#JC is the eldest blood son but he's not actually the eldest and is not actually the favorite

[adhdo5]

How do you have three children including two sons and not one valid heir among them.png

[robininthelabyrinth]

CQL-verse! The characters have the same age gaps between them as their actors and actresses! Wwx and Jyl are the same age, jc is 5 years younger than them. Lxc is 3 years younger than wwx&jyl and lwj is 3 years younger than him. Nmj is two years older than wwx&jyl and nhs is 8 years younger than him and the same age as lwj. (1/2)

Meng Yao is 2 years older than nhs and jzx is 2 years older than MY. I'm leaving the Wen Sibs out of this because otherwise WN would be the same age as wwx and WQ would be 4 years younger than him. But hey! If you want to go with that, go crazy! I was thinking more of Yunmeng Sibs focus, but I will be happy with anything! (2/2)

ao3

Untamed

Nie Mingjue hated the Wen sect to the point of death and war, but he had always had trouble hating sad and gentle Wen Ning.

Wen Ning was technically his peer – there were only two years between them in age – and therefore capable of the same sorts of responsibilities and duties towards righteousness as Nie Mingjue, meaning that he ought to hate him as much as all the rest. But at the same time, Wen Ning was only part of the main branch family indirectly, a ward of Wen Ruohan; he was constantly suppressed and even tormented by Wen Chao, the eldest son of that family. If anything, it seemed almost as if he’d been brought into the family just to act as the family’s scapegoat, the inferior copy that was so hapless that he made that self-indulgent hedonist Wen Chao appear somewhat competent in contrast.

Nie Mingjue couldn’t imagine treating any of his own cousins that way.

He and Wen Chao were often compared, both being about the same age, and their young brothers were of similar age as well, both of them only fourteen; this juxtaposition made sure that every single person in the cultivation world talk of them in the same breath. Nie Mingjue always came out the better in the comparison, and Wen Xu the same for his, which in the minds of most people balanced out, but which caused Wen Chao no end of rage. He knew he couldn’t take out his anger on the talented Wen Xu and so took out on poor Wen Ning instead.

Nie Mingjue hated the Wen sect.

He did not hate Wen Ning.

Wen Ning, who should not be here.

“Please,” Wen Ning said, nearly in tears, as he threw himself down to the floor in front of Nie Mingjue. He’d burst into the room in the inn Nie Mingjue was staying at, the guards that no sect leader could do without no matter what they wanted following close behind in alarm until Nie Mingjue had waved them off with a gesture; he’d been panting so hard that he’d only just now caught his breath. “Please help this useless older brother do one good thing with his life.”

Alarmed, Nie Mingjue reached out and caught Wen Ning by the shoulders, pulling him to stand and even forgetting himself enough to reach forward with a sleeve to dab away the tears staining the other man’s face.

“What is it?” he asked, feeling anxiety curdling in his gut. He’d spoken with Wen Ning before during the discussion conferences, both when he was younger and even, in a few stolen moments, after he became sect leader; he knew Wen Ning had a steady personality, if a weak one from all the bullying he endured, and that he was not given to unnecessary hysterics. If he could tolerate Wen Chao’s endless torment with a faint smile and a don’t worry sect leader Nie once you’re used to it it’s more funny than anything else, then what could make him act like this? “What is that you need help with? I do not understand.”

Wen Ning looked tired. He always had, his health had always been poor, but now it seemed worse than ever; there were circles under his eyes, and Nie Mingjue had no idea how he’d managed to get away from the Nightless City to come find him. The town he was currently in was close to the border the Qinghe Nie shared with Qishan Wen, but it was still an effort, especially for someone like Wen Ning. He might be a member of the Wen family by name, but his freedom was significantly curtailed, and it wasn’t only because he was sickly.

“My little sister is going to be attending the lectures at the Cloud Recesses,” Wen Ning said.

“The - Lan sect lectures?” Nie Mingjue repeated blankly. It was a stupid thing to say; of course it was the Lan sect’s lectures, who else would give lectures at the Cloud Recesses? And yet, at the same time – “The Wen sect hasn’t gone to them in generations.”

“Sect Leader Wen asked A-Qing to look for something,” Wen Ning said. “I don’t know what. He talks to her more than he talks to me, when she’s treating him with acupuncture and other such things – he only wants blood relations treating him now, so she’s passing along what she can do, the doctors all say she’s talented – he told her something, I think, but I don’t know what, he doesn’t talk to me…and she doesn’t talk to me, either.”

“She’s sixteen, they’re like that,” Nie Mingjue said, trying to offer comfort, but he didn’t like the sound of that – Wen Ruohan growing reliant on the medical skills of a teenager, talking with her as if she were an adult…it didn’t speak well to the Chief Cultivator’s state of mind. “So she’s going to go spy on them?”

“She is. And maybe more. There’s – there’s something back in the Nightless City, something Sect Leader Wen is refining in order to increase his power. Whatever it is, it’s powerful and evil.” Wen Ning looked paler than usual, somehow. “It was something that was kept in a cave near our village when we were younger, once. Sect Leader Wen took it away to study, and it made something go crazy, I got hurt, and my parents – anyway, it doesn’t matter. I can’t go near it without losing my senses, so I really don’t know anything about it. But I know that Sect Leader Wen only has a piece – and the Lan sect has another.”

Lan Xichen had never mentioned such a thing, but then again, he wasn’t really old enough that Nie Mingjue would expect him to know everything about his sect – he was after all a full five years younger than Nie Mingjue, three years younger than Wen Ning; he was still only seventeen, having only just graduated from his uncle’s classes the year before. He was only very technically sect leader, in the same way Nie Mingjue had only been technically sect leader after his father’s death, although unlike Lan Xichen Nie Mingjue had fought his way to step up to the task for real early on. He himself was only barely considered an adult at the age of twenty-two; it was no surprise that in the Lan sect, which had Lan Qiren to rely on, Lan Xichen might not know it all.

Or perhaps he knew, and simply didn’t say. Each sect was entitled to its secrets.

“What are you thinking?” Nie Mingjue asked.

“I’m thinking that my sister is constantly afraid for me, even though she’s younger than me,” Wen Ning said solemnly. “I’m thinking that she will break her own principles into pieces to protect me. I’m thinking that she’ll find whatever it is, or find a hint to it, and then Wen Chao will take his forces to burn the Cloud Recesses to the ground in search of it.”

Nie Mingjue could see that.

He didn’t want to, but he could.

“My brother is attending those lectures,” he said blankly. Nie Huaisang was there right now. He could be in danger – no, he would be in danger. Nie Huaisang wasn’t a good cultivator, and at fourteen, he was just a baby. Nie Mingjue had sent Meng Yao with him, nominally as his attendant, but in fact to get the benefit of the classes himself and also bully Nie Huaisang into actually learning something – he’d brought Meng Yao into the Nie sect after Jin Zixuan, full of guilt over how his father had treated a boy only two years his junior, had sent him a letter beseeching him for help following Meng Yao’s public and humiliating rejection from Jinlin Tower – but Meng Yao was only sixteen, of age with Wen Qing; what could he really do?

Moreover, sending Wen Qing and not Wen Xu, even though Wen Xu was the same age as Nie Huaisang and Lan Wangji, indicated that Wen Ruohan didn’t want his more promising son to get involved in whatever it was that he was planning, or maybe in whatever consequences followed. If Wen Chao really were to try something violent, they couldn’t afford to have a weakness already there…

“I need to get A-Qing out of the Wen sect,” Wen Ning said, and Nie Mingjue turned to look at him in shock. “Permanently. I’ve begged her to go, but she won’t leave me, she won’t leave our family of the Dafan Wen, but she has to. Something bad is going to happen soon. I know it. I don’t mind trading my life for hers, but she has to live.”

“Is there any way you can go to the Cloud Recesses as well?” Nie Mingjue asked, his mind already racing. He’d long ago given up on helping Wen Ning because he knew the other man wouldn’t turn traitor against his family, being an upright and filial child, but if his family had reached such a depth of corruption as that, then it was only right to leave them behind. If Wen Ning was finally accepting that, maybe there was something he could do. “You’re sensitive to the – whatever it is. Right? Maybe Wen Qing can suggest bringing you around to help her find her way to it.”

“How would that help?”

“It gets you somewhere safe, while I can rescue Dafan Wen – without a threat to you or to them, your sister would have no reason to insist on staying,” Nie Mingjue said, though it wouldn’t be him, exactly, that did the rescue – he’d need a firm alibi lest Wen Ruohan use it as an excuse to start something with his Nie sect. He might have prepared for war as much as he could, but the Wen sect was still stronger; if war broke out, he needed to make sure that he had the moral high ground.

Luckily, Wei Wuxian, that walking calamity of a head disciple of Yunmeng Jiang, had of late developed the habit of wandering over to visit various other sects, including Qinghe (and Nie Mingjue in specific), at his leisure, and no one ever would think to blame him for such a strange thing as a subsidiary sect of distant Wen sect cousins disappearing.

After all, Wei Wuxian had no reason to know or care about the Dafan Wen, and everyone knew he abjured politics completely, violently and repetitively, so as to make no mistake about anyone who might otherwise see him as competition for the Jiang sect’s true heir, Jiang Cheng. The five-year gap between their ages kept them from being compared – you couldn’t expect a child, and at fifteen Jiang Cheng was still very much a child, to keep up with an adult just turned twenty like Wei Wuxian – but there had always been whispers given everything with Cangse Sanren, and Wei Wuxian had had to work very hard to put a stop to them.

Wei Wuxian’s wandering habit had started back when he’d been trying to find Jiang Yanli a new fiancée to replace the engagement he’d broken by fighting with Jin Zixuan, however shameful it was for him to fight with a boy two years his junior. It was for that that he had come to Qinghe to meet Nie Mingjue, leading to them hitting it off as friends despite Nie Mingjue expressing that he had absolutely no interest in getting married to Jiang Yanli, or indeed to any nice young lady at all; then, in turn, Nie Mingjue had brought him to the Lan sect to meet Lan Xichen. They’d gotten along as well, although the most notable outcome of that visit had been little Lan Wangji developing a crush on his elder brother’s new friend while Wei Wuxian remained blissfully oblivious. His wanderings had continued even after Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan had found their way back to each other, affianced once again through their own choice rather than their parents’.

