#an anti anti ty blackthorn

[a-random-insomniac]

It's actually so funny listening to Ty Blackthorn haters because there's literally no reason to hate him. Like. you're telling me that if the person you loved most in the entire world/ the only person who truly understood you died and you could bring them back. you wouldn't??? Also, imagine you are a autistic teenager.

[wikitpowers]

How do you think Kit and Anush’s relationship will play out in TWP? Like, do you think Kit will be a bit jealous of him? Anush might be protective of Ty? Maybe they’ll hit it off?

before i get into the kit/anush relationship i wanna first off say that i really hope ty and anush are really really good friends. like i hope they got super tight at the scholomance and can truly rely on each other, i just really need ty to have a bestie like anush (and seems super sweet <3). and if that is the case in twp, then i think kit would definitely be jealous of anush and how close they are. he might even assume they are in a relationship and that would make him even more heartbroken (and me absolutely shattered).

so i think at first, he would for sure be jealous of anush. and actually i think that like you say, anush totally would be protective of ty (that's something i need desperately)!!!!! bc i imagine at the start of twp, kit will be really cold and distant to ty in order to protect himself and anush might feel iffy towards him bc of it as he is ty's best friend. but after all the angst is over, i just know kit and anush are gonna be really great friends and have fun together🫶🏻

AND AHAHHAHA I NEVER THOUGHT THEY COULD HIT IT OFF! THAT'S A NEW IMAGE IN MY MIND :') but honestly, i don't think they would, kinda bc of what i said before. like even if anush found him attractive, he wouldn't act on it bc he wouldn't like kit's treatment of ty. but that's just a silly little theory i made up! f knows what will actually happen :') but what a turn of events it would be if they did hit it off :') but i would also hate that bc 1) NO MORE LOVE TRIANGLES I BEG U CASSIE! and 2) kitty are literally ~soulmates~ and are angsty enough on their own. shit i'm sorry naturally my reply got long :')

[julianblackthornlawyer3]

i might be wrong BUT some of you people will have the time of your life when TWP come out or you'll gonna have the biggest downfall in your life 'cause of the expectations u guys are creating.

Personally, i don't have much expectations i just want my faves alive and finally have their peace. To be honest I'm alredy seeing some of you mad cause the theorys and favoritism in some characters are on HIGH LEVEL (cof cof kit herondale) and if these theories and expectations don't meet with the story cassie is about to deliver u guys are gonna be annoying as hell.

and just to end my "hate" post im still mad the janus are still alive and is going to be a big part in the books (even been small, he should be in the drafts that didn't make to the final paper), im not a fan of Will making an appearance cause i know cc and her favoritism towards herondale, also i don't care about ash he is sooo insignificant right now that you guys only love the idea u create about him, sorry not sorry but is the truth.

[mossytrashcan]

i’m so happy that someone is talking about the way the fandom views kitty

like realistically if kit is not going to interact with ty the whole of twp, then ty will not put in an overperforming amount of effort to compensate for it. he’s not just a character with the sole purpose of being kit’s love interest, and i think that’s how most people see him outside of being autistic

yeah, it’s like they think he has to “make up” for all the autistic traits that previously inconvenienced kit, like not understanding I love yous (not saying he doesn’t know he has a crush, I’m talking about all of the times it’s stated he doesn’t get people saying “I love you”/doesn’t verbally affirm his love for ppl upfront like that) or needing extra support

it’s all “oh isn’t it so sweet that ty doesn’t mask around kit” until he’s autistic in a way that isn’t sweet or digestible for kit narratively. It also totally ignores all of baggage ty rightfully has with kit (didn’t he literally have a panic attack when he saw him for the first time or sumn)

ALSO, it’s a complete disservice to kit imo. like do yall fr want him to have his 15 yr old mindset forever

ALSO ALSO yes this is the ask that got interrupted by a literal tornado

[drusilla-carstairs]

what really bothers me about Kit/Ty is that the split between them is not as equal as everyone acts like it is. honestly the blame largely rests on Kit, and no one talks about that.

“but Ty is the one who tried to raise the dead!”

okay, yes, but let’s get one thing clear: he did not know that Kit was actually against that until the very last second. Kit willingly led him into thinking that it was a good action. Sure, Kit only did that because he thought Ty needed blind support, and thought that Ty would come to the right conclusion on his own. But he never told him. And let’s not forget that Ty is autistic, and for many of autistic or neurodivergent people in general, Ty included, words and actions will be taken at face value.

