#cofas

[ghost-town-story]

FebruarOC Day 1: Aiden

James woke to the sound of somebody knocking at his door. For a moment, he debated ignoring it or making it Will’s problem, but the decision was made for him by Will throwing a pillow at his head.

James grumbled but acquiesced to the silent demand and got up. He fumbled his way to the door in the dark and opened it just enough to see out without letting too much light into the room.

On the other side of the door stood Aiden, feathers rustling as he wrung his hands.

James took one look at him, then slipped out of the room and closed the door behind him. “C’mon,” he said, wrapping an arm around the younger boy’s shoulders. “Let’s go somewhere quiet.”

“Okay.” Aiden nestled into James’s side and let James lead the way.

~

“So,” James said, settling down on the parapet. “What’s up? Or do you want me to guess?”

Aiden let out a huff of laughter, but his brief amusement vanished as quickly as it had arrived. In its wake, he took a breath and straightened up, the same way James always saw him doing whenever one of his parents came into view. Out of habit, James glanced around to make sure neither had suddenly noticed and decided to investigate Aiden’s absence before returning his attention to the prince.

“So, I’ve been thinking about some things,” Aiden started, his voice stilted and two wingbeats away from cracking and far too formal for James’s liking considering the circumstances, “and I—”

His voice broke, and Aiden’s feathers ruffled with poorly concealed agitation as he whirled away from James. “I—”

Another crack.

“Aid.” James reached out and brushed his fingers against flame-colored feathers.

The persona of the dutiful prince crumbled in an instant.

“I can’t.” The words left Aiden’s chest on a wheeze, his shoulders and wings rising to cover his face as he curled in on himself.

“Hey.” James moved in an instant, darting between white and orange feathers to catch Aiden as his legs gave out, making sure they both ended up on the ground with nothing worse than a mild bruise and ruffled feathers. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

Aiden’s entire body shuddered with each gasping breath he took, his hands finding James’s shirt to clutch at him with a white-knuckled grip. “I don’t think I can do this,” he rasped.

“Do what?” James asked.

“I—It’s—” Aiden stumbled over his words for a few moments. “Ugh!” His head thudded against James’s shoulder, his feathers shaking with his agitation. James said nothing and just held him close, allowing him whatever time he needed to find the words that sometimes seemed to escape him.

After a few long minutes, Aiden finally managed to relax his death grip on James enough to sit back slightly, his feathers going mostly still. “That,” he said, his voice still thick.

James tilted his head. “What about it?”

Aiden huffed, refusing to meet James’s eye. “I can barely even talk to you about stuff and…” He paused, his breath hitching again.

James reached out to take his hand, rubbing his thumb over Aiden’s knuckles.

Aiden took a shuddery breath, then continued. “I can’t… talk to people.” His fingers wrapped around James’s, squeezing slightly. “And I know Mother—neither of them… like it. And I’ve been trying to do everything right but I can’t and now the meeting is tomorrow and I’m supposed to be formally introduced and I don’t think I can do it and—”

Aiden stopped abruptly, panting in the wake of his words.

“Aid.” James squeezed his hand back. “You do remember you don’t have to do anything for the introduction except sit there and look pretty, yeah?”

Aiden gave James his best unimpressed look, which wasn’t very compelling considering he was still trembling and sniffling. “I have to make a good impression,” he said, his voice not quite whining but close.

James scoffed. “Again, sit there and look pretty, and you’ll be fine. Can’t do worse than the Second Princess of Water.”

“Doubt it,” Aiden muttered.

“She nearly doused one of the People of Flame, almost started a fight between Earth and Flame, and stole at least 20 different feathers from the Sky,” James recounted. “And still the general consensus is that she’s just a little too free spirited and not necessarily a bad person or princess or whatever.”

Aiden remained silent, almost a little sulky as his cheeks flushed with color.

“Or you could always go the route of the Heir of Earth,” James continued. “She never left her father’s side last year.”

