a writer, and she notices things about people. She certainly loves Matthew, and she’s certainly worried about him. ainsleyhavencox76 said: Hi Cassie, I Love you’re writing! I have a question about Matthew and Lucies relationship. I have sensed some things in CLS and have been nit picking in some other asks and I think I have substantial evidence that. There could be something there. Am I delusional? If not, please elaborate.

If you’re asking if Matthew has a crush, well, we’ll see! Matthew does think Lucie is very pretty, and he wants to be more intimate with her–wants to be someone who she would consider worthy of reading her book, or telling her secrets to. But since he doesn’t feel like he can tell anyone his secret, advancing intimacy is almost impossible.

xserapherondalex said: Matthew seems a little bit conflicted about his feelings towards Lucie. Has it always been that way or did something triggered that?

Matthew feels very conflicted about all of his feelings for those he loves, after the end of Cast Long Shadows! His natural inclination to try and keep those he loves safe has now twisted, since he hurt someone he loves so badly, into a desire to keep those he loves safe *from him* lest he bring disaster upon their much beloved heads, as well as a feeling he doesn’t deserve their love and closeness–even while he hides his secret because he desperately wants to keep their love. I do think Matthew loved all the Herondales, very much from the start, and arrived in the Herondale household immediately after Nothing But Shadows as a golden whirlwind who insisted on taking them all to his heart. And certainly Lucie has always had a special place in his heart, and he wants to be closer to her–but now he feels he could never deserve to be.

cordeliafairchild said: Hey Cassie! CLS is amazing so far, tlh couldnt come faster, im in love with all the characters. Is there any hope for matthew and lucie? Theyre adorable

Now you know I cannot give spoilers, but I’m so excited you’re excited for TLH and it makes me really happy to see people taking my new characters to their hearts! Lucie and Matthew definitely do have an interesting relationship! They’re one of the tangled connections in TLH, which I hope will bring everybody joy and pain… and pain… and joy.  

fair-but-wilde-child said: Also, though this is not a question, I must inform you: I am the world’s #1 Fairondale (what I call Matthew x Lucie) shipper.

Have a snippet to interpret as you will.

A coat settled on Lucie’s shoulders, bottle green superfine and warm from the heat of Matthew’s body, smelling of expensive cologne. Lucie glanced up to see Matthew’s face above hers, limned by sunlight and the gold of his hair, serious for once as he carefully buttoned the coat closed. His hands were usually swift and bright with rings, flying through the air when he talked or to the curving hilt of his rapier when he fought, but now they were moving with great deliberation over such a small task. She heard him draw in a slow breath.

[thanstoiccage]

q&a quick questions, quick answers

blackstairs1234 said: Hi Cassie! I have a VERY important question… Will Emma and Julian have sex in a proper place… like a bed?

Why so judgmental about walls? :)  But yes.

partytillwedie2 said: Is there a chance we will find out more about Catarina’s fiance or something new about her life in GOTSM? You will definitely find out more about Catarina and her history in A Deeper Love.

iris1108 said: Hi! I love the friendship between Christina and Emma and I was wondering what did they eat when Julian was in England with his family? I have the feeling Emma isn’t a great cook haha so did Christina all the cooking or did they get pizza every night? :) They are great friends! Fortunately there’s great food in LA. I like to imagine them getting hot dogs at Pink’s, Cuban food at Versailles, ice cream at Coolhaus and Sweet Rose, burritos at Poquito Mas, burgers at In-and-Out, fried seafood at Neptune’s Net …I based a lot of Emma and Cristina on my own memories of me and my best friend growing up in LA, so I imagine they drove around a lot, listening to music and drinking Ice Blendeds from Coffee Bean.

sweetestheavencanmake said: Hi Cassie! Are we going to see Jesse in any of the stories from Ghosts of the Shadow Market? Alas, no! You’ll realize why in TLH.

bluealba said: Hey Cassie will we know what color Alastair’s hair really is in TLH? It’s black. :) Does he undye it? We’ll have to wait and see.

sweetestheavencanmake said: Will we see a lot of Henry in TLH? It doesn’t seem like he goes out much. Henry does indeed go out, though being an inventor, he likes to be at home in his laboratory. Like all the adult characters in TLH, you won’t see a lot of them specifically, because the main characters are the younger generation. You will see them, though!

