lilisouless

[lilisouless]

took the words right out of my mouth 👏

The ones whose arc could have been good Is Wylan and Jesper (maybe diet Inej & Matthias) and even then Jesper's tarnished because the framed him as paranoid of His Powers (the show has the freaking king watching him use powers and NOTHING happens) ..so Just Wylan actually

I was one of the people who was desperately hoping that the Six of Crows Spinoff show would happen, but I can't envision a version of the show that would've been any good.

The fact that Kaz takes care of Pekka Rollins in Shadow and Bone means that his individual arc has basically ended before it ever began. His characterization during the ice court heist would've made no sense due to the fact that he has hit his final major plot beat before the buildup of his character development during the duology.

Giving Inej a brother (while it did pose some interesting possibilities for where her story should go) always felt like the show was making an effort to make her character more palatable by framing her as a caretaker/savior in order to soften the actions she takes when hunting down the slavers (there is a definite misogynistic element in there).

The Van Eck reveal would likely have been a disaster. Shadow and Bone giving Jesper an arc about not hiding himself and his abilities (another character arc that was meant to take place in SoC, rendering another one of our characters nonsensical during the heist alongside Kaz) at THIS POINT in the story feels like a clear setup to Jesper feeling betrayed by Wylan keeping this "big secret" about his name even though Jesper revealed everything about himself to him. This probably would have A) undone their relationship completely, allowing them to get together again the way they do in the books, making Season 2 wesper feel like a waste of time, B) undone their relationship partially, resulting in a bitter exes to lovers again situation that would've been a pain to watch given that Helnik already had the haters to lovers ground covered, making the entire situation feel like a waste of the audience's time, or C) been resolved way too quickly to get back to the status quo ASAP in a way that would've felt unearned and like a waste of the time spent on Jesper in SaB season 2.

The shift in the characterizations of both Matthias and Nina feels like an attempt to attach the Enemies to Lovers trope to them rather than a genuine attempt to adapt their characters. Changing Matthias from an average druskelle to a notorious one and recounting Nina's intentions behind sending Matthias to hellgate feels like they were trying to force them into the boxes of "Damaged boy who may have gone too far but needs a kindhearted woman to fix him" and "Misunderstood woman who is entirely devoted to the man and will do anything for his safety, even if it hurts him".

Overall, whatever we got from the Six of Crows Spinoff would've been a mess of mischaracterizations, jumbled up arcs, unnecessary drama, and a deeply unsatisfying resolution.

This was just me babbling, I may have gotten details wrong, but this is my general view of how it would've gone.

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[lilisouless]

top three characters i wanna see in the next SoC book (if we ever get one):

1. kuwei

2. hanne (or whatever name they’re using 🏳️‍⚧️🔥)

3. joran (druskelle that killed you-know-who)

[lilisouless]

I literally think there's no good reason to hate Inej , i once Made a tt over gv characters you can't hate and i reasoned that Matthias and Kaz have traits or storylines that can make someone uneasy and there's not a lot you can do if someone finds Jesper Nina or Wylan annoying (you can disagree but can't argue their gut reaction) but why would anyone hate Inej?

I can accept not liking her for any reason but outright hating her can only be poor literacy or misoginy

i don't trust people who hate inej ghafa

[lilisouless]

Two mf’ers who are perfectly capable of protecting themselves but would much rather protect the other

[lilisouless]

Hey, please read this, just getting this all off my chest helps a lot itself :)

I am Layla, a 17 year old student from Mussoorie currently studying at Woodstock International School. I've been inactive recently as I was busy with my A level exams and my household situation. Recently, due to my father getting unemployed (3 months ago), our family has been going through a really tough time. I in my school am on scolarship and much of my tution fee gets waived off but recently our condition has worsened and my parents are in a lot of mental stress as our school fees (me and my 2 other siblings) is a major part of our family's monthly expense. I really dont want my education to suffer with my exams going on and can't see my parents stressing about my tuition fee like this.

11,000 INR is needed, which is around 135 USD

Paypal

This is my family's account (my fathers') for all of the donations and incase this doesn't seem to work or you need some more information, please feel free to mssg me or send an ask. My email is laylaraza13@gmail.com

Sorry for making this long, but i really had to swallow my pride while making this. Please help out if you can, and again, thanks for reading. Every type of donation or reblog would really mean and matter a lot. <3

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wesper my darlings !! living together as y'all should

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Nikolai: oh, i thought you mean she Is the thing you are serving

(leaves)

[lilisouless]

The timeline of Soc is lowkey insane what do you mean Wylan and Jesper go to St Hilde just six months after Van Eck first tried to kill Wylan

[lilisouless]

So! I am a liar!

