#better be cordelia and lucie

[theshardsofmyheart]

“...Cruel Prince James strode into the chamber, his cape flashing behind him and his terrible, terrible mustache askew with rage...“

Here´s to late night patrols, good friends and stories about terrible terrible princes.   

[clockwork-carstairs]

the last hours was actually so tragic. like maybe it’s the edwardian london thing that makes it seem more tragic to me but damn all that miscommunication made them all so LONELY and isolated when they didn’t have to be. in tid even when will thought he was cursed he had jem, and even when he was being awful to tessa she still had other people in her life like jem and sophie. jem and tessa had no family, but they had people they talked to and shared their fears with. in the dark artifices, they’re this really strong family unit, the tragedy is horrible but there’s a network around them all (blackthorns + emma + kit) so no one’s really alone.

but in the last hours like….these kids HAVE parents and friend groups and supposed best friends even, yet they seem more isolated than any other series mains. james doesn’t tell anyone about the gracelet and what he went through (fair enough bec it was terrible and traumatising). but then it’s not just that. cordelia isn’t telling anyone what she’s going through. lucie isn’t telling anyone what she’s going through (trying to bring someone back to life???) – and they’re supposedly best friends and future parabatai! and matthew isn’t telling anyone what he’s going through, not his parabatai either, and no one wants to address how visibly he’s suffering. and grace, she’s actually alone. and it just seems so lonely and sad and they all seem so isolated even though they shouldn’t be, because unlike the tid and tda mains, the tlh lot actually have parents and their own homes (for the most part). the start of chain of thorns especially is just really painful because they’re all suffering ALONE when they all have people around them they just don’t bridge the gap. it just feels so lonely which is almost ironic bec what about the friendship of the merry thieves and the parabatai bonds and best friendship?

[drublaccthorn]

It’s me and my The Last Hours fanfic against the world

[tys-kitty]

Don‘t you guys just love it when a Herondale is one of the main characters and there‘s so much drama and miscommunication that you tend to forget what the real plot of the book is?

[annajour]

I have a confession to make y’all 😞 I never actually finished chain of thorns because I thought it was that bad 🙊

[im-out-of-it]

PSA: IS IT JUST ME OR DO CORDELIA AND LUCIE AS PARABATAI NOT MAKE ANY SENSE LIKE ITS SO RUSHED AND IM NOT SORRY BUT MY PSA ARE GETTING SO LONG EACH TIME I JUST HAVE SO MANY OPINIONS AND THOUGHTS TO SHARE OK????????

’ll never understand why Lucie and Cordelia become parabatai. how good friends are they really? we know Cordelia and Lucie hung out a few times (??????) and wrote letters to each other but how well do they know each other?

“But you could have told me. I could never have pitied you, Lucie I bought, bewildered. She didn’t mind that Cordelia had been in love with James- but the lying, the hiding….. she wished it didn’t bother her but it did.” -Lucie responding to Cordelia’s secret

(which is ironic of Lucie to think because this is the same bitch who hid herself working with grace from Cordelia to save Jesse lmao and deep down, she probably knew Cordelia wouldn’t of been okay with it)

Cordelia had gone a sickly color. “How could you not tell me that?”, she whispered. “You were going to go ahead with the ceremony, then, without warning me? What if something bad happened to you during it?- what if the ghosts meant harm?” - Cordelia responding to Lucies secret

“Did you know the difference when you chose to secretly befriend Grace behind my back, and never tell me about it at all?”-cordelias anger to Lucie about teaming up with grace to bring back Jesse from the dead

“I didn’t know how much my working with her would hurt you”, Lucie said. “I doubt James knew either. You never let on that you felt anything for him. You- you’re so proud, Cordelia.”- lucies rebuttal to Cordelia when she comes back from Paris

so I’ve posted four different arguments or statements from Lucie and Cordelia over the issues they’ve had. Cordelia didn’t tell Lucie she was in love with James. why the pity game? I DONT KNOW BUT I HATE THAT BLOODY WORD. honestly Lucie is right. Cordelia is way too proud, as is James. I’m sorry but I don’t get this whole “if I told you I love your brother, you would pity me.” but back in chain of gold, Cordelia likes the fact that they could be sisters in law and even thinks James may actually love her. so I don’t really understand this whole pity thing.

I think the reason Cordelia didn’t want anyone to know was that she then found out about Grace and thought people may in a way pity her since everyone assumed grace and James were in love.

moving on to Lucie seeing ghosts. I can see why Lucie didn’t share it because Cordelia made a whole fairy tale thing about how Lucie lives in fantasy world and they can’t be parabatai? I get why she didn’t say anything and by then, they were passed not giving a fuck about communicating. should she have said something? yes but it’s not like these two are bffs

there is no reason these two should be parabatai. they don’t communicate for starters. there’s too much drama and miscommunication. CC presents parabatai as being closer than brothers but not as close as lovers so wouldn’t you think that soon to be parabatai should be telling each other stuff?

like what bad would it have done if Lucie said “hey Cordelia, I know you don’t like grace but I’m using her help to bring a ghost back to life that I have cared for. please keep this between us. he means a lot to me.”

and why couldn’t Cordelia say “Lucie, I understand and I will keep it between us because I know you wouldn’t do anything to harm me on purpose. if you have feelings for this ghost, I support you. also I do not care for grace because I am in love with your brother and have been.”

mayhap Lucie could then say “oh James is such a buffoon! how could he not see what is in front of him? thank you for trusting me Cordelia”

y’all can critique my summary all you want 😭 (I tried ok?) but I don’t really see any harm in sharing the secrets they had? because maybe if they did or had some honest convos, and actually grew, I could see why they deserve to be parabatai. but I haven’t seen anything from their relationship that shows they should be. they don’t communicate, they keep every secret to themselves because god forbid someone pities or hates them, and they’re basically strangers towards the end.

Lucie even says in pov during the edom thing if she really knows Cordelia? and I think Cordelia thinks the same thing at another time. these two question if they know each other. parabatai don’t have to be perfect but they should have some sort of bond. and I don’t think they should be questioning if they know their friend at all. when it comes to the parabatai bond, CC is incompetent when forming it.

1. Alec does everything for jace while jace treats Alec like absolute shit. Alec can’t form his own thoughts or feelings without thinking about jace. -CC who thinks everyone loves jace

2. Will is nothing without Jem. like if you take Jem out of the equation, Will is an absolute monster but put jem into the equation, hmmmm maybe this dick can be tolerated for a second. Will is only tolerable because of Jem. but also never forgiving Will and Tessa for fucking right after they get notification Jem has died. -CC who thinks Tessa settling for Jem and waiting for him to die so then Tessa can have Will is the best of both worlds apparently

3. Emma and Julian- not even touching that. I’m so tired and over the unforbidden trope CC is obsessed with. it’s old

4. Matthew and James- James was prisoned by a bloody bracelet and Matthew kept the fairy potion a secret from everyone and ends up turning to alcohol. this is kinda harder to criticize because they are both being prisoned by their own thing. Matthew didn’t have to turn to the potion but belial would’ve found a way to torment James. so I don’t know if he could’ve got out of that. could’ve just told Tatiana no to cutting briars or told his parents on her lmao so as much as I want to like this bond, matthews feelings get pushed to the side and golden herondale steals the spotlight once again smh. James and his feelings take a front seat while Matthew is apologizing for feeling anything and his arc is nonexistent (JUST MY OPINION I DONT WANT NO SMOKE 💨)

in conclusion, these two should not have been parabatai. honestly most of these pairs shouldn’t be. they didn’t really have anything in common or anything that linked a strong powerful bond. I see Thomas and Christopher being more of a parabatai than any of these pairs. even Gabriel and Gideon. these siblings or family members actually speak to each other and work through their shit. Cordelia and Lucie “bonding” together didn’t work at all and felt super rushed. but that’s what happens when you waste hundreds of pages on miscommunication lmao

[livvyofthelake]

rip james and cordelia. sad. well there’s other couples. everybody clap for lucie and jesse!!!

