#I wanted to see some serious consequences for him and clary

[im-out-of-it]

season 2, episode 5 “dust and shadows” aka let’s keep making Alec suffer because that’s fun isn’t it

I hate this episode I hate this episode I hate this episode with every core but let’s get into it

1. Alec: move bitch I’m gay

2. Alec, just shoot him COME ON

3. Alec is different because he actually feels guilt and remorse. he’s not trying to make excuses for his actions. Jocelyn is clary’s mother and Alec thinks it’s jace’s mother so he feels like the blame is on him. Alec is obviously one of my favorite characters but what I love about Alec is he takes accountability and responsibility. he grows, adapts, changes for the better. he doesn’t just stand there make excuses and try to justify his behavior (I love a dark Alec) (his cute little angry face) (I’m sorry but it’s so cute 🥹)

4. Jace trying to be like I know what you’re going through but you chose to join Valentine. Alec didn’t choose to go and murder Jocelyn. Alec’s choices were taken way from him. Jace didn’t have to go and join Valentine and commit atrocities but he did and it’s something he won’t even pay for. literally jace is just walking around doing as he pleases and no one thinks hey this man should be in prison for all the murders he’s committed!!!!! he was in the city of bones for not even a whole week and was let out

Alec: bye and give me my fucking space

5. I don’t care about jace’s feelings, I hate this motherfucker SO MUCH. he gets to hurt Alec and Magnus and Izzy and do whatever he wants and it’s a ok!!!!! it’s honestly infuriating but hey he’s supposed to be good looking and has trauma so it’s accepted

6. Simon is being the bestie he always is

7. yes Simon, clary was so wrecked when you died that she made a decision for you without thinking about how you would handle being a vampire, remember? why is it all the shitty things clary and jace do just get ignored????? “hey Alec I treated you like shit but we are parabatai so you do as I say” “oh hey Simon you’re dead and you’re my go to so you’re going to be alive and I’m making this choice for you.” harsh, maybe but literally both of their actions are constantly accepted and Simon and Alec forgive them for literally fucking everything. and when Alec does something wrong, HOLY FUCKING HELL LETS TREAT HIM LIKE SHIT AND NOT FEEL BAD ABOUT IT

anyone remember this????? Jace brought up something painful to Alec that his parents never failed to remind him of and shot this right at him. but all is forgiven when jace does something shitty, right?

8. I don’t know maybe I’m petty but if you hurt me over and over, BYE like why would I choose to have someone constantly betray hurt and ignore my feelings be in my life? literally Alec stands up for himself but Simon should have done it more, as well as Alec. but it is an improvement from the books where Alec and Simon don’t have much of a voice but more Alec

9. “I couldn’t think of life without you Simon” yeah because when you don’t have jace, Simon is your only option

10. “what if we get my mom back?” Clary, nobody wants that lmao being rid of Jocelyn is THE GIFT

11. Magnus: I don’t do dark magic bye

12. I hate when if some people are close to their parents and then they tell others “you would do the same” not everyone has a good relationship with their parents. I don’t and I take offense to this whole attitude of clary’s. I get she misses her mother- it’s understandable but not everyone has that kind of relationship or wants their parents around

13. Magnus’s mother committed suicide because of what Magnus is. who would want such toxicity in their lives? and clary doesn’t get until now but some people who parents who care shouldn’t assume everyone has that because we don’t. Magnus’s father was abusive and to add- so is his other father, a prince of hell. Magnus isn’t winning in the parents category

14. Magnus’s pain doesn’t get talked about enough which is another reason they would have a lot of material for a Magnus spin off. I do wish they would have showcased some moments with Alec of him getting to know Magnus more. and I’m very appreciative of what we ended up getting but some sweet intimacy moments would have been nice as well 🥹

15. Magnus: don’t say I never did anything for ya

16. the day Magnus met clary, ah good times

17. Clary: I get what you’re saying Magnus but I always get what I want so I will ignore your warnings

18. I forgot to add with that video, seeing simons understanding of why Magnus didn’t want him around the instrument that ended his mother IM CRYING

19. Izzy: have you forgotten who I am?

20. BREAKY BREAK TIME 👏🏼 let’s remember season one and remember that THIS IS MAGNUS

21. I MISS HIM ALREADY AND I LOVE HIM FULL ON ROASTING AND BURNING THE SHADOWHUNTERS GO OFF MAGS 🔥

22. if anyone has any requests for past episodes and seasons, drop them in the comments and I’ll be sure to include them

23. fuck where was I??????

24. so jace is excused for his crimes and that’s that? he’s just forgiven? oh wait jace can commit mass murder and all is right with the world

25. 26 fallen silent brothers and 3 shadowhunters died because Valentine wanted the mortal sword 🗡️ you’d think they would be taking extreme measures

26. “I should’ve just left to idris with her” yes that’s what we all wish for. because with CLACE out of the picture, we could’ve focused on what matters. Malec, Izzy, Maia, more downworlders instead of saving jace saving jace oh and saving clary 🙄 guess necromancy is the only way because in clary world she always gets her way

I’m stopping at 27 and from the way this episode is going, its going to be a complete bitchfest and shitpost so sorry I have opinions?????? but y’all know I hate clary and Jace so this isn’t shocking but I’ll probably do the next one either tonight or tomorrow if anyone cares

[livcosmos]

Chain of Iron BOOKTALK

I just….I….HOW…WHAT???? NOVEMBER?????!!!!!!…I can’t…What just happened???… I don’t even…OMG!!!!

I think there is nothing to say without spoiling anything sooo….

SPOILER WARNING

AAAAAAHHHHHHH I can’t believe how on earth am I supposed to wait till November??? NOVEMBER!!! I KNEW, I KNEW, I KNEW that it would end this way…this massive mess I knew it…I mean we do all remember how “Clockwork Angel” ended and don’t get me started on “Lord of Shadows”… I saw it coming but not like THAT!!! THIS IS BRUTAL!!!!!!

AHHHHHH OK alright I have to calm down and AHHHHH!!! This book was pure torture but in a good way, it hurt but I loved it! I couldn’t stop reading and I was screaming throughout the whole thing and you all know perfectly good why…. THE FREAKING BRACELET!!!! I couldn’t concentrate on anything else but the bracelet…. I WAS SOOOOOOO MAD and I still am…I am freaking out !!!!

NO but really, I have to start making sense and I don’t even know where to start…there is so much to talk about…but I guess I’m starting with the ENDING because helooooo what was that???

I can’t believe it…I was waiting throughout the whole book for that bracelet to break or for James to take it off or whatever and then it finally happened!!! It happened and I was like ‘OMG YAAASSSS’!!!! It’s finally happening James is going to realise that he loves Cordelia and they are going to be together for good…I have to admit the moment that wicked thing broke I was so grateful and happy, I was over the moon, but still I was sceptical, I wasn’t as happy as I should have been, I knew it was wayyyy to good to be true and that something bad had to happen… I felt it!

First I was afraid I was petrified…(sorry I had to), I thought the bad thing that was going to replace the bracelet mess was, what Tatiana The Lunatic told Grace to do… to make Jesse fall in love with her, because she couldn’t do it with James… and at that point I lost it!!! THAT WOMAN IS SICK!!! I saw the whole Clary and Jace drama from “City of Ashes” all over again running before my eyes … I know Grace and Jesse aren’t actually related but still that is sick!!!! I just can’t go through the whole thing, we got through with James and Cordelia because of Grace and the freaking bracelet all over again with Lucie and Jesse!!!! (I will get to the Jesse/Lucie thing in a minute!)

But of course that wasn’t the bad thing that was about to happen it would have been way to harmless… and when Grace went to James for “help” I was actually a little relieved, I thought ‘Alright she does have good sense and she is going to report Tatiana’….but oh no..oh no..oh no no no no no… ahhhhhhh!!!! James my love, I love you but what was in your head when you said “Thank God” and when you told Cordelia “I don’t feel about you the way I feel about Grace” ARE YOU CRAZY??? HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND??? But nevertheless, I have to give you credit for how you confronted her with her wicked power afterward, how you wouldn’t take her lies anymore! And you Cordelia darling, he said he has something important to tell, you don’t run away like that wait and see what he has to tell you or at least eavesdrop properly!!! And OMG I need to know what James wanted to tell her about the necklace he gave her, he said it has some story and I need to know it!!!

AHHHHHHH I was so happy that James figured everything out, it was my main goal for this book, my biggest hope and wish and I waited for it to happen the whole time, I couldn’t concentrate on anything else like LILITH?? WHATEVER, WHEN IS THE BRACELET COMING OFF???And then it finally happened and it turned into such a big mess! But in a weird way I love it, I am still very mad though and I need to know what happens!!! I need to know! I mean obviously things are going to turn out just fine but still!!!

Before going back to the James and Cordelia disaster we need to to talk about my love MATTHEW, because well he is very much a big part of the disaster! First of all, am I crazy or does he give off massive Harry Styles energy??? He is the fictional Harry Styles of the 20th century, if I may say so! His style… my God I’m in love! It’s not a secret that I love him very much, I have reread my booktalk for “Chain of Gold” (thank God I ramble so much in my booktalks because I was right back on track with every detail for starting this book!) and I called him my soulmate in there and he still very much is!! And ahhhhhh my hearth breaks for him, I hate to see him in pain!!!! The another big wish I had besides the bracelet breaking was, was for Matthew to tell someone what happened with Charlotte and OMG HE DID!!! I teared up at that scene, I was so happy, I was so relieved (and ahhh of course he knew that Cordelia is in love with James, of course he knew ahh bless him), he now has someone who knows and who watches over him more carefully and maybe Cordelia will convince him to tell the others too, especially Charlotte and Henry! It was such a big step forward and I am so happy for him! I have so much hope that everything will be fine with him but then…. We all know it… Cordelia will end up with James I mean that is more than crystal clear and I fear what will happen to him! I don’t want him to end up alone and oh my, call me crazy and I know I said this before but I do also ship him with Cordelia! Of course I ship James and Cordelia no doubt but still I would also love Matthew to be with her! I know, I know that would be a mess because he is to much like her father bla bla, but come on!!! He also needs someone and I don’t know who that someone could be, I don’t want him to be alone!!! (And also I need more scenes from his point of few, he needs to be more present, I don’t want our connection to fade!!!)

AAHHHH and he is going to Paris with Cordelia ahhhhhh I love that!!! I am all in for spontaneous trips and I know they shouldn’t run away from they problems like that but still, I think and also hope that they will have a great time there and that they may get closer? AH but that would be an even bigger mess wouldn’t it? I don’t know I’m confused, it’s the JEM-TESSA-WILL situation all over again. I mean I know Cordelia doesn’t love Matthew and that it would never be the same thing that she has with James and I know that all of this will backfire on Matthew, but even though I don’t want him to suffer I am still in for that, I am in for the drama!

Speaking of drama I loved that scene at the Shadow Market where James and Mathew where arguing, I didn’t liked that they were arguing but in some way it was a really great scene, I loved the tension and everything! It was really really good!

I also loved the trip scene, where Mathew took Cordelia to *couch* *couch* Wayland the Smith with the motorcar ahhhh it was lovely!!!

And hahah omg the scene at the end where James comes rushing to Matthew’s apartment and he talks to the Porter and he was like “Yeah that wasn’t his cousin, that was my wife” I couldn’t help laughing out loud! The situation was so serious and so full of tension but I couldn’t help laughing!

Another scene that made me laugh was the scene where I believe it was Thomas who said that James was possessed because he was writing in a book! And that is totally true James how could you?! HAHA

Alright so besides the bracelet/James-Cordelia-Matthew drama, what freaked me out at the end was what happened with Lucie and Jesse!!!

I still can’t get over the fact, that Cassie ended it like that!!! I mean Lucie is obviously still alive but OMG JESSE LIVES TOO!!!! I have to be hones that scene where he came back to life made me tear up, I was so happy, even though I know there will be consequences for Lucie. Ahhh and I fear crazy Tatiana but my God Jesse is alive!!!!!

And he and Lucie are soooo incredibly cute together I can’t! That scene where they were dancing in the snow….my Lord that was the sweetest thing ever I loved it so much!!!

