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akisekurahara · 1 year ago

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I still have some questions about Belial:

1) How did Belial make Tessa with his curse?

2) Was Belial's debt to Jem originally planned as something other than passing on a message?

3) Why would Belial give powers to James and esp Lucie when they could use them against him (and in the latter's case, he didn't care about her)? I just still can't understand why they would be taken away with his death or why he'd intentionally bother with that.

Thank you in advance!

Okay! I would say strap in for some boring technical the-nature-of-fantasy-writing stuff.

How did Belial make Tessa with his curse?

We already know Belial can, in fact, walk on the earth if he possesses someone. In the case of possessing an ordinary human, the body falls apart quickly. If he possesses a demon it lasts longer, and he could wander about for a while as a demon if he liked, he's just not interested. He's obsessed with the idea of being on the earth in a human body: i.e. James. Anyway, he possessed the Eidolon demon that took the form of Richard Gray, Tessa's father.

2) Was Belial's debt to Jem originally planned as something other than passing on a message?

It took me a while to try to understand this question, and I'm still not totally sure I do. I thought it was a question about what the favor was, but I think it's "Did you ever plan for Belial to owe Jem for some other reason?" To which the answer is no. It was always planned to hinge on the deal that is made re: the Herondales. While Jem frames it as "passing on a message" that is in fact, not what the favor was.

These seem like two different questions, so for the first one: Belial didn't give powers to James and Lucie in the way you seem to be framing it. He gave a specific power to Grace, which is why Grace, you know, remembers that happening. James and Lucie just have powers because they are related to Belial. Same reason Tessa has her power. Belial had no idea what the specifics of all his mortal descendants would be—how could he? Shadowhunter/demon hybrids had never existed before. He may have thought they might have powers of some sort, but he did not handcraft them and send them to James and Lucie for Demon Christmas. :-)

As for why, I guess, Belial didn't kill them in the womb or something (assuming he could have done that) — this seems to be the question, "Why would Belial ever make a mistake or take a risk?" And the answer is, "Why wouldn't that happen?" Being a demon doesn't insulate Belial from having flaws or being in error (some might say that's the essential nature of demons.) It's a bit like asking why Satan made war on God in Paradise Lost when he was certain to lose because you know, God. Milton kind of wrote his entire epic poem to answer that question. And (Cliff Notes): the answer was pride. Pride blinded Lucifer, and if Lucifer can be blinded by pride, then Belial can also be blinded by his own flaws, specifically hubris and a misunderstanding of the nature of human beings. While Belial knew James and Lucie had powers, he never thought those powers posed a significant risk to him and he wrongly assumed he would always be more powerful than they were and easily able to turn their powers to his advantage. Jem explains Belial's error fairly plainly:

"There was also the great weakness of demons: they did not understand either love or faith. Belial had underestimated not just Cordelia, Lucie, and James, but also their friends, and what they would all do for each other."

As for why J&L's powers vanished with his death: I think there is a confusion here between two kinds of magic. Rules-based magic, and numinous magic. Rules-based magic being what it sounds like, and numinous magic being magic that has an almost mystical element that cannot be explained like a math problem but is rooted in the resonance of human experience, of myth and fairy tale. Rules-based magic needs to be explained to us in fiction. Numinous magic we understand because we're human and we know. (Jo Walton has a good essay on the two kinds of magic and the ways they work together and apart here.)

Neither is a better kind of magic in fiction than the other and most good fantasy contains both. An example: The Ring in Lord of the Rings. It has a numinous power: it exerts an evil influence, but that evil influence doesn't work in a specific, ordered way, and it works differently in different situations and on different people, often without an obvious reason why. But it makes sense, as long as you keep the essential nature of the Ring in mind. The Ring also has another power. If you put it on, you become invisible. The end. Works the same for everyone. The Ring has both numinous and rules-based powers.

If you are looking for a math-type answer to why James and Lucie's powers vanished with Belial's death, there is not one, as their powers were inherently numinous to begin with, and we already have both rules-based and numinous magic in the Shadowhunter world. In fact, we already have examples of magic coming apart when the magic-creator dies in the Shadowhunter world. When Sebastian dies, the Endarkened die with him. When Johnny Rook dies, his wards fail.

