#their relationship will be so cute and interesting in twp i KNOW it

[wikitpowers]

imagine dru confessing to ty that she is in love with ash and him being like listen i get it im in love with a faerie prince myself and them just ✨bonding✨ over their joined anguish

[witchlingcirce]

drop ur twp theories

i’m curious do you think anything will happen to jace or clary

tsc content has dried up sm after the hype over the first tlkof chapter died down

AHHHH, tbh tsc content has dried up a bit probs due to lack of new content !! I’ve also definitely played a part in this because I’ve been tumblring more about asoiaf lately sorry gang 😭💔💔

Hmm TWP theories?? I actually have a lot about Thule which I’ve made posts about before: Thule Simon killing Jace , Dru getting the blackthorn sword , some more in general theories , things between Jace & Janus

I don’t think I have any theories that will make anyone’s mind spin in general. But I will similarly give you at least of some stuff I think will/wont happen

1. Not in the TMI gang is dying, I have probably made so many posts about this but I don’t think it makes sense at all!! Free then from these random theories.

2. I think Livvy’s spirit turning evil and therefore harming Ty is quite a common but also one I enjoy. I think it’s interesting because I think it puts a play on there relationship. Ty hurts Livvy by bringing her back, Livvy hurts Ty but being ‘alive’. I think it’s an interesting play on things because alive they would never even THINK about hurting one another but now there doing it unintentionally. I kind of want there final moments to be like

“I would have been your Parabatai” - Ty

“I know” - Livvy

A little play on Star Wars it would be so sad and really cute.

3. Thule!Kit being apart of Faerie somehow. One version I like in particular is him being apart of the wild hunt, I feel like a wild hunt kit would be such a major contrast to our Kit that it would be 10/10. That’s a theory I’ve stolen off Tumblr BTW, another one is Kit ruling the seelie court, personally not fond of that one but I see the vision.

ALSO sorry I got distracted and didn’t almost answer your Clary and Jace question. Referring back to my first point- no. Maybe one of them will become injured and or kidnapped, but neither of them are dying.

I think something will happen between Clace with Janus but no I don’t think either of them are dying!!

TYSM for the ask!! I’ll try to be more active on the tsc fandom!! Buts there also so many wonderful creators who are active on this fandom everyday :>>> you just have to stalk the tag a bit and you’ll find them

[bookswitchcraftandcats]

TSC Ships as Fanfic Tropes (Part 1)

New series, I’m bored. Send to my ask box other things you want me to write in the bullet point format. 

Jace and Clary are The High School AU. They give those vibes and most of their fics are either High School AUs or have them in some scene that is very high school like truth or dare. IDK if I just associate them with high school because that is the point in my life I read their series but they feel high school. 

Will and Tessa are Snowed In for obvious reasons. It is the definition of their relationship to have them being cute and reading a book in the London Institute while it snows. This fits them so well. 

Thomas and Alastair are the Modern AU. They would be fabulous in a modern wardrobe and the things that effect their characters can translate to a modern setting. Their character development is largely based on how they interact with friends and family and would not be effected by the time change. 

Simon and Izzy as Next Generation or Kids Fic. They have a lot of kid fics written about them and it suits them. We probably won’t get that content in canon like we did for Malec because of how the timing works out and it suits their characters. 

Ash and Dru as First Word Soulmate AU. How powerful it would be if they knew the first word their soulmate was going to say to them and then when they finally meet it dawn upon them and they have a love at first sight moment? There isn’t a lot of content for this ship and I am interested to see how they play out in TWP. I also feel like they will be big on the hurt/comfort in the fandom. 

Emma and Julian as Hurt/Comfort. They have been through some things. I feel like no matter the AU or context their characters have enough backstory to have in-depth hurt/comfort fics. They also just give he vibe for it and are always there for each other. I feel like in all the book series their trilogy had the most hurt/comfort scenes in it. 

Alec and Magnus as Angel and Demon AU. Angsty rule following angel Alec forced into an almost Good Omens AU with demon Magnus. They fit the script and it would be interesting to see them with an enemies to overs banter. They never had that in the books really and I think it would be interesting. Also gives authors room to explore an internalized homophobia plot line for Alec if they vibe with that. Add that soulmate element in there to if it sparks joy. Make it a wings! fic. There is a lot to do with this trope. 

Let me know what other ships I should do and what trope you think go with the ships. Let me know if I got any extremely off the mark lol. 

Tag list: @fortheloveofthecarstairs @thehotfaeriethreesome @shadowrunner2000 @alastair-esfandiyar-carstairs1 @surrounded-by-exquisite-clutter @gabtapia @niastormbolastairkanejsambucky @all-thestoriesaretrue 

[pansexualravenclawshadowhunter]

I just finished TLBotW and OMG!!!

Such an awesome book. The writing as usual was on point and there was good character development and usual Magnus's words of wisdom.

A few of my favorite parts were:

•Mature Clace. Honestly, I was never a fan of their relationship in TMI. Mainly because they were way too angsty for my liking. But as they matured, their characters became so much more interesting. I loved reading about them in this book and also in TDA. They're so cute as a steady couple.

• When CC addressed Simon's mental health (especially after George's passing😭😭). I would love to see more of Simon and Izzy. Izzy's character arc from TMI has been amazing. Personally, I'd love to read a whole series with her as the main character. She's so badass, she's a skilled warrior and she has so much leadership potential.

•Alec and Magnus as parents. The way that they became a happy family and the way that they look out for each other is so beautiful to read about and it made me cry at many instances. Both of them deserve so much happiness and peace. I'm so glad that they have Max and Raphe (and I hope that the real Raphael meets Raphe in TWP).

•Alec being impulsive to save the man he loves. That part was honestly one of the most surprising to me as I never expected something so crazy from Alec. I loved it.

•Sammael's talk show host persona. I know it sounds weird, but after so many boring and plain evil Princes of Hell, I was glad that Sammael seemed to have charisma along with his evil agendas. I'd like to know more about his goals and plans in TWP so that he doesn't end up a one dimensional villain. Plus, I liked the Lilith/Sammael romance.

•Maryse and Kadir were so wonderfully adorable!!! I don't know if it's canon that they're together, but I ship them so much!!! They're so cute together!!!

Overall, a great book with superb characters, dialog and plot.

[thechangeling]

I was reading your co-signing the narrative post- great post btw- and your thoughts on Kit Lightwood helped me figure out exactly what bothers me about the way other characters talk about and treat him.

So, there’s this kind of this running “joke” in TLH that Christopher’s interests are boring, that everyone else puts up with it him as though it’s this big nuisance, that everyone zones out hearing him talk… and on and on and on.*** And then there’s this scene where Grace is genuinely interested or at least not bringing him down about his self-expression and the things that bring him joy, and that’s romanticized as special when it’s really kind of the bare fuckin minimum. Like, I’m not saying James/Matthew/Thomas had to immerse themselves completely in every sciency detail but the constant “jokes” implying that Christopher’s work is boring or incomprehensible or not worth their time is just so tiring. There’s always an undercurrent of “Christopher’s just playing around uselessly” (which is not true and even when he’s having fun with his work then it’s still automatically WORTHY and VALUABLE because it makes him happy!) Not to mention this recurring problem directly contradicts the value that Christopher’s work has (beyond its inherent value) when he sends it into the world to literally save lives: the poison antidote, the fire messages that will probably come about in CoT.