I just remembered i had Wylan hit him with a flute and i had forgotten because It was off page and he sort of got the last laught

Shame on me TWICE!

related to my post from days before

How surprised would you be if i told you Kaz actually gets very little humbling moments on what i have gathered of the fic? (taking in count i aspire to be his biggest source of roasting)

hadn't notice until the day of the post but most of my kaz bashing energy is proyected on other characters disliking him (ex: i have this joke of Alina not being able to remember his name, but he is completely unfaced by this and most is not really in front of him) and him being sort of a weirdo , which doesn't actually works against him. the few i can recall is Alina throwing a pillow at him (which doesn't affect him and actually wins the argument) getting a punch on a fight (that otherwise he completely wins) and one time Zoya payed for something against his wishes

So i am a failure, i failed the Kaz roasting cult 😔 someone remove my badge

[lilisouless]

started reading six of crows because everyone and their dog was ranting about how much of a chokehold these six delinquent teenagers have on them

i thOUGHT Y’ALL WERE KIDDING

[lilisouless]

I miss the 'six of crows' spinoff that doesn't exist

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Kaz: you are not still mad that i promised to name a kerch dish in your honor and it was sprouts? I mean you are taking another name so it would be a nice gesture to inmortalize you

Nina: no, i am definitely not mad that kerch kids will now say "yuck, Zeniks Sprouts are disgusting" thats why i invited you to the theater

(curtain opens)

"Today, we will not entertain you with one of our plays, instead we shall reunite to speak about a very serious topic..."

Kaz: whoa, you invited me to a preaching lecture instead of a play, soo evil of you

"we are talking about a terrible plague and disease:

(actors enter with a Kaz like wig)

ugly hair syndrome"

Kaz: that´s on me for not seing it coming

"Join our cause, raise your scissors against this terrible illness, for your children, for your elders, for humanity"

Kaz: how did you even financiate this?

Nina: i asked people if they wanted to mess with Kaz Brekker and said yes, i was surprise many of them did it for free

(one hour later)

Kaz as the curtain closes: neither Inej and Jesper are here with us so they must be...

(curtain opens)

Kaz: yeah, on the play, of course...is that a sinking ship?

Inej over a piece of wood: Jaques! don't let go of me! there is plenty of space on this door

Jesper with a Kaz wig: no Violet, there may be space for me on that door...but there is no space in the world for hair like mine. Promise me your hair will survive. That you won't get an undercut like mine, no matter what happens, no matter how hopeless. Promise me now, Violet, and never do that to your hair ...

(Jesper lets go as Inej cries while violin music sounds)

Wylan entering stage: 🎶YOOOOOUR hair! it´s SOOO vile and WIERD! And i know that your scalp won't, hold oooon!!

Kaz: okay i get it, you realize this play is too confusing for anyone that isn't me?

Nina: Pff, not everything is about you, Kaz. If you felt alluded it´s not my fault

Wylan: YOUUUUU´LLL STAAAAY! FOREVER THAT WAAY! Kaz you´r hair´s ugly-

Nina: well that could be anyone who knows you

Wylan: and Nina´s hair will go ooon aand OOOOOOONN!!

Kaz: if you think you annoyed me , let me tell you i am quite proud of being the inspiration behind his new record on high note

[lilisouless]

Okay update just to myself

My grandma is fine, on pain by the surgery and some side consequences (she is 83) but mostly she is healthy, alive , she even wants to drink water (she never drank water) and surprisingly came back a nicer person than he was before , my uncle even joked about it if she was swapped by another lady

Personal bs under the cut, just ignore

My grandma Is getting an operation, in theory Is nothing that can't be solved but i can't stop thinking on the alternativa and i haven't tried, i just don't understand why i haven't cried

Update: she is okay they said at least for now, maybe i didn’t cry because deep inside i knew nothing was going to happen (i did cry after posting this but relatively little)

[lilisouless]

Redraw of my first drawing in exchange for a donation to Gaza

[lilisouless]

Zoya holding a bag: you all let this on the palace and i labeled them as "embarassing sleeping items" and i seriously are concerned for some of you, anyway:

Zoya: a candy dispenser (passes it to Nina) a blanket with a wolf (passes it to Matthias) old boxers with a duckie print (passes it to Jesper) an envelope with three tooths that reads "from that asshole i punched" (passes it to Kaz), what i can only describe as the creepiest haunted doll i have ever seen (passes it to Inej) and i have no knowledge or honest interest in your personality so you get the crochet bear by default (passes it to Wylan)

"Zoya leaves"

Inej: okay...lets do it and no one judges

Jesper grabbing the blanket: give me my booboo!

