#Jace does prose

[ladyhindsight]

We are doing this again. Unlike with City of Bones, the revisions in City of Ashes deal more with narrative mistakes being corrected and some utterly incomprehensible changes rather than the world-building being so blatantly unprepared that it needed to undergo full-on metamorphosis.

Here I've compared three different e-book versions of City of Ashes, one of which I presume is the original 2008 text, one that is the 2015 edition, and one I quite frankly have no idea which it is but most likely somewhere in-between the other two. This, I figured out so smartly, is because some things have remained unchanged as in the 2008 edition, but it also includes later changes that have been made in the 2015 edition which are not present in the original text.

I was looking for a nicely formatted file and then noticed by chance that these three are all different. While I understand and know that it is perfectly normal for a book to undergo changes and corrections throughout different editions, I am no less confused by some most of these.

And here we have one of the many boomerangs because what. Why. The second one was the best because now you've just repeated the word 'floor' unnecessarily, so it sounds just dumb:

→ he strode across the floor, his boots echoing against the floor

The prose has truly peaked.

Here's a good example of how some changes made after the original release are also in the 2015 edition but not in the original text, which places the 2010? release in-between the two. In some cases the 2008/2010? are the same but 2015 one different.

→ Daniel was first Maia's twin brother but was then changed to an older one. It's a minor change but also inane. Because what does it matter, why couldn't Daniel be Maia's twin?

→ Maia's character being introduced with her full name is better.

→ Where did the mahogany go?

It's gone as it should. In City of Bones it is said that "in the center of the room sat a magnificent desk. It was carved from a single slab of wood, a great, heavy piece of oak that gleamed with the dull shine of years."

It was oak. So you just couldn't replace 'mahogany' with 'oak' then? So you just deleted it altogether? Okay.

Another boomerang. Let's go with 'body'. No, let's change it to 'form'. No, let's go with 'body' again.

I am left with the impression that Clare didn't know what to do with this interaction/scene or what she wanted from it, neither did she think how it would fit the structure of the part I of the book, because how are all these so different. Sorry, it's early. No, sorry, it's late. No, I'll tell you what, sorry for waking you up at all, really.

TIME. The scene before this is Luke, Clary, and Simon having dinner at Luke's some time after the episode caused by Jace in Hunter's Moon (Chapter 2 "Hunter's Moon"). It's the same day the book began. This part of the chapter that begins with Jace being woken up and then meeting the Inquisitor in the Institute Library intercepts that scene. The Inquisitor accosts Jace and then decides to take in to the Silent City as a prisoner. Then we get back to Luke, Clary, and Simon. Clary is helping Luke "clean up the remains of dinner" when Maia comes over. Simon and Maia talk and once Simon returns to the kitchen, it is said that "The smell of cold night air came in with him." It's the same day as the book began. It is night. Simon and Clary talk about tomorrow and prepare for bed. Then in the next chapter begins with Jace's held in a cell in the Silent City. Then we cut to Simon and Clary making out as they haven't gone to sleep yet. The narrative structure doesn't give any reason to think these scenes aren't happening somewhat concurrently. Especially when Clary then receives a message from Isabelle which reveals Jace has been taken away. When Clary, Isabelle, and Alec go rescue Jace, and the Conclave meet them outside, it is still night. ("The sun couldn't have risen yet--could it?" / "despite the witchlight illuminating the night.")

→ Jace couldn't have woken up 5 a.m. because he would've slept through the night and it would've been the next day, meaning the scenes with Clary happened previous evening/night, which doesn't make sense to write them in such order. Also it would've been morning already once Jace was rescued from the Silent City. This was corrected tooo..

→ Midnight, which makes more sense narrative-wise and structurally, because why insert scenes with Jace that take place in the small hours of the next, if the scenes with Clary are still the previous day and the events cross when Clary gets the message from Isabelle? So instead here Jace has merely taken an evening nap.

→ Eventually removing any indication of time propably gave more flexibility to the interpretation as to how long all of this took to happen. Which was still the one and the same night but whatever.

ALEC'S EXCUSES. There are three and they all mean different things.

→ First Alec has stayed up all night, not even trying to go to sleep. He looks tired, which by the following conversation they have could be also interpreted as him being worried about the situtation surrounding Jace.

→ Alec tried to sleep, and the rest is the same. Not that different, so I don't get why change it at all. Maybe Alec not getting sleep despite trying underlines his worrying.

→ Alec straight up says he went out. The 2015 edition removes all of the previous indications because how dare anyone else have dark shadows under their eyes but Jace. How dare Alec look like he might have something to worry about. Nay! He was with Magnus.

Also, Clary trying to rewrite history by having Jace seek out Alec? Also, "friend"? How about brother or, better yet, parabatai?

→ "They came" and "they explained" were erraneous to begin with since Maryse tells Isabelle (Jace and Alec as well) in the first chapter that Robert was "unfortunately [...] still in Alicante."

→ I don't know whatever that mess in between is, but in the 2015 version Clare seems to have sorted it out.

Boomerang. At this point in the story, the only Downworlders drained of their blood was the warlock Elias, who appears in the prologue. The werewolf cub that was killed in the allie was never drained. ("It seems whoever murdered the werewolf was intercepted before the blood could be taken..." -Maryse to Luke in chapter 3 "The Inquisitor")

→ As a side comment: It was a wild goose chase in the sense that this mission did not need the whole Conclave attending to it and leave the Institute utterly unmanned especially if someone needed to contact them.

I don't understand why.

Added badassery.

Added a nice explanation and rules to the creation of vampires.

This was also an error to begin with, because just couple paragraphs before it is literally said that "Clary yanked the blade back" in each version. She already did it, which it is only reasonable the sentence was eventually removed.

Simon's love for Clary watered down, which I think is for the better. This is also relevant in a later part here...

Another thing I don't understand why.

This was also an error (depending on the interpretation). In this scene, before this part, Jace already closes his eyes once but opens them up. Without shutting his eyes again, him not seeing Valentine rather reads like he's so far away in his thoughts that he doesn't "see" him. But as this was corrected by adding the sentence about Jace shutting his eyes again, it probably was just an error.

→ 2008: Magnus was healing Maia, because Luke was outside being attacked by the demons that Jace and Clary went to investigate and then dispatched. Luke was brought in after the attack and Magnus healed him then. I can't help but wonder how Clare (or her editor for that matter) couldn't keep up with what was happening in the story.

Clary couldn't have been worse off because Magnus didn't have a chance to go help them while he was supposedly healing Luke inside the house while Luke was lying outside on a riverbank. So that was reasonably removed.

→ 2010?: Luke was corrected to Maia because that's who Magnus was actually healing. Only problem here is that only one of the lines were changed, and the "you would have died" is still inaccurate since Magnus couldn't have helped Luke before the demons were killed and he was brought inside to be healed.

→ 2015 is finally correct.

→ the person you love/someone I love were all corrected accordingly.

→ the blue part, however, was wrong in the same book, because if we return back to that part, Simon actually says you know what the worst feeling I can imagine is. Not the worst feeling you can have is.

This was also an error because Jace had given Clary his jacket and he only had the shirt on. It was also made a point since the demon shit had burned down his shirt sleeve pm his shoulder enough for Imogen to see his Herondale scar.

→ 2008 version never happened. The scene in City of Bones is the following:

Clary stepped back, but Jace stood very still as the glass rained around him, staring at the empty frame of the mirror. Clary had expected him to swear, to shout or curse at his father, but instead he only waited for the shards to stop falling. When they did, he knelt down silently and carefully in the welter of broken glass and picked up one of the larger pieces, turning it over in his hands.

and then, after no rocking back and forth in between (either in the original or revised version):

He said nothing, only whispered something under his breath. She couldn’t quite hear the words, but she reached out and took the bit of glass out of his hand. He was bleeding where he’d held it, from two fine and narrow gashes. She put the shard down and took his hand, closing his fingers over the injured palm. “Honestly, Jace,” she said, as gently as she’d touched him, “don’t you know better than to play with broken glass?” He made a sound like a choked laugh before he reached out and pulled her into his arms. She was aware of Luke watching them from the window, but she shut her eyes resolutely and buried her face against Jace’s shoulder.

It's like Clare imagined a whole other scene in City of Bones, recalled it while writing City of Ashes and kind of forgot that it wasn't how the scene even went.

Anyhoo. These are the ones I managed to catch. Ta ta.

[sylvan-librarian]

Nissa's Pilgrimage Part 3: Growing Pains and Gatewatching

She unfolded the topmost layer of the silk pouch, revealing the four small seeds. One by one she planted them in the holes she had dug. As she did, she whispered to them of her dreams for the forest they would one day become. She told them of the world they had come from, what Zendikar had been like, and what it had been through. And then she told them of the pyromancer, the telepath, and the fearless leader who had come to save them, who had made this world a safe place for them to grow. With a final breath, Nissa pressed her palm to the ground and reached into the land; there was one more thing to do. She brushed against the soul of Zendikar. She told it to take care of the seeds. But before it could respond, before it could pull her in, encircle her and hold her close, she lifted her hand, and with it her soul. "I will see you again," she said. "I promise." Then she stood up, moving away from the world she had known and toward the one that was waiting. — "Zendikar Resurgent"

Introduction

Hi! During part one of this essay series, I introduced Magic the Gathering’s Nissa Revane, iconic green (and blue ... and black) planeswalker and cinnamon roll with a tragic backstory (is Nissa actually a One Piece character?). I talked about my own connection to this character, why she means what she does to me, and where she comes from. During part two, I analyzed Nissa’s dual origins, why her original backstory was retconned into the aether, and how that has been interpreted over the years. For part three, I am going to explore how Nissa was characterized throughout the genesis of the Gatewatch story arc: Battle For Zendikar and Oath of the Gatewatch. 

Despite being roughly half a year in real time, this covers a lot of narrative ground, and as you’ll see, Nissa goes through a lot of growth during this single set; that Nissa herself goes through a metamorphosis in how she interacts with the world is a direct mirror how she is characterized by the Magic Story Team as they hone the craft of Magic storytelling. A lot Vorthoses at the time argued that Nissa’s characterization was weak and that the Nissa presented in the Battle for Zendikar block is single-minded to a fault, the only thing occupying her mind is the survival of Zendikar, the destruction of the Eldrazi, and: 

It’s easy to find the Nissa of this era a little boring and one-note, and the prose itself of the Battle for Zendikar block — famously a little lacking — does little to turn this around. 

However, underneath the veneer of sometimes poor writing, there is more than meets the eye with Nissa’s characterization. In fact, even though the Battle for Zendikar and Oath of Gatewatch stories function primarily as an Avengers-type origin myth, I would argue that Nissa is more-or-less the main character of the saga. The Eldrazi are free primarily because of Nissa’s mistake, and the action of the plot follows her attempt to rectify this. Many turning points in the story are due to her appearance: the liberation of Sea Gate, the entrapment of Ulamog, and most importantly, the destruction of the Eldrazi Titans themselves were only due to her influence on the situation. Nissa is also the character who goes through the most change: Gideon steps into his role as the charismatic, fearless leader he always wanted to be, Jace and Chandra both learn to shed their checkered past and become determined heroes heroes, despite whatever commentary any outside forces have on them, but Nissa … 

Nissa comes to terms with the grief that most of the violence and tragedy on Zendikar is due to her own error; she learns to shed the xenophobia that was ingrained in her by her Joraga upbringing; she learns that no matter how much of a ‘chosen one’ she is, she can’t win every battle on her own; and most importantly to the plot of future Magic stories, she learns to trust other people and embrace intimacy with other people rather than only with the spirits of the natural world. We are presented with a character on the brink of metamorphosis, and unlike the Nissa of old, she embraces the bonds she creates with others and blossoms into something new instead of rejecting them for the sake of austerity and wilting into stagnation.

