"In Edwardian London Fiends Stalk The Night. A Dark Heritage Demands Its Price. A Dangerous Love Tears

Geneaology

Rorochan92 Hey Cassie, I read about people  being concerned that Jesse and Lucie are cousins. Are they cousins? I can’t figure it out. Also, if James and Cordelia get married, and if they have kids, how come Jace doesn’t know he’s related to the Carstairs when he meets Emma? Why don’t they talk about it more?

Ok! Let’s tackle this in two parts.

Jesse and Lucie: I … think that must have been a misunderstanding? They are not in any way related. Jesse’s uncle is Gabriel Lightwood. Gabriel Lightwood is married to Cecily Herondale, who is Lucie’s aunt. The only way they’d be related would be if Cecily and Gabriel were related, which they are not. Jesse and Lucie are distantly connected by marriage, which is not weird, especially in a smaller community like the Shadowhunters who are a tiny fraction of people on the planet. She is likely just as related to Matthew or more so (i.e. not much.)

(And before there is too much pearl-clutching about that, this kind of reminds me of people in my box fretting about whether Kit and Ty would be related if Jesse and Lucie ended up together. They would not be in any meaningful way. Those ancestors are far enough back that they would be considered by any geneticist to be unrelated, and by Shadowhunter terms, they’d be practically total strangers. It’s already a small community, good luck finding someone who doesn’t share some common ancestor with you. (I am Ashkenazi Jewish ( a group which comprises 0.2% of people on the planet): the assumption is that if I meet another Ashkenazi Jew, they’re my tenth cousin. Which is to say, we share some common ancestor way back but are not related. Let me put it this way: whether or not Lucie and Jesse end up together, whether or not the present-day Blackthorns are descended from Jesse’s branch of the Blackthorns at all, Kit and Ty will be the same amount of related, which is: not.)

Another rule of thumb is that “it is 99.9999% likely … that any given person you meet is at least a 16th cousin. And 97.2% likely that they are a 15th cousin” — and that’s the general population, not a smaller community like Shadowhunters, or Ashkenazi. It is not something that concerns me, nor should it you! There is a reason no soap opera plot turns on the discovery that someone is your fifteenth cousin. They are essentially unrelated to you. This is like freaking out that Magnus and Alec have a common ancestor. I guarantee they do. We all do. As the LA Times says, “Everyone is related to everyone else.” 

Nobody in these books is marrying a first or even second cousin, though I would point out that’s exactly what Elizabeth is meant to be doing in Pride and Prejudice, with Mr. Collins, and exactly what Mr. Darcy is supposed to be doing with Anne de Burgh, and exactly what Edmund and Fanny do in Mansfield Park (they’re first cousins.) This was considered a way to keep wealth in the family, and was most common of course in royal families, which should provide some pearl-clutching historicity fun. :)

As for Jace — I mean, no, I would think of it as very bizarre if the people in the TMI/TDA era made a big deal about having distant common ancestors. Okay, so if Jace is descended from Cordelia, then she is one of sixteen great-great grandparents that he has. She is one of far, far more ancestors: literally hundreds. I think people may be compressing time in their heads and not thinking about the exponential growth of generations. Cordelia is one thirty-second of Jace’s genetic makeup, if they are related at all.

Also, not only does Jace barely know who Stephen and Marcus (his grandfather) are, he has no reason to memorize his family tree. Why on earth would he? I don’t know who any of my great-great grandparents are. I know the name of exactly one great-grandparent. I’ m not sure why Jace, who feels no great connection to the Herondales, would be researching this stuff? And memorizing it? And apparently caring more about someone removed from him by five generations that he cares about, say, his grandmother’s relatives? Why is no one complaining that he isn’t tracking down the Whitelaws or the Montclaires? (He doesn’t care to, but they’re all more closely related to him than the Carstairs.)

The answer to that is: because readers have read the books, and to them the Herondales and Carstairs are significant names, and those names have a connection. But the characters have not read the books. It would be as bizarre for Jace to go lunging at every Carstairs he might meet as it would be for Alec to weep all over the Monteverdes. Jace is not closely enough related to Emma for him to think of her as a relative regardless of whether James and Cordelia end up together or not.