Ty wasn’t looking for a secret belief that Kit held. Because if he didn’t agree with raising Livvy, why wouldn’t he just say so? But Kit didn’t. So Ty really believed that Kit was with him until the last moment. He believed that he was doing a good thing for his family.

And then Kit pulled the whole “I love you” moment. Which Ty didn’t get to properly respond to—because really, how are you supposed to suddenly process a bombshell like that in the middle of RAISING YOUR SISTER FROM THE DEAD.

And then Kit disappeared. Just. Left. Sure, it was because he was embarrassed for the love confession, but imagine how that felt for Ty. He just dropped a love bomb and left because Ty didn’t respond right. Which is a dick move. Even if it was out of self preservation.

[pansexual-lilychen]

i’m still not over the fact that we got the kitty reunion in a tumblr post on a random monday

[ladyhindsight]

So recently I fell back down the rabbit hole that is the Shadowhunters series about five years after I finished all the available books with City of Heavenly Fire. While The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices haven’t really stuck significantly in my mind until I stumbled across your critiques of City of Lost Souls, it is a different story with The Dark Artifices. In a very bad way. Trite writing, a weird focus on features considered “exotic” (Emma’s blonde hair, Julian’s blue-green eyes, etc), generally poor character writing, the standard faire of issues that come from CC’s writing. But in particular I remember having issues with Ty Blackthorn and how his autism was portrayed, as someone who was professionally diagnosed. From what I recall from his arcs (specifically in QoAaD) a lot of his actions felt steeped in vainglory, him being confused about Kit leaving with Tessa without saying goodbye after heavily hurting Kit emotionally during the attempt to resurrect Livvy is the foremost example I can think of. It honestly really fucked with me when I first read it and made my internalized ableism a lot worse, something I am still trying to get over even now, as it made me afraid that is how other people saw me due to being on the spectrum. All that aside though, I wanted to ask you, since you generally are more familiar than CC’s work than I due to reading it at a more recent time, if people do consider Ty to be good autistic representation, and why or why not that may be. I want to know if my malice for Ty and what felt like an extremely offensive and, dare I say, borderline stereotypical portrayal of autism is just me being a bitch or if it is a common complaint amongst those willing to criticize Clare’s work.

Sorry if that was a massive fucking word salad I’ve been meaning to ask someone this question for almost half a decade after reading QoAaD😭😭

THE BLACKTHORN EYES. You shan’t forget. It’s been five years since I read Queen of Air and Darkness and I haven’t.

I find it difficult to assess to some degree how good a specific representation is. As to Ty, I’ve seen readers being incredibly happy with him and then vice versa like you. The difficulty lies in the way I think it’s misleading to look for general assertions in characters like Ty. How could you possibly represent a whole group of people that exists on a spectrum with varying degrees of symptoms that manifest in wide variety of ways with just one character? Another facet to the difficulty in assessing the quality of representation (Ty’s or in general) is that I hardly, if at all, identify with or like characters based on some traits they possess rather than how the character is in general, how the character works within the story, and what their dynamic is like with the other characters. The impression of a character is created in interaction with all the other elements of the book.

Ty is just one individual, and I’ve never looked at him as anything other than him being a representation of who he is, not what other people with autism generally are. Ty was based on a son of Clare’s friend, so I’d feel weird completely denouncing Ty's character, especially as someone not on the spectrum. Then again we all know how badly Clare translates real life stuff into her works and her writing, so… That being said, there are certain characteristics—I mean there has to be for a diagnosis even to exist or to be made—that need to be present. And those present with Ty, as you said, seem borderline if not exactly stereotypical.

What I am trying to say is that in and of itself and completely separate from the other elements, I don’t think Ty is the worst written character. My issue with Ty’s representation lies in its utilization in the story. For years now, Clare’s inclusion of different issues (social, societal, psychological, medical, neuropsychiatric etc.) has seemed more performative than genuine, which is relayed by the fact that the stories do not really focus on these issues, but mostly sidesteps them in favor of some boring aspect to the main romantic relationship. What truly then infuriates me, is treating what is supposed to be that representation almost as the sole aspect to that character, completely over-saturating their existence with this one (in this case) disorder, and then use it as a tool to elevate other characters.

