#tscs crit
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I am so ?????????
Finally watched the episode! UM. What in the fuck??? What?? The fuck??? Um???? I cannot really put into words the feeling I am having but I have a great emoji for it! 🤨🤨🤨
That's the vibe, lads.
So the Council. Ho boy. WOW. Allow me to just go OFF for a moment here :) :) :)
THEY CANNOT INTERFERE? THEY WILL NOT INTERFERE? HELLO?????
THE SAME COUNCIL THAT WAS SO KIND AND SUPPORTIVE TO SANTA DURING TSC2.
WITH THE TOOTH FAIRY WHO GAVE HIM A LIFT BACK NORTH.
MOTHER NATURE LITERALLY MARRYING SCOTT AND CAROL AT THE VERY LAST MOMENT.
OFFERING TO HELP SANTA MAKE UP THE DIFFERENCE WHEN THEY WERE BEHIND OR WHATEVER IN TSC2
THE COUNCIL THAT WAS LIKE "NO YOU CAN'T STOP BEING SANTA UR SO GOOD AT IT!"
THE SAME COUNCIL THAT CHARLIE WAS ABLE TO CALL UP ON CHRISTMAS EVEN FOR SOME EXTRA HELP? NO QUESTIONS ASKED>?
WOULD NOT HELP THE ELVES WITH MAD SANTA????
SO LA BEFANA, WHO WAS APPARENTLY ALSO A LEGENDARY FIGURE TOO (which is giving age old fanfics vibes lmao, not sure that's a good thing???? more at 10) HAD TO DO A ROBBERY? BECAUSE THEY WOULDN'T HELP?? BECAUSE THEY APPARENTLY CAN'T INTERFERE?????
WHEN THEY DO INTERFERE A LOT? SEE: THE ENTIRETY OF TSC3 WHERE THEY HAVE A MEETING BC OF SOME CARDBOARD STANDEES AND BAD WEATHER????? AND YOU ARE TELLING ME. THAT THEY WILL NOT INTERFERE WITH:
MAD SANTA ATTACKING THE POLE
EASTER BUNNY BEING TURNED INTO A BUNNY AND THEN A LEMON
EASTER BUNNY'S BASKET BEING STOLEN
EASTER BUNNY BEING KIDNAPPED
CRAZY AMOUNTS OF SANTA MAGIC ALL UNACCOUNTED FOR IN THE R E A L WORLD?????
SANDMAN MAGIC BEING USED ON SANDMAN?
BILLIONS OF SNOW GLOBES FILLED WITH CHRISTMAS MAGIC POPPING INTO THE REAL WORLD AND BEING GIFTED TO HUMANS?
THE WHOLE SIMON THING LAST SEASON?????
THEY WOULD NOT INTERFERE??? WHAT IN THE FUCK!!!!! It's funny, because like. When I was rage fic-ing post S1, I was thinking that the Council, given Scott being...SCOTT, had stopped talking to him as much bc tscs!Scott sucks so bad!! He 100% would've made comments that deffs did not sit well with ANY of the other Council Members, I mean, look at how he treated Cupid and Sandy! I'd hate to be on THAT Council during Covid, YIKES.
But like. GOD. @lmelodie you were SO RIGHT about Council stans being pissed bc I am MAD PISSED. ALSO, JUST LEARNT THAT I AM APPARENTLY A V BIG COUNCIL STAN!! (Checks out I suppose given my fic writing and reading habits, lol).
It's just so MADDENING and INFURIATING and SADDENING, IT'S ACTUALLY REALLY REALLY SAD TO SEE THAT T H I S IS HOW THEY'RE REACTING TO NOT BEING ABLE TO GET ALL THE COUNCIL MEMBERS BACK. Like, GOD, if you're unable to properly use them in the story JUST DON'T USE THEM AT ALL. I am once again REJOICING that the Millers have been left untouched, thank GOD for that!
AND ANOTHER THING (took a kitchen cleaning break and got all annoyed about loopholes). IF RESIGNING AS A LEGENDARY FIGURE ALLOWS YOUR POWERS TO WORK ON OTHERS, WHY WOULD THEY THREATEN JACK WITH THAT IN THE THIRD MOVIE? WOULDN'T YOU WANT HIM TO KEEP HIS TITLE SO THAT HIS POWERS WOULDN'T WORK ON THE REST OF YOU, INCLUDING SANTA?!?!?!?!?! THIS SHIT DOESN'T LINE UP! IT DOESN'T! LINE! UP! MY GOD! THIS SERIES IS MY VILLAIN ORIGIN STORY! THIS SERIES IS WHY PEOPLE NEED TO STOP REBOOTING OLD THINGS! 80% OF THE TIME IT'S A MISS! THAT'S TOO MUCH RISK! TOO MUCH!! AH!