Chapter 1: —Ashaya—

Before jumping into an analysis of Nissa’s characterization, let’s address the elephant in the room that was brought up earlier: the prose of the Battle for Zendikar block. In many places… it’s just not that great, and this had a significant impact on how Nissa was viewed in the Gatewatch’s early years. A lot of her stories suffer from endless repetition. One of the more infamous examples of this is in “The Silent Cry,” which is were the —Ashaya— memes were born:

When Nissa's breath came back it was in great gasps; she couldn't get enough air. The silence around her was heavy and oppressive. And her vision was dull. Ashaya. All she could think was Ashaya. Nissa reached out into the land to summon the elemental. But there was nothing there to grasp. Ashaya. She reached deeper, plunging her feeling into the land. But that was where the silence was coming from. Nissa's ears rang and the world spun. Ashaya. She dragged herself over to the pile of branches and mounds of dirt. Her trembling fingers flitted over the broken pieces. Which splinter of wood had been Ashaya's finger? Which leaf had grown from the top of her head? Where were the roots that had held her soul? Ashaya. The silence was overwhelming. Nissa staggered to her feet, but the sensation of vertigo sent her back down. She hit the ground with a hard smack. A sharp rock cut her cheek and a mound of dirt dug into her side. The land did not cradle her, it didn't protect her—it hurt. No. This made no sense. Ashaya.

What the author is clearly trying to do here is depict Nissa’s sense of loss at the disappearance of —Ashaya— an elemental being she (rightly) believes is the incarnation of Zendikar’s soul. One one hand, this goes a long way to show the reader how holistic Nissa’s approach to life is: in her world, the world itself has a literal soul and a life of its own that everyone living on it relies on, and this soul’s survival is tied to the survival of the planet itself. It also goes a long way to showing Nissa’s social mindset at the time; the Nissa of this era has spent decades by herself with only the ephemeral spirits of the plane to talk to, and its loss is paramount to losing the only friend she’s made in her last forty-or-so years on her own. On the other hand, however, this melodramatic sense of despair can feel a little trite because we, as readers, have seen what is going on in the broader world. Entire civilizations have been ground to dust in the last three years, and in just the previous story in the arc — “Slaughter at the Refuge” — Gideon and Jace return to Zendikar to a scene straight out of a war movie: 

And bodies—bodies were everywhere. Some looked like the casualties of any other war, blood soaking their chests and streaking their faces, limbs torn free, gore spilling from gaping gut wounds. But more—so many more—had partially crumbled away, leaving heaps of dust where heads or legs or arms had been. The smell of blood and entrails mixed with the carrion odor of the Eldrazi and turned Gideon's stomach.

The audience can logically parse exactly why Nissa is so upset at the loss of Ashaya: Ashaya has been her only real friend for a very long time, her way of life ties her to the spirit of the land itself, her magic is tied to the spirit of land itself, and she sees her partnership with Ashaya as her one real chance to free Zendikar of the horrors she is at least somewhat responsible for. However, the mawkishness that Nissa is written with in scenes like the one above from “The Silent Cry” can come off as trite when the audience is intimately aware of the broader ramifications of this worldwide conflict.

Chapter 2: Sentimental or Stagy?

Despite occasional missteps with the prose itself, however, Nissa’s character arc throughout the Battle for Zendikar stories is much stronger than many argued back in 2015 and 2016. I said earlier that many found Nissa in the Battle for Zendikar stories to be a little one-note and boring, and I would argue this is intentional. First of all, Nissa’s singularly-focused priorities are a realistic response to the situation she has found herself in. 

When we pick back up with Nissa in Battle for Zendikar, she has experienced her first victory after three years of utter defeat and hopeless despair, but she is far from feeling like she is able to save Zendikar from its destruction. As we see in “For Zendikar,” she is still on the verge of giving up hope. A vampire who knows her identity as a planeswalker approaches her with seeds from Zendikar’s native flora and petitions her to take these to another world so that at least some of Zendikar survives, and she heavily considers the prospect:

[S]he stood there in the empty, corrupted camp in the shadow of the elemental, the silk turning sweaty in her palm. She could feel the lives of the seeds within, the trees they might someday become—each of them a small part of Zendikar. So why should she feel guilty for wanting to save them? "Why shouldn't I at least try?" She looked to Ashaya. "I've been telling you all this time that I can't do what you want me to do." She paused, but of course Ashaya had no response. "But this, this is something I can do. At least this way you'll know," she tucked the silk into her pocket, "you'll know that Zendikar goes on. That will have to be enough."

Of course, not much later in the text, Nissa runs these thoughts back after she becomes able to commune with Ashaya, and by extension the soul of Zendikar itself. Her despair blossoming into hope, Nissa comes to understand the holistic nature of the world and all who live in it as she becomes one with nature:

Zendikar had not asked her to do this alone. It had not chosen her; there had been no choice to make. She was part of the world, connected to it like every other living thing. A tree does not choose a branch, the branch is merely part of the tree; it is one with the tree. When the tree grows, when the tree bends, or when the tree falls . . . so too does the branch. And when the branch rustles, when it sprouts leaves or bears fruit, so too does the tree. Nissa could not be chosen by Zendikar and she could not choose Zendikar, for she was one with Zendikar.

Seen in this light, the schmaltz in Nissa’s endless obsession with —Ashaya— comes off as intentional. Here is a woman utterly alone, on the verge of giving up, wracked with unbelievable guilt at the apocalypse her single act of mistrust wrought upon her world, but who has also now found a friend, a living soul to commune with in a way that does not require words (extremely comforting for a character like Nissa who struggles with communicating verbally), and hope: a means to protect her home and atone for her mistakes.

In short, Nissa’s single-minded fixation with her ideals, with —Ashaya— during the Battle for Zendikar is better characterization than many Vorthoses have given Magic’s creative team credit for. Ahsaya is Nissa’s only true friend in her last forty years, the soul of the world she loves but unintentionally injured, and the mechanism of her redemption. It’s much easier to read Nissa’s outbursts as pathos rather than melodrama when you take time to get to know her and where she has come from.

(Wait, was Kiora always in the Call the Gatewatch art?! Am I going crazy here?)

Chapter 3: Love or Loneliness?

That Nissa’s characterization as single-minded, obsessed, and off-putting was at least in some ways intentional is hammered home by the underlying message of her arc: Nissa’s worldview is flawed. The audience was never meant to take at face value the belief system of a character who rejects relationships with others for the sake of wordless communion an ephemeral worldsoul, who distrusts outsiders to a fault, and who has trouble acknowledging the human cost of this conflict when the greater good is at stake. This message is clear when you look at how Nissa gradually changes as she meets, befriends, and then commits to her friends and allies in the Gatewatch.

For example, throughout the Battle for Zendikar stories, Nissa sets herself apart from everyone else. In “Nissa’s Quest,” for example, we are told that she 

almost spun on the kor, she almost snapped, almost told him that Zendikar wasn't something you could "take back." Zendikar wasn't something that belonged to anyone. Not to the people, not to the Eldrazi, not even to the great Commander-General Jura. Zendikar, the real Zendikar, was simultaneously bigger than anything they could imagine and so much more intimate than they could ever understand. She almost told him that when they cried out—"For Zendikar!"—they didn't know what they were saying.

Elsewhere, she is belligerent when trying to create plans with her allies; when faced with Jace’s plant to trap the Eldrazi Titans, she responds like this:

"Trap?" Nissa, who had been hanging back, stood up straight. Her ears tilted and her glowing green eyes pierced Jace. "You said trap." "I did." Jace nodded. "One hedron alone isn't enough, but a complex network of hedrons can be aligned to bind the titan so it can't cause any more destruction. Once we trap it—" "No." Nissa pounded her staff into the ground. Oh, good. More antagonism. Jace was on a roll. "We do not trap it," Nissa's voice resonated with power. "The titans have been trapped here for too long. The world has been in pain for too long."

Of course, Nissa is highly principled and always sticks to her guns even in less apocalyptic situations, but this sort of antagonism belies her absolute certainty that only she knows the correct path forward. 

Compare this to the latter half of the Oath of the Gatewatch stories. In “Brink of Extinction,” instead of “almost snapping” at Jace when he rallies the troops with a “For Zendikar” rallying cry, she encourages it. In this same story, instead of “more antagonism,” Nissa enthusiastically trusts Jace’s plan and also becomes one of the only people in Jace’s life to ever invite him into her mind; after listening to Jace’s scheme, she responds like this: ‘“I can do it’ said Nissa, staring off toward some distant horizon. ‘How?’ She turned, as though she hadn't noticed Jace standing there. ‘It's complicated,’ she said. ‘Let me show you.’” This particular scene is important to the growth of both of these characters. Jace is used to people being terrified of his powers, and Nissa is used to communicating nonverbally, in spirit. For both of them, this is an intimate, vulnerable moment that hinges on an extreme amount of trust. It’s one of the highlights of the entire Battle for Zendikar saga. 

In Nissa’s case, showing vulnerability with another sentient mortal rather than with an ageless immortal worldsoul goes a long way to changing her outlook on the world, and this is only the first time this happens this story arc! The next time Nissa bares this much of herself to another person is in the climax of the entire saga. The ending of Oath of the Gatewatch is well-known at this point, but just to summarize: Jace’s and Nissa’s plan is to entrap the two Eldrazi Titans in a leyline pattern drawn and controlled by Nissa. Once that happens, Nissa can use the leyline prison to drain the Eldrazi’s essence back into Zendikar so that the plane can do to the Eldrazi what the Eldrazi have been doing to it for the past three years: consume them.

As expected, however, the plan goes awry. Zendikar doesn’t quite have enough mana left to accomplish this task, and the trauma of this threatens to destroy everything. Fellow planeswalker ally Kiora attempts to take things into her own hands and stop the process by hurling a tidal wave on the Gatewatch to stop them from keeping Titans chained to Zendikar. Jace counters this spell, but the plan is still on the verge of falling apart when Chandra asks the group if she can attempt to destroy the Titans with her pyromancy. Not having another recourse, the rest of the Gatewatch agrees to let her try, but this also doesn’t work… at first:

The torrent of fire touched the contorted Eldrazi mass, but it wasn't nearly enough. Her fire could barely scratch the titans even when they were finite, discrete beings. She couldn't burn their epic entirety now, any more than she could burn an entire plane. In the corner of her eye she saw one of the floating islands tumbling out of the sky, and she realized with a tiny part of her mind that it would barrel right into her. Simultaneously, she could see the glyph glow bright, down in the basin, as the fire streamed across the titans' bodies. It was all falling apart. The glyph would expire soon. Her fury would expire soon. They would all die soon. She was barely conscious of Gideon leaping from the outcropping, blocking the landmass with his own body, of a shower of pebbles raining down as it broke against him. She just concentrated on hurling as much fire out as she could, even though it wouldn't be close to enough— Chandra felt a hand resting softly on her shoulder. And then she felt the mana of an entire world streaming into her. The leylines. Nissa had been the focus for all of Zendikar's fury, and now, with Nissa's touch, that fury poured into Chandra instead. Chandra was the focus now, the nexus that connected Zendikar to the titans. She knew she couldn't hold their reins as Nissa had done. So she tried something else. She screamed. And in her scream, she willed all of Zendikar's fury through herself, into her spell, into her fire. The leylines themselves caught fire, igniting like a spark hitting streams of fuel. Flames spiraled from Chandra into the streams of mana and branched out across the sky, following the paths of the leylines, enveloping the titans. Either Chandra was still screaming, or everything else was. The world flashed with a roar of apocalyptic orange, then went blinding white. Chandra's legs buckled, and she collapsed.

In the final moment, Nissa relinquishes control of the situation to someone else, an ally she just met literally a day ago. By combining their abilities, Nissa and Chandra are able to incinerate two entire Cthulhus in a singular blast. Without stepping out of the person she was before — mistrustful of outsiders, unwilling to attempt communication and vulnerability with other people — Nissa never would have done this. We are told that in this moment, the two women “connected in a way Nissa had never connected to another being, not even to the soul of Zendikar.” Even more so than the vulnerability Nissa shared with Jace, this moment changed Nissa’s life dramatically (tangentially, this moment was also extremely important in Chandra’s life, but we won’t learn about that until almost an entire year later). 

Pretty much immediately, Nissa softens from the person she was throughout the rest of this block. In “Zendikar Resurgent,” Chandra notices (💚and❤️likes💚) “the way [Nissa's] movements were gentle, her hands kind.” Nissa comes to recognize her aching need for companionship beyond that of the ephemeral spirits of wild and to embrace that even over the embrace of —Ashaya— : 

With a final breath, Nissa pressed her palm to the ground and reached into the land; there was one more thing to do. She brushed against the soul of Zendikar. She told it to take care of the seeds. But before it could respond, before it could pull her in, encircle her and hold her close, she lifted her hand, and with it her soul. "I will see you again," she said. "I promise." Then she stood up, moving away from the world she had known and toward the one that was waiting.