To go back to Lord of the Rings, when Sauron dies, his fortress of Barad-dûr collapses. This is not because it was architecturally unsound. It is because we understand things like Sauron's fortress to be the expression of someone's will in the world, and when they die, their will is broken.

The breaking or undoing of that will is concretized in fiction (just like all metaphor is) — so while James and Lucie couldn't have predicted that their powers would vanish with Belial's death as their situation (being a Great Demon's Shadowhunter grandchildren) is literally unprecedented, it makes sense to them that their powers would go when he went. They don't seek a rules-based explanation since 1) they already live in a world where magic sometimes disappears or collapses when the magic-creator dies and 2) they don't need one. As James says, "Not because [the gun] no longer fires at my command, though that is true—but because it only ever worked for me because of Belial, and Belial is gone."

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akisekurahara · 2 years ago

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A friend of mine is writing this fanfic and I think its very impressive, please read!! Who doesn’t want more Matthew Fairchild right?

Credits to @lemoncielart for their gorgeous Matthew fan art that I silhouetted!

Every Saint Has A Past, Every Sinner Has A Future

Read it on Ao3 or Wattpad | Spotify Playlist | Updates at least once a month

Matthew Fairchild has a problem. After 5 years of sobriety, he’s found himself in a place where he’s ready to have a real relationship and start a life. Unfortunately, as the only child who can pass on the family name, his mother is more than ready to set him up with every Shadowhunter woman in the London Enclave. Everything changes when he meets an American Shadowhunter whose talent might save a place he loves deeply and whose boisterous personality might ruin the years of walls he’s put up around his heart.

Post Chain of Thorns Matthew x OC based on the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Filled with drama, comedy, and slow burn romance xD.

Published Chapters:

Prologue: New York, 1904 Chapter 1: The Near Death of a Bachelor Chapter 2: A Secondary Set Chapter 3: Night at the Ruelle, Part I Chapter 4: Night at the Ruelle, Part II Chapter 5: The Aftermath Chapter 6: Az Men Zitst in der Heym Chapter 7: Fifty-Fifty Chapter 8: Because You Left Chapter 9: What’s In a Name?

Tagging people I know who are reading, or are interested in reading. Lmk if you want to be tagged! @soybean-official @ibrushmyteeth-donttellanyone @tess-is-reading @lemonalienlime @bankofwildflowers @justbrainrot

#fanfic #thelasthours #matthew fairchild #chainofthorns #cassandra clare

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akisekurahara · 3 years ago

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Koimonogatari 24

The wait is finally over folks! Sorry it took a while. We were all very busy and even got incapacitated by Covid at one point, and those of you who kept asking us for updates didn’t help to ease the pressure one bit, so PLEASE kindly refrain from doing it. We’ve been scanlating this work since 2019 and we don’t plan on dropping it any time soon. Apologies for the rant but they had it coming. (^^)

In any case, here’s the next chapter!

>> CHAPTER 24

As always, we urge you to support the author by buying her published works.

Here are the links on where to buy the official translated English volumes (both printed and digital versions) :

Volume 1 and Volume 2

Lastly, please do not upload this chapter anywhere else, or post any of these images on Twitter.

Tagura-sensei is active on that platform, and the last thing we want is to be waving bootlegged copies under her nose. Thanks, enjoy and have a good weekend!!

~ Utsukushiii Team ❤️

p.s. shoutout to our raw provider, @empressirridescence, and to the whole team for their generosity in both $$$ and effort to make this chapter happen.

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akisekurahara · 3 years ago

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Will it be happily ever after for Yuiji and Yamato? - Thoughts on Koimonogatari

This is a bit long, so please bear with me.

I love koimonogatari. It's my #1.

So since you know I love it very much I feel like I should be sharing more of my reading experience on this and list many reasons why it stands out, easily in that 1% of genuinely attempted works in shounen- ai genre.

(all personal opinions of course)

1. Yuiji and Yamato are well written characters free of cliches. You just love them cause they feel like the people you can meet in your own everyday life, going to school, having fun. They do normal things and care about other people around them.

2. Even the supporting characters behave nuanced and their actions are tangible unlike most mangas where characters are cardboard cutouts, n don't seem believable at all. Most of the time these one- dimensional characters are apathetic & exist in their own world with zero rational interaction with the outside world or they don't have one. Well in koimonogatari it's not so. People are behaving like normal people would do so and it's a breath of fresh air.