Aiden huffed, refusing to meet James’s eye. “But what if that’s not good enough?”

“Good enough for your father, or your mother?” James retorted.

Aiden didn’t vocally respond, but the way he curled in on himself, his free hand twisting in the hem of James’s shirt again, was answer enough for James.

“It’ll be good enough for your father,” James said softly, brushing Aiden’s hair out of his eyes. “And we both know nothing but Flame is good enough for your mother.”

“I am Flame,” Aiden bit out, but his voice shook too much to get much venom behind the words.

“And Sky.” James brushed a few errant feathers back into place. Aiden twitched his wings out of reach, and James didn’t chase them down. “So, sit there and look pretty should win over just about everybody of importance,” he said. “Seems like a win for me.”

But even as he said it, James knew Aiden would disagree. He had watched the Flame Princess (never the Queen of the Sky) spark and snap and scorch Aiden for daring to be too much Sky in her presence, and he had watched Aiden continue to chase after her attention and an affection that seemed to have died the day he gained his wings.

To James’s surprise though, Aiden didn’t vocally protest. His feathers rustled and he refused to meet James’s eye, but at the same time something like resignation flitted across his face.

“Plus,” James said, determined to lighten the mood at least somewhat, “if things somehow go terribly wrong, we can always run away and live the rest of our lives traveling the world.”

Aiden made a surprised little noise. “You cannot be serious,” he muttered.

“I absolutely am,” James said, giving Aiden his best innocent smile. “No matter what happens, I’ll be here for you. I promise.”

Aiden hiccupped and threw his arms around James, burying his face in James’s shoulder.

James hummed and pressed a kiss to his temple. “Come on,” he said softly. “It’s a big day tomorrow, and you need some sleep if you’re gonna do your best sitting pretty.”

Aiden let out a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob, but he untangled himself from James to let him stand.

As James helped him to his feet, he whispered, “James, I—can—I don’t—”

When his words stumbled to a stop, James filled in the gaps. “Your room or mine?”

Aiden’s relief was palpable. “Yours, please.”

“Alright.” James wrapped an arm around his shoulders again, letting Aiden nestle into his side as they headed back to James’s room.

[helenofblackthorns]

we have the whole gang now 🫶🫶

[witchlingcirce]

THE CUTIES CAMEEE HOMEEE IN THE NEWEST GRAPHIC NOVEL

[wtfeels]

Magnus to Alec in City of Fallen Angels

[thebitchforjemcarstairs]

Magnus had so much patience, because insecure Alec was annoying as hell. Alec is my favourite character in TMI because he matured and aged like fine wine, but oh my God he was annoying in this book. I mean, who cares about a man that has been literal dirt in the ground for the last 70 years? Fuck the dead man, and his nonexistent ashes, and just enjoy your time. Alexander my boy, get your shit together, because it’s tiresome 😭😭

And fuck Camille for adding insecurities to his already very insecure head.

[calistairs]

i wonder what cc thought when she wrote these scenes?

she just sent the file to her publicist and close the notebook???? HOW CAN SOMEONE MOVE ON FROM THIS????

- from city of fallen angels

- from lady midnight

[bookishjules]

Currently rereading cofa and getting to the scenes of Izzy being soo protective of Simon even when she was ‘mad’ at him <333

i will never ever get over the way the only person to notice simon's absence from the engagement party was isabelle. like it's literally jordan's job to keep track of and protect that boy, but it's izzy, who is trying her best to stay mad and distant, but whose awareness of simon never wavered, who brings it to his attention.

try as she might she can't stop caring for that dumbass with his stupid self-sacrificing tendencies and if her lame heart's gonna force her to care about him.. then like hell is she gonna let anything happen to him.

it's like her instincts are at war with themselves. and man you just love to see it <3 love this for you anon

[angeldaisies]

cc cannot write a fast paced second book to save her life i fear 😭 gun to my head i could not tell you what happens in any of her second books

[lilychxn]

LORD MONTGOMERY ?!?!1!?1!1?1!

art: @cassandrajean

[nglwhatarecats]

HOLD ON GUYS LET ME COOK🔥🔥🔥‼️

[daily-clace]

“Jesus,” said Kyle. “You’re a Shadowhunter?” He looked at Simon. “The cute redheaded girl who was with you in the garage—she’s a Shadowhunter too, isn’t she?”