I THINK I'M DONE YELLING ABOUT THE COUNCIL. PROBABLY NOT TBH. BUT FOR NOW I'LL CALL IT. GOD, I MEAN, I KNEW WHEN WE LEARNT WE'D BE SEEING SOME OF THEM THEY WOULD NOT MAKE IT OUT UNSCATHED BUT DAMN! DAMN! MORE RETCONNING LORE! DAMN!
eurhgjrbewhfnujqncwje nsdjk. GOD I'm EXHAUSTED. My brain itches. I was thinking of lobotomys today. I wonder why (/sarcasm)
(it was bc of a shitty patron at work but this just adds to the freudian slips)
UGH. Ick. Yuck. Moving on (impossible for me but we're gonna TRY!)
Elves vs Gnomes
So. The backstory thing. I just. It's cool lore but it leaves more questions than answers and just makes things SO CONFUSING. AS A DISCLAIMER: GO OFF BETTY, WE LOVE TO SEE HER BEING A BADASS. BETTY! HELL YEAH! WE HERE AT SAFYRESKY INDUSTRIES LOVE TO SEE BETTY THRIVING!
Now for the wank. From a LORE PERSPECTIVE. EURGH.
They drop that Mad Santa was a good Santa until he thought everyone was ungrateful and implemented coal and became buds with the gnomes, who apparently ran the coal mines. The gnomes get in his head and prey on his paranoia. Paranoia of WHAT. I've not done a second watch and I don't think I will because I don't actually want a lobotomy despite them being on my mind today a little too much tbh, so maybe i missed that bit, but like, come ON. We can do better in terms of giving antagonists a believable descent into villainy! GOD!
And the trap scene, that was so needlessly drawn out. They should have held him in the trap, Betty revealed her badass self, had Magnus taunt and THEN boom, Befana ALREADY THERE, and she nutcrackers his ass.
Also, calling it NOW. Not ONLY will Sandy un-nutcracker Cal, but she's deffs gonna re-nutcracker Magnus. I bet it'll be like a reversal spell or something lmao
BUT YEAH the lore for the elves around Mad Santa's reign is not quite hitting with me, I gotta say! I am not a fan of it and every time I see it (Betty and Noel aside bc they of course SHINE) it leaves me very :\. It just. Doesn't seem to hit? Or really work? It's just so convoluted to me and goes against everything they said NOT JUST in the movies but LAST SEASON AND ALSO IN INTERVIEWS ABOUT THE SERIES BEFORE TI CAME OUT! It's infuriating y'all. GOD. "A war we didn't see coming" wow, the gnomes and Pyros sure do have something in common, eh? 🤔🤔
Cal and Sandra
God, I love them. They're so funny. Cal is like destroying his room and Sandy is like BRO what the FUCK and HELPS HIM HUNT DOWN THE VEST WITH SANTA MAGIC!! USING HER BEFANA TRAINING! AND THEN HE HELPS HER MAKE UP WITH BEFANA! By lying, of course, so he can go be stupid and heroic and GET NUTCRACKER'D (they nutcrackered my boy ): BUT I LOVE THE WAY THEY SUPPORT EACH OTHER
And the almost hug that turned into punches, lol. That's so Toph coded. We love to see it!
We DON'T love to see Cal DOING THAT! THOUGH! I DID LOVE HIS SCENE WITH KRIS. I'm really hoping, given that he and Cal got duct tapped together and he knows Cal's been nutcrackered, that they give him more of a role, you know? Honestly, it'd be neat if they made Kris the next Santa! I think he'd fit the bill quite well! And then Cal could have his odd job montage and, you know, cross guard and sail on a cruise ship and such. I am VERY intrigued with this pairing, as an aside. Kris and Cal? There's potential. They're gonna fuck it up I'm sure, but we have some DANK POTENTIAL HERE
Sandra and Befana
I'M SO GLAD THEY CHATTED! I am still v much like Sandra did NOTHING wrong and Befana overacted, but I'm glad they talked. Interesting stuff about the magic taking a tole/consequences. Mad Santa really do be out here messing up the balance of things huh? And Mother Nature WON'T intervene. GOD. I know it's bc they probz couldn't get the rest of the ALIVE actors back but like. THEN WHY EVEN USE SOME OF THEM? YEESH. ANYWAY
I'm excited to see how Sandy and Befana manning home base goes! I'm glad they talked and hopefully they can un-lemon EB and just be general badasses around the Workshop, lol.
