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tomcuddlesfic · 6 years ago

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God of Mischief & I

TITLE: God of Mischief & I

ONE SHOT / MULTICHAPTER: One Shot

AUTHOR : tomcuddlesfic WHICH TOM/CHARACTER: Tom x Loki

GENRE: fluff / romance / FIC SUMMARY: What happens when you catch the God of Mischief causing mischief? Caroline is on a date with a nice guy. Just not the right guy according to Loki. When Loki takes a joke too far, they both might just learn that not everything is all fun and games after all.

RATING: R --There’s light smut

AUTHORS NOTES/WARNINGS: It’s been a long time since I last wrote something but I FINALLY watched Thor: Raganork (I know I’m beyond behind) and I was intrigued by Loki. I normally don’t write Loki Fan fiction just because he does little to nothing to me but after reading an interesting article about how people blame their little accidents on the god of mischief instead of their own clumsiness, I thought that was fun to write something based on it.

Also, I wrote this in third person and it shifts from past/present and also from focusing more on one character’s emotions at certain times and then it alternates. It might get confusing so I apologize in advance.

AS ALWAYS FEEDBACK IS MUCH APPRECIATED OKAY ENJOY.

It was all his fault.

Caroline was on the floor, knees scraped and stinging. She squeezed her shut in hopes of holding back her tears but it was no use. Her shoulders dropped as she let out a quiet sob. A figure blocked out the light casted from the street lamp beside her. Growling, she looked back at the man who made a mess of all things.

“You’re hurt.” The man stated plainly, hands in his trouser pockets. He seemed bored of her like she should get up now and continue to play along with his game.

“Thanks to you.” Caroline spat. Before she knew it, the man scooped her up in his strong arms. One minute she was on the street outside of the bar and the next, she was in an expensive looking apartment. She blinked several times, sure that all the alcohol she drank during her date with a bald accountant named Jerry that her friend Melissa set her up with had something to do with it. Caroline was sure she blacked out and only woke up now to the stranger’s apartment but if her suspicions were correct, blacking out had nothing to do with it.

Loki didn’t set her down until he made to his bathroom in the master suite. He had told himself he had gone a joke too far and didn’t want the human to suffer anymore and that’s why he didn’t set her down right away, allowing her to walk to the bathroom herself and not because of the fact that he enjoyed the feel of her womanly curves pressed against his body. The human sitting before him had caught him in his act. Usually, he was discreet. Nobody saw him cast small spells that resulted in what humans called little accidents or clumsiness. But she saw. Her brown eyes had looked past her pathetic date to him just as he flicked his hands in the air, casting a spell to knock over the beer on her date’s lap. She had narrowed her eyes, intrigued by the coincidence. Just as she looked away, he wanted her attention back on him. Loki waved his hands again, this time casting a spell to knock over her date’s chair just as he was sitting back down from cleaning up the mess on his lap. Her gaze immediately went back to him. Loki smirked at the memory of her sauntering towards him in her pretty summer dress and short heels. She was beautiful for a mortal.

“What are you doing?” Caroline had demanded. She knew she was acting crazy. There was no such thing as magic. But seeing the smirk on the handsome man’s face made her think she was right all along.

“I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The man brought the crystal glass filled with amber liquid to his lips, smiling before taking a sip.

“I see what you did.” She had said with as much intimidation in her voice as possible. However, at only five foot three, it’s hard to be intimidating to a man who easily towered her judging by his long sleek legs stretched out before him. “I don’t know how you’re doing it or what exactly are you playing at but this date is important to me so find your entertainment somewhere else.”

Loki grinned at the memory of earlier tonight. He couldn’t resist especially when he was confused as to why someone so stunning would waste their time on a pudgy middle aged man who didn’t have the slightest idea in seducing the opposite sex. He had also found out her name through tuning into their conversation. Caroline. A name fit for a small thing like her.

Throughout the night, he had made more accidents happen. Until her date had rushed off when a bottle of ketchup exploding on his white shirt just as he was squeezing some out on his plate for his fries. The woman had looked over him, eyes narrowed with hatred. She was cute even when angry, he had thought.

“You are despicable!” She had stomped her foot, yelling across the bar to where he sat. People had looked at her like she had gone mad. Without another word, Caroline stormed off only to mysteriously trip on her own two feet.

“Let me take a look at you.” Loki retrieved the first aid kit from under the washroom sink. After being banished to Earth, he had found his healing powers to be weaker and in need of medical equipment created by humans.

“Don’t touch me.” Caroline sniffled, shifting her leg out of his way just as he was about to inspect it.

Guilt flooded his senses. This was new to him, he realized. He had caused his father to fall into slumber, betrayed his brother multiple times, tried to rule New York, and killed countless beings and humans but nothing compared to the guilt he felt when he saw the tears he had caused to fall down her face. Without thought, Loki reached out and gently brushed the few tears off with the pad of his thumb. They both froze in that moment, staring at each other.

“Just who exactly are you?” Caroline gulped, her eyes searched his face for answers. He was so close to her, she could see the multiple shades deep green of his irises. One hand still resting on her bare knee and the other gently on her neck, he sucked in a quick shallow breath.

“Loki.” The trickster replied quietly like he was confessing his sins in church. He almost barked out a laugh at the sound of his cracking voice. A God himself, feared by many for his supernatural powers, and fearless in great wars is found vulnerable and weak before a mortal woman. Loki studied her neutral expression, aching to move closer to her. The space between them was little but yet he mourned the distance. He was captivated by her.

