#jamie bach | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

addisonstars · 6 months

Text

"jamie bach"

written for day 16 of october for @jegulus-microfic with the prompt "chilling"

343 words

He was sitting in the hospital room, looking at James sleeping. Except he wasn't sleeping peacefully, he was knocked out due to the drugs. He couldn’t believe the day's events. How James got knocked off his quidditch broom and ended up in this hospital. He was so scared for James, he was so worried for him. Madame Pomfrey said that James would be fine, but Regulus had his doubts.

The chilling truth dawned on Regulus, James could have been dead. Dead as in not alive, permanently unconscious, in the ground, six feet under. Reg tries not to think about the fact that the love of his life, the sun goddammit, could have been dead.

Throwing Madam Pomfrey's words out the window- she said he wasn't allowed to disturb James- he climbs into the bed with James. Sure, it may be a bit on the small side and they were pressed with Regulus’ chest pressed against James' back. He tried not to disturb James while getting comfortable, but it was inevitable.

James stirs, twisting around in Regulus’ arms. “Reg,” James breathes out.

Regulus smiles at his name being the first thing out of James' mouth after he woke up.

“Jamie,” Regulus responds, letting James know that he’s here. Regulus’ hands come up and under his shirt, rubbing soothing circles on his back. He feels the tension leave James’ body slowly. “How are you feeling,” he says, whispering.

“Like I want to die,” he chuckles with a sarcastic grin on his face. Realizing what he said, he fixes his statement; “More like I could sleep for a few more days, but a few more hours will have to do.” James closes his eyes, tired.

“Then sleep Jamie bach.” Regulus retracts his hands and James flips back around in arms, Regulus spooning James once more.

After Regulus is sure James has fallen back asleep, he tucks his head against James shoulder, letting the golden curls brush his face. He tilts his head up, allowing perfect access to his ear and whispers, “I love you,” to James.

sorry for my inactivity and this being a day late, life has thrown like 6 different curveballs at me haha

-a.s.

#james potter #regulus black #jegulus #regulus x james #james x regulus #jeggy #starchaser #sunseeker #hogwarts #jegulus fic #jegulus microfic #chilling #addisonstars #addisonstars mircofic tag

36 notes · View notes

vwritesaus · 5 months

Text

TSC WIP snippets pt. 2

pt. 1

as promised, here's pt. 2 of some more snippets from my wips—this time, from dear christopher and timeless!!! what i failed to mention in my last post is that yes, while i'm still writing, those chances to do so are few and far between bc work has seriously been kicking me in the arse :)

this is another long post, so all the goods hopefully are under the cut! hope you enjoy and please know that i appreciate your patience so much ♡

dear christopher

ch2:

‘Be quiet, the pair of you,’ Thomas hisses weakly. ‘You’re ridiculous—’ ‘But to be fair, Jamie, they need to be engaged first,’ Matthew tells his parabatai conversationally, as if he hasn’t just interrupted Thomas. ‘In which I fear Alastair will be the one to propose first lest our darling Thomas stammers himself into oblivion and hides behind a lady’s brise fan to save face!’ ‘That’s oddly specific, Math… and yet I can see it happening just as you describe,’ James muses while rubbing at his chin. ‘Alastair is sensible enough and good at keeping a neutral expression—and he’ll be able to keep calm should Thomas start crying in pure joy.’ ‘You’re awful!’ Thomas exclaims. He’s now utterly certain his face no longer resembles an apple, but rather a beetroot. ‘Both of you—absolutely awful!’ Undeterred by the insults, Matthew gazes seriously at Thomas.‘I’ll be honest with you, Tom,’ he says. ‘It still baffles me how the whole situation between you two occurred, but… oh, you silly sod, I’m happy for you.’ Thomas smiles shyly. ‘Thank you.’ ‘Even Alastair?’ James pipes up. Matthew scowls, though there is no heat behind it. ‘Yes, yes, even Carstairs,’ he moans, ‘the little bastard.’ ‘Hang on, easy,’ James says, ‘that’s Thomas’s future husband you’re slandering.’ ‘James!’ Thomas protests. ‘Stop it!’ ‘I shan’t, because the thought alone makes you happy, doesn’t it? And besides,’ James adds in a murmur, ‘we could all do with some happiness.’

ch3:

‘Whoever decides to be the owner of your heart, Thomas,’ Eugenia whispers, her tone serious, ‘I hope they’ll make you the happiest man alive.’ ‘A wish I also hold for you,’ Thomas tells her earnestly, ‘and not of the likes as those of Augustus bloody Pounceby. You deserve better.’ ‘Augustus was a moment of weakness. I know better than to seek out rats like him,’ Eugenia says heatedly, and then sighs. ‘I never thought he’d do such a thing—but then, I suppose, I have been wrong before. I should have seen it coming, really.’ ‘None of that was your fault, Genia. Don’t ever think that. He’s a smarmy little so-and-so with an ego, and if he ever comes within five feet of you, I’ll do what James did and throw him into the Thames.’ Despite the serious mood, Eugenia cackles heartily. ‘I don’t doubt that in the slightest, Tom.’ She sniffs loudly and adds with utmost seriousness, ‘But you needn’t worry, for I will not step out with another man for as long as I shall live. I’ll cater to my many cats once I acquire them, and will bother you and your beau until we’re all old and grey.’ ... ‘Tell me, mijo,’ Gideon starts. ‘How are you?’ Thomas cannot help the soft snort that leaves him. ‘Dear Papa, I hope this is not an attempt at small talk,’ he says cheekily. ‘You do know how I cannot partake in it, nor can you.’ Gideon laughs and shakes his head. ‘Not as such. I would say it’s more of an initiation into a deeper topic of conversation.’

ch4:

‘Thomas,’ she gasps. ‘Bach, I need Gabriel. I need—please—’ He doesn’t hesitate, getting to his feet in a rather ungainly fashion, and launches himself at the door frame. He yells for his uncle, propriety be damned, and doesn’t stop until he hears hurrying footsteps coming up the stairs. Gabriel flies into the room not even a minute later, his hair a mess and his eyes round in concern. His gaze glides to Thomas, alight with confusion, and Thomas merely glances over at Cecily by way of an explanation. It seems to be enough for he hears his uncle suck in a sharp breath and the softest rendition of his wife’s name passes his lips. At the sound, Cecily turns her head, and chokes back a sob when she sees her husband. She holds her arms out to him beseechingly, begging to be held, and her cheeks are streaked with fast-falling tears. ‘Gabriel… cariad—’ The rest of the sentence is pure Welsh, too fast and broken and indistinct for Thomas to understand a single phrase.

ch5:

‘Has anyone told you that you are perhaps a little too kind?’ ‘Only every third day,’ Thomas jests dryly, and Grace’s lips curve upwards a touch at that. His voice turns serious then, quiet, contemplative. ‘Look, I’m not here to fight, and I don’t want to fight. I’m not here to forgive you, either. That’s not my place. But today we remember Christopher. We… we tell him goodbye, and we do that together.’ There’s a moment’s pause in which they simply look at each other. Wind blows between them, ruffling the edges of Thomas’s coat and the hem of Grace’s dress. Smoke continues to curl from the stubby remains of the pyre, wispy and faint, like the aftermath of one of Christopher’s former explosions. ‘Together…’ Grace echoes softly. A single tear rolls down her cheek. She makes no move to wipe it away, much to Thomas’s surprise. After a second, Grace draws in a shuddering breath and lets it out slowly. ‘Thank you for the invitation,’ she says politely—a picture-perfect image of a well brought-up young lady; a very small piece of Thomas pangs in sympathy at that thought. ‘I accept it… for Christopher.’ Thomas nods. ‘For Christopher,’ he agrees.

timeless

ch2:

‘He’s… attractive, sure,’ she finishes lamely, ‘but to be fair, I don’t even know him!’ Alastair tacks on immediately. ‘Just attractive?’ Hating the evil edge to his smirk, Cordelia scowls. Prick! She sniffs. Two can play at that game. ‘What do you want me to say?’ Raising her voice to a higher, mocking pitch, she cries, ‘“Oh my god, he’s sooo hot, I wanna throw him against the wall and have my way with him”?’ Alastair’s face twists in displeasure. ‘Ew, no.’ ‘Then what?’ ‘All I’m saying is people have gone straight to Base Two without exchanging names,’ he declares matter-of-factly. ‘So you not even knowing him is a rather redundant argument you’re making for your defence.’ Cordelia gawks at him. ‘What, are you saying you and Charles…?’ ‘Absolutely not,’ Alastair rebuts. ‘I learnt his name first. I’m just saying that it happens. Therefore…’ He waves his hand in a way that says, rather bluntly, my previous statement still applies. … ‘He’s so funny,’ Cordelia says through a chuckle. ‘He was funny when I met him in person, too.’ ‘He can be, yeah,’ Lucie agrees with a good roll of her eyes. ‘But good god, he can be a moody, surly bastard sometimes. I’m telling you, Daisy, you’re lucky you’ve met him now. You did not want to know him two years ago.’ Cordelia’s expression turns startled. ‘Oh? Why do you say that?’ Lucie opens her mouth to answer but then quickly closes it. It’s not exactly her story to tell, let alone to someone James has only properly met once. But it’s not as though it’s a state secret… Everyone knows what happened and who James had been on the wrong side of sixteen… but even so… ‘You don’t have to tell me why,’ Cordelia says, drawing Lucie out of her own head. Clearly the conflict is bright as day on Lucie’s face. ‘No, it’s alright.’ Chewing on her bottom lip for a second, Lucie sighs and reveals in a low voice, ‘I won’t go into too much detail, but James had his heart broken really badly in high school. After that, he had a nasty streak. He went wild, and none of us knew what to do. It got so bad even Matthew threatened to stop being friends with him if he didn’t get his shit together, and they’ve been friends since we were all kids.’ ‘Oh, my god?’ ‘Hm… though to be fair, Matthew wasn’t much better. He kept getting into trouble with the teachers because of this and that. But in a way, I’m grateful to them both.’ She reaches across the table and grips Cordelia’s hand tightly. ‘Because if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have had the need to bury my nose in my books or the internet to take a mental break, and I certainly would not have gotten the chance to meet you.’ … Matthew purses his lips at the less than courteous message, thinking of all the possible responses he can send to preserve his honour so James doesn’t have to, as he has done many times before. But they all fly out of his head when both of Mina’s hands land on his calf with a loud smack. She smiles gummily up at him, and his heart melts at the sight. ‘Does Mina wanna go on an adventure?’ he asks her, already picking her up and pressing her close to his chest. His phone lays forgotten on the floor. ‘But how shall we get there? Hmm… Oh! I know. Are you ready?’ Mina blinks and then raucous, contagious giggles escape her as Matthew—holding her by her middle with both hands—directs her through the air as if she’s an aeroplane while making engine noises. Somewhere behind him, James laughs wholeheartedly and cries, ‘Up and away we go!’ The three of them fly through the Herondale-Carstairs household, James and Matthew providing commentary on all the fascinating sights to Pilot Mina, and Mina’s giggles become louder and louder. Mediocre dates, be damned.

tagging people who might be interested: @drunkonimagination @astriefer @ibrushmyteeth-donttellanyone @cant-think-of-anything @alastaircarstairsismybff @what-ho-christopher-put-in

let me know if you’d like to be added to or removed from the tag list!!

25 notes · View notes

alastairstom · 5 months

Note

Prompt: wessa, one of those fics where it's like their first Christmas with kids or with younger children because i think those are cool and from what I've seen you write the family dynamic very well

I'm going with younger children because Baby James >>>

"Stockings!" James Herondale, age three, cried as soon as he sprung out of bed on Christmas morning. Tessa chuckled as he bounded toward the fireplace and ripped the sock that Charlotte had knitted for him. A giant J set it apart from little Lucie's stocking, though she was far too young to truly appreciate the magic of the holidays.

"Did you know," Will told James in a grave tone, "that if you run too quickly through the house, pixies are likely to arrive next year and steal all of your gifts before you arise? They're an impish lot."

James glared daggers at Will as though he understood every word, and Tessa stifled a louder laugh. The expression was far too grave on his tiny face, and his eyes were far too wide for the serious expression that he was attempting. "Presents," he said insistently, and Will padded over in his slippers and ruffled Jamie's hair.

Tessa watched her little son reach into the stocking. The fabric moved as his chubby arm rifled through the tinsel that she had stuffed inside to create a magical sort of holiday ambiance.

Will plopped down beside him on the ground and winked. "Do you require assistance, cariad?

James gave him a blank look.