But oh boy oh boy, as Jesse was possessed by Belail, I was so scared for him, that Cordelia would stab him with Cortana, the fear was there and it was over the top, I felt sick! Thank God things turned out fine! Crazy lunatic Tatiana how could you do that to your own son who you claim to love so much???? How could you let a Prince of Hell posses him??? Crazy lady you are awful!!!

Oh boy and if we are already touching the topic of rising up Jesse we have to talk about Malcom….goodness gracious I can’t believe the whole TDI drama is because of freaking insensitive crazy witch Grace!!! I can’t get over the fact that she is the reason why Malcom turns into a psychopath and kills so many people and basically causes all the drama in TDI!! If Grace wouldn’t have done that, if Lucie might have stoped her (or if she wouldn’t encourage Malcom into his madness my calling up Annabelle) things would have turned out so different!!!

And where in the world did he take Lucie and Jesse??? Ah I don’t trust him, because I mean it’s obvious why!

Oh and speaking of necromancy, I’m so frustrated, that I don’t remember what Ty and Kit did exactly to rise up Livvy, I mean now it doesn’t matter anymore because Jesse is alive but still, I want to remember how they did it or better say how they tried to do it!

Ah and before I go into a completely other direction I want to say a few more things about Grace… so first of all I can’t believe James left here there in the room alone I am scared that she will run away or something, that she wouldn’t tell Charlotte the truth without James there to force her… but hey we will have to wait and see what happens!

And then there is this other thing… learning her backstory in this book made me hate her a little less! I am not happy about it but I don’t know seeing exactly what she has been trough I felt sorry for her! I still don’t like her God forbid no way, she is still evil, she could have ripped apart that bracelet so many times!!! I get that she fears Tatiana but fjhfkfg, I don’t know I pity her now. And it makes me mad that I can’t be as mad at her as I was before! And then again I feel sorry for hating on her so much because it’s not her fault! I am glad though that we got this insights from her life, so that we can understand her a little better!

The other thing is, that I don’t know how I feel about her getting closer to Christopher, Christopher is such a cuty and I am constantly worried about him, because he is so pure and he trusts everyone blindly and Grace is an evil witch so…I don’t know let’s hope for the best! And then again on the other side they are both a little odd, I can picture them together, I can see that they could fit well together! Seeng it doesn’t mean accepting it though!

A few quick words about Alastair, before we go into the next big thing, I love how he cares for Cordelia, that he is so different around her and I love, that slowly but surely he is changing and behaving better and that he is slowly but surely getting the acceptance of the group! Lets hope things will tun out good, especially the bad blood between him and Matthew!

AH OH and Thomas, even though at first I thought that the whole thing with him being accused to be the murderer was a bit of unnecessary drama, I think things took a great turn! And my god I loved the the scene with him and Will and the Mortal Sword! It was absolutely hilarious, the question Will asked about the money, bless his soul!!!

Speaking of him, I loved to see him and Tessa, as usual, I can’t never get enough of them! And also Jem of course, the one and only love of my life!!! How are we kidding, I don’t think I have to tell anyone anymore, that I cried when he played the violin at James’ and Cordelia’s wedding! That got me! He gets me every time, he is my sensitive spot! And I also cried at the end when he came to talk to Cordelia and yeah…the usual…every time I think about him I cry…I just love him to much! (Speaking of the wedding, omg that was so beautiful and what Charlotte said oh my…that as so so sweet!!!)

But I have to say even though I love Jem, Will and Tessa and I love to see them every time I get the chance, I am also really happy that they don’t play that big of a role here in this story, I said this before but I love that it’s their children’s story where they are there but they are not the main characters. That is also valid for Magnus, I love that he is always there to save the day but still I like that the kids get to write their own story, if that makes sense!

OH Oh and the Italian girl?! It so ironic, that she died because I don’t know in the booktalk for “Chain of Gold” I was like: ‘Yeah omg there is this Italian girl coming I hope the group will accept her, and that she may be the one for my Math!’… well that turned out completely different!

Ohhh and her last name was di Angelo?! I love how Cassie thanked Rick for letting her borrow that last name, I love that two of the most amazing authors in the whole world are friends!

Ok but back to the serious stuff…. Lilith oh Lilith…. I was a little suspicious at the beginning of book at the bachelorette party when her name came up for the first time but I thought nothing of it, I was like oh ok let’s move on…and then her name came up a few more times but I still didn’t thought there was anything to it. Foolish little me, I should have seen it going but I didn’t!!!

I was suspicious of Wayland the Smith if I may quote my own notes, that I wrote down when he first appeared: “ Don’t trust Whayland the Smith, that was so wired, oh Cordelia what have you done, is he the killer?? Is he helping the killer??”. So deep down I knew something was up but I didn’t knew what and uhhhh….oh my and she pretending to be Magnus??? How did she dare to do it! Shame on you Lilith!!!

OMG and the battle at the end with her and Belail and everyone was so intense!!! I can’t wait to see how they are going to solve this whole mess, especial the paladin thing!

And the whole Wayland the Smith thing is actually so interesting like does he actually exists? Is he still alive?? We definitely need more informations about him!

Coming back to the paladin thing though, I can totally understand Cordelia, how she must feel and all but please gris don’t exaggerate you still have to be Lucie’s parabatai, you can’t give that up! It has to happen, it just has to! And what have you done to Cortana? Where is it? I need to know!

Oh uh uh but you know what else is suspicious??? That gift Cordelia got from her father, that sword hold thing, because first of all where did he get it from and second Lilith (as she pretended to be Waylande the Smith) made comment on it, that it was worthy or good or something, does that mean that thing is also enchanted, does it mean it has a spell on it or something? Did Elias get it from her? It’s very suspicious and I need more informations!

By the way, his death… I didn’t feel very sorry because I don’t know he was causing unnecessary trouble and even though I am grateful that he saved Jem all those years ago…I don’t know he was wired…I felt sorry for Cordelia, seeing her suffer so much made me sad but than again his death caused unnecessary trouble even if only for a short while between James and Cordelia so I don’t know…and Alastair suffered so much all those years because of him… we wasn’t very likeable!

All in all I had the best time reading this book, it felt so good to be back “home”, I love this world so much and it felt so good to be back! It made me miss London so much… it reminded me how much I love it and ah also the time period I love it !!! Unfortunately though it is now over and I have to face the real world again, and besides that we have to wait till November to find out how things will turn out!!! On the other side I don’t want it to end!!!

Thank you very very much for reading and please let me know your thoughts on the book!!!

P.S. Cordelia said, that if she loses a chess game she would tell James how she is in love with, do you think that is how they are going to make up? That they will play a game and she will lose and tell him that she has always loved him and then they will be together for real? By the way they still have to get those second wedding runes!!!!

P.P.S James’ middle name is Henry??? That is the sweetest thing ever!!!

P.P.P.S I hope that everything between James and Matthew will be ok, that they will stop forging, that Matthew will tell James everything and that everything will be ok regardless of whom will end up with Cordelia!

[bytheangell]

Sing for the Moment

(Read on AO3)

Isabelle hangs up the phone to update her siblings and Magnus that Clary is almost here with Simon, they’re just running late. It doesn’t matter much - these informal nights in don’t really have a set timeframe, and the absence of Biscuit and Simon hasn’t stopped any of them from catching up and drinking while they wait.

Magnus isn’t surprised to hear the tinkering of the piano from the kitchen while he gets more drinks for himself, Alec, Isabelle, and Jace. He made the instrument a permanent feature in his home after Alec brought up his and Jace’s shared fondness of it and how it helps them work through their thoughts sometimes, but neither of them plays much while Magnus was around to overhear, and when he is it’s usually something controlled and classical.

What reaches him now is some pop song from the 2000s, if Magnus remembers correctly, which catches him off-guard entirely.

He’s even more surprised when he returns to the living room to see Alec is the one at the bench, frowning intently down at the keys after messing up.

“C’mon, I know you know it,” Izzy encourages, leaning eagerly over the side of the piano.

“Drinks are staying over here for whenever you’re ready,” Magnus says, setting them down on the table and not bringing them any closer to the intoxicated Lightwood siblings at the piano. Not that he doesn’t trust them not to spill anything on it but… well, he absolutely does not, and that’s a very expensive instrument. Izzy backs away from the piano to get her glass and Alec moves to do the same until Izzy stops him.

“No drink for you until I get my song,” she demands, pouting.

“Iz-” Alec starts.

“Nope,” Izzy says, picking his glass up along with her own and holding it hostage.

“Jace?” Alec tries. “A little help?”

Magnus isn’t sure if Alec’s asking for help in retrieving his drink or in figuring out the part of the song he can’t seem to remember.

“If I do it for you how will you learn?” Jace says, in a slightly mocking tone that makes Magnus think that’s a line Alec used on Jace one too many times in the past.

Instead of arguing Alec sighs and sits back down, adorably resigned, until he remembers the right chords after a few attempts.

Izzy’s so pleased she puts both drinks down on the table again, abandoning them in favor of returning to her brother at the piano. Alec plays the opening chords and when he gets to the melody starts to hum.

Magnus sometimes hears him humming songs around the Loft. He knows Alec can carry a tune, more or less, but when the humming turns into lyrics Magnus is surprised at how good he is at singing. Alec sings quietly but confidently, and Magnus can’t believe this is the first time he’s ever heard Alec sing. Soon Alec’s soft tones are drowned out when Izzy joins in, much louder and a slightly slurred, but still beautiful. As if on cue Jace wanders over as well, drawn in by his siblings’ shift of focus entirely to the music, and Alec instinctively shifts over on the bench to make room for his parabatai who provides some embellished accompaniment and sings as well.

It’s all Magnus can do to stand and watch in awe at the sheer talent of the three of them. Some of it he can tell is carefully honed by practice, the piano playing in particular, but a lot of it is a natural ability. He listens to the shifting keys, the trills of scales, an impressive vibrato, and gets lost in the music so much he almost forgets where he is and who he’s listening to.

When the song finishes Alec, smiling softly, notices Magnus staring in unconcealed admiration. “What?” Alec asks. There's a bit of a furrow to his brow, the confusion clearly showing that he has no idea why Magnus is gaping a little at the performance he just witnessed.

“How,” Magnus asks, astonishment clear in his tone. “Are you all so good at that?” He thinks it's a pretty valid question, but all three of the Lightwood siblings turn to him with the same confused look Alec has.

“What?” Jace asks.

“Surely someone’s pointed out that all of your voices are magnificent before,” Magnus insists. There's no way he's the first person to ever mention it.

Izzy looks uncertain. “What? Everyone can sing.”

Magnus shakes his head. “Not like that,” he points out.

Alec considers that. “Huh,” is all he says, before going to get his drink, already shrugging off the praise.

"Have any of you ever listened to the average person sing?" Magnus wonders aloud. The question isn't aimed at any of them in particular at this point, but he's curious.

"Well... no, not really. Stuff on the radio, but it isn't like Shadowhunters are belting Elton John songs through the halls of the Institute," Jace admits. Sometimes Magnus forgets how relatively isolated their upbringings at the Institute were, as far as exposure to others not just their age but also in simple, fun social settings.

"No, I don't suppose they were," Magnus concedes. "Well then, let me be the first to inform you that you have significantly above average vocal talents and now that I'm aware of it, Alexander, we are absolutely going to a Karaoke Bar."

Alec spins around to face him so fast he nearly drops the drink in his hand. "What? No. Absolutely not."

"I'll go," Jace volunteers, just as the sound of the door opening and closing reaches them.

"Me too!" Izzy agrees.

"Where are we going?" Clary asks, making her way into the living room.

"Nowhere-" Alec starts, at the same time Isabelle says, "A karaoke bar!" with great enthusiasm.

"Oh, I know a few great spots for that," Simon offers, and Magnus smirks as Alec groans. There's no way Alec is going to stay home knowing Magnus is out drinking with his siblings knowing the sort of chaos they could cause if left entirely unchecked. Not that Magnus would ever allow them to get in actual trouble, but...

"Fine. But not tonight. Please, my nerves can't take it this week," Alec practically pleads.

