#i’m praying this makes sense bc i’m genuinely so angry at how dumb this is

[thepictureofsdr]

let me set the scene for you. 

imagine youre in high school again. someone brings up a rumour about the leader of your country, whatever that position is called for you. you laugh, maybe tell a friend, and you move on bc thats literally what 15 year olds in society do, you make fun of removed rich priveleged politicians and move on. and then 5 years later, as you try to heal from your traumatic past and apologize, this group of kids not only refuse to forgive but actually actively antagonize you, not over you being a dick and telling the kid of the leader, but just because you, A TEENAGER IN SCHOOL, TALKED ABOUT A RUMOUR THAT EVERY OTHER PERSON IN YOUR SOCIETY WAS TALKING ABOUT. 

AND YET SOME PEOPLE EXPECT ME TO GIVE A FLYING FUCK THAT ALASTAIR SPREAD THE RUMOUR?????????????

like imagine you make a joke about donald trump cheating on his wife and 5 years later barron trumps cousin threatens to throw you in the mississippi river this is genuinely whats happening in this series. there is a genuine plot point centering on making a traumatized bullied child a villain for SPREADING A RUMOUR ABOUT FUCKING POLITICIANS IN SCHOOL THAT HE DIDNT EVEN START AM I GETTING MY POINT ACROSS HERE?

remember in shadowhunter society, charlotte and gideon and co. are all from old rich families who’ve held extensive power for years, they control a LOT of their society and keep to themselves, i wouldnt be surprised if there are like,,, middle and lower class equivalent shadowhunters who HATE these families. politicians get slandered all the time charlotte and gideon aren’t special or exempt its ridiculous to think that they wouldnt be talked about and theres no special reason why alastair wouldnt have been one of EVERYONE spreading the rumour, he doesnt know these people why should i expect him to care

yes alastair was an asshole for telling matthew the way he did (even if it was in response to matthew telling him his hair is ugly and his family hates him, alastair had his reasons to say it, but it was still cruel and we dont make excuses here, both boys were in the wrong) but the thieves are mad at alastair for spreading the rumour. hell they dont even know he was the one who told matthew, theyre just that mad over him saying dumb shit. like sweeties i promise you, your parent’s careers arent in jeopardy bc a STUDENT talked about a rumour in school literally no one else cares, it’s a problem when people in power catch wind of rumours like this. 

we only care about the rumour because we know these people personally. the only shadowhunter books to NOT mock government figures are these ones, because as a reader we are in the government system, we read through the pov of people whose families make up the clave. you know DAMN WELL if these books were from alastairs point of view with no TID and we went back to viewing the clave as cold and uncaring we’d be praising him for shitting on the government, like we have with every other main character. its normal for rumours to be spread about government figures, its normal for teenagers to gossip about things that at the end of the day are harmless to them, i know i dont lose any sleep worrying if my government officials are sad about the gossip that surrounds them, its to be expected in that position.

in conclusion i dont care about the rumour, alastair didnt personally slight charlotte or gideon, spreading rumours about random leader is normal and the one actually mean thing he did... well i’ve forgiven other characters for doing and saying a lot worse (looking at you lightwood “most hated men in london” brothers and will “tessa i only like you for your body” herondale)

#i’m praying this makes sense bc i’m genuinely so angry at how dumb this is #i’ve been sitting on this for weeks #chain of iron #chain of thorns #the last hours #tlh #chain of gold #the shadowhunter chronicles #alastair carstairs #tsc #the infernal devices #tid #charlotte fairchild #gideon lightwood #the merry thieves #thomas lightwood #christopher lightwood #james herondale #matthew fairchild #sdr hc #sdr essay