[seanteale]

IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ANNA/CORDELIA AND MATTHEW/JAMES I AM STILL BITTER OVER THIS 🗣️

[tiredandoptimistic]

TSC Fandom Survey Results

The time has finally come for me to share my data! For those unaware, I've spent the past week running a survey in which people ranked TSC books, characters, and ships. In the end, 50 people filled out my survey, which is way more than I expected! About 23% of the people who looked at the survey filled it out, and everyone who started finished it.

First off I'll post the simple rankings from each category, and below the cut I'll show the more complex results with explanations for why people voted the way they did.

Best series: 1. The Infernal Devices 2. The Mortal Instruments 3. The Dark Artifices 4. The Last Hours 5. The Eldest Curses 6. The Wicked Powers 7. The Secret Treasons

Best main girl: 1. Tessa Gray 2. Clary Fairchild 3. Emma Carstairs 4. Cordelia Carstairs 5. Dru Blackthorn

Best main couple: 1. Will/Tessa/Jem 2. Will/Tessa 3. Clary/Jace 4. Jem/Tessa 5. Julian/Emma 6. James/Cordelia 7. Dru/Ash

Best side couple: 1. Magnus/Alec 2. Simon/Isabelle 3. Thomas/Alastair 4. Kit/Ty 5. Kieran/Mark/Cristina 6. Charlotte/Henry 7. Sophie/Gideon 8. Gabriel/Cecily 9. Helen/Aline 10. Grace/Christopher 11. Gwyn/Diana 12. Lucie/Jesse 13. Ari/Anna

Best side character: 1. Raphael Santiago 2. Lily Chen 3. Maia Roberts 4. Ragnor Fell 5. George Lovelace 6. Catarina Loss 7. Livvy Blackthorn 8. Jessamine Lovelace 9. Luke Graymark 10. Jocelyn Fairchild 11. Maryse Lightwood 12. Eugenia Lightwood 13. Jordan Kyle 14. Robert Lightwood 15. Jaime Rosales 16. Michael Wayland 17. Amatis Graymark 18. Camille Belcourt 19. Nate Gray 20. Charles Fairchild

Best younger sibling/child: 1. Max Lightwood-Bane 2. Rafael Lightwood-Bane 3. Mina Carstairs 4. Max Lightwood 5. Tavvy Blackthorn 6. Alex Lightwood 7. Zachary Carstairs

Best villain: 1. Sebastian Morgenstern 2. Valentine Morgenstern 3. Annabel Blackthorn 4. Malcolm Fade 5. Axel Mortmain 6. Asmodeus 7. Shinyun Jung 8. Benedict Lightwood 9. Tatiana Blackthorn 10. Belial

Best side book: 1. Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy 2. Ghosts of the Shadow Market 3. The Bane Chronicles 4. Secrets of Blackthorn Hall 5. An Illustrated History of Notable Shadowhunters and Denizens of Downworld 6. The Shadowhunter's Codex 7. Better in Black 8. A Sea Change

Huzzah! Putting this all together has been so much fun for me, and I want to quickly thank everybody who participated! I also want to remind everyone that this was just for fun, and no reason to get mad at anybody. We're obviously never gonna agree on everything, we just need to respect each other's opinions.

If you want to know the nitty gritty of how every character was ranked, how the different series measured up against each other across categories, and why people like or dislike various books and characters, then keep reading below the cut! I made a spreadsheet, please come gaze upon my beautiful spreadsheet.

Here we go, time for the real shit!

Be warned, you will probably read mean things about characters you love and nice things about characters you hate. Angry rants about how you can't believe anyone would think that way belong in DMs to your friends, not the notes of my post. I do welcome discussion, just nothing that's targeted at other people. Also, I will be doing my best to explain people's opinions, that doesn't mean that I agree with them. I'm just trying to document. If I'm sharing my genuine personal opinion on anything, I'll make that clear.

You'll be seeing screenshots from my big spreadsheet throughout this thing. Here's your key: Columns represent characters/ships/series, rows represent a ranking. Each cell shows how many people assigned that rank to that character (for example, the intersection of 3 and Sizzy will be the number of people who voted Sizzy as their second favorite side ship). At the bottom there will be the average rank this character received, which was calculated by the program I used for the survey. I have all the columns color coordinated by which series each character/ship belongs to, and each column will have one box outlined which shows the rank that character received most often (as in, the intersection of Sizzy and 3 is outlined because Sizzy got more #3 votes than #1 #2 #4 or #5). Some columns have multiple boxes outlined, in the case of ties.

Make sense?

Alright, let's go!

First off, it's everyone's favorite series. As you can see, TID was significantly ahead of all the others. TMI and TDA were neck and neck, frequently switching back and forth for that #2 spot. TLH was a bit lower than the other three, and TEC, TWP, and TST all ranked dramatically lower.

To explain why they liked TID, people talked about finding the series nostalgic, enjoying how the characters are woven into the plot, the historical setting, and how it expands the worldbuilding of TSC while still working as a contained story. People also mentioned enjoying specific characters like Will, Jessamine, and Gabriel. By far the most common comment though was just that people love Herongraystairs. The only negative comments came from people who said that they didn't find the concept interesting, and were disappointed by the lack of their favorite modern characters.

Talking about TMI, the most common positive comments were that the series was fun, nostalgic, and had the best cast of characters (specifically Alec, Magnus, and Simon). People also enjoy the modern setting, the interpersonal relationships (especially Malec), and how the world is seen to develop from where it was in the historical era. TMI has the fewest haters, but some people said that they just didn't find it as captivating as later series, or that they were put off by the incest plotline. I also received the criticism that the characters are annoying, and that the story could have been compressed into fewer books.

For TDA, a lot of people mentioned finding the characters relatable, enjoying the plot, and liking the Blackthorn family dynamic. The characters and ships who got specific shout-outs were Blackstairs, Kierarktina, and Mark. People also like the modern setting, found it to be emotional, and think that it effectively juggles a large cast of characters. Plus, people appreciate getting autistic representation from Ty. It has a solid number of detractors too, who say that they don't like Blackstairs (especially Julian), Thule, the Cohort, or the focus on Faerie politics. They also say that it has too many plotlines, takes itself too seriously, and that the last book (Queen of Air and Darkness) made them drop the series.

While TLH was ranked last of the main series, I'd like to point out that it has the same number of #1 votes as TDA, signaling that it has a similar number of intense fans. The difference really comes in with the lack of #2 or #3 votes, showing that people don't tend to be casual fans of the series. By far the most popular thing brought up by TLH enjoyers is the characters, and how they build an interconnected web with lots of fun dynamics (including developed family dynamics). People also like the number of queer and POC characters, the cozy vibe, the historical setting, the drama, and the ships (especially Herondaisy). The most common critiques all come back to the plot; that the main story is weak or even incoherent, and the series is stretched too thin across a number of side plots. People also dislike the lack of communication, and think that the characters don't feel like friends. Another complaint is that the world doesn't feel like a natural extension of TID, especially because the characters are so invested in mundane social structures like balls and reputations.

TEC is our first truly controversial series, and the main divide seems to be between people who think it's unnecessary fan service, and fans who feel serviced. The reasons I was given to like the series are the additional page time for Malec and the TMI gang, and that it fleshed out the TMI timeline. On the negative side, people say that it feels like a cash grab and that LBOTW didn't live up to the expectations set by RSOM. Overall though, the biggest reason that people ranked it so low was just that they hadn't read it.

