Alec and Jace!

Alec and Magnus break up!!!!! Unless it's some crazy ploy of CC to lead us a stray...

City of Glass excerpt

A June cookie. Jace and Alec, mid-book.

-------

Alec retrieved the box, pulled a chair up opposite Jace's and flung
himself down in it. "Give me your hand."
Jace held his hand out. He had to admit it looked pretty bad. All four
knuckles were split open like red starbursts. Dried blood clung to his
fingers, a flaking red-brown glove.
Alec made a face. "You're an idiot."
"Thanks," Jace said. He watched patiently as Alec bent over his hand
with a pair of tweezers and gently nudged at a bit of glass embedded
in his skin. "So, why not?"
"Why not what?"
"Why not use a healing rune? This isn't a demon injury."
"Because." Alec retrieved the blue bottle of antiseptic. "I think it
would do you good to feel the pain. You can heal like a mundane. Slow
and ugly. Maybe you'll learn something." He splashed the bitter liquid
over Jace's cuts. "Although I doubt it."
"I can always do my own healing rune, you know."
Alec began wrapping a strip of bandages around Jace's hand. "Only if
you want me to tell the Penhallows what really happened to their
window, instead of letting them think it was an accident." He jerked a
knot in the bandages tight, making Jace wince. "You know, if I'd
thought you were going to do this to yourself, I would never have told
you anything."
"Yes, you would have." Jace cocked his head to the side. "You know, I
didn't realize my attack on the picture window would upset you quite
so much."
"It's just --" Done with the bandaging, Alec looked down at Jace's
hand, the hand he was still holding between his. It was a white paw of
bandages, spotted with blood where Alec's fingers had touched it. "Why
do you do these things to yourself? Not just what you did to the
window, but the way you talked to Clary. What are you punishing
yourself for? You can't help how you feel."
Jace's voice was even. "How do I feel?"
"I see how you look at her." Alec's eyes were remote, seeing something
just past Jace, something that wasn't there. "Like she's the only real
thing in the world. And you can't have her. Maybe you just never knew
what it was like to want something you couldn't have before."
Jace looked at him steadily. "What's between you and Magnus Bane?"
Alec's head jerked back. "I don't -- there's nothing --"
"I know better," Jace said, forestalling him. "I'm not stupid. You
went right to Magnus after you talked to Malachi, before you talked to
me or Isabelle or anyone --"
"Because he was the only one who could answer my question, that's why.
There isn't anything between us," Alec said -- and then, catching the
look on Jace's face, added with great reluctance, "any more. There's
nothing between us any more. Okay?"
"I hope that's not because of me," Jace said.
Alec went white, and drew back, as if he were preparing to ward off a
blow. "What do you mean?"
"I'm not stupid," Jace said. "I know how you think you feel about me.
You don't, though. You just like me because I'm safe. There's no risk.
And then you never have to try to have a real relationship, because
you can use me as an excuse." Jace knew he was being cruel, and barely
cared. Hurting people he loved was almost as good as hurting himself
when he was in this kind of mood.
"But I do —"
"You don't," Jace said. "Fine. Go ahead. Kiss me right now."
****

Another Sneak Peak

City of Glass excerpt 2

***

"But you're supposed to be in New York!" Isabelle exclaimed. "Jace said you'd changed your mind about coming. He said you wanted to stay with your mother!"
"Jace lied," Clary said flatly. "He didn't want me here, so he lied to me about when you were leaving, and then lied to you about me changing my mind. Remember when you told me he never lies? That was so not true."
"He normally never does," said Isabelle, who had gone rather pale. "Look, did you come here -- I mean, does this have something to do with Simon?"
"With Simon? No. Simon's safe in New York, thank God. Although he's going to be really pissed that I left without telling him." Isabelle's blank expression was starting to annoy Clary. "Come on, Isabelle. Let me in. I need to see Jace."
"So . . . You just came here on your own? Did you have permission from the Clave? Please tell me you had permission from the Clave." There was a pleading note in Isabelle's voice.
"Not as such --"
"You broke the Law?" Isabelle's voice rose, then dropped. She went on, almost in a whisper, "If Jace finds out, he'll freak. Clary, you've got to go home."
"No. I'm supposed to be here," Clary said, not even sure herself quite where her stubbornness was coming from. "And I need to talk to Jace."
"Now isn't a good time." Isabelle looked around anxiously, as if hoping there was someone she could appeal to to remove Clary from the premises. "Please, just go back to New York. Please?"
"I thought you liked me, Izzy." Clary went for the guilt.
Isabelle's eyes widened further. She was wearing a white dress and had her hair pinned up and looked younger than usual. Behind her Clary could see a high-ceilinged entryway hung with antique-looking oil paintings. "I do like you. It's just that Jace -- oh my God, what are you wearing? Where did you get fighting gear?"
Clary looked down at herself. "It's a long story."
"You can't come in here like that. If Jace sees you --"
"Oh, so what if he sees me? Isabelle, I came here because of my mother -- for my mother. Jace may not want me here, but he can't make me stay home. I'm supposed to be here. My mother would want me to do this for her. You'd do it for your mother, wouldn't you?"
"Of course I would," Isabelle said. "But Clary, Jace has reasons --"
"Then I'd love to hear what they are." Clary ducked under Isabelle's arm and into the house.
"Clary!" Isabelle yelped, and darted after her, but Clary was already halfway down the hall. She saw, with the half of her mind that wasn't concentrating on dodging Isabelle, that the house was build like Amatis' -- tall and narrow -- but considerably larger and more richly decorated. The hallway opened into a room with high windows that looked out over a wide canal. White boats plied the water, their sails drifting by like dandelion clocks tossed on the wind. A dark-haired boy sat on a couch by one of the windows, reading a book.
"Sebastian!" Isabelle called. "Don't let her go upstairs!"
The boy looked up, startled --and a moment later was in front of Clary, blocking her path to the stairs. Clary skidded to a halt — she'd never seen anyone move that fast before, except Jace. The boy wasn't even out of breath; in fact, he was smiling at her.
"So this is the famous Clary." His smile lit up his face, and Clary felt her breath catch.
For years she'd drawn her own ongoing graphic novel, which she'd hardly ever showed to anyone, the tale of a king's son who was under a curse that meant that everyone he loved would die. She'd been awfully proud of the dark, romantic, shadowy prince she'd created — and here he was, standing in front of her: the same pale skin, the same tumbling black hair and deep-set, shadowed eyes. The same high cheekbones and black fringe of lashes. She knew she'd never set eyes on this boy before, and yet —
"I'm Sebastian Verlac." He held out his hand. "Aline's cousin."
"Sebastian!" Isabelle's hair had come out of its pins and hung down over her shoulders, and she was glaring."Don't be nice to her. She's not supposed to be here. Clary, go home."