2. Thank God for letting girls capable of having normal friendship with a gay boy, it's only fair that assholes exist in both genders. And it's only not right portraying them as evil if they crush on your gay boy.

3. If you really notice, this is more of a coming of age story of a boy discovering his sexuality, and not primarily focused about two boys falling love. Of course love is a component that is unavoidable, but it's not the heart of this manhwa. The core is about Yamato being different, his friendship, his struggles, flaws, failures and finding love.

4. Personally I will defend and disagree with anyone saying that Yamato and Yuiju can't be in a romantic relationship.

Their dynamics are undeniably iridiscent and share a powerful connection which is irrefutable. It's clear that Yamato's is realising that his feelings for yuiji are evolving slowly but surely. Infact there are more reasons to fall for him than reasons for not to. Both of them have good supportive friends around them yet has it not been shown how they are they way they are only with each other and not with anyone else (if it made sense)

5. There are many subtle moments in the manga where they can't comprehend the connection they feel. They expose their most delicate and vulnerable side comfortably with each other, which is beautiful. Now I don't mean it's has always been romantic but the potential is sparkling everywhere. Yuiji, being always there, always understanding his pain, his conflicts, always saying the right things, always making him at ease, Yuiji being a boy, being right next to him, is it impossible for Yamato to fall in love with him, if he did ?

6. So where will the story will go ? I don't know.

I've seen people say that they wish author did something more realistic, to which I politely disagree that whether or not tagura tohru wants to make them a romantic duo or friends is totally up to the imagination of the author. I beg to differ saying that both are just possible outcomes in a realistic sense but would depend on how naturally everything unfolds without being forced.

If you're a true koi fan you will feel that inkling fear that the latter may infact happen. Since it's pacing in a realistic way it's also making the ending unpredictable.

7. And here's the main reason why I fear we may not see Yamato and Yuiji ending as a romantic duo - YUIJI! We know nothing about Yuiji so far, there is no reliable narrative from him anywhere in the manga to say he himself would be in such a relationship,( or any romantic relationship), or that he has such feelings for Yamato.

8. As much as Yuiji loves Yamato unconditionally be ready to expect that he may not reciprocate Yamato's feelings. Yes heartbreaker ! For me and Yamato. It's only understandable if the author choose this route but as I said if Yamato is going to fall in love with Yuiji it's going to be a hard fall also meaning it might become harder for them to remain friends. All these outcomes are probable (not unrealistic).

9. Another way is that Yamato may counteract quickly and stop his feelings from going any further.

Whatever the author decides I'm looking forward to it. If they do end up together it's great, again it would all depend on the way of story telling. If they don't I'll be okay with it but still heartbroken cause they would make one hell of a power couple.

Thanks for being patient 😊 and reading through.

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akisekurahara · 3 years ago

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Koimonogatari scene

Just a scenario I wrote on how I think Yuiji and Yamato would end up together. Not much development shown and by all means its just a fanfic. :)

Yuiji : Can I hug you, Yamato?

Yamato wondered what was it this time. The last time during the school festival he had almost blown his cover. It's dangerous he thought. I don't wanna risk it. He wasn't ready to lose Yuiji like he had with Mike. He would have to make up an excuse fast to get out of this situation.

Yamato : Hey, I just rem-

Before Yamato could finish, Yuiji had started hugging him. He put his arms around Yamato's neck and placed his chin in the usual spot. Comfortable and familiar he thought.

When a couple of moments had passed...

Yamato : So....what's this all about?

Silence.

Yamato : What is it, Yuiji?

Yamato's thoughts had gone to an overdrive. Whats with him? He's never been this way before. He's acting strange. This is very dangerous. He will find out if he keeps doing this. Yamato felt his heart could burst out his chest at any moment.

Yamato : (almost stammering) Hey you're starting to scare me. What's the matter?

Yuiji: I don't know. Can you just keep quiet for a sec.

Yuiji didn't know what had brought him to this. He had acted on an impulse. It wasn't like him at all. He would have an answer to everything he did usually. One must always think before they act was something he had always believed in. But when it came to Yamato he didn't know what he wanted to believe in, I don't get Yamato at all was something he had thought once. Even after several months he couldn't say he thought any differently. But what truly surprised him was himself. Do I understand myself? What am I doing? He had never hugged anyone so effortlessly and for so long. Yet it felt so natural. But was it natural to feel this way? His heart is beating so fast he thought, it is then he realized his own heart had started pacing. It was odd but familiar sensation. He had once felt this thrill with Nemoto. But this was Yamato. Yuiji had always felt himself at ease when it came to him. When did this happen? he wondered. Should we keep doing this?

