#be more like Alastair

[ratunderneathahat]

Breaking news: local transexual uses Callum Hunt having Constantine Madden's soul as a metaphor for its own transness. Equally breaking news: local transexual wishes they had Alastair hunt as a father instead of the batshit excuse for parents it currently has.

[autisticandroids]

FAMINE: That's one deep, dark nothing you've got there, Dean.

[youtube with closed captions]

dean and his father. dean and his family. dean and how bad it is.

(via @closetoyou1970)

[lambmotifz]

something something dean + penetration metaphor/motif. the amount of times he killed/tried to kill someone by brutally penetrating them….

[sampegger]

do you guys think the writers would have taken it more seriously if it had been alastair around relentlessly tormenting dean in late seasons as opposed to lucifer with sam

[nonbinary-androids]

Was thinking about The Iron Trial and wow. The Magisterium just really, fully, legally, whole-heartedly kidnapped Call, didn't they

[cant-think-of-anything]

i keep thinking about what the orginal “tragic” ending of the last hours was supposed to be

[beedok]

If you ever find yourself in an Alastair Reynolds novel: try transitioning.

It will increase your survival odds from ~3% to as high as 25%.

[imherongraystairstrash]

😭 I can't tell if he reminds me of Gideon or Sophie all I know is that an artist finally CAPTURED the essence of Thomas, like you literally look at him and say "yeah, that's Thomas, Sophie and Gideon's son, because he screams Scone-boy and Scone-girl offspring😭😭😭😭

[heronchild-haven]

Every time I write a Heronchild AU I feel inclined to come up with a whole backstory for all the other characters, especially Cordelia and Alastair, even if they aren’t supposed be relevant to what’s happening at all. They just creep into the story organically and drag a whole Lightwood entourage + attachments in with them.

[astriefer]

It's amazing how two words can break me and build me whole in SECONDS.

[brightwoods]

Does anyone else feel like almost all of the conflicts that had to do with the various character dynamics in Chain of Thorns didn’t actually get resolved, they just unexplainably ceased to exist after two books of building them up because CC didn’t feel like writing them anymore and she didn’t know how to resolve it naturally after how she’d built the issues up so much?

Like how none of the characters but Cordelia and Thomas had any clue about the Alastair and Charles situation and then suddenly in CoT it was like who doesn’t know? Of course Matthew knew and didn’t say anything before and then randomly brought it up to Cordelia in Paris while assuming she knew too

Or how Alastair and Thomas went from how things were at the end of CoI with Alastair thinking it could never work because Thomas’s friends hate him to oh look everyone suddenly is friends with Alastair with no grudge with no development of that in this book at all, just an abrupt shift

Especially the Alastair and Matthew dynamic where Matthew hated Alastair and wanted him to have nothing to do with any of their friends and he spent CoI ranting about him to Cordelia. And then suddenly in CoT it’s like of course Matthew is supportive of Thomas and Alastair and oh look Matthew and Alastair are suddenly not just tolerating each other for Thomas’s sake but friends despite barely interacting and no development actually showing and never getting any mention of the other in their own POVs, just having Cordelia be like Alastair stop being dumb, you’re literally friends with him now

Or like everyone other than Christopher and Grace where it was like oh we don’t like her for how she’s treated us and her friends straight to anyway she’s one of us. Like yes Grace was useful and yes Tatiana manipulated her whole life, but none of that was why anyone changed their minds or opinions? It was just suddenly the flip of a switch when it was convenient for CC

Or Anna and Ariadne where it didn’t so much develop as Anna just acted mean to Ariadne on and off throughout the series and at the end of CoI she wanted nothing to do with a relationship and then in CoT she was just suddenly like sure I guess I do. Also, slightly different note, but I did not like that Anna barely interacted with anyone else for the entire book and she was just off in the corner being an irrelevant romantic subplot for almost all of the book except when she showed up to barely even be shown in the background being sad about her brother being dead

(Although Anna still got more of a reaction than everyone else and his death was poorly executed all around in the sense of how did you write this so predictably and poorly that no one even knows when he died and it’s so background and 99% of the characters don’t care at all and we don’t see his parents finding out or much of Thomas’s reaction or anything and it’s just as if he wasn’t a character anymore 2 seconds later which is a different genre of issue with CoT but similar problem in the sense that both issues made the book feel a lot more emotionless to read)

And how the issues of Thomas and Alastair being together as two men and Anna and Ariadne being together as two women in this time and the issues of what would happen if the fact that Charles and Alastair were gay got out to the entire Clave just disappeared and never got addressed at all. We know how the ClVe reacted to Alec Lightwood YEARS later. We know society was homophobic at the time TLH is set and that it seems like shadowhunter society was a lot less open-minded than mundanes a century later