“You have a strange name.” Caroline’s broke into a slow smile. She was slightly inebriated from the cocktails she gulped down after the disastrous date the man before her caused but the warmness spreading through her body had nothing to do with the alcohol.

“Not as strange as my attraction for you, princess.” Loki returned the shy smile before hesitantly lowering his mouth inches to hers. He could smell the sweetness of her scent, drawing him in. He cleared his throat, blinking furiously to clear his clouded vision.

“How do you do that?” Caroline tilted her head so she could see his face. The bathroom was spacious with a luxury tub, a shower, and a sink with enough counter space to dine on but somehow when he was in it, his presence and body made it feel so small.

‘Do what?” Loki said with nonchalance, ripping open a package of sterilized wipes. He gently wiped down her wound, feeling more and more awful every time she winced and jerked her leg.

“The tricks.” She leaned forward, taking her lower lip into her mouth. “You’ve been waving your hands all night and every time you do that, things happen.”

He nodded his head, unable to meet her eyes. Would there be judgement in them? Fear? He was too afraid to look because if he looked, the illusion of someone who didn’t fear him for what he was would end. “Short answer would be that I’m a God. God of Mischief to be exact.”

Caroline tilted his chin up with the crook of her finger so he looked directly at her. “You know that’s pretty cool. Except the part where you know you ruined my date and made me fall on the floor.”

Loki laughed, feeling relief for the light banter instead of delving deeper into the reasons for his guilt and shame for who he was. He continued bandaging her up, stopping when she rested a hand on his. When she tipped forward again due to her drunken state, he caught her in his arms, their faces dangerously close to each other.

The desire and need to kiss her was strong. His heart thundered, his head grew dizzy, and his body hummed as saw her eyes look at him with lust. This wasn’t mischief or mind controlling powers. This was a woman who desired all of him.

It wasn’t right.

Of all the morally wrong things Loki has done in his existence, he knew it was even too much for him to ruin someone so pure and so good like Caroline. He was beyond worth saving. A God who was unredeemable and didn’t deserve happiness for all the destruction he has caused. Just as he was about to pull away, Caroline grabbed his shirt and kissed him.

Caroline felt his whole body freeze. Through her hazy gaze, she saw his eyes had widened, fixated on her. Maybe she had been reading the signs all wrong, the thought quickly passed in the back of her mind. Cold panic flashed her senses before she abruptly pulled away from him only to have his hand on the back of her neck draw her back into a deep intoxicating kiss. He devoured her, parting her swollen lips, tasting her sweetness. She groaned, hands grasping his shirt to pull him right against her chest. Loki easily maneuvered his body between her soft thighs, feeling the heat of her core against his hard cock. He wanted her. He needed her.

Large calloused hands ran up her silky thighs, drawing up the flimsy fabric of her summer dress, exposing the wet stain on her white panties. Loki growled against her neck when pushed closer off the edge of the bathroom counter to rub herself against him. He could feel her wetness seeping onto his trouser pants. This woman was going to be the death of him, he realized as he ripped down the thin straps of her dress to reveal full breasts topped with pink nipples that begged to be suckled. Tearing down the rest of the fabric, she was left with nothing but her panties in front of him.

“So fucking beautiful.” Loki moaned as he cupped her breast and brought a nipple in his mouth. Swirling his skillful tongue around the hard tip, he ran his hand down the soft curves of her body, squeezing her ass before slipping into the front of panties.

“Loki!” She gasped, finger nails digging deep into his biceps. “Please.”

Many mortals have begged and pleaded for his mercy but the sound of sweet Caroline begging for him and the only release he could give to her was nothing compared to it. His heart thumped wildly against his chest as he looked at this mortal that wasn’t running for the hills, afraid of him but instead trusted him enough to expose the most private parts of her body and soul to him.

“I got what you need, princess.” He whispered harshly into her ear before dropping a kiss on the crane of her neck. His long fingers slipped easily into her hot slick folds. Her tiny body thrashed against him when his thumb pressed down and circled on her clit.

The friction was exhilarating. Caroline voluntarily spread her thighs wider for his better access as she dropped her head back, feeling every sensation through her body. Her toes curled as he fit one digit up her pussy, filling her in a way she never experienced.

“Fuck.” Loki spat out as he continued to pump his finger in and out of her tight hot cunt. There was no way she could be as tight as she felt around his finger without being an innocent. An unfamiliar possessive need raged throughout his body.

Mine.

The word burned in his mind. Caroline was his. Nobody will ever come close to her ever again as long as he was still alive.

Curling his finger inside her, Caroline squealed when he found the spot that seemed to be where every single one her nerve endings began and met. A need within her that she didn’t know she had was fulfilled as he continued rubbing the spot. She was on the brink of exploding around him. Her breath caught her throat as the ache grew and grew until she couldn’t contain it anymore. Bright bursts of light filled her vision as pleasure overcame her entire body.

He continued his motions as her pussy quivered, tightening and releasing around his thick fingers. Her body was so responsive. So needy. So beautiful. He watched intently at her, storing every second of her orgasm in his memories, not wanting to forget any moment of this stunning sight. It was expected of him to be the playful trickster everyone had known him for. He would be unattached with little to no emotions. Sentiment was definitely not a part of his agenda. But deep down, he knew Caroline struck a nerve. He didn’t countless women when he could have one.

Caroline shivered when she felt her thighs slipping against each other caused by own juices. She slowly fell forward into his warm chest, arms circling around her and catching her before she fell to the floor. Caroline knew it would be silly to think anything could begin from this. The handsome devil standing before her probably didn’t feel the same strong connection she felt. Of course, leave it for a virgin to romanticize things that weren’t actually there.