"Of course, darling," Magnus agrees.

Now that everyone is here Magnus heads to the kitchen to get more drinks for Clary and Simon. The night in is much more relaxing than an impromptu trip to a karaoke bar, that's for certain, complete with a mundane board game Simon brought with, more drinks, some food to soak those drinks up with, and a lot of laughter. By the end of it, with everyone now significantly tipsy if not full-on drunk, it's no surprise they end up back at the piano.

Clary and Jace sit on the bench while Jace tries to teach her a few chords to a song. It's awful, not that any of them expect it to be anything else. Alec challenges Jace to play something classical that would be complicated even while one is entirely sober, a challenge which Jace immediately accepts because he's Jace, and of course he does. The mood is so light that Magnus can't even bring himself to shoo Isabelle off the piano which she's currently sitting on top of, drink in hand, shifting so that she's lounging elegantly with one heeled foot up in the air like the girls in piano lounges in the movies while Simon hovers next to her in case she drops her drink, or herself, off the piano.

Tearing his focus away from the piano, Magnus wanders his way over to Alec who is watching his siblings and their significant others with open endearment from the sofa a few feet away. Magnus approaches him and holds out a hand, palm up in invitation. "May I?"

Alec looks from Magnus' hand up to his face for a moment before standing with a smile, placing his drink down on the side table so his left hand is free to wrap around Magnus' waist while his right takes his husband's hand. Alec looks like he intends on mostly swaying in place but Magnus has other plans. With a gentle tug forward he leads Alec around the coffee table, past the side of the sofa, and even for a brief diversion out onto the balcony while they dance around the loft in small circles of movement and the occasional dip or spin.

Not too many of those, though, after Alec starts to look a little queasy halfway through their dance despite his best efforts to hide it. Magnus isn't sure he'd admit it until he's two seconds away from ruining Magnus' shoes or one of their very expensive rugs so best to play it safe. By the end of the song they are just swaying, a simple back and forth in one another's arms. Whatever nerves Alec mentioned earlier from the previous week are long gone and he feels like putty in Magnus' hands.

"Thank you," Alec says softly, his voice barely above a whisper since his mouth is already next to Magnus' ear, chin resting on Magnus’ shoulder.

"For what?" Magnus asks.

"For this. Having my family over. I know we already intrude on your time normally, and I'm sure you don't want them around all the-"

"I'm going to stop you right there, Alexander. Because they aren't just your family, they're our family. And they're more than welcome as often as you want them here," Magnus tells him. "I know how much they mean to you, and if you still want to see them after working with them all day then I think I can manage a few nights a week of drunken Shadowhunters in the Loft."

"And vampires!" Simon chimes in instinctively before wincing. "Sorry. Vamp hearing, still don't really have a grip on turning it off when I'm drunk."

"Keep eavesdropping and I'm hiding the plasma next time," Magnus warns, though they all know it's an empty threat (and that Simon would show up, plasma or not).

Simon smiles, showing that he knows Magnus isn't serious, and turns back to helping Isabelle make her way down from the top of the piano as the last notes of Jace's song trail off to an end. Clary claps and Jace pushes the stool back so he can stand and take a very dramatic bow. The performance itself was riddled with mistakes, notes blurring together with fumbled keys and chords that were just a bit off, but even with all of those drunken errors it was better than most people with years of practice could probably manage. Magnus remembers his own poor performance on the first - and consequently last - instrument he attempted to take up before abandoning pursuits of a musical nature entirely. So, to give credit where credit is due, he drops his arms from around Alec to join in the small smattering of applause.

"Don't," Alec half-pleads, half-groans. "It'll go to his head."

Magnus laughs at that, returning his arms to wrap around Alec's waist. "You're lucky I like my hands better down here anyway," he murmurs into Alec's ear, sliding them down ever so slightly towards Alec's ass until he stops at the sound of Simon's voice.

"Gross-" Simon starts, and Magnus turns to level him with a warning glare for more eavesdropping that lacks any real heat. "They're getting flirty, I think that's our cue to leave."

Alec laughs lightly in Magnus' ear but it is very late. Magnus hadn't kept track of the time and he hadn't expected any of them to stay this long to begin with.

"Do you need a portal back? Or you can stay the night if you want," Magnus offers, not to anyone in particular because they're all welcome to spend the night if they need to. He can conjure up mattresses and cots for as many people as he needs if it's more than just one couple for the guest room.

"I think the fresh air will do me good," Jace says quickly.

"You just hate portaling when you're drunk," Isabelle chides.

"You're not the one he threw up on last time," Clary reminds Isabelle. "I'm all for walking if it means avoiding that fate again."

"You sure you're good?" Magnus asks one last time, because what kind of host would he be if he didn't?

They all nod. "Don't worry, I'll walk them back," Simon says, which might be more reassuring if Magnus wasn't acutely aware of how much plasma he had, but he seems to be steady enough with his arm around Isabelle to keep her from wobbling on her heels on their way towards the door.

"Text when you're back!" Alec calls, though that's routine for nights like these and the reminder is likely unnecessary.

"Yes, dad," Clary calls over her shoulder mockingly, but Magnus can hear the affection in her tone as she does and finds himself feeling rather fond of the whole scenario playing out in front of him.

Fond. It's not a word Magnus would've expected to associate with a bunch of Shadowhunters - and a vampire, he adds mentally, Simon's voice echoing in his head - but it's the one he keeps finding himself coming back to.

He enjoys watching how close they all are, how much they care not just about each other but the world around them. He’s fond of them as well, and not entirely because of their connection to Alec though that certainly helps.

Magnus turns to see about continuing the flirting he was recently accused of, only to be greeted by the sight of Alec slumped back down onto the sofa, eyes half-closed. If his heart wasn’t full of fondness before it certainly is now.

“C’mon, let’s get you to bed,” Magnus says. They make their way to the bedroom, with Magnus using a bit of magic to get them changed into sleepwear so they can crawl directly under the covers.

Just when Magnus is positive Alec is asleep he hears the gentle hum of a song he doesn’t recognize, but one that’s unmistakably a lullaby, sound through the silence. “Do I get sung to sleep every night, now?” Magnus whispers, shifting just enough to see the hint of a smile on Alec’s face in the dark.

Instead of answering Alec simply continues his quiet song, keeping himself awake just long enough for his phone to vibrate with the text from his siblings that they’re home safe. Only then does Magnus hear the notes fade to silence as they allow sleep to claim them.

[silver-lily-louise]

When Doctor and Priest Have Failed

‘Your mom told me that you’re looking into a way to… stay. With Magnus.’ Alec's mouth twitches halfway into a smirk. ‘Why, you think it’s a bad idea?’ he jokes weakly. ‘No,’ Luke says. ‘But it’s obviously a big deal, and when it comes to one particular part of it, I’m here to offer you something I know you’d never ask.’ He pauses. ‘A chance to talk with someone who knows what it’s like to lose a parabatai.’

Luke offers Alec some advice, and a perspective on what life is like when you've lost your parabatai.

Read it on AO3, or below!

~oOo~ 

‘Inquisitor, Mr. Graymark is here to see you.’

Alec looks up from his desk, smiling a little as he sees the figure of Luke half-discernible behind his much smaller assistant. ‘Thanks, Hazel. Let him in.’ They stand aside, gesturing for Luke to head in, and Alec smiles wider in greeting. ‘Hey. Didn’t know you were in town.’ ‘Prisoner transport,’ Luke explains, closing the door behind him and taking a seat. ‘They caught that Seelie who was time-traveling with Mundanes.’ Alec feels a slight wash of relief. Time-travel cases are, in general, a nightmare, and that particular spree of incidents has been enough to start causing headaches in Idris, not just New York. He’s glad to hear it’s over before it could get too out of hand. ‘Good. How’s Mom?’ ‘Good. Busy, though. She thinks the store’s in for a record month.’ Luke sits forward a little, losing something of his casual air. ‘And actually, speaking of your mom… that’s kind of why I’m here.’ ‘Is everything okay?’ ‘Everything’s fine,’ Luke reassures him. ‘But I’m here because of something she said.’ His gaze turns a little piercing, even as his expression softens. ‘She told me that you’re looking into a way to… stay. With Magnus.’

Alec nods, swallowing the breath that sticks in his throat at the magnitude of the unexpected topic. ‘Yeah. I am.’ There’s no point denying it. He’s not anywhere near ready to tell Magnus yet – not until he knows that it’s feasible – but it seemed right to give his parents and siblings a heads-up, and he’d fully expected that his mom would tell Luke. His mouth twitches halfway into a smirk. ‘Why, you think it’s a bad idea?’ he jokes weakly. ‘No,’ Luke says, and he raises his eyebrows briefly, giving a small grin. ‘And you’re the stubbornest man I’ve ever met, so even if I did, it’s not like it would make a difference.’ His expression turns serious again. ‘But it’s obviously a big deal, and when it comes to one particular part of it, I’m here to offer you something I know you’d never ask.’

He pauses. ‘A chance to talk with someone who knows what it’s like to lose a parabatai.’

Alec sits up straight, feeling his eyes go wide. For a good few seconds, he can’t fathom a response to that – but suddenly, sitting at his desk feels too official for this conversation, and he walks a little dazedly over to one of the couches instead, gesturing for Luke to take the one opposite. He takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. ‘I appreciate it,’ he starts. ‘I know it’s a… difficult subject.’ Luke quirks an eyebrow. ‘Understatement,’ he says, smirking a little. Alec nods, not quite able to return the smile. ‘And obviously, it’s a factor I’ve considered.’ He huffs a laugh, though it’s not really out of humor, and his eyes stray down and to his left. ‘Not sure I’ve got a question for you, though. Nothing specific.’ ‘I think you do,’ Luke says, calmly. Alec looks up once more, sees the patient, even expression on Luke’s face. ‘I think you’re just looking for the right way to ask it. Which doesn’t exist, by the way. So you might as well just ask me outright.’

And because he’s right, Alec relents. ‘Does it get better?’ he asks, trying not to let his voice shrink into his nervousness. ‘I know what it feels like to lose him – and it was one of the worst days of my life, even though it only lasted a matter of minutes. It was like…’ ‘…Like you were an empty shell,’ Luke finishes, and Alec nods. ‘Because once the pain faded, you were just hollow.’ ‘Yeah,’ Alec says. ‘And I’m not saying that that’s a deal-breaker,’ he adds. ‘Maybe it should be, but it’s not. Because as scared as I am of living for centuries like that, I’m more scared of the alternative.’ He swallows. ‘But I have to know; does it get better?’

Luke looks at him consideringly, and then he nods. ‘It does,’ he says, and Alec feels his shoulders drop a good few inches. ‘I’m not gonna lie to you, Alec – they tell you losing a parabatai is the worst pain you can feel, and they tell you that for a reason. And on the worst days, you’ll swear you can still feel it.’ He smiles. ‘But the worst days get further apart over time. And you know what they don’t tell you?’ He sits forward, clasping his hands in front of him. ‘That losing a parabatai isn’t the only way you lose a part of yourself,’ he says seriously. ‘It happens pretty much any time you lose someone you love.’ He sighs, looking away. ‘I miss him sometimes,’ he confesses. ‘Not who he was at the end, obviously. But who he used to be, before he got so corrupted. And it’s a pain you never quite get used to.’ He meets Alec’s gaze again. ‘But – except for on the worst days – it’s not so different to how I feel when I think of Jocelyn. Or when I thought we lost Clary.’

Alec nods slowly, understanding settling quietly into his mind. ‘I don’t wanna lose my family,’ he says quietly. ‘But he’s my family too. And he’s lost enough.’ ‘I know,’ Luke says. ‘One thing, though?’ He waits for Alec to nod again before continuing. ‘Whatever you decide, make sure it’s what you want,’ he implores. ‘Because as much as you wanna stay for Magnus, this is too big a choice to make purely for another person.’ And a part of Alec wants to disagree, wants to declare that he’d do anything for his husband, consequences to himself be damned. But these days, he knows that his single-minded devotion isn’t the smartest part of him – so instead, he promises, ‘I will,’ and Luke leans back in his seat with a nod, apparently satisfied. ‘Thank you,’ Alec adds.