Said parents had not yet been informed of this new situation, as they were waiting for the right time to mention it. Or perhaps more accurately, the right situation to exploit with it…

Now, Nie Mingjue thought. Now was the time. It would work perfectly.

And not just as a distraction.

“Are you sure…?”

“I am,” Nie Mingjue said. “Whatever it is, Wen Ruohan must be kept from obtaining all of the pieces; he’s already too powerful, and more power will only make him more arrogant. I’ll speak with Lan Qiren. Once I take the Dafan Wen back to the Nie sect, your sister will be able to testify to whatever it is that she was asked to search for, which will give Lan Qiren the evidence he needs to get his sect’s approval for retaliatory measures. Moreover, using Wei Wuxian to help me will force Jiang Fengmian to support me as well; there’s no way he’d ever refuse to back him to the hilt.”

“The Jin sect –”

“Will join us,” Nie Mingjue said, thinking of Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan’s yet-to-be-announced engagement. Once Jin Guangshan realized that he would be pulled into the same boat as the rest of them whether he wanted to or not, any resistance he had would crumble like a structure made of sand being beaten down by the tide. “They won’t have a choice. Is there anything else I should know?”

“There’s a child,” Wen Ning said, biting his lips. “Around the same age as your brother or my sister, or maybe the Jiang sect heir, I don’t know, around that. He helps Sect Leader Wen with whatever he’s doing.”

“A child helps him?”

Nie Mingjue didn’t like the sound of that.

“I don’t know. Some secret his family knows, I think…his surname is Xue.”

Nie Mingjue frowned.

“I don’t know much about him,” Wen Ning added. “Only that he has some history with the Yueyang Chang clan. Bad history.”

“That’s a good start,” Nie Mingjue said. He realized that he hadn’t yet released Wen Ning’s shoulders, and gave them a small squeeze before doing so. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will do everything I can to help you.”

Wen Ning looked at him with admiration in his eyes, making Nie Mingjue feel a little hot under the collar.

“Thank you, Chifeng-zun,” he murmured, and Nie Mingjue shook his head.

“Call me by name,” he said, and tried to smile. “You’ll be here a lot in the future, if all goes well.”

Nie Mingjue hated the Wen sect, but he didn’t hate gentle and sad Wen Ning.

He didn’t hate him at all.

[vrishchikawrites]

What is the difference between sect and clan aside from the fact that sects are bloodline based? Since leader of a clan is the most capable person are clans more stronger and capable than sects? And as every disciple is treated equally, are clan members more loyal to their clan than members of the sect?

Hmm, from what I can tell and what I cam using in my fics

Sect is an organization. It collects and trains disciples, pays them, provides accomodation, food, and prestige. Sorta like a school, sorta like a company?

Clans are essentially family with extended family members - cousins, aunts, uncles, distant relatives, all related by blood and probably under the same name.

Jiang Clan with clan members like JFM, YZY, JYL, JC, leads the Jiang Sect with members like WWX and the other shidi.

There are inner and out disciples. Like among the Lans, you have inner disciples that are members of the Lan clan like LWJ, LXC, LSZ, LGY. They wear the ribbon with cloud markings

Outer members wear ribbons but without cloud markings. They are not of the clan but are the members of the sect. Su She is an example of this.

Actually, you could say Su She and WWX's status are somewhat comparable. Only WWX is brilliant enough to gain significant recognization in his sect.

Since the sects are bloodline based, it isn't always the leader who is most capable. The leader is essentially the eldest son. All the time. I think MeishanYu is the only know exception.

If the eldest son isn't capable, they may choose younger sons or maybe capable daughters. But leaders aren't the most capable. They are just born into the position. This isn't a competency-based system.

As for how disciples are treated- inner clan members get more respect. LWJ and LXC partially get their fame because of their status and birthright and partially because of their skills.

WWX is equally as capable but because of his lineage, he isn't treated equally as well. I'd say there's a big difference between how bloodline descendants are treated and how outer disciples are treated. The novel specifically mentions all kids being jolly and close during the beginning bof CR arc because they are young and don't care much for formalities.

Moreover, the youths didn’t care nearly as much about background and ancestry as the older generation, so they warmed up to each other very quickly. Within the space of a few sentences, they began calling each other “brother” and speaking without regard to etiquette.

Elegance III Fanyiyi translation.

This showcases that the older generation likes to maintain a distinction of class rigidly. It is only WWX's overall brilliance that protects him from active discrimination and even then, it isn't very effective since both YZY and LQR are perfectly content to punish him or treat him unfairly without facing repercussions.

[vermillioncrown]

I know you did ZYX in other sects, but what about being directly born into the main family? How do you rate that unpleasantness? Obviously being WRH's kid is dead last because you're both on Team Evil and the losing side, but which is LEAST bad?

(like always, gonna be a stream of consciousness thing so i'll probably contradict myself multiple times)

I'm not really into writing ppl directly into the main family bc it's too easy to destroy the dynamics that made those relationships interesting (note that interesting does not mean healthy). zyx will be too close to do things without close scrutiny, and even if she's close it might not help at all in the grand scheme of things.

-

least bad will be the lans. it's basically lan wenhui, except she lives in the same house instead of a few buildings down. lqr's blood pressure is a bit higher, but he'll live. the age order is lxc, and then lwj+lwh as twins (bc i cannot see mme lan wanting another kid in a shorter interim, and it's just... lwh as baby if she's born way after lwj)

lwh looks a lot like the twin jades compared to as a cousin. when they were younger, lwh would 'persuade' lwj to let her do twinswap shenanigans, esp when he wanted to hide away or see their mom. lwj is definitely less socially stunted, but recalcitrant by choice.

lxc has to do a lot more wrangling in this situation. lwj might act out due to stubbornness, and he now is better at arguing his case w lwh egging him on. lwh, now as a direct line lan, is an unstoppable proto-jingyi. you can never be sure what lesson she takes from punishment, what she actually thinks of the rules.

(lwj is more equipped to handle someone like wwx, even if the gay crush still blindsides him. wwx is like 'oh? a worthy adversary!' and keeps trying to one-up lwj)

-

second bad... is the nie. just imagine the original answer i gave is middle child nie yunxun. nmj isn't harsh on her since she's a daughter and not expected to be the spare heir, and she's still in a position of power such that she can operate as she pleases in the sect.

know lxc pretty well since she had to tag along w nmj whenever he visited the cloud recesses or lxc visited the unclean realm. back at it again with the daai-gaaze babysitting life - she was assigned to watch over nhs and lwj whenever their da-ge's were hanging out.

-

starting to get bad: yunmeng jiang. with the mme yu and jfm situation, i don't think they'll want to have another kid after jc as long as jc is the first son in their family. thus this incarnation of zyx needs to be older than jc. let's switch up. jiang rongkun (榮坤 - luxuriant/glorious; Earth/female), the oldest of the jiang sibs. mme yu wishes she was born male to be sect heir, or soft enough for mme jin to want to tie jzx to her (mme jin took one look at her sworn sister's daughter and knew that girl would eat her son alive). jfm wishes she was born sweeter (not like his vicious-tongued, sharp-eyed wife), his daughter perpetually seems unimpressed with him and everything.

jyl is as she is in canon, except less passive because can she learn any different with a mom like that, and now an older sister like that?jrk doesn't give up on jyl, long after mme yu dismisses her softness as weakness and lack of will to cultivate, and jfm lost interest as she can't take over the sect.

jc could have a bajillion complexes (last choice for his parents, only in his position because they needed an heir, pressures near insurmountable since he now has jrk as a measuring stick since birth instead of wwx since 9)

but jrk thinks she can be a better sibling this life. between her and jyl they are like a second set of parents for jc (and wwx), and the emotional burden isn't entirely on jyl. and as the eldest sister, jrk is not afraid to say "no, that's stupid. go think about it and come try again" "use your words, you cretin, not your fist" "if you don't like it, just be honest. at least, around your family"

no one believes the og yunmeng trio that their eldest sister is like this. her outside persona is a bit curt and direct, but no one can say she lacks the decorum of a well-bred young lady from the gentry sects.

-

penultimate bad - jin sect. i get the feeling that jgs didn't care much for mme jin, even in terms of sexual attraction (and probably mutual on mme jin's part). they fucked enough to get jzx, a legitimate heir, and then jgs started his tart train.

the only way for zyx to be in the direct family is also to be the unnecessary first-born daughter (and i'll recycle the name from before, jin zi'ai 金子藹 (zi as the generational character, ai for affable/luxuriant)). bc jgs is a pos and i think lanling jin would be a cesspool of propriety and hierarchy hiding absolute bullshit, jza basically has no power (compared to being mme yu's eldest daughter).

stuck acting as a free nanny to her younger brother. even if jza wants to humanize jzx, if the little brat cries a little to mommy and daddy she'll get punished (didn't fucking miss that shit from her first life). bad cousin jzxun is even worse. it takes creativity to get these two brats to listen to and respect her. she gets there. she's not proud of the person she has to be in lanling jin.

as (good) jzx grows up he gets less bratty. and with his older sister guiding him, he's less out-of-touch and socially stunted. but uh. as a result, he has strong opinions on women who aren't like jza (you think wwx and jc had jiejie-complexes? meet the new and improved jzx(s)). instead of jzx passively eating the knuckle sandwiches being fed to him, he fights back.

("why would i want some passive ghost of a woman for a wife? no strength, weak-willed -"

"shijie's much better than that cold viper you call a sister!")

she can't be super-involved in the sunshot campaign (she decides that jzx(s) need the reputation more than she does, so she tries to hold the fort at home and keep her younger brother aware of political developments). jgy eventually ends up in lanling, can't stop that.

idk if jza will drive jgy to commit murder faster, or will she be able to assimilate him into her camp of 'protect jin zixuan'. bc jgy is never becoming sect leader if she can help it (too much needs to happen and their implications BAD if jgy is to be accepted as lanling jin sect leader).

maybe she'll convince him to give up on their father after starting a quest to collect the jin bastards. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

-

worst, wens: with wrh having two sons, it implies that he either wanted an heir and a spare, or he's getting mad concubine ass and we can have a little wen!zyx and all the wen kids are half-siblings, and we can recycle the 'wen ling' (溫玲, ling for exquisite) name. wen ruohan would prob have a lot of fun pitting his children against each other for his affection/acknowledgment, so there's no short of availability of resources to grow and cultivate for his kids.

wl will have to grow up between wx and wc. we don't know much about wx, and he doesn't seem like the caring brotherly type. probably bullies his younger siblings, except wl is an adult on the inside and 1) doesn't give a shit as long as you don't draw blood 2) if you draw blood she has over twenty years of experience in getting even.

she'll try to establish contact with the wen branch healers, feeling out dissenting wens, all that jazz. she has to play a very fine line - survive long enough for the sunshot campaign to be well underway, and be the one that kills her father to 'usurp' qishan wen before the sunshot coalition can take down nightless city.

something something nasty cold war w this new qishan wen and the rest of the cultivation realm. it's harder to fend off jgs's ambitions at this point due to the wen's standing and now a female sect leader.