Matthias grabbing the doll: she is not haunted, she is antique, goes on the dresser to scare evil spirits away

Wylan grabbing the envelope: i need this to remind me never get that violent again AND to be proud i did it

Kaz grabbing the bear: before you say anything, Krugdcifer is just a device to transport tiny bombs

Inej grabbing the boxers: they are horrible but "sighs" so comfy

Nina holding on her candy dispenser : so i am the only one that didn't subverted expectations? that´s more embarrasing than all of your things

[lilisouless]

F/f relationships in the shadowhunter world are done particularly dirty. To be fair, Cassandra Clare couldn't write a nice, non-toxic relationship to save her life, but because of how little development they're given, these relationships come across as particularly weak.

Anna. Why is she so awful to her lovers? Full disclosure, I couldn't get through the Last Hours series, so maybe she gets better. But I vividly remember her leaving a girl outside crying. In the early 1900's. I remember the mom thinking that it was a man, but still. Crazy situation to put someone in. And so cruel, especially to a girl in that time period. Couldn't that absolutely ruin someone's life and reputation back then? She's so used to being accepted and protected because of her family, she can't imagine the harm she might be doing to someone else. Or worse, she doesn't really care. That kind of fuckboy behaviour is rightfully criticized today, particularly in men, so I don't see why it should be girlbossified and excused for Anna. Particularly since her actions harm other marginalized groups, like women and queen people. Not to mention how she was with Kamala/Ari. It's not a crime to not want to come out in 1900's England, Anna.

And also Aline. Maybe this is a hot take, but I wasn't a huge fan. It was hard to pin down her personality from book to book. City of glass vs red scrolls vs dark artifices. Different each time. I like how strongly she feels about Helen (who's personality stays at least somewhat consistent). But her kissing Jace was an eyebrow raise moment. It seems like she speaks her mind without thinking, which doesn't always have to be a bad thing. But she's so abrasive. And we don't get enough time with her to endear ourselves to her other characteristics. There's a few scenes that come to mind.

The frittata scene where she yells at the kids for being mean to Helen. Now, I'm not saying they weren't awful. Objectively, they sucked there. At least Dru did. But if they reacted that badly to Helen, I don't see why they would take that from her. A virtual stranger. Also, these kids just lost their sister. Maybe some empathy. Makes sense that she would be protective of Helen, but it was a bit out of character for Dru to not give her any pushback, or even respect Aline's attitude when she's usually so defensive. It didn't make sense to me. And it would have been fine if they didn't go out of their way to paint it as a girlboss moment. And after that, she broke a vase because...why? Someone was talking when Helen was trying to? Helen's not a child. She should be able to speak for herself. And that was quite an overreaction. Imagine some guy throwing things because he wants to be heard. Imagine one of the villains doing that. How would it read? And again, being a hothead isn't irredeemable. But the book goes out of its way to paint it as something cool and badass. "Oh, I like her. Remind me to tell you about the frittata incident." No one has a problem with glass flying through a room with kids and a sick guy for no reason. I also remember at one point she's trading barbs with one of the cohort members, and she says something to the effect of "be careful, you're talking to the consul's daughter." Like, what? Being the consul's daughter shouldn't place you above anyone in any kind of heiraechy. And it's definitely not something to use to throw your weight around. If Zara said something to that effect, would we think it was cool? It's not my favorite. I feel like I don't know who Aline is outside her relationship with Helen, and that's such a disservice.

The toxicity of the two girls kind of undermine their relationships, and they weren't given enough focus to develop organically. Not when there were white, straight characters with their own self inflicted problems to worry about.

All of that shows that Clare’s focus is not really in depicting what she thinks she is depicting. Her devotees might celebrate whatever crumbs she leaves them, when they as well deserve far better and more genuine dedication regarding the representation in the series.

Oh dear, Anna. I can’t stand her either. I was disgusted at her in Chain of Iron and her treatment of Ari. Ari was humiliated and written begging Anna back. Anna doesn’t extend any sympathy or understanding for Ari’s needs and wishes in life. Anna only cares about Anna and how her own heart got broken by Ari. Ari doesn’t come from the same standing as Anna, isn’t free to behave as she wishes as Anna, but why would Anna care about any of what Ari wants? It’s so ridiculous how Ari is considered badly for being in the closet in a society that does not truly accept them as they are, and yet it is for Ari to wax poetic how great and beautiful Anna is and is basically left without dignity. Just because Clare coddles and caters to Anna in this case.