Here's where we get into the series that were doomed to fail in the rankings because none of us have even read them. While TWP has a solid number of prospective fans ranking it in their top three, most people left it at the bottom because it hasn't come out yet. The people who expect to enjoy the series are the ones who enjoyed Dru, Kit, and Ty in TDA, and the ones who expect to dislike it are the ones who didn't enjoy those three in TDA.

So, TST was probably not fair to include in this list because I got a solid number of respondents who hadn't even heard of it, but I'm convinced that if it were ever to come out it would be in my top two series overall, and I want to see what the people think. While it didn't get anybody voting it #1 based on potential like TWP did, there were still some people saying that they would be excited to read it because of Waywood, the Luke/Jocelyn/Valentine drama, and the morally gray characters. On the other hand, there's the people who just don't care about the Circle and don't want to read about them.

For main girls, Tessa, Clary, and Emma were all pretty close in the average rankings. Cordelia and Dru fell a bit behind, but also had their share of committed fans.

When talking about Tessa, people brought up her intelligence, maturity, and their nostalgia for her character. They also like that she's a book lover, has cool powers, isn't annoying, starts out messy before maturing, and is strong-willed. By far though, the most common comment was that they found her relatable. The downside to this relatability is that her detractors say she feels like an obvious reader insert, and is overshadowed by more interesting characters like Will, Jem, and Jessamine.

Clary had the most positive comments, and people love that she's funny, creative, blunt, fearless, iconic, and handles all the bullshit the world throws at her. (My personal favorite comment was the person who called her "my beautiful unhinged princess"). More than anything though, people love Clary for her development. She starts out as a relatable 15-year-old, but over the course of six TMI books and all her later appearances, she grows into a hero. She's also of course incredibly nostalgic, since most TSC fans were introduced to the world by either her or Tessa. On the downside, people say that she works better as a side character than a protagonist, and that she's overshadowed by the rest of TMI. They also think that she made bad choices throughout the series, and find her annoying.

What people love about Emma is that she's strong, funny, complex, badass, and a bit of an asshole. They like that she's allowed to have an attitude and still be treated as a cool and compelling woman by the narrative and the other characters. Plus, she comes across as having a clear voice that makes her feel like somebody they could be friends with in real life. Most of the people with specific complaints about her either didn't like TDA overall, or thought she was treated as an extension of Julian who never fulfilled her individual potential. Some people also found her badass bad bitch persona to be more exhausting than endearing.

Cordelia is probably the most controversial character in this category, with long lists of both positive and negative traits given by the fandom. On the bright side, she's fierce, badass, kind, and relatable. People also like to see a woman of color thriving in 1903 London, and how she embodies the concept of a warrior. Looking to the negative, people largely just don't find her particularly engaging. They say that she's inconsistant, flat, and had no development after Chain of Gold. They also complained about her making bad decisions and having a weak relationship with Lucie.

Everybody had the least to say about Dru, and most people said that they ranked her last just because they don't know enough about her to like her more than the established characters. What her fans do enjoy is that she's relatable, blunt, sassy, and a fat goth girl who's giving 2015 tumblr emo. The only real complaint people had was that they found her annoying in TDA, but everyone who left comments like that also acknowledged that she was 13 in TDA and will probably be more engaging once TWP gives her time in the spotlight.

Moving into the main couples, TID continues to sweep as Herongraystairs takes the top spot (and came incredibly close to taking the entirety of the top three). After that, the couples are spaced out pretty equally and follow the same pattern established by the previous two categories.

Now, Herongraystairs received arguably the most bonkers majority in this entire survey. Nearly half of respondents ranked it as their #1, and only a couple outliers put it in their bottom three. What everybody loves about this ship is the angst, how willing they were to sacrifice for each other, the raw emotions, how perfectly the three balance each other, and the ideas about fate. They also like how all three of them are compelling characters on their own, have unique relationships in pairs (Wessa, Jessa, Heronstairs), and work even better as a complete unit. Will and Jem already loved each other, but they could only fully develop once they had Tessa; creating this tragic yet beautiful cloud of possibility. People also like the polyamorous aspect, and wish that they were a canon three way relationship. More than anything else though, what was commented again and again was simply "they loved each other so much." What else can you say? Well, I can say why a couple of people dislike the ship. The only reasons I was given was that the person didn't like TID overall, and that they prefer Jem and Will with a purely platonic parabatai bond.

Moving on to Wessa, people like their banter, the crazy build up to their relationship, and how they bonded over books. They also love how gutwrenching the relationship is, especially once you get to the epilogue of Clockwork Princess. The only complaint anybody had was that they aren't Herongraystairs, and the relationship is incomplete without Jem.

People of course love Clace for the nostalgia factor and how it's the relationship that introduced them to TSC, but most importantly people like how the two of them are just so horribly down bad for each other. They're cute, fun, and have good chemistry; forming the heart of the TMI gang and of the Shadowhunters world. What people don't like is that they're basic, getting overshadowed by other couples in their own series. The upside is that they get better in their appearances that came after TMI. There are of course also the people who don't like the incest plotline and felt uncomfortable reading about that era of their relationship.

Jessa was solidly in third for most of this survey, but Clace pulled ahead of them in the last day. Though they came in behind the other TID ships, they're still beloved by the fandom. People like their dynamic and enjoy Jem as a character. The downside is that the ship makes them sad because of the tragedy of their situation, doesn't include Will, and gets overused in the modern series.

As for Blackstairs, people see their relationship as beautiful, a good example of friends to lovers/forbidden romance, and worked in well with the plot of TDA. People also like the soulmate aspect. Their haters sure had a lot to say to counterbalance that though, and complained about how the relationship is melodramatic, overly intense, toxic, and codependant. I also got a few respondants who said that they just dislike Emma and Julian as individuals, and that Julian's behavior towards Emma is alarming.

Herondaisy is continuing TLH's grand tradition of coming in near the end while still maintaining a dedicated team of fans. The good stuff is how much James loved Cordelia, and that he spent so long unable to say anything, but once he was free from the Gracelet he never let her forget his devotion. Their love was powerful enough to break a hellish enchantment, but still felt like a friendship built on a shared interests like books and stories. The most common complaint about this relationship was miscommunication, dislike of James or Cordelia as characters, and not understanding why the two like each other (other than mutual attraction). There's also people who just don't like TLH and generally aren't invested in their story. The other main complaint was that the James/Grace and Cordelia/Matthew subplots felt unnecessary and overly drawn out (which of course connects back to the miscommunication issue).

Morgenthorn suffers from the same issue as the other TWP representatives, and largely got low marks because their books aren't out yet. Some people think they're shaping up to be iconic though, while others still aren't sold on the premise.

The side ships are where things start to really heat up. Based on their average rank, the pairs form a couple distinct tiers. First, is Malec, Sizzy, Thomastair, and Kitty (the fan favorites), next is Kierarktina, Chenry, Sophideon, and Gabrily making up the middle of the pack, then we have the less popular Haline, Gracetopher, Gwynburn, and Ghostwriter, and in dead last with by far the lowest score there's Arianna. (Sorry to the u-haul lesbians). I think it's quite interesting how most of the ships are clumped together with other ships from the same series.

I'm guessing we all knew that Malec was gonna come in first. People love the nostalgia factor, of course, and they also love how the ship is queer, iconic, and just generally sweet. It's a case of opposites attract where the two of them help each other grow and reach for things they never thought possible. Both Alec and Magnus believed that they'd never be truly loved for who they were, and yet together they were able to create a life and family. Not a single person had a bad thing to say about these two.

