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fangirlfreak08 · 9 months

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Tlh characters/relationships and speak now (Taylor’s version) part two

Haunted

Anna. Anna being in love with Ari for years and using other women as a coping mechanism. Anna thinking her and Ari were together and then finding out about the engagement and feelings betrayed ‘i thought I had you figured out’

Also on a more literal note, Grace to kit (I’m sorry)

Last kiss

Ari and Anna. Like I hear your Grace and kit but no because they weren’t *technically* together when he y’know… HOWEVER anna and ari did literally kiss and then break up with next day and then spend like a year estranged. ‘So I’ll watch your life in pictures like I used to watch you sleep’ it’s giving Anna not letting herself get close to Ari until she’s dying.

Long live

Like all of them? But specifically the merry thieves. ‘And for a moment a band of thieves in ripped up jeans got to rule the world’ with them four being the perfect close knit group (OF LITERAL THEIVES) for YEARS. ‘If you have children someday please tell them my name’ with none of their children being able to meet kit but you know damn well they will know their uncle kit like they know the rest of their uncles. ALSO Emma and Julian literally pointing to their pictures and Tessa telling them their names?? ‘And the cynics were outraged’ with like half the adult population hating their guts

Ours

Lucie to Jesse. The song gives such innocent first love vibes as well as like a serious amount of ‘what the hell is going on’ from outsiders which in the context of the book, it just because Jesse’s like legit come back from the dead. But neither of them care because this love is theirs

Superman

Let’s be so for real rn it’s Thomas about Alastair. ‘Tall dark and beautiful’ like a Persian prince maybe? ‘He’s not at all bad like his reputation’ I mean COME ON Thomas defending him despite his rep because he knows him!

Electric touch

Purely for accuracy it’s lucie and Jesse. ‘This could either break my heart or bring it back to life’ AND SHE LITERALLY BRINGS HIM BACK TO LIFE?!?!! ‘Fill this ghost town up with life’ him being happy for the first time in years and dancing with her and everything while literally BEING A GHOST?!

Also metaphorically Thomastair both ways, for Alastair ‘bringing Thomas back to life’ by seeing through him after Barbara’s death or Thomas ‘bringing Alastair back to life’ by just loving him

When Emma falls in love

Lucie about Cordelia. So like Cordelia but from lucies pov. Cause Cordelia spent most of her childhood falling for James and being incredibly obvious and she’s a queen. And lucie just idolising her, I mean the gal wrote the whole beautiful Cordelia.

I can see you

It’s giving Thomas and Alastair like hanging out in paris and Charles never catching on, and them making out in the sanctuary and will walking in literally 30 seconds later and never knowing and Thomas being in love for years and his closest friends never working it out-but like mainly the sanctuary scene tbh

Castles crumbling

Either James or Matthew. Like James for the clave turning against him (and his entire family) after learning about Belial and Matthew for his whole world upending and him and James fighting and Cordelia realising he’s still drinking and hanging to tell his parents the truth.

Also everyone turning against Grace but no one really like her at first BUT ari being like ‘I can’t believe she lived in my house’

Also maybe Charles?? Like he had the support of the inquisitor, a fiancé, his family’s love, the claves respect and then he lost the family’s respect when he went against the herondales and lost the claves when he came out

Foolish one

Matthew, Thomas, Alastair, Cordelia-I could go on I mean it just fits

Matthew: First Lucie then Cordelia he has a thing for unrequited love and he knows it but he still hoped Cordelia would chose him and she didn’t

Thomas: the man was in love with Alastair for YEARS and had to watch him and Charles be in love for years without knowing the problems within their relationship (but he got his man so there’s that)

Alastair: hoped and hoped that Charles would chose him over his career just once but he never would and ‘I’ll get your longing glances but she’ll get you rings’ and Charles constantly getting engaged HOWEVER ‘the day is gonna come for your confessions of love’ and Thomas’ ‘Keli asheghetam. I love you let me love you’