And the thing is, the merry thieves’ disinterest is directly meant to foil grace’s interest in order to lend the Grace/Kit relationship a certain significance, as CC assigns to it. I’m not saying shared excitement over an interest/hobby/career/field/etc isn’t sweet platonically or romantically. I just really dislike how the idea CC is using is “no one else can bear to tolerate Kit’s ‘quirks’ but Grace, and that is Endearing, and so they are Soulmates (TM)” rather than the much healthier and positive idea that “Kit does cool sciencey stuff which his family and friends generally don’t share as strong a passion for but still don’t huff about it like it’s somehow a chore or a burden on them, and then Grace comes along and she does happen to share a similar passion and that’s the beginning of their ties to one another.” That second reasoning is what could make their friendship really refreshing; we don’t need ableism poorly twined into romance to enjoy that relationship.

I haven’t read TDA in a while but I’m thinking we could also find touches of this with Ty partly because so much of when we see him is from Kit’s POV? Not that Kit means harm or thinks himself heroic but CC on the other hand is a repeat offender in “abled/white/straight/cis character is ultimately and completely responsible for the salvation of disabled/POC/queer character in this aspect.” And I’m kind of half dreading the wicked powers for that reason among others …

I apologize if all this seems obvious or rambly. I do sometimes have trouble articulating things exactly but when I read your post i had a lightbulb moment and I wanted to note it down.

Have a great day!

***Side Note: this is why I really enjoy fan-created content that explores Christopher’s relationships with people (even people he didn’t interact with on-page in the canon) without that annoying and problematic aspect built into the framework of the relationship.

^^^^^^^^^THIS ALL OF THIS!!!!!!

Full disclosure this is gonna be kind of long sorry. But you have stumbled across my favourite topic to rant about. Allistic saviorism. Basically the name is pretty self explanatory. It's when an allistic person fictional or otherwise has the desire to or actively attempts to essentially "save" the autistic person from the horrors of the world or their life, or even themselves because they think that the autistic person isn't strong or capable enough to fix/handle it on their own. All of this is usually done for very self serving reasons. Part of this is also allistic people being praised as heroes for being nice to autistic people or asking them out, or loving them.

I don't neccesarily think that kitty is an allistic savior ship on it's own. I think that there are definitely peices of those beliefs scattered throughout the books and it might get worse in TWP. That's honestly something that I'm worried about too tbh. But honestly I think that the fandom made it a billion times worse.

This mainly allistic fandom wanted to romanticize the idea of Kit taking care of Ty and shouldering the burden of his "unpredictability." Kit is the only one who can get through to Ty. The only one who understands the mystery that is Ty 🙄. Some of this is canon too. For example, Ty can look Kit in the eye, he lets him touch him. He doesn't wear the headphones when Kit's around right? And Kit was able to calm him down during his meltdown.

And while some of this is really cute from a romantic perspective, it's also kinda problematic because it reeks of allistic saviorism. It promotes the idea that Kit is like Ty's "cure." And that's just impossible.

And honestly I know I've contributed to this in some ways. Because if I'm being perfectly honest with you, there's a part of me that enjoys that. The romantization of autism.

The idea of being taken care of.

The idea that someone could love an autistic person and see them as "beautiful" and "extraordinary" and all the things Kit calls Ty, was incredibly moving and appealing to me as a kid. It still is. Because I grew up on stories of charity cases and allistic saviorism making headlines with prom dates. I was super secretive about it, but I was always a romantic growing up. But I thought that it was impossible for me to have a real love story because people like me don't get that. (Not to get all sob story on you sorry. I overshare. It's an autistic thing.)

And there are some really compelling things about kitty that really do work. And I'm not trying to suggest that Kit learning to help Ty with the ...shall we say more colourful traits of his disability is a bad thing always. It's not. But I think the issue is with Ty's lack of pov and Ty's lack of a narrative in the books. It makes him seem like less of a completely developed character and more like, "Kit's" you know?

And because we don't have Ty's pov we don't really get what makes Kit have this sort of calming effect on him or why it's different. And more importantly we don't get why Ty's letting him in, we only get Kit pushing past his boundries. The entire thing becomes about Kit essentially and that's at the root of all allistic saviorism.

Also like you mentioned before, Kit is seen as special to a certain extent because he can handle Ty. That's not neccesarily something the character believes obviously, but again with CC co-signing the damn narrative with the way she makes the impact Kit has on Ty such a big deal in everyone's eyes and in QOAAD she really emphasizes the drain Ty's necromancy plan is taking on Kit, suddenly Ty's grief becomes all about Kit and with no pov from Ty, it's more allistic savior bs.

Honestly most of this isnt actually THAT bad it's just when you throw it all together and look at the ugly history and let's be honest present, of autistic people being silenced and spoken over by our caregivers and loved ones and we are treated like burdens on them, and how those people are praised for loving us, it kinda looks bad. But the fandom definitely made it worse.

I always get criticized for criticizing kitty by allistic people with, " well if you think they're so toxic then why do you even ship them?" Which is a piss poor take lacking in any nuance. An autistic person has the right to critique a dynamic involving an autistic character. More to the point, you can love something and be critical of it. I swear when this fandom finally figures that one out... we could accomplish so much.

I'm really hoping this is making sense it's like 2 in the morning. As for Grace and Christopher's dynamic I agree with you. I basically have nothing to add. Bare minimum. Should not be idolized. The way the others treat him should not just be brushed off as no big deal. It's ableism.

Basically it's just a bunch of classic mistakes that come from a neurotypical abled writer writing nd characters. Some mistakes are more damning then others. But it does make me scared for TWP.

I can only hope.

[zpetlovesglitter]

The Wicked Powers Theories

The Wicked Powers has recently been getting me excited WAY too much - which says a lot about how weird I am since Cassie hasn’t even started on it yet (LOL).

aND, so, I kind of thought it’d be nice to jot down some predictions and theories on how the series might go and maybe some thoughts on THE SHIPS (that really do be the real TEA).

So.Here we go.And do let me know about any thoughts you have on this topic as well - I read anything about TWP like a crazed creature these days istg.

