There's Absolutely No Way James Will Die, Simply Because Of The Fact That Jace Has The Same Birthmark

lost in the citadel by lil nas x is the perfect song for alastair and charles, i mean there are lines like:

"I remember when I met you, thought the universe sent you, thought you were someone I could vent to, so I hit your line, what you getting into?"

"I need time to get up and get off the floor, I need time to realize that I can't be yours, I need time to give up just like before, I love it how you know I'd only come right back for more."

"Why I thought it was forever? I only see you maybe never.

Why I thought we'd be together, when you treat it like whatever?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, my love is fallin' down, playing the victim when all my envisionings come slowly tumbling down, putting me back on the ground."

i just feel like it describes how Alastair feels at certain points

have you ever thought about how any normal person being introduced to the shadow world would probably rather be a vampire or werewolf than a shadowhunter? it's a little funny considering they all think they're better than downworlders but "I'll be young and beautiful forever without hunting things that'll kill me" is just objectively a better job description lol

9 Fandom Peeps to Get to Know Better

Thank you @rottenlaertes for tagging me!

3 Ships You Like:

Laurie Odell/Ralph Lanyon (The Charioteer)

Laurie Odell/Andrew Raynes (also The Charioteer)

I cannot think of a third tbh, maybe Ralph Lanyon/Alec Deacon? (Also the Charioteer -- can you tell I've read it recently?)

First Ship Ever: I don’t really remember. I know it's locked in my memory somewhere, but I probably haven't thought about wherever it's from in forever, so it's not coming to me now

Last Song You Heard: Sang-Hyun’s Prayer by Jo Yeong-wook, from the movie ‘Thirst'

Favorite Children Book: The Giver by Lois Lowry!

Currently Reading: The Phaedrus, so I can reread the Charioteer right after lol

Currently Watching: The Legend of Korra!

Currently Consuming: I’m having tea!

Currently Craving: Coffee!

honestly, all the people I would want to tag in this have already done it so anyone else who wants to can!

I wondered about the cancelled party thing too! I thought it was plausible at least because Bunny does say something about Ralph keeping Laurie a little hidden and (I think, I don't really remember) seems annoyed by this. It's not a stretch to think he'd lie about being out for the night, only to show up when he knows Laurie is there.

That said, Laurie also thinks later that Bunny isn't so much a planner as he is someone who just takes chances when they come to him. Alec hints at this too. So, I don't really know if I'm right: the level of foresight/planning that my idea of Bunny would suggest doesn't line up with the common perception of him given by at least 2 characters...honestly, Bunny (and his relationship with Ralph) always seemed odd to me. I was half-convinced the first time I read the book that Laurie was simply misjudging the situation and they weren't as serious as he imagined. I mean, Ralph never shows any real affection for Bunny in any of their scenes together! And Bunny is very weird! Their whole relationship was so weird to me lol

That Bunny car scene

Hi there @telltaleangelina I just wanted to think a bit more about the scene with Bunny and Laurie in the car scene on the back of your ask/answer.

I think you really got to the heart of it with that line ‘the practiced inflection’.  Laurie uses his intuition a lot (sometimes without even being sure what he is picking up) and it’s just such a creepy line, indicating how Bunny seamlessly adopts that tone.  Although I suppose there is an analogue with Ralph giving Bunny ‘the straight look’ for the first time back at the flat.

It suddenly occurred to me that cars are so symbolic of male power at that time, and it evokes that horrible trope of men taking women out and expecting some kind of ‘payment’.  I wonder if Bunny is just so cynical that he assumes Laurie is paying Ralph back in kind for the lift, and decides he wants a piece of the action.  Or he thinks Ralph is being ridiculously gentlemanly about Laurie and wants to bring him down to his level.