Cordelia: I could literally copy and paste thomas bit and change the names man

Timeless

Thomas and alastair. They fell in love at the academy (fight me on this) and then again in paris and then again in London and they were vastly different people in all of these places and yet they still found each other. Also history repeats itself (a lightwood falling in love with someone everyone kinda warns them against without realising it and then professing their love in the others first language)

#Tlh #the last hours #chain of thorns #Alastair carstairs #Thomas lightwood #Cordelia carstairs #James herondale #lucie herondale #jesse blackthorn #grace blackthorn #matthew fairchild #charles fairchild #christopher lightwood

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princess-of-the-corner · 2 months

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The OG detective-who-isn't-a-cop, Sherlock Holmes, has several cases where he solved the mystery, then didn't turn in the culprit because he isn't law enforcement. And a couple where he couldn't because the culprit was dead by their own actions going awry.

One I remember is The Adventure of the Abbey Grange, where the murderer did so in defense of another. He happened to be visiting a lost love, and arrived just in time to find her husband strangling her. The culprit and widow attempted a cover-up using a band of notorious theives (who were out of the country at the time), and Holmes did point out all the clues to the inspector, but after an interview with the culprit Holmes and Watson both went "you did the right thing, go on your merry way."

Fair!

Honestly re: Wolfe the only reason she was written as a cop originally is because she was designed to be the homicide detective in TMOLR. She wasn't supposed to escape containment so I didn't really think of the bigger picture at the time.

Nowadays I think I'll retcon her into some sort of private detective. Which can still work and she does get involved in murder cases, but the murders wouldn't come directly to her unless either the cops haven't done shit or we pull some corpse magnet stuff. But yeah this opens her options up to not deal with cop shit

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sankta-wraith · 4 months

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The Merry Thieves Incorrect Quotes

James: A pessimist sees a dark tunnel.

Matthew: An optimist sees light at the end of the tunnel.

Thomas: A realist sees a freight train.

Christopher: The train driver sees three idiots standing on the tracks.

James: Those darn tall old people.

Matthew: Darn em' indeed.

Christopher: Don't worry, they'll be gone soon enough.

Thomas: * sharpening knife* Yes.Dead.

The Merry Theives: ...

Thomas: Hahaha.

Thomas: ...Is this self- destructive behaviour?

James: I am darkness. I am power. I am your worst nightmare. I could kill a man in more ways than you can imagine. I am the night. I am fury, I am a weapon, I am-

Thomas: A doll.

Christopher: A cinnamon roll.

Matthew: A sweetheart.

James:

James: ...stop it.

James: *Screams*

Matthew: * Screams louder to assert dominance*

Thomas: Should we do something?

Christopher, observing: No, I want to see who wins this.

#the merry thieves #christopher lightwood #thomas lightwood #james herondale #matthew fairchild #cassandra clare #the last hours

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woodworkjosie · 1 year

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Why would CC put Kit with James Abuser and get that HEA? That would’ve broken up the Merry Theives, did we not see James trauma reaction when he told his story?

the merry thieves were already broken up for so long and it shows in all the books. I said it.

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all-this-panic-still-no-disco · 1 year

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Hi Liza!! thank you for still posting the chapter!! i know it's a complicated time to be a student this month!!! anyway, i had a question for you! hope you can answer it! what does everyones (James, Cordelia, Matthew, etc...) know about their relationship? do they know that they were kinda together in uni? because now there is a video of them together in uni!! would they have questions? are they suspicious? did they already know or is it going to be a point of drama in the future?? thank you for your time and for giving us this fic!! now that there are no more SOBH posts, your fic is the only thing that's keeping me going until Chain of Thorns!!!! xoxo

no one knew about thomas and alastair’s relationship until the photos. not a SINGLE soul. crazy, i know, but if anna had known she’d have done something about it sooner, and same with ariadne. there is going to be a scene with the merry theives where thomas explains what they were in uni—the ‘cover story’ he’s going with is that they were friends with benefits until recently, when in reality they’re fake-dating for the case. plenty of people will have suspicions, especially ariadne, and she and anna will become more of involved in the story later.

