#gotsm: is focused on jem

[jamescarstairs]

so the jessa part of that novella was only like 4 pages long okay

#lauren waffles #gotsm lb #gotsm spoilers #i am: salty #gotsm: is focused on jem #tlw: has tessa giving birth off page & has magnus mention stuff about mina later on #i thought these two new novellas looked short but damn #jem & tessa & mina deserved better

[moony401]

this may be weird, but do you really think that jordelia will end up together? as much as everyone wants them to, looking at the familly tree and the errors with mixing up first marriages and that story (i'm forgetting the name) where the name layla comes from having an unhappy ending is making me think something will go wrong. also, with the theory of matthew getting his marks stripped, what if he just loses his name and ended up taking cordelia's? i'm doing a reread and noticing new things

Hey Anon, thanks so much for the ask, I love getting them 🥰❤️

I 100% think Jordelia will end up together. I think if she were going to go in another direction she wouldn’t have spent the majority of Chain of Iron focusing on their relationship. Now that James has realised his love for her there’s no doubt in my mind, he won’t love anyone else and we know he doesn’t die so I think they will. There’s so many moments they share that lead me to believe this, but here’s a quote from Tessa about James in Gotsm “My James knew the power of a love story as well as well as I do”. I think this eludes to Jordelia’s overall story- while there were obstacles to their relationship, they got past them and ended up together. There’s another quote like that from Fever, a short story from Cordelia’s perspective “She did not realize it would be a long, long time before she ceased to feel the lack of him inside her heart”. Suggesting that at some stage she is always with him, so again, I think that Grace, Belial/Tatiana and Matthew are just the obstacles they face in their journey.

I know where you’re coming from in terms of the family tree, it’s confusing and something that Cassie repeatedly says she regrets doing. But, I think the ‘twist’ in their marriage is just how they got married... In saying that, I’m not sure if they will stay ‘properly’ married, it might be interesting if Cordelia has to divorce James or never get her second rune to get her out of her oath with Lilith so she would technically no longer be ‘Cordelia Herondale’. It might be interesting if they were together romantically so they had to lead the Clave to believe they were still truly married, which could be why Jem changed the family tree? (it would be kind of fun to turn the reason they got married on its head, like they got fake married because of her reputation and society’s view of unmarried women but then they break this societal expectation by not being ‘properly’ married but still remaining together...). I’m not too worried about the family tree aspect, I know there will be a twist to how they end up together, and I have plenty more theories, but I have no doubt that will end up together.

The Layla and Majnun story is interesting I haven’t read it in full but I would like to. As far as I know Majnun gets lost in the wilderness and Layla dies of heartbreak.. I think Cassie references this because it parallels James being ‘lost’ in his own mind, he’s being controlled and has lost his own willpower and as a result Cordelia is left heartbroken. But, that doesn’t mean it has to end like the actual story. The entire series itself is loosely inspired by the Great Expectations where James and Grace would be Pip and Estella respectively and their story is already very different from the Great Expectations. This was also something that worried people when Tid was coming out, it’s loosely based on The Tale of Two Cities and Will Herondale is constantly described to be Sydney Carton, who dies/sacrifices himself and doesn’t end up with Lucie (who would be Tessa in this case) but this is obviously very different from the Tid ending. Cassie loves a happy ending, so I wouldn’t worry about that.

Oh Matthew, he’s definitely a character to be worried about, there’s a lot of scary foreshadowing with him 💔. They could get married, it’s possible I guess, I think it’s unlikely because I think it would only happen to get Cordelia out of her oath so not an actual ‘love’ match (which I doubt Cordelia would want to go through again). I really don’t think that Matthew and Cordelia are going to end up together... it’s just not being set up that way at all in my eyes, I’ve mentioned this before, but I feel like Matthew isn’t actually in love with Cordelia, he just knows that he can never be with her and so is using her to punish himself. It’s been acknowledged he seeks a ‘hopeless love’ so what makes this situation different from the one he had with Lucie? Cordelia only sees Matthew as a friend and he knows she’s in love with James. Cordelia actually mentions the word ‘friend’ atleast three times when he tells her how he feels, in fact when he tells her he loves her this is her thought process: “Cordelia was speechless. She did not want to hurt him; she had been hurt enough and had no desire to pass it on to someone else. Especially as dear a friend as Matthew”. This could change but it would be a really weird plot twist that I wouldn’t feel is earned, Cordelia has never expressed romantic interest in Matthew past calling him handsome or noticing his arms 😅? Again, I think this is explained away with this Chog quote “He was very handsome, Cordelia thought; she didn’t know why she didn’t respond to him as she did to James. But then, she didn’t respond to anyone as she did to James”. Bearing in mind that only a week will have passed from the end of Choi to the beginning of Chot, there’s really not room for her to have realistically developed romantic feelings for Matthew, in my opinion.