"You must utilize a more easily-comprehensible vernacular, William," Tessa said pointedly. Will's eyes shone in amusement.

"Do you need help?" Will tried again.

"Help," James agreed, handing the stocking off to Will.

"Very good," Will said. "Here's how it's done." He flipped the stocking over unceremoniously, and all of its contents fell on the floor beside James.

The young boy smiled up at his father widely, bringing the orange, plush goat, and picture book that had fallen out toward himself. He then picked up a handful of tinsel and tossed it at Will. Silver and red shreds stuck to his unruly hair, and Tessa willed herself to capture the moment in her mind forever as Will halfheartedly began to pick it out and throw it back onto James's lap. "Merry Christmas, Jamie bach," he said, and Tessa's heart warmed.

#wessa #will herondale #tessa gray #james herondale #drabble #winter drabbles

27 notes · View notes

imherongraystairstrash · 1 year

Text

Home is where the heart is (wessa family)

I know! It's been a while (to say the least) but I *finally* present a fic for all of you who are still reading them! If you haven't realized, I'm having a lot of trouble writing fics I actually like, and so I haven't been posting much. But, I shall not burden you with anymore boring this about my life, so here's the fic (that I didn't proof read, so please don't come at me):

...

Tessa was pacing nervously across the institute halls, her mind running at a million miles per hour. Thoughts came and went in a flurry; she couldn’t seem to calm them no matter how hard she tried. So, for the past four hours (yes, four hours), she’d been unable to do anything but worry.

She couldn’t read, she couldn’t sew, she couldn’t train. She’d tried organizing her things, only to get more stressed, and make a mess of her already tidy things.

Finally she had desisted from trying to do anything useful and had let herself worry. She had assumed that after a while she’d run out of things to worry about. What she hadn’t taken into account, however, was that her brain would simply go in circles, thinking about the same things over and over again like a broken record player.

Will, who must have suspected his wife’s tendencies after years of marriage, had put his hands on both of her shoulders and looked into her eyes, telling her to not worry and kissed her forehead before reluctantly leaving her to go to Idris.

Tessa had promised him she wouldn’t and though she didn’t mean to break his promise, the second he left, worries invaded her mind and refused to leave.

She had only managed to make a cake in the time Will had left. After leaving it on the cooling rack, she would check on it every twenty minutes until Bridget got tired of her popping into the kitchen so much and prohibited her from coming in until it was teatime.

Tessa suddenly felt the urge to check on the cake, almost going against Bridget’s orders when she heard the front door of the institute open.

“We’re home,” Will said cheerfully.

Tessa ceased her pacing and rushed to the staircase to see both Will and James standing by the door. James had been bent down, fixing a latch on his truck, before she looked up and saw his mother. Tessa’s heart skipped a beat and she stood frozen for a split second before she quickly went down the staircase, clutching the banister as she descended.

James smiled weakly at her and she came down. When she reached the final steps, she practically jumped them and threw her arms around her son. She held him against her, caressing his hair and rubbing his back lovingly.

“Oh Jamie bach,” She said, “How I missed you.”

“I missed you as well, Mam,” James said, rather muffled, since he had his face pressed to her shoulder.

“You didn’t deserve it,” She whispered in his ear, so only he could hear it. “You didn’t deserve to suffer like that.”

“Neither did you,” he said softly.

Tessa pulled away. “Why didn’t you tell us something was wrong the second it happened?”

“I didn’t want you to worry,”

“We are your parents,” she said exasperatedly, “it’s not your job to shoulder every burden that comes your way, Jamie. That’s what we are here for, and if you face a problem, you tell us. I thought you knew that.”

James looked down, “I just didn’t want your feelings hurt.”

Tessa leaned down and looked into his eyes. “It hurts me more to know that you felt you had to suffer to spare my feelings. Promise me you will never do that again, Jamie. Please.”

James nodded quickly, not quite able to look her in the eyes. Tessa looked at him a second longer before crushing him into another hug.

“Jamie! I hate to admit that I missed you, but it has been truly dull with only Mam and Papa here to keep me company.” Lucie said, hopping down the stairs.

James only grinned at her.

////

The Herondales were finally reunited. Currently, they were enjoying each other's company in the parlor, where they frequently spent time together. Though the remaining Herondales had maintained their tradition since James’ time away, it wasn’t quite the same. Now that James was back, however, the evenings spent together seemed just like they were before.