1)The POV has already been envisioned to be from Ty, Dru and Kit. I absolutely love this settlement since they are all very intriguing characters. Ty is an interesting person and his actions are always unpredictable, so we might enjoy this one. And,I believe he is at The Scholomance while the story progresses, followed by Livvy (Ghost Livvy, I mean).It’s still unclear what Livvy’s situation is, so I can’t wait to know more about that - it’s bound to be something unexpected. And, as for Dru, it’s kinda obvious. We all know that WE HAVE A LOVE TRIANGLE COMING UP. But, other than that, we also know she attends The Academy and finally starts to makes some friends and even has that really close Italian (..or was it Spanish???) Shadowhunter friend who’s her age and Cassie also revealed that the two are really tight indeed. And I will be honing in on the Love Triangle soon - I told you I’ll be trying to spill whatever tea I’m guessing at.  And, as for the last character WE HAVE KIT! OMFG YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE OLDER BROTHER KIT.LIKE GOSH DARN IT HE IS SO ADORABLE AND MINA IS SO EFFING CUTE I CAN’T EVEN-                          AND KIT’S TRAINING WITH JEM AND HE IS GOING TO BE A WELL-TRAINED SHADOWHUNTER IN TWP, SO YAYYYY!! And, I absolutely CANNOT wait for MinaXKit interactions, they are the cutest siblings ever and I absolutely know that Mina grows up to be sarcastic. I can’t wait for the possible sarcastic arguments between Kit and 4-year old Mina. YOU THINK I FORGOT ABOUT KITxTY? NOPE.THE REAL SHET’S COMING UP.

2)Now,we know that the storyline is going to have something to do with that Faerie Heirloom that was from the Rosales Family. And, Cassie also said it was going to be kind of an Arthurian Legend-ish story. If you don’t know the Arthurian Legend, I suggest you read on it. I’m not sure if Cassie meant the characters and LOVE Aspect of it or the LEGEND aspect of it as in the stuff about Excalibur and all. But, for now we’ll view it in both and examine it, shall we?

King Arthur's reign ends after his wife and best knight have an affair.

This is the drama in the legend.But, there are no relationships with the MCs yet. So idk. I’m clueless. Like, maybe Dru has a relationship?? Okay I’m clutching at practically nothingness so don’t judge me. :/

So,it’s obviously something to do with the LEGEND.

I am afraid I cannot say too much about it, since I have never read too deeply about it. But, here’s some of the basics:

-He managed to pull out Excalibur from the rock it was stuck in.

-He wielded Excalibur for the people and not for his own self-interest.

-He gets help from a wizard named Merlin.

-The peeps go on a quest.

And I have this reference from a website..I’ll hit u with the link as well, if you’d like to read more on it like I did

Arthurian legend, the body of stories and medieval romances, known as the matter of Britain, centring on the legendary king Arthur. Medieval writers, especially the French, variously treated stories of Arthur’s birth, the adventures of his knights, and the adulterous love between his knight Sir Lancelot and his queen, Guinevere. This last situation and the quest for the Holy Grail (the vessel used by Christ at the Last Supper and given to Joseph of Arimathea) brought about the dissolution of the knightly fellowship, the death of Arthur, and the destruction of his kingdom.

(I’ve linked it with the text above.)

So,now I thought this was interesting- the destruction part. After all, it’s something I’m expecting about the Shadowhunters. Will the Clave maybe be destroyed? Or maybe Faerie will be destroyed? So,there were three things that brought on this uh Destruction.FIRST, his wife and his best buddy were going behind his back and doing them lovey-dovey stuff. And they all go on some quest to retrieve something important to them. So, this sounds like something plausible to be the plot of TWP. Maybe the Heirloom’s missing? And who goes on the quest though? Maybe they venture through Faerie? BLAH MY HEAD HURTS SOME THINGS ARE BETTER TO BE SURPRISED WITH ;)

-----I kinda scrolled back up while writing about Janus down there and remembered CLARY MIGHT BE TAKEN HOSTAGE LIKE YESS AND THEY GO FIND HER MAYBE?

3)We will defo see Christina, Mark and Kieran at some point- no worries, Emma and Julian too. Happy Couples! XD

4)So,then we can look forward to Dru and Jaime’s interactions. I am absolutely excited for this the most, as a shipper of the two. If you remember, we saw Jaime ignoring her for a while back there at the end of QOAAD and then he says “See ya at the Academy soon ig”. I really do hope they meet and hang out as friends, at least. I am excited to see what kind of trope it’s gonna be tho. Like, do they ignore each other and remain awkward until they start the adventure stuff in the book where they eventually have to talk to each other after years or smth. Or, maybe they’re really good friends rn. But, what I’ll warn y’all shippers is that they might not end up together, and could wind up as brother-sister-ish kind of best buddies. Which is equally cute a relationship imo. It’s a really sweet thing to be, really. I lowkey hope Cassie spins something beautiful for their relationship like a sibling-like best friends kind of thing. But, I feel like they might have feelings for each other in secret. Or maybe they date. Or maybe they suppress their secret-feelings for the sake of friendship later on in the book and end up having that really sweet friendship I was talking about.There are SO many options and that is precisely why I am so freaking excited.

5)JAIME ROCIO ROSALES.       Like, I have this gut feeling that he might end up being my fave male protagonist character in TSC. He’s got it ALL. Like, the sense of humour, the looks, the bubbly yet brooding personality, the quirks and OFC THE FRICKING NAME ITSELF IS CUTE AF LIKE BRUH I CANNOT WAIT TO READ ABOUT HIM.I have so much to say about Jaime but I’d rather we let ourselves simply wait for the crumbs Cassie might give us or maybe reread all his parts in TDA like I do everyday or just wait for the book to come out rather than simp for someone we know nothing about yet....

6)Ash Morgenstern.         He’s a cute lil bean.        That was random and untrue lmao. He’s not a ‘lil bean’. He’s totally badass with dem wings and all, but we know he’s soft inside for Janus and ofc Dru, I believe. I find him the most intriguing character, honestly. I would love to know what goes through his head. He’s actually, like, the one character in TSC that I don’t have all figured out. He gon surprise us all for sure tho. He is awesome. That’s all I have to say for now. And he looks up to Janus which is SO GODDAMN SWEET AHHHH. And THE WINGS I CANNOT WAIT TO READ MORE ABOUT THE WINGS IT SOUNDED SO BADASS ISTG I LITERALLY CANNOT WAIT GOSH DARN IT. But he really do be a cute lil bean lowkey tho.

7)Kit and Ty LOL. I have no words really. But lemme tell you how it might go. There is definitely going to be some kind of reunion. AND THEN THAT’S WHERE IT GETS CUTE. They could either be awkward and we know what tension that gets us-perhaps some whisperings of My Watson...(?  ;) and maybe they go all sad and brooding with dem looks later OR, they could be the sweetie-pies they were before and be happy and all HIII BUDDDYYYY MISSED YAAA LESS GO BE DETECTIVES YAY BURN IT UP MAH BUDDY!! Either way it’s going to be cute af and we know it . TRUST IN CASSIE Y’ALL.I trust Cassie to let this ship sail the seven seas and seven more like it deserves.

