#ty day

"Ty” Blackthorn

“He’s only fifteen. The other students are eighteen. It’s meant for Academy graduates”

I don't know how to start this, other than with a quote about Ty, so that's where I'll go from:

"Ty is special. He...translates the world differently from how the rest of us do...He's going to be something amazing."

So, picture this. I am 13. My only real interests are writing, remembering last words, doing puzzles, and the Cassandra Clare universe. I am so enthralled by this magical book series that I decide to sit down and read the whole wikia on it. By the next week, I've remembered the whole thing. There are lots of different kinds of characters, but none quite like me. This is okay. I am not used to reading books about people like me.

The years pass, and some of my friends who were interested in the books move on. I do not. I lose my interest in last words, and pick up an interest in Sherlock Holmes and insects. The new Cassandra Clare book, City of Heavenly Fire, is coming out. My mum and I have been reading the books - that is, I have been reading them aloud to her to improve my communication skills.

I open up the book, and begin reading the prologue. There is a new family, the Blackthorns, and I look them up in my signed Codex. Ah, yes, I remember them. As I am reading, a boy called Tiberius throws a knife at his brother, and I laugh. I've missed these books.

"Is this about the bees in your room?" Mark was demanding as he strode over to Tiberius.

There's a Shadowhunter who likes insects too? So much he can have them in his room? I'm instantly jealous.

"You know why we had to get rid of those!"

"I assume you did it to thwart me," Ty said. Ty was small for his age - ten - but he had the vocabulary and diction of an eighty-year-old.

I laugh. My classmates say I am a Victorian stuck in the body of a modern person. It sounds like this Ty is the same way.

Ty didn't tell lies usually, mostly because he didn't understand why he might need to. He couldn't understand why some of the things he did annoyed or upset people, and e found their anger either baffling or frightening, depending on his mood.

I look up from the book. My mum is smiling.

"He sounds like you."

It's true. My first memory is of being surprised by my mother.

"You startled me!" I exclaimed, and the adults laughed at my strange use of language. I didn't see why it was strange. It was the word that fit how I felt best.

Later, and still fanatic about everything Cassandra Clare, I bought Lady Midnight. When I began reading it to my mum, we had to stop sometimes because one or both of us would be crying or laughing over how alike Ty and I were. It wasn't until this year, when I was 18, that we knew why. I was autistic. I felt a little bit like a Shadowhunter, flying under the radar of the Clave in all my neuroatypicality.

I was scared, for a while. Was this why everything was so loud for me? Why I used to hide under tables at parties and cry until we left restaurants? Was this why I couldn't ride a bike? I'd been called weird. Could I go to university? Could I work? What did this mean?

Lord of Shadows came out in the nick of time. There was more of Ty in that book. He solved all the problems no one else could because he was autistic, because of the way his brain worked. I applied to university, and then received an offer from a Russell Group uni. I began working with autistic children. I went to business events with my project with disabled children. All of that, because of Ty Blackthorn. All of that because of Cassandra Clare's unwavering commitment to representation and inclusivity.

There was a time when I couldn't walk beyond the end of my drive. Now, I've been to America to see Washington DC - American history is my most recent obsession.

right so @brigitteisntfrench and @thepurplewarlock had the best idea to host a ty blackthorn appreciation day, anD ITS HAPPENING!! it's on saturday, october 7, 2017, and it would be great if all of us as a fandom accept the fact that ty blackthorn is out lord and saviour and devote that day to him (not that my life isn't already devoted to ty but it would be great if we had a day)

so, spread the word! let's do this!! make aesthetics, write stories, oneshots, headcanons, make art, do whatever you can to celebrate ty! he's our little bean, and he deserves so much more!

He thought, how beautiful.

Happy Ty Day!

Pyromania interests me.