[unforth]

Today in “random shit that got totally away from me,” I just wrote almost 6k of this nonsense instead of anything for Kinktober or my tweet fic. Oops.

So I started thinking about MDZS Harry Potter AUs. Yes, JK is a trash human being but eh HP does still hold a place in my heart so I don't mind putzing with it as long as I never again put another penny her pocket. Anyway, all the HP AUs I've seen seem to be focused on Hogwarts and who'd be in which house, that kind of thing, and it felt all wrong to me because the sects are different schools of thought...that's literally the point...so shouldn't they be different schools? And this is where I took that...this is really more like a fusion than an AU and I've butchered canon and how magic works for both HP and MDZS but oh well, here goes... 

(ships: WangXian, SangCheng, Luo Qingyang/Wen Qing, Xuanli until it’s not, Wen Ning/Jiang Yanli, and others)

Wei Wuxian is born a muggle, the child of a witch and a muggle who decide to leave the wizarding world and raise their child without the prejudices and problems that surrounded them and their relationship. However, the world catches up with them, and both die when Wei Wuxian is only 4 years old. He gets kicked into the foster system, and it takes over five years before he's finally brought to a family that seems to be long term - old friends of his mother's and, as he'll learn, old wizarding blood, the Jiang family. Wei Wuxian has shown no sign of being magical to that point but, then, he also had no idea that magic was a thing, and existed outside that paradigm completely. He learns right quick though. His new parents, Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Fengmian, are both powerful wizards, and their eldest daughter is already at Jinlin Tower, studying to follow on their footsteps. His foster brother, Jiang Cheng, talks excitedly and sometimes sneeringly about his own expectations of going, and that Wei Wuxian won't be. To say he's jealous would be an understatement, but more than that, he's sorely disappointed, because aside from his occasional arrogance, Jiang Cheng is the closest thing to a friend, the closest thing to family, he's ever had. His new parents are okay, he supposes...certainly better than some he's had...but Yu Ziyuan barely tolerates him and Jiang Fengmian's condescending form of affection isn't much better. Further, Wei Wuxian is old enough that he hears the rumors. People at Lotus Pier whisper that he's actually Jiang Fengmian's child, that JFM loved the witch Cangse Sanren and that he acted on that affection, possibly without her consent. How dark the rumors tended depended on who said them, and everyone made Wei Wuxian wish that he'd never been brought to Lotus Pier, even if he at least was no longer starving. 

Anyway. Events unfold, as they tend to do. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng grow close. Jiang Yanli returns from school for holidays and Wei Wuxian quickly grows to adore her. When he's with his siblings he can forget how garbage the rest of his life is, and his hope for the future improves when he accidentally dyes Jiang Cheng purple from head to toe (after JC punched him because he called JC a grape). At first this seems like a dream come true - he can do magic, so he can go to the school! - but as seems to always happen in his life, the good news gets balanced by a heavy dose of bad, as the worst rumor mongers take this revelation as a sign that he couldn't have possibly had a muggle for a father, and their vituperation grows louder, and Yu Ziyuan's behavior grows more abusive. 

At least he'll get to leave. 

Except going also proves a mixed blessing, as the school is just as much a rumor factory as Lotus Pier is...heck, maybe more of one. The Jin family, also old blood, run the place, and teach according to their own principals. Virtually everyone there is from a long ancient line of wizards, and they all look down their noses at Wei Wuxian for being half blood, and he's bullied a lot, and Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli are bullied by extension, which is even worse. He does his best to keep his head down, but usually fails, since he can accept any amount of hatred heaped on his own head but refuses to stand down if his brother and sister are insulted. His repeated run ins with Jin Zixuan, heir to Jinlin Tower, affianced of Jiang Yanli, and tool douche bag incarnate especially lead to trouble, not because Jin Zixuan himself is so bad...he's a tool douche bag but he's essentially harmless...but his family is less so. His cousin Jin Zixun is especially vile, and the number of encounters with him that Wei Wuxian keeps secret lest Jiang Cheng learn and intervene and experience the same or worse is sizeable. 

Still, for all the bad, he's mostly happy at school and it's still better than being at Lotus Pier. Their classmates are from the Jin and the clans that follow them - it turns out the only reason the Jiang are there instead of at their own school is that it's part of the arranged marriage between Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli - and while the main clan is full of assholes, their followers include some damn good folk. Wei Wuxian develops an especially close friendship with Luo Qingyang. He also excels at magic, which eventually begins to pay dividends. The first couple years he's there, his classmates have all been doing magic since they were in their cradles and he's racing to catch up, but by the time he's 14, 15, 16, the playing field is more even and those who were cruel to him have mostly been visited by highly unpleasant pay back - if not from Wei Wuxian himself, then from Jiang Cheng or Luo Qingyang. 

His 6th year, when he's 17, is a big deal for several reasons. First, Jiang Yanli graduates...and immediately starts an internship at the school's infirmary, ostensibly because she's interested in medicine, actually because no one wants too much distance between her and Jin Zixuan. Speaking of whom, secondly...he's a jackass and a peacock but he has improved with age, and Wei Wuxian can almost tolerate him for short periods of time, especially because his doing so makes Jiang Yanli happy. Jin Zixun is still irredeemable but Wei Wuxian is unsurprised there. But the biggest event is that it's time for the biannual competition between the greatest sects in the world, and this time Jinlin Tower is hosting. Everyone who wants to participate may, and it's basically an Olympics for people in their 6th and 7th years - no one else is eligible. There are competitions in martial arts, wizarding duels, arranged battles against monsters, Night Hunts, races. Each competitor is scored based on their performance, and after each event, fewer people are able to advance to the next round, until the final event is a two-on-two-on-two-on-two battle between the top pairs from each school - Jinlin Tower, Cloud Recesses, Unclean Realm and Nightless City. If two from one school are still standing at the end (highly unusual, generally one is eliminated before the other) then they will fight to determine a final winner, who gets accolades, attention, a mess of flowers, a few medals, at least two marriage proposals...and respect, which is the only one of those things Wei Wuxian gives a shit about. 

Wei Wuxian is *determined* to be one of the two - and that Jiang Cheng will be the other. He can think of no better way to show up the haters, and anyway, it sounds fun as hell. 

The school year up until the start of the competition, held every spring, is dull dull dull, but finally the long awaited day arrives, and with it come the 6th and 7th years from the other schools and the teachers sent to chaperone them. Cloud Recesses arrives first, punctual to the second, and god are they a snooze fest. Their leader, Lan Qiren, drones on and on during his welcome speech, and his students all stand in lock step and hang on every boring word. When Wei Wuxian has the audacity to yawn, one in particular glares murder at him, and Luo Qingyang explains to him in a hurried whisper that that's the famous Lan Wangji, second son of the family, heir to Cloud Recesses, and widely considered the hands-down favorite to win the entire event. 

After them, the Unclean Realm contingent arrives, led by Nie Mingjue, youngest of the current school leaders. They seem very battle oriented, all heavily armed with more than just wands, except for a disinterested young man at Nie Mingjue's side - his brother, Nie Huaisang, Luo Qingyang helpfully explains. 

("How do you know all this??" Wei Wuxian hisses.) 

("Latest issue of Teen Witch did a profile on everyone favored to win from each school!") 

("...oh yeah? What'd they say about me?") 

("You weren't in there, dumbass, they profiled Jin Zixuan and Jin Zixun.") 

("And you trust them to be right about literally *anything* if they think those two are the favorites from here?") 

("Shut up, at least it means I know something about the competition we'll face.") 

("Will you *both* shut up?" interjected an exasperated Jiang Cheng, "because if not, I WILL curse you for the duration of the welcome...") 

Nie Huaisang is fun to watch, because he seems as bored as Wei Wuxian feels, and because he is high enough in the pecking order that no one gives him shit for it. Watching him is even slightly cathartic. But too soon, their school goes to their table - another vote in favor of the Unclean Realm, their welcome speech was short and to the point - and then the Nightless City students step up. Their leader is a sneering youth ("winner of the competition six years ago," Luo Qingyang supplies) named Wen Xu, son of the school's head, because they are so arrogant they didn't bother sending their headmaster. They’re also the only school to send two chaperones, and Wei Wuxian feels an instant connection with the other, an attractive young woman, because the murderous glare she directs at the back of Wen Xu's head is truly a thing of beauty, and grows more intense the longer he babbles bombast, arrogance and stupidity. 

Finally, the welcome ends, and the houses share a banquet. There are various "getting to know you" events scheduled, and a prom-like ball halfway through the competition. It’s interesting to see the relative sociability of the different groups as the events commenced. The Lans from Cloud Recesses, for example, keep almost entirely to themselves. They make minimal efforts to mingle but only because they’re expected to. The Nie, on the other hand, are incredibly happy to meet new people, and Wei Wuxian ends up friends with Nie Huaisang almost by accident - there was a bird, a curse backfire, a talking staircase and a gigantic bubblegum bubble involved but the less said in general the better - and it gives him hope for the future. His prospects of staying at Lotus Pier are dim - even if they wanted him there he didn't want to stay, especially after Jiang Yanli leaves for her wedding and Jiang Cheng launches into his duties as heir. Nie Huaisang likes him, and has influence at Unclean Realm, and hints more than once that they don’t share the prejudices of some of the other families since it’s well known they'd been founded by a late-blooming spellcasting muggle. Wei Wuxian is self-interested enough to forward the friendship even if he didn't enjoy Nie Huaisang's company...but he does, and that just makes it so much the better. 