#tsc #tlh #thomastair #alastair carstairs #the last hours #thomas lightwood #chain of thorns #chain of iron #chain of gold

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i-like-castles · 2 years

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some merry thieves memes for ya’ll

#the merry theives #the last hours #tlh #tlh meme #tlh incorrect quotes #tsc #tsc memes #tsc incorrect quotes

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ohcoolnice · 3 years

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Them >>>>>>>

#KSHSJSJSKSKSSHSKKSKDJD #PLS #THEYRE SO GORGEOUS #I LOVE THEM ALLLLLLL #THE MERRY THEIVES #OWN MY HEART #the last hours #chain of throns #chain of gold #chain of iron

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virgils-thundercloud · 4 years

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Lucie: if I fall...

Cordelia: I’ll catch you.

Will: if I fall...

Jem: I’ll fall with you.

James: if I fall...

Matthew: I’ll heal your bruises.

Jace: if I fall...

Alec: I’ll be the one who pushed you.

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originalwinnercheesecake · 3 years

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Chain of Iron theories: Who is the Killer

Its coming up on a week since last made a COI theory post. I said that I was going to try to post all my theories on COI BEFORE it comes out next month, so this posed a problem. So mow I am going to give my input on one of the biggest Mystery’s for COI, Who is the Killer? So in COI Belial will have a new minion who will target the shadowhunters, manages to kill 5 of them (same number Tatiana needed for the ritual) and is difficult for them to apprehend because they are somehow able to disappear. CC has left some hints that the killer is actually another Shadowhunter that Belial has somehow managed taken Possession of, despite protection rituals that should have been placed on this individual at birth ( My theory on that is that since this book is called “Chain of Iron” we will learn that Belial controls all his pawns with “chains of iron”. All hidden on their persons and glamored to look like ordinary accessories.) Our synapse for the book says that James Herondale has been having strange nightmares and fears he may actually be the killer. In COI he will start to tie himself up to sleep at night. We all know its not James right? In mysteries like this you always throw out your first guess/ the obvious guess. I have seen a lot of posts theorizing on who the true identity could be. I have seen some theories do not make much sense to me and some that were really good.

One theory that seems off to me is the idea that the killer is actually multiple killers, more specifically a collection of the survivors of Belial’s illness. If you support this theory I get your reasoning:Belial was able to briefly posses these people before, and the illness may have left biological changes in them. But here’s where I am confused, the killer is implied to be a massive threat wielding enhanced dark magic. At the end of COA there are 30something cured shadowhunters released from Silent City. CC says that the killers body count will be 5. If Belial has 30something new pawns that he can posses, gift his terrible powers to, and send out to prey on shadowhunters, I feel like there should be a lot more than 5 victims. I know Beial is not yet at full strength from battling Cortana, but he should at least be stronger than that. I have also heard theories that it is one of the Blackthorns. This also does not make much sense to me, given that for one thing none of them have training, Tatiana and Grace already have established rolls in Belial’s plans, and while I know Jesse is a part of Belial’s plan I believe his part will be save for COT after he has been resurrected. IF Belial were using Jesse’s empty body to walk the earth, then wouldn’t he also need to stop anyone from trying to resurrect Jesse?

I have heard many theories on Elias Carstairs being the killer. Many of them just want to make Elias out to be CC’s newest and most horrible monster parent, and absolve Alastair of any responsibility or need to apologize for the cruelty he has shown to our mains. If this is your reasoning for believing Elias is the killer than let me stop you right there. CC has written multiple series and her skills have evolved beyond the need to rely on such easy black and white tricks. But I also saw some people posting about how Elias goes home so late and stopped writing to his family. Some are theorizing that the real Elias Carstairs was intercepted and killed on his way back home and that the being that arrives in COI is actually an eidolon demon pretending to be Elias. This theory is AMAZING. It makes a lot of scenes, would give Belial another spy in a key place, and could potentially explain why Cortana starts acting so weird. I love this theory I do. I am just putting it t the side right now because I need the real Elias alive for other Carstairs family theories, and again have been working with the theory that the killer is a real shadowhunter whom Belial is controlling with another “chain of iron”. My theories are below.