mundanekamilia said: I know the question is not relevant to the latest story, but when will the graphic novel be published and will we have more graphic novels in the future? How about a 10th-anniversary edition of City of Ashes? The first graphic novel has already been published. Cassandra Jean is hard at work on the second! I don’t believe my publisher plans to do a 10th-anniversary edition of City of Ashes but it’s likely they’ll do one for Clockwork Angel.

queenlilychen said: Hi again Cassie!! I have a question sort of about James. In The Midnight Heir, Magnus kept noticing a silver bracelet on James’ wrist. In Cast Long Shadows, Matthew notes several times that James was fiddling with something under his shirt cuff. Is it the same bracelet? And is it related to Grace? It is the same bracelet, and it was a love-gift to James from Grace. Well spotted!

havisha1212 said: So, my question is I though that Tessa lived with Magnus after will died. How is she with Catarina gotsm then?

Tessa did live with Magnus after Will died! Magnus, our sweetie, has a habit of taking in people who are in need. He took in Raphael when he was in trouble, and Jace when he was in trouble too. But Tessa, like Raphael and Jace, didn’t come to live with Magnus forever! Magnus and Alec would be running a commune at this point. Tessa stayed with Magnus in the time of her deepest grief and direst need, and the fact she could stay with Magnus–learn to be a Downworlder, and be with someone who loved Will too, and who knew the lonely pain of immortality–is an experience that bonded Tessa and Magnus forever and which they will never forget. But Tessa had to re-enter the world, and learn how to live in it. Tessa has lived in the mundane world before, for the first part of her life, and she wants to integrate more into Downworlder and mundane society, and a time of dire need for the whole world is upon them, with the Blitz. Even though Tessa is wrecked by Will’s death, as London itself was devastated by war, she has to find a way to go on. How better than by helping people in a meaningful way by working with (though she is not living with) Catarina, a Downworlder, Magnus’s great friend, and someone who is dedicated to helping mundanes herself?

[thanstoiccage]

q&a prejudice and Shadowhunters

nevergonnagiveyouuporletyoudown said: Hi Ms. Clare! I was just curious as to why the kids at the Academy were mean to Alastair. Shouldn’t Shadowhunters be less racist? They travel and see people of all different backgrounds, and if Idris is a center for Shadowhunters then shouldn’t there be people of color there too? They have to work together so why wouldn’t they accept each other?

katy-krazy-xoxo said: Hi Cassie! I want to ask about Alastair and Jem. Alastair was treated poorly in the Shadowhunter Academy due to his Persian heritage. So how was that Jem, with his Chinese heritage, wasn’t being discriminated against in TID?

galbinuscarnation said: I was wondering, why was Alistair made fun of for being of Persian descent? I was under the impression that he was a Shadowhunter first, although as we’ve seen many Shadowhunters adopt their local customs from whence they came. It could be a product of the times, or maybe related to his parents, but I have been wondering this for quite a while. Thank you!

I see this question is on people’s minds! Yes, Jem’s experience was different than Alastair’s — because there is no one monolithic experience for people of color in any situation, and we’re talking about an entire spectrum of behavior. Shadowhunters are generally less racist than mundanes, because their prejudice against mundanes and Downworlders trumps their prejudice against other Shadowhunters. They’re already banded into a subgroup — Shadowhunters — by which they identify themselves. That doesn’t mean there’s never any prejudice within the subgroup: that’s sadly not usually how these things work. 

As we’ve seen, Idris is indeed full of people from all over the world, but so is New York, and that hasn’t erased racism from existing there. And while being a Shadowhunter is the most important thing to them–the first, essential thing–it isn’t the only thing. Since we’re looking at 1903 — Shadowhunter society would have involved somewhat less of the systemic and structural racism of the time, because racism wasn’t encoded into their Laws the way it was into the laws of the US and England: what we see is more of a pattern of microaggressions and offensive assumptions and beliefs. 

To look at another issue: Shadowhunters in 1903 were also generally less sexist than mundanes — women had a vote in the Council in 1878 when they didn’t have a vote in mundane government. But that doesn’t mean they’re not sexist at all. 

“I never meant to hurt Charlotte.”

“Charlotte is very sensitive about the way the Institute is run. As a woman, she must fight to be heard, and even then her decisions are second-guessed. You heard Benedict Lightwood at the Enclave meeting. She feels she has no freedom to make a mistake.” — Clockwork Angel

Shadowhunter society is folded into ours, never entirely independent of ours–though invisible to us, they walk among us, and are necessarily influenced by our world. Portals are a new invention in TID, and still recent in TLH, and so before that it was easier for Shadowhunters–as it was for everybody in the past–to think of the world as just the people immediately around them, who often looked and acted like them, because travel and seeing different places and people was immeasurably more difficult. (In part, the whole idea of the “travel year” was meant to ameliorate that, and we can see that in some cases it did help, but it wasn’t enough on its own!) 