#ask answered #jordelia #herondaisy #chain of iron #the last hours #chain of thorns #james herondale #cordelia carstairs #matthew fairchild #tlh #chain of gold

[amchara]

Fanfic writing aid: The English education system (specifically, sixth form)

It’s early days yet but given the Secrets of Blackthorn Hall update about Kit attending a mundane school in Devon… I’m anticipating and hoping for many fics about his time with werewolf friends at school in Devon. 😀

And I thought maybe it could be useful for people to put together a quick primer / cheat sheet on the UK school situation, as it differs a bit from the North American system.

The English and Welsh education systems* are fairly similar in that there are eleven mandatory years of schooling, plus two years of sixth form / further education that most people nowadays do. In fact, pretty sure it’s now mandatory to be in some form of education until you’re 18 but it can be an apprenticeship, college course, BTEC, etc but that is a relatively recent development.

*Scotland has a different system

What do we know about Kit’s situation from the letter?

(Quick aside - if Kit immediately started school when he first went to live with Tessa and Jem, then he’d be in his final year of secondary school and would be studying for his GCSEs, aka General Certificate of Secondary Education.)

BUT, since Secrets of Blackthorn Hall is set post-GOTSM’s Forever Fallen, if you’re writing about this period, then Kit is likely in sixth form as he’s sixteen.

Sixth form is distinct from secondary school and GCSEs, which is much more like the American high school, where you have to take a set number of required subjects.

Most people in sixth form are taking either A-Levels or BTEC qualifications. This type of study is much more concentrated and focused. A-Levels are usually academic (English Literature, History, Maths, Chemistry) or applied (Photography, ICT, Business) and are what you’d take if you were planning to go to university. BTEC subjects can also be used for university in certain subjects but they’re generally for more applied subjects like Childcare, Agriculture and Arboriculture, Computing / ICT, Construction or Sports Science

So, while previously in GCSEs you’d study eight/ten subjects, you’d only be taking four subjects in sixth form. Usually you’d take four subjects for your first year (AS Level) and then drop your worst performing one for your final year ( A2/ A-Level).

A lot of schools/colleges also require you to take General Studies, which is supposed to give you a more rounded education in terms of logical thinking, ethics, persuasive speaking, etc but It’s often seen as the class you can goof off in, as universities often won’t look at it for admissions.

Another thing to note: sixth form is a stepping stone between college/university and school, in that you have more responsibility over your own schedule and studying. You don’t have to wear a school uniform anymore (or you have a less strict version of it, ie. just a blazer/tie) and your section of the school is often separate from the rest of the secondary school and the teachers treat you more as an adult. Or- although this is probably not the case for Kit, given Tessa says he’s at a small village school- some sixth forms are actually on their own as a further education college, and usually act as a bit of a feeder school for the surrounding area.

Other random facts/definitions:

Tutor group = homeroom

Public school = private school (ie. fee-paying school)

Secondary / Comprehensive = normal non-paying school

Grades range highest to lowest: A*, A, B, C, E (usually C is the lowest you can get and still pass)

There is no compulsory physical education at sixth form but most schools have various school teams and some schools actually have a dedicated no classes time on Wednesday afternoons for sports practices/games or other extracurriculars.

You can get your learners driving license from the day you turn 17 although you have to do a lot of practising and a notoriously challenging test before you can get your full license.

The legal drinking age is 18 across the UK but if you’re 16-17 and you’re out with someone above that age, they can buy you wine/beer/cider and you can drink it with a meal at a pub/restaurant.

Qualifications: I’m actually Canadian but have lived in the UK for more than a decade, plus my partner is English and he's been my fact-checker. 😊

Bonus Mina content: Kids in the UK start reception at age four, which is kind of like the equivalent to kindergarten. Before then a lot of them attend nursery, which is like preschool. They wear uniforms and yes, they are absolutely the cutest.

Feel free to ask questions if you have any!

#secrets of blackthorn hall #fanfiction #fanfiction aids #kit herondale #tessa gray #tsc fandom #tsc fanfiction

[immortal-enemies]

But also, on top of what you and anon said, I was so pissed at Tessa in GoTSM. I’m not a huge fan of her anyway, but that was something else. I really hated how everything was about Jem and Will, and never about her children. The thing is, although they’re not my favorite (super unpopular opinion, I know), Will, Tessa and Jem have an amazing relationship\bond. That can’t be argued with. And I really get that their relationship is something that Cassie wants to put above everything, but focusing all that time on the three of them and almost never on Tessa’s feelings and thoughts about her children was something I didn’t like. At all. I really can understand her for not wanting to see James and Lucie die, but there were so many instances in that book in which she didn’t consider them even when they were near (whereas she always did it for Jem) and didn’t think about them. The few times she did I was like “finally something worth reading.”