1.) Lucie Herondale is the Killer

I am working with he theory that all Belial’s pawns have “chains of Iron” on them, which means all three blackthorns have them. In old art CC released of Grace she is seen wearing a pearl necklace that I was convinced had to be her’s. Tatiana’s (who probably consented to wearing hers) could be anything, maybe that stupid, creepy bird, she wears in her hat. Jesse... is mentioned several times to wear a locket.... that we know is connected to Belial.... and was weakened when he took it off to give to Lucie... who is wearing it now. Do you people see where I am going with this? It can also be noted that one of the parts of Lucie’s arc is that she is frequently overlooked in favor of James and how that is a mistake on peoples parts. Everybody knows that James has powers, he has had 4-5 years of people helping him figure out what they are and how to control them. Nobody but ghosts know that Lucie has powers, she has no training, and is only starting to understand what they mean. James is vulnerable but so is Lucie. I do not want her to be the killer. Lucie is such a fun character, and I was so happy to finally have a female Herondale play a role that was close in size to her male relative’s. I truly feel that Lucie deserves better than to be just a tragic character in the story. I want her to be that plus a hero, but I cannot deny that she is a possibility.

2.) Charles Fairchild is the Killer

I have seen Charles name appear on multiple lists of theory’s on the killer’s identity. People never really give reasons as to why they believe he is the killer. They are just mad at him for choosing to put his career higher on his list of priorities than his relationship with Alastair, or him being the killer would hurt less because he is not written to be a fan favorite. If you are someone who wants the killer to be Charles, but are unsure how likely it is your in luck. Because I can give you a whole list of reasons it is likely

Charles is already acting strange. We know he made some kinda screw up in Paris and had to come home. Apparently Charlotte is sending Tessa and Will to Paris to Start the fix up and Charles will go back afterwards. Well based on what we have gotten on Charles making a mistake like that is unlike him. Casting Long Shadow’s reveals that Charles has been working as a politician since he was 13 and is normally known for being very dependable and reliable. That’s part of the reason he is considered such a shoe-in for Counselor once his mother retires.??? I have theories on Charles mental state (which I will address in a later theory post that will be centered around the Fairchild’s) and do consider the possibility that he was sett off by fear over the outbreak or grief over losing Alastair... But this sudden change could be from other things as well

As of COG2 Charles is engaged to Grace Blackthorn, who controls him like a puppet. Grace herself is the puppet of Tatiana Blackthorn, who is the puppet of Belial. So Charles is now part of a very dangerous carnival. Charles decade of study and knowledge of clave politics at the top could be very useful to Belial in taking them down. Also previous short stories say that Charles spends most of his time in Idris for work and when in London usually stays at home going through law books and records. So I could easily believe he does not completely know his way around London and (like the killer is hinted to) would need to use a map to get around.