I understand that Charles being blackmailed and making shitty decisions was annoying but it was like suddenly everyone finding out wouldn’t have consequences and all the other queer men characters were like how could you possibly be worried about this :/ as if they haven’t spent the whole series knowing they have to be careful about who they tell. And then suddenly it was just of course it’s totally fine and safe to have everyone find out and why wouldn’t you be fine with that. And it was really written in a way that had other queer characters like oh Charles is such a coward for not being ready to publicly tell a bunch of homophobic people his sexuality and it just wasn’t it??? And super weird after Thomas was terrified of telling even Anna and Matthew for years. And also, I did not care for the fact that when Charles did go risk getting outed to finally do the right thing, we didn’t even get to see it through any character’s perspective or how that important meeting went, we just got one line of dialogue from somebody else saying that it happened with no details at all. And I can’t think of other examples right now but there were quite a few moments like that where we got one line saying that something had happened that was important to the plot and to characters’ development that seemed like it would have been more interesting than some of what we did get to see where it was just totally breezed over and way too easy and totally background to less important stuff

And then there was the whole no one reacting to Ariadne and Anna dancing together publicly thing was like yeah that’s nice I guess but not realistic and it doesn’t go with the way things have been presented up to that point, it also just feels like a situation where CC was like well this would be easier for me so there just won’t be consequences and then they can easily end up happily together

And then there was the whole Thomas and Alastair thinking they couldn’t realistically be together thing and knowing they couldn’t get married or be known to be together by anyone they’re not close to and then at the end it’s still not really addressed how they’re going to be together? Like there was the laziest write off of the family tree being wrong and then we still are just left to assume that eventually they move in together and suddenly it’s not a problem and everyone’s fine with it? And then I also feel like we don’t actually know if everyone found out about Alastair and Charles’ sexualities after the blackmail or if people are going to assume about Thomas and Alastair or if that’ll cause issues or if no one knows outside of who they’ve told and they have to be careful or what. Which like wouldn’t necessarily need to be addressed if it wasn’t for the logistics of being together as two men in that time being part of the obstacle that they were struggling with being in their way and then it felt like it was totally forgotten to even be one at the end by CC

Idk like I’d love to think they just lived in a world where homophobia didn’t exist but it felt like homophobia was a plot point when CC wanted it to be an inconvenience and then suddenly disappeared just to make her writing easier the moment she didn’t want it there anymore instead of actually addressing the plots she raised with it if that makes sense?

And sorry, I really did not mean to go on a rant this long. And maybe everyone else had a very different reading experience than I did and other people don’t agree with some or all of this. I personally am just very confused about how the book was almost 800 pages long and it felt like so much of the development in it was us abruptly being told that development had happened rather than actually getting to see it and how so many of the issues were abruptly solved in an I don’t want to write this issue anymore kind of way rather than anything actually needing to be worked at outside of the Belial situation

Edit: You know what, I mentioned it in my tags but I feel like it’s annoying enough to put in the body of the post and make it even longer. What the fuck was with everyone outing or potentially outing everyone else just so that characters could openly talk about the queer characters and tell them to do what they want them to? Why did Matthew out his brother multiple times? Like yes, the people he said it to coincidentally already knew, but he didn’t know that. And why was Thomas outing Alastair? The straights got to keep their secrets as long as they wanted and fix their problems more naturally. Why did I have to sit through queer characters constantly having their sexualities and romantic histories to everyone else when they clearly had not okayed it? Why were the queer characters doing so much of the outing? Why were people who cared about them and knew what it felt like to be afraid of the wrong person finding out just broadcasting their sexualities to make it easier for CC to breeze past development to have their things get resolved fast? Why did no character have an issue with it at all?

[helenofblackthorns]

mutual on twitter just finished reading chot and it's bringing everything back 😭 mostly the rage like fuck that book for real

[edwinspaynes]

having reread chain of gold, i think one of the reasons that charles' relationship with alastair is so... unsettling? for the lack of a better word? is that the full implications of the relationship are never directly addressed in the canon.

like, i full-stop have stronger "ick" feelings about charles/alastair than i do even about like, clary/sebastian. because with the latter, you know it's widely accepted as wrong, you know that everyone around the characters know it's wrong, you know you're supposed to be bothered by it and upset about it. we know that the creator wants us to go 'oh, yuck! that's gross!

but with charles/alastair, we genuinely never get into the age gap and (possibly even worse) the power dynamic. it's all on-page, too explicit to write the abuse or even the grooming off as a headcanon. but it's so sidelined, so eerily unaddressed beyond 'yeah he's a shitty boyfriend,' and that's somehow haunting in a dully chilling way. and the lack of metatextual acknowledgment of this beyond a (very untrue) 'age gaps like that were normal during that time period' is super unsatisfying and kind of makes it worse.

idk how else to explain it but it's eerie and it leaves this lingering yikes feeling. it's also lingeringly odd how charles also exclusively attaches himself to much-younger women as his beards. both ari and (especially) grace are younger than alastair is, and even if the relationships aren't sexual, you'd think someone would go 'hey! that guy's got a weird vibe!'

i do appreciate that we get into its impact on alastair a bit in chain of thorns when he's unsure if thomas really likes him even after their love confession and subsequent night together. i like that cassie does directly tie that into how charles treated alastair. but it still kind of... isn't enough? to address how fucked up this relationship actually was.

i'll be keeping an eye out for anything in chain of iron regarding this, but from what i remember it's only addressed when alastair feels sick when he looks at charles. a very valid and normal trauma response! we did not explore that at all!

im tagging @alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer because we were kind of talking about similar things the other day

[lyriumsings]

watching more baldurs gate cutscenes and like halsin,,,,him big,,,also like so cute like 🥺🥺🥺🥺 he just seems so sweet??