BUT YEAH. OVER ALL. ARGH. I AM ONCE AGAIN SEEING POTENTIAL, BUT KNOWING THAT IT WON'T BE REACHED IS ACTUALLY LIKE. DEVASTATING.
ALSO. I HATE THAT I WAS RIGHT ABOUT MAD SANTA GETTING TO THE POLE IN EPISODE 6. ARGH
#dani speaks#dani watches tscs#tscs spoilers#tscs#the santa clauses#tscs crit#i just finished watching tsc2 and like#wow. what a drop in quality from the movies to the SERIES#it's actually insane#anyway. gonna stew. gonna continue to imagine cs verse kicking ass in tscs verse#maybe i'll post the thing about it in my drafts. idk. it's pre season 2 so. idk!!!
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I don't wanna hear anyone speaking about "but brown ppl come in all shades, not just brown, there's light skin ppl too" in the TSC. Shut up I will make you eat sand cereal shit up.
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There was no sanders sides epsiodes in 2022 if you dont count the plushes ad I think
Because of your ask I was prompted to check just how long it’s been— and the numbers are crazy.
The last actual episode of Sanders Sides came out 1,005 days ago,
and last asides came out 549 days ago.
I’m really unsure what Sanders Sides content he’s bragging about making and complaining that people aren’t appreciating, unless he means the ads, music videos that use their likeness and a dnd series that uses their names but nothing else should make up for the fact that it’s been so long since an episode of the show came out, both canon and asides alike. Asides, being a show that was meant to be simple and not plot driven so we could get more content between breaks. Instead that turned into Sanders Sides 2.0 and now it has it’s own plot which has delayed the finale even more.
#anon#ts crit#ts criticism#ts critical#tsc#sanders sides critical#sanders sides crit#sanders sides criticism
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will never be over kit just not getting an arc. like there was no story about him specifically. just such a fucking disservice to him.
#and then she killed him 🥴#cc why do you hate christopher so much#cc crit#christopher lightwood#tlh#the last hours#tsc#the shadowhunter chronicles
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Read your last reblog, as someone who has written lots of fanfiction has it ever occured to you receiving bad comments? Or to someone you love? I have never seen a negative review on a fanfiction
Yeah, a good friend of mine got some super nasty guest comments on one of her fics. They were extremely unwarranted and uncalled for, the person spent what must have been an hour or more nitpicking every line for grammatical errors (that weren't even errors) and also critiquing the historical and scientific accuracy of her work. It was horrible.
Another person personally once sent me an ask telling me that "no one cares about [my] shitty fanfiction." No real elaboration on that, but it was a really crappy thing to get in ye olde inbox. Yet another anon told me that I "write too much Thomastair" and should write the things that they like instead. I resolved in that moment to write even more Thomastair because they are a blessing and I love them and fuck their haters.
I also received a pretty rude comment on a fic in another fandom (Never Have I Ever), though it was on a story for a very unpopular pairing (Ben/Aneesa). The person was Not Happy that I did not write for their ship instead (which was dumb because I wrote a lot for their ship, too, retrospectively).
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Today and every other day is a great day to remember HELEN BLACKTHORN IS CANONICALLY BISEXUAL. Heline is not a lesbian couple because THEY ARE NOT BOTH LESBIANS.
They're a gay couple, a wlw couple, a queer couple, a sapphic couple, an LGBTQ+ couple, etc., BUT THEY ARE NOT A LESBIAN COUPLE.
Stop erasing Helen's sexuality and please stop sharing stuff that erases it too. She is bi, Aline is a lesbian, and yes they are beautiful together, but stop taking representation away from bi people.