8)Ash and Dru So, Ash has a strange lil fixation on Dru and I believe he even thought she was ‘pretty’ or something. It was definitely a good adjective, but I think he said ‘pretty’. idk but we know he likes her. and I can imagine a nice relationship. I can picture them with her hair flying in the wind and they meet for the first time or smth. IHNI WHAT IM SAYING. But, there will be DRAMA. They are going to be real cute with each other YOU CAN BET ON THAT.And, by cute I do not necessarily mean ‘Oh, you have the loveliest eyes’ or some shet like that. I have a feeling it’s going to be a case of ‘Well,that’s not weird or anything YOU WEIRDO - NO U - NO U - NO U’ However this relationship is going to go, I know that it’ll be a sweet one.And, for all you shippers of these two, I have no assurances that HE IS THE ONE or anything but he is definitely a candidate. Jaime is going to be some competition I can tell. So, idk. It depends on the Jaime x Dru ship to decide things for Ash x Dru ship imo, since it might be a no-brainer if the two have feelings for each other- I mean,Jaime is an actually perfect love interest in TSC, while Ash is strong potential Best-Friend material, so it’s ONLY if Jaime and Dru don’t like each other that way that Ash could make it as a love interest. So, if y’all wanna find out what’s in it for you guys, ask Cassie maybe about how the Jaime x Dru ship might go, the next time u wanna ask her ;)

9)Tavvy and maybe the kid Helen and Aline might have had We were getting hints of another baby, so HERE WE GO.Tavvy might have a playmate. :D. YAYYYYYYYYYY

10)Janus  I’m honestly worried about him. He is a worrisome character. I hate empathising with the antagonist, personally. AAAAHHHH . I hope we see some character development in him. I really don’t want to see him as an antagonist in the story. He’s sweet and feels cheated, but he should realise that it ain’t Jace’s fault but SEBASTIAN’S fault. I would like for him to make amends with Jace :( And, also, he might get the story started in TWP tho idk. But, seriously tho, when he went home in that short story and Ash asked, “I thought you were gone forever?” or something of that sort and he shook his head sadly and Ash went soft for him. Like, that fricking broke my heart. I love this relationship tho. And, i hope Clary and him can be good friends. But, I feel like he might end up dying to save her or smth and make us all cry . T_T

11)WHAT TF IS GOING ON WITH THE SHADOWHUNTER POLITICS RN THO?HOW AND WHERE ARE THEY ALL SURVIVING TOGETHER WHAT IS THEIR SYSTEM AND STUFF THIS IS NOT A POINT WITH POTENTIAL THEORIES COZ HONESTLY I WANT TO BE SURPRISED BUT I THINK THEY MIGHT ALL JUST BE IN HIDING AND THEN IN TWP THEY MIGHT HAVE TO COME OUT FOR A QUEST OR SMTH AND WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE SHADOWHUNTERS AT THE CLIMAX OF THIS WHOLE SERIES??? IT IS THE END OF TSC SO IM SCARED AND KINDA SAD TOO :(((((((

12)Thule We might learn more about the Thule world and maybe they restore it or maybe the Quest is in Thule. idk. we don’t know much, but Thule will most probably be explored a lot. Cassie wouldn’t have opened up Thule for no reason.

13)Zara and Emma  Showdown? Befriend e/o ? What’s in store for these two? If it’s a showdown we get to see CORTANA YAY I AM OBSESSED WITH CORTANA NOW BECAUSE OF CORDELIA AND HER OBSESSION GOSH DARN IT WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME

14)BIG WAR I see a huge war coming I just know it. It’s a climax so there MUST be a big war and so I cannot wait! Feel like there’s gonna be some deaths as well. Lowkey feel like Jia might die. I can feel it. :(

15)The best-friend shadowhunter of Dru is a nice thing to look forward to! I can’t wait to read about the two! And I love the fact that Dru is finally exposed to new people. And, for anyone who’s confused as to how she goes to the Academy, in QOAAD she only said she’ll have some maturity done AFTER some years .  Those years are over and she at the Academy now hecc yeah I BELIEVE THE BFF IS CALLED THAI AND SHE’S FROM THE SPANISH INSTITUTE CORRECT ME IF IM WRONG???

16)Magnus Bane He is literally everywhere. He gon be here too. No worries for all the Magnus Bane stans. He’ll make it here without a doubt!  Good for you :).  and the entire community of shadowhunters they literally always need him  17)THE MAIN MAIN PLOT THE SHADOWHUNTERS SHOWDOWN IS OBVIOUSLY GOING TO ALSO BE RELATED TO THE PRINCES OF HELL COMING TOGETHER AND I AM TOO SCARED TO LOOK TOO INTO IT BUT WE KNOW SHIZ COMING GNJODIFPEDWEFHUGBJ VM

18)THIS IS KINDA RANDOM BUT I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE SELF-ESTEEM GROWTH IN DRU LIKE PLEASE SHE QUEEN MWAH

[normadeathmond]

the spanish princess ep 2 thoughts

I’ve been enjoying all the reaction posts so here’s mine (spoilers included):

- I’ve had kind of a revelation this week regarding The Spanish Princess. This show is basically the modern day version of those dubiously accurate medieval historical chronicles.  Not only do we have extra supernatural elements (the cuuuuurse, prophetic dreams), but we also have the contemporary authors’ personal biases inserted all over the place, and the addition of mythical stories about the heroes (Catherine fighting at Flodden this week). For some reason, this has made me a lot more forgiving towards the show. (it probably also helps that my fave Maggie B is dead now, so I don’t have to worry about them shitting all over her anymore, and I don’t have a particularly strong attachment to any of the other historical figures depicted)

- erm wtf, did anyone else catch that scene with Maggie and Edmund de la Pole in the previously on that we’ve never seen before?? I guess this plotline was supposed to be included in episode one as well, which probably would’ve helped it feel a bit more developed and less like something they suddenly remembered had to be tied up from last year. The whole sequence of Edmund being reintroduced and killed off in less than five minutes was very rushed.

- I’m glad baby Henry’s death hasn’t been totally forgotten, but do we really need so many grief-stricken sex scenes between these two? These are supposed to be the years they’re deeply in love, let them have some happier sex

- ehh I’m not sure that Catherine’s big reveal to the council actually changes much. A very early pregnancy, possibly with a girl, doesn’t really make the line secure. I think the focus should have been on Henry’s own desire to prove himself in battle, which would also have added to the humiliation when Catherine successfully defeats the Scots while his military exploits fizzle out.

- I really like General Howard, Peter Egan is fantastic (albeit a bit too polished for a grouchy, uncouth soldier type)

- “and now this book is closed” - god I hope so, bc I hate Maggie’s plotline from last year. It was interminable watching her whinge about how unfair it was that the Tudors suspected her of plotting against them because she had always been the most loyal person ever, as though she was suffering from some kind of selective memory loss about literally being a spy for the Yorkist rebellion in The White Princess. ffs Maggie can be either a completely innocent woman unfairly maligned by the Tudors or she can be a badass Yorkist rebel, not both. 

- it seems her memory problems are back this episode because she goes storming off to complain to Catherine about Edmund de la Pole getting his head chopped off, conveniently forgetting than she was also heavily involved in his plot and her family is only out of the Tower thanks to Catherine interceding for her with Henry. Catherine was 100% in the right here, Edward of Warwick was innocent whereas Edmund de la Pole was a fully cognisant adult who spearheaded a revolt to take the throne (and likely would’ve had both Henry VII and Henry VIII killed if he had succeeded), so the idea that she’s suddenly heartless because she apologised for the former’s death but not the latter’s is ridiculous. The whole scene, including Maggie’s kids’ ‘whoomp here she goes again’ reactions, unintentionally have her coming off as rather hysterical.