Loki smoothed down her hair, dropping kisses on the crown of her head. Slowly, he inserted an arm under the back of her knees, swept her up, bridal style, and carried her to his bed. Her eyes were closed, face flushed, and looking as perfect as all the stars in the galaxies.

Tucking her in, he laid a soft kiss on her cheek, not missing the small smile that curved her lips when he pulled away. Loki knew he should go. These powerful emotions stirring inside his chest were overwhelming and he needed time to sort them out. Just as he was turning away, a hand clasped around his wrist, stopping him in his tracks.

“Don’t go.” Caroline pleaded, fully awake. “Please stay.”

Loki studied her. Without another word, he gently removed her hand and stepped back, unbuttoning each button on his dark silk shirt, revealing lean muscles that rippled under his pale skin. He dropped the shirt on the floor, moving his attention to his belt. Her gaze fixated on every movement he made. And if he wasn’t already a God, he knew that with just her eyes looking at him like the way she did now, he would feel like one. Hell, he even felt like the honorable one people actually worshipped. His pants soon joined his other clothes on the floor, leaving him only in his black boxer briefs that did nothing to hide his thick erection caused by her and only her.

She gulped when he walked around the bed, slipped under the covers, and drew her right against him. Her bottom nestled perfectly against his thickness, allowing her to feel just how hard and hot he was.

“Loki.” Caroline whispered, adjusting her position before the arm draped around her waist tightened, stilling her motions.

“Sleep, princess.” Loki murmured into her ear, lifting off some of the pressure of expectations for the rest of the night. “I ask nothing from you tonight but don’t test my patience. I find it running very thin with you almost naked around me.”

Caroline remained quiet, chewing on the bottom of her lip. She knew this was a horrible idea. She barely knew the man lying beside her but the attraction between them was undeniable. Turning around so she faced his chest, she cocked her head up to see his eyes closed, pretending to sleep.

“Shouldn’t I do something?” She asked ignoring his earlier statement about sleeping. It seemed only fair that he sought for his release as she did hers. Her hand trembled as she trailed it down his muscled stomach, feeling him suck in a breath before seeking lower and lower until her fingertips grazed his hardness. She gasped when Loki grabbed her hand in his and stopped her in her place.

Loki squeezed his eyes tightly shut.

“Woman, the only thing you need to do is sleep.” Loki grounded out through clenched teeth. When he opened his eyes, he met wide brown eyes filled with uncertainty. For a brief second, he caught the look he was all too familiar with pass her face. She felt humiliated. Still holding her hand, he brought it up to his mouth before kissing it softly and allowing her to cup his face. He turned towards her touch, seeking warmth and love. “You’re the only person who has ever made me feel like this. It’s madness. Of all my years, I’ve never felt this way so please, Caroline. I’m trying for once in my life to do the right thing. And the right thing is to give you time and to not rush into things we’re both not ready for. We can take things slow, yes?”

He looked into her eyes, searching for answers. Once again, he found himself showing the most vulnerable sides of him to a woman that managed to break down all his walls.

For a moment, Caroline was sure Loki had only done what they did out of pity. So when she offered to reciprocate pleasure and he flat out refused, it hurt. She might not have been a sexual goddess but she knew she wasn’t all that unattractive. But maybe it was her inexperience that made him uninterested in taking things further. She felt embarrassment to suggest such a silly thing but his next words were like a balm to her stinging wounds.

“Yes.” Caroline nodded, chewing her lower lip before speaking again. “So this isn’t a one night stand?”

“I don’t think I can ever let you go after this let alone let it be a one-time thing.” Loki scoffed sarcastically before hushing her to go to sleep.

#tom hiddleston #loki fan fiction #tom hiddleston fan fiction #tom hiddleston fanfiction #loki #marvel #avengers #mine #god of mischief and I #one shot

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az-valentine · 6 years ago

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Entry 1: Pennywise [AU]

July 2nd, 2018

In light of recent events – the nature of which I refuse to explain to people who simply couldn't understand – I've been inspired to record a few passages for Humanity to eventually stumble upon. Despite what you may know about me, however little that may be, I assure you, there is far more to me than what meets the eye. You probably know me to be an unpredictable, animalistic Eldritch Abomination that comes crawling out of the darkest pits of your worst nightmares – you are correct. However, I'm far more complicated than that. Yes, I eat flesh and feed on Fear, as it's necessary for my survival. I didn't choose to be this way, it's just how I was created to be.

Outside of that, I'm actually a fan of your classic literature, like Shakespeare, Twain, Poe, and Lovecraft. I also enjoy taking long walks to admire your older European architecture, and your bigger, more lush and diverse botanical gardens. I don't often leave Maine, let alone the Continental United States, but when I do, it's always a treat. My Eldritch Brethren usually don't care much – or at all – about what Humanity has accomplished in its pathetically short time, but I watched your earliest ancestors crawl out of the ancient muds of this planet, and I'm positive I'll watch you all return to the weeds in due time.

My past is better left being known only by those closest to me, and left up for interpretation to everyone else. That being said, I feel strangely obligated to offer you a word of warning – don't end up like the protagonists of most Lovecraft stories. Don't go digging for information you have no business knowing. What you know, and what you think you know about Fear, hardly even scratches the surface of the unnamable terrors that lie beneath and beyond your fragile mental barriers. The depths of Madness are not meant to be explored by Mortal minds, for they were never designed to be capable of handling the journey.