Happy pride month,
— A tired bi
#jfc#tsc fandom crit#heline#tw caps#just saw art of them with the lesbian flag and the op was tagged with ‘lesbian couple’#the art is beautiful and that person is rlly talented but JFC STOP TAKING THINGS AWAY FROM US
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i think we as a fandom need to discuss cristina’s fetishization of the fae (and of kierark’s relationship) and her savior complex + how that impacted her feelings towards mark and kieran.
#anti kierarktina#kierarktina crit#kierarktina#cristina rosales#mark blackthorn#kieran kingson#the dark artifices#tda#tsc
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was discussing polyamory and how people usually have a pretty fundamental misunderstanding of it and what it can be, and i think i finally placed a finger on one of my bigger issues with kierarktina.
mark and cristina could’ve worked fine because they had chemistry. kieran and cristina, however? none. it’s a stiff and awkward relationship and doesn’t work, and their relationship being rushed doesn’t help that either.
cassandra, alongside of the fandom (and honestly most people), view polyamory as an “everyone dates each other,” dynamic and while accurate in some cases, it isn’t in every case. this partly plays into why we get a stiff, unrealistic and rushed relationship between the three.
what would’ve worked better for this trio would’ve been if marktina and kierark being separate but coexisting relationships. cristina and kieran both date mark, but not each other. not only would this be great polyamory representation, but it would be a type of polyam representation we don’t see nearly often enough (and the reason we don’t see it often is because it’s often portrayed as “cheating,” even if it is a completely consensual dynamic).
compare kierarktina with herongraystairs. tessa, will, and jem, unlike with the other trio, are the main characters in focus. we have lots of time to see their relationship grow and their bonds deepen. but because kierarktina are three of the many main characters, we don’t get that type of time to focus on them— even though the dark artifices is a longer series than the infernal devices (word count wise, not book number wise).
this is why, from both a chemistry between characters and a writing standpoint, kierarktina should not have been an “everyone dates each other,” type of polyamorous relationship. kieran and cristina did not have the time to get to know each other well enough, especially since kieran didn’t really become a main character until later in the series.
this rushing of their relationship made their overall dynamic seem awkward, stiff, and forced— and because cristina and kieran have an awkward dynamic, it in turn makes the entire relationship awkward. this wouldn’t be the case if cristina and kieran were dating mark but not each other.
anyways, to wrap this up before it gets wordy and repetitive, kierarktina isn’t perfect polyamory representation by a long shot; and while i appreciate the effort, i really wish non-polyam people would stop putting the ship on a pedestal and acting as if it is perfect in every way, shape, and form.
acting as though anything is perfect is bad, especially when it comes to representation. cassandra needs to hear criticisms towards her representation in her books, otherwise it will never improve. people will not work to improve on something if they aren’t aware it needs improvement.
#anti kierarktina#kierarktina crit#cc crit#anti cc#this isn’t really anti anything but the anti tags tend to be mostly critical content anyways#long post#tsc#tda#the dark artifices#kierarktina#shadowhunters
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The Get-Along Fortress
Summary:
Fort Concordia, nestled between the lands of Idris and Edom, infamously called the Get-Along Fortress, is widely renown for being the site of many festivities, peace treaties and alliances, and the bi-yearly signing of the Accords of Peace between the Five Kingdoms.
It is also where Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood, sworn enemies and the heirs of their respective kingdoms, are to reside after their marriage - to each other
@high-warlock-of-brooklyn @igonecrazy @clumsyowl-in-a-fandom I wrote a first chapter 🥺👉👈
#its been so long since i last stayed up just to write jhdafhkjgda#my fics#alec lightwood#magnus bane#malec#tmi#tec#tsc#alec lightwood bane#magnus lightwood bane#im aware this fic might be trash but it's self indulgent so im not gonna take any crit 😇#tgaf#the get-along fortress
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oh my god i think about fierrochase being a watered down version of malec all the fucking time
right???
that actually pisses me off sm 😭 esp bc he even dedicated it to cassie for "letting him share the name magnus"
like sir she said u can share a name not STEAL HER WHOLE SHIP???? i'd sue wtf 💀
#alec#magnus bane and alexander lightwood#magnus chase and alex fierro#tell me it's not the same jfc#tmi#tsc#rr crit#pjo#magnus bane#alec lightwood#magnus chase#alex fierro#fierrochase#malec
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Fanon Grace is a completely different person than canon Grace. And Fanon Grace made me hate canon Grace. In Canon, she did horrible thing, but I can like Characters that did horrible things if they are interesting.