The Wens from Nightless City, on the other hand, are a problem. They love to interact...if arrogance, condescension, aloofness and bullying can be called interacting. They don’t even spare members of their own family, and Wei Wuxian saw a lot of parallels to his own treatment at Jinlin Tower in how Wen Ning, Wen Chao's cousin and younger brother of the second chaperone, is treated. Wei Wuxian intervenes more than once to protect Wen Ning - from the other Wens, from Jin Zixun, even from a random Lan once. 

Thus do things stand when events finally start. They make for a weird clique - Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, Luo Qingyang, Nie Huaisang, and Wen Ning vaguely shadowing them while clearly trying not to get too close. In events where they can aid each other, they do. In events where they can���t, they at least try not to directly act against each other. Lesser names are quickly eliminated from the competition, and the leader board is mostly those who'd been expected, in part because a lot of clan members go out of their way to support their clans' favorite. Lan Wangji, that second Lan son from Cloud Recesses, leads in points, and that’s extra impressive since the Lan are the only clan that AREN’T cheating to help him get ahead. Lesser members of the Nie routinely act to help Nie Huaisang instead of themselves, which is especially absurd since Nie Huaisang himself seems indifferent. The Wen actively cheat, and are sanctioned for it three times, to forward Wen Chao, Wen Xu's younger brother and their clan's favorite. And the Jinlin Tower contingent strives to put Jin Zixuan on top...and Jin Zixun strives to unseat him. 

So, basically, it it’s all a huge mess, especially early on when the entirety of all four schools are involved. 

The first of Wei Wuxian's friend circle eliminated is Luo Qingyang. She takes it in stride even though it had been a bullshit technicality and Wen Chao's fault to boot, and immediately begins conspiring from outside the competition to help the others. Things proceed apace, event after event, and despite some obvious attempts by lesser Jinlin Tower folk to sabotage Wei Wuxian, he of course still does well, especially at the magical competitions. He hung on through a dismal showing against a giant dog (his phobia’s triggered and it’s one on one so no one can help him) thanks mostly to an exceptional performance during an transfiguration and enchantment event, that he won easily and to everyone's amazement, even beating the unparalleled Lan Wangji. Jiang Cheng is doing well too, not exceptional at anything, but never near the bottom, either, which keeps him afloat, and it helps that he never does anything that sinks himself to float Jin Zixuan or Jin Zixun. The ball comes closer by the day, and the events are spaced farther apart later in the competition to give competitors time to heal and prepare, and as more people are eliminated, the ball becomes the premier talk of the group - what to wear, who to ask, who else has asked who and who has said yes and who has said no, all gossip all the time. Nie Huaisang seems especially invested, even though he hasn't been eliminated...he seems to find it fun, while giving zero information about his own intentions as regard a companion. 

Jiang Cheng asks a pretty Lan girl, and is turned down, and Luo Qingyang, and is turned down, and at least three other people, with no success. (Nie Huaisang whispers that this is because Wen Chao has threatened to hurt anyone who says yes to him...Luo Qingyang says it’s because Jiang Cheng is an idiot and a dick.) 

Luo Qingyang refuses to say who she’s asking, leaves to do it...and returns aglow, saying that the person she'd asked has said yes...but still won’t say who that is.

Wen Ning mumbles that a Jin girl he didn’t know had asked him, and he said yes, and he supposes it’ll be fine. It troubles all his friends, since he’s actually incredibly sweet, but that anyone at all asked him seems to be a shock, and that anyone else might do so - or that he might ask someone he liked, and they might say yes - both are apparently so implausible to Wen Ning that he won’t even consider it.

Wei Wuxian asks no one. It’s not that he doesn’t want a partner at the ball...he does, he supposes...but he can’t find the motivation. He’s worried he got eliminated during the last event, and he won’t find out until the banquet before the ball, when the final 16 competitors will be announced, and the uncertainty is making him jumpy and anxious. So, he dithers, and he supports his friends, and he messes with their enemies, and he takes a dilatory approach to preparing for the next event (a dragon hunt) that he may or may not have qualified for…

...and then Jiang Cheng takes him aside, like, “dude you’ve got to find *someone*!”

“Why?”

“ ‘Cause all of the top 16 need a date!”

“Then you’re boned, aren’t you…”

“So’re you! Anyway, you’re wrong, I’ve got someone.”

“I didn’t make it, a-di...I’m sure I didn’t…and wait, you do? Who is it?”

“Like I’d tell you.”

“You’re a damn liar, you ain’t go no one.”

“No, I’m set, but you’ll sure look like a dumbass if I’m right and you need a date…”

And, well, Jiang Cheng has a point...so Wei Wuxian keeps an ear to the ground, trying to figure out who is still available. The pickings are slim...there are a lot of hopeful younger students, but...no. Just no. At least a dozen people have asked Wei Wuxian, but he’s turned them all done, and now everyone seems to be paired...and then a few hours before the banquet, Luo Qingyang grabs him. 

“Pssst, I heard you need a date.”

“Why’re you whispering? Is it a secret?”

“Ask Lan Wangji.”

Wei Wuxian can only blink at her, because *what the actual fuck.* Lan Wangji is leading the competition, and he’s gorgeous, and yeah, he has a shit personality, but even so he must have had every single person in the school and every other school tripping over themselves to ask. Further, if there’s one person he will definitely say no to, it’s Wei Wuxian, because ever since that first time Wei Wuxian yawned during Lan Qiren’s shitty speech, Lan Wangji has hated him. During every meet and greet, during every event, whenever Wei Wuxian glances Lan Wangji’s way, Lan Wangji is glaring at him, scowling, like Wei Wuxian is a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe...and yeah that DID happen, it was part of the whole meeting Nie Huaisang debacle, but still, Wei Wuxian has been doing decently, and has tried to be nice to the guy, and nothing. Still, Luo Qingyang is incredibly persuasive when she wants to be, and finally, Wei Wuxian caves, if only to get her to leave him alone. Lan Wangji is easy to find, lingering in the common room assigned to his school, sitting and reading, still in the white robes he always wears (the girls all swoon at his miraculous ability to keep them pristine through every competition, and there are running bets on what it’ll finally take to stain them) and apparently indifferent to the frenetic preparations that those around him are hurrying through.

“Hey, Lan Wangji!”

Lan Wangji shoots that disdainful stare at him again.

“Heard you don’t have a date for tonight, is that true?”

Lan Wangji shrugs, eyes back on his book.

“You know all the top competitors need one, right?”

Lan Wangji shrugs again.

“So, you wanna go with me or what?”

The book crashes to the floor and Wei Wuxian is amazed to see Lan Wangji...react? To literally anything? Ever? By looking stricken, and surprised, and taken aback, and maybe a little horrified?

“Ugh, fine, well if my proximity offends you that bad...at least I can tell Luo Qingyang I tried.” And Wei Wuxian manages his own shrug, turns to walk away...and a hand on his shoulder stops him. Turning...there’s Lan Wangji, eyes wide, lips slightly parted, long hair swooping about his shoulders, crap is he pretty, no wonder he’s got half the school in love with him, no wonder he only finds flaws with Wei Wuxian, just like everyone else, no wonder--

“Seriously?”

...what?

Wei Wuxian nods slowly and Lan Wangji’s expression softens.

“Thought you and she were a couple.”

Shocking thing the first: Lan Wangji spoke. Shocking thing the second: Lan Wangji touched him. Shocking thing the third: Lan Wangji has paid enough attention to Wei Wuxian to have drawn conclusions about his love life. Shocking thing the fourth: Lan Wangji apparently has a personality of some kind? Shocking thing the fifth: Lan Wangji certainly doesn’t appear to hate him??

Too confused to speak, Wei Wuxian shakes his head.

“I would be pleased to go to the ball with you.”

Shocking thing the sixth: Lan Wangji ACTUALLY WANTS TO GO WITH HIM.

The entire common room goes still, apparently everyone else is as shocked as Wei Wuxian, and then they break into congratulatory hurrahs.

“Whelp, good, okay then,” Wei Wuxian manages, still too asea to have any idea what the hell just happened. “Guess I’d better go get ready. You too. I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

The banquet opens with Jin Guangshan rising and pompously announcing who the top 16 are - among them, Wen Chao and Wen Ning both have made it, and Lan Wangji of course, and Nie Huaisang, and the four from the Jin are Jin Zixuan, Jin Zixun, Jiang Cheng, and Wei Wuxian. He’s so amazed he can only stand, and he glances to Lan Wangji...and gets a smile in return??? And what has his day become he has no idea what’s going on!!

After the meal, the first dance is called, and the way people pair off prompts scads of whispers. Jin Zixuan is the obvious one, of course he’s with Jiang Yanli, and neither looks particularly happy about it. Jin Zixuan keeps glancing toward a Nie girl that Wei Wuxian doesn’t know, and if Wei Wuxian didn’t know better (and after the day he’s had, he’s genuinely not sure if he DOES know better) he’d think that Jiang Yanli kept glancing to Wen Ning. Jiang Cheng gives Wei Wuxian a smirk as he and Nie Huaisang go out hand in hand, only to have it fade into stunned wide eyed WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKness when Wei Wuxian goes out with Lan Wangji. It’s clear almost immediately that neither actually knows how to dance, but they both know how to fight, and it sort of translates, and things actually go pretty well.

Dancing with Lan Wangji is nice.

Being near Lan Wangji is nice.

The soft timber of Lan Wangji’s voice on the rare occasions he speaks is nice.

The whole evening is...really surprisingly nice. Memories of all the times Lan Wangji looked at him come back...why WAS Lan Wangji always looking at him? Clearly, Wei Wuxian has mixed everything up monumentally, and he’s starting to wonder if Luo Qingyang suspected as much when she sent him on what he’d thought a wild goose chase, but there’s no asking her, because as soon as the floor opens to the general group so everyone can dance, she’s on the floor with Wen Qing, of all people - it hadn’t even occurred to Wei Wuxian that he could ask a chaperone - and the two are staring adoringly into each other’s eyes and Wei Wuxian would think it insane and weird except that once or twice he realizes he’s kinda sorta maybe vaguely giving Lan Wangji a similar look and what even is his life?

They end up kissing outside the Lan’s common room.

Wei Wuxian has no idea what’s going on but he’s not at all unhappy with the turn of events.

