#will herondale

[lovebooksforeverever]

Simon: *pranking Jace with 100 rubber ducks on his bathroom*

Will in heaven: *up in a cloud, looking down in disgust* In my time, the Herondales were the ones pranking the ducks. Now we're doomed to this humiliation...

[ladyhindsight]

claire effectively makes the choice for tessa .. claire decides .. ohhh my dear if i have an article for you. last year on twitter a think piece on the summer i turned pretty - please don't roll your eyes it was actually enlightening - went viral because it tackled this very topic, an author making decisions for their characters because they want the story to end in a certain way. and isn't this claire's way of writing? doesn't she always contrive her story to meet her likings? of course the article got moked because, you know, twitter. but let's not pretend that a lot of authors (especially ya ones) does this because they never think of what their characters could want and i call this bad writing. anyway, if you have the time: belly did not choose conrad jenny han did, that's the name

[Belly did not choose Conrad — Jenny Han did. | by Daide Gail | Medium] 

No eye-rolling here. The article illustrates well some of the same problems in how Clare too crafts her narrative. Predetermination shines through her writing similarly to how obediently the story in The Summer I Turned Pretty, according to the article, follows Belly and Conrad being the endgame. Though, in case of Clare, I think the nature of it differs a bit: Jem is never nonsensically turned into an antagonist for Tessa and Will to happen.

The article was a fun read, because while some of the points it raises may not all be directly comparable to the core point here, there are several commonalities that apply to Clare’s writing in general. Just like previously pointed out, Clare shapes her plots the way she can get to a specific ending. Because she has that specific ending in mind, all she has to do is to figure out a way to get to it, and if my memory serves me right, she has previously said as much. Which then leads her to dismissing all organic and realistic evolution her characters could potentially got through and experience on their journeys.

I wouldn't necessarily call it Clare "strangling the narrative" to meet this predetermined endgame with Tessa and Will (as it's not necessarily the same stubbornness as depicted with The Summer I Turned Pretty): She's simply not genuinely entertaining Jem as the other option at all. Clare passes genuine points of conflict by and makes hard choices go away—all of the conveniences necessitated just to get to the desired outcome without it ultimately reflecting badly on any (of her favorite) characters. Unlike with Jeremiah, Clare is not willing to sacrifice Jem to same “villainy” (a tactic that is observable with many other characters in the overall series though).

Just like the article says, it's not about narrative integrity at all.

The article calls Belly and Conrad’s romance “a fantasy so fragile it required the entire narrative to bend around it.” Isn’t that just the force which carries every main love story in Clare’s series? The undercooked character and relationship development that needs them not be challenged or more so successfully? Clare’s characters do not authentically experience growth or matury through any development. The character development is just them jumping from one point to the next, any necessitated personality changing into another to simulate character growth. It doesn't happen through a perceivable transition—it happens through the demands of the story.  

The article mentions respecting the evolution of characters instead of creator bias, but solely for that predetermination shining through every layer of the story, that never becomes the reality with Clare. The story and its characters don’t take shape as they progress—they are shackled by the ending Clare resolutely pursues. The contrivances naturally follow.

I’ve gathered some points from the article that resonated with me:

✤ “Jeremiah’s love was open, vulnerable, and unconditional. He carried the emotional labor of the relationship. Yet he is reduced to a plot device —the “obstacle” standing in the way of Bonrad’s “infinitely” ever after?” → A point where Jem’s character differs like I previously here mentioned, but at the same time the similarity can be seen in the role Jem plays in relation to Tessa and Will’s eventual relationship and the “obstacles” they overcome.

At the same time, I see something more general here that applies to many other characters in the series. Clare refuses to see them the way she herself portrays them. The biggest example is Isabelle, who is said to be different from how Clare actually writes her behaving. The same narrative dishonesty and outright blindness. Like being manipulated into perceiving Isabelle’s character in a certain way while she does none of the things Clare blames her for. But that’s just one part of the long tradition of seeing anything human as inconvenience if it means bringing other characters more to the front and treating them as equals to her protagonists.

✤ "That’s not romance. That’s bias." & “manipulation masquerading as narrative” → Need I say more?

✤ "Conrad is only likable if you squint through Han’s lens of pure bias. Every flaw of his gets wrapped in bubble wrap and labeled tragic nobility. Oh, he was moody? Don’t worry, he was carrying a secret."  → Every main male character.

✤ "But is Conrad actually the ideal man? Did he change? Like in any measurable way, did he treat his own brother better besides Belly?” → Jace, essentially.

✤ "Conrad broke his brother and openly admitted that he “wanted to.” But has no qualms, shame, or guilt about it. Because why would he? When Han herself does not have a conscience for it. Conrad arrived on a pedestal, stayed on the pedestal, and somehow got polished while standing on it. Accountability? Consequences? Never heard of it."  → So painfully Jace that I couldn’t have said it better.

✤ "Coming-of-age stories are supposed to be about growth and accountability, about making choices and owning consequences. Here, Belly simply rewinds the tape as though actions do not carry weight and people do not get hurt. Ridiculous!" → Applicable to every TSC main couple, because even if people do get hurt, it has no narrative weight. In the end, nothing has changed for it to matter in grander scheme of things, just for momentary sympathy. Nothing is truly jeopardized.

✤ "its stubborn refusal to let the story breathe" → Well…

[aleclightofmylifewoodbane]

Got a customized set of cards in a ChoG crate years ago and I just now realized they kept Will, Jem, and Tessa together in the heart set 😭 They love each other so much it transcends into cards man

[daily-qpr]

Will and Jem from Shadowhunters

Today's QPR is: Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs from Shadowhunters

[judeblupin]

rereading the infernal devices, currently on clockwork princess and I need to know who the fuck hurt cassandra clare??? AND WHY AM I ON THE FLOOR SOBBING AND GAGGING ABT TO THROW UP AT CHAPTER 12????? HERONSTAIRS U DESERVED SO MUCH MORE

[maxurim]

seriously considering writing a herongraystairs band au in the year of the lord 2026

Imagine: Jem and Will are childhood friends who love music. Jem is the prodigy; plays the violin and arranges the notes like pieces of a puzzle, and Will has the passion, the need to express his feelings in song. But they're missing something: a lead singer. They both sing but they need something more.

They upload their first original song on tiktok and suddenly a someone responds with a duet singing.

That's none other than Tessa Gray, a lonely girl in New York, locking herself in libraries during break to read because she doesn't have any friends. She likes to sing, but it's to shy to do it. So the video is anonymous.

That doesn't stop the boys from contacting her and begin an only friendship that will quickly scale to a band with millions of followers listening to the ticking of their hearts hidden between the melodies.

what do you think?

[maxurim]

First time reading Chain of Iron so no spoilers! But do you ever think Will saw Matthew struggling with Abstinence Syndrome and thought of Jem dealing with the same thing when they were young, the Hero dale's always loving a poisoned boy.

[jamesscarstairs]

james herondale’s determination to continuously draw iratzes on matthew in a dead and demonic land where runes have no power and will herondale’s refusal to stop his seemingly futile search for a cure for jem