In choosing to leave her friend Zendikar behind, we see a reversal from the person she was at the beginning of this arc. The kindness, gentleness, and ride-or-die loyalty Nissa becomes known for in later stories like Kaladesh is not due to the Magic Story Team altering her characterization; Nissa grows into this kindness, gentleness, and ride-or-die loyalty as a result of what she experiences in the Battle for Zendikar.

Epilogue

If you made it this far, thanks! I started this little project to pass the time while job hunting and didn’t think anyone would be super interested in it, so if you’re getting anything out of this, it means a lot to me!

Next time, I’m probably going to skip Nissa in the Shadows over Innistrad stories (but I’ll reread them throughout the week to see if there’s anything in them worth talking about) and move straight into Kaladesh. There’s even more to say about Nissa in Kaladesh than there is here, so this one will almost certainly take longer than the two weeks I’ve been giving myself between posts. Between the myriad Gruulfriends moments and Nissa’s achingly beautiful friendship with Yahenni, there’s just so much to talk about here…

But thanks again!

References

Beyer, D. (2016). Zendikar’s Last Stand 

Digges, K. (2016). Brink of Extinction 

Kreines, K. J. (2015). For Zendikar 

Kreines, K. J. (2015). Hedron Alignment 

Kreines, K. J. (2015). Nissa’s Quest 

Kreines, K. J. (2015). The Silent Cry 

Magic Story Team (2016). Zendikar Resurgent 

Wyatt, J. (2015). Slaughter at the Refuge

[moonlit-endeavors]

#12 - Tooth and Nail - Monsters

((Actually based off an old RP with @locke-rinannis))

He had been preparing for this for a long time. 

What they called Blue Magic, he had been working on for a long time. He knew how to execute it, he’d been practicing, following theorems, and he’d gotten it wrong for years, but it was time.

He had found someone to bear witness, and even to help him with his studies. Surprisingly--he too, was masked. The two stared down the Ahriman before them, Jace was likely grinning behind his mask.

He handed his blonde-haired, masked friend a needle. 

“Should I become petrified by the Ahriman, you need only use this.”

The knight looked toward Jace, perhaps confused as to his motives.

“Do not worry, I have all confidence that I will survive. And, though we’ve only just met, you’ve an air about you, yes? Something strong and powerful. You’ll protect me, should anything go amiss. Ah,” he paused. “But it will not, yes?”

The knight shrugged, and nodded, and eventually gave in to the wishes of the eccentric mage. 

Jace snapped his fingers, releasing a bit of magic toward the Ahriman. Just enough to gain the attention of the voidsent. 

Enraged by him, the Ahriman immediately unleashed its magic, freezing Jace in place. Behind the mask, he smirked, even as he muscles tensed, and his body essentially became stone, he knew it was going all according to plan.

The knight swung his blade toward the Ahriman, keeping it at bay while he attempted to get close enough to administer the medicinal golden needle.

One needle touched would-be flesh, Jace began moving nearly immediately. He had seen--and felt--all he needed to see. As he looked the Ahriman in its eye, he unleashed the self-same magic back toward the flying one-eyed creature. It froze in place, falling to the ground.

“The magic will wear off,” He said, staring it down. His voice had a hint of excitement and pure confidence. “Why not strike it down now?”

The knight nodded and dealt the one and only blow he needed to get the job done.

[28onlythebrave]

'The Wicked Powers' theory regarding the plot based on Arthurian legend

I was looking for some infos about twp and i found this:

I had completely forgotten about this info CC gave us and because I have recently studied the Arthurian legend, I decided to look more into it. I think one of the most interesting things about the Arthurian legend is the Sword In The Stone/Excalibur.

Excalibur is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone (the proof of Arthur's lineage) are in some versions said to be different, though in most incarnations they are the same. In Welsh, it is called Caledfwlch. It was forged at the Isle of Avalon.

In Arthurian romance, a number of explanations are given for Arthur's possession of Excalibur. In Robert de Boron's Merlin, the first tale to mention the "sword in the stone", Arthur obtained the British throne by pulling a sword from an anvil sitting atop a stone that appeared in a churchyard on Christmas Eve. In this account, as foretold by Merlin, the act could not be performed except by "the true king," meaning the divinely appointed king or true heir of Uther Pendragon. As Malory related in his most famous English-language version of the Arthurian tales, the 15th-century Le Morte d'Arthur: "Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is rightwise king born." After many of the gathered nobles try and fail to complete Merlin's challenge, the teenage Arthur (who up to this point had believed himself to be son of Sir Ector, not Uther's son, and went there as Sir Kay's squire) does this feat effortlessly by accident and then repeats it publicly.

The identity of this sword as Excalibur is made explicit in the Prose Merlin, part of the Lancelot-Grail cycle of French romances (the Vulgate Cycle). In the Vulgate Mort Artu, when Arthur is at the brink of death he orders Griflet to throw the sword into the enchanted lake; after two failed attempts (as he felt such a great sword should not be thrown away), Griflet finally complies with the wounded king's request and a hand emerges from the lake to catch it. This tale becomes attached to Bedivere instead of Griflet in Malory and the English tradition. However, in the Post-Vulgate Cycle and consequently Malory, early in his reign Arthur breaks the Sword from the Stone while in combat against King Pellinore, and then is given Excalibur by a Lady of the Lake in exchange for a later boon for her (some time later, she arrives at Arthur's court to demand the head of Balin). Malory records both versions of the legend in his Le Morte d'Arthur, naming both swords as Excalibur. In some tellings, Excalibur's scabbard was also said to have powers of its own, as any wounds received while wearing the scabbard would not bleed at all, thus preventing the death of the wearer. For this reason, Merlin chides Arthur for preferring the sword over the scabbard, saying that the latter was the greater treasure. In the later romance tradition, including Le Morte d'Arthur, the scabbard is stolen from Arthur by his half-sister Morgan le Fay in revenge for the death of her beloved Accolon during the Fake Excalibur plot and thrown into a lake, never to be found again. This act later enables the death of Arthur, deprived of magical protection, many years later in his final battle.

Now, do you see the connections there?

The sword

There are many important swords in tsc such as, Cortana, Heosphoros, Pheosphoros and The Mortal Sword.

Cortana is based on the legendary sword Curtana, attributed to Ogier the Dane and the legendary knight Tristan. The real sword, Curtana, also known as the "Sword of Mercy", is a ceremonial sword used at the coronation of British kings and queens and is one of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. Cortana is owned by Emma Carstairs.

Heosphoros is a family sword of the Morgensterns, Clary was in possession of it until she used it to kill Sebastian and the Heavenly Fire destroyed it. However, both Heosphoros and Pheosphoros (which was owned by Valentine and then Sebastian) still exist in Thule and Janus is in possession of both of them, in fact, Heosphoros was likely never even owned by the Clary Fairchild of that world, nor was it used on Sebastian. Janus took possession of the sword at one point and began to wield it, and then he took the sword and Sebastian's Phaesphoros with him to Ash’s world (aka the “real” world).

The Mortal Sword also known as the Soul-Sword, Maellartach, and Angel Blade, is the second of the Mortal Instruments given by Angel Raziel to Jonathan Shadowhunter. The Soul-Sword is primarily used to compel Nephilim to tell the truth, mostly during trials. Shadowhunters who wish to have their claims tested and proved may submit themselves to "trial by the Sword," during which a suitable judge, often a Silent Brother, sometimes the Consul or Inquisitor, wields the sword and places it in the hands of the deponent, where it adheres and cannot be removed until the judge wills it. Downworlders and mundanes cannot be compelled by the Soul-Sword, thus preventing the Sword from becoming used by the Shadowhunters as a general tool for interrogation.

The Sword can also have a dark purpose, if intended. Originally, the alliance of the Soul-Sword is seraphic, its power drawn from Angel Raziel himself. However, Valentine Morgenstern discovered an ancient spell to reverse the alliance from angelic to demonic, through a process called the Ritual of Infernal Conversion, where the Sword is seethed until red-hot and cooled four times in the blood of Downworld children: a child of Lilith, a child of the moon, a child of the night, and a child of the fey. With its demonic alliance, the Sword can be used to summon demons and allows its bearer to have control over them.

In September 2012, the Sword was used to question Annabel Blackthorn, who subsequently used it to kill Robert Lightwood and Livvy Blackthorn. It was shattered when Emma struck it with Cortana. Emma and Julian later acquired a version of the sword from Thule, claiming that the Iron Sisters had repaired it and used it to force Horace Dearborn to tell the truth about his involvement with the Unseelie Court and his schemes to gain the position of Consul.

I believe that in twp we will see more of Heosphoros and Pheosphoros in use, but I also think we’ll have a new enchanted weapon, one that will rapresent Excalibur. But if the sword is a parallel with Excalibur, then who is Arthur? In my opinion, the owner of this enchanted weapon will be Kit Herondale and let me tell you why. Arthur was a normal teenage boy who wasn’t aware of his lineage until he pulled the sword out of an anvil. We have three main characters in twp, Kit, Ty and Dru. Guess who is the only one who didn’t know he was a shadowhunter and wasn’t aware of his lineage? Kit. Also, the Arthurian legend is Welsh folklore. Which shadowhunter family is of Welsh orings? Yeah, the Herondales.

I assume The Mortal Sword will once again come in hand, except that this time it's a thule version of it. Also, the only other person who has an analogue arc to Kit's is Clary, and that's why I think the both of them will play a big role in the killing of Janus. Especially if you think about when Jace was once killed with the mortal sword by Valentine.

The lake

In a version of the legend where the sword of the stone and Excalibur are two different blades, Arthur breaks the sword of the stone and is given Excalibur by the Lady of the Lake at the enchanted lake.

The correlation here is obvious, the enchanted lake in tsc is Lake Lyn, also known as the mortal mirror of mortal glass. Ingesting the lake's waters can be poisonous to Nephilim, but it has no effect on Downworlders. Faeries have been known to drink from the lake, saying that it gives them true vision; for the Nephilim, the water causes hallucinations and may even drive them to madness. Among the Fair Folk, the lake is known as the Lake of Dreams or Mirror of Dreams.

The Lady of the Lake is a name used by several fairy-like enchantresses in the Matter of Britain, the body of medieval literature and mythology associated with the legend of King Arthur. They play pivotal roles in many stories, including providing Arthur with the sword Excalibur, eliminating Merlin, raising Lancelot after the death of his father, and helping to take the dying Arthur to Avalon. Different sorceresses known as the Lady of the Lake appear concurrently as separate characters in some versions of the legend since at least the Post-Vulgate Cycle and consequently the seminal Le Morte d'Arthur, with the latter describing them as a hierarchical group, while some texts also give this title to either Morgan or her sister.

The Lady resides in an enchanted realm, an otherworld the entry to which is disguised as an illusion of a lake. I think she may be in fact the Seelie Queen. It would make total sense for it to be her because of her correlation with Kit (the only known living descendant of the First Heir of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts), Ash Morgenstern (the son she had with Sebastian, who is half shadowhunter and half faerie) and Janus (whom she has an alliance with).

According to her backstory in the Vulgate Merlin, the Lady of the Lake was a daughter of the knight Dionas (Dyonas) and a niece of the Duke of Burgundy. She was born in Dionas' domain of Briosque in the forest Brocéliande. Which takes us to the next point.

The forest

Brocéliande, earlier known as Brécheliant and Brécilien, is a legendary enchanted forest that had a reputation in the medieval European imagination as a place of magic and mystery. Brocéliande is featured in several medieval texts, mostly related to the Arthurian legend and the characters of Merlin, Morgan le Fay, the Lady of the Lake, and some of the Knights of the Round Table.

Here too the correlation is obvious, the forest in Idris is called Brocelind. In September 2012, a portion, specifically the center, of the Brocelind Forest was blighted with dark magic by the forces of the Unseelie King, making the area a space where Nephilim runes and adamas-weapons would be ineffective. Making it, in fact, an echanted forest, like in the legend.

Soooo these were some of my thoughts, if you found something more please let me know cause I really like all of this lol.

[rambleonspn]

Introducing: Ramble On

*be sure to check back to the original post for any updates *updated 11/29/20: ao3 link

Creator: Ely (@rocksalts) Scribe/co-creator: Jace (@thiscastielhasflown) as well as TFW 3.0 & the rest of the fandom 

*Note: as this project is currently in its beginning stages, any of the following is subject to change. this is simply a general overview meant to supply the basics of the project. it is by no means definitive, nor does it reflect specific plot for any chapter/episode. 

