A Compendium of Theories

This is going to be my master post of Infernal Devices theories I see floating around. I will put ALL THE THEORIES here, even if they are completely horrible or implausible or make me want to bang my head against things. If you don't see my commentary in small letters after the theory, you can assume that I have no logical reason to object to it.

Also, I will organize them by character.

* indicates a theory I formulated myself (EDIT: crossed out= a theory that was wrong)

TESSA

• She is part-Shadowhunter (in other words, she has some angel blood)*
• Follow-up: her mother was a Shadowhunter, who was switched at birth with a mundane/faerie-- Adele Starkweather. This is why Adele's skin burned when she got her first rune; she's not a Shadowhunter. (I love this theory and think it's probably correct. Also it makes Tessa a Starkweather WHAAAAT)
• Her "second ability" has something to do with visions of the future or visions of present things that she can't see in person*
• it is also somehow related to her clockwork angel*
• OR her second ability is the power to summon angels (which seems probable based on the Clockwork Princess jacket copy)

WILL

• He is Brother Zachariah (possible, but I don't think so, because the clues so obviously point to him. The clues are intentionally misleading; Cassie said so herself.)
• He becomes a Silent Brother as payment to them for curing Jem (unlikely-- if the Silent Brothers knew of a way to cure Jem, they would have done it already, and I'm fairly certain they don't require payment. Also, Jem would never let him do it.)
• He will end up with Tessa but will die of old age or whatever before her because she is immortal
• He will die/sacrifice himself in Clockwork Princess (Nope. Nope nope nope. Just... nope.)
• He will not end up with Tessa and instead will marry someone else in an arranged marriage (right, guys. Because Will is so keen on having other people make such decisions for him. Also, who would make this decision? His parents haven't been a part of his life since he was 12. Charlotte would probably be both morally opposed given her own arranged marriage, and would see no use in even trying to compel Will to do something like this. He sure as heck wouldn't listen to the Clave, and even they probably realize it would be hopeless [I mean, remember the deleted scene where they yelled at him because of his clothes and he showed up naked the next time?] Plus, he says it himself in CP2: it's Tessa for him, or no one. I just... this is one of those theories that makes me wonder if people who come up with theories actually read the books.)

JEM

• He is Brother Zachariah (possible, but again, I don't think so. The clues also point to him, but it's not just that. I don't think Jem would become a Silent Brother just so he wouldn't have to die. He's been living with his imminent death for long enough now that he's made peace with it. Of course, he's not okay with it, but he believes in reincarnation. He doesn't see death as death. He doesn't think he needs immortality to stay in this world forever.)
• He is the Magister (again... there is not really any textual evidence to support this, other than the fact that both the Magister and Jem want to marry Tessa. Because apparently only one man can want to marry her, and it can't be for any reason like he actually loves her or anything.)
• Jem dies in Clockwork Princess (the way one would expect Jem to die, i.e. not of old age)
• He ends up with Cecily (possible, but I don't really think Jem's going to look at any other females while engaged to Tessa. He's not that kind of dude. Though I'm sure Will would be totally for it.)

CECILY

• She is a spy for Mortmain (seems totally possible, except NO because WILL.)
• She is Brother Zachariah. (INTERESTING but as far as I know Silent Brothers are dudes?)
• She marries Gabriel and this is why the Lightwoods end up with Herondale appearances (no textual evidence yet but I don't see why this can't be true, other than the fact that there are several generations between TID and TMI, during which looks can change a lot.)

Why why why why why why

So, I'm kind of unofficially doing NaNoWriMo, except I have no ideas for new stories of my own so I'm mostly just doing things to other people's characters a la fanfiction. I've always kind of thought of it as cheating, and I've never liked the tendency of fanfiction to lean toward the sappy, so I've never written it before. But just for catharsis, I did write a scene with my perfect solution to a problem that has yet to be solved in the actual books, which I probably won't be sharing. And then I wrote this scene to make up for it.

This is my idea of what Will might have been dreaming about the night Aloysius Starkweather showed them his Room O' Warlock Parts and Tessa had the dream about Henry cutting her up. So Will's having this dream right before he wakes up to Tessa's screaming and goes to comfort her and tell her he'd never let anything happen to her.

I am cruel.

            As far as Will could see, there was grass. He was alone, on a hill—he did not know where—and the sky was blue. A perfect day.

            Why was he alone? On a perfect day, he would not be alone.

