Tid - Tumblr Posts

I'd have a fucking orgasm in the spot just by the view of it.

I'd probably pass out after that too.

Just picture Aaron Warner, Adrian Ivashkov, Will and Jace Herondale, Julian Blackthorn, Maven Calore, Rhysand, Damon Salvatore, Klaus Mikaelson, The Darkling, Kaz Brekker and Cardan Greenbriar at the same table.

+ Sebastian Morgenstern in the corner of the room, trying to find a way to “burn down the world” before them… just saying.

times are tough and I’m missing him (julian atticus blackthorn)

I think I made myself cry. And sorry if the rune is badly drawn. I tried my best. Heronstairs 4 Life

I ordered The Shadowhunters Codex by Cassandra Clare and Joshua Lewis a few days ago and I got it in the mail today. The art in this books is Amazing. #ArtGoals #cassandrajp #tmi #tid #tda #tlh #theinfernaldevices #thelasthours #themortalinstruments #thedarkartifices #claryfray #simonlewis #jacewayland #shadowhuntercodex

Okay look, this might be a long shot, but like does anyone else get Carstairs vibes from the song Oh No! By Marina???? Or no??

Very important analysis. Please read it.

Infectious Bias: Discrimination of Mundanes in the Shadowhunter World

Introduction

As we all know already, the Clave is said to be discriminatory against all non-Nephilim races. While this fantasy-racism is shown to be extremer in unnamed parts of the Clave and fascist groups, with a keen eye it is also noticeable in Shadowhunters that are supposed to be good. This is sometimes more subtly shown (like in The Last Hours), sometimes more overt (like in The Mortal Instruments). 

I am very confident that Cassandra Clare wrote a lot of this on purpose, since those bias are  often pointed out by characters who are outsiders to the Nephilim, like Simon and Kit and it is too well made and too structurally planned to be part of her own biases. Nonetheless, this is often only between the lines, since stories are primarily written from a Shadowhunter-perspective, which makes identifying these prejudices in the main characters a bit harder. We are often getting fed prejudices more as a matter of fact than a bias.

Often a Downworlder will point out discrimination and a Shadowhunter main character will react  defensively by saying that the Clave is like that but not all Shadowhunter, not realising that because they themselves grew up in a fantasy-racist society they are thus heavily influenced by the ideas and values of this society - including its discrimination and prejudices. There are only few Shadowhunters who seem to be aware of their own fantasy-racism and reevaluate how they see non-Nephilim races.

So I want to analyse those subtle prejudices and situations in a few posts. I’m calling this little series of analyses Infectious Bias, because Cassandra Clare shows very well how fascist ideology and white supremacist ideas can poison and infect all parts of a society, not just those who are outright fascist and hateful.

As a start, I want to talk a bit about how mundanes are treated by Shadowhunters. Mostly, because they are not actively harmed by the Nephilim unlike Downworlders which will make this analysis a lot shorter. 

Hypocrisy of the Main Characters

In this analysis as well as the following I will focus on the main characters, who are supposed to be good. Talking about the wider Shadowhunter Society would take too long, as there are too many aspects too address. Also, since most of the fantasy racism of the larger Nephilim culture is pretty “on the nose” like the separation into Shadowhunter and potential Ascendants at the Academy, I don’t think it’s worth the mention as it is quite obvious even the first time reading a Shadowhunter Chronicles book.

Infantilisation of Mundanes - Tales from Nathaniel Gray and Axel Mortmain 

In the Infernal Devices, there are several mundane characters who are treated differently depending on their involvement in the Shadowworld. There is more intelligence ascribed to Sighted mundanes than to non-Sighted mundanes, even though they still aren’t considered to be eye-to-eye with the Nephilim and getting employed as their servants, even though their Sight is a powerful ability. This makes them able to see through the glamour without being identified as a Shadowhunter because of their lack of Shadowhuntesque traits like graceful movements or runic marks. Of course a person should never be valued based on how useful they are to a culture. This comparison is simply about the fact that Sighted mundanes are employed as servants rather than for Shadowhunting, although that is not always the case, as Thomas helped Henry and Will to break into the Dark House. 

The main characters state several times that Nephilim have higher physical abilities (agility, swiftness, speed, strength, endurance) than mundanes. This means that they consider themselves to be biologically superior to mundanes in fighting, even though we see that this is not necessarily true, as Bridget is able to beat Gabriel, who is supposed to be a lot stronger than her. So we can see that this alleged physical superiority is not real but instead a bias of the main characters against mundanes. 