Continuing the popularity of the TMI gang, Sizzy came shockingly close to beating Malec for first. They didn't get as many #1 votes as the other top ships, but they were still voted highly by more or less everyone. On the surface this couple is cute and funny, but what people really love is how perfectly they match each other. While they look like opposites at first, they're actually incredibly well-balanced. Everyone expected Isabelle to break Simon's heart, but he's able to stand up to her without being a dick and he sees her for who she really is under all her defensiveness. Plus, they're great individual characters and encourage each other to grow. They only negative comment they got was one person who finds them annoying.

Next up, Thomastair comes in to prove that there are at least some parts of TLH that are pretty universally adored. People like how Thomas saw the good in Alastair from the start, and watching his schoolboy crush develop into a mature romance. They like how Thomas helped Alastair accept love into his life, and Alastair encouraged Thomas to become confident in himself. The two of them were able to create their own world in Paris, which allowed them to escape the roles they felt trapped in. The characters are of course loved as individuals, and people got especially attached to Alastair and think that he deserves good things. People also like their communication skills, in contrast with other TLH couples. The only real complains people had with the ship was that it's connected to a series they dislike overall, and falls into the bully x victim trope.

Kitty is another ship that anybody who spends any length of time in the fandom will not be surprised to see in the top quarter of this list. They're beloved as characters, and even people who dislike TDA say that they were some of the best stuff in it. Fans enjoy how Kit understood Ty from the start and Ty felt truly comfortable with Kit. They also like how Kit can't make amends with Ty but still keeps his secret (shout-out to the person who described them as being in "doomed yaoi purgatory"). People also say that they have great chemistry and a lot of potential. What people dislike is really just that they haven't had time to fully develop, since TWP hasn't actually come out yet.

The next top ship is Kierarktina, which is where we exit the "pure adoration" tier of this list. People like the characters and all their different dynamics, and think that there's a lot of potential for growth with them. They also like the fact that they're a canonically polyamorous ship. The complaints I got were that the relationship feels rushed, and that Cristina seems to fetishize Kieran and Mark's relationship.

Getting into the TID ships all nicely chunked together in the middle of this list, people like Chenry for their arranged marriage setup, where both of them love each other but saw their feelings as unrequited for years. They also like Charlotte and Henry's combined autistic swag. What makes people hesitate is their lack of pagetime.

For Sophideon, people of course love the individual characters, and especially appreciate how Gideon adores everything about Sophie. The only downside is how little of them we get on the page.

Gabrily came in lower than Sophideon but did receive more #1 votes and fewer #13 votes, proving that they have a higher number of committed fans despite being less popular overall. Those fans like how the two of them loved each other for what they were and always had each other's backs. Nobody had any negative comments about them.

Haline is another mid-tier ship that didn't get many comments. What I did hear is that people like how their struggles were worth it because they had each other, and ranked them low because of their lack of page time.

Gracetopher is probably the most controversial ship on this list. If we were just going off of who received the most #1 votes, they would be fifth overall (that order would be Malec, Kitty, Thomastair, Sizzy, Gracetopher). Unfortunately for them though, we are also factoring in all the people who ranked them dead last. As this form received more and more submissions, I watched this couple gradually climb from second-to-last to the dizzying height of fourth-to-last in the overall rankings. First off, what people like is how they truly see each other. Christopher was overlooked by his friends for his intensity and Grace was only ever treated as a weapon and a seductress, but they genuinely respect each other and bond over their shared enthusiasm for science. Looking at the negatives though, most people saw their dynamic as underdeveloped and unnecessary. Lots of people dislike Grace and don't believe that she should have received any redemption, and even people who are sympathetic towards Grace still dislike that Christopher was so quick to forgive her after how she treated one of his best friends. A few people also said that they like Grace and Christopher's dynamic when it's platonic, but ranked it low as a romance. People were also upset by Christopher's death, and feel that it ruins the relationship for them.

For Gwynburn, the only positive comment I got was a couple people saying they're cute, and the only negative one came from somebody who didn't like Diana because they felt she was an irresponsible guardian to the Blackthorn kids. Most people ranked them higher than the other ships at the bottom of this list, but unfortunately they just didn't have enough extremely high votes to pull them ahead.

Ghostwriter didn't get any specific positive propaganda, though some people clearly do enjoy them. Most of the negative sentiments came from people who just found them uninteresting and generally didn't enjoy TLH. They also see the pairing as having wasted potential, and felt frustrated by the lack of consequences for Jesse's resurrection. They saw Lucie as boring and dislike Jesse for his mistreatment of Grace.

Despite being ranked last, Arianna fans still came in to share what they liked about the couple. They enjoy the characters and Anna's butch swag, and some people who don't like them together still enjoy the concept. What people largely dislike about the two is Anna as a character, and how she treated Ari and all the other women she had flings with. While not everyone was ready to give up on them because of Anna's flaws, they were frustrated by how she didn't resolve her issues or try to be better by the end of the trilogy. There were also people who thought that the ship didn't get enough page time, or who didn't connect with Ari as a character. People were also disappointed in how Ari was punished by the narrative and by Anna for not being ready to come out of the closet when she was seventeen and dependent on her bigoted parents.

Oh boy, time to dig into the biggest category (which still feels incredibly cut down, my original list was over 50 characters). Side characters are obviously a point of hot debate, since everybody has their favorite guy who the narrative forgot about. The most popular overall characters were all old favorites introduced in TMI, then there's George, Catarina, Livvy, and Jessamine (who all swapped around a fair bit), before we get into a large chunk of characters who either inspire mixed feelings or get forgotten entirely, and bringing up the rear is two of the most hated characters in TSC.

First up, we have what I think is the biggest sweep of the whole survey; Raphael Santiago. He got about a third of the #1 votes, which isn't quite as dramatic a majority as Herongraystairs in their bracket, but far more impressive when you consider the sheer number of characters competing against Raphael for the top spot in this section. People think he's funny, iconic, and relatable. They love his sarcastic and grumpy sense of humor and his begrudging responsibility for the people around him. They also like his relationship with Magnus, as explored in "Saving Raphael Santiago" in The Bane Chronicles. The most common comment I got though was that people appreciate him being canonically aroace, and they remember him as their first experience seeing an aspec character in media. He received no negative comments (and few people left him out of their top ten).

Our second place goes to Lily, who got points for her iconic sense of humor, haunting backstory, and compelling relationships with both Alec and Raphael. She received no negative comments.

People like Maia but apparently don't have much to say about her. The only comments I got were that she's hot and a bad bitch, plus she overcame her difficult past.

Ragnor is appreciated how grouchy and melodramatic he is, and how he fits into the warlock friend group with Magnus and Catarina. I'd also like to shout-out his friendship with Raphael, since I love seeing them bond over their haterism. He received no negative comments.

George also didn't get many comments, but people grew attached to him very quickly and felt strongly affected by the tragedy of his death in TFSA, except for the person who said he felt like he got killed off for shock value.

People like Catarina's relationships with the other warlocks. I also want to point out her incredible selflessness and how she's even committed to helping people who hate her. She received no negative comments.

Livvy got the second most #1 votes after Raphael, and yet she's only #7 overall (ranked choice voting strikes again), and it looks to me like people either love her or don't care about her. What they love about her is the tragedy of her death and her relatable sense of responsibility towards her siblings, plus the continuation of her story in TWP. The only negative comment I got about her was from someone who didn't feel sad when she died.

Jessamine is seen as a fascinating and tragic character with a lot of potential depth who deserves more love. She got some low marks from her lack of page time though, and from people who found her attitude annoying.

Moving into some TST characters, Luke is noticeably higher than all the rest of his high school/fascist cult buddies. People like him for his dad vibes, and dislike him for his holier than thou attitude towards other members of the Circle. (Shout-out to my IRL friend who called him a DILF this morning).