Will had decided to sit on the floor (for reasons that are unknown) by Tessa’s legs. Lucie, always willing to accompany her father, sat beside him, resting her head on his shoulder and she read alongside him. Tessa stroked James’ hair from where he was laying on her lap. His eyes were closed and his facial expression serene.

Will was enthusiastically reading out loud from a book when Lucie sighed dramatically.

“Can we skip this scene?” she asked, “It’s incredibly dull.”

Will sputtered, “Skip this part? Lulu, have you gone mad? How are we going to simply skip a scene out of a Shakespearean play?”

“By flipping the pages until you see the next scene.” Lucie said, rolled her eyes.

Will’s eyes widened as he stared at her. “Take that back, Lulu.”

“I will not.”

“Lucinda,”

“Lucinda?!” Lucie said. “Since when is my full name Lucinda?”

“Since I realized that ‘Lucie’ doesn’t sound intimidating enough.”

“Should’ve thought about that before naming me.”

“Can you two stop bickering?” Tessa said, exasperatedly, “Jamie just came back and this is how you act? Can’t you be civilized?”

“James understands the dire situation we are in, don’t you Jamie?” Will said.

James smiled, clearly amused.

“Just skip the scene, Will. Lucie’s right, it is terribly boring.” Tessa said.

“Thank you!” Lucie said, at the same time that Will gasped.

“I guess now we know where Lucie gets her disgraceful opinions about literature from.” Will said. “James?”

“Sorry Papa,” James said.

“No!”

“It doesn’t contribute anything to the plot.” James argued.

“Is that so?” Will said. “Then why did Shakespeare write it?”

“Lack of editors?” Tessa said.

“He was intoxicated?” James added.

“Mid-life crisis,” Lucie concluded.

Will looked at his family in shock. “My own family horrifies me.” He turned back around slowly.

Tessa nudged the back of Will's head playfully. She looked back down at James and saw him smiling softly with his eyes closed. Tessa’s expression softened; how could anyone be cruel to her sweet, soft-spoken Jamie? He had always been even tempered, kind and eager to help those around him. He was so sweet, it didn’t make sense as to how someone could treat him any way that wasn’t kind.

Tessa had desperately wanted James to have a wonderful time at the academy. Both she and Will would spend hours thinking about how James might be faring. Of course, they had faith that James wouldn’t be completely alone, as they were certain the Lightwood boys and Matthew Fairchild would be friendly towards him. But, they also knew that James was so incredibly different from the other boys his age, and they weren’t blind to the fact that a number of shadowhunters thought his golden eyes weren’t “natural”.

As they were parents that only wished the best for their child, they were worried; of course they’d be. But neither of them could have imagined in their wildest dreams that James would inherit powers. Nor could they have imagined that they would appear in the most inconvenient time possible. James’ situation was vastly different from Tessa’s, since Tessa’s powers had never manifested on their own. Not only that, but Tessa didn’t even have access to her power until she was sixteen, while James was still only fourteen (practically a baby, in Tessa’s eyes). It was safe to say that Will and Tessa were more than worried upon hearing about James’ situation.

Now Tessa looked down at James, relieved he was here, safe from scrutiny of those with little empathy. She planted a kiss on his forehead. James opened his gold-colored eyes and shared a smile with her.

/////

Tagging (I really hope the links are workingg): @tsccreatorsnet @atla-lok143 @rinadragomir @youngreckless @autumnangel20 @julemmaes @cupcakesandkittens @no-scones-allowed @ninacarstairss @stxr-thxif @icouldnotask @jordeliasupremacy @cordelia-cardale @will-effing-herondale @axoloteca @heronstairs2014 @ilovemanicures @ti-bae-rius @alastair-esfandiyar-carstairs1 @readersconfessions812 @nightshade3465 @livvyheronstairs @zemiraa @proudtobealuthor @neurogliadudette @theenchanteddreamer @cheeseandmacarons @shadowhunting-hoolingans @writeordie-4 @amchara @myangelbach @livingformyself @dancing-under-the-moon @julescarstairs @wouldyouknowmeblind @grace-lightwoodd @livingformyself @ilikebooksandtvshows

#james herondale #tessa herondale #tessa gray #will herondale #lucie herondale #tsc #the shadowhunter chronicles #tlh #tid #tsc fanfic #ana fics

32 notes · View notes

heronchild-haven · 1 year

Text

James was still pushing against him, stiff-armed, but his movements were slower now, his chest no longer heaving. „Matthew,“ he whispered. „Matthew, is that you?“

„Jamie bach.“ Matthew dug his fingers into James‘ shoulders.