The last couple events are incredibly difficult, the moreso because Wen Chao and Jin Zixun have each either collaboratively or independently decided that this is their last chance to try to get their fiercest competition eliminated. Jin Zixuan loses the next one badly, and Nie Huaisang also seems only too pleased to bow out. The other Wens team up against Wen Ning and he’s eliminated, and almost badly injured, and then they move on Wei Wuxian, and he only holds on by the skin of his teeth...and, he comes to suspect, because Jiang Cheng did something, because that’s the only explanation he’s got for why Jiang Cheng is eliminated even though Jin Zixun bombed one of the events. Eventually, the final 8 are chosen…

Wen Chao and some other Wen.

Lan Wangji and some other Lan.

Two random Nies.

And Jin Zixun and Wei Wuxian.

Intent on preparing even though he knows Jin Zixun hates him, Wei Wuxian approaches him. They’re supposed to work together against the other six, after all...but Jin Zixun won’t even talk to him, so Wei Wuxian assumes he’s actually on his own and does his own preparation. That morning, he’s absolutely sick to his stomach. Rumor is that some students have died in the duels before. It’s no holds barred, no spells off limits, even an Unforgivable Curse would be allowed if someone actually knew one. Weapons, sword-flying, everything is allowed. Wei Wuxian has his sword Suibian, his flute and his wand when he joins the others. They all look fidgety, and the only one who spares Wei Wuxian a glance is Lan Wangji, and he looks concerned. They’ve spent time together as they’ve been able, but it’s been little enough, the event occupying most of their time, and Wei Wuxian was in the hospital for a week after the last event with no visitors allowed. 

“Be careful out there,” Lan Wangji murmurs to him, giving his hand a squeeze, and Wei Wuxian can only return the sentiment, but he’s not worried. Lan Wangji has led the competition since day one, and leads it still, and everyone is assuming he’ll win, presumably with his white robes still pristine.

Finally, the final duel starts, and Wei Wuxian realizes immediately that it’s so much worse than he feared, when the Wen opposing Wen Chao eliminates himself, and Jin Zixun ignores all foes to immediately turn on Wei Wuxian, and he loses track of what the others are doing because fighting Jin Zixun takes all his focus. Jin Zixun has been training for this his whole life, and he’s a year older, and whereas Wei Wuxian doesn’t actually particularly want to harm him, Jin Zixun’s every action makes it clear he couldn’t care less if he kills Wei Wuxian. It’s as hard a battle as anything he’s ever done, and it’s only when Wei Wuxian stops pulling his punches (he can hear his friends screaming at him that he’s an idiot from the sidelines) that he finally FINALLY wins.

But the cost has been high.

His qi is depleted. His body aches. He’s bleeding from multiple wounds and from the mouth. Suibian has been tossed from the competition area, and his wand is broken, leaving him with only Chenqing. And he’s got no idea who else is left, who might yet be in his way…

...and oh god, is he going to have to fight Lan Wangji? He won’t do it, no matter what…

...and he takes a step back, and Wen Chao’s voice shouts - he must have been lurking, waiting for the end of Wei Wuxian’s battle, knowing whoever won would be weakest and least on guard immediately after - and the word cruciatus echoes across the suddenly silent arena, and Wei Wuxian squeezes his eyes shut in preparation for agony...and it never comes. 

He opens his eyes.

Lan Wangji stands before him, panting with effort, his guqin before himself, his fingers on the strings as he uses his own qi to catch the Unforgivable curse and contain it. The effort of it is clearly great; a cough spurts blood from Lan Wangji’s mouth, staining red down the front of his pristine white robes, but he doesn’t give up, and Wen Chao’s expression contorts as he tries and tries to force the spell through Lan Wangji’s resistance...and then it explodes in Wen Chao’s face, and he screams as the backfire casts the spell on himself.

“Wen Chao - eliminated!”

Lan Wangji collapses to his knees, spells evaporating in a swirl of blue motes. His wand falls to the ground near Wei Wuxian’s feet, and he uncertainly picks it up. It feels odd in his hands, but he’s sure he could cast with it.

“Why?” whispers Wei Wuxian.

“I couldn’t let him hurt you.”

“Who’s left?”

“You and me.”

And this is it - his moment. Lan Wangji is hurt, down, bloody and muddy. Wei Wuxian is exhausted and hurt, but he’s up, and he’s got Chenqing, and he could do plenty with it even if he doesn’t want to use Lan Wangji’s wand...and why wouldn’t he want to use the wand?...Wei Wuxian could get everything he wants, the prize, the respect, the marriage proposals, everything...but Lan Wangji couldn’t let Wen Chao hurt him, and Wei Wuxian can’t possibly, can’t FATHOM, hurting Lan Wangji.

“I’m out,” he shouts to the judges.

“Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian will engage in a wizard’s duel to determine a final winner.”

“I won’t,” Wei Wuxian bellows back.

“Eliminate me,” Lan Wangji whispers, for his ears alone. “I always knew you were going to beat me.”

As if that’s not the craziest shit Wei Wuxian has ever heard.

“You’re the brightest young master of our generation, Lan Wangji...it was always going to be you.” And Wei Wuxian realizes he means that in so many more ways than merely as regards the competition.

Because Wei Wuxian feels so much more toward Lan Wangji than he’d ever imagined he could toward anyone, much less toward the supposedly cold and indifferent and aloof Second Young Master Lan.

“Very well,” Wei Wuxian murmurs. Lan Wangji closes his eyes. “Petrificus totalus!” Wei Wuxian shouts...and aims the wand at his own feet.

And the next thing he’s aware of, he’s in the infirmary, and Jiang Yanli and...Wen Qing and Wen Ning???...are there, and Wen Qing is leaning over him while the other two have a hushed conversation across the room. Six of the seven other finalists are there as well - the self-eliminated Wen didn’t hurt himself badly enough to need the hospital - and Wen Qing is roughly jabbing at a pierced wound in his side, ignoring his grimace and soft protest.

“You’re all idiots, and this is all stupid, and I have no idea why any of the schools sanction this insanity, and you shut your face, Wei Wuxian, and let me do my job…” 

He can’t really argue with her. Everything hurts too much anyway.

So Lan Wangji is awarded winner, but given that he spends that night in Wei Wuxian’s arms, Wei Wuxian is pretty sure that he’s the actual winner. He got his respect, too - beating Jin Zixun one on one impressed a LOT of people, and before the houses all leave to go back to their own clans, Nie Mingjue offers him a job post-graduation, and Jiang Cheng gets all offended since obviously Wei Wuxian will be working for him, and Lan Wangji promises to send him owls every day, and Wei Wuxian lies through his teeth when he assures Lan Wangji that he’ll do the same (it’s not a lie because he doesn’t want to, but because he knows he’s not a fraction well enough organized to actually pull something like that off), and Wen Qing and Luo Qingyang exchange tearful farewells...and Wen Ning stays, which is surprising and excellent, and in amazingly short order, things go back to normal…

...except they never quite go back to normal.

Because Jin Zixuan breaks off his engagement to Jiang Yanli, announcing that he’s too in love with that Nie girl who’s name Wei Wuxian still doesn’t know to consider marrying simply to satisfy his family.

And because as soon as she’s at liberty to do so, in front of the entire assembly, Jiang Yanli stalks across the room, grabs the front of Wen Ning’s robes, and hauls him into a kiss.

And because Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng solve the “which clan gets to keep Wei Wuxian” problem by announcing their own engagement.

And because Jin Zixun graduates at the end of the year, and as soon as he’s gone all the Jin who used to torment Wei Wuxian sheepishly apologize and say Jin Zixun made them - themselves or Wei Wuxian - and while he doesn’t forgive them their abuses, he can at least tolerate being their classmates.

And because Luo Qingyang announces that she’s renouncing the Jin clan, and that she and Wen Qing are planning to ride off into the sunset and start their own clan with two well known independent wizards of their acquaintance, Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan. They pointedly suggest that Wei Wuxian go with them.

And because Lan Wangji keeps his promise and sends Wei Wuxian a letter every day, and Wei Wuxian - wonder of wonders - succeeds in replying daily, by giving up on the idea of sending letters and instead sending drawings. Lan Wangji loves the idea of joining the new sect.

And because, after graduation, when Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng try to claim him, they find themselves beaten to the punch, because Lan Wangji has already got him heart, soul, body and mind. The two begrudgingly conceded that Lan Wangji can marry him, as long as he’ll continue to be part of all three clans, and help with enchantments and Night Hunts and whatever else.

Wei Wuxian is shocked to find himself so wanted, and does everything he can to satisfy all the claims on him.

It’s a way better life than Wei Wuxian had ever dared to hope for.

And he’s got every reason to think it’s only going to get better and better.

[bytheanchorarchived]

BASIC INFORMATION

FULL NAME: Jonathan Christopher Wayland, later Jace Lightwood Herondale. PRONUNCIATION: ˌ ˈʤɑnəθən ˈkrɪstəfər ˈhɛrəndeɪl MEANING:   From the Hebrew name יְהוֹנָתָן (Yehonatan),contracted to יוֹנָתָן (Yonatan), meaning "YAHWEH has given" or “ gift of Jehovah”. According to the Old Testament, Jonathan was the eldest son of Saul. His relationship with his father was strained due to his close friendship with his father's rival David. REASONING: Jonathan was likely chosen for Jace (by CC) due both to its literal meaning, gift of God as probably referring to Jace having Ithuriel’s blood (angel blood), as well as his pure intentions; and its historical/biblical meaning, as Jace’s choice on whose side to fight in the war (his father's, or his father’s enemies) are in the core of his characterization. Valentine gave him this name simply because Jonathan was the name of Michael Wayland’s son, the boy he killed, along with his father (x), and whose identity he took. Jace saw the name Jonathan Christopher in Valentine’s journal (referring to his biological son) and thought it was about him, so Valentine, since he’d never given Jace a middle name, decided to let him believe it was and keep Christopher as his own. NICKNAME(S): Jace (from his initials JC, given by Maryse), blondie, Captain America, Angel Boy. PREFERRED NAME(S): Jace. BIRTH DATE: January 18th 1991. AGE: 16-17 (books), 19-20 (show) ZODIAC: Capricorn. GENDER: Male. PRONOUNS: He/Him. ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Biromantic. SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Bisexual. NATIONALITY: Jace was born in Idris, in Shadowhunter territory, which is located in Central Europe, between Germany, France, and Switzerland. ETHNICITY: Caucasian. CURRENT LOCATION: New York, United States of America. LIVING CONDITIONS: Currently residing in the Shadowhunter’s Institute of New York City, where he was sent to by the Clave at age 10. At ten years old, he witnessed what he believed was the murder of his father, Michael Wayland, and after news of his death spread, Michael’s parabatai, Robert Lightwood and his wife Maryse Lightwood, offered to take the boy in and raise him. He grew up in the Institute since then, with his adoptive siblings and his own future parabatai. TITLE(S): Fastest, Strongest, Fiercest, Best of all Shadowhunters in his Time (dead or alive). Shadowhunter, Valentine Morgenstern’s Arrow / Weapon. War Hero. Parabatai (to Alec Lightwood). Head of the New York Institute (future).