Fanon Grace is a helpless little girl and somehow she is reduced to that
Bro the fandom like, took characters who have no personality (example; Ariadne and Eugenia) created new characters and it's so weird.
And like you're right? Like- as much as I hate Grace, I can acknowledge that she was interesting (more CHoG then CoI tho) but they took her and made her the complete opposite of Grace, and it's so... bleh?
#sorry i hope that made sense 😂#thanks for the ask!!!#asks#anon#anti grace blackthorn#tsc fandom crit
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AND ANOTHER THING--
REALLY don't like how St Nicholas, known for his generosity and like. Niceness in general. Had a CLAUSE put in place for the elves that would BANISH THEM for being INSUBORDINATE to Santas. What in the ACTUAL FUCK
#the santa clauses#tscs#tscs spoilers#tscs crit#tbh this is more like wank bc there's no concrit here#i am very tired of how this series seemingly treats its poc characters#see: whatever the fuck the whole thing with simon was AND turning the easter bunny into a lemon
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Being in the shadowhunters fandom is fucking wild,
bc i famously dont like cc and been here for 3 years now holy shit, some of the ppl here were here before i could even say goo goo gaga and shit,
so lemme explain my journey that nobody asked for✌️🤡
i have a strong hate for tmi, bc it traumatised me at the ripe age of twelve and book malec made my queer tween brain think i was a mistake and a stain on the universe for being a closeted bisexual.
The only character i cared about was simon and then cc made him cheat on the two most wonderful women. That didnt go well with my divorced parent having ass. Do i need to mention that it was around this time i came out to my parents during quarantine of 2020 june and promptly got shafted and traumatised. 🙃
I only read tmi bc my stepmother got me chog. And i read a 100 pages before i decided i needed context for this shit.
Anyway, I finished tmi, hated it, wanted to read tda, then went on to read tda, illegally, and got shafted when I found out I accidentally read summaries of the first two books. And not the books itself, got angry at me for being dumb and then went to read the 3rd book, finished it in a haze of rage and sleep and I barely remember what happened.
I tried to litsen to the audiobook of tid and after like 7 hours, the first part, i fell asleep. And lost patience to rewind the whole thing.
So i gave up and instead finished chog and then finished choi but i barely remember anything.
Last year around september i downloaded the whole tid triology to finish it, i made it to the point i left off last time, but got bored.
I got thru 7hours of ghost of shadow market on yt before it got deleted 👀
I skimmed Sobh bc the writing style there is fucking atrocious I do not know what happened, and I'm not sure if I want to know either. I maybe will read twp when I'm an old man with chronic back pain and way too much free time on my hands. So yeah. I will read Chot bc of Alastair Carstairs and Alastair Carstairs only.
Love some ppl in this fandom, but they don't know me yet. Did feel good during Alastair Carstair month when I was most active with my fics and drawings and I saw my fav blogs reblog my stuff. i had extreme fanboy moments .
I fill the void in my heart cc created by drawing her actually good and fleshed-out characters.
I loathe this woman for many thing and one of them is, creating this blasted universe which has so much potential; which would be so much better if someone who knows what they are doing got their hands on it.
I may or may not have 17361881367829 plot Lines that serve only one purpose, "have jace and clary not kiss when they believe they are siblings and sebastine doesn't have a raging hard on for them"
So I'm just a Bengali queer+trans teen with a hyper fixation. This fandom is my hell but I got comfortable. I come in and out, and each time watch it becomes just a little bit worse than before.
#anti cc#Tsc crit#Anti tmi#the shadowhunter chronicles#Big rant nobody asked for#Practiced this speech for year's#I still have more to say#This post is just going to rot in my blog isn't it ?#Auru's tsc rants
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I just saw Thomas post on Twitter that he's taking yet another break??? I swear this is almost as bad as all the Steven Universe hiatus combined. Whatever the finale is I doubt it will be satisfying but the stans will hype it up and dogpile any and all criticism, because how dare anyone have a negative opinion about thomas' work.
Us [ts crit tumblr]: *reasonable criticism*
Thomas’ protection squad: omggg !!1!!!1! how dare you!!!! say something mean about thomas!!!1!! he’s amazing!!!1!!1! he deserves a break!!! if you don’t wanna wait just leave!!! i waited for homestuck for 20 years and didn’t complain!!!1!!!