Now on to my biggest reason for theorizing Charles for the killer. Charles and Matthew’s relationship with each other. Charles and Matthew do not get along, like at all. They did once, but that was a real long time ago. A lot of the reasons they don’t get along is dumb sibling stuff: Charles calling Matthew an immature child, kicking him and his friends out of rooms in their house, and lording his increased age over Matthew. Matthew making more noise to annoy Charles, telling everyone Charles embarrassing middle name, and regularly sneaking into Charles room to steal his cologne instead of just buying his own. We are not hear to discuss any of that. All of that has me laughing because it is peak sibling rivalry. Rivalry aside Charles and Matthew model the old dynasty trope for Ssons with Charles being “the Heir” and Matthew being “the Spare”. The Heir’s life is decided for them as soon as they are born, they will succeed their parent and continue their legacy. The Spare is just that, a back up plan kept around should the heir die, become disabled, never marry, or turn out to be infertile (happens way more than people like to think about). Charles struggles with the weight of his parents expectations. Matthew is more or less the Black sheep of his family, living his life day by day with no grand plan. Because of this he is cut off from them in a way, and goes through a lot of loneliness and isolation in his own house. Neither brother see’s the others hard time; the other has what they themselves want: Charles has attention, Matthew freedom, so they wrongly assume the other must be doing fine. This is a lot like Matthew and James relationship in Dust and Shadows. Matthew and James talked things over with each other and were good after. Matthew and Charles stay apart and ignore each other when they cannot. They will not just talk and be good after. So maybe if put on different sides they will fight out their issues with each other? On the subject of Matthew having to fight Charles, lets say hypothetically Charles is the killer and is possessed. We know from previous books that clave protocol is to place a kill order on possessed members. If that becomes the case do you think Matthew would be able to follow through with those orders? Be able to hunt, fight, and kill his older brother? No. No matter how rough their relationship I doubt Matthew would ever be able to do that. It would be to much for him, to similar to his “sin”. He would want to catch Charles, then try to find a way to free him from possession. Maybe if Mathew could successfully accomplish this then maybe he could forgive himself for his “sin”. If Matthew tries to save him and fails than at least this time other people would know and could potentially get him some help.

3.) Filomena DI Angelo is the Killer.

Ahh our upcoming new arrival from Italy. Why are you coming to London girl? Haven’t you heard about all the crazy things that happens there last fall? What possible role could you play in the story that couldn’t be filled by one of our many already existing characters from COG2? (Do you even know your way around?) How suspicious that Filomena should show up around the same time as this killer? Wouldn’t it be great for the story if the killer came from a different country? Wouldn’t that do wonders for showing how powerful a threat Belial is? His dark influence stretching across country lines, maybe even across oceans! We have already been told that TLH characters will need to travel to other countries. How the villain is less one person and more a force. Filomena could start that. She could provide reason to search countries besides London for Belial’s influence. Proof of it being so wide spread would definitely make Belial feel more like a force. Oh but wait, cheesecake wait. Filomena cannot be the killer! That would make her evil, and CC said she was a nice girl! Oh I am sure Filomena is a nice girl, but people tend to change when under demon control. But she is a girl and the killer is hinted to be a male shadow hunter! Are we sure the killer isn’t presented as male because Belial is presented as male? Is it impossible that while on the hunt as the killer Filomena DI Angelo dress in men’s cloths in order to more safely move through the streets? I feel like we have saw that trick once before in TID.

All we really know about Filomena is that she came to London, will interact with some of our established characters, and she will get a crush on someone we know, thus presenting herself as a possible love interest. Matthew was my first guess, hey he was every bodies first guess. CC shut that down, Filomena is not being brought in to fix the love triangle between James, Cordeila, and Matthew. Matthew is one of the only ones to not have at a least semi-confirmed endgame ship. So this means that Filomena will probably not be endgame with her crush. Why? My next guess was her crush was on Anna. Ariadne is shown to be relentless in her attempts to “win Anna back” and Anna is not having it. Tweets time and time again depict her basically telling Ariadne “Its not going to happen. Give up and leave me alone”, but falling on deaf ears. So maybe Anna will try to get a new girlfriends and keep her around until she is ready to forgive/ go back to Ariadne. Well Anna is more a secondary character, a loving big sister figure to our mains. She gets less page time because of this. We already know she will spend time with Cordelia, Lucie, Ariadne, Eugenia, Thomas... not much page time left for Filomena. After further analyses I have theorized that Filomena must have a crush on Thomas.