Some have tried, and nearly all have ended up a writhing, unintelligible, gibbering mess before their inevitable, horrific deaths. Some have wound up on that Path without even intending to, and fell victim to similar fates. If there's one thing we have in common, it's our tendency to be curious creatures. I definitely understand the desire to learn about the unknown. I cannot stop you from attempting to uncover lost knowledge and hidden truths, and I can't honestly say I care whether or not you listen to me. However, I still feel compelled to advise against it. Like me, though, you'll do what you please, regardless of the risks.

Moving forward, those of you that know of me know me to be a Shifter, a being that is capable of taking the form of whatever I want. I'm like a Mimic, but far more interesting, and intelligent. I'm also like Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos, except I take no pleasure in gaining legions of followers and spreading Madness. I prefer to be left alone most of the time – to Hunt, eat, sleep, and explore as I choose. Earth isn't the only planet I've been to, but it's definitely one of my favorites. If I wake up during one of my sleep cycles, I'll sometimes take that opportunity to go somewhere new and different, or old and familiar.

I've seen everything from the bustling cities of Tokyo and Arcturus Prime, to the noxious swamps of Beldron 4, the scorching, temple and monolith-spotted deserts of Alkh'tktuuhl, the ravenous raggle-trees of Nillub, and even the turbulent oceans, black forests, and numerous mountain ranges of an unknown terrestrial behemoth, floating aimlessly through the inky depths of Oblivion. One thing most don't know about me, is that Alkh'tkhtuuhl holds a very special place in my Heart. Those that know the reason why, though, I can count on one hand.

Unbeknownst to Humanity, Arcturus Prime is still thriving to this day – and if rumors hold true, the Arcturians eventually want to introduce themselves. Don't worry, they're incredibly friendly. In my experiences with them, they're often a little shy, so don't do anything stupid when they get here. You'll need their help if you want your species to survive, thrive, and save the only planet you currently have to live on. They'll slowly work you into the galactic community, and help you learn how to integrate with other people from other planets, as well as how to survive off of your home world.

Everyone that lives long enough will go through a Great Change at certain points in their lives – this trait is not unique to Humans, or any other Mortal species within the Multiverse, but is present among all sentient Life that has evolved far enough to be capable of experiencing these changes. Even I, the Prince of Fear, have gone through it several times throughout my existence. Indeed, many see me as just a highly intelligent, impossibly powerful beast that's merely good at acting, but I too am a person.

I am not at liberty to speak of my true origins, or what came before, but I do have quite a few stories I'm allowed to tell. For the sake of brevity – I could write an entire series about my life – I will stick to telling only a few tales that I hold near and dear to my Heart. It's not every day a Mortal gets to learn such personal things about an Eldritch Being, let alone directly from them, so consider this a little gift to Humanity. I still take what I need to sustain myself, but who would I be if I didn't give back every now and then?

Don't think of me as just a monster – I may be greater than anything a Human could ever hope to become, and I may have needs that cause a conflict of Morality between us, but it doesn't mean we don't share similarities. I don't know why I feel the need to say it, but just like you, I have my weaknesses. I have sore spots, bad memories, times of self-destruction, and an unhealthy relationship with self-hatred. Oh, yes...I can be as vulnerable as the Mortals whose lives I claim. It's not all bad, though. As I stated earlier, some of my guilty pleasures include literature, architecture, and traveling. I also enjoy attending plays, Broadway shows, and operas. At heart, I am an artist, and someone who appreciates the natural beauty to be found spread out across the Universe.

In fact, for as long as I can remember, I've always taken part in the various cultures' Arts in some way or another. My numerous homes have always had a collection of writings, paintings, and props found in certain visual productions that had struck my fancy. I would occasionally write my own works, such as poetry and prose, plays, and even some music, and then offer it to Yog-Sothoth for his Archives. On top of that, I would often disguise myself as a native of a planet, and audition to play a role in something – not once was I turned down. Who was the best Carmen? Me. The greatest Figaro? Me!

By now, you must be perfectly aware of the sizeable amount of differences between me, and the Being you've always known me to be. There is an explanation for this, yes, but I struggle to believe that you could fully comprehend what I'm about to describe. If I only lay out the basics for you, there's a good chance you'll be able to follow along. I've made mention of the Multiverse, yes? It's bigger, stranger, more complex, and more terrifying than you may have previously believed it to be. Infinities on top of Infinities, spanning in Infinite directions, through every Dimension, and every conceivable and inconceivable possibility happening all at once, at all possible times. It's a lot to take in, and I urge you not to try and understand it completely. It'll just drive you Insane, like many others before you.

Back to the point at hand, though...I am not the same Pennywise you've known, as I'm from a different Universe. Who I am, as well as my Past, Present, and Future, have been and always will be completely different from the version of me you're familiar with. I've mastered the Art of Transcending Time and Space, and am able to move freely between Universes. The conditions of my state of existence, though, must remain a closely guarded secret for the time being. Let's just say that I've made promises I can't afford to break, to someone that makes me look tiny, powerless, and insignificant by comparison.

Perhaps "completely different" was a poor choice of words. If I'm not careful, I'll become the Thing born of your worst nightmares. What's worse? I could get stuck like that, and require another Purification to set me straight. Yes, a Purification...something that all of the Dark and Twisted Souls must be willing to subject themselves to if they wish to enter the Light. Ugh! I shudder to think about going through such a painful experience for a second time. The agony is only temporary, and it melts away into a warm tingle, but it's still horribly unpleasant at first. I won't try to sway you one way or the other, but it was worth it for me. I was fine doing my own thing, and being by myself, but the opportunity was too great to pass up.