He stands up, shaking off the heavy conversation, and tries to find a smile. ‘You got time for a cup of coffee before you head back?’ he asks. ‘Sure,’ Luke says, getting to his feet as well, and returning the smile as he claps Alec on the shoulder. ‘Lead the way.’

Fifteen minutes later, they’re sitting in a café right next to Alec’s building, drinking cappuccinos and making much smaller talk. All in all, Luke ends up staying in Alicante for another hour or so.

His words replay in Alec’s head for a lot longer than that.

~oOo~

[imaginesmai]

Jace Wayland- (Don’t) care

Requested a long time ago by @badasseddy, I’m sorry again I lost your request😭 If this has happened to any of you, please message me! I hope you like it

Plot: Jace’s carefree attittude is going to have terrible consequences for once.

Warnings: this is part of the angst alphabet, so please RAPE THIS CONTAINS RAPE.

Jace slammed the door of your house with a huff. He threw his jacket to the ground, not bothering to leave it on the coat rack or check if you were still behind him. The lights came off after him, and he didn’t care if you could see where you were going or not. Jace didn’t care about much in that moment, all he felt was a deep and burning anger in his body, his fist tensed and veins popping out. Your annoyed voice calling out of him only made it worse.

“Come on, Jace!” you tried to keep up with his long steps. “You’re being a child.”

“Funny that is you saying that” he chuckled, turning on the small lamp of the living room.

“I just wanted to help you” you rolled your eyes, placing carefully the coat on the couch.

“You don’t think I can defend myself?! I’ve done it thousands of times before, and I can keep doing it, thank you very much!” Jace turned to look at you, and then muttered to himself “I don’t need your fucking help”

“I didn’t know it was such a deal, sorry I hurt your masculinity” you joked, your hands up in the hair and doing exaggerated movements. “Gosh, next time you can clean up your mess on your own.”

“My mess? Are you serious right now? The guy was looking for a fight! It was not definitely my fault.”

By that point, you had already reached the bottom of the cute stairs that lead to the bedrooms. Usually, they were Jace’s favourite place; you took there Christmas photos with the rest of the ‘family’, and he kept one of them with just the two of you in his wallet.

In that moment he simply didn’t care.

There was a wooden table between the two of you, with all the weapons you had chosen for that night. Where you had went to a club to get a vampire before he killed everyone in there; and that was the original, and only, plan. Jace wasn’t supposed to talk to the guy who was serving the drink, wasn’t supposed to mock him neither threaten him.

“No offense, Jace, but the threats didn’t help the situation” you laughed a little. You had been in that argument since he got into the car with you and started giving you those long stares that wanted nothing but fights. “If I hadn’t stepped in between, you two would’ve reached the fists. And, guess what? That wasn’t on the plan!”

“Everything is about the plan, now?” he sassed. Everyone knew he was the most rebellious of the group, and it was a wonder how he ended up with you; a rightful follower of the rules. You were starting to wonder that too.

“Yes, the plan, Jace. The one you were supposed to follow.”

“Stop talking about the plan!” he shouted at you. “Everything would had gone just right if it wasn’t for you!”

“Me?! At least, I don’t screw things! Or do I have to remind you the incident with the…what were they names? Whatever! The mundanes!”

“Clary, Y/N” he scoffed. “Her name was Clary, and she wasn’t a problem.”

“So you can’t remember her name but not to follow the plan?”

It was true that, maybe, you were a little jealous, or very, very jealous. The girl had appeared in your world to make everything harder, destroying Alec and Jace’s friendship and keeping your boyfriend to herself. You had talked about it with Jace before, and he had assured you, between soft laughs, that she was just a friend. Still, the heat of the argument had made you bring her up.

“Well, at least she wouldn’t be this annoying!” Jace screamed one last time. “I can’t-I swear, I can’t stand you!”

“Okay! Fine!” you pulled your hand up and let out a sarcastic chuckle. “I’m out.”

“Out? What’s-Hey! Where are you going!”

“To clear my fucking head before I’m framed for your murder!” you yelled as you turned on your feet, walking back the path you had done just a few minutes ago.

“Alright! Go, and see if I care!”

He did care, and he realised the weight of his words just when you closed the door and the pictures on the walls shook. Sighing, he walked up the stairs and reached your bedroom. You would come back, that was what he said to himself. It was not the first fight you had, neither the first time any of you walked out of the house to avoid bigger arguments. Jace sat on the bed an gripped the ends of his blonde hair, already regretting his words. Of course you weren’t annoying, yet he knew how much it hurt you to talk about Clary and he thought that it would be a good idea to talk about it. Anything was better than to admit that the guy had been making comments about that dress you loved so much, and that he had started the argument because he couldn’t stand the thought of you hearing those nasty comments. Not after seeing your excited face about the dress.

Meanwhile, you walked to the nearest park and sat on the swing, allowing yourself to calm down as you felt the cool air blowing against your skin.

“He’s an idiot” you muttered to yourself.

Tears blurred your vision as you fixed your gaze on the ground, so you decided to look instead to the sky. The night sky calmed you enough to make your breathing go back to normal and keep the tears away. A few minutes passed as you gazed at the stars, lost in your thoughts until you noticed a man walking down the sidewalk.

He looked slightly alarmed when he looked up and saw you just some meters away. Too quickly for your liking, he ran towards your spot and stopped in front of you, placing his hands on his knees.

“Hi miss” the stranger said, apparently out of breath. ���I don’t want to be any bother, but would you happen to know the time?”

“Sure” you turned on your phone and looked at the clock. “Half past one, sir”

“Thank you”

You gave him a small smile and nodded. Still, he didn’t move and kept staring at you. After shifting the weight of his body from leg to leg, he decided to talk again.

“Are you- I’m sorry for asking, but are you alright? You seem upset”

“I’m fine. Long day” you avoided his eyes, looking instead to the street in front of you.

“Oh. Right” he chuckled. “Well, would you- This is weird, I know… do you want to grab something with me?”

“That’s really sweet, but no, thank you”

There was a small twitching in his eye that you didn’t like one bit, not that he didn’t see as tired as before or that he had a perfect clock on his left hand. Looking around, you realised that no one was around, and the houses didn’t have the lights on. Cold sweat began to run down your neck when you thought about your weapons left in the living room desk.

“Alright, alright” the stranger raised his hands. “My bad, what about a walk?”

“I just don’t think my boyfriend would be too pleased about that, I’m sorry”

The words you used were kind, but your tone was harsh and demanding. You kept your eyes on him, but the exhaustion from the fight at the club and Jace’s argument made you less focused. With a fast movement, he threw you backwards, making you hit your head hard against the metal pool supporting the swing set.

You felt the area of impact and looked at your hand to find blood. In that park, everything seemed to be suddenly ten times more silent, your head throbbing and dizzy. You tried to move so that you could fight back, yet the man took advantage of your split second of shock and slammed your head into the pole again, making you feel even more confused.

If he was going to prey on your moment of weakness, then coward was not a strong enough word to describe his appalling personality. His sickening smirk and another hit to your head was the last thing you noticed. Then, your nightmare began.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first time he did it, was the worse. You were too lucid not to notice the movement of his hips on top of you, the pain between your legs. You had cried, screamed, sobbed and begged. Still, the man didn’t stop his movement, not until you felt him leaking out of you. Arms and legs tied up in the different posts of the beds, you couldn’t move, and got stuck with the sick feeling in the bottom of you stomach. Still, you didn’t give up, because Jace would find you, because he cared.

The second day, you tried to think about other things. As he pounded into you and touched every inch of your body, you thought about happy memories. Isabelle and you dancing the night away. In and out. Alec’s training with you, the laughs and the jokes. He kept still, wanting you to feel him inside. Catching Magnus and Alec making out in the elevator, long talks with them. His meaty fingers touched your sensitive spot, yet only pain came out of it. Jace. He finished with a long moan, and left you there again. Jace, he wouldn’t leave you alone, you knew, because he cared.

On the fourth day, he decided to try something different. Raping you didn’t make you scream anymore, so he tried cutting, biting, cutting and bruising. Again, you screamed until your throat was sore, and he laughed until he had tears on his eyes. You wondered if Jace cared about you enough to look for you.

Soon, a week passed and you didn’t recognised yourself in the mirror. Skinny arms, bruised legs and big bags under your eyes. You had tried to escape, but the chain that usually started on the wall and finished on your neck was a big obstacle. Besides, that guy held especial love for punishments.

“Hey, baby doll?” you heard his voice from downstairs. “Dinner is ready!”

You were enjoying one minute of peace alone in the attic, your will of leaving non-existent. Like a robot, you walked downstairs with the stupid white dress he had bought you; it made you pretty, he had said. Truth was he liked to see the bruises shinning against the white fabric.

The place where he was holding you was really small. A house with two floors, one kitchen and two rooms. You didn’t know what was on the second one, neither wanted to find out. As he said, it was the punishment room, and it scared you to the core.

He was waiting for you in the kitchen, as always. Disgusting food on the table, cocky smirk on his face and the zipper of his pants low.

“I made eggs today” he cheered, signalling with his head to the small plate on your side of the table. “Hope you like them, I really put all my effort on them”

They weren’t eggs probably, just another soup that smelled like shit. You sat on the chair in silence, your hand folded in your lap. As he shook his head and pointed to the floor, you wondered if Jace still cared about you. As you kneeled in front of him and took his dick out, dried tears in your cheeks, you wondered if Jace had ever cared about you.

Suddenly, the small window that was always closed broke, and a small ball flew into the room. He got up quickly, putting his dick back into his pants and you wiped your mouth with shaky hands, knowing that if he saw you doing that you would be punished. He didn’t see. The only thing he was aware of was a small click and a huge white smoke cloud filling the whole place. Then, darkness.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jace Wayland liked to think was brave. He didn’t cry when his father died, he didn’t cry when almost everyone left him, and he didn’t cry when many of his friends were killed by his reckless actions. You used to say to him that it was okay to cry, it didn’t mean that he was weak, just that he had feelings and was brave enough to let them show.

That was what he was doing at that moment, and he was cursing himself for it. He had to be focused; after a long week, they had managed to find where the psycho had you hidden; he had always thought that you would die because of some supernatural being, not by a rapist and a killer.

“Jace” he heard Alec mumbling beside him. His friend put one hand on his shoulder, trying to calm his shaking. “Maybe you should go back to the van.”

“No” Jace voice, even small, held no doubts. “We’ve talked about this, I’m coming with you.”

“If something happens in there, you can get her killed” Isabelle interrupted, rolling her eyes. She knew it wasn’t his fault, but since you disappeared she had given him the cold shoulder.

Jace blinked the tears from his eyes and decided to ignore her; enough guilt and pain were filling his body. He took a shaky breath and let Magnus know that he could throw the bomb.

It wasn’t a bomb, he would never put your life at risk. He just wanted to guy knocked out cold so that he could get you; then, Jace himself would take care of the guy. The night sky was suddenly illuminated with the light from inside the house, and they all heard the man screaming and then two loud thuds. It was silent for a few seconds, Alec holding Jace down so he couldn’t run to you so quickly.

When he let him loose, Jace was the first one to enter the house. He broke the door down with a rune and ran inside the room. He had to cover his mouth with his arm and, still, coughed when the disgusting smell reached his nose.

“Do-Where is she?!” Isabella asked behind him. Magnus and Alec ran towards the man, who was unconscious and tired him down so he wouldn’t scape. “I can’t see her.”

“There might be more” Magnus warned from his place on the ground. “Search in the others rooms before-“

Jace didn’t hear anything else, since in his line of vision appeared a bruised hand. He walked a few steps forward, watching your body being revealed from the other side of the table.

“Jace? What are you-Oh my god!” he heard Isabelle choking on his breath behind him, but he couldn’t look at her.

Not when you were in front of him, laying on the ground in a fetal position, bruised an bleeding. He didn’t remember dropping to his knees or cupping your face between his hands, he only noticed where he was when Alec took a hyperventilating Isabell out of the house. His knees hurt from the impact and his vision was blurry, yet he was awfully aware of your fragile body in his arms.