- hopefully the rest of her story this season focuses on her mending her relationship with her sad silent son instead and possibly getting her leg over Thomas More

- ahhh Lina’s face when Catherine bitchily says she’ll be having a girl. Catherine’s not going to be able to stop herself from lashing out at her now that she has twin boys.

- first the clothes comment last episode, now they have Ursula saying Charles may not be good-looking but he’s rich as fuck. I guess she’s being set up as a gold-digger.

- is it just me or does the Anne Boleyn’s actress look a little bit like Charlotte Hope? The dress they had her in when Henry returns even looks like something Catherine would’ve worn in season one. I’ve no idea why they’ve brought the Boleyn girls in this early though – are they going to be sent to France then come back later? Henry still has to make his way through Anne Hastings, Bessie Blount and Mary Boleyn before he gets to Anne. The episode summaries make it look like his infidelities won’t start until episode four so he’s going to have to have a new girl every episode to get through them all.

- I’ve kind of come around on the whole Catherine-in-armour thing. Frock Flicks wrote an interesting article this week where they pointed out that while historically battle armour for women did not exist and women very rarely wore armour, depictions of women in armour have been around for a long time and would have existed in the Tudor period. In this pseudo-historical retelling of Catherine’s story mythologizing her as a warrior queen, it does make sense to carry on that visual tradition and have her armoured up.

- Unfortunately I think they did kind of undermine the visual impact of the armour on screen by focusing on it so heavily in the promos for the season. Possibly it wouldn’t have affected a casual viewer so much, but anyone who’s followed the show’s promo cycle has been seeing pictures and clips of Catherine in the armour for weeks now, and when she entered stomping down the corridor in her full battle gear it didn’t blow me away like the first look at that outfit should have done.

- I know this series is never going to have the budget of Game of Thrones, but Flodden was a disappointment, from the rousing speech (“mothers are warriors too, amirite ladies?”) to the battle itself. You can tell they really wanted this to be their big epic action sequence and unfortunately it felt underwhelming. I remember the battles in TWQ/TWP being much more impressive, for what was probably a similar budget.

- as soon as I saw how heavily pregnant Lina was this episode, I knew a  birth/battle juxtaposition was coming. I get what they were trying to do with the whole ‘childbirth is women’s battlefield’ theme, but the attempt to fake-out Lina’s death fell flat - there’s no way they were killing her off. (I’m not sure why she was giving birth in the hallway, with apparently no midwives, but it was inadvertently hilarious watching Maggie - the only one with any childbirth experience - try and talk her through it while the other three were basically no help at all.)

- also everyone being like “omg Princess Mary you can’t possibly be at the birth” felt so out of place given that Meg and Catherine were both hanging around a battlefield at the same time

- on the one hand I did like that Catherine didn’t end up being some amazing warrior just off instinct; she’s almost immediately pulled off her horse, staggers around looking confused as fuck and then is shocked when she actually kills someone. But on the other, what was the point of all the warrior queen build up if she barely even does anything useful on the battlefield? (also why did they have her kill someone who looked so much like James?? I’ve seen several people think she killed James herself and I thought that too until he was shown being taken down afterwards - it was needlessly confusing)

- JAAAAMES. I’m so sad he’s gone. Georgie Henley knocked it out the park this episode, especially in her big mourning scene. Although given how sweet he and Meg were this episode, and her comment about him being her best friend, it just makes the punch last episode seem even stranger.

- I’m so sad we were robbed of seeing Catherine try to send James’ corpse to Henry as a victory gift and have to be talked into sending just the coat. If you’re going to make her ride out in armour let her keep her savage penchant for gruesome war trophies!

- oop, Catherine absolutely fails to sell the lie that she’s pleased about Lina’s two boys, and Lina can definitely tell.

- with Maggie B gone, Wolsey is the new evil religious cockblocker in town!

- I would like twenty more scenes of Lina and Oviedo being cute and bitching about their work days thanks

- I like Catherine defending Howard to Henry. It would have been nice if there was more time to show the development of a begrudging respect between those two.

- overall I found this episode disappointing. The big sequences weren’t impressive in the way last week’s were and there weren’t enough character moments to make up for that. I’m still looking forward to the rest of the season though, especially Meg, Mary and Maggie’s storylines. 

[titsthedamnseason]

This isn’t meant to be aggressive, just curious (don’t have to answer if you don’t want to because people on this sit like to vilify others for having different opinions) but I was just curious about your feelings as to why you dn’t like k*tty. Is there a post i missed on your blog or sumthing or do you just not talk about it (which is understandable because I feel that kitty stans would come after you so bad)

no need to worry youre fine and, no, i havent really posted about it yet. there’s a few reasons that contribute to why i dont love kitty but i do want to first start off by saying that it’s not hate on either character or even on the ship. im hesitant to full on claim to “hate” them yet, even if im not the biggest fan and not afraid to admit that.

i would say the biggest part of my dislike for them comes from the fans. im going to generalize, which is why im going to explicitly state that i know not all of the fans are like this, but a lot of them in my experience are childish and pretty gross. first of all, even when i “shipped” (to use the word lightly) kitty in tda, it was never really actually shipping them yet if that makes sense? in my opinion, kitty’s progression in tda was pretty slow and most of the stuff between them was strictly platonic. any time i thought a real romantic relationship between them would be cute, it was always just that, an appreciation for what would be. it’s more like having a premature appreciation of “wow we arent there yet, but after more development and later on in twp they could be a really cute couple.” despite that, fans of them ran WILD with the bare minimum that we were given, and took it too far. fans writing explicit scenes about a gay couple made up of two minors before even an ounce of romantic content was provided is honestly so disgusting. and there is a LOT of explicit content out there for them, unfortunately 

more on their age, in fact, they are SO YOUNG. im sure we’ve all shipped two young people before, and taking out the factor of sexualizing them, it’s honestly okay. but again, it comes back to the fans once again aggressively shipping them despite how young they are! not even just because sexualizing them is gross and terrible, but because neither of them are in a spot where a relationship would be good for them and it’s clearly why cassie ended tda with them as she did? people seem to forget that theyre 15, and saying this as a 16 year old, the intensity with which people portray their relationship and how they expect it to be TERRIFIES me. we, as a fandom, dont really have any business to look at these two fucking children and fantasize about how nice their wedding would be? ya is already bad enough doing this with 16/17 year olds, why are we normalizing this for kit and ty who have barely one canon romantic scene (that even still, could easily be seen as platonic)?