Moreover, Shadowhunter Academy, as we saw in 1899, was populated overwhelmingly by white boys–who were also presumed to be straight–being brought up in what was thought of as Shadowhunter Tradition, capital letters. The Victorian Era was a time of travel and an expanded world, but also a time when the British Empire —which stretched over vast portions of the globe — uplifted white men as the default, the natural ones to have power, and the Clave is influenced by that as they are always influenced by the bleed of mundane culture into theirs. Boys at the Academy make connections that turn into them being comrades with political influence later in life, in the same way old boys’ networks of politicians exist now. Josiah Wayland, Consul during TID, was a white guy. and Victor Whitelaw, Inquisitor during TID, was a white guy–and that wasn’t an accident. Inquisitor Bridgestock in TLH is a white guy, and very powerful because conservative Shadowhunters are edging away from their female Consul, and that isn’t an accident either. There are people of color, there are women of color, who would’ve been amazing Consuls and Inquisitors in the 1870s, but they didn’t get the chance. Women were rarely sent to the Academy; we know this from Nothing But Shadows. Charlotte was the first female Consul, and she didn’t have an easy time of it: women in the next generation were still less likely to be warriors or politicians. Most, though not all, of the Consuls have been white. Also, PoC Shadowhunters just weren’t sent to the Academy as often, because the Shadowhunters are aware of how the world works and the parents of those children didn’t want to do that to their kids. James with his Downworlder heritage went because he wanted to go, because he wanted to find friends his own age (which he did) and look how that turned out. 

Racism is varied in different times and places and situations, and all circumstances and experiences or racism are not monolithic. I think it’s fairly clear that Alastair attended the Academy at a time when there was a pretty rotten bunch of kids in his class. That sucks. It happens, in real life and in fiction: in the Narnia series, one brother (Edmund) has a horrible character-altering time of it at school, and his older brother Peter is just fine. Alastair was sent by his father Elias, who is white, and thus being white was able to tell himself that racism doesn’t exist among Shadowhunters, that there are no microaggressions (I mean, none of them would know that word, but microaggressions still exist in TLH: we see Mrs Bridgestock call Alastair “that Persian boy” and Mrs Bridgestock, who loves her PoC daughter, thinks of herself as just describing Alastair, but Alastair and Cordelia both know what’s up, and react accordingly.). Elias had the privilege of not really thinking about it. Alastair paid the price. 

Jem didn’t go to Shadowhunter Academy–neither he nor Will ever went, and neither of them knew what the Academy was like: Jem lived in London with the very accepting Charlotte and Henry. And Jem was the son of two well-respected Shadowhunters who died hero’s deaths, and so he got some slack. Alastair, the son of a suspected murderess and a disgraced and despised Shadowhunter (we’ll see what’s up with Elias in TLH!), does not. These things are never simple! But Jem did have to deal with racism. Benedict Lightwood and Tatiana and–I’m sorry to say–Gideon and Gabriel’s attitude to Jem is definitely informed by racism. Will has behaved badly to the Lightwoods (for understandable curse reasons) but Jem has done nothing to them, and Gabriel definitely prefers Jem to Will, but Gabriel isn’t exactly a peach to Jem either. In Clockwork Angel Gabriel references Jem’s “disability”—which Will understandably takes extreme issue with!–and equates Jem being tortured by yin fen with an opium addiction–the fact Jem is half Chinese, and that Gabriel’s mind jumped to opium addiction, is no mistake, and Will understands and is insulted on Jem’s behalf. Even though Gabriel, like Mrs Bridgestock, doesn’t intend to be racist, microaggressions are often unintentional.  

(From Wikipedia: “There was much prejudice against the East End Chinese community, with much of it initiated by the writings of Thomas Burke and Sax Rohmer. Both of these men wrote about the Chinese community. Burke and Rohmer exaggerated the Chinese community’s true size and made much mention of gambling, opium dens, and “unholy things” in the shadows.”)