Status: in production; ongoing Rated: M (tbc) Format: prose (fanfic) & screenplay Genres: Horror, fantasy, slow burn Relationships: dean winchester/castiel, other pairings tbd Warnings: Depictions of violence, mentions of suicide and mental health topics, language, gore

summary below the cut

Summary: Ramble On is a fan-made re-write beginning around the end of season 5/the start of season 6 of the CW’s Supernatural and extending past the end of season 15. 

The story follows brothers Sam and Dean Winchester and their best friend (and angel) Castiel in their hunts against the supernatural, saving people from the monsters that plague the U.S. Ghosts, demons, vampires--you name it, they’ve killed it. The boys discover themselves along this journey of love and war, waging battles not only against Big Bad’s but within themselves, as well. Unfamiliar roads lead to new faces and the creation of bonds that cannot be broken. The road’s been tough, and the end is bleak, but with family on their side, Team Free Will can defeat any evil--even death itself. 

Follow us on our adventure of giving Supernatural the adaptation it deserves--where family doesn’t end in blood, love is always the most powerful weapon, and it is encouraged to always keep fighting. 

Ramble On will be posted to our ao3 *(TeamFreeWill3) as prose, as well as here on tumblr with separate posts including the summary and first few paragraphs of each chapter when they go up. Scripts will be posted on tumblr as well. If you’d like to be a part of our tag list, send us an ask (off anon) or comment on this post to be added! 

If you have any questions, refer to our FAQ page before submitting an ask. Thank you! 

[fictionalrambles]

Shadowhunters Fandom Story -  Part Three

Submitted by @notcrypticbutcoy

Five Favourite Stories

1. Magnus Bane’s School For Young Warlocks by @miasunri​

Why I love this fic: It’s a stunning piece to read. Max and Rafe (the kids) are featured prominently with single-dad Alec, and they feel like actual people with well-developed personalities - like real, authentic children - which is something that I almost always feel is missing from fics featuring kids. The mutual pining between Magnus and Alec is gorgeous, the tension is blissful, there’s a perfect blend of Actual Plot (the politics is SO GOOD) and Feelings, and I found myself just as invested in the relationships between Magnus and each of the kids as I was in Magnus and Alec. Magnus and Alec’s relationship blossoms like the petals of a flower unfurling. I cannot overemphasise how much I smile whenever I read this fic - except during the angsty parts, of course, but those are the best sort of hurt/comfort, and the drama always gets excellent payoff. This isn’t finished, but don’t shy away from it. It’s such a wonderful fic. 

Favourite Quote:

An ocean spreads under his feet and swallows him whole.  Jace goes up to stand with the newly wedded brides to deliver his speech, and Alec hears exactly none of it.  Magnus’s lips fill out into a cascading grin, lighting every inch of Alec’s body, from the root of his heart to the dendrites of each nerve, from his fingertips to the bottom of his feet.  The slowly sinking sun and the moon fill the lines on Magnus’s face, make the glitter shine and dive down into the depths of his cat eyes, reflecting all the flecks of yellow, even from here.

He’s beautiful.

This is one of many quotes in this fic that I adore, but it’s right before the culmination of weeks and months worth of tension. The chapter it’s from, and the couple following, are my favourites. 

2. Traveller by bumblebeesknees

Why I love this fic: This fic manages to marry light and heavy with absolute ease. It’s sweet and funny, in places (140 year old Max is an interdimensional bounty hunter who’s accidentally time-travelled - need I say any more?!) and incredibly serious and sad, in others (bounty hunter Max really misses his dad and wants validation of his life choices, okay?). I love the care and thought given to how the immortality issue is handled here - there’s no fix, but the emphasis is on love and communication now, to prepare for what’s to come. It helps that the prose is lovely and the dialogue extremely heartfelt! It’s a really touching piece, and it reads effortlessly. 

Favourite quote: 

“Because I love you, and I don’t want there to be any uncertainty as to what that means. I know you know that I care for you, that I would move heaven and earth for you – but you’re also a part of me. You know things about me that I had left buried for centuries, rekindled parts of my heart I thought had been burned to ashes. There’s no page in my life that doesn’t have your fingerprints on it, no hidden corners that you haven’t brightened with your presence. It took me four hundred years to find you and I’m not – it’s not going to happen again.”

Sue me, I have chosen the most sappy and self-indulgent quote possible. But the way it’s written is stunning and it hurts so good! 

3. Universes of You by giidas

Why I love this fic: I’ve waxed poetic about this fic a lot recently, and for good reason. Alec universe-hops and finds his life intertwined with Magnus’ in every one. Some of the universes are tragic, some are the epitome of a happy ending, and some made me laugh endlessly. My favourite detail that threads through every universe in this fic is that Alec always recognises Magnus, always knows him, always sees the many similarities, but he never smells quite right; he doesn’t quite smell like Alec’s Magnus. I thought that was a really beautiful touch. The end is agonisingly sweet, and so worth the pain. Alec’s relief when he gets home is palpable.

Favourite quote:

Alec lets his full weight settle on Magnus’ thighs, allows his muscles to relax. His nose is filled with sandalwood, the earthy smell of the remnants of the memory spell that still linger on Magnus’ skin and the salty tang of sweat. His hand has a mind of its own and is settling on Magnus’ neck, tilting his head back, exposing the line of his throat to Alec. The memory of the alternate Magnus, sheen of sweat on his skin, flashes through Alec’s mind, and he does what he wanted to do then, licks from the base of Magnus’ throat all the way to his ear, biting his earlobe, burying his nose there when he’s done. Magnus shudders, makes a soft hurt noise.

Like I said. The end is my favourite brand of comfort after a fic full of sweet sweet hurt.

4. as your sun sets (i know you in bleary-eyed 3AM) by @the-prophet-lemonade​

Why I love this fic: This is a slow-burn (as much as is possible in 50k), but it burns like the sun. One of my favourite things about this fic is the found-family feel, and how well-developed all the relationships are. It’s a Sense 8 AU, and it’s seamlessly merged with the SH characters. Magnus is enigmatic but endlessly kind, and Alec is prickly but cares deeply about the other characters. I love the friendship and shared desire to protect that underpins Magnus and Alec’s relationship in this. This fic is unique in how it made me feel while reading, and I urge everyone to curl up somewhere and immerse themselves in it. The storytelling is unparalleled and the prose is extremely rich.

Favourite quote: 

“I’ve been waiting for you to visit,” Magnus says, soft. “Man in my head.”

“I’m … sorry it’s taken so long,” Alec replies.

It’s extraordinary - existing in two places at once. Here, there, his own apartment - and then, where Magnus is. He wants to tell Magnus: you make me feel things I haven’t felt before, how is that possible? He holds that need tight against his chest. Magnus looks at him like he’s hung the sun in the sky. 

Alec doesn’t feel so broken anymore.

“Man in my head” and “3am” now trigger extreme emotion in me.

5. Hath No Fury by @trellanyx

Why I love this fic: A slightly different pick, but still my favourite theme of angst with a lovely payoff. Magnus in this fic is definitely a little bit morally grey, in a way, but it’s written so well. He’s uncompromising and unashamed about his desire to protect and enact revenge when those he loves are hurt. This slightly brutal characterisation of Magnus is one of my favourites, and I really love the exploration of his darker side. Alec’s gradual realisation of what Magnus is willing to do for him is lovely, too. 

Favourite quote: 

Magnus spoke to his rings, unwilling—or unable—to make himself watch Alec’s reaction to what he was saying. “It’s something I’ve had to come to terms with, to accept in all its ugliness, because it is as much a part of me as your Nephilim heritage. Nothing is too vicious—too demonic—when it comes to protecting what is mine. And if I fail in that protection, I will gladly let entire worlds burn in punishment. I’m not proud of it, but I’ve long stopped fighting it.”

This quote really sums up what I most love about this fic!

Author Story

These characters feel like they’ve been a part of my life for a long time. The show gave them exactly the new, modern lease of life that they so desperately needed, and I am eternally grateful. Writing is and has always been a reprieve for me, and writing fanfics even more so. I always say that the best way to improve your writing is just to write, as much as you possibly can, and that’s certainly been true for me. I would like to think that my writing - and definitely my patience for editing and proof-reading - has improved since I started writing for this fandom! 

This fandom was also the first fandom I found that so wholeheartedly and enthusiastically embraced queer characters, and headcanoning probably-straight characters as queer (which says a lot about the fandoms I’ve frequented before, but I digress) which has been lovely. I never have to worry that someone will get annoyed that I’ve written about a bisexual Isabelle, or tell me that they like my writing, but not if I’m going to include explicit depictions of queer sex.

I’ve had so much fun writing in this fandom, and I’m thrilled by the response to my fics and by how much talent there is from other writers, freely available to us all. I think I’ll be sticking around for a few more years!

[aerielart]

An Evening Chat

WELP look who wrote some more of her ocs!

After that really short and angsty thing I did last time, I thought it might be nice to do something a little more substantial (and canon compliant) to give you guys a better idea of their characters. I hope you like it!

(Fair warning I wrote this all over the span of today and it is very minimally edited so proceed with caution lmao! I am not the most skilled with prose, I just wanted to share something of my fictional kiddos)

Without further ado please enjoy

-

Mae heaved out a sigh as she fumbled in her pocket for her box of cigarettes. With her other hand she flicked open her lighter, and in one smooth movement she had the death stick lit and in her mouth. She closed her eyes and took a nice long drag, concentrating on the warmth in her lungs and waiting for the pleasant lightheadedness to come, but it didn’t. Nowadays, all it was good for was scratching the itch. A ritual that she couldn’t break out of. 

She exhaled, disappointed, watching the smoke escape from her mouth and disintegrate into the evening air. 

Muffled laughter reached her ears, and she turned her head toward the source of the noise. Her… neighbors? Landlords? She still wasn’t sure exactly what to consider them. Her… whatevers, Jim and Carol, were standing around a merrily roaring bonfire, chatting and drinking and just enjoying the balmy summer weather. From the other side of the smokey haze Jace appeared, his arms full of fallen branches which he began feeding to the fire. Of course he was there too. He always seemed to be over there, inserting himself into Mae’s life unprompted. 

He said he was just helping them with yard work, clearing out brush and all that, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more to it. He was a strange guy. 

As if sensing her attention, Jace glanced up from where he had been squated next to the fire and the two of them locked eyes. He smiled and waved, and Mae averted her gaze, pretending to occupy herself with her cigarette once again. But that didn’t stop him from straightening up and walking over to where she stood leaning against her house.

Shit shit shit shit shit…

“Hey!”

Shit shit shit shit shit!

She gave a resigned huff, causing more smoke to billow from her mouth as she removed her cigarette again. “Hi…”

Jace frowned at her unfavorable reaction and stuck his hands into his pockets, glancing behind himself a few times. “Did you, uh, wanna join us and have a beer? Or… something?” he tried. 

Mae bit her lip. “No thanks, I’m… trying to cut back.”

“Oh.” Jace replied. His eyes strayed down to the still burning cigarette between her fingers, and Mae let it fall to the ground, stomping it out with her shoe.

“Besides, I would rather not get eaten by mosquitos,” Mae continued. “I only came out here for a quick smoke.”

A high pitched buzzing suddenly started and a mosquito zoomed in between the two of them to accentuate her point. She grimaced and swiped at it.

Jace gave a great belly laugh, revealing his slightly-too-sharp teeth. “Yeah, well, it was a bad idea to move up to the mountains then. They’re pretty bad around here.” 

He grinned at his halfhearted joke, and Mae grunted. 

Jace grew quiet for a moment, scrutinizing her with a subtle tint of his head. “So, what did bring you out here anyway,” he asked suddenly. “No offense, but you don’t really seem like the type to wanna ruff it.”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Oh come on. Carol said you’re from California, right?” His grin returned and Mae watched as he sauntered around her and over to her side, settling himself against the wall next to her. “Let me guess, you’re one of those city folk who wanted to ‘get away from it all’, so you move to the mountains or out to the country thinking it’ll be a peaceful, magical wonderland, and then run screaming at the slightest sign of mother nature.”

A flash of anger ignited in Mae’s chest at that and she rounded on him. “What the hell? Who do you think you are? You don’t know me!” The nerve of this kid!