The problem is glaring when Ty doesn’t live outside of that fact that he has autism but rather becomes the embodiment of it (especially considering there are no other characters with autism included in the series). People are more than their disorders, and though they are massive parts of everyday lives and sources of serious struggles to some people, reducing someone’s existence to just that is not it. Ty was there for the purpose of elevating Julian’s devotion and care for his family, to emphasize the love he has and the lengths he would go to in order to protect them. Clare wrote in one of her answers that she was glad people picked up on Ty’s autism, but how could they not? It was pushed into almost every scene he was in just so the readers would take notice. Clare does not know subtlety or subtext or have any sense of proportionality for which the writing was excessive.

You’re not a bitch lol, and what you said here is a common criticism from what I’ve ever seen. I don’t think you really need my take on whether to hold onto your malice (just offering my winding perspective here, bon appétit), since here you have justified and reasoned your opinion and feelings about Ty completely appropriately. Though it’s been years since I’ve interacted with anything to do with Clare’s fans or their opinions other than book reviews, I’ve found that the readers who tend to praise her writing rarely have such distinguished reasons for why so.  

Word salads are always welcome. I feel like I’m offering you one in return. :’)

[the-bee-graveyard]

18, 20, and 24 for the violence asks.

18. it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on… In a shocking (sarcasm) conclusion I’m going to say Ty Blackthorn in general. In Lady Midnight he was closer to solving the Malcolm thing then anyone else, he’s the one who got Annabel to talk in the first place (which backfired, not his fault). I feel like people often ignore the fact that he’s very intelligent and a key character, and as much as I love autism and gay romances, I feel like sometimes Ty is sort of reduced to those two things even though he’s so much more.

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring I know people aren’t going to like me for this one but: the James/Matthew/Cordelia love triangle. I just couldn’t bring myself to care. There didn’t seem to be any real suspense, I was pretty confident she’d end up with James the whole time, and I feel like Matthew’s feelings for her didn’t really add anything but unnecessary drama to the story.

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse jumping fandoms real quick because Billy fucking Hargrove. The hoops people will jump through to defend him because he is a mildly attractive white man will never not horrify me.

Choose violence ask game

[dhampiravidi]

when you dislike the MC of a good series AKA Who Will Die in The Wicked Powers

damn, being petty enough to flip off the MC x canon ship in my (favorite) fandom is really kicking me in the ass--

yeah, basically I can't touch half the TSC stuff on Tumblr bc I'm so anti-Clace...(meanwhile I love literally every other character that's been in every Shadowhunter series)...& they're probably gonna have a wedding + kids in the next books (assuming Jace isn't killed)...

The Wicked Powers is most definitely gonna have the Princes of Hell as the main villains. I feel like Luke, Gwyn, or Izzy will die, since the younger Shadowhunters are supposed to be central & well...look at the couples who will be alive/extant by TWP:

SPOILERS FOR ALL SHADOWHUNTER BOOKS!!

Jace & Clary

Magnus & Alec

Simon & Izzy

Julian & Emma

Kit & Ty

Kieran/Cristina/Mark

Dru & Ash (& maybe Jaime)

Diana & Gwyn

Luke & Jocelyn

Tessa & Jem

(forgive me if I'm missing anyone!)

Jace already died once. Clary had dreams about dying, but those were shown to be visions of Thule. Based on canon events, I think they're Clare's favorite ship. SAFE.

Magnus almost gave himself to Asmodeus in CoHF. Alec almost-ish died saving Magnus in The Eldest Curses. Also, Alec almost died thanks to that poison demon in TMI (the one Magnus saved him from). Malec might end up forced to rule some region of Hell (reason unknown but I think it'll have to do with them beating/destroying Asmodeus). I feel like past events foreshadow Magnus dealing with the unfortunate sides of being a warlock. But he won't die--the "killing your gays" trope might actually save he & Alec.

Simon nearly died when the vampires attacked him (when he was a mundane), then when Valentine bled him pre-Daylighter (then Jace's blood saved him). He "sacrificed" himself to Asmodeus CoHF, in the form of his vampire immortality + memories (which he basically got back later on). Izzy...she's been through a lot psychologically & about as much as I think most Shadowhunters would physically. She lost Max & her dad. But she's a badass (I'm not faulting her for it, either). So I don't think she's safe.

Julian & Emma both lost their parents in horrible ways. Their whole series was about the parabatai curse (which, to me, was conveniently not mentioned in chronologically earlier series...probably because it wasn't invented til TDA was written, lol). They're kinda written to be the leaders of Livvy's Watch. SAFE.