You were thinner, your hair was shorter and your body showed him the hell you had been through. Jace didn’t recognize his own sobs until the tears made contact with your closed eyes. Carefully, he wiped them out of your face, and for a second your eyes fluttered.

“Y-Y/N?” he whispered, repeating the movement once more. He watched as you did the same, and opened your mouth slowly. “Hey, love. Can, can you hear me?”

He was met with silence, but he got a faint glint of the colour of your eyes. A small, teary, happy laugh left his lips, and he pressed them in your forehead. When he looked back, you had a sad smile on your face with your eyes closed, and his heart beat for the first time in a week.

Sirens were heard in the distant, and Jace sat besides you, placing you on his lap. He breathed you in, ignoring the foreign smells and focusing on yours. His hands, without thinking, went to your cheek, and he started drawing small circles. While he rocked you both and checked that you were awake, he repeated the same words again and again.

“I care, I do care, love”

Want to know more about me? Here is my Masterlist! Feedback is always appreciated!!

Kidnapped (how and when), XX (sexual assault) &  Injury (how do they react when you’re hurt?) From my Angst Alphabet

[soldieronbarnes]

Hi, I... don't know if you or someone else has already write about it, but... It would be okay to have a prompt about Magnus and temporarily warlock!Alec? If they have stayed a bit longer in Edon with the alliance rune, and then Alec showing Magnus that he also has magic now (and maybe Magnus a bit uncomfortable because it was Lorenzo's magic, not his). Is it possible? (I love everything you write)

You know, this one is the reason I didn’t manage to fill many prompts during my holiday, because I thought “hey, I’ll write, like, a couple hundred words for each prompt and that will be it”. And then I spent two evening trying to get this one right aaaaand it got quite a bit longer than expected. I hope you like it.

___

“Darling, could you hand me the - “

Magnus doesn’t even get to finish the sentence before the salt shaker shoots towards him and comes to a screeching halt a few centimetres away from his face where it hovers in the air, wobbling back and forth like an overexcited dog wagging its tail so hard it makes its entire body move. Magnus blinks at it, perplexed, before his expression morphs into something carefully neutral that still manages to look somewhat pinched.

“Sorry,” Alec says sheepishly. 

“No need to apologise.” Magnus’ tone is deceptively breezy, which is how Alec knows just how bothered his husband truly is. “I don’t think I’ve ever been passed the salt this quickly, unless, of course, I summoned it myself.”

Yikes. Alec flinches a little. “You know I can’t control it.” It comes out more defensive than he intended, and much more defeated as well.

Since their return from Edom, his - Lorenzo’s - magic has popped up during unexpected moments, without rhyme or reason. No one can really explain why it keeps happening; Magnus suspects it’s a certain overreaching magical residue that their stint with the alliance rune left behind, and by all reason, it should have been used up by now. None of the others seem to have had problems with their partners’ powers manifesting after they left the collapsing dimension of hell. Alec wishes that Clary’s connection to Simon could lead her back to the Shadow World, or that Jace still had moments in which he couldn’t lie – that, at least, would simply make for funny moments instead of occasionally embarrassing or even dangerous ones. 

The problem, Alec thinks dourly, is less the spontaneous bouts of magic he can now perform but rather his lack of control. There’s a certain manic energy to it when it bubbles up under his skin, announcing itself in a hot rush rising to the surface, but always far too late for him to try and center himself and keep his emotions in check, pushing it down.

The first time it happened is actually quite funny, in retrospect. They’d left for their honeymoon, portalled from the Institute to the loft to grab their bags, and when Magnus had bent over to pick up the suitcases, all Alec could do was stare at the delicious swell of his ass in his expertly tailored trousers and think: God, I can’t wait to get him naked. A second later, Magnus had been, and Alec had honestly thought Magnus was a mind-reader - or maybe just as desperately horny as Alec was after being subjected to the glorious sight of his husband in a tux for hours without being able to do anything about it - and told Magnus as much, until he saw the panicked look in his eyes when he said “I didn’t do this.”

That thoroughly ruined the mood for a while, until Magnus had checked him over three times and established that it wasn’t hurting Alec and also very likely not permanent. 

Two weeks later, and the magic still hasn’t subsided much. It’s not a constant presence, so Alec can’t claim to be a warlock, or even warlock-adjacent, really, but at this point, the only good thing about it is knowing how fucking eager it is to please Magnus, like it’s a manifestation of Alec’s soul, his innermost wishes. So far, he’s accidentally dyed some of Magnus’ shirts when he complained about the colour being just a little bit off to match his waistcoats, nearly slammed a book Magnus had considered reading into his face, dumped a rather sizeable number of drinks in front of Magnus (or on him - it’s not like he can aim) and made an entire orchard worth of almond trees bloom when Magnus lamented that he hadn’t been able to bring Alec for their season. On one particularly memorable occasion, he had made the bed float two feet above the ground as Magnus fucked all conscious thought out of him. Thankfully, Magnus had ignored it while it was happening, and only teased him about it a little afterwards. It also marks the only time Magnus had reacted with something other than a startled expression that soon turned a little sour, and probably only because he had been particularly smug about the demonstration of his sexual prowess. 

Alec hates the strange tension that arises whenever the magic decides to show its face. They’re supposed to be in the honeymoon phase of their marriage, goddamnit, not dealing with – whatever this is. 

“I know, darling. It’s fine,” Magnus assures him, plucking the salt shaker out of the air and seasoning his eggs. He studiously avoids Alec gaze as he’s doing it.

“Okay, what?” Alec asks, more brusquely than Magnus deserves. 

Magnus blinks at him. “Pardon?”

“Look, I get that this - “ he wiggles his fingers around like Magnus usually does when he’s performing magic and ignores the slightly alarmed look on his husband’s face, “- is super annoying, because I can’t seem to get a grip on it, but you have to stop looking at me like that when it happens.”

“Like what?”

“Like…” Alec bites his lips, searching for the right word. “Disapproving.”

“I don’t look at you like that,” Magnus protests.

“Yes, you do, Magnus. So what is really bothering you? What’s so bad about me having magic?”

Magnus hesitates.

“You promised not to lie to me,” Alec reminds him, and it’s pettier than it should be, to throw their weddings vows back in Magnus’ face like that. They aren’t even fighting, really, and God, Alec is an asshole. 

Magnus just sighs. “You’re right,” he concedes, before Alec can start to apologise. “It’s just…it’s kind of stupid.”

He looks kind of shifty. Alec has seen that expression on his face only once before, when they were sitting in Alec’s office after Magnus had moved into the Institute.

Oh. Oh. 

The penny drops.

“Are you jealous?” Alec asks, somewhat flabbergasted, because it makes even less sense this time around than when Magnus thought Underhill was any sort of competition. 

Magnus makes a wounded noise. “I wouldn’t quite call it that this time.”

“This time?” Alec repeats a teasing smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “So we’re finally admitting that it was jealousy last time?”

Magnus throws him a half-hearted glare but doesn’t otherwise react. So it’s serious, then. Alec reaches out, tangled their fingers together and squeezes gently. “Explain it to me,” he says. “Please.”

“It doesn’t bother me that you have magic,” Magnus says after a long moment. “But it bothers me that the magic you are wielding is Lorenzo’s magic.”

“Why?” Alec asks. For the most part, Lorenzo and Magnus seem to have buried their hatched and jumped straight into an odd friendship that will certainly consist of still constantly trying to annoy and one-up each other, just, well, fondly instead of angrily. 

“I just -” Magnus stops, sighs. “I know it’s – childish, and sort of selfish, but I had thought, with how close we are, that if you ever got a taste of magic, if you ever got to wield some yourself…I wanted it to be mine.”

Alec stills. “Oh.”

 “I never believed it would be possible, of course, and when it turned out that it was, I wanted so badly to share this part of me with you. Because I want you to see, to –”

“Understand,” Alec finishes. “I get it.”

He does. All his desperate attempts aside, he never truly could understand what it means for Magnus to lose his powers. He probably would never have understood Magnus completely, but to wield his powers, to get to experience the very essence of him so intimately – he knows he would have cherished it immeasurably, and mourned its loss once it was gone. 

Magnus smiles, a little brittle. “And now it will never happen.”

“You don’t know that,” Alec argues. “We still have the alliance rune, and we might still need it one day. I mean, I hope not, but…”

“Clary lost her runes over this,” Magnus reminds him quietly. “I don’t think I should like to risk it.”

He’s right, of course. The angels had made it very clear that they hadn’t approved of the new runes Clary had created, and her last, most powerful ones especially. Her punishment was a clear warning not to meddle with the status quo again or suffer the consequences. 

Alec grips Magnus’ hand a little tighter. The loss of possibility stings, now that he has been made aware of it. “I’m sorry,” he says. “For what it’s worth, I really wanted it to be you.”

“There’s no use crying over spilt milk,” Magnus says, shrugging. “And I do mean it, you don’t have anything to apologise for. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

“Yeah, maybe. But it hurt you every time you had to see it, and I didn’t realise.” He hesitates. “Could you…take it away?”

“Why would you want that?” Magnus asks, surprised. “It’ll go away on its own.”

“It may go away on its own,” Alec corrects. “We don’t know for sure. And I could handle it, but if I end up hurting you - even accidentally - all the time, then I don’t want to.”

Magnus sits back, looking a little overwhelmed, like it still astonishes him, the length to which Alec will go to try and make him happy. “I - I could try. If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure,” Alec says firmly. 

“I - alright.” Magnus grabs both of his hands gently, turns them around. “Close your eyes, darling, and try to concentrate on finding the source of the magic in you. Push it to the surface, if you can, it should make this much quicker and easier.”

Alec tries. He’s never been good at meditating or quieting his mind, but as he probes around, thinking where are you, please, please, he suddenly feels a spark of it, perking up at his call. I’m sorry, he thinks, feeling vaguely remorseful as he gathers it up and tries to nudge it outward, I have to let you go now.

It pulses once, warming him from inside out, as if to say goodbye, and then it’s gone. Magnus gasps a little, and when Alec opens his eyes, he sees the tendrils float up towards the ceiling and dissolve into sparkling flower petals that sink to the floor slowly before disappearing entirely, much like the ones Magnus threw into the air at their wedding.

“That was very pretty,” Magnus says. “If a tad overdramatic.”

“Made you smile,” Alec shrugs, and pulls him in for a kiss.

[zargeb]

you are not your own

 Jace was nervous again. There was really no other way to put it. Stomach ache, sweaty hands ( more so than usual ) and a lost appetite. Imogen was here now and this was the only chance he was going to get. The pressure was impossible to deal with. He could do robberies and heists just fine, but when it came to discussing his feelings with his grandmother he’d almost rather get arrested and thrown into prison for the rest of his life. That sounded like an exaggeration, but the knots in his stomach were almost unbearable to deal with. He brought this on himself, though, so deal with it was what he was going to have to do.   It was the evening after the evening that they had first met Imogen in the restaurant. This time she was waiting for him in the bar of the hotel they had chosen for her. Clary was on the look-out at the other side of the room so he wouldn’t have to keep an eye on his surroundings overly much and could focus on the conversation he was going to have.