↬  INTRODUCTION VIDEO

BACKGROUND

BIRTH PLACE: Idris, Shadowhunter’s homeland. (see above) HOMETOWN: Jace was “born” in the outskirts of Alicante (Idris’ capital, and only city), and not in any exact town. SOCIAL CLASS: Since Jace was brought to the Institute and under the watchful eye of the Clave, it became clear that the boy was special. He excelled in all fronts of his education, be it Strategy, Literature, Music or the Study of Downworlders and Shadowhunter History. But it was his performance on the battlefield and in training that truly attracted attention. He was faster, stronger and more agile, graceful and precise than any shadowhunter child his age, or older. It is said that barely anyone could keep up with him in the training exercises and battles, and even Alec, being almost two years older, had a hard time matching him, said accomplishment only reached by Izzy. His performance ensured he occupies a high place in Shadowhunters’ Society and has the respect of his comrades. Fact which was only confirmed by his own merits and efforts in the wars of the century.  Also as a part of The Lightwood family, Jace carries the prestige of the name in a secondary manner, and being Alec’s parabatai, he is directly involved in the leadership of the Institute (show-wise) and later becomes the Head of the Institute, by Conclave vote, once both Alec and Izzy abdicate. He is often chosen as mission leader, despite Alec being the one who should hold the title, being the eldest, because leadership and being at the top of the action is what he enjoys most. EDUCATION LEVEL: Shadowhunters are generally highly educated, and Jace, specially, had a noticeably varied and deep education under the hand of Valentine Morgenstern, who raised him to the age of ten. When he joined the others in the Institute, he already had an advanced knowledge of History, Philosophy, Strategy, the Downworld, Demons, Magic, Literature, Music, and Languages. Jace knows more than four different languages, and has general skills and knowledge in all different areas, as well as plays the piano masterfully. FATHER: Stephen Herondale (biological), Valentine Morgenstern (”adoptive” Jace doesn’t really considers Robert his father, because of the great influence Valentine had on him, how he marked him - for better or worse - and even after he died, Jace kept thinking of Valentine as his father, both loving and hating him, and found it hard to even relate to Stephen, his “real” father, much less Robert as a father figure. He comes to appreciate Robert, but he does not call him father or sees him as such. He even thinks of Jonathan Morgenstern as his “adoptive” brother, though they never knew each other growing up. Valentine is both the hated figure of the tirant and abuser, the person about whom Jace has panic attacks and night terrors over becoming like him, and also the father of his young childhood - up to 5 years old or so - that kept him safe, before real training begun. “I have a father” He tells the Clave envoy, after “Michael” dies, but shows interest in knowing about Mrs. Lightwood, the mother). MOTHER: Céline Herondale (biological), Maryse Lightwood (adoptive, Jace starts calling Maryse “mom” after COG, a while after she claims him as her son and tells him she’s loved him all along). SIBLING(S): Alec Lightwood (adoptive), Isabelle Lightwood (adoptive), and Maxwell Lightwood (adoptive). BIRTH ORDER: Alec (eldest) - Jace (two years younger)  - Isabelle (two years younger)  - Max (nine years younger). CHILDREN: Unknown (but he wants them). PET(S): None / Church / Falcon (dead). OTHER IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIPS: Valentine Morgenstern the man who took him from his dead mother’s womb, and raised him to the age of 10, and who, while his mother was pregnant, fed her angel blood powder, so that it’d passed onto the baby. Valentine raised him under the name of Michael Wayland, which was how Jace got his first surname. Jace later found out he was actually Valentine Morgenstern but still believed he was his biological son (and Clary Fairchild’s brother) to the age of 17 (books) and 19-20 (show). Valentine had a vast influence on him, as he raised Jace with both psychological / emotional and physical abuse. Such abuse went from beatings when he did anything wrong (remarked by Jace himself in memories, and both Alec and Isabelle also in memories of him when he got to the Lightwoods); to withholding affection and praise, saying it made him weak (noticed when Jace compares being held as a toddler, and later on his father not even allowing him a shoulder touch, which surprises him when Sebastian does);  to overcritical and perfectionist approach to his training (in the words of Jem “the boy moved with military discipline, unusual in one so young, even among Shadowhunters”);  to teaching him “love destroys both the one who loves and the one who is loved”, by making him love and tame a pet, and then killing said pet in front of him; as well as at the end making Jace experience and believe in his murder, then see his body in a pool of blood which led the boy to stop believing God cared about him; among countless other things. Despite all of this, Valentine never withheld from stating his love for the boy, or saying that all he ever did was for his own good, and Jace remained fiercely loyal to him for most of his early life, which gave him purpose, first in his vengeance for his “father’s death” and later took the ground from under him when he found out he was still alive, and in fact, had never been Michael Wayland. Sebastian Morgenstern (Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern), Valentine’s biological son, who shared Jace’s experience of being raised by the man’s hand as the other end of the experiment (an angel blooded and a demon blooded shadowhunter), and later became his demonic parabatai, through a dark bond made by Lilith, mother of all Demons, that tied their lives together and put Jace under his will. Jace kills him the first time in the First War, and then when he’s raised from the dead himself, his life becomes the loophole through which Sebastian can be brought back as well. They think of each other as adoptive siblings, though twistedly so, and Jace while being possessed by Lilith, has night terrors about not regretting killing him and what that told about him as a person. Sebastian killed Jace’s little brother, Max, almost killed Jace, himself, and later made Jace take a life while under his will as well. Alexander Lightwood, his best friend, and parabatai, half his soul, the first person he truly trusted after the death of his father, the first person Jace wanted to belong to (as explained to him by Brother Zachariah) after being left an orphan. Alec has a frontal and major role in Jace’s life and recovery from his father’s abuse, as well as protector, in general, and battle partner. Alec helps Jace heal, and Jace is the one to ask him to become his parabatai, as he realizes he needs Alec in his life. Clarissa Fairchild, his first love / serious relationship, the first person that has ever made him fall in romantic love and want to fight the curse he believed fate had on him, so he could love her safely. The one Valentine makes him believe is his biological sister, for a few months, causing both of them incredible pain, in hopes to keep Jace under his control. Clary is the only other person on Earth to also have angel blood in her (though not intended by Valentine), which means they share a bond in the blood of the angel Ithuriel, and that blood calls them to each other, allowing a deeper relationship to develop over that first trust connection. Jace is incredibly curious about Clary at first sight, and can’t get her out of his head, until a Ravener Demon almost kills her (Clary killing it first), and he decides to take her to the Institute, where he tells her about the Shadow World, after saving her from poisoning, and their quest to find her abducted mother (by Valentine) and story together begins. PREVIOUS RELATIONSHIPS: No serious one, though a series of hook ups, specially with the Fairy Folk, noticeably the one faerie that worked as a maidservant at Taki’s, his favorite Downworld diner, Kaelie Whitewillow. For my portrayal of Jace, this fooling around will have included some level of physical intimacy, but he won’t have had penetrative sex up to the point he meets Clary, as intimacy and trusting anyone that wasn’t a Lightwood, has always been hard for him. That is also the reason why I consider it my canon that Jace and Isabelle had their first kiss with each other, in an innocent, trusting manner, when they were both young.

IMPORTANT EVENTS:

When Jace was still in his mother’s womb, he was experimented on with Angel Blood, more specifically Ithuriel’s blood, by Valentine, without his mother’s knowledge (in the books by mixing it in her food, in the show by injection). Valentine later, after the uprising, had Jace’s parents killed and the boy was taken from his dead mother’s womb by him with the help of Hodge Starkweather, and only survived due to his angel blood. It was spread the story that Céline had killed herself after the death of her husband, however we know that is not true and Hodge was, in fact, the one who killed her at 8 months pregnant, something he never forgave himself for. There’s no proof about Stephen’s death (he died in battle), but I wouldn’t put it past Valentine to have orchestrated it, since he wanted to raise Jace, himself. 

At age 10, he witnessed what he thought was Valentine’s (then posing as Michael Wayland) murder, by the hands of the Circle, something that marked him forever, and was then sent by the Clave to America and the New York Institute, by ship, where he was taken in by the Lightwoods and raised by them.

In his early adolescence, 14-15 years old, he asked Alec Lightwood to become parabatai with him, and Alec, after taking a day to consider it, said yes. A ceremony was had where their souls were bonded as one by Angel Magic. 

Meeting Clary Fairchild, Jace immediately sensed a connection between them, and it was interest at first sight. His feelings for her smacked him on the face hard and quickly, and he felt like he belonged by her side, in some inexplicable way. Later he thought for a brief period that was due to finding out she was his sister. But in reality it was due to their shared Ithuriel blood, which made them the only two creatures alike in the world.

The death of his brother Maxwell Lightwood, marked him as the rest of his family, but for him, it made him realize this war would not have an end until Valentine and Sebastian were both dead, and he understood it was up to him to accomplish it, with the gifts of angel blood Valentine, himself, had forced on him. After Max’ funeral, he goes over to Clary to say goodbye, and leaves her the Morgenstern ring as he leaves to what he believes is the death of his father but also his own.