Kit has his whole faerie power reveal shit to explore & he + Ty are some of the major characters in TWP. I'm pretty sure they'll spend the series healing their relationship. SAFE.

Kieran/Cristina/Mark will survive because 1) Kieran as the Unseelie King is an important Shadowhunter ally, 2) they're poly rep in YA, which is rare, and 3) killing one of them off would leave the others to mourn in such a weird way. SAFE.

I love Dru Blackthorn. She's one of the main of TWP, so I think she'll survive, plus tbh I don't think any more Blackthorns will be killed. Ash will probably end up as the Seelie King or as Clace's adopted son, to "redeem" Sebastian in a narrative sense. Jaime's sort of a main for TWP as one of Dru's love interests. SAFE.

Diana & Gwyn aren't main characters (though I like their romance). Diana also is the ONLY transgender person in all the books (unless I missed something). I don't think she'll be killed off. Gwyn might be just because I see the Wild Hunt as an important group in TWP & he might die protecting Diana (narratively, this shows strengthened faerie-Shadowhunter relations, despite the Wild Hunt being unaffiliated with either Court).

Luke & Jocelyn deserve to be endgame, but I could see Luke being killed off as one of those "MC's loved one is killed so the MC goes & avenges them" type of things. I love Luke & Jocelyn as characters, though.

Tessa & Jem deserve to be endgame, arguably, more than any couple. They were the mains in their series, then Jem survived but was sort-of-"lost" when he became a Silent Brother. Then he miraculously became a (mortal) Shadowhunter again when he was burned by heavenly fire, he just left the Clave behind to hang with Tessa (good choice!). Tessa has a baby & she's gonna suffer enough when she outlives Jem. SAFE?

[karouvas]

ask game:

tsc (i’m sorry i always ask about them, my brainrot is strong and i love hearing your thoughts)

and community

don’t apologize pls lol I also am brain rotting hard and have few people to talk about it with so it’s appreciated :)

The Shadowhunter Chronicles

M/F OTP: there are others I really like or love in a more normal way, but Emma/Julian Will/Tessa and Jem/Tessa are the ones that hit on another level for me emotionally, I’m clinically insane about them. Also it’s a bit hilarious to think about, since this was formative media for me (I first read TID in late elementary/middle school and TDA as they were coming out in high school) how my taste in ships generally speaking was shaped… like if you look at pairings I gravitate towards in other fandoms since there are def patterns xd. The impact!

Other M/F ships I have love for (including this category because ik i don’t talk about them as much and in another fandom where I had less dynamics I’m super fond of to choose from I could have placed them in that first category think of them as like second tier Otp’s for me ): Mark/Cristina, James/Cordelia, Simon/Isabelle (last one also was formative they were thee hot girl/soft boy nerd ship to me in middle school. But it has been a while so unsure if they’d hit the same on reread, they are the tmi couple I would most like to see in the better in black collection though!)

M/M OTP: Jem/Will! And then follow up Kit/Ty Surefire ways to get me invested in a ship: they do necromancy together, meet cute with a knife to the throat, they break up without ever dating. Triple check.

F/F OTP: along those lines it’s Lucie x Grace literally the main reason I want to reread TLH (well I do also just want to see how it reads back to back and not broken up and I have other reasons but like. Those are less important) is to be able to properly write fic about them, like it genuinely pisses me off this fandom is so boring and tasteless I can’t believe I actually miss the legacies fandom they were annoying as hell but at least they understood that when women do dark magic together it’s polite to write detailed analysis of how gay they are 😭. The way I know cc has seen Buffy too like flop. Also it just fits archetypes of antagonistic femslash I tend to love in general see: Julia/Marina Aria/Alison Elena/Rebekah and more

OT3: Herongraystairs and then Kierarktina

Friendship OTP: Tessa & Magnus + Will & Magnus! And for familial relationships I adore all The Blackthorn siblings in TDA and their dynamics but especially Julian and Mark’s relationship is v compelling to me and I also love Cordelia and Alastair’s relationship v much it was my favorite overall development in TLH. And then for psuedo familial dynamics I Love Charlotte’s relationships with Tessa Jem Will and Jessamine. her relationship with Jem might be my softest spot overall especially because they have moments in CP2 that make me go 🥺 but as a documented Tessa lover I adore how having Charlotte as a mentor figure effects her arc. So those are my favorites Ik I failed at picking just one. Oh I also adore Emma and Cristina’s friendship although I also sometimes ship them romantically

Canon OTP: Blackstairs Wessa Jessa like I said

Crackship OTP: what even counts as crackship? I will admit that during my CP reread I did look up how many Will/Magnus fics there are on ao3 although I did not read them (there are 12 for inquiring minds).