If it was the point of Anna’s character, that this behavior would stem from how sheltered and accepted she has always been and that she is completely unable to relate to or understand those who haven’t had such privilege as her, then yeah, make Anna despicable and having no empathy, but make her also own up to it and call her out. Otherwise it’s nothing, no meaning, just plain ignorance towards how you are writing your characters and the implications of it.

As to Aline and Helen, there is not much to like. I understand that. I’m not with or against either, though I like some stuff with Helen, but because their characters lack the necessary substance and are handled so poorly and carelessly by Clare, it’s difficult to have anything to latch onto. Referring to the previous points of discussion, it’s despicable enough how Clare utilizes her Sapphic characters in the earlier works (not that the newer fare better).

Before Aline is paraded around as lesbian representation, her exploring her on sexuality with Jace is used to add to the dramatics and angst for Clary and Jace’s relationship. Aline is not representation—here she is merely a vehicle to serve the main heterosexual relationship and for readers to dislike for coming between them. Considering how Clary is written very anti other girls, the intention of that whole ordeal is obviously artificially deepen Clary’s anguish and simultaneously shit on other girls for being other girls and being close with Jace when Clary can’t.

TDA and TRSoM are such night and day when it comes to Helen and Aline. I’m left with the impression that Clare herself barely knows what to do with them. But it’s also weird because TDA was published first and a version of Helen already existed there. Writing her with a completely different persona and not bridging that gap between here and there is just wild and generally bad execution.

Also comments the characters make, like that frittata incident one, is also just a device to push readers to like the characters in question. Because so-and-so thinks it’s cool, Aline must be cool then, I guess. Aline and Helen, much like many other pairs, don’t really exist outside of each other. They don’t have distinctive relationships with other characters or distinctive goals or values or thoughts because they are always written together. Clare can’t have characters intermingling without being with their romantic partner. It’s so boring and a disservice to the characters themselves.

Which (as a side note) is why I find it somewhat stupid that apparently in the up-coming short story The Time of Two featured in Better in Black, Clary and Jace track down Maryse’s brother Max. I of course don’t know how the story reasons this, and why Isabelle is not included. Alec is probably too busy being Consul. But wouldn’t it have been fun if the story was about Jace and Isabelle instead? Like people with actual ties to the person in question?

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i remember when a reader complained that the number of queer characters in TLH was not "realistic" to which cc very rightfully responded saying that if u can read about a magic world with faeries and shit why draw the line at queer characters/complain about realism in that aspect. very admirable of her but if only her allyship truly translated into her work especially wrt her sapphic characters. iirc aline and helen were the first queer girls in the books and their relationship happened almost entirely offscreen. the scene where aline kissed jace as she was confused about her sexuality (a moment which must have been quite hard and conflicting for her) was used as angst fuel for clace. they weren't even the main focus in the story where they got married. i dnf TLH but i know ari and anna did not get even a quarter of the page time spent on the james/cordelia mess. clare can put out the same lengthy forbidden love plots for her het main characters every book but giving the bi girls or the lesbians the same attention is not possible?

Credit where credit is due. And Clare made a good point, because the point of that criticism is just plain wrong and evidently distorted by heterocentric media and homophobia.

There is a clear difference between heterosexual relationships and relationships with sexual minorities. It is distinctive how different a narrative Clare constructs around queer relationships, not to mention how much attention and importance she gives them—or the lack there of rather. I think all (sexual) minority groups in the series (i.e. other than heterosexual couples) experience the same fate, but to different degrees.

It's clear to me that Clare cares more about writing about homosexual relationships than lesbian relationships. There was a little bit of progress with Anna and Ari, and I was actually surprised that The Last Hours even included explicit scenes between them. But again, it comes down to both quantity and quality, and neither of them shine with greatness.

Helen and Aline have existed somewhere in the background from the very beginning. The development of their relationship happened off-page at first as well. Clare tried to retroactively fix this in The Red Scrolls of Magic but ended up fumbling their characters completely and speed-running the relationship development to a degree it was neither believable nor satisfying.

It is easy to oppose and dismiss the point raised by that critique because there is a clear right and wrong in this matter. From words to action is another matter, and if we look at Clary as a main character who mostly just thinks about things without doing anything and is carried from one plot point to another by the others, I'm not too surprised that Clare herself operates on the same principle. It's very dishonest to claim to care while your actions reveal that representing sexual minorities, and more so Sapphic relationships than any other, is never a real point of interest and therefore not even a priority.