  Imogen knew what Jace wanted to know. He wrote down in the letter that he sent her that he ‘wanted to talk about his parents’ and that he ‘didn’t understand how events could have happened as they did,’ deliberately keeping his phrasing vague in case the letter fell into the wrong hands. If Imogen didn’t want to discuss it, she wouldn’t have showed up, that much Jace was certain of.  But part of him also felt like perhaps Imogen would tell him it didn’t matter any more because it was all in the past and that they had moved away from it by now. All was meant to be forgiven. And it was, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to know. He didn’t want to know to cast blame on her or loathe Valentine even more. He wanted to know so he could stop going over it inside of his head and get some peace at last.     When Jace arrived at the bar, he quickly made eye-contact with Clary first. She was sitting at the bar, unrecognizable for Imogen, and was nursing a non-alcoholic drink. She looked like a random guest at the hotel, exactly how they planned. Despite of himself and knowing that he should focus on Imogen, Jace intended to keep an eye out for Clary. She could handle herself, but a young, attractive woman at a bar alone was sometimes all a man needed to get inappropriate as though that was an excuse and Jace didn’t intend to stand for it.   After that lingering glance he straightened his back and made his way over to the table that Imogen was sat at waiting for him. The moment she saw him approach she got up and greeted him with a short hug. She smelled like that perfume that Jace swore that every women older than sixty wore, but the way she smiled and touched his hand briefly was unmistakably Imogen. She studied him, looking him up and down, and smiled then.    “You look wonderful, darling,” she told him as they both sat down. “I’m glad you got rid of the dark hair. It didn’t suit you at all. Is Clarissa still coming, or is it just you and me this time?”   Without thinking about it, Jace reached out to touch his hair briefly, pushing a lock back. He’d been happy to dye his hair back to its normal colour and now that it was growing out you could hardly see the difference. “I’m glad I did too,” he said. It had been a clever plan to dye it, but it backfired really fast when Clary almost got shot. “Clary and I agreed that I should go alone tonight. She’s at home.” She really wasn’t, but Imogen didn’t have to know that.   Imogen smiled softly. It was the kind of smile that to Jace implied she knew all of his secrets and saw right through all his lies. He knew from experience that wasn’t entirely true, but Imogen was someone that was hard to lie to.  “So I take it this is the conversation then,” she concluded, her words neutral. “Perhaps you should order a drink, Jonathan. We may be here a while. It’s on me. You already did so much to get me here.”  Another thing that Jace had figured out about Imogen really early on was that she was the type of person that cut right to the chase. She didn’t like pleasantries or small talk when there was work to do or when there were serious topics to discuss. She liked to know where she stood in a situation and what she had to work with. She hadn’t known it with him, at first, which made her careful and wary, and Jace doubted she knew it now.    Regardless, he got the both of them a drink at the bar ( he ordered a water, Imogen wanted a white wine ) and looked at Clary only briefly as he stood there waiting for the bartender to pour the drinks. In the meantime, he was sure Imogen was doing an assessment on what he was likely to ask and what things she could and couldn’t say. It didn’t matter much to him. He just wanted his answers, whether the story was long or short.      When he returned, Imogen took a small sip of the glass of wine and put it back down on the table in front of her then. Her eyebrows frowned as she took him in again. “You wrote to me that you have questions, but I have something to ask you first,” she said to him then. “Why now? You spend months living with me and while you asked some stuff about your parents, you never got into detail about what you wanted to know like you want to now. But now it’s important enough to you to fly me out to Rio de Janeiro just to get a chance to talk to me.”   Jace sighed briefly and immediately found himself wishing he had ordered something else than water. “I didn’t just fly you out because I wanted to talk about this,” he said defensively. “I wanted to see you. I missed you, Imogen.” Not untrue, at least, and according to the smile on Imogen’s face she accepted his words. “I never really got a chance to stand still and think until Clary and I moved here. So recently I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and I realized I’m not okay with how things happened in my life. So in order to be more okay with it, I want to know how it happened.”   This wasn’t him trying to blame others for the mistakes he made in his life. People who thought that was what he was doing didn’t know him at all. He stood by everything he did, good and bad, and accepted the consequences. He stood by the robberies and he stood by the heist of the Royal Mint. He even stood by leaving Imogen, no matter how much that hurt him. But that didn’t mean he didn’t think of what could have been. He thought of that all the time.    Thankfully, Imogen accepted his explanation. “What do you want to know?” she asked as she reached out to touch one of his hands. Both were wrapped around the glass of water. “I’ll try to be as thorough as possible.”   Jace took a moment to gather his thoughts to find out where he had to start asking questions. He decided to start with the thing that bothered him the most in order to get that out of the way at least. “How did I end up with Valentine as my parental figure? I know Stephen and Céline appointed him as my godfather, but you were also alive. Anyone that spend more than five minutes with Valentine must have been able to figure out he was not cut out to be a father. He wasn’t a good man. He should never have had a kid.”   Imogen sighed briefly. “I agree,” she told him. “Céline adored Valentine and Stephen was friends with him. They saw the best in him. I didn’t. But I was grieving for my son and his wife and I did the only thing I shouldn’t have done, in hindsight. I made it a legal battle for custody. By the time the judge came to a ruling, Valentine was gone, had taken you with him and was never to be seen again for years.”    Those words made Jace pinch the bridge of his nose, a reaction born out of stress. To an extent he understood why Imogen went to court over it. That had probably been the only way to get legal custody of her son’s baby. But she’d only been thinking of how she saw the situation and not of how Valentine did. Valentine didn’t believe in the law. The only thing Imogen really did by going to court was giving Valentine time to get away, because he would never have waited out the ruling or showed up at court at all. He had known Valentine all too well, so he was able to recognize immediately why going to court was an incredibly stupid plan.   “Did you win?” he asked after a short silence.   Before she replied, Imogen took her time to study him. Jace wondered what she was looking at and what she was looking for. Perhaps any similarities to Stephen and Céline. He didn’t know if he had any. He’d only ever seen a few pictures of his parents, the ones that Imogen showed him, and never spent too much time looking at them.    “Yes, I won,” Imogen replied. “The police went to the apartment that Valentine gave up as his address and found it empty. They searched the entire city, but Valentine was gone. It was treated as an abduction for years, Valentine’s picture in every police station, but they never found him or you. In the end, I have to give up and realize I was never going to find you. A couple of years after that you showed up in a prison in Sevilla. I should have been horrified that you were arrested for a robbery and holding people at gunpoint, but I was only relieved that you were still alive.”    “I figured we should stop meeting in prison buildings, so I invited you to Rio instead,” Jace said, attempting to break the tension with an admittedly terrible joke. “Even if you wouldn’t show, you’d at least know that I was alive, because I knew you cared. That you’d always cared.”   Imogen nodded briefly on those words, a ghost of a smile on her lips as a reward for his attempt at humor. “Speaking of how I care about you, I feel I should apologize,” she said. “I’m sorry about how you lost Valentine. I was mad at Valentine and scared for you and since we caught him on camera, we knew exactly who to look out for, so we hunted him down.”   Jace remembered that alright. Valentine may have been fatally shot during a robbery, but he’d known the moment it happened it wasn’t a normal incident. Police didn’t shoot robbers with the intent to kill unless the robbers were actively threatening to kill civilians. The police had arrived at the building way too fast, completely unlike what Valentine and him had calculated when they prepared the robbery, and they only had eyes for Valentine and were happy to let him run away with some of the jewelry he stole as they were closing in on Valentine.    “I’m not sorry,” he said. “Valentine was a terrible man. It was the best that could have happened to me. Because I couldn’t lean on Valentine any more I had to learn to survive by myself. It made me meet Clary. It made me want to be better somehow.”     “I’m sorry regardless,” Imogen said. “But I’m glad you feel that way about it.”   Studying Imogen, Jace wondered if it hadn’t been extremely satisfying for her to hear the news that the man who killed her son and daughter-in-law and abducted her grandson was dead. That was what made him realize there was something he hadn’t mentioned yet, but had to. “You lied to me,” he said, the words coming out a lot more accusatory and pointedly than he meant it to. “That’s not what I wanted to say,” he was fast to backtrack. “But you did. You never told me that Valentine killed my parents. You always maintained they were shot during a robbery.”   “How did you -” Imogen started, face expression a little startled. “Did you find someone to hack into the police system? The video evidence has been destroyed and there were no witnesses. You could only have found out by illegally getting through multiple barriers of security and reading both of your parents’ files.” She glared at him then. “Tell me you didn’t, Jonathan.”   Jace chuckled briefly. “Technically I didn’t do anything. I can’t hack. I just sat there and gave the instructions. I wanted to be proven wrong. I wanted for their files to tell me that it was just a mistake in a robbery. But it didn’t.” And Imogen lied and he freaked out about it.   Imogen sighed. “It’s probably a tad bit too late for me to scold at you for breaking the rules,” she observed. “You’re right. I lied to you. I wanted you to make up your own mind about Valentine. I wanted you to stay with me because you wanted to and not because I was the lesser evil to you. You didn’t want to, and when you were gone I realized I should have told you. In a way, sending men out to find Valentine was the way I needed to rectify that mistake.” She leaned forward then, eyebrows frowning: “Please tell me you didn’t see it happen.”   Jace shook his head, and Imogen let out another sigh, of relief this time. Jace let go of his glass with one hand and touched her hand before laying it down on the table. “I just heard the gunshot,” he said. “That’s all. I didn’t look back or anything.” When Valentine left him during a robbery, Jace went to jail. But when he left Valentine, Valentine got what he deserved.    That left one last question to ask. “So now you know I broke into my parents’ police files,” he said. “I looked through Céline’s file and she had an extensive medical file. I’m not an expert, so it just felt like the medical professional had dropped a bunch of names to seem impressive. For a while I felt like it was better not to know, but now I want to know. I have to know. What’s in her medical file? What do all these words mean?”   Imogen seemed concerned now, probably because Jace wasn’t phrasing his words as carefully as he had been the rest of the conversation and seemed a little agitated. He thought that knowing what happened after his parents died was the most important to him, but it seemed that he’d been wrong about that. It was this. He had never known his parents and he could never get any answers directly from them, so this was the best he was going to be able to do.   “Jonathan,” Imogen started, and stopped immediately when she saw his hardened face expression. “I didn’t know Céline very well,” she said. “Stephen and her were only married for a very short period of time. Stephen first married Amatis, but he divorced her for reasons he never told me about and married Céline. She was a very sweet girl. She clearly loved Stephen. But she was a little unstable.”   “What does that mean, unstable?” Jace asked, who felt that he was starting to lose his patience. He could have done without knowing that his father had apparently been married before to some other woman that he’d never heard of.    Imogen seemed to realize this was not the time to try and placate him. Instead, she was straight up with him in the way that she always seemed to want others to be. “Long story short, Céline’s parents abused him, mentally and physically. It was so bad that they weren’t invited to the wedding and that Stephen made sure they could never contact her again. So whatever mental issues you read about probably stemmed from her childhood. She was fragile, Jace. She was lovely,  she was so kind and caring that you couldn’t help but love her and want to help her even though she didn’t want you to. She was -”   That was where Imogen paused, because Jace buried his head in his hands, elbows leaning on the table in front of his glass of water. Whatever answer he had expected, this wasn’t it. Céline was raised exactly like he was. She survived, she found Stephen and was meant to live a long and somewhat happy life with her husband and her son. Instead, Valentine shot her before she even had a chance to do any of that, and Valentine put him through the exact same thing.    “Are they still alive?“Jace questioned through his hands. “My other grandparents?“   “No,“ Imogen replied after a short silence. “Her father Jules died shortly after she got married to Stephen, and I got notice years ago that her mother Lisette had also died. Her maiden name is Montclaire, if you ever want to hack into files again.”   Despite of the situation, or probably because of it, Jace cracked up at that remark. Imogen didn’t know it, but that was exactly the next logical step he would have taken. He knew a hacker, after all, another thing that Imogen didn’t know because she never read Clary’s file.    “I need more,” he decided after he lifted his head again and put both of his hands at the table. “I know I’m torturing myself, but I have to know. She was raised the same way as me and we established earlier I’m not okay either, so if I’m anything like her I’ll probably end up acting the same. I need to know how she was and how you handled it.”    Imogen hesitated visibly, again, but it seemed that something in Jace’s gaze made her speak. “Jace, your mother was an amazing woman. Don’t let her mental illness decide how you think of her. I brought you her old journals as well as letters that Stephen wrote. He even left one for you, as though he knew Valentine was going to betray him. Céline was much more than the damage that her childhood did, just as you’re much more as well.”   “Thank you for bringing the journals and letters, but that’s not an answer,” Jace said coolly.    “Okay,” Imogen conceded, reaching out to take one of his hands into hers. Jace itched to pull his hand away, but didn’t. “Céline had episodes where she seemed to be completely elsewhere. Another world, if it were. She would talk to herself and not acknowledge anyone else’s presence. Your father was the only one that could talk her out of those episodes. It didn’t happen often and she didn’t want anyone to know, afraid of what they would think. She refused to get any treatment for that reason.” She seemed to check if Jace was okay before she continued. “Her file, from what I’ve seen, diagnoses her with depression, PTSD and concentration issues, among other things. Of course, since she’d only seen a therapist once and had refused to go since we only have limited information, so that’s what we know.”   It was official. If he heard anything more his head was going to explode. He knew that if Imogen wanted to talk he would get a lot of information, but he hadn’t expected quite as much.Moving his free hand to his glass, Jace emptied the glass of water in a few gulps and sighed deeply afterwards.   “Are you alright, Jonathan?” Imogen asked.   Jace shook his head and smiled. “Not even remotely,” he said. “Thank you, for all of this. I really needed to know this.”   “We’re family,” Imogen reminded him softly as she squeezed into his hand. “You and I. And Clarissa, you and I. You’re not alone in this. So if you ever need anything, I’m here.”   It was something of a miracle he didn’t cry then and there. He guessed he was too tired to.

