#chots

[helenofblackthorns]

oh so when Lucie Herondale, a 16 year old shadowhunter with unusual powers, raises her boyfriend from the dead it has no major consequences and when she goes to Edom with her bestie and future parabatai the worst thing that happens is that they have to share a secret but when I, Clary Fairchild-

[tys-kitty]

That one scene in ChoT…

Thomas: Alright, so I‘m in love with Alastair

Matthew:

Thomas: Thoughts?

Matthew: And prayers

[clockwork-carstairs]

do you ever think about how matthew fairchild was such a sunshine coded character—a golden boy, floated through school, charmed everyone with his infamous smile; a starry-eyed dreamer who had faith in most things that weren’t himself. and how because of one moment of naivety he lost years of his life to devastating self-sabotage, believing himself worth nothing, deserving of nothing, drinking day by day to numb out the pain—because he believed people could only ever like him when he wasn’t sober, when he wasn’t fully himself. and how despite visibly not being okay, nobody ever really said anything about it until he basically hit rock bottom. and do you ever think about how matthew would’ve given up his love for cordelia in a second if it meant james could be happy, when james wouldn’t do the same? you knew. i told you in the letter. and how he joked and deflected so much to hide how sad he really was, because he believed no one would care enough to see it. i did not know that i looked sad, to you. because i think about it a lot and it makes me very sad

[jamieswoodenspoon]

me in barcelona: wow this is so thomas lightwood on his sabbatical year core

[rinadragomir]

Chain of Thorns Illumicrate edition arts🔮

[aratilightwood]

[pansexual-lilychen]

”we need more complex female characters“

y‘all couldn’t even handle her

[queenmollixofshadows]

Christopher I love you

[sheisbeautyweareworldass]

alastair being the funniest character in chain of thorns: a compilation

[allthestories]

Charles to Alastair, Thomas, and Math: No, none of you understand, my secret is too shamef—  

Thomas: You dumb bitch every person in this room right now is gay

[edwinspaynes]

My super unpopular take is that all the miscommunication is what makes TLH so good. It's essentially a display of what makes the characters tick, and the way that they resolve it all shows how they fit together and what the spaces between them represent.

At its core, TLH is a series about trauma.

James has been sexually abused for years, making him unable to communicate about his lack of free will and the lies that his life were made up of. Cordelia grew up in an abusive household and is just now learning that her life isn't what she believed it to be. This of course makes it hard for them to communicate since both of them were blindsided by this new knowledge that all of their past experiences were lies.

Matthew has PTSD from his perceived misdeed, his Great Sin that has made him believe he's a murderer for years; he loathes himself, makes self-destructive decisions, and refuses to communicate as a result of the self-punishment stemming from that. Part of this punishment and self-harm is throwing himself into James and Cordelia's relationship to break his own heart and pay penance. Matthew miscommunicates to HIMSELF that this is what love is and this is what he deserves.

Alastair's canonical cPTSD puts him in the position of a protector who must keep secrets that have left him feeling broken and unlovable. Thomas, who has loved him since childhood, cannot speak of it for fear of upsetting his close-knit friend group. Not to mention that in his grief he's extremely rash.

Only by talking can they make their situations better, can they fit the puzzle pieces of their lives together and heal. But they have to wait until they're ready, and seeing when and how that happens is both a massive character study and a study in trauma. The things trauma makes us do and makes us hide.

This is the point of TLH. This is literally the reason it works.

[roseofthomas]

the fact that gideon’s first reaction to thomas saying he’s gonna spend the rest of his life with alastair was “i didn’t think you even liked alastair” is soo in character 😭 he has no idea whats going on but tries his best

[spacehero-23]

my biggest issue with chain of thorns is that we're told about some big/emotional events but we don't get to see them...

oh! will and tessa cried when they found out their kids were trapped in london! right after finding out their nephew died. but you won't get to read this scene

gabriel and cecily's son died! and they found out when his body was brought to them! but you won't get to read that scene!

will and tessa found out about the gracelet and were upset. but you won't get to read that.

charles confronted bridgestock and came out to the entire enclave in a very brave and dramatic way! but you won't get to read that!

like??? we had to suffer through 300 pages of a bullshit love triangle (i refuse to believe people honestly thought herondaisy won't be canon) but we couldn't get some genuinely important moments???

[blqckthorne]

charles being like “you guys don’t understand how hard it is to be me: a man who likes men” to a room that is filled exclusively with men who like men had the same energy as in tlbotw when tian said “do you know how hard it is to love someone you can’t be with?” to alec and jace of all people

[pharawee]

[queenhelenblackthorn]