and there are more reasons, but the last major one is that ty should not have to feel like the first person outside of his immediate family to treat him normally is the one for him, and i wish cc wasnt promoting that idea either. not to mention that ty, in my opinion, hasnt even ever expressed attraction towards kit? like yes, in the “i love you” scene he was distracted by his grief and not in a position to respond well to that no matter what but even in other scenes, their relationship was so friendly. we’ve never seen ty’s point of view, so there’s no way to really know, but even from the outside we havent seen him express outward interest in others like kit does, even if just to appreciate their appearance at a surface level. it’s also canon that ty doesnt love the way others do, and that the way he expresses his affection towards his family and loved ones is unique. he should obviously have freedom to turn that love towards whomever he chooses if that’s what he wants, but i think a very beneficial and mature storyline on cc’s part would be to let him explore how he conveys those feelings towards other people, and let him get comfortable with that, before immediately endgaming him with kit. that being said, i would also love for kit to have a love interest or multiple before the wicked powers, to also let him explore his sexuality and get experience before automatically ending up with the first person he said “i love you” to. with ty being on the spectrum, and both of them clearly being lgbtq+, i think the best move for them would be to wait it out before feeling an obligation to be together forever without getting any other experience first

again, does any of this mean i would despise a kitty endgame? not at all. i just think there’s a long way to go for it to be done right and that the fandom is really jumping the gun with shipping them before seeing how cc handles it. that being said, im sure if she does give them a twp slow burn she’ll get hate, and if other love interests are explored those characters will be hated on for just breathing. i can easily see myself warming up to kitty throughout twp (although, probably never the Stans) but i can also acknowledge that im not there yet, and until then i like them far better as just friends.

[dru-and-ash]

Janus seems like he wants to use ash to further his destroying the mortal world plans out of spite of the TMI group. I feel like people think their relationship is sweet and all but it's not? You can tell he's too unstable for ash and will use ash loving him against him to get ash to hurt people. I don't like janus at all except for what he did for him in thule. other than that he's no good for ash. it seems like people are self inserting jace when he's not jace at all. Janus would want dru dead

Honestly anon, 

Janus seemed just fine destroying the world on his own in FF imo

He doesnt need Ash to do any of the destroying for him coz he consideres Ash pure(well i know he’s not) but for somebody like Janus Ash is closest thing to perfection he’ll ever know

Janus has Queen on his side who worries me much more as a bad influence than Janus to Ash and I’m glad he’s away from her)

Janus’s problem is seeing Ash as a part of Sebastian and assuming he’d like the bloodshed(and Ash probably doesnt even need to see that unpleasant part, he deserves the world as a gift to make up for his lost childhood what a gift from an uncle!?) So Ash’s love for him is complicated but even Janus doesnt know what Ash is thinking, yes he can see behind his poker face sometimes but Ash is always out there for himself first then his family. There are things Ash would do for Janus and there things he wouldnt but there is nothing Janus wouldn’t do for Ash

They remind me that quote I have thought you everything I know But I havent learnt everything I know from you (İ dont remember from where but its very common)

Queen is the one who sees Ash a weapon than a person

Is their relationship sweet? Well it is in the scale of Ash’s previous relationships it kinda is...

Queen:A failure of mother who didnt even saved from imprisonment

whereas Janus tryed to free Ash from Thule Sebastian while he was bound to him with all his being(who couldnt even resist to Sebastian for not killing his own mother did stopped him from whipping Ash)

I will not even explain Thule Sebastian any further

Annabel:who wa only there for Ash’s spells and never really cared for him

King Arawn and Riders: His captor and dogs who had beaten and bleed him

Also what does sweet even means? Why is everyone looking for cutes and sweets lately? This isnt a love story its about messed up people and their even more messed up lifes You need to change your standards to be ready for TWP anon.

Do I self insert Jace in Janus? NO I wouldnt even be interested in him if I were yet alone protect him Still He and Jace have things in common

1)They both love their family fiercely

2)And noone could stop them from protecting that family

I am glad Ash is Janus’s family so he has someone of his own. 

Yes I would prefer him to come with Emma and Julian which would only result with a shitshow 

Janus is better than having noone(or having only Queen) for Ash 

Would Janus want Dru dead? No, as long as he’s sure she will not try to kill Ash coz he is interested in her and wants to be friends with her. What Ash wants is important for Janus when Ash prefers to speak it out loud coz Janus unlike Ash doesnt have anyone in our world who might even slightly care about him(and stays in Faerie only for Ash even if he hates it)

[cassandraclare]

Q&A TDA

thedarkmarvels said:

hi cassie! will we find learn who kits mother is in qoaad, or will that have to wait until twp? geniusherondale said: hello Cassie!! can you tell us a clue about kit's mother? uriecookie12 said: Hi, Cassie. :) I really love your books and I fell in love with Ty and Kit. Will we see Kit’s mother in QOAAD or is she set to show up in TWP? Lots of love.

A very popular question! Obviously the identity of Kit’s mother is a mystery right now, and a significant one. Kit only knows the story his father told him, which isn’t true. A great deal of the details of this mystery are shown in Ghosts of the Shadow Market: we will meet her, as part of Jem and Tessa’s search for the Lost Herondale. If you don’t read Ghosts, you’ll get the answer to Kit’s mother’s identity in Queen and TWP.

It’s a fairly significant part of Kit’s story, and part of the reason Jem and Tessa were so keen to find him.

history-maker-viktuuri said:

Hello Cassie!! Can you tell us more about the dynamic of the friendship between Ty and Kit in QoAaD?? I’m looking forward to reading more about them.

Obviously the dynamic between Kit and Ty is going to be significantly affected by Livvy’s death. It’s a crushing occurrence for Ty, and the way he responds to it is going to affect his future and his relationship with Kit. Kit is desperate to make sure Ty is okay in the moment, so much so that it may blind him to longer-term issues.

feyreismeiamfeyre said:

Hi, Cassie! So, I love Julian very very much, along with a bunch of other characters, but with him I feel the most in common what with him being almost like a parent figure to his younger siblings and taking care of them... My question is, will Julian get a happy moment in QoAaD (he truly deserves many many of them)? Like a chill and joyous moment with no drama, maybe a beach day or a moment of enjoying his favourite sandwich with lots of pickles and mayo... I just want him happy!

——

In a strange turn, there is a scene where Julian eats a sandwich. BUT IT CONTAINS THE BLOOD OF HIS ENEMIES.

Okay, it doesn’t really. It contains lettuce.

Maggie Stiefvater has a really interesting post about downtimes for characters, and why we want to see them be happy and relax, because it’s a release of tension, but also the way you buy that relaxation at the expense of plot. I think it’s an interesting piece about how writers calibrate tension and catharsis carefully in books, since too much of one or the other ruins your pacing. She calls scenes where people, say, happily eat a sandwich Ice Cream Cake scenes, which is funny in the sense I’ve always called them frosting scenes — as in, frosting on cake is great but an entire cake made out of frosting is disgusting. So I guess I would say that if you look at my books you can see that characters are usually happy and bantering and doing cute stuff in small moments between bigger ones, or at the end of the book where we sigh, sit back, and allow ourselves to relax.

lilyherondale13 said: Hi Cassie! I love your work, you are such a wonderful writer! May I ask you something: could you tell us something on we don't know yet on Rayan Maduabuchi? I love him in Lord of Shadows! Ps: I love the Centurions, but only the good ones as Diego says! (Sorry for my english, I'm French). Xoxo!