I realised the scene provides a contrast to the earlier car scene with Ralph.  I know we love the little knee touch in the 1953 version when they are parked up at the scenic spot, but to me, she took that out for a reason in the 1959.  It shows the high level of tension (not just sexual!) between them and the way both of them are being hyper-vigilant – Ralph trying very hard to judge the moment with Laurie, and Laurie trying very hard to be respectful of the fact that Ralph has a boyfriend.  And also, Laurie sits in silence to avoid attracting Ralph’s anger when he hits the traffic.  And he is so uncomfortable with being dependent on Ralph – the number of times he tries to leave the party to get the bus, and he tries it again at Bunny’s.

I also realised that it almost doesn’t matter whether Bunny would have followed through with his threat or not.  It just conjures up the horrible thought that he is used to getting what he wants, and most of the time, people don’t stand up to him.  So perhaps this is a neat way to show Laurie’s strength of character in a crisis.

The other thing that is quite disturbing, if not surprising, though, is that Laurie then plays it down with Ralph.  Partly because he fears not being believed (a bit like Alec silently taking the blame for Bunny’s gossip for a quiet life), and partly to spare Ralph’s feelings.  I realised he would be very influenced as well by the ‘no snitch’ rule in school, where telling on another boy would be considered worse than the original offence.  But it is cowardly too.  I wonder if his anger on the staircase is partly fueled by his frustration at being put in that situation, the suggestion that Ralph is so inured to that kind of behaviour that he doesn’t even notice any more.  And in a way Ralph is responsible, because even if Bunny spiked his drink, he still chose alcohol over tea.  But Laurie is also too passive.  In the end Ralph ends it with Bunny without knowing for sure what he did.  Unless he knows because Bunny has form.  In which case why is he with someone like that?  Either way, Laurie’s horrible accusations on the staircase have the ring of truth.

And finally I can’t go without mentioning that other linked car scene – Ralph kissing Laurie on the first night at the party (very heavy hint anyway) when he is dreaming about his mother kissing him!!  And Ralph sitting there having a cigarette while he waits for Laurie to wake up is so sweet.

“Goodnight and great love to you. We see the same stars.”

— George Mallory, from a letter to his wife Ruth during the 1921 Everest Reconnaissance Expedition (via archaeologicals)

if Cordelia really did give Cortana to Alastair, that would solve the mystery of how the blade stays in the Carstairs family and reaches Emma. Cordelia might even be able to wield it later on (assuming she finds a way out of her situation) but I think she might just tell Alastair to keep it in the end, if not for himself then for their sibling.

Alastair: Happy father’s day, I guess.  

Elias: You got me a present?  

Alastair: Yup, it’s a list of all your accomplishments as a father.

Elias: this is a blank sheet of paper.

Alastair: Yep.

I completely forgot about the scene where Laurie seems pleased to be perceived as older! And while I was reading, I never even thought of the idea of molding, or Laurie thinking it's possible or trying to do it 😭 When I read Charlot's scene, I took is as the moment when Laurie finally has to confront the reality of who Andrew is and how different they really are...I will definitely be reading that scene more closely now that you mention it here!

You're definitely right that Laurie should've seen it coming with Charlot 😭 it's not as if Andrew hadn't told him who he is, but I don't think he ever had to really confront it until then. It's one thing to hear about the spine of steel, but another thing completely to rush into it headfirst at 80 miles per hour 😭

I don't understand why Laurie immediately interprets the relationship between Andrew and Dave as anything other than father/child or even just uncle/nephew. I'm rereading chapter 5, where Andrew is telling him all about his father's death and despite the fact that he clearly explains Dave is old enough to have known both his parents, Laurie is insanely jealous of Dave and thinks the whole situation gives him a 'headstart'... why?

I'm trying to think through the rest of what I know happens in the book, and the only other scene I can connect it with is the one where Laurie's sitting with Mervyn and thinks suddenly about how Sandy's friends could misinterpret the situation if they walk by. I don't know if there's supposed to be a connection or anything, but I really do not understand the vibes Laurie is getting at all 😭