Not just the mundanes physical ability gets questioned, also their intelligence. A good example here are Nate and Mortmain. The Shadowhunters of the Institute think that they are not intelligent enough to navigate the Shadowworld (and tell horror tales of people who tried to play with the occult and disregarded warnings), blinded by their fascination with magic, unable to make their own choices. They think they are too weak and unknowing to cause actual harm by themselves or be able to have any evil inside them. In short: they infantilise them and associate an inherent innocence to their race. Charlotte and Henry don’t even consider Mortmain to be able to be cunning enough to have any ulterior motive or plans, which turns out to be a fatal mistake.

They talk about mundanes in the Pandemonium club and how easily they are to influence and impress, losing all of their money on gambling with magic. While they consider this to be tragic, they don’t actually act to help mundanes who befall this fate, if they are not acquaintances to them like Nate.

Except Will, there is no one who is distrusting of Nate in the beginning. While they think that he knows more than what he shows, they don’t even think about the possibility that he could be lying or hateful. This again shows the ascribed inherent innocence.

 Even after he betrays them, they see him as a manipulated victim, a blinded child rather than an adult making his own choices, as their view of Mortmain shifts to him being a Magician and evil master manipulator instead of a generic mundane. Though this part is heavily influenced by Tessa’s perspective, who probably sees the situation a bit differently since she is trying to cope with the loss of her brother. Other characters are a lot more sceptic and feel guilty for not realising the trickery earlier. 

Mortmain also points out the main characters’ foolishness in underestimating him because he is a mundane. This underlines that the Nephilims superiority complex against mundanes was purposefully written. 

City of Condescension 

Let’s talk about Simon and the Lightwoods. Honestly, there is so much to unpack here. Jace outright bullies Simon for most part of the Mortal Instruments, though the support in this from his peers is varying. Because this is such a huge topic, I will address this in a separate analysis, as putting light onto all aspects of this bullying would take too much space in this analysis.

I think Simon is a is a great example because it shows how they would behave with a stranger:  People usually care less about strangers - even though they don’t necessarily value them less -  because they don’t know them. Thus, they don’t care as much about hurting their feelings: they put more effort in helping the people that they love and cherish. 

The Lightwood kids treat Simon as expendable in the first book. From this we can assume that they treat mundanes that they don’t have an emotional attachment to generally as expendable. The only reason that Jace helped to save Simon is that Clary pressured him to. He only saved him to appease her, not because he wanted to do the right thing or because his vows to protect mundanes as a Shadowhunter. I will come back to the expendability later, when I will talk about Thomas and Agatha for a bit. 

 Of course, with the Lightwoods and Simon, there are also a lot of personal feelings going on: Isabelle is scared of men and getting hurt, building a large wall around herself and dropping guys when things get too serious. Jace is in some way jealous of Simon even though there is little reason since he knows that Clary is neither attracted to him nor is he in Jace’ eyes ‘competition’, calling him the most mundane mundane. Alec has the least interaction with Simon, but he is both distrustful and jealous of Clary in the first book as well as having a drive to please and copy Jace, which makes him automatically hostile to Simon. 

 The Lightwoods are angsty, hostile and irrational teenagers with little compassion for anyone outside of their social group. While they become a lot better and mature people with time, I wouldn’t necessarily consider them to be good people in the first few books. It is also important to note that they were brought up by four fascists and former fascists who definitely didn’t fully examine all the fascism they have internalised. We especially see this in Jace, who perpetrates a lot of fantasy-racism, both micro- and macro- aggressions throughout the books, often under the cover of being a angsty sarcastic teenager.

While Isabelle manifests her dislike in mundanes in apathy over their well-being rather than aggression, Jace and Alec outright bully Simon. Now this isn’t just about him being a mundane but also rather personal, but because it’s such a huge part of the books I still want to at least address it here.

While Alec makes only fun of Simon in the first book in an attempt to please Jace, Jace continues to bully him later, first for being mundane, afterwards for being a vampire.

Examples for this bullying are trying to make him feel inferior by calling him “mundane” rather than his name and using the word mundane always with condescension, even though they use his name in his absence and obviously know it. 

They tell him that he should be grateful to be inside the Institute as not many mundanes are bestowed with that honour, as if he wasn’t worthy to know of their world. During dinner, Alec and Jace even kick Simon out of the Institute for standing up to Jace playing white knight for Clary in face of meeting the Silent Brothers. Clary meanwhile doesn’t even bat an eye. This is an especially humiliating scene that was hard to read, but it’s neither the first nor the last one: They ridicule him for being attracted to Isabelle, calling him pathetic for meeting her, telling her in front of him that he wants to sleep with her. Jace also ridicules his physical appearance behind his back, calling him weasel-faced and so ugly that he looks like a rat (which is also later shown to have been foreshadowing).