Merci! ;)  I’m fond of Rayan too — along with Divya Joshi he forms a sort of power triad with Diego at the Scholomance, in terms of the Centurions who aren’t assholes. He helps Diego hide Kieran, and rescues Kieran from a specific and unusual torment set up by the Cohort. He also runs afoul of Horace Dearborn . . .

alessandra-lightwood said:

Hi Cassie! I'm very anxious for QoAaD, and I would like to know if Jamie has a big role in this book? And if we meet more Rosales, like Cristina's mom?

You might well meet Cristina’s mom ;) Jaime has a role in this book, but it is not huge — Diego has a much much bigger role, because Jaime is one of the main characters of TWP and so this series is meant to serve as an introduction to him, not a telling of his story. This is Cristina and Diego’s time (as far as Rosaleses go) and Jaime’s comes later. Jaime’s a lot of fun, so I’m definitely excited for his place at the forefront.

helen-blackthorn said:

Hey Cassie, will we be seeing a lot of Dru & Helen bonding now that she’s back and Livvy is gone? I’d love to see more sisterly bonding in TDA especially after what happened in lord of shadows!

I think it’s natural to look at Dru’s situation (and Helen’s) and think they each just lost a sister, so here’s a sister restored to them, and clearly they would be joyous. And they are, but people are more complex than that. Dru worries Helen has been away so long that they won’t understand each other, and resents Helen for doing the things Julian usually does because it feels to her as if he’s being replaced. Helen worries that Dru won’t love and accept her, and worries she has no idea how to deal with kids or raise them. Aline makes a frittata. It’s not as if they don’t bond, but it’s a complicated path!

ailecstuff said: Is Kieran ok? Do they take care of him in the Scholomance? Are they giving him good food?

Diego is the one who takes care of Kieran in the Scholomance (along with Divya and Rayan) and it’s all from his POV. The Scholomance experience really changes Kieran, in the way he looks at the world, at Shadowhunters and even at his own responsibilities to his people. In the meantime he annoys Diego by sleeping under his bed, and Diego feeds him juice, berries, meat, and anything else unprocessed. :P

carolinagain said:

Hi Cassie. i absolutely loved kieran! his redemption, his flaws, his strength, his relationship with christina. i have made some awful mistakes, and seeing characters like kieran who have too but then overcome them is so comforting and inspiring, in a way. i am wondering if we will see more of kieran as a character in himself? not just mark's ex, but as the exiled faerie prince? we did a little LM, and i loved it sm! thank u for such a wonderful, diverse cast of characters. much love to you! <3

I’m glad you like Kieran! Of course Kieran’s relationships with other characters, including Cristina and Mark, are extremely significant to him — they are an enormous part of how he has changed, and overcome his past mistakes. All characters are defined in part by their relationships with other characters, as Emma and Julian’s relationship is significant to them, as Emma’s relationship to Malcolm defines her, as Julian’s relationship with Ty changes him, as Mark’s relationships with Kieran, Cristina and Julian define him  — we are all an interconnected web of love and friendship and enmity and forgiveness. No man is an island, etc. ;)

That said, Kieran being an exiled Faerie prince has always been significant, from his ability to gather information that would save Tavvy in LM, to his summoning of his father and meeting with Adaon in LoS. It is even more significant in Queen, where we start to see how the politics of faerie are falling apart and building back up again, and what role Kieran has in all of that. Who will sit the Unseelie Throne if not the King we know is a big piece of the QUAAD puzzle, and Kieran is integral to that — with Mark, or Cristina, or both, by his side. ;)

takemy-hxnd said: Hi Cassie, I was wondering if you could tell us more about Helen and Aline in tec and tda. Thank you

I always love to see love for Helen and Aline! Helen and Aline are back in Queen of Air and Darkness with a bang, and we see how they work with the established dynamic of the LA Institute. Everyone is thrilled to have them back, but it is also weird when a disruption comes to one's life, even if it is a joyful disruption. Aline is always standing up for her lady, and sometimes Helen really needs it.

And in The Eldest Curses, we see Helen and Aline fall in love, and before they are united, they are at odds--Aline wants to protect Alec, and Helen is investigating Magnus and Alec for crimes they may well have committed. Helen feels like she needs to be a great Shadowhunter, to prove her faerie blood doesn't make her prejudiced in favor of Downworlders... and part of why she wants that is that she doesn't want to be an obstacle for any of her little brothers and sisters, who she loves so much. She wants to make her dad and her family proud of her, and to honor the memory of Eleanor Blackthorn, the human mother who took her and Mark in, and raised them as her own. So Helen and Aline's mutual attraction is very complicated. Particularly as Aline isn't out quite yet.

yourfavoritetumor said:

Will we see Jace and clary in Qoaad, and if so will we get their POVs?

You will see them. POVs are pretty unlikely, but there is a special additional story about them in the first edition of Queen!

[yuzuka-rei]

