#CHAIN OF IRON SPOILERS

[rhiannons-bird]

In my eyes Grace using her powers to make James and Matthew kiss her, and generally controlling men (Charles being among them but above all James) was always the bigger offence than her interfering with James & Cordelia’s relationship. Like, it’s literally SA by magic (and in Matthew’s case it wasn’t even addressed plus she gaslit him into thinking that he’d done sth wrong and used it to keep him in check), and James was clearly traumatised by the experience. Not saying that Grace deserves eternal punishing for it because it’s def more nuanced than that. But people need to start calling it what it was instead of playing up the romance drama 😭

[jamieswoodenspoon]

pls don’t jump me but i felt like the lucie/cordelia parabatai thing was very forced and very performative and i don’t really mean cc’s writing (except for the end where they really do become parabatai) i more mean them as characters in lore

i think one of my chot predictions was just that lucie and cordelia didn’t go through with the parabatai thing and it would be a moment of maturity or something after a childhood of proclaiming to everyone that they’d be parabatai one day and being really idek james i think at some point explained it better than i did but it felt very unserious/immature

i appreciate that what actually ended up happening is a cute little ‘friends can make up’ ditty but i think it would have also been nice to see them accept that they’ve grown apart or can still be good friends without necessarily having to be parabatai I DON’T KNOW

[helenofblackthorns]

the fact nobody got slapped in tlh is a crime, several of those characters should have been humbled asap

[agnes-draws]

favourite uncle 💖 I/II

[mayaheronthorn]

When Thomas said "Would you like me to do something about it?" to Alastair under the mistletoe, my legs went numb. Like fr I couldn't walk or talk

[clockwork-carstairs]

anyone else kinda disappointed lucie’s powers never got a grand reveal or even much acknowledgement throughout the last hours? especially in chain of thorns with the final battle and what she did to save everyone…she is often just completely overlooked and it really grates me.

from the very start of chain of gold, all the focus was on james’ shadow powers. and then lucie called an entire freaking river of ghosts to save cordelia … and all we got was magnus looking at her intently and jesse later telling her he answered her call. not one real bit of acknowledgment from her friends. and i was hoping that part of lucie’s arc would be frustration at being the “second herondale” sibling, living in her brother’s shadow, embracing her power and eventually telling everyone the truth about her powers and having them realise oh shit, lucie is powerful, she’s been powerful this whole time, arguably even more powerful than james…but literally like none of her friends acknowledge it at all and it’s so frustrating to me as a big lucie fan :/. like home girl has called on and commanded LEGIONS of ghosts, she brought someone back to life for crying out loud, and it’s NEVER ACKNOWLEDGED PROPERLY and it’s so annoying to me !!!!! to clarify i do not hate james at all or anything, just that there was SO much focus on his shadow shifting ability, what about lucie’s power over the dead huh??!

the lack of a grand reveal just felt so anticlimactic and frustrating. outside of jesse, malcolm, and idek grace it’s like no one even cared. except cordelia who felt upset lucie couldn’t open up to her about it (and like on the one hand ok i get the whole secrets thing is the driving force of the plot & ig i’d be a bit upset if my best friend hid something massive from me, BUT at the same time i’d be like ok, so given what we’re discussing here (necromancy) i guess that’s kinda valid why you felt the need to hide that and also wow you’re insanely powerful?) also why did lucie’s adoration of cordelia feel one-sided,

anyway some random thoughts, i just feel like lucie is never given enough credit for how powerful she is and all she did in the series, away from the limelight. i was soo hyped for a herondale woman but she was just not respected enough !

[jukudol]

thomas and alastair walked so vi and caitlyn could run

[pansexual-lilychen]

what was i made for? is a certified grace blackthorn song

[drunkonimagination]

imagine how much thomas's mental health will suffer from barbara's loss and kit's sudden death once things have finally settled down. imagine how much he will try to bottle everything up since he has always struggled to share his most intimate thoughts and feelings, especially the sad and consuming ones. and also because thomas hates feeling small and weak like he once did as a child. he hates being treated like glass ready to break at anytime rather than the strong and reliable person he is desperately trying to be. he's just the kind of person who suffers in silent and bears everything all alone until the matter slowly fades away. so when alastair catches him panting and trembling in the middle of the night and asks thomas what's going on, he dismisses alastair's words with a quick gesture of the hand and a forced smile, saying it's really nothing, just bad dreams. however alastair knows thomas all too well to understand something is not right and is too perceptive not to notice how the other boy always flinches at the mere mention of christopher and immediately tries to change topic or hurry to do something else....but he doesn't insist: he just sits closer to thomas and starts caressing lightly his shoulder uttering comforting words. he silently reminds the other boy that he's one of the best things that ever happened to him, that he'll always be there when he needs him the most, the same way thomas is always there for him, that he loves him with his whole heart, especially when he's feeling sad or vulnerable- and thomas doesn't know how or when, but tears are rolling down his face, one by one, and as much as he tries to stop them they don't, just as a raging river overflowing....then he suddenly realizes alastair has stopped talking, but doesn't dare to turn and face him, because he knows for sure that alastair's loving gaze would break him once for all and he doesn't want it. he wants to be strong, he wants everything to stop: the pain, the trembling, the tears...but how can he stop it, how can he- a soft touch abruptly interrupts his stream of thoughts, a delicate hand stroking his cheek and wiping gently his tears, and a whisper: the most tender voice breaking through the veil of sorrow and grief enveloping him. “my tom, please.” thomas lets out a heart-wrenching sob, he doesn't need to look at alastair...all his love, so much love, is pouring through every single word. “let me comfort you,” alastair continues “let me love you.” and thomas can't help it anymore. he wraps his arms around alastair carstairs in a tight embrace and immediately feels strong arms hugging him back. and everything still hurts, it hurts so much, but alastair's presence, his body pressed entirely against thomas, the reassuring familiar voice going right through his heart...it's home. and home feels like hope. hope that one day he'll be fine again.