At the end of the first war, Jace was killed by his father, Valentine, as he had managed to kill Sebastian, himself, and found Valentine in time to stop him from raising Raziel and slaughtering the adult population of Shadowhunters. He was intent on killing his father, as much as it pained him, because he knew the right side was that of the Lightwoods, and genocide was not the answer. He believed he had the upper hand, however, Valentine surprised him by calling upon the discarded Soul Sword, and making it run through his heart. As he died, Valentine held him and apologized, saying he had no other way, and couldn’t let even Jace stop his plans. Later, the angel Raziel kills Valentine, something he’s allowed because of Clary’s change to the ritual runes on the ground, and Clary uses her one command / wish from the angel to bring Jace back to life.

When he had his life bound to Sebastian Morgenstern with a demonic parabatai bond, he did and said things he still regrets, specifically killing an ex Iron Sister, under the influence of Sebastian’s will, but he also got to know the boy in a way he never expected, and both things still haunt him after Sebastian’s death. He understood better the bond between them made by suffering under Valentine’s raising and loving the man at the same time, and how Sebastian thought he had stole his life. At the same time, he hated himself for being the channel through which Sebastian could be brought back from the dead, and thought he owed it to the world to die, so he could take Sebastian back with him, and the world back to balance.

Having the Heavenly Fire trapped inside him, when Clary stabbed him to break his bond to Sebastian, was the most euphoric, powerful, and dangerous he’s ever felt.

MY JACE HERONDALE HEADCANONS COMPILATION

ARRESTS?: In the books, Jace was arrested by Imogen Herondale, the Clave’s Inquisitor twice, first he was sent to the City Of Bones, after he was discovered to be Valentine’s son, and fell under suspicion of treason when he denied knowing his father’s plans or whereabouts, and refused to answer the Inquisitor’s questions (in her eyes). However his father’s invasion and subsequent slaughter of the Silent Brothers, made it so Jace was “rescued” by Clary and the Lightwoods and transferred to Magnus Bane’s tutelage. He was arrested by the Inquisitor again, at Luke Garroway’s home, after it was discovered Imogen had put a tracking device on him, and found out that he’d gone to see his father, in his ship, while Magnus was busy healing Luke and Maia Roberts from demon attacks. She put him in a Malachi configuration (a sort of energy cell) and he almost lost both his hands to the fire cuffs she left on him. She intended to kill him in front of Valentine (under the disguise of trading him for the Mortal Instruments) but Jace escapes by discovering his ability to jump several feet in the air, after encouraged to do so by Alec, whom believed he could.

In the show, Jace was arrested by Clave Envoy, Victor Aldertree, after he was rescued from Valentine’s ship (where he had been taken to by force) by Clary Fairchild, under suspicions of treason, and that Jace was in in his father’s plans and had been a spy for him all along. During such arrest he underwent trial, where under the compelling of the Soul Sword (one of the Mortal Instruments), he was forced to admit he couldn’t truthfully pledge his allegiance to the Clave, though not because of his father, and that his love for Clary Fairchild was not that of a sibling. 

PRISON TIME?: A couple of days (show), a week or so (books).

OCCUPATION & INCOME

PRIMARY SOURCE OF INCOME: Resources/Payment from being a Shadowhunter. SECONDARY SOURCE OF INCOME: None. TERTIARY SOURCE(S) OF INCOME: None. APPROXIMATE AMOUNT PER YEAR: Unknown. CONTENT WITH THEIR JOB (OR LACK THERE OF)?: Being a Shadowhunter is everything to Jace, it’s what he knows, and what he was raised to be. Valentine raised him to be a soldier, a warrior, and as much as he grew, it was always a big part of him. He wouldn’t know how not to be a shadowhunter, and is most at ease when out in missions, killing demons and protecting the innocent. PAST JOB(S): None. SPENDING HABITS: Jace is known to occasionally spend money on himself, with high priced clothes, such as his favorite leather jacket, but other than that he lives a fairly spartan life and has very few belongings that were all passed on to him by his families. MOST VALUABLE POSSESSION: Jace has a few special possessions. His only remanescent toy (a wooden soldier) was given to Max Lightwood by him when he first got to the Institute. One of the daggers his father gave him, which was a family heirloom, he gave to Clary during their first mission. He gave his Morgenstern ring (that he thought was for Wayland) also to Clary when he left in a suicide mission to kill his father, saying in a letter that he still couldn’t bear to see the heirloom lost, and from then on Clary wore it on a chain around his neck. But later he was given a Herondale family ring by his ancestor, and he had the Lightwood crest engraved in it, in its inside loop and wore it on his finger. He also has a collection of other weapons, and a collection of poetry books that he treasures (poetry and music being both his passion). All in all, it is said in COA that all of his belongings reunited fit in a single duffel bag, which he takes with him when Maryse tries to make him run from the Institute, so to be safe from the Inquisitor.

SKILLS & ABILITIES

Nephilim physiology: Being Nephilim, Jace possesses a variety of enhanced physical and mental abilities granted to him by the angelblood of Raziel in his veins and also by the angelic Marks of the Gray Book. This includes enhanced strength, speed, agility, stamina, and coordination, which continue to improve over time and practice. (x)

Angelic blood empowerment: While all Shadowhunters have the angel Raziel's blood in them, the fact that he has even more, directly extracted from Ithuriel as a result of Valentine's experiments while he was still in his mother's womb, contributes to his superiority in certain fields and other enhanced aspects beyond the normal Shadowhunter parameters. (x)

Parabatai bond: Due to his parabatai bond with Alec Lightwood, Jace is able to call on more strength in battle. The runes drawn on him by Alec also give a considerably stronger effect. (x)

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: Great physical strength, considerably bigger than the average shadowhunter (only topped by Sebastian M.), and that may be enhanced by runes. OFFENSE: Jace is thoroughly an offensive soldier. He was trained to be on the front lines and lead the charge / attack. He is an expert hand-to-hand combatant, and an expert swordsman, due a lot to Valentine’s training, to his own angel blood, to the Lightwood training and his own dedication to it. He will always be the first one to attack, and will put himself in front of his comrades without thought. He will charge at enemies in a manner that is considered reckless for many and brave in equal measure. He likes the back up, but he prefers to be the one in the heat of battle. A lot of it is at first due to his not valuing his own life, but valuing everyone else’s, and later because he feels he needs to atone for what his father has done and what he’s one while under demonic, and then Sebastian’s, influences.  SPEED: Great speed, considerably bigger than the average shadowhunter (only topped by Sebastian M.), and that may be enhanced by runes. Jace is said to be the fastest shadowhunter of their time and Clary often describes his movements as a blur, Maia also described him moving as though he was there one moment and across the room in the next. Few people can keep up with even watching him as he moves about. INTELLIGENCE: Highly intelligent and intuitive, has, as mentioned above, a huge content of knowledge, in all areas of study, is extremely well-read on the classics of literature. ACCURACY: Jace’s accuracy was born from Valentine’s zero tolerance policy about error. He learned that making mistakes was not acceptable and had no choice but become confident on his own abilities and trust his instincts, to have his natural knack guide him. It is fairly respected, and he strikes to kill, when fighting demons. AGILITY: Jace’s agility and speed go hand in hand, he’s as agile and graceful as he is fast, doing things both with speed and precision.  STAMINA: Great stamina, considerably bigger than the average shadowhunter, and that may be enhanced by runes. Jace, much like his parabatai can run on low battery for a long time if need be. Though much more because, his distortion of how much he can take, comes from his infancy with Valentine, and his constant need to test and strain Jace to his limits. Jace’s angel blood also allows him to fight for a long time before he runs himself to the ground, and he doesn’t need much food or rest to keep going. TEAMWORK: Jace is good with teamwork, as long as he’s allowed to be somewhat in the lead, or agrees with the leadership and their plan. Having to follow orders, or be under someone else’s command is sometimes very frustrating for him, as he has his own ideas of right, wrong, and how to be more efficient, or what is reckless or not. He’s good at commanding a group, but not always at being under one. TALENTS: Expert swordsman, expert hand-to-hand combatant, plays the piano quite well. SHORTCOMINGS: Following rules, preserving his life, being cautious, allowing others to be at risk, thinking a plan through. LANGUAGE(S) SPOKEN: Romanian, Latin, Ancient Greek, Italian, French, and some more languages. DRIVE?: No. But later learns to drive a demonic flying motorcycle quite well (not before crashing it spectacularly with Clary). JUMP-STAR A CAR?: No. CHANGE A FLAT TIRE?: No. RIDE A BICYCLE?: Yes. SWIM?: Yes. PLAY AN INSTRUMENT?:  Yes, the piano. PLAY CHESS?: Yes. BRAID HAIR?: No. TIE A TIE?: Yes. PICK A LOCK?: Yes.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE & CHARACTERISTICS

FACE CLAIM: Dominic Sherwood (both book and show wise) EYE COLOR: Gold  (both book and show wise). HAIR COLOR: Blond. HAIR TYPE/STYLE: Falling on his eyes, curly (book). Straight and cut short on the sides, long on the top, falling on his eyes (show). GLASSES/CONTACTS?: No. DOMINANT HAND: Left. HEIGHT: 5′11′’ feet (or 180 cm) WEIGHT: Unknown. BUILD: Slim, muscular build. EXERCISE HABITS: Constant because of his daily training of his shadowhunter skills. SKIN TONE: White but golden, sun kissed. TATTOOS: None, however, his runes (permanent show wise, and temporary book wise) can be considered or seen as tattoos, in which case, he has them on his entire body, specially torso, neck and arms. PIERCINGS: None. MARKS/SCARS: Many. Even for an average shadowhunter, Jace has plenty of scars from training, battling, and specially from his childhood and also reckless behavior in battle. After his father’s death, Jace reminisces about how the first time he truly realized his father was gone, was when he hadn’t had any fresh scars or bruises on his body for a few days. And book-wise, he has scars left by the runes when they disappear, since they burn the skin. Jace also has a scar on his neck (book) and his wrist (show) from where Simon bit him when he offered him his blood. He has scars around his wrists from the fire cuffs Imogen put on him, and Clary seems to often notice one on his cheek. He also has a chipped tooth (left incisor). NOTABLE FEATURES: Striking gold eyes, specially for his angel blood. Feline/Leonine features, with slightly wider apart eyes than usual, a narrow mouth and a strong jaw. He is described as particularly attractive, in a very noticeable way. USUAL EXPRESSION: Charming, smirking / smiling, smug. CLOTHING STYLE: Jace likes clean but well fit and cut outfits, such as his leather jackets, white and black shirts, and leather boots. He has a very James Dean style. JEWELRY: Morgenstern family ring, later the Herondale family ring with a Lightwood inscription. ALLERGIES: None. BODY TEMPERATURE: Warmer than average due to his angel blood. DIET: Highly inconsistent, on both the type of food and the constancy of it. He loves moo shu pork and mangoes, hates cucumber, as well as bergamot and Earl Grey tea (because he says most are not “real” Earl Grey). He likes cheese sandwiches and apples. He loves Maryse’s cooking. He stops eating when under stress, and often forgets to eat when focused on missions or anything else. He becomes noticeably skinny when under anxiety and panic attacks in CoFA. PHYSICAL AILMENTS: None.