Jocelyn didn't get many comments, and none that were positive. I'll chip in to say that I like how fierce and strong-willed she was when she decided to betray her abusive husband and raise Clary alone in NYC, and appreciate that she always tried to do what she thought would protect her daughter (even if it often wasn't actually what Clary wanted or needed). The people of the survey think she's a bad person and don't think that Clary should have forgiven her so easily for the way she lied to her. She moved up pretty far in the last day of this survey, but that was mostly due to other characters dropping in the rankings.

Maryse was behind Robert for most of the time this survey was gathering data, but her fans came in at the end to bump up her score. They like her relationships with her children, especially Jace and Alec, and are curious about her life before TMI when she had to deal with a loveless marriage and losing her brother to the mundane world. The only negative comment I received for her was someone who disliked how she treated Jace while he was being unfairly accused of working with Valentine.

While Eugenia is generally liked by TLH fans because she's funny, feisty, badass, and has a compelling relationship with Thomas; she scored fairly low overall because most people don't feel super attached to her due to her lack of page time.

The only positive comment I received about Jordan was that it was funny when he spent time with Jace and Simon. Mostly, people think that he was a toxic boyfriend to Maia and an awful person overall. They especially disliked that he and Maia got back together, even though he'd previously assaulted her after their breakup. Despite that, he's managed to make his way up from the bottom five of this list.

Robert is more controversial than his ex-wife, receiving more negative and more positive votes than her. People like his relationship with Michael as explored in "The Evil We Love," and how his personal issues with queerness bled into his relationship with his son. They enjoy both the angst of his difficult relationship with Alec, and the hopefulness that comes from his ability to grow as a person and try to be better for the sake of his kids. Folks who are less compelled by the angst just flat dislike him for his bad parenting. His ranking dropped dramatically in the last twelve hours, since I guess the people who can't forgive shitty parenting all showed up at the end.

People who like Jaime enjoy his attitude and see him as complex, and all the negative comments were about the age gap between him and Dru.

Michael is a character who seems to suffer from being nobody's favorite. No one had anything negative to say about him, but the only positive comments were in regards to his relationship with Robert, and the highest anybody ranked him was #4.

Amatis is somebody else who I believe suffered from not having any real fans. The only comment I got about her was that they ranked her low because they don't know much about her. The highest anybody ranked her was #6, and only one other character on this list has a highest rank that's lower than that. Nobody got mad at her like they did with Jordan or Jaime or Camille, but no one loves her like they love those three, so she ended up lower than them overall.

Camille got a fair number of high votes from people who enjoy her dramatic diva energy, and a lot of low ones from people who think she's just an awful person.

And here we have the first of the two most hated characters in this list. While he was dead last for almost an entire week, Nate finally managed to claw his way up to 19th place. Nobody had anything nice to say about him, and nobody ranked him higher than #7. I'll say that I find him interesting as an extension of Tessa's character and arc. People didn't have particularly complicated complaints, they just think that he's selfish, mean, awful, a traitor, a liar, an asshole, and completely irredeemable. Oof.

Even though he ended up in last place, Charles is distinct from the rest of the characters ranked this low because he actually does have a handful of fans who put him at #2 or #3. They think that he's an interesting character to study, even if he's an awful person. They also find his relationships with Alastair and Matthew to be compelling (though unhealthy) and relate to his place as an older sibling burdened by high expectations. As for the negatives, there's a whole laundry list. People see him as gross, annoying, selfish, awful, and boring. They hate his predatory relationship with Alastair in-universe, and which he was handled better by the author out of universe. I got one comment that said he felt like he was written by a straight woman, and in general people don't like how his arc was written.

Now that we're through with two of the largest and most controversial categories, let's move onto the one nobody cares about. I will admit that I included the children in this survey purely out of an interest in hearing if anybody had reasoning for preferring one small child over another.

Also, since we have two Max Lightwoods, I differentiated them using their middle inititals; Max M for Max Michael Lightwood-Bane, and Max J for Max Joseph Lightwood.

Okay, so what I have in the positive column for every single kid on this list is more or less just their association with their parents. People like the Lightwood-Bane siblings because they like Malec, they like Mina because of Jessa, Tavvy because of the TDA Blackthorns, Max J because of the TMI Lightwoods, Alex because of Gabrily, and Zachary because of Cordelia and Thomastair. Negative comments were also often linked to parents, like ranking Mina low because they dislike Jessa, or disliking the Lightwood-Banes because their existence feels like fanservice and they don't believe Alec would be a good father at age 20. Rafe did get the positive comment that his story in GotSM made the respondant cry.

Positive comments for Tavvy focused on people feeling like they know him better than other kids on this list, and being excited to see more of him and his relationship with Dru in TWP.

Max J got comments talking about how much more character he has compared to the babies, and how the tragic end to his story strongly affeced people. People got attached to him from his love of manga, and appreciate how he symbolized the innocence that Alec, Isabelle, and Jace needed to fight for.

Alex and Zachary were ranked last by almost everyone, though they all made it clear that they bear no ill will towards these kids. Zachary did get one committed fan who loves the way he brings Alastair's arc to a close, and is excited to see more of him on Thomastair's BiB story. I think it's noteworthy that they have the same number of #1 votes, Zachary got more #2 and #3 votes, and Alex got more #4 and #5 votes; showing that once you discount the people placing them in the bottom two, Zachary is in fact more popular. (I'm assuming that most people who put them in the bottom two don't actually prefer one over the other).

The villain category was particulary interesting to me, because reading everyone's comments made it clear that many of us are working off of different definitions of what makes a good villain. The biggest question was whether a character being sympathetic made people see them as a great villain or a terrible one. The other cool thing about this category is you can see that almost all the villains from the same series stayed next to each other in the ranking.

For as high as Sebastian ranked, he got relatively few comments. What people do like about him is that he was more relatable and redeemable than other villains because of how Valentine raised him, and yet he still went on to do unjustifiable things. They also think he was funny. The main complaint he got from several people was that the demon blood storyline made him a boring and badly constructed villain, since he had no free will in his own evilness. Also, y'know, the incest thing.

Valentine may not be ranked as highly as his son, but he did get far more specific compliments from people. They love to hate how logical, strategic, and pure evil he could be; as well as the way the story built up to him by showing the impact he had on the world. He was a skilled manipulator who convinced people to sacrifice everything in the name of his twisted values, and worked as a chillingly accurate representation of fascism. He also served the greater themes of TMI by allowing the leads to deny the violence and hatred passed down by their parents. Some people also just enjoy the Circle era characters. The only bad thing anyone said about him was that he's generic, one of a million bigoted middle aged white men in fiction.

Annabel and Malcom switched back and forth in the rankings a couple times while data was being gathered, since most people voted for the two of them as a unit. People like how tragic their storyline was, and how they served as foiled to Blackstairs because they too were people who loved each other enough to burn down the world. Ultimately, it was their sympathetic anti-Clave motivation that got most people to love them. The two points people held against them was that they're too sympathetic and thus not really villains, and that Annabel's potential was wasted in Queen of Air and Darkness. The folks who dislike TDA also dislike them on account of their association with the series.

Mortmain is our solidly mid tier villain. People across the board saw him as a simple pure evil force that the heroes had to win against, and the main question was whether people loved him or hated him for that simplicity.

The only reason anybody gave for enjoying Asmodeus was his association with Alec. The few negative comments he got were all about either his lack of page time or how his motivation being centered on his inherent evil made him uninteresting.

Shinyun is a more complicated character, and her reception was complicated as well. People like that she's associated with Alec through TEC, and that she showed how evil she was by rejecting redemption when it was offered to her. There were also some mixed feelings expressed about her place as a cult survivor, since that's a very human trauma that was not given enough dignity by the narrative. Negative opinions all came down to her lack of page time, and people who either never read or actively disliked TEC.