Taken aback, Simon nodded.

“You know, some people think Shadowhunters are just myths. Like mummies and genies.” Kyle grinned at Jace. “Can you grant wishes?”

The fact that Kyle had just called Clary cute did not seem to have endeared him to Jace, whose face had tightened alarmingly. “That depends,” he said. “Do you wish to be punched in the face?”

Cassandra Clare, City of Fallen Angels

[ghost-town-story]

FebruarOC Day 1: Alexis

As Alexis returned to the top of the courtyard wall, she noticed her brothers were locked in some silent conversation, full of pointed looks and hand gestures that comprised a language only the two of them understood.

Alexis landed next to them, and when they didn’t react to her presence, she crossed her arms and cleared her throat. “Ahem.”

James startled, his wings fluttering as he jumped back a few steps. “Oh, sorry Lexi.” He grinned sheepishly at her.

“Whatcha talking about?” Alexis asked.

It was Will who answered. “Somebody’s watching us.”

“Well duh.” Alexis rolled her eyes.

“We don’t mean Hanna, Lexi,” James corrected her.

“Then what—”

Will covered her mouth. Alexis squealed and licked his hand, but he refused to let go of her. “Over there,” he said lowly, and pointed towards the courtyard door.

Alexis followed his finger, and saw a boy hiding in the shadow of the door. He was too far away for Alexis to make out many details, other than pale hair and white feathers that lingered even after he ducked behind the doorway.

Will finally let go of her. Alexis took a moment to brush her hair out of her eyes and stick her tongue out at her brother, who returned the gesture without hesitation. “Why are you guys being mean?” she asked.

“Cause you’re drawing attention to us watching him,” Will replied.

“Not that.” Alexis stuck her tongue out at him again. “Why are you being mean to him?”

Her brothers exchanged another of those silent conversation looks. “We’re not?” James said, though he sounded unsure of himself.

“Well you’re doing something if he’s hiding from you,” Alexis said.

“Nuh-uh,” Will argued.

Alexis huffed. “Yes you are.”

“Lexi,” James started, glancing over her shoulder at the courtyard door again.

Alexis turned around to see the boy peeking around the corner again. “I’m gonna go talk to him,” she decided, spreading her wings.

Both her brothers immediately began to protest, but Alexis jumped from the wall before either of them could grab her. She wobbled through the air a bit, still learning how to fly herself, but she managed to make it across the courtyard and land at the doorway without embarrassing herself in front of everybody watching. A glance over her shoulder saw James and Will still on top of the wall, back to silently talking.

Alexis huffed and turned her attention back to the boy hiding in the doorway. He had ducked further into the shadows when Alexis approached, but he hadn’t run. Instead, his wide blue eyes stared at her, feathers rustling like a bird who wasn’t yet sure if they needed to fly from danger.

“Hi!” Alexis chirped. “I’m Alexis! I don’t think we’ve met before!”

“Uh.” The boy’s voice was soft, almost inaudible as he glanced over his shoulder. “Cause I’m not supposed to be out here.”

Alexis tilted her head. “Huh? Why not?”

The boy kept looking between Alexis and the corridor behind him. He bit his lip, then quietly admitted, “Mother doesn’t want me talking to any of the Sky. But… she’s not here right now.”

“I can keep a secret,” Alexis promised, glad that neither of her brothers were nearby to lie about her secret keeping skills. “Where is your mother anyways, if she’s not here?”

“Home.” The boy’s voice had gotten even softer, and to Alexis’s dismay, she caught sight of tears making themselves known in his sky blue eyes. He hiccupped and whispered a quick, “Sorry.”