This isn’t the end of it: at every possibility they signal Simon that he isn’t welcome and they don’t care about him, his questions or his opinions. While Simon isn’t any less hostile in his reaction, the Shadowhunter teens are in a position of power over him, given that they are allegedly “superior” magical beings and he doesn’t know anything about the Shadowworld, as well as Jace and Alec being in the majority and no one really defending him.

Simon is not seen as a human being with a soul, inherent value and feelings which they could hurt. They rather see him as Clary’s pet. Even Isabelle, who spends a lot of time with him, meeting him in the morning, going with him to the park for the whole day… considers him suddenly to be expendable when he becomes a rat, acting like it wasn’t their responsibility to take care of him in their world, which he doesn’t know how to navigate. She also doesn’t even really consider him a potential romantic partner before he becomes a vampire, though there is also a lot of fetishisation  of vampires involved.

While they claim no accountability, they still infantilise him, treating him like a child who needs a babysitter: because he is a mundane, not because he is new to this world. They don’t treat Clary with the same infantilisation, showing her more or less respectfully how to navigate the Shadowworld. Even though they acknowledge that she needs help, they don’t act as if she was dumb. This shows that they believe the stereotype mentioned earlier, that a mundane is both less intelligent than a Shadowhunter as well as more innocent and naïve. 

These examples of bullying and conflict are only from the first few hundred pages of City of Bones. While there is a lot more to unpack, I don’t want to go much further or deeper in the books here. The reason for this is the amount of personal issues between the characters that fuel this conflict, not just fantasy-racism. 

Though it is still worth a mention: I want to thank @theprodigalgenius for pointing out to me that in City of Glass, Simon asks them why they hate mundanes so much, to which Jace responds by making fun of him. Sebastian points that they feel left out since they can’t tell the world about their duty and don’t get any acknowledgement for their hard work. Isabelle feels resentment towards mundanes because they never grew up in fear of suddenly losing a loved one. 

We can see a lot of jealousy here shining through for what they consider a life of comfort. They cover this up with a feeling of superiority, twisting the longing for comfort into an arrogance about the mundanes alleged weakness and laziness. Though we know a mundane life isn’t actually more comfortable or happy than that of a Shadowhunter, as the history of Sophie shows. 

Of course, none of this jealousy or resentment excuse the disrespect and apathy against those very vulnerable people they are sworn to protect.  

 Clockwork Expendability - in Loving Memory of Agatha and Thomas

Clockwork Prince and City of Bones show us that it is not important to save or protect individual mundanes from dying. Mundanes are replaceable, Shadowhunter are not. The Nephilim are not supposed to grieve, even less for mundanes. 

The Codex even states that crimes against mundanes and Downworlders are punished less harshly than crimes against other Shadowhunters because they’re less Shadowhunters in the world. This means in their view a mundane life is less important, expendable. Going after demons who endanger more than just one mundane is more important than saving individuals except if this individual is a Shadowhunter. While this is the attitude of the Clave, the main characters also show aspects of this mindset. 

An example are Will and Jem. They grew up with Thomas, trained by his side, yet they don’t really grieve when he dies. While most of the Nephilim of the Institute feel guilty, all thinking they could’ve prevented Thomas and Agathas deaths, only one other person, Sophie, a fellow mundane, mourns them and misses them for a longer time period. For everyone else, the dead servants are already replaced and half-forgotten in the middle of the second book. 

Mundanes being considered replaceable is even shown in a bizarre allegory in the guise of Thomas brother. Cyril looks exactly like Thomas and acts similar as well. As if there were vast amounts of Thomases in the world. And if one dies, he is just switched out for a new one, no one really noticing his absence. Of course Tessa and Sophie notice his absence despite this metaphor, but it comes in the form of the discomfort they feel because of the eery resemblance to Thomas, as if he never really died.

Ascension - You’re Better Than This

I will ignore everything else fucked up with Ascension, like the law against intermarriage etc. because that’s part of the wider culture. This is about the opinions of the main characters. 

While it’s never explicitly stated, in the end of Clockwork Princess and in Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy it becomes rather clear:  Mundanes who are heroes (like Simon or Sophie) should Ascend because they’re better people than most mundanes, worthy of being a Shadowhunter. It would be a waste of their life not to ascend, they’re too good to spend a life as a mundane. The message is clear: a mundane life has no value. Not just that a mundane who dies is replaceable, but also that there is no worth in being a mundane and spending your life in a “mundane-lifestyle”.