That finally wiped the shit-eating expression off his face once and for all, and he raised his hands in front of him. “I’m sorry,” he blurted. “Bad joke. You’re right, I don’t know.” He paused for a moment to lower his hands and head in submission, then murmured. “I’m sure you had a good reason. And… if it’s too personal, you don’t have to tell me…”

Mae held her glare for a moment, but decided to let it go. She had already gathered that Jace could be a bit clumsy and tactless sometimes, and it wasn’t like she wasn’t the same way, so it wasn’t fair for her to judge. She leaned back, her gaze drifting back over to the bonfire next door. “Are you from here?” She had gotten that impression ever since she’d met him. He just… seemed like he belonged here, somehow. Even more than, say, Jim and Carol. Which was a weird thing to think, and she couldn’t exactly explain it even to herself, but it was still true.

Jace glanced up at that, giving a sheepish chuckle. “Actually, no. This is gonna make me look like an ass, but, I’m from the city too.”

Really? With the way he seemed to know just about everybody, Mae had assumed that he’d lived here his entire life. Mae raised her brows and gave him a sidelong look. “Well, at least you're self aware about it.”

Jace winced.

A silence settled over them once more, though Mae wouldn’t exactly call it comfortable. Without her cigarette she had nothing to occupy her hands, so she copied Jace and stuffed them inside the pockets of her jacket. 

“So why’d you move out here then?” she finally asked, half out of pettiness but also because his answer had not been what she expected and she genuinely wanted to know. 

Jace frowned. “It’s… complicated.”

Mae just nodded. This strange kid might still be an enigma to her, but that, at least, she could understand. So she decided not to press the issue. 

“It’s great here, though,” he went on. “Everybody just does what they want, goes at their own pace. Not like in the city. Feels like… home.”

Home. Mae thought she might have known what that felt like once, but not anymore. Would this place ever feel like home? She wanted to believe, but she also didn’t want to get her hopes up.

Then again…

She glanced at the younger man next to her, and then back over at her neighbors. They had all been so kind and welcoming to her when she had first arrived here, did all that they could to help her settle in. The thought brought another spark of warmth to her chest, though it was softer this time. Gentler. Was that what home was supposed to feel like? The thought caused the corners of her lips to quirk in a tentative smile. 

Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and she glanced back over at Jace to watch him pull himself from the wall. He looked up at her with a soft, earnest gaze. “You sure you don’t wanna come over and sit with us? It can’t be fun being in the dark by yourself.”

“What if that’s just the way I like it?” 

“Oh, well, I guess that’s alright. But you know,” Jace gave her a long look. “Even introverts need friends.”

It was very difficult to leave Mae speechless, but somehow, Jace’s words struck her deep and managed just that. They’d known each other, what, maybe a week or two? Yet he was able to drop the F word so easily? It left a whirlwind of emotions swirling inside her, making her want to laugh and cry and slap him in his stupid, naive face all at the same time. Instead, she settled for dropping her gaze to the ground and watching as some sort of bug that she couldn’t identify scuttled around her foot. 

“I’m... not the kind of person people wanna be friends with…” 

At that, Jace broke out into a deep, sardonic laugh. “Yeah, me either.”

Mae wasn’t sure what reaction she had expected, but that definitely was not it. What the hell was that supposed to mean? She grimaced. Was he mocking her?

No… She may have only known Jace for a short while, but she did know enough to be sure that he wouldn’t joke about something like that. It caused her natural curiosity to kick in and she almost chose to dig a little deeper, but in the end she thought better of it. After all, she had her secrets as well. He could keep his. 

“Well, I guess we’re a perfect match then,” she replied sardonically. 

Jace gave his own rye smile in return. “Guess so.” But then, as if he finally realized that he’d let his guard drop, that same big grin that he always wore suddenly returned. The one that Mae was finally starting to see for what it was: a mask. 

The one that made her even more curious to find out what was going on behind that mask.

“Well, sorry for interrupting your smoke. I’ll let you get back to it.” He raised a hand in farewell, then started heading back over to where Jim and Carol were still sitting around the bonfire. They waved and gave a greeting that Mae couldn’t hear before inviting him to sit down in one of the lawn chairs that must have appeared sometime during their talk. 

Mae glanced down at the snuffed cigarette that still sat beneath her shoe and frowned. Well, her smoke had been ruined, might as well just go back inside now. She turned around to do just that, but before she did, she couldn’t help taking one last glance over her shoulder. 

And, as she watched the three of them drink and laugh and be merry, she couldn’t help the thought that maybe next time it wouldn’t be so bad to join them.

[professional-anti]

Chapter Nine: The Circle and the Brotherhood

Okay, we start out a little stressful bc Jace says they’re gonna take the subway back to the Institute and Simon jokes around like “you guys take the subway but you’re demon hunters haha” and this happens:

Jace was scary-calm. His face was expressionless, but something burned at the backs of his eyes.

Um, are we not supposed to be worried about this? Jace should be working on this problem!! Why is he so mad at Simon? Oh, that’s right, he thinks that Simon is competition for Clary. And that’s enough for him to get this angry at Simon. I’m sure everyone can tell why this is unhealthy.

Simon proves to be an actual idiot when they get to the Institute. The Institute is housed in an old church, and for some reason Simon can’t comprehend that old buildings can be used for something else.

“It’s the Institute,” Clary said . . . “I thought it ws a church.” “It’s inside a church.” “Because that’s not confusing.”

This is New York City!! The home of remodeling!!! My aunt’s apartment used to be a house! My brother’s camp used to be an apartment! Things can be other things!! Oh my god!!!

They meet Isabelle in the kitchen, where she’s stress cooking. Oh, I remember this! She sucks at cooking but does it when she’s stressed. It’s actually really cute. I stress cook too! Once I made soup from scratch at 3 AM. (My psychiatrist said, verbatin, “That’s worrisome.”)

But then of course we get the typical annoying thing, where Simon stares at Isabelle “rapt and openmouthed”. I think I speak for most people when I say that someone staring at you with their mouth open is creepy. And weird. When was the last time you looked at someone like that? Hopefully never! Blergh, it’s like the way creepy men stare at you on the street. And then Clary gets jealous of Isabelle. So, that’s fun. Love that girl-on-girl hate. I’ve never felt the urge in my life to hurt a girl bc she was prettier than I am. I can’t imagine feeling that way. Sometimes I’ll say jokingly “she’s so pretty, I’m mad”, but I’ve been trying to cut back on that bc I don’t mean it, it’s something that’s been programmed into me to say. But Clary literally wants to throw the soup over Isabelle’s head. Okay.

There’s a tiny bit of worldbuilding that’s also kind of cute, which is that Isabelle “got the recipe from a water sprite at the Chelsea Market.” Well, most people would just say “Chelsea Market” without that article in front of it, but I still like it. Idk, maybe I’m just a sucker for magical New York. Vampires on the Upper East Side? Give me. Werewolves taking advantage of Central Park? Hell yes! Magicians in Greenwich Village? Duh, sign me up. So, little mentions like this make me happy. The worldbuilding is still shit, but this is some nice stuff.

Jace snarks at Clary for eating all the sandwiches at Dorothea’s, and it’s maddening. Those sandwhiches were the first thing she ate for a whole day! Let women eat their fill without judging them!! Arggghhhh!!!!

For some reason, Jace isn’t sure if they should tell Hodge that the men with Luke were the ones that killed his father. I guess bc he thinks that Hodge won’t let them go out and investigate? Idk. Like, we all know that Hodge is Evil Giles, but Jace doesn’t know that. He tells Isabelle that they’re going to Hodge, but they might not tell him about the men being his father’s killers, and this exchange happens:

[Isabelle] shrugged. “All right. Are you going to come back? Do you want any soup?” “No,” said Jace. “Do you think Hodge will want any soup?” “No one wants any soup.” “I want some soup,” Simon said. “No, you don’t,” said Jace. “You just want to sleep with Isabelle.” Simon was appalled. “That is not true.” “How flattering,” Isabelle murmured into the soup, but she was smirking. “Oh, yes it is,” said Jace. “Go ahead and ask her—then she can turn you down and the rest of us can get on with our lives while you fester in miserable humiliation.” He snapped his fingers. “Hurry up, mundie boy, we’ve got work to do.”

So much. So much. I’m short-circuiting. First of all, it’s so incredibly disrespectful to Isabelle for Jace to talk this way. If I were her, I’d be so uncomfortable. And I know that Jace knows her and her comfort limits, but it’s still disrespectful. Secondly, Jace is so mean. And Clary does call him out for it, but who even knows what she sees in him. He’s so fucking mean. And mean characters are fine. They’re great. But I’m just confused why everybody is falling the fuck in love with Jace. It makes zero sense to me. Jace is set up as this paradigm of a romantic partner and it’s like,,, what??? This Jace???

Clary calls Jace an asshat. An asshat. In our year of the Lord (checks copyright date) 2007. Actually, makes sense. Fandom was Like That. Everyone being vaguely British. I wasn’t technically on the fandom scene for anything back then, but in my fanfiction phase, I did some serious digging into the past. And all this fandom dialect makes sense when you remember that CoB is repurposed HP fanfiction.

Jace claims that he was trying to save Simon from heartbreak bc “Isabelle will cut out his heart and walk all over ti in high-heeled boots. That’s what she does to boys like that.”

Clary APOLOGIZES to Jace for snapping at him. Like, the Jace who was so brutally mean to Simon just now? The Jace who is constantly rude to her? The Jace who talks down to her and is so freaking patronizing? Is she apologizing to that Jace? Mmmmmkay.

Ugh, apparently Maryse, Isabelle’s mom, is usually the cook. So it’s the women who like cooking in this book. Got it. Usually 7 people live here, right? Isabelle, Alec, their brother, their parents, Hodge, and Jace. Two women. Five men. And the only people who cook? The women. Cool, cool, cool. Okay. Got it. Thanks.

Wait, this is weird. Apparently Maryse never taught Isabelle how to cook because, according to Jace:

“Isabelle never wanted to learn. She’s always been first and foremost interested in being a fighter. She comes from a long line of women warriors,” he said, and there was a tinge of pride in his voice. “She’s one of the best Shadowhunters I’ve ever known.”

So, huh. A lot to unpack. Isabelle likes to cook, right? So why wouldn’t she want to learn? And why are cooking and fighting mutually exclusive? There’s so much weird stuff going on here. Clare writes the women as the only ones who cook. I don’t like that because she’s basically saying, “Cooking is something that women do, not men.” And now, because it’s a traditionally feminine thing (which it doesn’t have to be anymore now that most men aren’t out hunting all day), Isabelle doesn’t want to do it. And the narrative accepts that as normal, that women should want to divorce themselves from traditionally feminine things, which in my opinion is still sexism. Except that Isabelle likes to cook. So why wouldn’t she let her mom teach her? Does any of this make sense, you guys?

I AM CONFUSION

For some reason, Clary desperately wants to know if Alec is a better Shadowhunter than Isabelle. Not sure why. Jace replies that Alec has never killed a demon. Interesting. Not sure how that’s possible, but okay. They meet Hodge in the greenhouse, and the prose is truly awful:

Clary exhaled. “It smells like . . .” Springtime, she thought, before the heat comes and crushes the leaves into pulp and withers the petals off the flowers.

Slow down there, Emily Dickinson. Anyhow, Jace tells Hodge about their adventures, except for the fact that the warlocks were the ones who killed his dad. Still not sure why, still don’t really care.

“And [the warlock’s] names were . . .” “Pangborn,” said Jace. “And Blackwell.” Hodge had gone very pale. Against his gray skin the scar along his cheek stood out like a twist of red wire. “It is as I feared,” he said, half to himself. “The Circle is rising again.”

There are so many other quotes like that from HP, but I’m not about to reread all 7 books to find them.

Neither Jace nor Clary knows what the circle is, and Hodge ominously leads them to the library. There’s some annoying, edgy description about the libary. Then Hodge pulls out the Death Eaters’, I mean the Circle’s, manifesto. He reads some creepy stuff from it about swearing his life to the Circle “in order to preserve the purity of the bloodlines of [Elba]”. So, you know, creepy. He explains that he used to be part of a group of Shadowhunters that followed Valentine. They wanted to kill all muggles, ahem, Downworlders when the Downworlders arrived in Elba to sign the Accords. For some worldbuilding reason, they have to be signed every fifteen years.

I’m going to cry. I just can’t. A group of magical supremacists who follow a leader whose name starts with the letter V. Please, someone set me free from this hell. Jace recognizes this story; apparently, this was the Uprising. Somehow the Clave managed to wipe out every mention of the Circle, though. Not sure how. Sounds a little bit like a scary place to live, if the government can just wipe out information like that. A healthy government would say, “This was something terrible that our country did. Nobody forget. We must do better.” But apparently Elba is some sort of fascist hothouse. Also, I’m confused what the point of erasing the Circle was if everyone still remembers the Uprising. Whatever.