But when he tried to turn away, Alexis darted forward and wrapped him up in a hug. “Don’t cry,” she chirped. “C’mon, if she’s gonna leave you here by yourself then you shouldn’t have to listen to what she says. You can come play with me and my brothers! They’re kinda brats but they’re really nice—well, James is, Will’s really more of a brat than anything but James can make him play nice.”

The boy hiccupped again, but he hugged her back and nodded into her shoulder.

Alexis held on to him for a moment, then she started to pull him out of the shadow of the door, into the sunlight of the courtyard. “Come on,” she started, only to falter once she finally got a good look at him.

Hair that had appeared a pale blond in the darkness turned fiery gold in the light, and while Alexis had spotted the white feathers of his right wing immediately, she hadn’t noticed his left wing was covered in orange and yellow feathers that danced like flames.

The boy—the prince cringed away from her staring.

A breeze ruffled Alexis’s skirt, bringing with it the sound of one of her brothers landing behind her. “Alexis,” James said, uncharacteristically hesitant.

Alexis gripped the prince’s hand tightly. “This is James!” she chirped. “Will is—” she hesitated, looking around until she caught sight of Will’s dark hair standing out against the blue sky, “—over there, being rude as usual.”

“Alexis,” James hissed. The prince winced, pulling against Alexis’s hand like he was trying to flee back into the darkness.

“Since his mother isn’t here, we’re gonna play with him, okay?” Alexis stared defiantly at James, just daring him to tell her no.

James hesitated for a few moments, looking between Alexis, Will, and the prince, then he gave in with a sigh. “Do you want to join us?” he asked the prince.

“Um.” The prince glanced over his shoulder, back at the shadowed doorway. “O—okay.”

Alexis cheered, letting go of his hand for a brief second to twirl before she grabbed it again. “Let’s go!”

[helenofblackthorns]

graphic novel coming October who cheered

[witchlingcirce]

The whole Simon/Maia/Izzy thing in city of fallen angels always made me so MADDDD. Out of the many plot lines I’d get rid of in tmi, that’s one of them 😭😭

[booksandmore]

Regarding the tmi thing…thank you for saying that!

It bugs me so much how people dismiss them as incest books as if it wasn’t literally a way for an abuser to get back his victim. Jace felt so disgusted with himself that he isolated himself from everyone. Not only that he was kicked out by Maryse because he was valentine’s son, so he literally felt like he had no other choice than to crawl back to his abuser, the person who raised him to be a soldier (the way Jem describes 10yo jace in the short story will always destroy me) and that made him believe that love = destroying.

Sebastian side of incest plot was obviously to show that he too was extremely fucked up and had absolutely no idea how love and normal relationships were supposed to work. He was also raised as a soldier and treated like a monster by his father and we see the consequences.

And to be fair, Valentine was more Jace’s father that Clary’s. The only father clary ever had was Luke. The first father Jace ever had was valentine and he had it for 10/16 years of his life (as of cob).

And all of this is not some obscure thing that you understand rereading the books hundreds of times and reading post after post of analysis. It’s very clear. People just want to dismiss these books and these characters because they don’t react to trauma how they want

Will herondale reacts to his trauma being a bitch and isolating himself —> fave character ever he can do no wrong he’s the best thing ever / Jace reacts to his trauma being a bitch, isolating himself to the point he ends up back to his abuser —> eugh incest

Like make it make sense (sorry this is so long but I have nobody to talk about this and I have been bottling it up for half of my life)

yes yes yes!! and the thing about valentine being more of a father to jace than clary!! i definitly feel like it was a bigger deal that jace had anything to do with valentine then it ever was for clary. like you could definitly say they mean nothing to each other but you could never say that about valentine’s relationship with jace or sebastian, inspite of the fact that SHE kills him. just!!!

i do also think theres a double standard when it comes to trauma. like people act like there’s an “acceptable” way to handle it :/

[thebitchforjemcarstairs]

Isabelle my beloved🥰🥰 the only girls girl in this series.