[toast-in-a-cowboy-hat]

Me a couple weeks ago, scrolling the tags : "Huh, ya know, Outlaw and MW should be friends, I think they have a decent bit in common, neither of em seem to have many friends, it'd be good for them"

Me, today, scrolling the tags: "Well then."

[green-character]

Shadowhunters : The Last Hours, Chain of Iron, Light spoiler

Thomas Lightwood wouldn't mind being in love with a boy if it didn't mean being in love with Alastair Carstairs.

Alastair Carstairs wouldn't mind being in love with Thomas Lightwood if it didn't mean being in love with a boy.

Okay I just thought of that, it's 1 in the morning and I'm far from the end of the book but I though I'd share my thoughts.

Truth is I think Charles is the coward one, but this could fit with younger Alastair perhaps.

[alashit]

When I was reading the last few hours I couldn't stop thinking about the bridgerton series!!!!

Spoiler⚠️

When Cordelia and James got engaged, they reminded me so much of Daphne and Simon or when Alastair told Thomas he was going away I couldn't stop thinking about when Anthony finds out Kate is going to India.

[jaimrennnn]

I realized that every TLH couple had their final scene from their POV in the last pages during the park scenes except for Anna and Ariadne. Cassie really did that🥲

[agnes-draws]

a little birthday present i did a while ago for the wonderful @vwritesaus 💖 it's a scene from her beautiful fic (i'm begging you all to go read it if you haven't yet. it's a masterpiece.)

[mayaheronthorn]

Alastair reading that damned fire message from Thomas:

[youwouldtreatittenderly]

Some thoughts about Chain of Iron:

Alastair has really grown on me. I love his sibling dynamic with Cordelia and I'm liking his romance with Thomas. Although that 180 he does at the end about giving their relationship a try came out of nowhere, considering he's the one to voice the possibility of something serious happening between them. It just felt a bit contrived for drama and it could have been executed better.

Grace has turned into a really interesting character. What she's done to James is terrible, but I like that the situation is more complicated than it seemed at first. I wish the narrative had explored more her feelings on the horrible things she's done because of Tatiana's influence.

The plot revolving around Lucie, Grace and Jesse was my favorite by far. The actual resurrection felt very anticlimactic though. The tie-in with TDA through Malcom was cool.

The first half of the book feels like a slice of life / fake relationship fic with some crumbs of plot sprinkled in. It was boring.

James and Cordelia being married was such a wasted opportunity to create romantic tension. I can think of only two scenes that take advantage of that. I didn't feel like they grew closer because they were already friends and they already knew they wanted each other physically since Chain of Gold.

Cordelia falling for Lilith's trick was embarrasing. Not that she was tricked at all, I actually like that part, but it should have been a clever ruse, not something so obvious it puts Cordelia's critical thinking skills into question. I thought it was hilarious that this happened in the same book where Tessa calls her clever and resourceful. She deserved better.

Similarly, Thomas says Will is smart and strategic, then Will proceeds to ask him if he's hiding any secrets while Thomas is holding The Mortal Sword, when he knows damn well James and his friends have been keeping secrets from the Enclave. Asking Thomas if Gideon is pretending to forget about the money he owes Will was funny though.

There's so much time wasted on narrating the comings and goings of all the characters, what they’re wearing, where they’re sitting, etc. and since there's so many of them it takes forever.

So. many. interruptions. I'm begging CC to find a more subtle and organic method to create tension.

Matthew often disappeared in this book and it's a shame because he's such a compelling character. He's still my favorite though.

Why was Cordelia the only one trying to help Matthew? I wouldn't expect a group of teenagers to know exactly what to do, but they could at least try.

I thought there was something weird about Magnus so I'm glad that turned out to be another trick. I can't fault the characters for falling for this one.

I'm not very invested in the Jordelia romance, but Cordelia telling Belial he can't have James because he's hers and pulling him from the shadow world was pretty great. Plus finally breaking that goddamn bracelet.

What I liked about the final battle: the reveal that Belial has been using Jesse's body, Lucie's powers and Christopher's invention saving the day.

What I didn't like: Leviathan's attack didn't add anything besides keeping the side characters busy. As far as villains go, Belial is pretty underwhelming.

What the hell was that ending???? Yes, I'm still mad. Out of all the overdramatic and painfully clichéd tropes CC has ever used this is the worst one by far.