[sampilled]

theres something about the way that dean was only a candidate for the righteous man that drives me insane. cas tells him they thought it was john... what does it all mean??

[im-out-of-it]

PSA: JUST A LONG RANT AND LOW KEY HAPPY POST OF ME ENDURING THE WRITING FOR THOMASTAIR

I feel so much for Alastair and both Thomas when they’re speaking during the whole night of Matthew trying to manage his alcoholism. Alastair doesn’t think he would be good for Thomas and Thomas doesn’t wish for Alastair to make that decision for him. Thomas doesn’t believe that Thomas loving Alastair would be bad. YES HE SAID HIM LOVING HIM 😭🥹

Alastair thinks Thomas’s friends would turn on him and that he can’t be the only reason he stays in london. perhaps in Alastair’s mind, he thinks this is the right choice so Thomas maybe doesn’t resent him later for it if things turn sour????

“Don’t you see? It’s because I am a wretched, selfish person, Thomas. It’s not good for you to see me, for us to meet, but I want to see you. I want to de you ever damned moment of everyday, and so I spent the night standing outside this ugly pink building in hopes of seeing you, and now that I have seen you, I am reminded of all the reasons this is a bad idea. Believe me,” he said with a bitter laugh, “if I were a better person, I would have just sent you a note.”

there’s this whole thing of Alastair’s identity and people kind of classing him as an ass because of his comments and his past. but personally, if he were a shit person, he would ghost Thomas entirely. there is nothing more that screams fucking toxic dick as someone who straight up ghosts you and doesn’t provide an answer why. he’s seeking Thomas out in the hopes that he will see him, even if they aren’t together romantically

“You came here, you even said it was because you hoped to talk to me. You’re the one chasing me around, telling me to leave you alone.”- Thomas

from the start that Alastair found out that Thomas felt something for him, he didn’t think he was good enough for Thomas. Thomas is viewed as being too kind, well mannered, the dull nice one of the group. or that’s the feeling I get.

in my honest opinion, Alastair has shown much growth. if he truly was a dick, he would either seek Thomas and end up somehow sabotaging their relationship or would straight up ghost him. I think this shows growth that he is seeking Thomas out because 1. he has feelings for Thomas and will take even a second with Thomas EVEN if he thinks they can’t be together. and 2. Alastair believes Thomas deserves to know the truth of how he feels

now Alastair is a very complex figure and (me as a writer ish would absolutely love getting their hands on this type of character. SO MUCH OPPORTUNITIES) CC obviously did him dirty. there was a lot she could’ve done with his character but she wanted to focus on bland James. YES I FUCKING SAID IT HES BLAND. she tries to make Thomas the “dull character” but come on, personally he’s one of the most interesting characters. he obviously could’ve been handled better too. justice for Alastair and Thomas 👏🏼

but let’s get to Thomas. Thomas doesn’t think it fair for Alastair to make this decision for him. I mean, Matthew already knows and if kit can almost get with grace (I know nobody knows but still!!!!!) then why can’t Thomas have Alastair?? I also think the merry thieves underestimate how each of them would respond to their friends lives. James thinks they would all pity him, Matthew thinks they would all hate him for the whole potion fiasco, kit isn’t thinking anything besides science, and Thomas isn’t (MY OPINION HERE) sure how his friends would react to Alastair. maybe a part of tom thinks that they would have a hard time accepting Alastair? there is history and it sure isn’t good history ☹️ I think they’re all in the habit of underestimating or assuming each others motives and thoughts in a way

I really love to see Thomas kind of just be like don’t make excuses or make decisions for me. I know what’s right for me. but as always, I will bitch and bitch and bitch about the sloppy writing.

could have been better. maybe, somehow like: “you know what? Alastair, I feel deeply for you and if my mates wish the best for me, they would accept this. if they were my true mates, they’d be happy for me. I adore you Alastair and stop using excuses because I desire to be with you. I understand what is right for me and you cannot assume to think I would resent you later on and please don’t think you’re difficult to love.” it’s not perfect but something along these lines lmao

some of us remember the shit writing with Malec so at least CC half assed thomastair though there are still problems and as always, IT COULD HAVE BEEN FUCKING BETTER. I will say that it’s an improvement. Malec is written atrociously in TMI so at least this is an improvement. she’s still a shit writer though lmaooo