The Tapestry - Tumblr Posts

Tapestry Head Canon Part 1:

Sometimes when Robert is babysitting Max, he takes his grandson to the office with him.  Max plays with his toys while Robert gets some paperwork done.  Exactly how much work Robert manages to get done while his first grandson is being adorable in his general vicinity is no one’s business but his.  Anyway, Robert brings Max to work with him and Robert shows Max the tapestry, every time.  

He lifts the little boy up in his arms, holds him securely and tells him about the Battle of Burren.  How Max’s fathers and aunts and uncles were so smart and realized there was danger and no time to properly send a warning.  How they gathered what friends they could and went themselves and fought against great odds.  “That’s your Daddy.”  He gently guides Max’s small fingers to touch the woven archer.  “He is the bravest man I know.  He stands up and fights for what is right, even when it is not easy.  He’s a hero.”  He lets Max explore the woven fabric for a few minutes then bounces him up and down until Max is overcome with giggles.  Max loves bouncing.  

He holds his grandson close, feels the soft scrape of Max’s small horns against the skin of his neck.  Your Daddy is a much better man than me, Max but I’m trying.  Everyday I’m trying to be better than I was.  For Isabelle and Jace.  For Alec and for you.

Tapestry Head Canon Part 2:

So sometime, say about 150 or so years after the current timeline, Max is all grown up and off being an awesome warlock and is hired by the Shadowhunters to do a job.  The job, whatever it is, calls for him to visit the Inquisitor in their office.  Now Max, while he’s been to Alicante tons of times, hasn’t actually been in the Inquisitor’s office since he was really little.  But it feels familiar, in that way were he couldn’t have described what the room looks like but he knows it just the same.  And then he sees it.  The tapestry.  Max doesn’t have a lot of memories from when he was that young and this feels more like a half remembered dream but he remembers it.  He remembers strong arms wrapped around him, holding him up.  He remembers a deep, steady voice telling him about a battle.  “And that’s your Daddy, right there with his bow.  He’s a hero.”       

Max has always known his parents and aunts and uncles were heroes.  Of course they are, his family is awesome and it’s only right that they are remembered.  That their names could be found in Shadowhunter and Downworlder histories, that there were tapestries depicting the battles they had fought and that there was even a song**.

He hadn’t really thought about the tapestry or where it was.  But it’s here, it’s still here.  There’s his Dad, standing tall and proud with his bow, fighting to protect everyone he loves.  He knows he is completely ignoring the Inquisitor but he can’t resist examining it closer, spotting more people he loves locked in an overwhelming battle, fighting because they know it is the right thing to do.

He is surprised to see the tapestry, but the more he thinks about the more sense it makes.  He knows Grandpa had chosen this tapestry to hang in his office, it would come up sometimes when people used to talk about him to Max and Rafe.  But after Grandpa died it was really chaotic for a while.  The new Inquisitor would have had more important things to worry about than redecorating.  And Max knows how Shadowhunters are.  A little bit of time later and it would have become Tradition.  The tapestry of the Battle of the Burren would hang in the Inquisitor’s office because that was where it had always hung.  Every Inquisitor since his Grandfather would spend every day of their job looking at a reminder of how amazing his Father was.  Max had to suppress a grin, Papa would get a kick out of that.

He is so happy to see this reminder of his Dad but he has to blink hard to stop the tears.  He reaches out and gently touches the woven archer with his bow fully drawn.  I miss you, Daddy.

He turns back to the current Inquisitor, eager to get this job done.

He can’t wait to go find Papa and tell him about this.

**The song is “The Complete and Utter Defeat of Zara Dearborn” and it was usually just referred to as “That Song” by Clary, Julian, Alex and everyone.  It was the result of one evening when Alex and Jace had a Parabatai Night that involved a bit too much tequila.  It then grew as various parties added their own verses to the song.  Max and Rafe were not allowed to listen to the verse Emma added until they turned 18.