A quick google search on the name Filomena shows that it is an Italian name that means “loving friend” “strong friend” and “lover of music” all these sound kinda like Thomas. (Filomena is also the name of a character in the 14th century Italian collection of short stories called the Decameron, who liked to make stories up about plagues... or so some digging around google told me ). This could fit quite nicely into Thomas’s story. First of all to everybody who has been calling Thomas “gay” please wait a moment to be sure. Thomas does not yet publicly or self identify as gay. He clearly has an attraction to one man, but CC says that he has not yet realized his sexuality and will spend TLH figuring out. He might be gay, but he could just as easily turn out to be bi or pan. For the sake of this theory lets assume Thomas is Bi. Thomstair is definitely endgame. We know Alastair is gay, and CC usually likes to pair gay characters up with bi characters in queer ships, see Malec and Heline. Should Thomas be bi, should he start to become close and develop feelings for Filomena, it will have to go wrong. More wrong than he considers his feelings for Alastair at the end of COG2 (Filomena do not hurt this boy, he has been through enough). We got a tweet that suggests Thomas is interested in the killer, and a hint that he is planing something big. We got a kinda frightening picture that suggests the Killer may be very interested in Thomas.

If Lucie is the killer she will somehow be freed from Belial’s control,. I can 100% guarantee it, Charles I feel will have a 50/50 chance, Filomena will die from it. It would be a herculean task to free her, and she is not important enough to the mains for them to actively try and do anything more than give her a merciful death. Should she and Thomas become close than it will break his heart. But if Alastair is there for him afterwards, able to emphasizes and offer him comfort that will go along way to redeeming Alastair to Thomas. The whole experience could be love is hard, both men and women have the ability to hurt you. but the right person will make it up to you and it is good to forgive them when they do. I personally think that would be a pretty cool direction for Thomas’s arc to take.

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hotdog-frenchfries · 4 years

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Tessa: What's James doing?

Christopher: Stuff.

Tessa: Where's Thomas?

Christopher: Stopping James from doing the stuff.

Tessa: And what's Matthew doing?

Christopher: Stopping Thomas from stopping James from doing the stuff.

Tessa: And what are you doing?

Christopher: Stopping you from stopping Matthew from stopping Thomas from stopping James from doing the stuff.

#tsc #tlh #incorrect quotes #incorrect tsc quotes #tsc incorrect quotes #incorrect tlh quotes #tlh incorrect quotes #the merry theives #james herondale #thomas lightwood #matthew fairchild #christopher lightwood #tessa gray #the shadowhunter chronicles #the last hours

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lefthandedgoldfinchh · 4 years

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**Chain of Gold Spoilers**

Cordelia’s sword, Cortana acting like Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir tho

#chain of gold #cassandra clare #james carstairs #james herondale #cordelia carstairs #anna lightwood #cortana #matthew fairchild #thomas lightwood #christopher lightwood #lucie herondale #jesse blackthorn #the merry theives #the beautiful cordelia #cruel prince james

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point-toxic · 3 years

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"Shed not for him the bitter tear Nor give the heart to vain regret; Tis but the casket that lies here, The gem that filled it sparkles yet."

-Chain of Gold (Matthew Fairchild)

#cordelia carstairs #matthew fairchild #books #quotes #love #book quotes #chain of gold #the merry theives

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lowkeywannakermit · 3 years

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crying bc alastair carstairs deserved better

#alastair carstairs #please #he was TRYING SO HARD #like i get why the merry theives were upset #but like #listen #don’t just hate him to hate him #i just want him to be happy #and gay #with thomas #thomas lightwood #thomastair #tlh #the last hours #shadowhunters #the shadowhunter chronicles

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bytheangell · 3 years

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"Christopher would starve if you didn't remind him to eat, and Thomas is so enormous he needs to be fed every few hours, like a captive tiger."

James Herondale, Chain of Iron

#listen I LOVE THE MERRY THEIVES SO MUCH #SO SO MUCH #their friendship is everything #the merry thieves #tsc #coi #chain of iron #chain of iron spoilers #coi spoilers #james herondale #christopher lightwood #thomas lightwood

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astriefer · 3 years

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Please have this messy, badly written scenario as a humble gift to you, because I wanted to do something since I reached 200 followers!

Bits of Truth

They stood in front of the Carstairs' townhouse in Cornwall Gardens. Christopher seemed mildly confused about what they were doing there as if he had not been paying attention. James shared one last glance with Thomas before he knocked on the door.

A few bits of silence flew by, in which they had held their breaths. Then footsteps tapped on the floor, and the door cracked open.

