Nothing But Shadows - Tumblr Posts
Rereading ‘Nothing but Shadows’ and-
Jamie, sweetheart, what Thomas is experiencing is called gay panic.
Also: love how Matthew met James 5 minutes ago and is already shooing away people so he can charm him in peace.
Every time post TID Will Herondale opens his mouth is a blessing upon all of us.
Why is there a print version of The Midnight Heir but none of the other short stories? I need a tiny copy of Nothing but Shadows to carry around as an emotional pick-me-up.
Currently at chapter 5 of Song of Achilles and it's giving big Nothing but Shadows vibes.
Gonna get hate for this probably but I want to keep it real: "Goatface Herondale" is actually a really fucking hilarious magnum opus of a middle school nickname
The real tragedy of the Matthew/James & Alastair relationship and what happened at the academy is that they could’ve 100% bonded over hating that place had they had an opportunity to open up to each other the way James and Matthew did with each other.
It just struck me that the people viciously bullying Alastair where the same close-minded people that bullied James as well.
They all developed different coping strategies depending on their own unique circumstances and personalities: Alastair felt forced to adapt because he had nowhere to go, feeling unsafe at home, James pretty much tried to disappear into his books, and Matthew evaded victimisation through his charms and privilege while actively trying to get home so he could reassume his parentified role in caring for Henry.
Obviously James & Matthew were kind of cut out for each other, and as mentioned they all had different circumstances, plus Alastair was a lot more disadvantaged socially from the onset, but I think if they had been in the same year and gotten lucky he might’ve had a chance to get along with James and/or Matthew.
Because even though they weren’t aware of it, their very antagonisation of each other (just like James & Matthew initially) stemmed from their different reactions to what was a similar experience with and disgust for the society they where thrown into at the academy.
I swear to god NBS and Midnight Heir set him up as so incredibly unhinged, he could’ve gone down a very different path
Nothing but Shadows! James was so unwell about his mother it's unreal. He had daddy issues too no wonder they had to tone him down