            Suddenly, Tessa was in front of him. He did not want to question her appearance, wanted to believe it was true, so he simply went to her. She did not say anything, but looked at him as if she could see inside him and liked what she saw. No, she loved what she saw. And it was no danger to her. The smile on her face melted him, turned him into someone he could never outwardly be. He could be that person on this hill. With this girl who loved books and hated chocolate, who was strong and smart and looked at him as if she had been waiting for him her whole life.

            “Tess,” he said.

            “Shh,” Tessa said, and put a finger to his lips, smiling. She held it there and looked over his shoulder, past him. Her smile faded.

            She screamed.

            Will whirled around and saw a dozen automatons marching over the hill, neither slowly nor quickly. It was as if they were taking a casual stroll toward his and Tessa’s impending doom. As if it were inevitable. But there was something else off about these automatons, too. They were completely silent. They came with no warning and they did not stop.

            Will turned around, grabbed Tessa’s hand and pulled her away from the automatons. It was her they wanted, wasn’t it? She was the one they always wanted. They ran down the hill, through the valley, and up the next hill. This hill was no better.

            They reached the top, her hand still in his, and faced it together. Tessa screamed again. There, in front of them, was Jem. He was lying on the ground, wheezing and coughing and barely moving.

        Will stood stock-still and Tessa ran to collapse beside Jem, her head resting on his chest. “James,” she said, “I love you.”

            As soon as the words left her mouth, Jem’s labored breathing stopped. He smiled. He was perfectly fine. Happy as Will was to see his parabatai well, his heart was inexplicably sunken. He felt as if he was witnessing something private, something he was not meant to see. Tessa seemed to have forgotten him there, standing behind her, and Jem did not notice him at all. They were staring at each other in the same way Tessa had been staring at Will what seemed like moments ago.

            This was something he did not expect. It came with no warning, and he could not make it stop. If they were happy, he was happy. Right?

            Will turned around and walked back down the hill, toward the oncoming automatons.

Why I love YA

So, I've used this blog to write about YA for... a while now. Do you ever wonder why?

I'm going to tell you why. Now, to be honest, I'm doing this to enter Beth Revis' awesome giveaway of YA books, but I actually have been thinking about doing this for a while.

YA gets a lot of crap, especially from the hoity-toity type who like to sip tea and read Real Literature and contemplate Things. Yes, Things.

But you know what? Those people don't know what they're missing. Young adult books are just as meaningful as adult books. Don't agree with me? Allow me to direct you to the Harry Potter fandom. Or The Hunger Games fandom. Or pretty much any fandom. I'm not here to tell you why or how they're just as meaningful. That's what fandoms-- groups of people whose lives have been changed in some way by these young adult books-- are for.

I'm here to tell you why I personally love YA. I love YA because I hate tea, and I will never be that person who judges anyone based on what they read, or tells adults that they look ridiculous reading kids' books. I am 21 years old, and I am about to start reading the Percy Jackson books because my 19-year-old Tumblr friend told me I had to. What I love about YA is that that's okay, because the themes in YA are just as adult as those in Real Literature, only it trusts young people to understand them. This genre doesn't pander or talk down to anyone. I mean, I know some adults who refused to see The Hunger Games movie not because it was for kids, but because they couldn't handle the subject matter. The age range for that series? 13+. YA doesn't say, "Oh, you're 13? A baby! Here's your pacifier of ignorance and your blankie of simplicity." YA says, "Oh, you're 13? You're like totez old enough to grasp this and use it. You're young enough to be changed by the things you read. Let's put those two together!"

I love YA because it includes so many subgenres and I can read any of them. Paranormal, dystopian, contemporary, historical fiction, you name it. I will read any of those YA books. A lot of those Adult Literature Lovers are stuck in one genre (for a lot of them, it's murder mystery. What, exactly, is it about murder mysteries that makes it the end-all-be-all for adults' reading habits?), but for those of us who read YA, we know that any book has the potential to be your new favorite book. We know that you can simultaneously love Anna and the French Kiss and The Book Thief,  or The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Mortal Instruments.

Now, why do I prefer YA over Adult, specifically? Basically, in the words of John Green, "I don't give a shit about adults." I've read adult books, and really liked exactly one of them. It's a personal preference; I'm not saying there's anything inherently bad about adult books. But YA books just get me. They crawl into my heart and mind and take up residence. They're full of actual characters and plots and they keep me reading until I should have gone to bed hours ago. I can guarantee you that, back when I bought those first five books that began my obsession with reading over the past two years, if I had started with an adult book, I would not be the same person I am today. I would not have this blog. I would not be a reader. I would not be a writer.

I love YA because it has changed my life, and I know that sounds so cliche and dramatic, but it's true. YA has opened my mind and turned me into a fangirl and a thinker and a creator, and I am grateful.