parabatai parallels 🥺

—Simon Lewis, City of Glass

—Will Herondale, Clockwork Princess

—Julian Blackthorn, Lady Midnight

—James Herondale, Chain of Thorns

@ofstarsandmoonlightt ’s post on this parallel reminded me of Julian's lines to Emma and I simply had to put them all together 🥺

TLH/TDA Cover Parallels and Analysis

The TSC cover poll by @kaitcreates made me realize how the TSC covers are so well intertextually connected between each other, especially the TLH and the TDA ones. So, I analyzed them.

We have Cordelia on the cover of Chain of Gold, while Emma, who is her descendant, is on the cover of Lady Midnight. The tone of TLH is warmer autumn colors compared to the blue and green (like the sea, an important symbol of the series and LA) hues of TDA. Also, the way the characters pose is different: Cordelia is standing before a palace's gate, supposedly, the London Institute, and she's starting her new life, Cortana ready to slash whatever comes her way. Emma, on the other hand, seems like drowning and Cortana is slipping from her hands. At some point of the story, both had to give up on their precious weapon.

Chain of Iron features Lucie facing a forest at night which has colors I associate with winter, the season in which it should be set. The moths are a symbol of change, mystery of the night, and death/endings and you can understand why they were on her cover. Coi ends with Jesse's soul disappearing after Belial is cast out of his body. But it's also a beginning because Jesse comes back to life by the end. And it all matches perfectly with the cover of Lord of Shadows, with Julian on it. I think we can safely say that Julian is Lucie and Jesse's descendant. The mood is very dark and he's also underwater like Emma. Water is a symbol of life but also of chaos and healing. In Qoaad, Julian turned off his emotions in order not to fall deeper for his parabatai Emma and endanger both their lives because of the parabatai curse. He holds the Blackthorn sword which we know it's destroyed in CoT, while Lucie holds the Blackthorn locket. The LoS ending matches the CoI one because in the former Jesse comes back to life, while in the latter, Livvy dies. She was the Blackthorn character that until her death wore the Blackthorn locket, which was worn by Jesse before he gave it to Lucie. Full circle, again with the descendants!

Cordelia faces a pretty London palace on CoG. Lucie faces a dark forest full of unknown creatures. On the Chain of Thorns cover, Grace faces a place in ruins (Blackthorn Manor?). The colors of this cover give spring vibes and in fact, if we consider the epilogue, it ends in spring, the season of new beginnings and where everything blooms again. While Emma and Julian are in a place underwater where they can be saved (they aren't too deep), the last character featured on the Queen of air and darkness cover, Annabel Blackthorn, has pretty much sunk to the bottom of the ocean and she is beyond saving. We can tell from the Titanic-esque ruins behind her feet that she's hit the bottom, literally and figuratively. Annabel was angry because she was brought back against her will, and in her fit of anger, she ended up killing Livvy and she lost her life for good after. Grace has the opposite features as Annabel, and for good reason. While Annabel can only go back to the world of the dead, Grace has a change at getting her life back and start anew. We can say both Annabel and Grace shared a similar fate: their so called Blackthorn "parents" manipulated and abused them and they both lived half a life. Unlike Annabel, who, I said, is at the bottom and is hopeless and gone for good, Grace facing the ruins of the place were she used to live also means starting anew. Starting from the bottom, from the ashes, but in the hopeful way. It means finally living the life she wants to live.

I know that "the last hours" is taken from Great Expectations and is also a quote Magnus says. But this quick analysis also brings to the surface how the last hours could indeed be the last moments of sadness and desperation, before getting through and making it out alive. In comparison, TDA's tone is darker but it also shows that humans are able to survive the worst and going above water to breathe again after tragedy and tough life choices they have to face.

— the foxhole court (2013)

— the sunshine court (2024)

what do you mean neil josten knew to calculate the distance between him and an older man so he could easier avoid getting hit (and run away) when jean moreau calculated to stay within arm reach of his coach because “a coach who had to get up to strike hit harder than one who could simply take a swing”. i’m gonna be sick.

the fact that nora made Jean gentle at heart is so special to me. despite everything that’s happened to him and although he’s a bit abrasive, he still cleans the damn dishes and puts away leftovers without being asked i love him so much

Promises

The King’s Men // The Sunshine Court

The King’s Men - Chapter 14 | The Sunshine Court - Chapter 14

thinking about Neil and Jean being left on the floor after being beaten

The Raven King ch.15

lazarus noras tumblr

haha yeah continue to not talk to me because I am unwell.

bonus: Wymack and Renee both driving with unresponsive bodies post ravens nest.

Do you ever find yourself just sitting and thinking about how hard it must have been to write a family of seven siblings and make them all unique and interesting, yet give them these similar threads that tie them back to one another. And like not only did cassie succeed in that, but all the blackthorns literally go so hard?? Mark being the lost son who doesn’t know how to be who people want him to be and Julian being the boy who had to grow up too fast who’s whole life is his siblings, and when he tries to reach for something that’s just for him it ends up being catastrophic. We’ve got Livvy, the heart of the family and their true north, and Ty, who can’t imagine navigating the world without her. There’s Dru, desperate to be taken seriously and treated like an adult, and Tavvy, who’s younger than his years because of his trauma. Half these characters don’t even have POVs and yet they’re all so alive to me. Forget warlocks and faeries, this right here is the real magic of TDA.

Okay i know we’ve all noticed the many, many parallels between Jean and Neil but do u ever think about how Jean and Andrew, after being having their boundaries violently crossed so many times, both found someone who will respect their boundaries at any cost?? do u???

“A Primer for the Small Weird Loves”, Richard Siken // The Sunshine Court, Nora Sakavic

I believed in soulmates when Magnus sought peace and found it in Alec

—the midnight heir, the bane chronicles

—what to buy the shadowhunter who has everything (and who you’re not officially dating anyway), the bane chronicles

—epilogue, red scrolls of magic

—the city in the sea, Queen of Air and Darkness

Alastair confess his feelings for Thomas - Chain of Thorns, Chapter 32 "Whatever Gods May Be" Mr. Darcy confesses his feelings for Elizabeth - Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 34

renee: damn i wanna go through his things that's so inappropriate :(

andrew: damn i'm gonna go through his things that's so inappropriate ;D

Tsc 2 should end with the Trojans winning the championship just like how tkm ends with the foxes winning

KEVIN ASKED NEIL TO GIVE HIM HIS GAME AND JEREMY ASKED JEAN TO GIVE HIM HIS SOUL