I don’t say this to be down on Gabriel. Benedict raised his kids horribly, in bad harmful beliefs! They needed space to learn, and grow away from him — and they did! Gideon and Gabriel changed for the better. I don’t want to portray a perfect society, or perfect characters, but complicated ones, with complicated attitudes that can hopefully change. Jem didn’t have the same experience as Alastair; he had his own experience and both are valid. So has Magnus, and Lily, and Jia, and Aline, and Raphael, and Diego, and Cristina, and Jaime, all in their different ways. Shadowhunters are urban fantasy books, not high fantasy books: they do take place in part in our real world, and though prejudice in the Shadowhunter culture is complicated by prejudices we don’t have (Downworlder prejudice, prejudice against folks with demon blood!) they also experience the prejudices we do have. 

“They have to work together, so why wouldn’t they accept each other” is really true, but also applies to the real world. We all have to work together, so why don’t we accept each other? I wish we would. The world would be better, and work better, if we did. But we don’t. I hope someday we will.

[thanstoiccage]

tlh q&a’s

ultimateshipperofships said: Hi Cassie! I was wondering what Thomas got a tattoo of?

Hello friend! Thomas’s tattoo is one of the great mysteries of TLH! Okay, maybe not, but it is something that has emotional significance to Thomas, which tells us a good bit about him, and which he is (as someone who is diffident about showing his feelings) reluctant to show about the place. When we see it, we’ll feel like we know more about Thomas. One of the S4 happened to see it, and Matthew, James and Christopher are super entertained that shy Thomas went off and clearly had a WILD TIME in Spain, and they are always pesting him about it, while Thomas laughs but fends them off. Lucie is super curious to see the tattoo. You will find out the answer to the mystery — you’ll see it, when Thomas chooses to show it.

smochu said: Hi Cassie, i was wondering, after reading you answers about Alastair, will he and Thomas become parabatai? I know that they kind of get along, but i wanted to know if they’re close enough to make the parabatai ritual.

Alastair’s 19: he’d be considered past parabatai cutoff age! I mention it as something Thomas might have thought about in the Academy. Being parabatai isn’t just about closeness, it’s about a particular type of mutual closeness and compatibility as warrior partners. Julian and Emma, Jace and Alec, Will and Jem, have all been training together since they were young. Clary and Simon get a late start, but are plunged into the war in similar ways, and learn working off mundane things they know, plus they have the tight bond of people who have known each other since they were tiny tots. Alastair and Thomas have a much more uneven dynamic. Many Shadowhunters, when Thomas was 14 at the Academy, and still when he’s 16 in Cast Long Shadows, are a little nervy about Thomas as a Shadowhunter because he’s small and he was sickly. The death of another sickly boy, Gideon’s nephew Jesse Blackthorn, is a dark shadow over not only Gideon and Sophie, but the whole London Enclave. They were worried Thomas would die when they put Marks on him, but Thomas–like Jesse before him–insisted he wanted Marks. Thomas IS a really good fighter, but people don’t think of him that way. Alastair doesn’t think of Thomas as sickly (Thomas had grown out of that by the time they met) but Alastair is older: he thinks of Thomas as someone he’d push behind him during a fight… whereas he thinks of James or Matthew as someone he’d push in front of him during a fight, to their possible doom. And Thomas would in no way be down for being pushed behind anyone. (Or for James’ or Matthew’s doom, though I was mostly joking about that. ;)) Alastair’s going to see Thomas fight in TLH, though whether on the same side as himself or on an opposing side, you will have to wait and find out! Almost everyone Thomas knows is going to be surprised by Thomas.

lilyherondale13 said: Hello Cassie! I love Anna’s character she seems so strong and self confident! But I have one question about Charlotte; is it her who decides to marry Charles with Ariadne? (I can’t wait for EET)! Thanks Cassie!

Nope. That was Charles’ idea entirely. Ariadne’s quite a catch!

[thanstoiccage]

q&a herondales and lightwoods

dontstopstan said: Hi Cassie! I re-read the other TLH stories to prepare for CLS and confused myself about the timeline. I thought The Midnight Heir was after Nothing But Shadows, but in TMH James says he thought Ragnor only looked green to him because he’d been drinking absinthe. It’s not that he’s too drunk to remember his old teacher, since he knows who Magnus is instantly. Was he just being sarcastic, as Herondales often are, or have I got the timeline all wrong? Thanks! :) Also I’m so excited for Anna in EET!

–The Midnight Heir is indeed set after Nothing But Shadows! I know it’s a little confusing, as the stories weren’t released in chronological order, but the timeline goes like this. Nothing But Shadows is set in 1899 (James is 13), Cast Long Shadows is set in 1901 (James is 15), and The Midnight Heir is set in 1903, during the first TLH book (James is 17).