The Dark Affices: Lord of Shadows Analysis

(Unpopular opinions sorry+mostly criticism but the book is good, its just Imm irked by these points GAH ) I loved this book while reading it, the plot flowed well, the characters were quite lovable, but once I finished it- it felt like I had read nothing at all. The only feelings I had came from the whole situation with Kieran and Mark and Cristina, and that was just because I'm a total sucker for sad romances where one loves the other way more than they are loved back but ANYWAYS. (THE KIERARKTINA ANALYSIS IS NEAR THE END) Plot Villians Unseelie King Isn't even half as threatening or formidable of an archenemy as Sebastian Morgenstern, and that makes the whole story quite weak already Seelie Queen She's going to do something that will bite the shadowhunters in their arse the moment Julian gives him the Black Book. Predictable. She could've done way more manipulation on the others as well. Zara and the Cohort Everyone who fought in the way againt the Circle/Valentine is still alive. There is no way that within 10 years people who go back to wanting to brand downworlders and such. They remember the last time someone wanted to do that a massive war broke out and their relatives died. Also Zara is a two-dimensional character: her goal is weak, and she doesn't seem to have any human/likeable qualities. So she's a Regina-George-type character, made to be hated, but the Unseelie King has already taken that role. Repeat: Sebastian Morgenstern was a way better villian, since he had a single human quality: he wanted to be with his family, his sister and his brother. This brings us onto my next point Characters Both the villians and the heros both had very single-trait, non in-depth personalities, probably due to the amount of characters and arcs. Emma: too unflawed. Her emotions are quite simple throughout the book (there could've been great inner turmoil about whether she could give up being shadowhunter to love/protect Julian). She killed a rider too easily- making her seem to powerful. Julian: He was a pretty horrible person in this bk but in terms of character depth he's not too bad. He loves his family and would do anything for them and it's shown in a variety of ways. I've been comparing him to Cersei, since he's on the whole "family is most important" and "manipulation" thing. However, considering that he's practically been running the family, he should definitely sound less whiny and more mature. Cristina: I don't even know what to say. I can't even remember what you did apart from sing lullabies and be attached to Mark. Her lack of more personality sucks because Kieran keeps saying she's really nice and kind and stuff, but it's not that supported really. She could've contributed way more to the fantastic love triangle, by trying to actively push Mark away because she's seen how much Kieran loves him. Her selfishness here doesn't lone up with her wanting to end the Cold Peace for both faeries and shadowhunter's gain. Mark: I hate him and love him. Cassie made a good decision in making him quite the douchebag, not quite loving Kieran as much as he loves him and not caring enough about Kieran's feelings. But that makes him the most realistic of all characters: he feels regret since he's practically ditched Kieran the minute he didnt need him (I mean there's the whole "you made my brother and sister get tortured but you saved my other brother" thing which should've been Mark's excuse to himself about why he's not choosing Kieran, but he's doesn't and runs around with Cristina anyways. Interesting. Kieran: I love him to much to make any judgement. Also he's a faerie- they aren't exactly "humans" and their emotions are more 2D so... Ty: Better character compared to some others, and we now understand mildly how the twins and Kit work together as a team (since Kit needs to become one of the only people that understand Ty due to Liv's death) . Also his loyalty to family as seen by the letter to Annabel. Cassie has laid great groundwork for him. Can't wait for him to be a main character. Kit: He and Ty need potential to evolve in the next series so I'm giving them some slack. I'll do more analysis on their relationship later. Liv: She loves her brother and is curious about Kit and she's a generally more "realistic" character. Really thats it. I wish I felt tears for her death. I dont. Cassie could've developed her even more as a character, but then that would make her death more painful so. But her importance to Ty and the rest of the family is written enough that it would justify the changes that will happen due to her death. Dru: TBH Cassie could've not spread the characters out so much that we're kinda at a lost. Time spent writing about Dru could've been used on main-er characters, but Jaime needed an introduction. So did she. Looking forward to reading more about her in TWP. Diego: A character with multiple loyalties! Yay! Diana: It would've been way more influential if she had been forced by Julian to explain why she couldn't apply for the institute instead of dropping it like a "bonus" story which makes her seem like then token LGBT character. It's a great plot twist that couldn't have seemed even more forced. It's kinda sad that a brilliant character reveal was ruined Gywp: He's leader of the Wild Hunt and I know he's in love with Diana but he's not Magnus, who's always had nothing better to do than help hot shadowhunters. (Jkjk) Magnus/Alec/Jace/Clary: domestically cute and cameos that contribute to the main arcs. Now, onto the more controversial topics: THE ROMANCE Julian/Emma: This entire book is supposed to be about them balancing dealing for their love of each other with saving the world. It's written in a whiny way and not nearly enough character (If you've read the Throne of Glass series, then you'll understand- they needed the long-ass training scene between Aelin and Rowan). We never read about how they fall in love and that makes the emotions quite plastic...? It would've been fantastic to read more about how they fell in love instead of how they are insanely tortured now. It doesn't emotionally appeal to me at all. Cristina/Mark/Kieran: Words cannot express how much I fucking love this romance arc. It gives me so many feels, and half of them make me cry. I'll analyse Kierark first. When it first debuted it felt like the "token hot gay ship thats thrown in for the fangirls to get off to", but then as time passes we slowly learn how toxic this relationship really is. Kieran doesn't love anything else in this world apart from Mark, having no family, no friends to love him. Whereas with Mark, he's always been surrounded with love, with his half-brothers and sisters, Emma, Helen... etc. He doesn't understand how much he means to Kieran, and Kieran definitely loves Mark more. In the Wild Hunt, it's shown just how much Mark depended on Kieran to stay sane, which suggests, as Cristina says, that Mark owes a debt to Kieran. But it is not nearly that simple. Kieran's love for Mark is what kept him sane, and love is unconditional in most cases, including this. It is undeniable that Mark, despite him having the possibility of not being in love with Kieran when they first become lovers, due to it merely being what he needed, it is certain that Mark does feel for Kieran. Even when Kieran betrays Mark, Kieran believes it to only bring Mark back to him. I see someone so broken that they'd do anything to have their lover back, not a selfish bastard who doesn't cate about Mark at all. Kieran doesn't understand "Family", and in his defence the Blackthorns are a large enough family to survive without Mark. I'm not saying Kieran is entirely blameless, but its a totally understandable thing to want things to go back to how they used to be, and that is extremely human and ("I betcha you would have done the same"). Their love is insanely primitive and raw, and it is more of a "need" to both of them. Kieran needs someone to give him love, Mark needed someone to keep him sane. Then we move onto Mark. For some reason, the faerie-blooded characters seem to act the most human in this series. Mark is a bloody douche for stringing Kieran on, while pursuing Cristina, but then that's exactly what he craves. He needs someone to love him, in a simple way. He craves normality, and that comes in the form of Cristina, whom he finds himself attracted to, originally physical (he says he wants Cristina and that Kieran wouldn't mind: he was not emotionally attracted to Cristina. But now that he's spent time and realised how easy she is to love, he loves her). Kieran and Mark's relationship is not just sexual, or romantic, or friendship, or brotherhood- it's insanely complex and dependent and its toxic but they will never be able to remove the bond between them. They've experienced life and death together. But Mark doesn't want to be burdened by such a heavy emotional relationship anymore, and that's understandable, so he turns to Cristina. Kieran cannot bring himself to hate Cristina, since she wants the Cold Peace to end and that shows how much she cares for everyone and how she uncharacteristically wants to protect faerie rights despite being a shadowhunter. Cristina also oddly finds their relationship arousing instead of being jealous of Kieran, which leads to some of the fandom wishing for a polyamorous relationship. (Including me to an extent). On one hand Cristina could neutralise the toxicity of Kierark and also slowly teach Kieran to love other people, which would result in him not requiring the entirety of Mark's love. (Cuz currently, Kieran love mark with 100% of his heart and wants Mark to do the same. If Kieran loved other people it would be less toxic, since Mark does HAVE to share his love with his family even if Cristina is out of the picture ) On the other hand, it would be great for Kieran to find someone who will love him as much or even more than he loves them. The smol deserves more love in his life, don't you think? Also, I forgot to mention that Kieran does need to go back to the Wild Hunt, or he might become Unseelie King, and then Kierkark could actually be impossible, but I firmly believe they'll always love each other, maybe not as much as before, but they've left quite the imprint on each other's lives (The stars will go out before I forget you, Mark Blackthorn) Ty/Kit: LIKE THEY COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER SO WELL TY DOESN'T OPEN UP EASILY WHEREAS KIT DOES (he's already attached to the Blackthorns) And Kit is so much more outgoing and cool and GAH its a great ship looking SO forward to TWP. (Srsly I have so much hopes for TWP cuz in my opinion TDA is a bit of a weak arc and the only redeeming characters seem to be Mark's drama (I don't think we're going to see this in TWP I'm sad) Gwyp/Diana: super cute and deserves more love In conclusion: I love Cassandra Clare's style and how she can make character relationships insanely lovable. The fact that she always protects the characters all of us love from dying is great too. But @cassandraclare if you see this, please do consider these points made by a fangirl who is nitpicking a bit (I hope this series ends up as good as TID) for the greater good😂 (Also Diego/Kieran ain't too bad of a ship either😏😂) If you disagree with any of these, I am open to dicussions:) Just please don't blindly hate on this: all of us are entitled to opinions, you have yours and I have mine. Let's respect each other, okay?