[enkelimagnus]

The Last Fairy on Earth - Chap 2

Winx AU, Clizzy & Others

Chapter 2: Welcome to Magix

Read on AO3

Clary has found a new friend, Izzy, and together they will make lots of discoveries. Mysterious creatures threaten Izzy, the fairy of the Sun and Moon. She knows how to defend herself. But she should be thankful for Clary’s help. Could she be a fairy too? We’ll find out at Alfea, the school for fairies.

---------------

Clary and Izzy walked out of the forest and into a clear space that seemed to surround the walls of the castle. Around them, young women were appearing out of nowhere, their suitcases in hand. On the side, there was a tall metallic column, upon which a great M was inscribed. A bus seemed to be parked on the side of the column.

Clary didn’t know exactly how, but something about this place made her feel at peace, comfortable. It was familiar in a way. She had made the good choice by coming here, she thought to herself. At least she hoped so.

Izzy was still holding her hand, and she led her through the gates of the school, a large pink archway with two wing-like doors that seemed to be open wide for all students to walk in. The girls around them were beautiful and fashionable, Clary noticed. She also noticed it was mostly women that seemed to attend the school.

“Are there no guys?”

Izzy shrugged. “Fairy powers usually occur in women. We don’t really know why, but you’ll find there are only a few boys at the school, or as fairies, around the realms. Men with magic usually follow wizard studies, or paladin ones. That’s the traditional thing to do, I guess.” She explained.

Clary hummed. There was an interesting idea of gender roles going on in this realm. It was for sure interesting. She would ask around for more about that. For now, she focused on the luminous courtyard they had walked through.

It was beautiful, with comfortable-looking stone benches, a big fountain decorated with an art-deco metallic structure, and emerald-colored grass.

"This place is gorgeous," she whispered. The deep pine green of the forest bled out into the grass outside of the gate, but not this one. The only reason Kiko wasn’t already running after the butterflies that flew around the courtyard was because he was scared of the new surroundings, and stuck close to Clary’s side.

Izzy had let go of her hand and was looking at her with a smile. Clary wondered if she felt like that too, after walking into the castle. For some reason, Izzy seemed to be used to it.

Next to the fountain, a tall man with blonde hair and some interesting scars on his cheeks was going through a list. He was wearing dark teal blue dress pants and waistcoat over a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves and a couple of unbuttoned buttons. A young woman Clary’s age was standing in front of him, and looking very nervous.

"What is your name, young lady?" the man asked.

Clary turned to Izzy for a moment. “Who is that man?”

“That’s Hodge Starkweather, Head of Discipline,” Izzy explained with a shrug. “He looks like he doesn’t have a heart, but I think it’s in there somewhere.”

The young woman that was being interrogated by the Head of Discipline mumbled her name. "El... Eleanor of Delona. I... I sent my registration form a few..."

"Alright,” Starkweather cut in, “let’s see if your name appears on the list. Eleanor, Eleanor. Are you nervous, young lady?"

Clary realized what was happening immediately and turned to Izzy. “We’re going to have a problem. I’m not on the list. I didn’t register, I didn’t even know about this place until yesterday.” She could feel everything crumbling down around her. She’d left her home, she’d left everything and now she was going to get booted out of what she’d chosen to leave her life behind for.

She could feel some sort of panic attack arriving and she did not want to have one in front of everyone, in this place, where she was going to get rejected at anyway.

“Yes, you are on the list,” Izzy shrugged. “At least somehow. I have thought of everything, my dear. The Princess of Callisto was supposed to come here this year, but she changed her mind for some reason.” She pulled an envelope out of her pocket. It was a little crumpled already, and the light that came out of Izzy’s hand and started burning it ensured it wouldn’t be readable. “She gave me a letter to give to the Headmistress. I just won’t give it to her, that’s all. Anyway, no one here knows the Princess of Callisto, she’s never really left her realm. Her parents are some of the kind that inspire fairytales about imprisoned princesses."

Clary was a bit gobsmacked. She hadn’t been expecting this from Izzy, who seemed so regal and princess-like. Now she was expecting her to lie about her identity, take someone else’s name and spot, and not care about it.

"And you want me to take her place? Come on, Izzy, we’re being dishonest here."

Izzy shrugged again and looked at her. “It’s nothing. No one will care. Besides,  it’s too late to turn back now. Do you want this, or not?”

Clary barely had time to say yes or no before she and Izzy were standing in front of Hodge Starkweather. He was taller than her for sure, with serious blue eyes. She couldn’t help but stare at the crescent-shaped scars on his cheekbones for a second.

“Good morning, Mr. Starkweather," Izzy said with a sunny smile.

The man raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "Well, if it isn’t Princess Isabelle of Solaria,” he said in a tired and sarcastic tone. Clary was starting to believe that, at school, Izzy was much wilder than when she was in full princess mode. “I never thought I’d see you back here. After what happened last year, I’m surprised you’ve chosen to grace us with your presence... once again."

Clary’s gut feeling was right.

Izzy shrugged nonchalantly. "I don’t give up that easily you know."

The man almost rolled his eyes at her before turning back to Clary. "Right and who’s your friend?" Clary swallowed and stared back at him, trying to stay as calm as she could and not let transpire that she wasn’t supposed to be there.

"The Princess of Callisto,” Izzy introduced.

Hodge Starkweather looked through the list. "The Princess of Callisto? Hmmm…” For a few excruciatingly long seconds, he seemed to struggle with finding her name. “Ah! Varanda Callisto." He finally exclaimed.

"Yeah, that’s me."

Starkweather nodded and checked something on the list. "You two may come through. Next!"

Clary carefully kept herself from running towards the other accepted fairies. She needed to play it cool. Somehow, she already felt like it wasn’t going to last for very long. She wasn’t good at lying, and she wasn’t comfortable with what she’d just done. When they realized she was a fraud, they would expel her, and then she would have nowhere to go.

“So… what happened last year?" Clary asked curiously.

Izzy had a bit of a guilty look on her face before she shook her head and waved her hand around, dismissing the question. "Ugh! It was nothing, Mr. Starkweather loves to dramatize."

As they walked towards a small gathering of students, Izzy left her for a moment and went to say hi to a few people she knew. She was back soon and they chatted, waiting for… something? Clary wasn’t sure what but she was following Izzy’s direction, since she seemed to be doubling this year.

After a moment, Hodge Starkweather cleared his throat and gathered everyone in a group in front of the entrance. Clary quickly looked around her and counted everyone that was there. They were 36, and she was guessing they were all first years.

"This school will be your home for at least the next three years,” Starkweather started, standing tall with his hands behind his back. “But it doesn’t mean that you get to do everything you want. I trust that you were all educated with some sort of discipline and sense of restriction, and things will not be different here. The rules of this institution are based on discipline. Disregard these rules and I’ll personally escort you to the front gate.”

The threat resounded in the silent courtyard and Clary could feel herself falter a little. She was lying about her identity, for sure this would cost her her spot here the second they realized what was going on. She sent Izzy a look, and the dark-haired fairy winked at her in reply. Clary didn’t know if she was reassured by that.

Starkweather continued. “This is not a magician’s school. You’re not here to learn hocus-pocus. We expect our future Guardian Fairies to be responsible and mature. Consequently, you may not use your powers in the hallways or other common areas. In fact, the only place you may display your powers is in your classroom under teacher supervision,” he explained. He then turned to Izzy and gave her a pointed look. “Is that clear, Princess Isabelle? Thanks to you and your antics, the Potion laboratory will not be accessible until the next month at the earliest. Now, I think you know what not to do, if you wish to stay.”

Clary looked at her friend. Izzy was a bit flushed, seemingly from embarrassment at being put on the spot this way. So it really seemed like Izzy was much wilder and likely to cause trouble than she had looked like before. Clary found that she liked that.

"You did that?" Clary asked, whispering.

Izzy shrugged, but it was obvious she was trying to disguise her guilt and shame under a careless and tough attitude. "So? My father paid for all the damages."

Clary opened her mouth to reply to her but there was a clearing of throat. "Sorry, I’m late, I hope you’ll excuse me."

A group of four people were walking towards them. At the head of it, the woman who had spoken was radiating wisdom and confidence. She was Black, her hair styled in an afro, and she looked powerful. With her was a dark-haired woman with glasses and a beautiful up-do, a tall man with horns, and a silver-and-black haired man using a cane to walk.

“Students,” Hodge Starkweather called out. “Here comes Dean Cleophas Graymark and your professors. Attention!”

The black woman chuckled. “ I hope Mr. Starkweater hasn’t frighten you too much,” she said in a gentle voice. “Welcome to Alfea! The best fairy college in the whole of Magix. Well, it’s also the only one.”

Clary had a small chuckle at that. She liked Ms Graymark.

“Come on in, everyone,” the Dean called, as she started walking up the stairs towards the great doors of the college.

They walked through tall emerald doors into the warm, candlelit entrance hall. Across from the door that they’d come through was a great flight of stairs, leading to the first floor. On the wall, where the staircase divided in two, was a great window with a decorative colored glass design. The design represented a fairy, standing tall, hovering over the ground. On the sides of the stairs and behind it were alcoves, with additional doorways leading into corridors. Clary looked around curiously. No matter how dark the corner were, they did not scare her. She felt safe there. She felt at home.

“And so we begin our orientation session,” Ms Graymark explained, looking around the room at the small crowd. “by the end of which, we should all know each other better. Becoming a fairy is hard work, but I know everyone here can do it. Keep in mind that the teachers and I are always here to help you.” She seemed to exchange a look with Hodge Starkweather before starting again. “Feel free to explore your surroundings, you have no class today.”

Izzy leaned towards Clary and whispered. “Now she’s gonna say “However, you would be smart to stay away from the Witches of Cloud Tower. Listen!”

Just as Izzy finished talking, Ms Graymark took a more serious air and said in a more firm tone. “However, you would be smart to stay away from the Witches of Cloud Tower!”

Izzy made a little ‘yes’ and punched the air in satisfaction. Clary chuckled at that.

Starkweather glared at them before calling to everyone. "Alright, speeches are over, everyone’s dismissed, you’re free ’til dinner time."

Ms Graymark nodded. "Good luck, everybody, I’ll see you all tomorrow. Oh... and classes start at 8 o’ clock sharp. Do be punctual."

Clary didn’t really have time to think before Izzy had grabbed her hand and was pulling her up the stairs. Kiko ran after them quickly. They turned into a corridor, with high rib-vaulted ceilings. Again, the warmth of the light that came through the window was comforting to Clary. She didn’t know if it was the magic or something else.

"You’ll like Dean Graymark,” Izzy smiled. “She always says the same thing, but she’s really nice."

"Who are the witches of Cloud Tower?" Clary asked curiously. She hadn’t heard anything about them for now. This world held many more secrets than expected.

"Magix has three major schools,” Izzy explained. “Alfea is one. There’s the Red Fountain, school of Specialists, that’s where the guys that saved our asses go. Finally, there’s the witches’ school of Cloud Tower."

“What’s the difference between a witch and a fairy? Are we really enemies?”

“They use dark magic, while we use light magic. It’s not really a big difference, and in essence, we’re basically the same, but they are vessels of darkness, and usually, they have less than pleasant intentions. Witches or fairies… we’re all there to preserve magical balance in the universe. We wouldn’t want them gone.”

