Kitty

Kitty is the slash ship between Ty Blackthorn and Kit Herondale from the Shadowhunters fandom.

Canon
(spoilers below)

Kit and Ty shared a close friendship up until the end of Queen of Air and Darkness, and were frequently seen together. They are the "Sherlock" and "Watson" of the Shadowhunters fandom. Understanding autism, Kit is able to connect with Ty on a whole other level, being able to calm him down when no one else can. Due to Ty's point of view not being written in the books, it is unknown what his true feelings for Kit are. Kit is shown to worry about Ty frequently, and often thinks of him as "beautiful" or "elegant".

Ty was also one of the reasons that Kit decided to become a Shadowhunter.

It is confirmed that Ty is "definitely" taller than Kit, not only making Kit the first major male Herondale to be shorter than his love interest but also the first one to be bisexual.

Lady Midnight
Ty had snuck out of the house to follow Julian and Emma while they were questioning Johnny Rook. He broke into the basement where Kit was. Thinking Kit might attack Julian and Emma, Ty attacked him, holding a knife to his throat and demanded answers. Kit was struck by how beautiful Ty was, especially his eyes. Julian and Emma, hearing the noise found the two and all three Shadowhunters were forced to leave.

Later after his house was attacked by demons, Kit is brought to the LA institute where they reveal that he's a Shadowhunter, specifically a Herondale. Kit locked himself in his room at the institute, not really accepting his Shadowhunter lineage. Ty waited outside the room, saying he was protecting him, in case anything happened.

Lord of Shadows
During Lord of Shadows, Kit and Ty grew remarkably closer and became good friends. Along with Livia, Ty's sister, the trio often spent time together. Kit and Ty also shared many moments, perhaps most notably the following: Throughout the book, Kit made continuous references to Ty's behavior, noting that most people didn't understand him, feeling protective of him, and describing his appearance in (as noted by fans of the ship) oddly poetic ways. This practically canonized the ship, and a Kit/Ty confession became something many fans of the series wanted in Queen of Air and Darkness.
 * 1) At one point, when Livvy was hurt after a dangerous trip to the Shadow Market, Ty had a panic attack. Kit then held him on the roof of the London Institute. Neither of them pulled away.
 * 2) When discussing whether or not Ty would go to the Scholomance, Ty said, "Livvy would miss me -" Kit then interjected, saying "Your whole family would miss you. And I would miss you." After hearing those words, Ty blushed.

Queen of Air and Darkness
Kit and Ty's relationship became much more developed in the last book of the Dark Artifices. At this point, Kit appeared to at least have a crush on Ty, and their relationship was further implied to be romantic due to the many posts about them on Cassandra Clare's official Tumblr and the fact that neither of them were straight, as Clare said in an interview.

Kit was shown to be incredibly worried about Ty after Livvy's death and sat with him while the other slept, not leaving his side. When Ty proposed a plan to raise Livvy from the dead, Kit was uneasy to do so but agreed due to worrying that Ty would shatter completely if he didn't. Their story in QoAaD follows these plans and Kit's growing feelings for Ty.

There were many hints in the book which further canonized Kit's feelings (such as his heart turning over when he looked at Ty, or saying things that he liked about him) as well as signs that Ty may have romantic feelings for Kit, relaxing when he saw him and voluntarily hugging him at one point. Ty became slightly distant to all others, but trusted Kit without hesitation.

When they finally began the process of resurrecting Livvy, Kit quickly realized that it was wrong and begged Ty to stop, officially declaring his feelings for him ("I love you, Ty. I love you."), as well as saying that they "will go through it together". Ty was shocked by his declaration, but nevertheless proceeded with the ritual - however, due to having a corrupted catalyst, Livvy was not fully brought back and returned instead as a ghost who seemed to barely remember Kit (referring to him as "Herondale" in a very aloof manner). Ty told Livvy that there was nothing without her, and broke down crying when she vanished - however, Kit, who usually would have attempted to comfort him, was so stunned and hurt by what Ty had said that he did nothing.

After the ritual, Kit became much more distant but returned Livvy's locket (which they had used for the ritual) to Ty, who began saying something ("I thought that it would be -"). This could have led to a discussion about Kit's confession, but the two were interrupted.

Sometime during the battle, Kit and Ty were chained to a tree by Magnus in order to prevent them from joining and fighting as a safety measure. Kit revealed that he was angry at Ty, which prompted the other to say angrily that he thought Kit cared but he really didn't. This made the situation worse due to Kit being humiliated still from his confession, leading to him saying that he wished he'd never known Ty. Ty cried, though it is unknown whether this is from him being hurt by Kit's remark or because Livvy's resurrection was not successful. They were interrupted again by Livvy's ghost, who freed both of them. Not long after, Kit was dragged off by Emma. This was the last time he and Ty were seen together in the series.

After Kit made the Riders' steeds disappear, he became under the impression he was dying and thought, "Tell Ty -". He then agreed to move to Devon with Tessa and Jem, thinking it would not make any sense for him to stay after he'd spent all his time with Ty (due to him supposedly not meaning anything to Ty). Before leaving, he saw Ty on the beach as a sort of final goodbye, deciding to remember him happy and smiling.

Post-TDA
Kit and Ty (along with Dru) are going to be the main protagonists of The Wicked Powers, which will be published sometime in 2022. According to Clare, as of now it will be the last of the Shadowhunter books, chronologically. They will also be featured in the final two stories from the collection "Ghosts of the Shadow Market", "Ghosts of Old Loves" and "Forever Fallen". "Ghosts of Old Loves" is part of a Sherlock Holmes quote ("of all ghosts the ghosts of our old loves are the worst") so it is possible this story will address their relationship.

Fanon
Shipping between the two began immediately after the release of Lady Midnight, despite there being very few interactions between the two. They became the dominant pairing in the fandom. Fans were hoping for more interaction between the two in future novels.

On AO3 it is the most written ship for both characters. It is also the most written ship in The Dark Artifices tag.

Fanfiction for the two that takes place in-canon is divided into three categories primarily:
 * 1) Post Lady Midnight - since Ty and Kit didn't know each other very well yet, the fanfiction from this area focused mostly on their developing relationship (usually short one-shots of them getting to know each other).
 * 2) Post Lord of Shadows - by this point, fic for the two became darker. Due to Ty's reaction after witnessing Livvy's death, it focused mostly on Kit comforting Ty after Livvy's death.
 * 3) Post Queen of Air and Darkness - due to the depressing ending the two characters got in QoAaD, fanfic for the two will, from now on, likely include reunions or post-canon fics. In these fanfictions, Kit is usually shown to be pining after Ty until they sort everything out, finding out that their feelings for each other are not requited. Kit's pining causes some fans to jokingly say that he is a true Herondale due to the angsty aspect of relationships that Herondales often end up in (Jace thinking he and Clary were related, Will thinking he couldn't love anyone because he was cursed).

Fandom
FAN FICTION

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