James is being sarcastic because he’s a sarcastic person, yes. ;) He is indeed a Herondale, and uses his rapier wit to hide his inner pain, but also I hope his own person, and complex as people are. He’s grown up in a bubble of love, but also cut off from other people because of the Shadowhunters’ suspicion of his demonic heritage, and that, a big secret he has, plus his nature means he’s very private. His friends agree in Nothing But Shadows, when he’s 13, that he doesn’t come off as shy at all: he comes off as cold and aloof, and kind of terrifying–this is far more the case when he’s 17, an adult among the Shadowhunters, and the first warrior among them with demonic blood and powers that frighten everybody. James tries to be a good person and a good Shadowhunter. But he’s also a reserved person, a keen reader, secretive about his feelings and when he’s upset, his instinct is to isolate himself, and throw up protective walls of ice.

In The Midnight Heir James is much, much drunker than Magnus thinks, and Magnus thinks he’s pretty drunk! And James is absolutely distraught, not because of his general situation or his love life (though neither can be described as going well), but because of something absolutely horrible and very specific that happened to him that day. Something that neither Will nor Tessa know about, and something that threatens James’s entire future and his sense of self, and puts him apart from everything he loves and holds sacred. As James says in the Midnight Heir, “My father was cursed… I’m damned.”

emmajen01 said: Since Tatiana seems to still have resentment against her brothers, what does she feels about Gideon’s and Gabriel’s children, her nephews and nieces? What she thinks of them marrying Sophie and Cecily?

Tatiana is disgusted that Gabriel married Cecily, Will’s sister. She wouldn’t have cared particularly about Gideon marrying an Ascended Shadowhunter, Sophie, though the Lightwood family as a whole would’ve regarded it as a mesalliance. (The Lightwood family used to be super well-regarded, rich and respected, and all the Lightwoods would have been expected to make alliances with other important families. Tatiana did!)

What Tatiana hates is really the whole circle–the entire London Enclave, and their interconnected lives and loves. Anna and her marked resemblance to Will, Christopher and Thomas and their ferocious bond with James, the fact Gideon and Sophie’s sickly child (Thomas) got better when her child Jesse did not, the fact all of them get to be happy. They’re a pack of people she hates, and she thinks of Will and the others as having co-opted What She Was Owed. It’s her own bitterness cutting her off, but she still feels cut off and deeply resentful.  

archerondale said: Hi, Cassie! I was just wondering- Where were Lucie, Cordelia and Matthew during the events of Midnight Heir?

They’re around! They’re in their homes. None of them know James has gone on a wild tear until the next morning, when James is in enormous trouble. James usually does go to his parabatai in times of trouble, that–to use Matthew’s words–they might share a manly embrace. James, in fact, usually has a healthier response than Matthew does to being in trouble–despite being more naturally reserved than Matthew, he does go to him, while Matthew doesn’t go to James because he doesn’t feel worthy of comfort. This is the first time James feels that way, too: and James wouldn’t go to Lucie–he thinks of her as his little sister, to be loved and protected, and any trouble arising from his demonic heritage he worries will reflect on her, who he thinks of as the ‘normal’ one. He wouldn’t go to Cordelia–she was a kid he used to play with and who he cares about, but who he’s still getting to know as an adult.

But the Midnight Heir is the first time he doesn’t go to Matthew. Things are therefore very serious, and very bad.  

Sad business! Ah well, here’s a manly embrace for you:

The whole way to the Fairchilds’ James had felt as if he were choking, and now he could breathe, the pressure on his chest easing. He couldn’t find words now, couldn’t do anything but clutch on to the front of Matthew’s shirt and put his head down on his shoulder.

aertmeis said:Is what happened to Alastair and Cordelias father really so bad that they’re all judged by it? And does it somehow connect to or affect the plot of TLH? Thank you so much for writing these awesome books <33

–Yes, what has happened with Alastair and Cordelia’s father is truly awful, and it is a small but significant part of the plot–it will influence Cordelia and Alastair’s future, their fears, their personalities, and their actions. Remember the story of The Lost Herondale: because Tobias Herondale fled in what was seen as cowardice, his wife and unborn child were sentenced to death. What Elias Carstairs is accused of is much worse. And much worse things could be happening to the Carstairs family, except that Will, Jem and Charles have interceded for Elias and the others. Cordelia’s terrified for her father, and hoping Brother Zachariah will help her. Alastair and Sona are terrified that their whole family is going to go down with Elias, and they’re looking to get Cordelia married off as soon as possible… to someone suitable, of course.