After what felt like several moments...

Yuiji : Hey Yamato, remember I promised to make you feel at ease? But are you at ease right now? Why is your heart beating so fast?

Silence.

Yuiji: Yamato, it's okay, talk to-

He stopped mid way when he realized Yamato was hugging him back. He was leaning to him. It didn't feel right to talk but to listen. Listen to the words unspoken. He had always liked this about them. Yuiji let out a sigh and thought It's okay. It's okay. It's okay.

-FIN-

#koimonogatari #fanfic #scenario #yamato #こいものがたり #shounen ai #bl #hug scene #yuiji #yuiji yamato

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akisekurahara · 3 years ago

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Hey Cassie! I know TMI was a Harry Potter fanfiction and i really want to know who the characters was in Harry Potter's world. Can you tell? You inspire me so much, i'm a brazilian ficwriter and is really awesome know that you started with fanfics. Thanks, love you.

The Mortal Instruments was not a Harry Potter fanfiction.

I did write Harry Potter fanfiction, that much is absolutely true. I understand that we live in a world now where people often “file the serial numbers off” their fanfiction and publish it with the names changed. Fifty Shades of Gray is the most famous example. After is another, and so is Beautiful Bastard, and you can find people talking about planning to file off the numbers and publish everywhere now. In every case those fanfics were an AU, or alternate universe, story. Edward Cullen is a billionaire, Harry Styles is a college student, Edward Cullen is your boss. I can’t swung a cat on the Tumblers without running across someone talking about pulling their Avengers AU high school fanfiction to change the names and publish it. (“In which Loki is a hockey player and Thor is a hockey stick.”)The publication of Fifty Shades of Gray has made this common and indeed it’s worth noting I never saw this rumor about TMI before 50 Shades was released.

Anyway, I did not write an alternate universe fanfiction. I wrote a story about Harry Potter who was sixteen years old and went to Hogwarts and visited Hogsmeade and lived in Gryffindor and had all the same friends and the exact same magic system with wands and Latin spell names and thestrals and what have you. I mean some things were different — Draco was in love with Hermione, etc. — but I could not possibly have turned the fanfic into anything publishable without stripping out the magic system and replacing it, changing the location, making all the characters completely different, changing their relationships, and changing the plot, because the fanfiction story I wrote (“Let Us Defeat Voldemort, Using Wands”) would not make any sense outside the realm of the Harry Potter universe.

I can’t answer your question, because none of the characters in Mortal Instruments are based on any characters in any fanfiction I ever wrote. When I have run across this rumor I have noticed people cannot even agree on which character they think was which. Simon is often Harry because he has glasses (Simon may also be Clark Kent.). Ron is Sebastian—eeesh, Ron, how could you? (I wrote Ron as a perfectly nice guy as far as I remember, it was a long time ago, but you’d think I’d recall him being the villain.) Alec is also Harry because, dark hair. Not sure how Simon and Alec are both Harry when they are nothing like him or each other but—go with me here! Clary is Ginny because she has red hair. They have nothing in common either but, you know, hair. Tessa is Hermione because she likes books. I don’t recall Hermione liking fiction, but hey, a female-shaped person who likes book-shaped objects, pretty rare, am I right? I mean, this is a game you could play with literally any book. “Percy Jackson is Harry Potter because they have black hair and green eyes and are heroes.” It is not how books work, though.

In a post-50-Shades world there is no harm in saying “My books are rewritten fanfiction” if they are, but — they are not. Having some jokes or the same sense of humor in common in two stories doesn’t make one thing based on another thing. It just makes them written by the same person. I understand why people want to think that it is true that The Mortal Instruments was once Harry Potter fanfiction — either because it is encouraging, if you like fanfic, or because it is a handy way to dismiss the books, if you don’t. It is, however, not true. I don’t even know how you’d get a book series about demons and angels and demon-fighters and seraph blades and alternate dimensions and Downworlder politics out of a fanfic based completely in the canon of Harry Potter (circa book four) that contained none of those things. As rumors go, this one is silly and harmless. But it is also false.

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