We have to remember: these characters do not know that there have been previous book series in which names like Lightwood and Blackthorn are important. When Jace finds out he’s a Herondale he doesn’t leap on Alec either exclaiming that now they are related or something because a hundred and fifty years ago they had ancestors who got married. They’re not related, and neither of them would likely know about those marriages. To us, these characters are important: to Jace and Clary et al they can’t be without destroying a sense of verisimilitude that these are real people with real people concerns, not book people whose concerns are about other book series.

I came across some cards, describing personages. And I decided to draw them, with their favorite animals. To be continued...

well written badass heroines and incredibly attractive complex villains/anti-heroes that slowly go from enemies to friends to in love are my aesthetic tbh

Whether you’re a book fan, and show fan, or both, I think you should stop scrolling and read this thread.

Reblog if you ship Riarkle romantically

I’m curious.

ACOTAR Coloring Book Giveaway

For all my followers who are also fans of the ACOTAR series, due to a series of random and kind of hilarious mixups, I ended up ordering an extra copy of the ACOTAR coloring book. I can’t get my money back and rather than try to sell it, I decided it’d be easier to give it away. :) 

So if you’re interested, here’s what you need to do:

1) Reblog this post between now (April 30) through May 7th, 2017, 10:00 pm PT. 

2) Have your ask box open or IM on so I can contact you if you win. (I will announce the winner here on my blog on the 9th after my last final, but I will also be contacting you directly)

A/N:

-I will be using a random generator to select the winner. 

-I will ship internationally but please keep in mind that I will need an address to send it to you. (I promise I will be very respectful of your privacy and will only use it to send you the coloring book)

Please only enter if you’re actually a fan of the series and truly want to enjoy this coloring book (in other words, please don’t plan on selling it on eBay or something like that).

And that’s all I have I think. (I know, finally!) 

Please let me know if you have any questions and good luck! :)

the archer // reharmonised in a minor key

men annd women can do whatever they want

The first time Feyre was painted and dressed up by the shadow sisters, so Rhysand could take her to the midsummer party, I noticed this sentence:  “My hair was coiled around a small golden diadem imbedded with lapis lazuli.”

Let me over analyse and explain why this sentence is significant. When Rhysand brings Feyre into the throne room all she can think about is how debased she looks with her sheer gown. In her mind Amarantha looks better because she’s dressed modestly. But lets forget about the dresses for a moment and look at what’s on Feyre’s head and not on Amaranthas, a diadem. What is that exactly? Well a diadem is a type of crown usually worn by monarchs, an emblem for regal power and dignity. Not only did Rhysand give Feyre a CROWN but a crown with a lapis lazuli. What’s the big deal about lapis lazuli, you ask? 

Well, Lapis Lazuli is historically one of the most sought after stones. It has always symbolized the starry night (so basically the night court). Also, if you believe in crystals having some sort of “powers” lapis lazuli is often used for its strong emotional components, known for helping people overcome abuse, trauma, depression and grief (Which clearly Feyre needs help with).

 Let’s also not forget the discussion between Rhysand and Amarantha when they stroll into the throne room.  “What have you done with my captive?” she said but her smile doesn’t reach her eyes.  “We made a bargain… one week with me at the night court every month in exchange for my healing services…for the rest of her life.”  This was Rhysand telling Amarantha that Feyre is his and not hers. Not only did Rhysand save the life of the human that Amarantha wants dead, he waltzed right up to the foot of her throne, and in front of all the courts, announced not so subtly that he thinks Feyre is going to beat Amarantha and he’s going to support her through it all. Feyre was so wrapped up in her concern over Tamlin that she believed this whole thing was just a way for Rhysand to torment him, when in reality it had nothing to do with Tam. It was Rhysands way to say to Amarantha that her reign won’t last forever.  This was Rhysand rebelling against his abuser.

The most dangerous friend you can have is a male obsessed woman