I'd rather not get into the details of the situation, but I regained something I'd lost billions of years ago, only because I chose to go through the process of Great Change. I haven't been happy in billions of years, but I am now, and I'm never giving this up. To be perfectly honest, I only went through this change last October, and so I'm still adjusting to this new Way of Life I've chosen. I may or may not have snacked on a child recently...don't look at me like that, I was starving! And without a long sleep to fall back on anymore, I must feed at least once a week now, depending on the size of the person.

I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. I've been targeting only the worst of the worst, so as long as you're not a piece of shit person, one worthy of being scared to the point of shitting yourself and then getting eaten alive, you have nothing to Fear from me. Except maybe the occasional scare for my amusement, and to satisfy my need for Fear.

July 3rd, 2018

This entry has already gotten long, and I'm afraid I've run out of Time to tell you a story. Forgive me, I didn't think my introduction would wind up being so long. I'm afraid I have some bad news...I'm set to depart on a series of Hunts for the next three to seven months, and I'm unsure of when I'll be able to continue. This was sprung upon me at the last minute, and I'm in no position to decline this mission.

Know this, Humanity: I will return, and in no less than excellent health. Chances are, I won't be hungry when I finally make it back. However, don't think for a moment that I won't continue to Hunt the scum of your societies, one by one...both to fulfill my needs for survival, and to make good on my Sacred Oath.

Until next Time,

Pennywise

#fanfic #fanfiction #pennywise #pennywise the dancing clown #pennywise 2017 #alternate universe #au #narrative #eldritch #eldritch thing #literature #crossover #series #part 1 of ?#more to come #cthulhu mythos

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preserving-ferretbrain · 6 years ago

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City of … You Get the Idea

by Dan H

Thursday, 23 July 2009

Dan is almost positive about Cassie Clare’s City of Glass~

A couple of weeks ago, our Esteemed Editor got an email from A Reader asking if we were going to review City of Glass. Apparently they’d enjoyed my previous reviews of the books, and had felt that they articulated some of their own issues with the series. I can only assume that said reader’s issues with the series had been “this is shit, shit, shit and I want to tear my own eyes out rather than read another page of it” that being roughly the contents of the last two articles.

The reader particularly wanted to hear about City of Glass because their friends had told them that it was much better than the previous two books.

Well, random reader whose name I don’t know, it is and it isn’t.

A few articles back, I expressed the rather controversial opinion that a TV series (and by extension any other series, including books) doesn’t just suddenly get “good” after a couple of volumes or series of being “bad”. Rather it gets more polished, more competent and more sure of itself and therefore improves immeasurably in the eyes of people who were already sold on the basic premise.

I’d like to go further now, and add that one’s perception of the quality of any given work depends not only on the (to use a loaded term) objective merits of that piece of work but also on the context in which that work appears. In my review of Trudi Canavan’s Age of the Five trilogy (sorry, this article is getting really heavy on the self-linkage) I pointed out that I found the series a little disappointing not because it was actually worse than the Black Magician Trilogy but because it wasn’t much better, and I felt I’d already read a lot of the ideas in it before.

I found that City of Glass had the opposite effect. When you get right down to it, it has all the same problems as the previous two books. Clary is still an infuriating self-insert, Jace is still a whiny little prick whose self-destructive urges grow increasingly tedious, and the whole plot still makes virtually no sense at all. On the other hand once you've come this far, you start to take all that pretty much as read, and enjoy the demon-punching shenanigans.

The other factor that left me slightly better disposed towards City of Glass was, ironically enough, the fact that it still read like Harry Potter fanfic. For the first books, this was a weakness, since it invited comparison to the early Potter books, to which The Mortal Instruments compared unfavourably. The same issues in City of Glass invite comparison with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows which is a far better light to be standing in.

Indeed there's a lot about City of Glass that reads like an attempt to address common fan criticisms of, and disappointments with, the final volume of the Potter saga.

The point at which the similarities with Harry Potter got too much for me in the first book was the point where I discovered that a scruffy, paternal character who had been a little bit like Remus Lupin was actually a Werewolf and was therefore exactly like Remus Lupin. This turned into one of the saving graces of City of Glass. If nothing else, post Deathly Hallows “contains a character that is similar to Remus Lupin” can not be considered a point of comparison with the Potter books.

Okay, sarcasm aside, one of the big wasted opportunities that fans complain about with Potter is the various “seeking allies amongst the other magical races” arcs (Hagrid's overtures to the giants, Lupin's infiltration of the werewolves, and so on). There was a lot of buildup in the first five books based around the idea that even without Voldemort's influence, Wizarding society had deep-seated inequalities and bigotries which needed to be addressed and a lot of fans were rather annoyed that they weren't. A lot of fans were even more annoyed that the implicit racism of Wizarding society wound up being reduced to a way that the Wizarding elite could display their superiority.

Where was I. Oh yes, Lupin and Clare's Lupin-analogue. One of the seemingly-major subplots in books five and six of the Potter Saga involves fan-favourite Remus Lupin being sent to infiltrate the Werewolves in an effort to make sure that they did not support Voldemort. This lead to many fans making the foolish assumptions that (a) Lupin might actually do something in book seven and (b) that the Wizards might actually have to fight alongside the other races as equals. Of course what they actually got was Lupin marrying a teenager and dropping dead, and the other races fighting for the wizards in a manner that felt distinctly subordinate.