In City of Bones, Alec and Isabelle even openly admit that they don’t see Downworlders really as people and that while mundanes are “weak”, they are in their eyes still better than Downworlders because they have the possibility to ascend, to become one of them, to be a Shadowhunters. Of course they later change their worldview, but a lot of these opinions are still ingrained in them. 

Conclusion - I’m Running Out of Bad Wordplays 

While Shadowhunters are supposed to protect mundanes, they see this as a rule to protect humanity as a whole and not individuals. They don’t consider it as important to save mundanes as to kill demons, thinking that the offence against demons will save mundanes automatically. Also they see mundanes as inferior to their own race, both physically and mentally, while ascribing a form of romanticised innocence and comfort to their being.

Okay but I don’t understand

why I have the ability to love people in books so much. sometimes i’ll be sitting somewhere and just remember something that one character said that one time and i’ll laugh. or i’ll text on of my friends and profess my love for certain book characters because i love them so much an that is hurts but i cant make it stop, and even if i could i wouldn’t want to because i love that it causes me pain because they might be real what but what is real if not pain??

yeah that’s a bit sad but oh well I’ll keep reading and keep loving and keep hurting. 

boxes of clementines | w. herondale

will herondale x fem reader, no mention of shadowhunter stuff, established relationship, husband!will, fluff!!!! so much fluff!!!!, cross posted on ao3 under @/kvohru

‘There are boxes of clementines in the kitchen and the thing is that I love you again.’ — Alessia Di Cesare, The Side Effects of Eating Too Many Clementines

Despite it being a December morning, it was surprisingly warm in your home— for a wintry London day's standards, that is. The sun was up, for one thing, its delicate rays filtering through the clouds and into your kitchen.

Perhaps it's the fact that you live in the countryside? you thought idly as you put away your groceries. Maybe that's why it was sunnier today? Well, regardless, your warm friend was still a welcome guest any day.

Seeing as how it was the weekend today, neither you nor Will had work, so you took it as a chance to get caught up on some housekeeping chores like groceries and such. Well, you had been out getting groceries while Will—who was set to return by the afternoon—was out doing… other things. (He was out replacing something or the other, you weren't quite focusing when he had told you about it the other day.)

And so you went on, adopting a tranquil rhythm, sorting boxes into cupboards and washing all the fresh produce you'd bought. Apples, strawberries and cucumbers were left to soak in the sink while the boxes of clementines were left on the kitchen counters.

You let out a contented sigh. It was a good morning.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

It was well past the afternoon when Will was walking up the stone walkway to the quaint countryside home. In fact, the sun was already starting to set by then, the pale blue sky quickly turning a warm orange instead.

He trudged up the steps to the front porch, adjusting the large bouquet in his hands; a brilliant arrangement of flowers that he didn't think twice about buying when he passed by that florist he often frequented for you.

He shifted the bags he was carrying along with said bouquet to his other arm, freeing up his right to dig into his coat pocket for the keys. “Cariad?” he called as he walked in, toeing his shoes off and placing them neatly beside the door.

It was a few seconds before your reply, which came in form of a Hm?, could be heard. He set all the bags down. A few more seconds where he could hear your feet padding across the wooden floors before you finally, finally, came into view.

“Will!” After all these years, you still had a way of seeming utterly excited when seeing him. I mean, he could practically see the almost cartoonish glimmer in your eyes from across the room.

“Hey, darling,” he greeted gently, his whole body instantly relaxing at the sight of you. It was as if simply being around you worked all the knots from his shoulders and eased all his muscles.

The smile wholly transformed your face at the sound of the term of endearment, the corners of your eyes crinkling adorably and your lips splitting instantly into a wide smile.

The setting sun cast long shadows on the ground, the slanting rays giving a warm orange tinge to the earth, the sky and everything in between.

Your eyes finally left his face and travelled down to his body, where you finally spotted the bouquet balanced on his elbow. He had thought it'd be the first thing you'd notice when he walked in, seeing as how it was almost as big as his torso, but you hadn't.

You'd been too transfixed on his face, on him, to notice anything else.

Your face instantly softened, an almost infinitesimal shift in your expression that would've been impossible to notice if it were anyone else looking at you. But Will noticed. He always did.

It was like it was happening in slow motion, that change in your expression. From the previous childlike joy at seeing your husband to the look of pure, unadulterated love in your eyes.