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Herondale✨
yesss. So far all other families had characters that I were chill with (except for Carstairs, I love every one of them) but with the Herondale family, I either despise them or worship them, there is no in between.
*cracks knuckles* lets begin, shall we,
Kit Herondale > Lucie Herondale > Cecily Herondale > Will Herondale = James Herondale > Jace Herondale.
I think this is it, isn't it?
Kit and Lucie are my 1st and 2nd respectively, they're both so relatable (writers don't tell me you don't find Lucie relatable).
Cecily is a girlboss who imo needs much more page time.
Will Herondale, I liked him when I read tid when I was younger but now I realised that I only liked him bc of Jem. If you took Jem out of tid, Will isn’t that likeable anymore (also there was that thing with him breaking Gabriel’s arm, but I’ll excuse it bc he was a child). Loved him for calling anyone who doesn’t like chocolate a monster tho :)
Jace Herondale stans don’t click on read more if you wish to have a nice day.
I hate Jace Herondale, the last time I said it I got chased by a bunch of angry stans with pitchforks (That’s obviously exaggeration). But I can't find anything likeable about him.
yes, ik he’s an abuse victim and I sympathise with that, but I’m not obligated to like him because he had a bad past. He didn’t connect with me and few things he did sort of pissed me off.
"My sister, my blood, my family. I should want to protect you"—he laughed soundlessly without any humor—"to protect you from the sort of boys who want to do with you exactly what I want to do."
“Aren’t they supposed to be hiring someone else to train me full-time anyway?”
“Yes,” he said, getting up and pulling her to her feet along with him,“ and I’m worried that if you get into the habit of making out with your instructors, you’ll wind up making out with him, too.”
“ Don’t be sexist. They could find me a female instructor.”
“In that case you have my permission to make out with her, as long as I can watch.”
“They think they're better than everyone else."
"No," said Jace. "I think I'm better than everyone else. An opinion that has been backed up with ample evidence."
(okay the last one isn’t that bad but it would have been fine only if it came out of some character who was acknowledged to be arrogant, other than the person we’re supposed to root for)
I'll just leave that there. Copy pasted from the goodreads quotes page.
I’ve had enough of special angsty tortured white boys. (forgot to add cishet)
I am stressing on the fact that this is just my opinion, which I am entitled to, just as you are to yours. I do not wish to impose it on anyone.
#kit herondale#cecily herondale#lucie herondale#will herondale crit#Anti Jace herondale#why does jace herondale have such a huge fanbase?#he's like every other straight ya love interest#ask#tsc
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tell us more about cordelia! something you love, something you wish we knew more about, something you relate to, something you've discerned that we might not have seen yet, why she doesn't seem to know any neurotypicals yet might be neurotypical herself, etc. just cordelia. i think we should talk about her more
Cordelia, Cordelia, Cordelia!
She is my daughter. She delights me. She confounds me.
Despite being one of my favourite characters in TSC, I find everything she does baffling. Every time she is faced with a choice, any choice at all, she does the exact opposite thing than I would have done. For her, she makes the right choices. If I made her choices, though, I'd rip my own hair out. We are SUCH different people.
I actually really like this. A lot of my favourite characters are important to me because of the ways that I find myself mirrored in them. Matthew, Alastair, and Thomas are all great examples. Cordelia serves a different function to me as a window character. Watching her is like a huge character study in someone Very Unlike Me who's extremely complex, likeable, and ultimately lovely.
Matthew and Cordelia
The sole exception to this "Cordelia-and-I-make-different-choices" rule is when she runs off to Paris with Matthew, which I would have done. It would have been a good decision for me but was actually an awful one for her.
I'm going to be a little rambley here, but I want to talk a little bit about her relationship with my Best Blorbo Matthew. I think that she fundamentally misunderstands him, which is interesting for me to watch as someone who's so similar to Matthew. I might dissect the whole scene one day when I have time, but there's this bit where she's rejecting him where he's going on and on about all the places they can travel to. She says, "we can't always be running away." This was so interesting to me!!! Because it was so obvious to me that Matthew wasn't running away. He's planning his dream future full of unknown adventures, and he's trying to fit her in. She's too settled, she wants to be settled, and that's okay! They're just not compatible. But she so greatly misunderstands what he's trying to do, and I kind of turn my head to that scene to go "huh. That's why I don't understand her."