„It’s me. Look at me. Wake up.“

#daily heronchild quotes #coi chapter 17 #heronchild #james herondale #matthew fairchild #james x matthew #parabatai #matthew x james #chain of iron

28 notes · View notes

cyazurai · 11 months

Text

#i love polls

8 notes · View notes

heronchildlove · 1 year

Note

Hello! I was wondering if you could write a Jamie and Matthew one where Math shows up at his room completely wasted and James just holds him as he cries? It would be based after Chain of Gold

James knew, before the door had even opened, that he was coming.

He could feel it, in the pull behind his ribs, in the knot in his throat, in the achines in his soul. The whirlwind of feelings that were too messy and too tangled for him to decipher but that knocked the air out of him like a punch to the stomach. Such were the whims of alcohol and such were the whims of Matthew's moods: most of the times his emotions were muted and dull, no cracks in his armour, but eventually one glass too many or the wrong mindset would send him directly to the other end of the scale, feeling everything at once, intensely and heartbreakingly.

Tonight was one of those nights.

The door opened and closed without a sound, and the corner of James' bed dipped. He turned and shifted, body taking on a shape ingrained by familiarity. They had shared many nights sleeping on the same bed growing up, exhausted after training, chatting in the dark until the moon was high on the sky and they just slept as they were, the separate rooms and beds their parents used to make for their sleepovers always untouched.

Matthew never used to cry back then. He used to say he had everything he wanted now, so he had no need to cry like he had done that day at the Academy.

Now, he only climbed on James' bed when he was crying.

His arms went around Matthew, holding him close, rubbing his back with his hands. He tried to wait out the storm, to calm Matthew down by being calm himself, it usually worked, but not tonight. No matter what he did, the rolling of thunder and storm inside Matthew only seemed to get worse, tears turning into sobs until the front of James' night shirt was soaked, and he had to blink fast to keep from crying himself, if from a mirror of Matthew's feeling or just out of sheer despair at seeing the other like this he couldn't tell.

"Math... Mathew bach, what happened? What's wrong? Please talk to me, let me help."

Matthew jerked and his fingers clung tight to James' back for a moment. "The monster wants to come out, but I don't want it. I won't let it. It's over, this is the last time. It's over. Over."

For a moment, he felt like he could make out the shape of Matthew's feelings, lined on a canvas, but the veil was deep and the picture was unclear. Was that loneliness? Shame? A splash of abandonment? Envy? It shouldn't be so hard to tell, it shouldn't. He knew that if only he could see, he would be able to help. But James' soul was covered in silver, and Matthew's soul clung to sanity by a thread. He couldn't find the words he needed, and the moment passed; the whirlwind took over again, Matthew's feelings scattered in the breeze, drowning again.

He kept crying, and crying, and although James held him, he couldn't think of anything to say.

#heronchild #james herondale #matthew fairchild #the last hours #tlh #tsc #the shadowhunter chronicles #chog #cog2 #chain of gold #fanficiton #nandawrites #original #mine

15 notes · View notes

brookstonalmanac · 5 months

Text

Birthdays 11.22

Beer Birthdays

John Palmer (1963)

Eric Alan Clarke Sørensen (1964)

Brett Joyce (1972)

Five Favorite Birthdays

Benjamin Britten; English composer (1913)

Rodney Dangerfield; comedian (1921)

Terry Gilliam; animator, film director (1940)

Scarlet Johansson; actor (1984)

Robin Hood; fictional character (1422)

Famous Birthdays

Abigail Adams; first lady of John Adams (1744)

Wilhelm Friedmann Bach; German composer (1710)

Kristara Barrington; porn actor (1965)

Boris Becker; tennis player (1967)

Hoagland "Hoagy" Carmichael; songwriter (1899)

Tom Conti; British actor (1941)

Thomas Cook; British travel entrepreneur (1808)

Jamie Lee Curtis; actor (1958)