Hodge finally admits that he used to be part of the Death Eaters, and even helped write the manifesto. Double bombshell, Clary’s mom used to be in it to.

“My mother would never have belonged to something like that. Some kind of—some kind of hate group.” “It wasn’t—,” Jace began, but Hodge cut him off.”

Okay, tell me what it wasn’t, Jace? It wasn’t a hate group? They wanted to kill all the Downworlders bc they were just so full of love? No, tell me. I’m interested.

Anyway, Hodge triple-bombshells Clary by telling her that Jocie wouldn’t have much choice in the matter bc she was Valentine’s wife. Let’s just ignore the fact that Jocie still is on the hook for being part of a suprmacist organization and end part one. That’s right, guys! Part one is finished, finito, finis. See you on the flip side.

[zorilleerrant]

2017

January

an amorphous thing A poem about misogyny, in all its forms. I never quite got the ending to do what I wanted, but overall I think it’s strong.

Fandom: Cho Chang bio I don’t know if you want to call this a ficlet or what? I think I’m going to expand it or something. Just a musing on why she’s called Cho Chang.

poem This is sort of a poem and sort of a joke because fuck the environment I guess; it was topical at the time I think.

musing on seasonal affective disorder An addition to something I really liked that someone else wrote, because I was having feelings about SAD. The initial story is wlw; my addition is nblw even though I was trying to match the tone and style of the original.

there is a demon A poem about femininity, bisexuality, and mental illness. Our narrator is, I think, a makeup youtuber? Or something like that. This was written in response to people saying just awful things about makeup hobbyists.

HP fic: Courage Hermione deals with racism. I always headcanoned Hermione as middle eastern, so I wanted to add something with that because I don’t see it a lot even when people intentionally make her nonwhite.

American Gods/Sookie Stackhouse fic: Small Town Mentality A little character study about Shadow interacting with Sookie. This was when I was rereading American Gods, and I was like. You know, these books have similar vibes and similar canons. Timeline wise it’s set about halfway through American Gods and a few years before the first Sookie book. (The title is about not-my-business isolationism, not racial violence.)

The Maze Runner book review Musing on the worldbuilding problems in the book and how writers can and should do better than that.

February

Shadowhunters fic: Parabatai A lot of people were invested in the part where Jace could tell that Alec boned. Just my take on the thing. There’s sex in this one. Probably my most popular fic to date.

March

untitled Beauty and the Beast fic From the perspective of LeFou waxing poetic about Gaston.

Shadowhunters fic: Love Will Tear Us Apart Magnus blames himself about Raphael drinking Izzy’s blood. So tbh I don’t actually remember this fic and I don’t think anyone liked it? I will have to read it over at some point and see what it is.

Shadowhunters fic: A Fish Without a Bicycle This is a companion piece to Parabatai; going along with the Parabatai bond being a sort of metaphor for an erotic relationship, it posits Izzy as aspec and explores that a little.

Shadowhunters fic: Answers Another companion piece. Just a lot about Alec exploring his sexuality and trying to figure stuff out.

Shadowhunters fic: Forever Home Magnus being A Dad, to cats and other magical creatures.

April

queer is not a slur Just a poem bitching at people about the ‘omg q slur’ nonsense.

untitled six word story look it’s only six words either read it or don’t. (it’s not very good.)

the two genders A poem about how stupid gender essentialism is, and how people apply it to literal newborn babies.

untitled poem ???

May

Static Shock fic: No Flams Prepz Hotstreak talks to a (presumably court mandated) therapist.

Static Shock fic: Worry Static’s dad worries about the kids in his life.

Static Shock fic: Everybody Makes Mistakes Character study on Virgil, pilot centric. (Contains guns.)

mall gothic Yes, that’s a pun. No, I don’t know what the point of this was either.

let me tell you something about not being confident in your writing A poem about writing and your feelings about what you’ve written. It’s supposed to be inspirational probably.

ROY G. BIV A poem about what does and does not exist. Implicitly about LGBT+ gatekeeping but there’s nothing direct in it. I like this one a lot.

June

flag a poem on why I didn’t like the Philly pride flag back when everyone was gushing about how pure and perfect it was.

pride a poem that I think was mostly bitching about people being like ‘don’t do xyz you’re ruining pride!’ or like gatekeeping or whatever. not sure if it stands up without context

Ocean Short story about a nonbinary mage questing after a fantasy sword. Written on the assumption this is a typical high fantasy universe so no there are no proper safety protocols or historical preservation procedures. Mildly comedic.

poetry isn’t real just a micropoem about poetry, the most common topic for poetry

I have a poem about gatekeeping. someone probably told me I wasn’t allowed to use the word queer (again) or like accused me of not understanding queer history? I don’t know it happens. this poem is probably triggering if you’ve got issues with violence generally or queerphobic violence in specific

queer is another poem about gatekeeping. prose poem. I don’t know man people keep going on about bullshit

Static Shock fanfic: Protest Static meets Magneto. The timeline on this is obviously confusing af, but like, imagine it’s during the corresponding irl point of any of the major ups of BLM protests, within Static’s timeline somewhere after he’s got the hang of heroing but before he’s really used to it, and in Magneto’s timeline, somewhere during the initial rise of the Brotherhood. This was just an idea that got stuck in my head and that’s about it.

Static Shock fanfic: Attraction Virgil/Richie. Just an excuse to write puns.

Static Shock fanfic: Marathon Static & Rubberband Man. Fluff

Static Shock fanfic: Frieda Character study. Also ruminating on bullying and sexual harassment. (It’s about the gun violence episode, if that gets to you.)

Static Shock fanfic: Educational Overnight Crossover with Batman. Mostly animated Batman continuity (although largely backfilled from Batman Beyond), but I don’t think it super matters to the text of the thing. Static pretends to be Batman and has to face off against the Riddler. Also featuring Richie in hot pants (as Robin).

July

okay. so. musing about writer’s block, self-esteem/mental illness, and the thought processes that go into writing. maybe a prose poem? I don’t know what you would call this particular form

growing up depression poetry

August

a few points bullet list formatted poem about writing and writing advice

Welcome to Fae Mart humorous story about retail in Faerie

September

Let’s Talk About Slurs it’s a poem about people who smugly claim they’d never say a slur

on good and evil a prose poem or something. about how bigotry is learned (and, sort of, unlearned) and why attitudes about it make no sense

Queer as Folk fanfic: Not Always in the Same Way Hunter being bi

November

just the same prose poem about intersectionality and bigotry and how people always conflate everything into neat little soundbites. there’s a bit about reylo at the end there, too, because I kept seeing shit about it at the time, so watch out if that’s a thing for you

December

tw villanelle yeah I only write villanelles what about it? anyway this one has a bunch of violent rhetoric and bad opinions; it’s from the perspective of antis. it’s not very good but the rhymes sound nice

[junker-town]

An inexhaustive list of player names that are full sentences

Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Combing NFL, MLB and NBA rosters for unique monikers

I am here to address the most important sports story of our time: What player names are complete sentences?

This all started when, in previewing several breakout candidates for the upcoming 2019 NFL season, our own Stephen White referenced D.K. Metcalf while profiling David Moore.

D.K. Metcalf is a full sentence, albeit a crude one. It might work more as a picture caption than in prose, but it also got me to thinking about what other sports names are complete sentences. I’ve split these into categories, starting with where Metcalf fits best, since he started this idea in my broken brain.

Caption this

This might be stretching the concept of a complete sentence, but several names work as picture captions, like Herm Winningham, D.K. Metcalf, Adam Eaton, Mookie Betts, Stefon Diggs, or Chris Mills.

Imagine a picture of a certain Braves pitcher working the griddle, with the caption “Max Fried.”

Your quiet friend finally opens his mouth: Breeland Speaks!

At the family reunion when picking teams, Adam Gotsis.

Keep it simple

Many are simple commands, like Aaron Judge, Justin Smoak, Andrew Knapp, Paul Fry (or Jace Fry, or Channing Frye), Joe Panik, Erik Swoope, Logan Cooke, Michael Gallup, or Tyler Wade. Think of these names with a comma in between the first and last names. They work better as sentences that way.

Ideally, the command fits the objective of the sport. So when the call from San Francisco’s dugout is “Brandon Belt,” the batter knows exactly what to do.

When the Nationals’ manager calls down to the bullpen and says, “Sean Doolittle,” Washington’s closer knows he has the night off.

Such mandates might be difficult to satisfy. We could tell Joe Biagini all day, but unless he gains the ability to grant wishes or fit inside a bottle it won’t do us any good.

Others are patriotic, such as the November decree to a particular Giants catcher: Stephen Vogt.

She needs the code to get into the building. Wyatt Teller.

We need more suckers for this Ponzi scheme. She looks like a rube. James Conner.

A television talking head said something dumb to get viewers and clicks? Tarell Basham

When you send your younger sibling to get a closer look at the hidden Christmas gifts: Charone Peake.

After you tell your buddy a joke: JK Scott.

Sorry for interrupting you, sir. Kerryon Johnson.

Some orders are expressly followed, like during the 2018 World Cup when Denmark fulfilled its goal to Ty France, the eventual tournament champions.

When you need your group to get favorable treatment from a teacher or boss, you might designate a particular person to get it done: Ryan Succop.

If you want to pass down your love of real estate to your kid: Courtland Sutton.

Ricky Seals-Jones sounds ominous for poor Jones.

Sometimes in a spelling bee you get flustered by a difficult word like pendeloque, then your opponent has an easy one when the proctor says, “Omari Spellman.”

Caveman speak

These are more fun if you imagine a loincloth-wearing barbarian beating their chest as they say them. Crude, yet still effective:

Tyrod Taylor

Richard Lovelady

Bob Waterfield

Context needed

Phillip Gaines is descriptive, but doesn’t tell the entire story. Whom did he gain on, and to what end?

Derrick Favors but we don’t know exactly what. Does he favor strawberry over chocolate, Coca-Cola over Pepsi, the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich over Chick-fil-A?

Sammie Coates is close, but we need to know what exactly he coat(e)s. Perhaps his house with a fresh coat of paint. Patrick Scales also works in this vein.

We could say “Mike Love” but wouldn’t it be nice if we had just a little more information?

Baker Mayfield what, exactly? Possibly a playoff team in Cleveland, but the name alone isn’t quite enough to drive that point home.

Detrez Newsome almost works, too. I just wish his name told us whom or what he knew.

Others answer specific questions

Will someone pick up dinner on the way home? Trevor May, or Dustin May.

What does a videographer do immediately after getting a new camera? Phil Maton.

You might not think some of these constitute actual sentences, but Hunter Wood, and Alex Wood. Christisn Wood, too.

Saving the best for last

Just like Vanessa Williams taught us.

Larry Fitzgerald will end up in the Hall of Fame once he finally retires, after a wonderful career that will have earned him over $160 million, at least. He won’t have to work another day in his life. But let’s say he has a passion for tailoring, and has a friend named Gerald who likes to wear custom-fitted clothes.

This is the perfect match, as far as I’m concerned. But if Ryan Fitzpatrick chooses this path, I’m certainly not going to stop him.

[ladyhindsight]

I didn’t realize how exhausting the incest plot line with Clary and Jace was until it was finally over. Or over in the sense that at least Clary knows now. Just have to wait and read the exact same revelation in a later chapter so Jace will be on track as well.

In the chapter 15 “Things Fall Apart”:

Luke had spent most of the night watching the moon’s progress across the translucent roof of the Hall of Accords like a silver coin rolling across the clear surface of a glass table.

It seems redundant to tell how the moon had come up earlier when we already know and have been told this.

→ “The moon was just visible over the roofs of the houses.”

→ “The demon towers reflected back its silver-white light.”

Or combine these with “and”. 

I’d like to note that there is no rule about using semicolons and em dashes in the same sentence. Both create a different kind of pause. Semicolon combines two ideas and em dash separates the following idea. 

The entirety works better without this sentence. Whether Clary knows or not is irrelevant. It doesn’t change the meaning of the following paragraph rather than makes unnecessary pause in the narrative. ↓

“I was hoping I could see the North Gate from here, but I’m not high enough.”

Messengers had been dispatched there to ask the Downworlders to wait while the Clave deliberated, and Clary could only hope they were willing to do it.