“Oh, darling,” you breathed, almost to yourself, as you walked closer. You gingerly plucked the bouquet out of his arm, instantly pulling it up to your face to smell it. It really was a gorgeous arrangement; from the roses to the carnations to the peonies, and the tiny pieces of baby's breath sprinkled throughout.

And the part that made it all the more precious to you was that you knew Will had taken time out of his day to put it together. You knew it wasn't prearranged, and the image of your husband standing at the florist and meticulously putting together an assortment of flowers for you warmed your heart to an immeasurable degree.

“Will,” you breathed again, and… were you getting teary-eyed? You looked up at him, and yep, those were definitely tears lining your waterline. He couldn't help the corner of his mouth lifting at the sight. “They're so beautiful. You're so beautiful. Thank you so much. I love you.”

You were gushing your praises and gratitude now, and it wouldn't be long before—

“Wait,” you mumbled, a look of realisation (which looked more like horror than anything) falling over your face. You whipped your head around, your ponytail smacking him in the chest from the force of the motion.

He barely contained his amused scoff. You were and would always be incredibly and adorably predictable. Not to mention incredibly easy to read, too.

“No occasion,” he said, interrupting your Oh No Did I Miss An Important Date?™ scanning-over-the-calendar routine. You let out an audible sigh of relief, your whole body slumping forward with the motion, and this time Will couldn't hold back the smug grin.

You set the bouquet down and looked at him, suspicious despite your relief. He could practically hear the question in your gaze (refer back to what I said about you being incredibly easy to read), and he was sure it went something like this: A bouquet this big for no reason?

He sighed dramatically and leaned closer, his voice taking on that classic teasing lilt of his, “What? Can't a man surprise his wife with flowers in peace?”

“But why?” you insisted quietly. Clearly, you were incredibly worried you'd somehow forgotten about an important date. Because what if you had and Will, being the ever so gracious (debatable) man that he was, didn't want to embarrass you by reminding you?

“Just because.”

“But it's so big.” Your worried gaze met his, and his grin split even wider.

“Not the only big thing I can—”

You smacked him lightly on the arm to shut him up. “Come on!” he complained, forever the melodramatic man that he was, “You practically walked into that one!”

You rolled your eyes, but the gesture held absolutely no heat, especially not when you were smiling despite yourself. “Thank you,” you said sincerely, rising up on your tiptoes to press your lips to his, and hoping he could sense the extent of your gratitude in that kiss.

“Of course, my love,” he murmured softly between kisses, the teasing leaving his voice entirely and being replaced by an insurmountable amount of love.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

A while later, after he had changed and joined you back in the kitchen, the two of you could be found sitting at the kitchen island, sharing a clementine.

One of my favorite characters

To be a shadow is in it's self to live in someone else's

All the cool Lightwoods' came after Cecily joined the family

Heavenly fire courses through her veins

True nephilim Emma Carstairs from @cassandraclare series The Dark Artifices

This scene was breath taking and i forgot that i drew this a while back

Tessa and Baby James

(Or Mina if you want)

Will Herondale, my favorite Welsh man! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Well it's late and my brain is asking a question and now I can't sleep without having the answer so I need your opinion for you if Emma and Cordelia would have been at the same time for you Cortana would have chosen which one two to be its carrier?

Am I the only one who would have liked to see basic characters who are in families other than The Herondales, Fairchild, Lightwood, Carstairs, Blackthorn?

I warn you, I love his families but I wanted to know more about the other Shadowhunters families because for me it could have been interesting to know more about the other families

on a bit of the same thing am I the only one who wanted to see more weapons created by Wayland the Blacksmith often used by the main characters

because the only weapon made by Wayland the Blacksmith that we have often seen used by the characters are Cortana and Phaesphoros and Heosphoros

hello I had a question, for you, is it possible for a shadowhunter to have dysphasia and multi-dys?

(Because I'm writing a Parabatai Jonathan Morgenstrern fanfiction)

Ok now I must admit that the poll "For you, is it possible for a Shadowhunter to have dysphasia and multidys ?" is such that when I ask a question for this poll, I would not have people insulting me for having said that there could be dys shadowhunters

now the real question that interests me

Do you think dysphasia shadowhunters use the language rune to be understood when they are young ?

BE CAREFUL I EXPLAIN MYSELF : I have dysphasia and when I was little when I spoke it was for other people as if I was speaking another language and no one understood me whereas for me the words or the sentence were normal but now I am understood even if there are still some difficulties

I hope I explained the question well and why I ask it

(thank you for answering the survey it's for a parabatai fanfiction Jonathan)