By contrast, pretty much the whole setup of City of Glass is that the Shadowhunters' only hope of victory is to ally themselves with the four races of Downworlders, and to do so in a way that genuinely involves giving the Downworlders greater respect and increased political power. Indeed, even Clary's super-speshul ability to create new runes is suborned into service to this goal, with her great rune-crafting triumph being the creation of the Rune of Alliance, which allows Shadowhunters and Downworlders to share their powers, creating a union that is part vampire, part lycan and stronger than both. Furthermore, this magic rune-crafting only seals the deal, it's Lucian the Lupin-Analogue who orchestrates the alliance, who brings the Downworlders together and introduces them to the Clave. Clary's role is important but ultimately secondary.

Indeed one of the interesting things about the plot of City of Glass is how little – comparatively speaking – it has to do with Clary and her super-specialness. Yes everybody still wants to do her, but in this volume a lot more attention is paid to the fact that ... well ... Valentine has come back and is fucking killing everybody. It ultimately isn't Clary's specialness that defeats Valentine, it's the support of the Downworlders combined with Valentine's own hubris. Set alongside the messianic delusions of Rowling's “protracted plea for tolerance” it seems oddly mature.

It's been over a thousand words now and I've been broadly positive, so as to avoid losing my internet cred entirely I should point out that there are a lot of things in the book that still annoy the hell out of me. There's still the odd what-the-fuck-inducing simile, although none of them stood out as badly as “almost precisely the colour of black ink”. The characterisation is still slightly wobbly. Alex's homosexuality in particular strayed close to what I would consider offensively tokenistic. A certain amount of page-space is given to Alex's relationship with Magnus Bane, with whom he does in fact wind up. The problem is that all of the page-space devoted to their relationship is devoted to them talking about the fact that they're in a relationship, with a side-order of coming-out angst, and no time or thought seems to be put into the question of why these characters are actually attracted to each other, beyond the fact that they are both males of the homosexual persuasion. I'm straying back into Minority Warrior territory here, but it has a nasty whiff of Clare wanting to include a gay character, but not wanting to actually think too hard about the nasty details of two men being a couple.

She also hasn't got over her irritating tendency to show off. As well as eleven out of the twenty chapter titles being pretentious literary allusions (for a full list see the comments section of this article) she keeps dropping in completely pointless psudo-highbrow references for no clear reason. Jace quotes Catullus for no particular purpose other than to show us that Clare has read Catullus, and there's a particularly egregious sequence which unfolds as follows:

Jace smiled. “De ce crezi ca va conversatia” Sebastian met his glance with a look of pleasant interest. “M-ai urmarit de cand ai ajuns aici,” he replied. “Nu-mi dau seama daca nu ma placi ori daca esti atat de banuitor ce toata lumea.” He got to his feet. “I appreciate the Romanian practice, but if you don't mind, I'm going to see what's taking Isabelle so long in the kitchen.”

Look at meeeee! Look at meeeee everybody! I speak Romanian! Isn't that awesome! Don't you want to have sex with me right now! And I've read Milton! And Rimbaud! And Lawrence! And Euripides! And the Bible! And Wilde! And Pope! Look at meeeeee!

What do you mean you expected something relevant to the story?

Anyway, long story short, if you liked the last two books, you'll probably think this one is, like an orgasm on toast or something. If you didn't like the last two books, you probably won't actually like this one either, but you probably won't want to throw it across the room in anger more than once or twice.Themes:

Books

Sci-fi / Fantasy

Young Adult / Children

Cassandra Clare

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Wardog

at 22:20 on 2009-07-23What's *truly disturbing* about this whole business is that articles on the subject of Ms Clare have slipped over 3 which means SHE GETS HER OWN THEME! ARGH!

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Arthur B

at 22:28 on 2009-07-23Isn't it over 4, in fact?

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Viorica

at 23:13 on 2009-07-23

but it has a nasty whiff of Clare wanting to include a gay character, but not wanting to actually think too hard about the nasty details of two men being a couple.

She comes from fandom, and fandom is very big on fetishising gay relationships without actually respecting the particpants as *people*. Basically, there's a lot of porn, and angst is poured on lke chocolate sauce, but the characters themselves might as well be actors in a pornography for all the depth they get. That sound about right?

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Dan H

at 15:53 on 2009-07-24The weird thing is that it isn't even porny, it's totally perfunctory. The only evidence that they're remotely attracted to each other is the fact that they talk about it a certain amount.

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Arthur B

at 17:04 on 2009-07-24Sounds like tokenism to me - idly mentioning that two characters happen to be gay and into each other in order to tick the box, and then forgetting all about it.

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Arthur B

at 22:43 on 2009-07-25Behold:

the serpent eats its own tail

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Viorica

at 00:59 on 2009-07-26You know what's really funny about the whole thing? One of the first stories posted in that section was a well-known

Roswell

fanfic with the names changed. The best part was when one of the "author's" defenders pointed out that "Even CC used to borrow from people!"

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Leia

at 09:31 on 2009-10-14Now that I've finally got round to reading these books, I can finally comment on your reviews, Dan. What was your take on the incest?

The weird thing is that it isn't even porny, it's totally perfunctory. The only evidence that they're remotely attracted to each other is the fact that they talk about it a certain amount.

But can't one say the same thing about Clary & Jace or Simon & Isabelle & Mai? I mean, there isn't really much reason why the respective individuals have fallen in "love" each other (put in quotes because I am old and jaded and wary of using that word to describe teenage romantic relationships) in the space of a month other than they just are...

That aside, I am torn between really liking the original ideas that CC put in the books (and the trope reversion she did on some of the more derivative ideas) and despairing of the way the protagonists are portrayed. I have less problem with Clary being able to make new runes - there is at least an explanation for that in-story and the hero being "Chosen"/"Super-Speshul"/"Uniquely Powerful" is a trope as old as time and it's not going to change with this book - than I do with Clary being written as an inconsistent and generally unlikable person and at the same time as a character that the writer evidently expects us to love and admire.