Nothing with Tessa will ever be about her TLH kids 😶

Honestly, I disagree with the bond thing. I think the idea of Tessa, Will and Jem is an amazing relationship. The way CC intended it to be, though, and how it actually came out are two different things 😔 so, I think it can be argued against 🤔

I understand not wanting to see your kids die too, of course, but I'll never understand leaving your kids, as an immortal being, and just being like 'yeah you're dad's dead so like bye ig it was nice knowing ya lol' and not regretting it??

She really never did consider them, you're right. And okay, here's the thing: if she dwelled on James and Lucie for two long, then TLH would probably be spoiled, and CC didn't want that, as she hadn't written it yet, but in the end it made Tessa seem really shallow and self-centered? Which really contradicts literally her own POV of herself and the thoughts every other TSC character has about her??

#thank you for the ask :DD #asks #anon

[bemtevis]

the more I think about kit in TDA, the more I think that no one was at fault for what happened at the end of QOAAD. both of kit's parents had literally JUST died. he got two friends out of it, though, but then one of them died, too. then, he was in an impossible situation where he knew what ty was doing was dangerous, but ty was the only person left in the world who MIGHT care about him. his relationship with ty was about more than just a crush. his mother abandoned him when he was a baby (even if for good reason) and in GOTSM it's clear that kit has never felt like his father actually loved him. so even if there were other "trustworthy" people involved like tessa, jem, diana, magnus, even emma and julian, why would he actually trust them? people say they care, but why would he trust that they actually do when his own father didn't? ty was all he had. I think that his timing literally could not have been any worse, but he understood what happened to be that ty DIDN'T actually care about him. obviously WE can look and see that that was irrational - a love confession is a lot to process when you're NOT a grieving autistic teenager and of course ty was focused on his dead twin sister, that doesn't mean that he doesn't care about kit at all. but to kit, ty was just confirming what he already suspected, an idea that the people who were supposed to love him and protect him planted in his mind - that he's not someone people can care about. so, of course he didn't say goodbye. why would he drag himself through the pain of contronting the people who are pretending to give a shit about what happens to him? what if they found out what happened at the lake, and they would stop pretending altogether than they cared? to kit, it was safer to just leave. it's not a situation where kit could have known better or done better. he's never even seen better. of course what he did hurt ty, but he was just a traumatized kid trying to protect himself. you could just as easily say that what ty did hurt kit, making him feel once again like he's incapable of being loved. that was obviously never ty's intention, nor did kit think he was abandoning ty. they were both just traumatized teenagers in crisis who hurt each other. while there obviously need to be apologies and amends, I don't think it's one sided.

Ohh, I love this analysis!

When I say Kit needs to apologize, I don't mean a whole ass redemption arc. Just a quick Sorry, hopefully followed by a “It's ok, I understand” and an I'm sorry too, as a treat 🤩

I can see how Ty processed that situation: a person he loved abandoning him. But the same goes for Kit?? They were both in a very difficuly position where they couldn't express their feelings clearly. I don't think it's anyone's fault. I just think (hope) they'll be able to support each other in TWP like they couldn't before, due to their individual emotional states

Totally agree with what you said, anon 👀👀 Ty for the ask!!

#how do I tag thiiss #anon #answered; #luna has opinions #tw death

[ninacarstairss]

hi!! congrats on 100, that’s crazy 💓💓💓

for the celebration thingie: 🌷(tessa and jace — platonic hehe)

i hope you’re having a great day! ☀️

Thank you so much love! And I hope you’re having a great day too 🌸

Thanks for the request and sorry to have kept you waiting, hope you’ll like these!

Tessa x Jace headcanons (I have not yet read tda and gotsm so I don’t really know much of how their relationship actually evolves, but I loved writing these and in my head these are set after cohf and cp2 epilogue):

after the war tessa and jace spend a lot of time together. Tessa has been watching over all the herondales before him, so she tells him stories about his parents and his grandparents, she tell him stories of will and their children, she tells him of the ties between herondales and caratairs and she tells him of how will and jem found her and saved her in so may ways, as jace did with clary

Tessa kept herself connected to the mundane world during the years, while jace still barely knows how to use a phone. She’s the one to show him for the first time what alexa is and how she works. He can’t admit it but her’s never been this scared of mundanes and their technologies

Tessa also lets him try and talk to alexa but he ends up pointing one of his seraph blades at the device because “SHE SAID SOMETHING ABOUT DUCKS HOW DARES SHE???”