PSYCHOLOGY

JUNG TYPE: ENFP ENNEAGRAM TYPE: Types 3 and 8. The Achiever ( Ego fixation: Vanity. Holy idea: Hope, Law. Basic fear: Worthlessness. Basic desire: To feel valuable. Temptation: Pushing self to always be "the best". Vice/Passion: Deceit. Virtue: Truthfulness, Authenticity. Stress: 9. Security: 6.). The Challenger ( Ego fixation: Vengeance (Objectification). Holy idea: Truth. Basic fear: Being harmed, controlled, violated. Basic desire: Self-protection. Temptation: Thinking they are completely self-sufficient. Vice/Passion: Lust. Virtue: Innocence. Stress: 5. Security: 2.) MORAL ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Good. TEMPERAMENT: Mix of Sanguine and Choleric. ELEMENT: Fire. PRIMARY INTELLIGENCE TYPE: Interpersonal. APPROXIMATE IQ: Unknown. MENTAL CONDITIONS/DISORDERS: PTSD. Abuse survivor. Anxiety. Deep distrust in his capacity to love, and specially to be loved for who he is, not his perfect mask. Believes and was told by the one person he knew in the first ten years of his life that he will destroy everyone he allows to love him in his life. Loyalty to his abuser / incapacity to discern abuse to some point. Craves physical punishment in a completely unhealthy way and it doesn’t help him feel better. Can overlook other people’s needs if they are not immediate and the mission is more important, but will definitely overlook his own, for days on end, when in cycles of anxiety and depression. Strong suicidal tendencies, and recklessness throughout his life. Extreme sense of guilt. SOCIABILITY: Jace is apparently very sociable, and will engage easily with new people on a superficial level. He can have a rather aggressive approach if those strangers are in his way or in the way of what he believes to be the right thing, but he will not harm an innocent, and he will give his all to protect them even if he doesn’t agree with them. He finds it easy to charm people and is very outgoing, whenever it doesn’t involve intimacy. He has little trouble expressing what he’s thinking or what he thinks is right, as long as it doesn’t involve his feelings, with people he distrusts. He’s blunt and forward, but can be alluring if he has to. Alec sent him in his place to the Seelie Court in City Of Bones, because he knew he could be “a lot more charming than himself”, and charm the Queen in the right way to achieve their goals. EMOTIONAL STABILITY: Jace has a good grip on his emotions, or on hiding them, but it doesn’t mean they are stable. If it involves the people who matter to him, he can get easily riled up, as that is his weakest point, but otherwise, when taunted by a rival, he is hard to crack or give up if the latter is attacking him personally. He has little to no care about himself when regarding his health or survival, and will challenge an opponent, no matter his chances to win, if he has to, wants to, or feels in the need to have guilt beat out of him. He is extremely good, however, at concealing and or distracting from his instability.   OBSESSION(S): Not ruining the people he cares about / around him, making things right, avenging his father (up to finding the truth), following his morals, no matter the cost to himself, being the best, atoning for his father’s sins (after finding the truth), and whatever he believes to be his own sins.  COMPULSION(S): Sacrificing himself for the greater good.  PHOBIA(S): Being abandoned. Ducks. ADDICTION(S): None. DRUG USE: None. Some faerie drugs, once unknowingly (in a scone bought at a cafe), and other recreational, while under Sebastian’s will. But generally none.  ALCOHOL USE: Jace is not exactly a heavy drinker (despite show portrayal), his escapes are more physical and danger, than alcohol, it’s not something that is routine for him, however, he can hold his liquor when he does drink. He enjoys wine once in a while, for the pleasure of drinking it. PRONE TO VIOLENCE?: Yes, when he feels it’s righteous to attack, or when he needs to defend someone, or rarely when he’s tried to instigate a fight against himself. However, he will not engage in violence for violence, and detests to hurt others that are innocent in any way. His violent tastes (when he enjoys them) are towards either people attacking him or ones he love, or demons.

MANNERISMS

SPEECH STYLE: Talks smoothly and in blunt phrases but making use of wordplay. Is usually forward but still likes to embellish his speech a lot, normally for humor, sarcasm, flirting, or when he’s quoting something else. Babbles on purpose when he’s being difficult or playful, or trying to stall. Says people’s names and nicknames a lot, as though to keep their attention focused, sometimes speaks in direct orders but mostly in a charming way. Is decisive and never stutters, rarely jumbles his words, and only cuts himself off when he’s specially frustrated. ACCENT: Jace has a residual Idris accent, that sounds slightly British, he also uses some British words or expressions once in a while, but he’s lost most of it while growing up in New York. QUIRKS: Smirks a lot, has a feral/feline/smug smile, crosses his arms when wanting to show security in himself, has a swag about him, and his speech and movements are graceful and fluid, but strong.  HOBBIES: Reading, training, playing the piano, writing, riding, nature-watching.   HABITS: Keeping the place he lives in and his possessions clean and tidy, as way to try and hold control over life. NERVOUS TICKS: Runs his hands through his hair when he’s nervous, and looks away when he’s embarrassed. Tightens his jaw and purses his lips to hide stronger emotions. Rubs his face when he wants to cry. Raises both eyebrows when he’s challenging. Smiles more the more irritated he feels, if not with someone that is close to him. Demonstrates his frustration in his head shakes and often his body language contradicts his words. DRIVES/MOTIVATIONS: Doing what’s right, saving the innocent, avenging the wronged, fighting whatever threatens the good in the world, keeping those he cares about safe above even their own will at times, challenging even those that are close to him if it’s the right thing to do. Avenging his father (before finding out the truth), Defeating his father (after finding out the truth). FEARS: Destroying the good around him just by being him. Being left by those he cares for. Not being worthy of the love they have for him. Being more soldier/demon than human, being broken by Valentine. Having no control over the results of his actions, or over his rage when challenged. Being a killer.  POSITIVE TRAITS: Loyal, Enthusiastic, Brave, Resilient, Determined, Obstinate, Forward, Charming, Caring, Curious, Excitable, Protective, Family-Oriented, Moral, Loving, Affectionate, Respectful, Obedient, Easy-going, Gentle, Intense, Bold, Compassionate.  NEGATIVE TRAITS: Self doubting, Reckless with himself, Speaks before he thinks, Thinks Love and Pain are connected, Can hurt people even close to him when being forceful to get keep them safe, Has difficulty establishing deep connections, with rare exceptions, Will almost never trust someone’s love for him (i.e. had no idea Maryse cared for him as much as she did for his children before the resurface of Valentine), Believes everyone’s lives are more valuable than his own. Can be conceited and arrogant in his beliefs, though it’s mostly a cover up for his extremely Low Self Steem.  SENSE OF HUMOR: Sarcastic, ironic, dirty, forward, fun, intelligent, dismissive. DO THEY CURSE OFTEN?: No. Jace rarely curses if at all, using witty remarks instead. CATCHPHRASE(S):  “No ‘thank you’ for saving your life?” “Stop apologizing.” “This (I am) is the best chance we(you) got.” “What’s the fun in that?”  “It means 'Shadowhunters: Looking Better in Black Than the Widows of our Enemies Since 1234'.” “Who wants to do me?” “I like our odds.” FAVORITE QUOTE: “There is no pretending, I love you,and I will love you until I die,and if there's a life after that,I'll love you then." FAVORITE QUOTE (ABOUT): “Now very much against her will, she thought of the way Jace had looked at her then, the blaze of faith in his eyes, his belief in her. He had always thought she was strong. He had showed it in everything he did, in every look and every touch. Simon had faith in her too, yet when he'd held her, it had been as if she were something fragile, something made of delicate glass. But Jace had held her with all the strength he had, never wondering if she could take it--he'd known she was as strong as he was.”  — Clary Fairchild.

FAVORITES

ACTIVITY: Thrill-seeking, reading. ANIMAL: Horses. BEVERAGE: Wine, juice. BOOK: Classics. CELEBRITY: None. COLOR: Gold. DESIGNER: None. FOOD: Maryse’s cooking. FLOWER: Midnight Flower. GEM: Witchlight Stone. HOLIDAY:  Shadowhunters don’t specially have holidays, but Christmas when celebrated. MODE OF TRANSPORTATION: On foot, mostly. Sometimes the subway. Sometimes his (stolen) flying motorcycle. MOVIE: None. MUSICAL ARTIST: Bach. QUOTE/SAYING: “To love is to destroy. And to be loved is to be the one destroyed.” SCENERY: Countryside. SCENT: Something fresh and clean, soap. SPORT: Wrestling. SPORTS TEAM: None. TELEVISION SHOW: Project Runway (when at Magnus’ loft). WEATHER: Summer. VACATION DESTINATION: Idris.

ATTITUDES

GREATEST DREAM: Being worthy of the love he’s given, Seeing his loved ones happy, Seeing the world safe, Saving the innocent, Being good. GREATEST FEAR: Being evil, destroying those he loves, failing. MOST AT EASE WHEN: Surrounded by people he trusts, having fun. LEAST AT EASE WHEN: Cornered or Being controlled. WORST POSSIBLE THING THAT COULD HAPPEN: Death of his family / significant other. Being abandoned. Causing the death of family / significant other. BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT: Confronting Valentine. BIGGEST REGRET: Things he did under Sebastian’s influence. MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT: When Valentine confronted him about his love for Clary (book). When Aldertree forced him to confess about his love for Clary (show). BIGGEST SECRET: Feeling loyal to Valentine even after knowing everything. TOP PRIORITIES: Keeping his loved ones / innocents safe. Making sure things are going the right way. Being the best he can be at his job in his own judgement.

adapted from