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Dan H

at 16:02 on 2009-10-14

But can't one say the same thing about Clary & Jace or Simon & Isabelle & Mai?

To an extent, but I think there's a difference. Clary and Jace, for all its histrionics is actually given pagecount. Within the worldview of an adolescent power fantasy, meeting the Boy of Your Dreams and falling in love with him instantly is perfectly acceptable, and we get *genuine* evidence that Clary has feelings for Jace. She thinks about him all the damned time after all.

Simon's relationships are given cursory treatment, but they really are cursory relationships.

Basically Simon gets relationships that are like real teenage relationships, founded on convenience and vague physical attraction. Clary gets a relationship that is like teenagers *think* their relationships are or should be (q.v. Buffy/Angel, Bella/Edward etc). Alex gets ... sort of arbitrarily paired off with a man, because he is a gay.

I think you're right that Magnus/Alex is no *less* satisfying than Simon/Isabelle, but it's given greater significance within the text. Simon's relationships are secondary to his relationship with Clary, while Alex' "gay arc" is basically his entire story.

As for the incest, it didn't bother me, chiefly because I fully expected her to cop out at the end, which she duly did. On a more general note, I do find Fandom's obsession with incest slightly squicky, particularly when paired with its obsession with homosexuality.

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Leia

at 16:27 on 2009-10-14Well, I don't know if pagecount alone counts (pun unintended!) as substance. I mean, Clary's romance(s) will definitely take center-stage because she is the main character and naturally, anything that has to do with her will be the focus of the story. Also, TMI is pretty much a romance between Clary & Jace with the backdrop of a demon-infested Manhattan and an impending war to keep things interesting. But despite all the paragraphs used to describe their epic love, Clary's and Jace's feelings for each other don't seem to be anything deeper than physical attraction. Unless they're making out, they don't even act as if they *like* each other most of the time. The same can be said about Alec and Magnus. They apparently "love" each other because they're both hot and oriented in a way that make them attractive to each other.

Simon's feelings for Clary (and Alec's for Jace) are the only ones that might actually make sense - but again, you wonder why *anyone* would fall in love (not lust, but love) with people who resemble Clary and Jace in real life.

I'm miffed that she copped out of the incest at the last minute, especially after she claimed that she wrote TMI because of research done on Genetic Sexual Attraction and the Westermack Effect. There was something almost intellectual about the emphasis on Clary having no physical attraction to Simon because of their close history while she had a strong attraction to Jace because of the GSA effect. Then she nixed that completely and completely contradicted every attempt at intellectualism by adding the melodramatic and medieval angle of Clary being violently repulsed by Sebastian/Jonathan's kiss.

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Dan H

at 00:26 on 2009-10-15I think we're talking at slightly cross purposes. I don't think Clary/Jace is *functional* but I think it's *believable* not in the sense of being realistic, but in the sense of being something you can understand. You can understand that Clary is invested in the relationship.

By comparison, Alex/Magnus has a bit of the old Tonks/Lupin about it. It just kind of comes out of left field.

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Leia

at 07:35 on 2009-10-15OK, I see what you mean. I don't really agree with it. Alec/Magnus didn't appear out of the left field to me - CC's writing isn't particularly subtle. What seemed debatable was whether Alec was invested in the relationship and I think the scene with Jace, when Jace confronts him about his (Alec's) own crush on him (Jace) and Alec faces the fact that his crush isn't so much about love but about safety, covers this.

Er... I can't believe I am defending TMI! I'm not saying the Alec/Magnus romance was particularly well done... but it's about par to most of the other romances in the book. It certainly was better than the Jocelyn/Luke which was one that I really thought came out of the left field and was just CC's insistence on having a cookie cutter happy ending for all characters.

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Dan H

at 11:53 on 2009-10-15I think the thing is that in most of the other relationships I can see what the partners find attractive about each other, even if I don't necessarily agree with it. Clary is attracted to Jace because he's exciting, dangerous and forbidden. Simon is attracted to Clary because they're good friends and he'd like to be "more" (plus Clary is of course super-speshul).

By comparison, Alex seems to be attracted to Magnus because ... well ... because they're both gay. Part of it is simply that Alex isn't a viewpoint character so we don't get his perspective on things, but I do think that you have to be very careful with homosexual relationships in fiction not to reduce them to "I'm gay, you're gay, let's do gay together".

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Sister Magpie

at 15:20 on 2009-10-15Heh. You're reminding me of that movie Grand Canyon where a characters sets up two people he barely knows, telling them they're perfect for each other. And it turns out they do get into a great relationship. But then one day they realize that neither of them knew the guy very well...so why exactly did he think they were so perfect for each other when he didn't know either of them.

And then one of them says--quite possibly correctly: "Maybe we're the only black people he knows."

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Andy G

at 15:42 on 2009-10-15

"I'm gay, you're gay, let's do gay together"

This could have a certain appeal as a very direct chat-up line however ...

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Jamie Johnston

at 00:28 on 2009-10-16Ooh, I can one-up Sister Magpie's story with an anecdote from Real Life! A show I was in had two and only two gay men in the cast, and practically everyone else was seriously shipping them throughout rehearsals. I was all righteous and "Yeah but you're only saying that because they're the only two gay men", and everyone else said, "Mm, true", and then they got together and remain to this day a lovely couple. Don't you hate it when tokenism works?