Jace teaches her to play piano, or at least he tries. Tessa always mentions how much she loves jem’s music so when she finds out he can play the piano he begs him to play for her and after a while she even asks him to teach her. They have a lot of fun, but tessa isn’t much of a quick learner when it comes to music, it appears

Tessa always asks jace to show her around. She hadn’t been in new york for quite some time and many things had changed since her last visit, so she asks for full tours and jace is more than happy to oblige

They are game nerds. For some weird reason they both eventually forgot, they started to play scrabble quite often. They are both very competitive and watching them play is amusing, jace is so focused on the game he could totally miss a demon trying to attack him. He often attempts to put down words like “ugh” and “ew” but tessa is far too smart and she always wins. No one knows as many words as she does

Tessa learned many languages during all these years. She still remembers some welsh, stuff that will had taught her when they were married, but she also studied some french and spanish. So when jace is asking questions about his ancestors she asks him whether he’d like to learn some french, as a way of trying to connect with his mother celine. He loves the idea and eventually he finds out french comes naturally to him

#cece writes #100 followers #100 celebration #jace x tessa headcanons #jace herondale #tessa gray #the shadowhunter chronicles #tsc #shadowhunters #tsc headcanons #my writing

[watermelomn]

minor gotsm spoiler (indirect quote)

everyone always talks about how kit running away after getting rejected was a herondale™️ power move, but no one ever focuses on the bigger reason he ran away and didn’t say goodbye: kit confessed to jem that he felt like he was never good enough for anyone and when he met ty he probably pinned his hope on ty because for once he felt like he fit in. Kit even explained to jem how he felt no one had ever loved him so when he finally got to a point when he felt like his feelings for ty could be mutual he confessed and was crushed by “rejection” because once again it was proven to him that he was unloveable and he should lock in his feelings for sharing them gets him no where. SO IN CONCLUSION KIT HERONDALE DIDNT JUST RUN AWAY FROM REJECTION BUT BECAUSE HIS FEELINGS WERE GENUINELY HURT 😔

#The dark artifices #Kit herondale #shadowhunters #ty blackthorn #kitty #gotsm spoilers #gotsm #qoaad #Cassandra Clare #TDA #jem Carstairs

[jamescarstairs]

i know i just went off on one but i AM ABOUT TO SNAP AGAIN SOMEONE CALM ME THE FUCK DOWN BEFORE I DO

#lauren waffles #HOW FUCKING DARE YOU CALL JEM CARSTAIRS SELFISH TURNING INTO A SILENT BROTHER #HOW FUCKING DARE YOU SAY HE SHOULD'VE DIED #HOW FUCKING DARE YOU #i know jem is only a character but god i'm so angry #JUST SAY YOU'RE RACIST AND GO #W*SSA & W*LL DESERVED BETTER? ARE YOU EVEN READING THE SAME STORY AS WE ARE #YOU'VE GOT TLH STILL TO COME FOR HEAVENS SAKE #negative #DON'T FUCKING TAG YOUR JEM / JESSA HATE IN THE GOTSM TAG #i'm so fucking mad if you can't tell #GOTSM IS THE ONLY STORY THAT FOCUSES ON JEM #HE ALWAYS PUTS HIS FAMILY HIS FRIENDS HIS LOVE BEFORE HIMSELF #I'M FUMING

[jamescarstairs]

🐸 I LOVED Learn About Loss, but apparently a lot of people didn't and the sole reason I gathered for that so far is that it was too Jem centered; it didn't have any tlh characters or secondary ones from other tsc series that got to shine or a new lgbt+ character that people could fawn about. Instead we got boring characters and the usual Will mentions who are becoming old. Funny thing, I thought gotsm was about Jem's journey, but he's treated like he's just there or an inconvenience.

AGREED !!!!!!! the only problem I had with LAL was that it felt shorter than the rest of the stories??? Like there was finally one that centred Jem a lot yet it was short?

and yeah you’re right I remember CC’s post where she was telling fans who are reading for Will and/or W*ssa to not read it because they get their time in TLH & GOTSM is about Jem. GHOSTS OF THE SHADOW MARKET IS ABOUT JEM CARSTAIRS OF COURSE JEM IS GOING TO BE CENTRED 

i will say one thing is that, and this is me being a salty jem stan™ so feel free to ignore this section, but I’m so Done™ and Tired™ with the fandom making GOTSM about the other characters (especially Will) when it’s a story ABOUT and FOR Jem. About is journey as a Silent Brother, how he’s navigating life through it, and the losses he experiences a long the way. If you want to read GOTSM for the other characters read their respective stories. 

Jem deserves his own series focused on him. Jem stans are only lucky that we’re getting a novella series. We probably won’t ever get a(nother) trilogy or series like Tessa, Will & Tessa/their children, Emma, Clary, have/will get etc. So to make GOTSM about the other characters it just angers me. 

send me controversial or unpopular opinions and I’ll tell you if I agree or disagree 🐸 ☕️

#rant #tsc wank #tsc fandom wank #maybe i snapped #dorianheronduck #replies