Anti-OTP: The worst ship to me is Jordan/Maia but it’s been a long time so the vitriol has worn off and I don’t have another solid notp besides them but the other canon pairings I’m #unimpressed with are Clace Ghostwriter and Gracetopher … Lucie/Jesse probably irks me the most these days because I actually want to like them because the concept is so good but the execution falls flat for me and I really like Lucie and want someone more interesting for her (like Grace lol.)

Community

M/F OTP: ultimately when I’m actually watching the show it’s Jeff/Britta love their emmaxknightleycore vibes. But I did get really into Abed x Annie at one point and even wrote some fic about it over quarantine (when I first got into Comm) so I have a soft spot for that concept too

M/M OTP: Troy/Abed. They of course are The otp of the show.

F/F OTP: not really otp status but well I did write this Annie x Britta Carmilla Au: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27728689?view_adult=true

(I orphaned that account post quarantine)

OT3: Troy/Abed/Annie

Friendship OTP: I mean all the study group dynamics but I especially have soft spots for Annie and Troy + Abed and Britta moments

Canon OTP: Jeff/Britta

Crackship OTP: what even counts as crack …

Anti-OTP: I just don’t like Jeff/Annie I used to viscerally hate it these days I’m just like. It’s not for me lol.

[a-random-insomniac]

Unpopular opinions about TSC

This isn’t particularly unpopular but I don’t like Jace. Sorry to Jace fans. I was mainly neutral about him my first time reading TMI but I recently came across anti Jace posts and then reread TMI and started not liking him. I guess it makes sense that he started out as Draco Malfoy (in a fan fiction). TDA Jace was superior tho, but that's probably just because he's not the main character.

Lucie Herondale deserved better. Like, she is such an interesting character and her powers (to me) were more interesting than James. Also, she was Cordelia’s parabatai sos he deserved more time in the book.

The main couples were pretty boring (this might just be me because I get that with basically everything). Sorry but I already know that they are going to end up together and I’ve already seen so much of them, I just want to see the other characters.

The sibling relationships are so unrelatable. The ones that remind me of my siblings the most are Ty and Mark at the start of TDA (I too would throw a wooden dagger at my brother) and Thomas, Barbara (RIP Queen 👑) and Eugenia (Saying this as a middle child with an older sister and a younger brother).

This isn’t actually an opinion but after reading TMI I was pronouncing parabatai as ‘Paba-ra-ti’ and I could not understand parabatai jokes for ages 😭

I don't like the Shadowhunter show. I don't actually feel as strongly about this as I do in other opinions because it feels so different from the books. It has it's good moments but it all feels weird because Raphael is aroace in the books and he's such special character to me.

I did not care about Christopher's death. I feel so bad about it but I just think he is a poorly written character with a poorly written death. The protagonists did not care about him (by protagonists I mean James and Matthew) and everyone's reactions were so underwhelming. It just felt more like CC wanted a heart-breaking death than an interesting character and there was no point in him dying.

[julescarstairs]

Do you ever look back on the progression of a ship and get second hand embarrassment with some of the shit the characters do at times?

For example, when Cristina was going to kiss Mark in Lord of Shadows??? Because she thought she was drunk on faerie wine??? And Mark told her it was cranberry juice??? And then Cristina felt horrible and Mark felt miserable because he thought Cristina would only kiss him if she was drunk on faerie wine???

[hahahax30]

Watch twp not being out until December 2030

[mossytrashcan]

controversial statement, but if kit even thinks about being a dick towards ty in twp, I am ripping him out of the book and scalping him and setting him on fire and then hitting him with a semi truck. peace n love on planet earth

[drusilla-carstairs]

rereading SOBH all in one go makes it so hard for me to be neutral about Kit

[pansexual-lilychen]

so the “i didn’t choose this life - 1904“ writing in the scholomance as seen in GOTSM really lead absolutely nowhere, huh?

i know CC made the ending of chot less sad and changed a few things but i’ve been waiting for over three years to find out who wrote it just for it to lead absolutely nowhere whatsoever