A wave of relief passed through James that not Sona nor Risa or any other maid came to open the door. Then he thought what a peculiar thought it was for him to be relieved by. Alastair looked at them, frozen in place, blinking a few times as if he didn't believe they were truly there. He rejoined his composure hastily. He didn't let them in - he stood in the front door and his eyes searched theirs for an explanation. It was like a weird staring contest. Eventually, Alastair spoke first. "Cordelia is not here. You know it fairly well."

He moved to close the door. "We haven't come for Cordelia," he said quickly, which received another incredulous glance from Alastair. "Well, we have. But not because we thought she'd show up here. We came to talk to you."

Alastair narrowed his eyes, expressionless, and considered James. Then he glanced at Christopher and Thomas, noting their desperate eyes. "About my sister?"

"We won't take long," promised James, despite he wasn't sure it's true. Alastair studied him, and James felt himself going rigid. He leveled Alastair with his indecipherable gaze.

Then Alastair had stepped back from the door and ushered them in. "My mother is in her bedroom, resting, and Risa went shopping for supper. So, you have to be quiet. Make it quick.'

~~~~

Alastair took their coats and tilted his head towered the parlor. A kettle whiselted in the kitchen. As he gestured them inside he turned the other way. A fire burned in the chimney, and a book rested peacefully on the armchair. When James examined closer he discovered it was written in Persian. Thomas mumbled something about Persian poetry.

Alastair came inside with a tray and James thought he was, for a change, being hospitable, but he ignored them and disappeared up the stairs. When he got back, empty-handed, James assumed the tea was for his mother. Alastair placed the book on the table as he sat down in front of them. Thomas and Christopher set on a love sofa and James set stoned on another armchair. He didn't waste time being the kind host, James presumed. "What it is about my sister?"

The golden-eyed boy decided the best tactic was started from what he knew. That wasn't much, but it was the most important thing, and he was certain about it, at the very least. "I love your sister."

Alastair raised his eyebrows, amused. "Yes, that's something that tends to happen between married couples, I've been told."

James shook his head. "This marriage, of Cordelia and I," just saying her name on his lips made a treacherous skip of his heartbeat, full of hurt and love. "It was a sham marriage."

Alastair pools of dark marble were fixed on James when he explained, rather awkwardly, the events that led to their marriage. And then events that led to Cordelia leaving the country. He prospected Alastair would be outraged, throw spears at them, maybe even recite some very angry poetry phrases in Persian. Instead, Alastair was very still for very long. When he did speak, the words weren't the James expected them to be. "I knew the marriage wasn't out of love," Alastair said calmly. "But I didn't expect you to tell all that rubbish."

James blinked. "It's the truth."

"Oh, I know," Alastair returned with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I doubt you would come up with such a ludicrous idea on your own, even if just to spite me. and I also know Cordelia wouldn't have slept with you unwedded, no matter how much she loved you."

All the thieves caught their breath when Alastair leaned forward, his month curving in an odd angle. "I also know being married to you was a wish she never thought would come true, and that you cared for her. You claimed her as yours and you defended her. It was good for Cordelia, and so I said nothing."

James snorted, although he hadn't found the conversation funny. Not the least. "I thought I loved Grace at that time. I felt bad when the thought of living with Cordelia was more appealing than I expected." The thought of Grace made his features harden. "And because of Grace, for years I've been blind. Manipulated. I lost my wife and Parabatai. She played with me like a doll; messed with my feelings, messed with my life. This is unforgivable."

He did not notice Christopher who tensed up and fixed his spectacles on his nose. "She did some bad things," he said, surprising them all. "But I don't think she's evil."

James furrowed his brow. "She's like a siren: beautiful and compelling, but going after her will only end in you being drowned."

"I see," Alastair said, turning back to James. "But why? Why did she do it?"

"Does it matter?" James asked. "She hurt so many people. She doesn't even deserve to apologize. It won't matter anyhow - the damage is done. After all she has done...sorry will never be enough. Nothing will."