Daisy, My Daughter
There are so many things I love about Cordelia. I absolutely adore her bravery and her compassion, and I think she feels a lot. I think she's strong and independent.
I think that she's capable of being crafty and sneaky when she wants to be (see: the wording of the oath she has Lilith repeat to her in ChoT.) She's my daughter, my ridiculously frustrating daughter, who I know has a brain somewhere in there that she never uses.
I also will say that I really like the drive that she has to be a hero. It's refreshing to see a girl character who actively attempts to realize a goal like that rather than someone who's thrust into a world Chosen-One-Style. Both Clary and Tessa were "Chosen One" type characters, which served their genre well for the time. Cordelia, like Emma, was just an ambitious Shadowhunter, and I find her story very interesting as a result. And I like how Cordelia is in part driven by a desire for merciful, compassionate heroism (unlike Emma, who was driven by a desire for revenge). It sets her apart from all the other Emma-type Badass Warrior Girls who want to go out and kick as much ass as possible.
She's such a delightful person and one I would be proud to call a friend IRL. And she's a great character in a lot of ways, though I think there are some narrative issues holding her back.
Cordelia and Cassandra Clare's Narrative
I feel like Cordelia is the one character that I wish I could steal from Cassie and repurpose. I generally really like what Cassie does with most of her characters, and I like a lot of the things she did with Cordelia. If I didn't, I wouldn't love her so much. But I think that with some VERY MINOR tweaking, Cordelia could have been even better.
The issue with Cordelia is that the author gives her very little agency. The narrative serves to protect her and James as the Herongraystairs kids, and I get that, but it feels like Cordelia is often just dragged along for the ride. Like, she is the main character! Why is she given almost no agency or real choices? Why is she just swept along with the narrative as a pawn in this large chess game that is TLH? I was talking with a close mutual @alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer a while back who said it would have been great if Cordelia became Lilith's paladin willingly to try to take power from all the awful men who abuse it. I would have loved this! If Cordelia had been allowed to get just a little bit messy, bend the rules of morality, and make some mistakes, she would have been even more incredible than she is.
The Impact of Lacking Agency
This narrative issue manifests as my least favorite Cordelia character trait: her hyper-naivete. She is so naïve in a way that is almost unbelievable to me as a reader. Like, her response to "dad's an alcoholic who's been abusing me since I was 10" is "huh!!!! That's why I found gin bottles everywhere and he was super clunky and they stopped serving wine! Who'd have guessed?" And, she literally swore fealty to this dude who said he was Wayland the Smith because... he said so? Like ??? Girl!!! Other people, especially your brother, have paid a great price for that naïveté. That bothers me.
The thing that's annoying about this is that I've come to the conclusion that Cassie didn't intend for Cordelia to be so naïve. It was a side effect of giving her no agency. If someone is an adult, that means they necessarily have agency; if someone has agency, they lose moral purity. Ergo, Cordelia was necessarily naïve.
Alastair and Cordelia
I also feel like re: the writing, I find Alastair and Cordelia's dynamic to be simultaneously excellent and irritating. Because he sacrificed his whole life for her! It should not have taken her several months and a murder accusation to marginally stand up for him! I'm sorry!
But I also really love their relationship, especially in ChoT. It makes me so happy to see them joking around together like normal siblings, and I feel like Alastair by Beloved Blorbo gets to kind of... be a normal guy with his little sister, if only a little bit. He doesn't need to act in loco parentis anymore, and they're immediately messing around. I love it.
Again, I wish the relationship were written in a more cohesive way. Maybe it's because I don't have a sibling. But it feels like Cordelia DOES acknowledge that Alastair is the constant lifelong protector that she wants to call out to when she's scared. But she also simultaneously says that he's like quicksand unprompted and tells Matthew that he must think she's terrible to love him.
Cassie, why!?
Cordelia and her Neurodivergent BFFs
This is a funny observation you make, that she "doesn't seem to know any neurotypicals yet might be neurotypical herself." And I agree, actually! I don't really have a lot of thoughts on this besides "that's just who she naturally wound up around because of her familial and life circumstances." What do you think of it? I'm curious to know. <3
#cordelia carstairs#tlh#the last hours#matthew fairchild#james herondale#alastair carstairs#lit crit#tsc deep dives
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