Nay. Take it away.

This was incredibly sweet on Jocelyn’s part. Not so much on Alec’s because he sees Magnus, which isn’t even barely plausible. They’ve known for few weeks and already Magnus has superseded everyone else in Alec’s life, and just after Alec has been extremely conflicted with his feelings about Jace as well.

Sound manipulative more like. There’s nothing vulnerable about that when you know the kind of man Valentine is and was. Even if his love for Jocelyn was deep and real, it doesn’t take away the fact that Valentine also could’ve manipulated her.

And I’ve yet to be presented these brilliant ideas. Let’s reform the Clave, it sucks. How revolutionary.

Compared to “The Werewolf’s Tale” in City of Bones, I have to commend that the writing in this chapter isn’t nearly as ridiculous. Most of the time you can imagine someone telling a story, but then these touches of more “elaborate” prose sneak in.

“She thought” is the same kind of pause Clare writes in normal dialogue. For example: “You,” Alec said, “googled it.”

It’s just unnecessary here. We know it’s Clary’s thoughts. It delivers no effect other than add to my annoyance.

Serious postpartum depression going on but leeet’s brush past it. Maybe pause there and let character react? Maybe? Also, pick one:

→ “then I got a message from Ragnor Fell.” (getting the message is important) → “then I got a fire-letter from Ragnor Fell.” (it being a fire-letter is important)

Both say essentially the same thing, the other just adds a detail that says the same thing but in the in-world lingo.

“I clawed at the pages, my fingers trembling, my mind racing, seeing the mixtures Valentine had given...” Also doesn’t sound like someone talking or telling a story. Participle phrases sort of have that effect, whereas people usually tell things past tense.

→ “I clawed at the pages. My fingers trembled, my mind raced back..” etc.

What is the thing about demon blood that it doesn’t effect the adults at all? In the sense that Jocelyn saw nightmares but didn’t suffer physically. Jocelyn doesn’t have demon blood but Jonathan does. I get how anything dangerous to a fetus/baby a mother takes affects the baby, but it also affects the mother too. Alcohol, drugs, different kinds of medications, different food substances, excessive amounts of some vitamins and so on. So how does the demon blood just affect Jonathan and not Jocelyn? Is it because the baby doesn’t have the same protection wards as the adult Shadowhunters do?

Again, warlocks are born with demon blood and they aren’t evil. What would happen if a pregnant Shadowhunter was infused with warlock blood? So many questions because the bOOK DOESN’T TELL ME.

Emphasizing the horribleness of the story sounds almost inauthentic.

Yeah, I don’t know. In the previous chapter Clary says that Jocelyn did a terrible job. Though morally and ethically wrong, it did work for almost 16 years.

Jocelyn knows about Ithuriel:

Jocelyn looked straight into her daughter’s eyes. “The night Céline Herondale died, she was eight months pregnant. Valentine had been giving her potions, powders—he was trying on her what he’d tried on himself, with Ithuriel’s blood, hoping that Stephen’s child would be as strong and powerful as he suspected Jonathan would be, but without Jonathan’s worse qualities. He couldn’t bear that his experiment would go to waste, so with Hodge’s help he cut the baby out of Céline’s stomach. She’d only been dead a short time—”

Then why does she say here “He’d somehow gotten hold of angel blood” when Valentine clearly summoned Ithuriel and used Ithuriel’s blood on everyone?

Again, Hodge knew about the Herondale baby, had seen the baby, CARVED THE BABY OUT OF ITS DEAD MOTHER, knew what the baby’s parents looked like, and still you dare to tell me that Hodge didn’t now which boy he was raising? Jonathan with his black demon eyes or Jace with his golden ones? Jace with no resemblance to either Jocelyn or Valentine??

The only thing making Clary and Jace more powerful than any other Nephilim is because Valentine cheated biology. It’s not for their own accord or acquired skills.

Are you also explicitly telling the juxtaposition here so no one would miss it?

Again, Clary’s leaps in intuition are used as rather forward clues in the story. She’s always so on point just so readers know what is going on but not enough for herself to realize anything.

... No one saw Sebastian without the dyed hair. How do they know he is fair-haired?

And again, great, but what stops warlocks who’ve gained entrance from doing exactly that? Again, LOOP HOLE.

Show, don’t tell. Also, no comma, same subject.

[moonlit-endeavors]

#2: Sway - Summoning

“Big. Bad. Please stop this,” There was a shaking in the Miqo’te’s voice. Tears escaped from beneath his mask and hit the floor.

He had been following a lead, that a large amount of crystals had gone missing and were being stashed somewhere in La Noscea, where none could see. Except, somehow, Jace Hunter. 

Upon confirming the lead, Jace Hunter made his way to Wineport and sighted his would-be targets. A pair of Roegadyn, covered from head-to-toe, but sporting a covered wheelbarrow. No doubt that was his pair.

He followed them deep into the Raincatcher Gully. 

When Jace was but a teenager, now orphaned once again, thanks largely to Dalamud and Bahamut’s wake, he spent much of his time around pickpockets and cutthroats in Limsa Lominsa. He’s seen more criminal and pirate deals than a child of his age should have. It was his curiosity, and his penchant for thievery, that made people notice him. People like Face.

Face was only his moniker. An old pirate turned thief-slash-businessman. Likewise, those under his employ all had monikers. Like Pretty Boy, and Big and Bad. Jace was Fluff. The only Miqo’te of the bunch and only taller than Scout--a Lalafell--by maybe a fulm and a half. 

He’d run with the group at night and study Arcanima by day. It wasn’t long until his double-life caught up to him, and that they’d all catch up to each other. Still, he remembers those days fondly. As some of the happiest of his life, and being surrounded once again by some semblance of a family.

Along the hills of the Gully, there was a shack covered by foliage. Overstretched palm trees kept it in the shadows. The smaller of the Roegadyn moved the bushes aside as the larger wheeled in their haul. Jace waited a few moments before following behind.

The shack was merely a cover for a large system of caves and tunnels, some seemingly natural, others were certainly man made. It was dark, but, luckily Jace was always good at seeing in the dark. Partly because of the Keeper-genetics that dictated such, and partly because of magic.

Face saw in potential in the young Miqo’te. He was small, but sly and nimble. He was smart, but also cunning and quick witted. He probably saw some of himself in the little Miqo’te. He taught him how to use his magic to hone his skill as a thief. 

“Even for something as trivial as pick-pocketing,” He would tell Jace. “Your skills will shine brighter than any coin you lift.”

Jace rounded a corner and came to a halt as he witnessed a room filled nearly to the brim, with water-aspected crystals. The Roegadyn fell to their knees and began chanting.

“A summoning?” Jace exclaimed immediately, loud enough to interrupt the duo.

The tow turned to face him, uncovering their faces and staring at him. Their eyes seemed empty. They were without any expression, yet seemed very interested in Jace.

“Big...Bad? Is that you? My friends, what are you doing here?”

The woman--Bad--was motionless for a moment before her hips began to swing, as if she danced to some beat that only she could hear. Likewise, the man--Big--began moving his body as well. They hummed a tune and the crystals began to shine. The aether flowing into their bodies.

“Big. Bad. Stop! Yes? Stop this! You cannot--”

His cries could not stop them. The more they danced, the more the crystals shined.

Before long, the crystals dissolved. The aether pulsed. His ears rang, and tears poured out from beneath his mask.

“Big. Bad. Please stop this. You cannot do this!” 

It was almost like he began to hear the music they were hearing. His mind was clouded. He fell to his knees, still begging for them to stop. For the music to stop. 

And stop it did.

When he’d awoken, after passing out from the pain most likely, the two were gone. 

Yet he could feel their aether in the air. As if they were still standing right in front of them.

“They couldn’t take it,” He whispered. “I knew they couldn’t.”

Jace was always so happy to know them. Face and Big and Bad. Scout and Pretty Boy. He’d known so much loss. Traded so many families for other families. 

“I guess I’m not done losing brothers and sisters.”

[tisne-inkwell]

MOAR CHECK MARKS! MOOOOOAAAAR! plz? ;u; Like. Ten.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ;u;

~Orrin has something of a temper. Especially when he thinks that someone is looking down on him - which is frequently, truth be told. Not only that, but the chances that he’ll challenge someone to a fight/duel raise by about 75% if they mention his scar. He’s very touchy about the scar. Even if it doesn’t look nearly as bad as he thinks it does.~You’ll never see him use flowery prose. He thinks things like that are pointless and a waste of time. The only reason he can see anyone saying things like that are if they’re dishonest and trying to misdirect, if they’re too afraid to just say what they mean, if they’re trying to look intelligent, or if they actually believe it and they’re just saps.

~Aaron hasn’t been diagnosed, but he’s on the autism spectrum. It’s part of why he has such trouble dealing with people; he doesn’t feel the need to talk unless he has to, and he’s not sure how to respond to certain emotional situations. He may seem cold and distant because of it, but honestly, it’s just that he has no idea what to do.~He’s remarkably stubborn. If he was tracking something while hunting, and he would have gotten it if something didn’t get in the way, he’ll track it again until he gets it. If someone tells him he can’t do something, that just doubles his determination to do it.

~Jace may have completed his training, but he’s still not confident in his abilities as a slayer. Actually encountering a vampire or demon makes him very nervous, and he forgets the proper procedures because he’s so certain that he’s way over his head already.~He’s a clingy sleeper. If he’s sharing a bed with someone, there’s a 99% chance he ends up latching onto their arm or torso.

~Carter actually came from a dream I had. I thought it was neat that I had a dream about a guy who could hear people’s thoughts and who had the same red meat intolerance that I have, so I decided to keep him.~He keeps at least three plants in his room. They all have names.

~Ada’s favorite fictional character is Sherlock Holmes. She owns all of the books.~She hates roller coasters, but she really likes ferris wheels.

[ourheartsbeatas1]

SHIPPING INFO // Answer the following for your muse(s) so people know how shipping works on your blog.

REPOST. Don’t reblog.

What’s your OTP for your Muse?: Jalec XD

What are you willing to RP when it comes to shipping?: I’m pretty open to everything-- dark stuff included-- though I will say that I find endless threads of fluff quite boring to write. I enjoy reading domestic stuff but I don’t enjoy writing it, which makes me kind of weird, but... yeah.

How large does the age gap have to be to make it uncomfortable?: I’m not really bothered by age gaps. SH/TMI has characters that are canonically centuries old in relationships with characters that are barely out of their teens, and I���d likely not be in this fandom if large age gaps bothered me, haha.

Are you selective when shipping?: I’d say I’m semi-selective. I have fav ships of course, but mostly it’s the writer behind the character that I see if I have chemistry with. In my experience, even the most unlikely of ships will sail if the writers have chemistry. :)

How far do steamy moments have to go before they’re considered NSFW?: I’ve actually written some pretty detailed sex scenes where the language manages to still keep it SFW, so I’d say as soon as the prose gets “vulgar” (for want of a better word), it becomes NSFW.

Who are other muses you ship your muse with?: Alec, Sebastian, Simon, Magnus, Victor, Clary and Isabelle. It would be safer to just say ‘almost everyone’ TBH.

Does one have to ask to ship with you?: Not at all! If we’re writing together, chances are I already ship it. XD 

How often do you like to ship?: Almost all of my threads on Jace have some element of a romantic relationship to them, though when I was writing Kylo Ren, I had several platonic/familial threads going on. I think it really depends on the muse, and the way I write Jace is definitely more geared towards plot-heavy threads that are romantic in nature.

Are you multiship?: Absolutely.

Are you ship obsessed or ship more-or-less?: I prefer plot-heavy/conflict-driven threads that have a large element of romance in them, so I suppose the short answer would be “shipping with a bite”. ;)

What is your favorite ship in your current fandom?: Jalec, Jagnus, Sebjace-- in that order. (And yes, I prefer the canon, fucked-up Sebjace angle to good, AU versions of Sebastian/Jonathan.)

Finally, how does one ship with you?: Just message me! I promise I don’t bite, haha.

TAGGED BY: @dnteverdoubtme

TAGGING: @runawayagent, @aleclightwoodnyc and whoever else wants to do it!

[only-1-a]

The Saddest Thing I've Ever Plotted

In which everything is terrible and only goes from bad to worse. I've thought about this too long and hard to not share it. Lots of triggers including death, suicidal ideation and downward mental/emotional spiralling. I'm too lazy to actually write this, but I figured it had been long enough now that I could share this character study on Alec and Jace if Magnus hadn't made it out if the Institute before the Sword was activated. Long purple prose ahead. 