Benedict Lightwood might be the lowest anything from TID scored in this entire survey. People who enjoy him mentioned how he created realistic angst for Gideon and Gabriel, as a manipulative father they needed to learn to rebel against. What people think makes him a bad villain is that he's not a villain at all, just a generic shitty dad. Also, multiple people commented "worm" with no explanation.

Sadly for the villains of TLH, this isn't the way they were supposed to be the worst of the worst. While some people enjoyed Tatiana for her chaos and irredeemability, especially the way she abused her own daughter for years, overall she was seen as a boring letdown who could have been interesting if the narrative didn't treat her as pure evil. Maybe she could have had potential if she was allowed to be the main villain or if the story acknowledged the ways in which she felt abanoned by the Clave, but that's not the story we got.

As for Belial, nobody had anything positive to say about him. They thought that his plan was stupid (especially for a Prince of Hell), and that he was boring, annoying, and just generally underwhelming. He also received the same complaints as Asmodeus about how demons are uniniteresting villains because their only motive is their own inherent evil.

And here was have our final category: the side books! It's no surprise to me that the short story collections came in first, and that the unreleased books don't have a lot of fans yet.

Our most popular pick was Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy, which people love because of how it followed up on TMI storylines while also expanding upon the world. It gave readers a look into characters they enjoy like Alec, Mark, and James, and of course the most popular comment I got was people gushing about getting time with Simon. They love the Sizzy moments too, as well as Simon's friendship with Clary and the rest of the TMI gang. It also got points for George's heartbreaking death, and for how much fun it was to read when it was serialized in 2015. The two stories people mentioned as their favorites were "The Evil We Love" and "Nothing But Shadows," showing how people enjoyed getting to look at points in the TSC timeline that aren't explored by other series. The only negative comment it got was from a person who finds Simon and Isabelle annoying.

Coming in at a close second, Ghosts of the Shadow Market is beloved mainly for its connection to Jem and Jessa. People enjoy that it served a purpose in the overall TSC plot, and showed how love can be born of tragedy. The stories people brought up were "Every Exquisite Thing," "The Land I Lost," and especially "Cast Long Shadows." It received no negative comments.

While The Bane Chronicles was the least favorite of the anthologies, it still clearly won the love of the people. They enjoy it mainly on account of Magnus, especially for his friendship with the other warlocks and his romance with Alec. They like how funny it is, and feel like it has the same charm as the early TMI books. The only negative comment I got about it was that it's boring.

Secrets of Blackthorn Hall got points for the wholesome and iconic vibes, and the interesting format of being published through tumblr. Someone also described it as a home renovation show in a haunted house, and people brought up being glad to see characters like Mark and Mina and ships like Kitty and Blackstairs. Some people just didn't find it interesting though, and others disliked it because it had so much Julian and Blackstairs.

An Illustrated History of Notable Shadowhunters and Denizens of Downworld probably got the fewest comments in this category. The people who love it appreciate the stunning art and interesting details about the characters, and all the low votes came from people who haven't read it.

The Shadowhunter's Codex is the oldest companion book on this list, and clearly didn't hit like the later additions to the canon. The only positive comments I got were from people who enjoyed Simon, Clary, and Jace's comments written into the margins. Generally people just didn't find it interesting, and saw it as a textbook that didn't even provide new information about the the world of Shadowhunters. There were also people who either didn't read it or couldn't finish it.

Better in Black of course hasn't been released, but people are excited to see their favorite couples back in action. In this survey, I got specific comments from people talking about Herondaisy and Thomastair. It still ranked pretty low overall, mainly because none of us have read it yet.

A Sea Change was most people's bottom pick, just because it isn't out yet. (My theory is that it ranked lower than BiB because BiB got everyone hyped through fandom engagement when we all debated which couples would be included, and that BiB appeals to fans of ten different ships while ASC only has fuel for Matthew fans). Predictably, the people who expect to love ASC are the ones excited to see the next chapter of Matthew's journey.

And with that, we're done! I'd like to once again thank everybody who participated, especially the folks who gave long or detailed comments. I had to simplify and summarize a lot in this post, but I truly enjoyed reading everything you all had to say.

I also want to take some time at the end here to address some questions I got about why stuff in this poll was set up the way it was. First, I got a lot of people saying that Kitty should have been considered a main couple, either in addition to Morgenthorn or instead of them. I get that we (so far) have a lot more Kitty material and that most of the fanbase is far more invested in them, but I'm counting the "main couple" as the one that includes the main girl. I also got some people confused by my choice to include unpublished works like TWP and Seasons of Shadowhunters, and while I understand that perspective I still stand by my decision. I know it's not fair to the series and that people can't accurately rate things they haven't read, but I wasn't trying for that kind of accuracy; I was curious about how much people love or hate things that aren't out yet. I'd love to see how TWP and SoS factor into these rankings once we've all read them, but for now I'm happy just hearing what people expect to think about them.

Also, everyone who left random silly comments or told me their favorite characters and scenes, y'all are the real ones. I did this whole project out of my love for this series and my interest in learning why people think the way they do, and I've been amazed by the positive response. This series and world is so incredibly expansive, and I love that all of us are able to find the different niches of TSC that make us happy.

If you actually read through all this, you're awesome and thanks for supporting my passion for turning emotions into numbers. If anybody has any additional questions, I am here to chat!

Taglist:

@edwinspaynes @helenofblackthorns @whaliensdream @iovelaces @darcyolsson @sankta-wraith @magnus-the-maqnificent @blue-silver-hammer @ineedmoremalec @kingslayerzzzz @thevagabondexpress @cara0765 @uncertified-shadowhunter-14 @elytrianemrald @thomasslightwood @starrieshq @blackthornobsessed @alastaircarstairsismybff @angeldaisies @dissapointmentsrus @bananacakepie

[helenofblackthorns]

no bingo 😔😔

thank u to the wonderful @layla-carstairs for the tag and @alastairstom for the bingo template and idea, making this card had me happi happi happi :D

i included the gorgeous art by @toka-sketch in the middle bc i think about it daily and bc i can (if u relate to me, u can cross it off...)

tagging all u lovely folk to do this + make ur own: @mayaheronthorn, @tys-kitty, @margareturtle, @hanelizabeth, @bbyboykit, @kamylla74w, @tsc-reader, @1indigoisles, @dancing-in-the-rain-1104, @clockwork-carstairs, @sxnbleachedfiles & whoever else wishes to! :)

-> the blank template can be found in this post

[diddyrivera]

additional resources to marxist feminism:

living a feminist life by sara ahmed

the rise and decline of patriarchal systems by nancy folbre

this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color by cherrie moraga and gloria anzaldua

delusions of gender: how our minds, society, and neurosexism create difference by cordelia fine

close to home: a materialist analysis to women's oppression by christine delphy

(pdf) the feminist standpoint: developing the ground for a specifically feminist historical materialism

(medium) on women as a class: materialist feminism and mass struggle by aly e

(sagejournals) capital and class: the unhappy moments of marxism and feminism: towards a more progressive union

(substack) the marxfem pulpit by abigail von maure (earth2abbs on tiktok)

if anything else related to marxist feminism, just let me know :)

additional resources to eco feminism:

gossips, gorgons, and crones: the fates of the earth by jane caputi

parable of the sower by octavia e butler

neither man nor beast: feminism and the defense of animals by carol j. adams

bitch: on the female of species by lucy cooke

fresh banana leaves: healing indigenous landscapes through indigenous science by jessica hernandez

the intersectional environmentalist by leah thomas

right here, right now by natalie isaacs

feminism or death by francoise d'ealibonne

violent inheritance: sexuality, land, and energy in making the north american west by e cram

animal crisis: a new critical theory by alice grary

unsettling: surviving extinction together by elizabeth weinberg

land of women by maria sanchez

sexus animalis: there is nothing unnatural in nature by emmanuelle pouydebat

windswept: walking the paths of trailblazing women by annabel abbs

andrea smith - rape of the land

andy smith - ecofeminism through an anticolonial framework

carolyn marchant - nature as female

charlene spretnak - critical and constructive contributions of ecofeminism

heather eaton - ecological feminist theology

heather Eaton - The Edge of the Seat

janet abromovitz - biodiversity and gender Issues

joni Seager - creating a culture of destruction

karen warren - ecofeminism

karen warren - taking empirical data seriously

karen warren - the power and promise of ecological feminism

l. gruen - dismantling oppression

martha e. gimenez - does ecology need marx?