Robert Cavelier de La Salle; explorer (1643)

John Nance Garner; politician, 32nd US VP (1868)

Charles De Gaulle; French politician, opportunist (1890)

George Eliot; writer (1819)

Andre Gide; French writer (1869)

Mariel Hemingway; actor (1961)

Arthur Hiller; film director (1923)

Andrew Huxley; English biophysicist, physiologist (1917)

Arthur Jones; Nautilus exercise machine inventor (1926)

Billie Jean King; tennis player (1943)

Geraldine Page; actor (1924)

Wiley Post; aviator (1898)

Mark Ruffalo; actor (1967)

Roger L. Simon; writer (1943)

Roy Thomas; comic book writer (1940)

Steve Van Zandt; rock guitarist (1950)

Robert Vaughn; actor (1932)

Tina Weymouth; rock bassist (1950)

Jesse Colin Young; rock singer (1941)

#Birthdays

2 notes · View notes

adamwatchesmovies · 1 year

Text

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)

When you call a film a Frankenstein’s Monster, the assumption is that you've stitched together pieces of different properties to make a new thing. That doesn’t quite work with The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. If it were merely Vampire Academy (which is part Twilight) plus Harry Potter, it would have two legs, two arms and a single head. This movie is more like a teleportation accident. All the arms, legs, and heads are still there, creating a would-be franchise starter so unoriginal you can keep yourself entertained by predicting what’s coming next.

Teenaged Clary Fray (Lily Collins) worries her mother, Jocelyn (Lena Headey), when she begins drawing a strange symbol. Soon, Clary begins seeing things and people no one else can, which is when she’s introduced to the world of “Shadowhunters”. “Mundanes” cannot see them, but demons live among us. The Shadowhunters are half-human half-angel warriors who hold the forces of evil back. When the villainous Magnus Bane (Godfrey Gao) kidnaps her mother, Clary and her best friend Simon (Robert Sheehan) join Jace Wayland (Jamie Campbell) to help. Hopefully Jocelyn' abduction does not mean the Mortal Cup (one of three Mortal Instruments given to the first Shadowhunter by the angel Raziel) has fallen into the wrong hands.

The more YA novel adaptations I see, the more credit I must give to the original Twilight film. Both it and the Harry Potter series started off small, building up their love plots and world-shaking final battles. The imitators make the mistake of introducing so much in the first chapter you can hardly keep track of what’s happening. This world has angels, demons, witches, vampires and werewolves… all living among us and right under our noses. There’s the obligatory love triangle between Lily, her creepy best friend who pines for her (seriously, Simon is totally a proto incel) and the hunky, dangerous, tattoo-clad supernatural warrior who doesn’t want anything to do with the girl but can’t stay away from her. There are prophecies, magic tattoos, betrayals, revelations and so much going on this feels like two or three movies crammed into one. Well, in many ways, it is. If you haven’t seen The Maze Runner, Divergent, The Host, Eragon, Red Riding Hood, Beastly and so many others, this plot may seem novel but to the rest of us, this is a parade that makes you wonder “what’s next?!” in the worst way. Just wait until the part where they talk about Sebastian Bach. It’s so loopy I almost say it’s worth seeing this movie for it alone.

Part of what makes The City of Bones so entertaining is that it keeps finding new ways to be bad. Overall, the special effects are fine for a mid-budget production but note the way the afore-mentioned werewolves never transform on-screen because… you know, that would be expensive. As you watch and wait for the titular City of Bones to appear, keep your expectations low because the sanctuary is so unimportant it should’ve been omitted entirely. The romantic love plot is the middle of much bigger things will either infuriate you, or cause you to slip into uncontrollable laughter. I know these are teens with raging hormones but come on people. The peril outside is so much bigger than who’s kissing who! I know this is supposed to be wish-fulfilment for teenage girls. It's just that Clary makes so many wrong decisions and causes so many problems it’s a little embarrassing to watch.

Despite everything, I’m disappointed this picture never got the sequel it so desperately wanted. They drop a bomb towards the end. I want it resolved so desperately I’d sit through at least 2 to 3 more of these just to see it resolved. It’s another thing to make fun of. This is the embodiment of teenage angst in the middle of much bigger things, which means I had a great time watching The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. (August 30, 2019)

2 notes · View notes