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Leia

at 07:27 on 2009-10-16

Oh I certainly agree that one has to be careful with tokenism and there is a lot of tokenism in TMI. At the same time, I think - as much as I hate defend CC - that I'll have to give her the benefit of the doubt and say that she put just as little thought towards Alec's feelings for Magnus as she did to Isabelle's feelings for Simon and certainly more than she did to Jocelyn's feelings for Luke. In fact, that's probably not even a compliment!

I'm actually more miffed about the "Sebastian is eveeel" because he has demon blood when the whole series hinges on the concept that it is wrong to discriminate or persecute the Downworlders for their demon ancestry.

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Wardog

at 09:40 on 2009-10-16Just to throw in my two coppers, about a book I haven't read ... I think the difference is that thoughtless heterosexual relationships have, well, centuries of cultural precedence behind them. It is very easy to invest in heterosexual relationships because we join up the dots automatically even when the author doesn't bother to do it for us. It doesn't matter whether we personally find the *depiction of the relationship* convincing.

Take Clary and Jace - as Dan says above, The Dangerous One and The Superspecial One is a well-established trope.

The problem with homosexual relationships is that what you tend to get is The Gay One and The Oher Gay One.

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Dan H

at 10:25 on 2009-10-16

Once again it's rather reminiscent of the treatment of muggles and muggleborns in Harry Potter.

Treating non-wizards as second class citizens because they can't do magic? Fine. Treating wizards as second class citizens because they have ancestors who can't do magic? Not fine.

At the risk of getting onto highly dangerous ground, it's a lot like some of the well-meaning-but-actually-rather-dodgy stuff you got post 9-11 about how you shouldn't be prejudiced against Muslims that all wound up saying "remember, some Muslims aren't terrorists, although they probably know people who are".

Although on a wider level, I think that might be a problem with using "demon" as a metaphor for "minority". There's a big difference between being black or gay and being a bloodsucking corpse that regularly kills people.

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Leia

at 10:46 on 2009-10-16

The politics of the TMI fantasy world certainly isn't very well thought out. The Shadowhunters are supposed to protect the mundies from demons... but they despise them and treat them like dirt. And like the Muggle/Muggle-born dilemma of HP, this is something that is never addressed in the books. If anything, the author supports the "Mundies suck!" rule when she turns Simon into a vampire so that he can be more of an equal to Clary and her new gang of super-speshul teens. Then going back to Sebastian - he's evil because he has demon blood as a result of Valentine's experiments but why aren't Clary & Jace saints for having angel blood?

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Dan H

at 23:42 on 2009-10-16

but why aren't Clary & Jace saints for having angel blood?

I'm not certain that we aren't supposed to think that they are...

Gosh that's a lot of multiple negation.

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Wordless

at 07:23 on 2009-11-12Im sorry I know this petty but did you notice the number of punctuation errors in the entire book. Comma splices, nonsensical metaphors....alright its a personal issue but when your grade average goes from A to B/C because of lousy grammatical errors in an essay and you see a grown woman publishes an entire fucking book AND its a bestseller!!! well...just makes you wanna piss on education doesn't it?

That just pissed me right the fuck off!!! the guy already SAID he speaks Romanian....I sat for another hundred pages waiting for the relevance of that. Well...at the point where Sebastian died, i realized there wasn't. call me an idiot but I thought there'd be a last little dialogue: Maybe a "remember what i said..." or something.that was a stupid piece of paragraph that was pretencious and made me wonder what people who actually read Romanian and felt like

you know, someone comes up to with a superior expression and says;

Hi My name is Kimberly. I speak English. How are You?

Plus Magnus as a character intrigued me for a while, at least in the beginning before the whole gay thing....i liked his little autobiography even thought he would be that gray character that was a little complex. then he said he loved Alec. then I threw up.

*sigh*no im not done yet.

but to speed it up I'll ask my problems in the form of questions.

Did anyone notice that Aldertree read like a mixture of Fudge and Umbridge?

Malachi was that new minister of magic watisface-the lion dude!

what was the point of he clave?-they did nothing significant from start to finish

where was the Urban fantasy? it read like a medieval one-no electricity, cars basically most of the stuff that makes urban life well...urban. Clares exact words were:"these urban landscapes hold their own reverence, beauty"blah blah blah... so yeah where was that?

ugh.

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http://quimtessence.livejournal.com/

at 01:51 on 2009-12-08Agreed. On everything. Agreed!

My point, however, is on the bit of Romanian that is gratuitously quoted above by you: It. Does. Not. Make. Any. Sense. At all.

Just... What the fuck? It's pointless. There are spelling mistakes in it. It's... so random. I feel violated, truly.

I wish I could add more to this, but the trilogy is just as bad as I always knew it would be from the instant someone mentioned to me that Cassandra Claire, known Harry Potter fan fiction plagiarist, had been professionally published.

*headesk*

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Bookwyrm

at 03:39 on 2013-02-06Oh the Mortal Instruments Series... how I loathe thee.

I'll spare you all rant about all the things I detest about this series and just ask a few questions about some major plot points.

(Spoiler Warning)

Do you think the reason that Clary and Jace's attachment to each other is a result of the angel blood? If I recall correctly the Faerie Queen said something about a predication about Clary falling for someone with the same blood. Maybe having angel blood creates some kind of magical soul-link or something.

When the angel gave Clary a wish why did she only use it to save Jace instead of asking the angel to resurrect all of the people who died in battle?

Also is it wrong that I somehow liked Sebastian better than Jace even though I knew he was evil before I read the book?

#Ferretbrain #The Mortal Instruments #City of Ashes #Dan H #Harry Potter #Cassandra Clare

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