"It matters," Alastair said. "Because you don't know her side of the tale. You don't know what she thinks. What she feels. You don't know if she had to do what she did."

He was tempted to say Grace has no feelings at all. "I believe I'm allowed to be angry."

"I do agree that what she had done to you is far above a jest or a play with hearts," there was a strange flame burning in the deep ponds of Alastair's dark eyes. "And you have no obligation to forgive her. But why not hear what she has to say? You are the one with the power. You know the truth. She can not affect you any longer."

James shook his head. "You don't know Grace," he said coldly, gravely. "She will try to use me. She will try and make me do as she wishes. I will not be a pawn in her game again. She controlled my life long enough."

Alastair glanced away, pondering over something. Thomas turned his head nervously between James and Alastair. For the first time since the beginning of their conversation, Thomas inquired, "Why do you insist James will hear her out?"

"You have no idea of her motives," Alastair retorted. "What she's done - she must know it's wrong. And she will have to live with this knowledge for the rest of her days. You are allowed to be angry, James, and rightfully so. But don't let it blind you. That you have been kept from certain kinds of evil doesn't mean everyone else had. You have no clue what led her to those decisions." Alastair looked distanced. James managed to guess he's not been talking only about Grace. "You should talk to her. You may not forgive her, but you deserve to understand, to know why to hear the plain truth. And you should let her mourn what she could have had and lost."

James wasn't sure he fully comprehended. "I wouldn't have loved her. Even without the bracelet issue - my heart belongs to Cordelia."

"What do you mean?" Christopher asked. "That not everyone had been kept from evil."

Alastair shrugged. "I met Tatiana Blackthorn only once. She's a madwoman. She doesn't seem like the kind of caring, kind mother to pet her daughter's shoulder. Besides, Grace seemed to be controlled by Tatiana, rather than working alone or alongside her."

"She took the love of my life away from me," James growled. "Nothing can atone for that."

"The love of your life is my sister," he reminded James. "I can hardly find the idea of her being heartbroken a good thing. And the one who caused this pain is not much liked, as well. But you shouldn't think that just because you would've done it otherwise, it was an option for her. You can't know what are the options in front of people. You can't know how they feel unless you talk to them. So talk to Grace, James. Then seek out my sister. If you love her like you claim you do, will you give up on her so easily?"

"No," James stood up, "I will not."

Alastair nodded. "why did you come and tell me about your little schemes? Why now?"

Now, after so much time of lying, why tell the truth? Why not keep it in its cage of delicately made lies?

James cut his gaze to the book on the table. Thomas answered instead in a quiet voice. "She is your sister. You must have been worried about her. We wanted to tell you because - because you deserve to know the truth and understand why things happened the way they did."

What Thomas did not say was what none of them wanted to admit. Cordelia ran away to Paris with Matthew. Even if she'll be back in only two weeks - they all were worried sick. James couldn't blame her, he was awful and blind. All of this was a mess. If she needed time to calm down in Paris, he couldn't deny it of her, even if he had a say in this choice.

Alastair studied Thomas, and James felt the half-Persian hadn't quite believed them. It was true - they needed his help in the future. But it was a start. "Anything else? A ghost friend? Another evil aunt?"

"No," Christopher affirmed.

"Good," Alastair said. James might have imagined it but he thought he saw Alastair sneak a glance at Thomas before standing up. "Now get out of my house. Risa will be here any minute."

~~~~

I- how?? Thank you so much, everyone!! 🙈 Thank you, you can't understand how much it means to me. 🥺

This is mind-blowing. Truly. For whatever reason you follow me, know that I love you <3

Tagging some of my mutuals, you are all wonderful and make my time here so much better (not all of them because my brain is all wonky, but I mean all of you): @kit-12 @littlx-songbxrd @pink-party-dino @shadowhuntertrash @gummybears-4u @itsdaughterofthemoon @mcrrythievcs @fictionally-fantastic @reyna-herondale I'll tag more but I don't want to bother anyone so... thank you!! I don't know what people find in my blog, but I am grateful, and I appreciate all of you endlessly.

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