City of Glass Sneak Peak!

City of Glass August Excerpt

***
At the table sat Jace. He was leaning forward on his elbows, his golden hair tousled, his shirt slightly open at the neck. She could see the thick banding of black Marks tracing his collarbone. He held a cookie in one graceful hand. "Good," he said, "you're back. I was beginning to think you'd fallen into a canal."
Clary just stared at him, wordless. She wondered if he could read the anger in her eyes. He leaned back in the chair, one arm thrown casually over the back of it. If it hadn't been for the rapid pulse at the base of his throat she might almost have believed his air of unconcern.
"You look exhausted," he added. "Where have you been all day?"
"I was out with Sebastian."
"Sebastian?" Clary was momentarily gratified by his look of utter astonishment.
"He walked me home last night," Clary said, and in her mind, the words I'll just be your brother from now on, just your brother, beat like the rhythm of a damaged heart. "And so far, he's the only person in this city who's been remotely nice to me. So yes. I was out with Sebastian."
"I see." Jace set his cookie back down on the plate, his face as blank as an unpainted canvas. "Clary, I came here to apologize. I shouldn't have spoken to you the way I did."
"No," Clary said. "You shouldn't."
"I also came to ask you if you'd reconsider going back to New York."
"God," Clary said. "This again --"
"It's not safe for you here --"
"What are you worried about?" she asked tonelessly. "That they'll throw me in prison like they did with Simon?"
Jace's expression didn't change, but he rocked back in his chair, the front legs lifting off the floor, almost as if she had shoved him. "Simon --?"
"Sebastian told me what happened to him," she went on in the same toneless voice. "What you did. How you brought him here and then let him just get thrown in jail. Are you trying to get me to hate you?"
"And you trust Sebastian?" Jace asked. "You barely know him, Clary."
She stared at him. "Is it not true?"
He met her gaze, but his face had gone still. "It's true."

City of Ashes - Textual Analysis

So I'm currently working on the chapter of my thesis that includes City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare. Before I say anything at all, remind me never to use a novel that I absolutely love for textual analysis for academic purposes ever again!!

I love the creative concept behind this novel, I love the characters, I love Clare's writing style. The Mortal Instruments series would have to be one of the best YA finds that i've come across in a long time, so why oh why did I decide to use it for my thesis?

Alec and Magnus are, what my supervisor refers to, as secondary characters. Alec is a teenage Showdowhunter and Magnus is a very old Warlock. Anyway, it's hinted at, right from the moment that Magnus is introduced into City of Bones that he's gay. And, if you look very closely at the text (which is what textual analysis is all about), the signs that he's also interested in Alec are also there.

I've been talking to my supervisor about their relationship (which I absolutely adore, by the way, and I hope we get more of in the next installment) and she wants me to turn Magnus into a pedophile! God help me, I don't want to! I like Magnus. A lot. I tried explaining to her that Magnus actually looks 19 or so, and it's kind of like the same situation that happened in Buffy between her and Angel. No one thought that was gross or inappropriate. In fact, the entire audience was cheering them on. So what makes it so different with Magnus and Alec. Is it just because they're both guys? Well I say that sucks!

It looks like my thesis is going to highlight that even though YA writers are starting to include gay characters in their hero narratives, the characters are created by a world of homophobia, and said homophobia only hinders their case for liberation. So, what I want to know is... if its ok for a 16 year old, blonde American beauty to have sex with a 300-year-old hot American vampire, then why is it not ok for a 16 year-old American boy to have sex with a 300-year-old, hot American Warlock?

Not that we even really know if they've had sex. They probably haven't. But I say, go Alec, go!

Pedophilia? Pfft. I think not.