n. sturgeon - the nature of race

petra kelly - women and power

quinby - ecofeminism and the politics of resistance

rosemary radford ruether - ecofeminism: symbolic and social connections

sherry ortner - is female to male as nature is to culture?

sturgeon - the nature of race

val plumwood - feminism and ecofeminism

winona laduke - a society based on conquest cannot be sustained

if anyone has any other recommendations related to eco feminism, plz let me know :)

additional resources related to trans feminism:

the empire strikes back: a posttransexual manifesto by sandy stone

(chicago journals) trapped in the wrong theory: rethinking trans oppression and resistance by talia mae bettcher

(philpapers.org) trans women and the meaning of woman by talia mae bettcher

the transgender studies reader by susan stryker and stephen whittle

if anyone has other recommendations related to trans feminism, plz let me know :)

additional resources related to anarcha feminism:

the anarchist turn by jacob blumenfeld

we will not cancel us and other dreams of transformative justice by adrienne maree brown

burn it down: feminist manifestos for the revolution by breanne fahs

reinventing anarchy, again by howard ehrlich

anarcho-blackness by marquis bey

a little philosophical lexicon of anarchism from proudhon to deleuze by daniel colson and jesse cohn

joyful militancy by nick montgomery and carla bergman

wayward lives, beautiful experiments by saidiya v. hartman

we won't be here tomorrow and other stories by margaret killjoy

writing revolution by christopher j. castaneda

paradoxes of utopia by juan suriano

twelve fingers by jo soares

for a just and better world by sonia hernandez

if anyone has other recommendations related to anarcha feminism, plz let me know :)

[jamieswoodenspoon]

pls don’t jump me but i felt like the lucie/cordelia parabatai thing was very forced and very performative and i don’t really mean cc’s writing (except for the end where they really do become parabatai) i more mean them as characters in lore

i think one of my chot predictions was just that lucie and cordelia didn’t go through with the parabatai thing and it would be a moment of maturity or something after a childhood of proclaiming to everyone that they’d be parabatai one day and being really idek james i think at some point explained it better than i did but it felt very unserious/immature

i appreciate that what actually ended up happening is a cute little ‘friends can make up’ ditty but i think it would have also been nice to see them accept that they’ve grown apart or can still be good friends without necessarily having to be parabatai I DON’T KNOW

[witchlingcirce]

If I have to say my #truth, I really do wish that Lucie had been a better treated character throughout the last hours.

And actually, on that note, I wish the relationship between Cordelia and Lucie had also been written better. IMO there the least Parabtai out of any characters, which is such because objectively they have such a fun dynamic.

The one female Parabtai bond that could have been developed :,)

Beauty queens I will AVENGE YOU.

[cadaverre]

𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞

hi everyone and welcome back to junos monthly newsletter !!! i hope uve all had a wonderful month, whether its getting warmer or colder where u are (thank god its warming up here i would be dying if it was still winter) and i hope u enjoy this months edition ★ 

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲

this month was actually one of my fav months of the year so far, my mental health is doing so much better and im finding that the weather is really impacting that. usually its not this warm and sunny but i am so fucking thankful it is !! i had my huge performance this month and it made me super excited to join more music groups and js about performance in general, its such a wonderful night of the year and i always feel so sad when its over !

𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜

monthly playlist charm - clairo manic - halsey short n sweet - sabrina carpenter  hypochondriac - brakence better off - esha tewari home video - lucy dacus

𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐬 + 𝐬��𝐨𝐰𝐬

» buffy the vampire slayer - up to season 2 i started watching this show this month and ohh my god i love it !! buffy is such an icon and i love the plot and general vibes, i cant wait to watch more ( cordelia, drusilla and buffy are my fav characters so far btw ) » the perks of being a wallflower (rewatch) - 9/10 i always forget how devastating this movie is and then i watch and im like oh! this is soul destroying! but i love it soso much and it always makes me cry » jennifers body - 9.5/10 oh my god. i love this movie soo much megan fox is so fucking hot and its so iconic and aah im. yeah. love.  » (500) days of summer - 8/10 love this movie !! i loveee the non linear storytelling and i think the acting suits the genre and vibes so well, it wasn’t boring at all which i loved. very nice chill vibes tho » deadpool - 8/10 this movie is soso silly, i love the dynamic camera and again, the non linear storytelling is so yummy. i did not appreciate the like 20 min sex scene as i watched this w my dad but i rlly wanna watch the second one !! » janet planet - 4.5/10  idk this movie gave me weird vibes u can read my review here » thirteen - 8.5/10 the vibes? immaculate. wardrobe? im so jealous. taking drugs? not cool. very stressful at times but i still loved it

𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬

» lolita - unfinished still reading it !! its a little hard to get through but i do like picking it up and reading a few pages every day, its getting so strange but the writing is so enchanting i cant stop reading lowkey … hopefully it’ll be done by the end of next month !! » the virgin suicides - unfinished been reading this occasionally and ohh my god i love it. the whole narration/how its being told from a sort of unknown perspective in a documentary style is so yeah. im so fucking hyped to finish it » my year of rest and relaxation - unfinished yes i am reading three books at once and yes it is slightly inconvenient but !!!! i got this book recently and its so… dreary?? but i love it ?? i feel like i dont have to have my literary analysis hat on to read it which is nice compared to the other books im reading rn.

𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 / 𝐚𝐞𝐬

𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

@dandelions-fly-in-summer-skies + lmk if u wanna be tagged !!

[edwin-paynes-bowtie]

Why do you love Cordelia so much? ❤️

Cordelia is precious to me. She is so near and dear to my heart. There are a lot of reasons I like her, but one of my favourites is that she is never what you quite expect her to be.

In most fantasy novels, the heroine falls into one of two categories. Those two categories are "badass warrior lady who slays and conquers with a legendary sword" and "gentle woman who has a lot of emotional intelligence and a sunshine personality."

Cordelia is not just one of these things. She is both of them, and she also subverts both. Yes, Cordelia is a warrior with a sword out of legend - she wants to use it, in her own words, to be a "merciful hero." She'll fight when she needs to; she'll kill when she needs to. But she doesn't want to, and even in Tatiana's dying moments at her own sword, she wants desperately to offer her comfort. She doesn't regret killing her, and yet she still wanted her death to be better than it was.

She's also extraordinarily compassionate. She always wants to be there for her friends, even Lucie when she's... maybe not being super nice to her. She feels a lot of loyalty to the Thieves after meeting them, very quickly - and her relationship with Anna is also precious. But, at the same time, Cordelia is not a doormat. She confronts Lucie when she behaves like a spoiled child. She confronts James, who it's clear she is desperately in love with, immediately in ChoG after he abandons her on the dance floor. She always tries to be there for Alastair, but she also always pushes Alastair and tries to get him to open up.

Despite her kindness, though, she is never a Mary Sue. She's fierce, but she's also very naive sometimes. She can be selfish! She runs off to Paris with Matthew and fully thinks he'll quit drinking despite living with an alcoholic all her life! Love that she can be flawed and compassionate at the same time. Cassie never shied away from giving her layers.