 To start, what if Magnus didn't make it out in time? What if Alec is running all through the Institute, and then at the far end of the hall upstairs he sees someone familiar collapsed on the floor. He runs over and he honestly doesn't know if he's thinking or saying "Nonononononononono" up until he reached Magnus. He can feel himself panicking, and his chest hurts. He's not even sure if he's breathing. Without thinking, he grabs Magnus' shoulder, hoping that Magnus will flinch, turn over, open his eyes, ANYTHING! Instead, Alec turns Magnus over, and he doesn't even need to feel Magnus' pulse to know Magnus died in that blast. What makes it all worse is looking down and seeing Madzie lying dead beside them. This little girl who shouldn't have been involved in this at all. This little girl who saved him twice. Magnus was on top of her which can only mean Magnus was trying to shield her. And what for? Now they're both dead, and Alec can only curl himself around them. 

 He doesn't know how long he's up there. Raj comes up, and stops short seeing Alec running his fingers through Magnus Bane's hair, and his other hand resting over the eyes of a little girl who can't be more than ten. He came up here looking for more Shadowhunters to help with clean up as well as to take count of the dead. That's all any of them are doing, and there's so many dead, Raj has honestly lost count. He hadn't liked Magnus Bane. He had been upset the Warlock had interrupted his three way line up. He didn't like that he was a Warlock. He didn't like the way he left glitter everywhere and always seemed to be around. But Alec. Alec looked at Magnus like he hung the stars. Alec looked happier than Raj had ever seen him, and if anyone deserved happiness it was the eldest Lightwood. Alec probably loved the Warlock, as much as that went against all their training. And now the High Warlock of Brooklyn Magnus Bane was obviously dead and what could he possibly say to Alec? He certainly couldn't ask Alec to help in the search and count. So he just squeezes Alec's shoulder and says "I'm sorry Alec." Alec doesn't reply, but Raj has to ask, because he knows the Lightwoods. "Do you want me to tell Jace and Izzy where you are?" Alec flinches at that, as if the words bring him back to a reality where Magnus Bane is no longer alive. "Tell them I'm okay." Raj nods and walks away. 

Eventually they find Alec. Eventually Alec has to let go. Eventually a tall woman with blue skin, long braided hair, nurse's scrubs and tears in her eyes comes, and takes the mantle of High Warlock as well as Magnus' and Madzie's bodies. 

Life goes on. Alec is struggling to remember his parabatai is not to blame. Jace is struggling to believe the same thing, so Alec has to say it enough for the both of them. "It's not your fault. You aren't to blame." It doesn't help that they can feel each other's hurts. Jace can feel Alec's loss, it feels like he's been gutted. Alec can feel Jace's guilt at all the lives that ended because of him. He can feel Jace's guilt for killing Alec's first great love, and their pain only feeds greater pain in each other. 

 You ready for more?~ (general trigger warnings ahoy) Alec and Jace already both struggle with self harm and suicidal ideation. Alec already jumped from the ledge once. All eyes are on him in particular, while he's in mourning. Warning signs and red flags that were easy to ignore before are suddenly much more obvious. When Alec trains too hard, past the point of hurting himself, someone whispers. When Alec throws himself recklessly at a demon, without a weapon, someone writes a report and can't look him in the eye. When Alec almost gets himself and an entire team killed in a Rogue Vampire den, whether it was an accident, or not, Alec's emotional state is considered dangerous. This time when Victor tells Alec he should have a psych evaluation, he isn't suggesting, and Alec doesn't have a choice. 

 As is to be expected, Alec fails spectacularly. Alec isn't the first Shadowhunter to deal with loss poorly though. Alec isn't the first Shadowhunter to hurt himself after the death of a loved one. Some soldiers break. So they sedate him, and Robert and Maryse pull some strings to get their son the best help they can. They know he can get over this. Maybe not right away, but he will heal. They keep him close to the Institute. They have him go to healers and therapists. Jace and Izzy stay as close to him as they can, even while struggling with their own hurts (addiction, withdrawal, heart ache, guilt). 

No one thought to look at Jace's actions, until they saw what became of his parabatai. When Victor said they should keep an eye on Jace too, they only thought Victor didn't know Jace the way the rest of them did. Jace had always been a flirt, sleeping around was just in his nature. Jace had always headed into battle head first. Jace had always been an orphan so why should finding out he had no family affect him so much? But suddenly Jace's actions look familiar to those who had seen Alec locked up. Jace's rash behaviour in battle looks like the terrifying suicide mission it is. Jace sleeping around looks like he's trying to hurt himself, physically or emotionally or both. Everything he does is suddenly painfully obviously a punishment. As if by hurting himself he can atone for all the loss he caused. As if he could ever make up for hurting his brother the way he did. Everyone sees it and no one can tell where these self harming tendencies begin and end. There is one way to find out though.

 There's so much pain, and it can only be feeding back into itself in a constant feedback loop between them where their souls connect. If they can just stop that, then maybe both Jace and Alec will have a chance to heal, and come back together. It's left up to the Lightwood parents to tell their sons. 

Maryse goes to Alec in his quiet healing room they rarely let Alec out of. It's nice for a cell. Maryse tells Alec they're worried about how much longer than average it's taking for him to recover. She tells him that mourning Magnus Bane would be one thing, but this is starting to affect how people think of the Lightwood name. She tells him all the things she doesn't want to say because she has never been good at being soft, and her son has always been good at being hard on himself as a motivator. None of this gets through though. So she tells him the truth. She tells him there's concern that him and Jace are negatively affecting each other's emotions through their bond. She tells him about the destructive behaviours Jace has started displaying. She doesn't need to elaborate, because Alec can read between the lines. 

She tells him they want to put a temporary block on the bond so that they can isolate and eliminate these destructive feelings, tendencies, behaviours, all of it. That gets the first violent reaction out of Alec since they began his treatment what feels like forever ago. He screams, he refuses, he begs "Nononononono, I'll get better. I promise I'll do better and I'll be good in no time. Anything but that. You can't just cut us off. I promise I'll get better." Maryse hates herself a little for making her proud and strong son crumble like this. 

She hates herself more for what she says next. "You're only hurting Jace. It's only temporary. You'll get better, but you need to protect Jace while you do that. It's only temporary." She keeps repeating that as she holds her son tight and he shakes and shakes and shakes, and he says no until his breathing finally evens out and he says he'll do it for Jace. 

 Robert goes to Jace who is training as if he could somehow undo the past if only he could be better. Nevermind that he hasn't been better since they locked his parabatai up "for his own safety". Robert gets straight to the point. Robert tells Jace they need to put a temporary block on their parabatai bond so they can stop either him or Alec from hurting themselves. Robert knows Jace isn't oblivious to what everyone has been saying about him. 

Jace has never been good at withholding his emotions, especially not when he's angry, and oh he is furious. He shouts. He screams. He swears. At one point Clary tried to come close to calm him down. Izzy had to pull her back when it looked like Jace might take his anger out on her instead. They can't do this! They can't! They're parabatai! They can't block their bond! They keep each other sane and in check through their bond! Jace spits out every reason he can think of. Robert tries to remain patient throughout. He's seen Alec take on the brunt of Jace's anger a hundred times. It's been said to be part of what made Jace and Alec such a good team. He's seen Alec patiently wait for Jace to finish lashing out, before the two of them seamlessly come back together again. Rarely with soft words, but always with worlds of patience that Robert can't seem to emulate even as he repeats again and again "It's only temporary."  

Robert snaps eventually. "It isn't a choice!" And it's not. For all the warning Jace and Alec are getting, neither actually has a choice. The block will be put in place. Jace will calm down without Alec's self harming. Or Alec will mourn properly and the healers can help Jace with his destructive tendencies. Whichever it is, there is no choice in the matter for either of them. "You're only hurting each other with your bond. The parabatai bond is supposed to make you both better. Not drag you both down like this." 

Jace doesn't know what to say about that. He hadn't...he hadn't thought that maybe his emotions had been keeping Alec from recovering. Now he hates himself, and he doesn't accept. He'll never accept them blocking his and Alec's bond, but he does negotiate more time by Alec's side. If they can't feel each other's souls then he at least needs to see Alec and to have Alec know he's okay too. The block is put on their bond and it's not like Alec is dead. Jace just can't feel Alec there. It's the weirdest sensation trying to reach through his soul to the piece he shares with Alec and there's just nothing there. 

Alec isn't faring as well. He was paying more attention last time their bond was blocked like this. This sensation is all too familiar and terrifying for Alec. The last time he'd felt like this, his entire world was tilted, Jace was gone, there was a dead or alive order on his parabatai. He didn't know if his parabatai WAS dead or alive. He almost DIED looking for Jace. Those thoughts only bring back memories of Magnus. 

Magnus helping to look for Jace. 

Magnus guiding him through his apology like he knew Alec needed help with his words. 

Magnus offering help, even when he didn't want Alec hurting himself to find Jace. 

Magnus at his side and keeping him alive when he had inevitably hurt himself looking for Jace. 

And that of course loops him back to the anger and blame he doesn't want to feel. He doesn't want to blame Jace that Magnus is gone. He doesn't want to be angry at Jace who is holding him through his panic attacks and screaming at the doctors asking if this is their idea of "better" and "recovering". But Jace had activated the sword. Clary had explained Jace had been willing to die when he touched the sword, and as if that wasn't bad enough, instead, he had activated the sword that had killed all the Downworlders in the Institute, including Magnus. There are no happy endings here. This is where my story ends for now.

[aha-chuu]

I've read these books, and op can love them or whatever (I did enjoy reading them to some degree), but in retrospect I wouldn't recommend them to anyone invested in Shadowhunters TV show purely because of Malec.

I read these books for two main reasons: I craved representation and liked the fantasy genre.

It took me four tries to get through the first book alone it was so dull. The dialogue is less cringey, sure, but the plot feels like it just isn't moving (in my opinion). The second book is better because Simon was far more interesting to me than Clary or Jace, but everything outside of his sphere of influence was frustrating. I think that the third book is by far the best, and would have been a satisfying conclusion to a fairly good trilogy... Aside from the sequels.

The fourth one (I can't be bothered to remember their names rn, it's late) is so forgettable. I can't remember any plot aside from the Malec stuff, and it's obvious that it was only created because the first three were so popular. Books five and six also escape me in terms of story, and this is coming from the most attentive reader alive. You bored and just want something to read? They're fine, but I wouldn't suggest you actively search for them.

And Cassandra Clare... Personally I don't know what she's like, and her writing is not some amazing prose, plus Jace and Clary are irrationally perfect. I won't say it's bad writing, but the dialogue does feel stilted in places and there's too much description on occasion which takes away from the excitement of scenes.

As you can tell, these critiqyes were more memorable to me than the actual story.

I can't say anything about the following books tbh. I only read the 'main' six because they frustrated me too much to continue, and perhaps the others are better (I heard the are lesbians???). I will point out that using the FINAL book of a series to setup an almost entirely new one was... Aggravating. I wasn't reading to be introduced to ten new characters who I must suffer through every three chapters just to persuade me to buy the next series, I was reading so that I could get a satisfying conclusion to the four characters I already knew and liked (Magnus, Alec, Izzy and Simon).

Then with the Malec thing. I read the books first and was promised plenty, and I was disappointed majorly. I only read them for rep that was barely even there. Magnus and Alec do become more central as the books progress, but we don't get one moment of simple happiness between the couple. At least Clace got dates occasionally!!! Malec is almost non existent in the first two books, are most interesting in the third, and argue throughout all the last three.

As I said, this series would have been more satisfying to end after book three's happy conclusion.

Okay, I'm done. I'm sorry for taking over op's post and ranting. Everyone's different and these are just my opinions, which don't hold much weight really. I greatly preferred the show since it gave my favourite characters more screen time and actually displayed them interacting without arguing for more than two minutes.

Tl;Dr Read the books if you'd like to, but I personally would advise you not to.

Now that Shadowhunters is over…

Please read the books y’all.

The series spans for a long time and it’s still going on. There are way more characters and beautiful moments. Well-timed cheese, more sarcasm and less cringe. Quotes that touch your heart and lore that grips you and drags you for almost 10+ books.

Everyone deserves to get experience the joy of reading a Cassandra Clare book.

I dont want to say it’s better but… it just gives you more.