About Simon and the Mark of Cain. Or “Bullets! My only weakness! How did you know?”

slipintothesunrise asked you:

Why is the Mark of Cain was such a curse to Simon? For the most part, it only helped him, because it gave him invulnerability. And it didn’t prevent Isabelle from kissing him—or maybe it did bounce the kiss back sevenfold? Maybe thats why Isabelle likes him so much O.o No, but it really doesnt hinder his daily life—the only time it actually affected him in a bad way is when he had to run away from his mother and the knife. So why is it considered such a curse?

Well, because Simon isn’t a terrible person! I think one of the running themes of Mortal Instruments is that no gift comes without a price. For being immortal, there’s a price. For getting Jace back from the dead, there was a price. And for Simon’s invulnerability, there’s a very big price.

Notice how Clary could put the Mark of Cain on pretty much anyone and make them invulnerable if she wanted. Notice how nobody wants it. It’s invulnerability at too great a price to be worth it.

First, the issue of sevenfold: you’re not just invulnerable to people who want to kill you, you’re like a bomb that blows up not just people who come at you with deadly intent, but people who come at you without it. Simon doesn’t want to wander around being the cause of death of random muggers or drunk people who take a swing at him in a bar. The first time someone comes at him with a knife and is ripped apart in front of his eyes, he throws up in the gutter. Fun times!

Secondly, the issue that the invulnerability isn’t the curse. It’s a side effect of the curse. God put the curse on Cain so that he would be forced to wander hated and alone, cut off from his people. Cain pointed that this meant he would be immediately murdered and God put the Mark on him to tell people that if they harmed Cain, they would suffer God’s wrath. The Mark keeps Cain alive so that he can suffer the misery of the curse. 

Simon’s mother is not by nature just a lunatic. Her casting Simon out is the beginning of the curse starting to work. Simon is not dumb enough not to know that. If the curse stayed on him he’d lose everyone he loved one by one till he was totally alone. Invulnerability just isn’t worth it.

“

sanityismusic asked you:

Now that Simon lost his Mark of Cain, are people like Raphael going to try to kill him? Is Camille really dead? And MAGNUS AND ALEC HAVE TO GET BACK TOGETHER RAAAH. Why were Helen and Aline meeting with Maryse? Was it about Amatis? Is there anyway for Amatis to return to her normal self? And will Jocelyn and Luke EVER get married?? So. Much. Emotion.”

Oh, you bet, now that Simon’s Mark of Cain is gone it’s open season on him. Good thing he has several bodyguards. And yes, Camille is really dead, not ever coming back, dead dead dead. Which makes Maureen possibly the head of the New York vampires, though Raphael will contest that, which means — an all-out vampire war and Simon in the middle. Fun stuff to look forward to in City of Heavenly Fire.

As for Helen and Aline, they were talking to Maryse about Amatis being missing. Read over their dialogue and you can see it. As for whether there’s any hope for Amatis, or how Maureen managed to kill a vampire as old as Camille, I’ll post more on both those things.