I love her relationship with Alastair. I know she's gotten a lot of flack for not always standing up for him in the fandom, but people need to understand that, yes, Cordelia is also very traumatized by their upbringing even if she doesn't realize it until ChoT. Like, yes! Alastair is one of the most important characters in the world to me, and what happened to him is FUCKED UP. But from Cordelia's perspective, her older brother pulled away from her for YEARS. He was her only friend until she met James and Lucie, and once he was gone, her best friend was canonically her reflection in the mirror.

This is another reason I love Cordelia. She's brave and resilient, even when the situation is not a matter of life, death, and battle.

Cordelia's trauma really resonates with me. She went through some messed up stuff, and she has trauma responses like needing to be a hero (in a tunnel-visioned way.) She has to save her dad. She has to save London. She has to save the world. She has to make Alastair's life better and ensure his happiness. She has to make sure that Sona is well. She has to be there for James, for Matthew, for Lucie. She has to help. And she has to be perfect, or in some nebulous way she has failed in her mind. She's a golden child! This is so real!

I just could not love Cordelia more. I think that she is such a beautiful portrait of a very real, flesh-and-blood woman, and I would take a bullet for her.

[im-out-of-it]

“Tom,” he said carefully. “If I could talk to you for a moment.”

Thomas stood up, almost knocking over the table. Cordelia looked at him in astonishment.

“I told you before that if you spoke to me again, I would throw you into the Thames,” said Thomas. His normally open, friendly face was twisted into an expression of fury. “You might at least have chosen a warmer day to take your plunge.”

“Stop,” Cordelia threw down her napkin. “Alastair is my brother, and I love him. And this is my wedding day. No one will be throwing my family members into the Thames.”

“Honestly, Thomas,” said Lucie, looking at her friend with disappointment. Thomas clenched his fists at his sides.

“Now,” said Cordelia. “Will someone tell me what this is all about?”

“This is- unbearable,” he said. “It is not to be endured.”

“It is what you deserve”- Matthew

ONCE AGAIN AN INAPPROPRIATE POV

literally we only get a semi right pov about their whole issues and it seems to be cut short. we never get to see Alastair’s thoughts and emotions and how HE FEELS. it’s either in lucie or Cordelia’s pov.

1. it has to take a lot of nerve and strength for Alastair to face Thomas knowing that Thomas is angry with him

2. Thomas has every reason to be upset and I don’t really like Lucie acting disappointed but I also don’t like how they can’t have a simple fucking moment alone to talk

does Thomas seriously have to be arrested for them to finally talk?

3. I don’t like how desperate Cordelia is to stay in the aura of the merry thieves and instead of protecting her brother more

4. why doesn’t Cordelia ever think about Alastair’s feelings instead of how James feels?

5. let Thomas be upset but do it in a private setting

6. THIS IS ONLY CONCERNING THOMASTAIR SO LET THEM PROCESS ALONE and

7. Alastair is allowed to feel hurt AND guilty for his last behavior

oh it’s her wedding so y’all can have it out tomorrow. Thomas does have every reason to feel upset and hurt- and I also don’t like that Matthew was the one to tell him. it felt more vindictive on matthews part. he’s jealous that Thomas and Alastair are friendly or he takes joy in hurting Alastair which just ended up hurting Thomas. well I do agree with Thomas deserving to know, it shouldn’t have come from Matthew (also Mathew has every reason to be hurt but I don’t like the way it’s being formed)

Thomas is a naturally calm person so the fact that he is having a rough time being around Alastair, unable to look at him, and saying remarks about throwing Alastair into the Thames should be sending off warning signs to everyone. THOMAS IS HURT

thomastair deserved to have a moment without everyone listening in to their problems. this is about Thomas, not Lucie Cordelia James Matthew. as it does involve Matthew a little, this is the hurt THOMAS FEELS. like what is up with lgbtq+ couples in these books having a fight and there’s always a straight person having that pov where it doesn’t involve them? it has nothing to do with Cordelia (still not over how book malec fights and it’s in simons pov and he has the audacity to call them dramatic or something as if they’re only drama)

also ALASTAIR IS HURT AND FEELS GUILTY. it’s okay and valid for him to feel upset that Thomas isn’t ready to talk to him and for him to feel guilt for his past self. it’s also okay if he feels he had no choice to be a bully and also regret the way things were handled. it doesn’t justify Alastair’s behavior but if he felt then that he had no choice but to fit in with the mean boys so they wouldn’t be racist pigs to him then that is Alastair’s decision alone. it’s okay to feel as though you want to explain your behavior without justifying it. but it does absolutely nothing if we don’t get to see or experience that.

Thomas doesn’t have to talk to him but he also shouldn’t have to endure everyone at that wedding just to attempt to reconcile with Thomas.

and I don’t like Lucie almost dismissing Thomas’s anger. he shouldn’t throw Alastair into the Thames (even if it is a Lightwood trait- cough cough Gabriel) but he’s allowed to feel hurt by the words Alastair repeated about his father that he never spoke of, especially as he started to catch feelings for Alastair. Thomas is probably the only person to see the good of Alastair no matter what

I also feel that Cordelia is so obsessed with staying on the good side or in the circle of the merry thieves. I hardly ever see her support Alastair or have his back more. she says “he’s my brother and I love him” and that’s it? THIS MAN SACRIFICED HIS CHILDHOOD AND HAPPINESS JUST TO MAKE SURE YOU DIDNT SUFFER THE SAME FATE. the childhood part was taken away from him but he always supported Cordelia no matter what

I wanted Alastair to tell Thomas about his past

I wanted Alastair to tell Cordelia about his experience at the academy

like why are the wrong people having the pov or telling someone else things they shouldn’t?????

also to end this, it bothers me how Matthew is saying it’s the least you deserve as if everything is Alastair’s fault. Alastair didn’t make Matthew buy that potion. what Alastair said was wrong and hurtful but he didn’t force Matthew to buy a potion, trust downworlder products (especially from downworlders who hate shadowhunters for good reason- even though that’s not matthews fault) that would have killed an unborn sibling

it does irritate me how Matthew puts all this blame on Alastair as if everything is Alastair’s fault. I can’t remember if he ever made racist remarks towards Alastair but if I remember correctly, I think he does. I’ve never seen Alastair be rude to James or Matthew for no reason. he sees either a drunk (no offense to Matthew) or a man obsessed with another woman (no offense James) vying for his sister. his protective instincts are obviously out. Alastair spent his whole life protecting Cordelia. a woman’s reputation then meant everything. I saw James and Matthew being rude for the fun of it to Alastair but I never saw Alastair throwing the first blow. it’s as though they wanted Alastair to feel terrible all his life. they’re not perfect either but they treat Alastair as the worst villain they’ve laid eyes on

if you want us to think Alastair is so terrible, SHOW IT. it doesn’t pay off if it’s in another book and doesn’t line up to this book. James and Matthew do have reason to be upset with Alastair but instead of the remarks they make, fix why they’re upset instead of constantly antagonizing Alastair. Alastair by no means is perfect. he does say some stuff against Matthew and James (TLH) but I never see it as underhanded as what is done to him

but also it’s been a while since I read this and I’m just going by the pages I marked that I can’t remember if I talked about yet

but it makes absolute no sense to say hey Alastair was such a bastard to us and then not show us in this series

it seems a wasted shame we didn’t get any Alastair or Matthew growth or that this isn’t in Thomas’s pov or really any thomastair content in their pov that much

I very much would have preferred for Alastair to attempt to talk to Thomas in a quieter setting alone and possibly have a fight than what was written here. I don’t care about Cordelia or her thoughts. I care about thomastair and how THEY FEEL

STOP WITH THE INAPPROPRIATE POVS