Kiko was running a bit ahead of them, sniffing about the corridor. He was getting braver in his explorations.

They started walking past rooms with names written on a list, pinned to the doors. Izzy quickly checked every one of them, and Clary just followed her. She knew what was happening. She knew what this place was about and where to go and Clary desperately needed that right now.

They stopped further into the corridor. Izzy grinned, pointing at the list. "Hey look! We’re in the same apartment!”

Clary blinked at the list. “Isabelle of Solaria, Helen, Varanda of Callisto, Lydia, Aline, and Maia of Andros,” she read out. “Why do some only have first names?”

“Because they’re not royals,” Izzy shrugged and pushed the door open, walking into the room. The main room was square, with five doors and a little living area, complete with a computer desk, a table and a small kitchen. “That’s my room over there, the same one I had last year,” Izzy explained and pushed the double door open.

The bedroom was big, with a giant closet taking over a wall, and a big, circular bed with delicate see-through curtains. Light was streaming in from a big window with a balcony.

"You’ve got a room all to yourself?” Clary exclaimed. She looked back at one of the other doors, on which there was a sign reading ‘Helen, Varanda of Callisto’. She sighed. She was not going to be able to have even a small moment of intimacy to keep her cover intact. “ I’ve got a roommate.”

Izzy frowned. “That’s strange. Varanda is a royal, so she should have a solo room too,” she thought.

Clary huffed. “Didn’t you say her parents were weird?”

“Right. They wouldn’t have wanted her to be alone in a room.”

Clary crossed the common living area again and pushed open the door of her room. She stepped inside, closing the door behind herself. As she shifted to let Kiko walk next to her, she felt something under the sole of her shoe.

A loud cry of pain resounded in the room, and it sounded so human that Clary opened wide confused and sorry eyes. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” She exclaimed, turning to see who she had hurt.

Instead of a person, there was a potted plant. A quite ugly potted plant, that seemed to be muttering something in a strangely human voice.

“No, no, excuse me,” someone said, and Clary turned around again, hoping that this time, she would be faced with a human person. Well, at least fairy person. She sighed in relief as she was greeted by the sight of a young blonde-haired woman. “I just got here and well, I left my things all over the floor,” she said in an apologetic tone. “This is a talking plant, one of my creations. My name is Helen.”

Helen wore a green maxi dress with a floral pattern and some simple cord sandals. She looked sweet and elegant and Clary somewhat felt guilty for not only stepping on her plant but being so annoyed about having a roommate.

"Uh, my name’s Clary,” she said without thinking.

Behind her, Izzy cleared her throat loudly. “Clary?”

Fuck. She was so bad at this. Clary looked around with a bit of a nervous smile and shook her head. "I mean, yes, Clary is a name I like a lot, but it’s not my name. In fact, my real name is... Varanda of, uh, Callisto. Yeah, that’s it." She sounded absolutely hesitant, and she wouldn’t have faulted Helen for finding her weird.

"Callisto?” An unknown voice said. “Fourth world of magic realm’s upper ring. Wow! That’s quite a ways away.”

A young woman around their age stepped in the room as well. She had a short purple haircut with some dirty blonde roots, and wore lavender and yellow sweatpants. That was unusual. Well, everything about this world was unusual, to Clary.

“Hi,” the purple-haired woman said. “I’m Lydia."

Izzy took on a bright smile and turned to her. “Isabelle.”

"Hey, I’ve heard about you,” Lydia said with wide eyes.

"Me too,” came a voice from outside the room. An Asian woman with short black hair in pigtails looked at them, walking through the door. “By the way, before you blow up your room, give us time to duck and cover, okay?" She joked.

Izzy huffed, growing red again. "Oh, it was just an accident, if you really want to know."

Lydia raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "An accident that got you expelled? How did you manage to get readmitted?" Her tone was somewhat curious, but she seemed to be having trouble with emoting more than that.

Izzy had a small chuckle. "Well, the truth is they couldn’t do without someone as gorgeous as me,” she joked. Clary chuckled. Izzy seemed to be quite uncomfortable discussing the events of the past year. Clary guessed she would be too, had she been in her shoes.

There was a sudden loud yelp and Clary turned around. The plant that she’d stepped on earlier was now holding Kiko by the leg, and the poor dog was screaming in fear.

"Bad plant!” Helen scolded. “Put him down right away!"

Clary shook her head, looking at her dog. She knew Kiko well enough to know there was probably more to the story than just a facetious plant. "No, Helen. Don’t scold your plant. Kiko probably tried to eat it. It was just trying to defend itself." She said as she noticed some green around Kiko’s mouth.

"Speaking of food,” Izzy said, stretching her arms up. “What do you say we eat out tonight? It’ll be our way of celebrating the new school year."

"Great idea,” Helen smiled.  “That will give us a chance to get to know one another!”

“I heard something about food?” Another voice resounded and another girl walked into the room. She was black, with curly hair and a sweet smile. Her eyes were a gorgeous dark brown shade. She wore a black crop top and some oversized cargo pants, with chunky sneakers. Around her neck was a fancy necklace, and Clary guessed it was probably crown jewels, like Izzy’s necklace.

“You must be Maia of Andros,” Izzy grinned. “So nice to have another royal here!”

“Isn’t Varanda a royal?” Lydia asked with a frown.

Clary mumbled. “Oh yeah, but Izzy and I have known each other for so long, it’s almost like we’re family.” She immediately went back to the food to deflect the attention onto something else. "Anyone for pizza?"

"What’s "pizza"?" The dark-haired Asian girl asked. Clary hadn’t managed to catch her name.

She’d thought that pizza was going to be an easy way to get everyone to agree but she guessed there wasn’t any pizza here. That was a very sad world, if there was no pizza. Clary briefly wondered if she could get her parents to send her pepperoni pizza regularly in packages so she could survive the year.

"Yeah, what is it?" Helen asked.

Clary struggled to find an answer to that. "It’s the national dish of Callisto... More or less."

------------------------

As they all walked out of the rooms, carrying their purses, the girls didn’t realize they were being watched.

Hodge Starkweather stood in the shadows, following them from their room to the courtyard. He knew something was up with these girls, especially Varanda of Callisto. She didn’t look like Hodge’s memory of Varanda, and she didn’t even look very much like the King and Queen of Callisto.

That and her nervous behavior told him something was afoot.

He let them go, watching as they walked out of the castle and waited for the bus to Magix to get to the stop.

-------------------

The bus ride was entirely smooth. Clary didn’t remember the last time that she’d been in a bus that wasn’t bumping along the ride. She was actually convinced that it was impossible for a bus to drive smoothly.

The bus came to a halt and a little jingle resounded from speakers. Following it, a voice that was almost too naturally human announced the name of the stop.

"Magix station! Last stop, please transfer here!"

Izzy nudged Clary and she got up from her seat. The six young women walked out of the bus and out onto the sidewalk of one of the busiest streets of Magix City.

Clary looked around. The cars had no wheels and hovered above ground instead of rolling on roads, but that was probably the strangest thing that there was about this place. It looked a bit futuristic compared to Gardenia, rounded and smooth buildings in gravity defying shapes but it wasn’t what Clary had expected.

She didn’t know what she had expected, really. Maybe something more fantasy-like. Here, it all looked more scifi than fantasy, and she guessed she’d wanted to see that side of the fairy realm she’d dreamt up. Horses and flowers everywhere and a sense of atemporal awe.

"You look disappointed,” Izzy said softly, looking at her.

“I guess so,” Clary sighed. “It’s different from what I thought it would be. You know… Magix City, Capital of the realm of Magix, most enchanted city in the universe?"

"Well, what did you think it would be like?" Izzy asked curiously.

"I don’t know. Dragons, gnomes, wizards, shops full of magic wands..."

The dark-haired woman couldn’t help but laugh. “Dragons, gnomes and wizards exist. But they aren’t exactly the same as story book ones. Dragons are wild, except for the ones kept at the Red Fountain. Gnomes are usually in forests, and wizards well… You met one yesterday.”

Clary opened her mouth and closed it again.

“I guess I thought it would be more… outwardly magical,” she ended up saying. “It seems relatively normal…”

Isabelle shrugged. “The thing is, here, magic is normal. It’s everywhere, and it’s not a big deal.   Here everything lives off its own magical energy. If you want to see it, you just gotta look."

Aline huffed. “Now that we’re done with the intro, can we get to the restaurant? I’m starving.”

Clary chuckled. “You’re right. Let’s eat!”

They all started walking towards the closest food court, Helen leading the way. Aline was chatting with her as they walked, while Lydia, Maia, Izzy followed closely. Clary was a little bit behind, regularly getting held back by looking around at the city. The magic was easier to see now that she knew it was there.

They walked past a eye glasses shop and she caught sight of a tall yellow person, but they were turning their back to her and she didn’t see much more. She didn’t really focus on that, but rather pegged it to the diversity of people in the magical realm. After all, there were already witches, fairies, wizards, and gnomes, according to Izzy. A big yellow person was probably something that existed to.

They made it to the food court and each chose their foods. Clary followed after Izzy’s order, repeating it as closely as she could. When she got her food, she realized that it looked a lot like pizza, actually, except it wasn’t called that at all. That was good to know, at least she could eat something familiar.

The six girls sat around the table. While Izzy and Clary had the pizza-like meal, Lydia had chosen a sort of soup, and Maia, Helen and Aline all had some noodles, served with thin slices of meat and vegetables. They started eating slightly after and chatting.

“So what brings all of you to Alfea?” Izzy asked, munching on her piece of not-pizza.

Clary swallowed. She didn’t know if that was the best question to ask, since she had no idea what Varanda would answer.

Helen straightened up before she spoke. “I was chosen amongst all fairies of age of Linphea to be sent to Alfea to become my kingdom’s Guardian Fairy. The Guardian Fairies of Linphea have always been chosen outside of the royal family. It’s a great honor for me to be there.”

Clary opened wide eyes. “That’s amazing! You must have been so good!”

Helen had a bit of a blush. “I was the best of all preparatory schools, and my skills in healing and defensive magic, and nature magic were a big reason why I was chosen.”

“Well, next to you, I sure feel like I don’t have the credentials,” Izzy huffed. “I was sent to Alfea because my parents wanted me to have the best possible fairy education. Whether I become Guardian fairy or not isn’t really what matters. They just want me to be the best. That’s why I’m here and not at the Solarian Fairy school.”

Aline smiled. “That’s still great. Your parents seem to care a lot.”

“I guess so,” Izzy shrugged, toying with the crust of her not-pizza. “I kinda wish they’d care differently though.”

“Alfea had the best enrollment to graduation ratio,” Lydia said, shrugging. “It was the best choice, logically. And unlike some other good academies that have fairy curricula, it allows non-royals to enroll for free.”

Aline nodded. “That was definitely an argument for me too. I knew I wanted to be a Guardian Fairy rather than just a music fairy. Else I would have gone to the Golden Auditorium. And since the Princess of Melody didn’t want to be a Guardian, I just jumped on the occasion.”

Maia slurped one of her noodles as everyone turned to her. She chuckled. “Princess of Andros. Don’t really have a huge choice about it, my parents really expect a proper fairy education.”

Helen turned to Clary and smiled. “What about you, Varanda?”

Clary opened her mouth to say something but Izzy shrugged. “You know. Varanda, Maia, me, all royals. Stuff is expected of us for sure.”

Clary nodded. “Yes, exactly.” She looked at the time. She’d left Gardenia hours ago. She sighed. “I need to call my family. I’ll be right back,” she said, as she took her phone out of her pocket.

“What, with that?” Lydia huffed, pointing at the iphone in Clary’s hand.

“Yeah. It’s my phone.”

"This is prehistoric technology,” Lydia chuckled. “Where did you get that thing?"

Clary looked up at her with a frown. “That’s… not possible.” Unless they considered a couple of years ago to be prehistory, this was a rather recent model.

“Damn, I would have thought the Princess of Callisto would have some serious tech, but that’s just… cute,” Lydia chuckled. She twisted the phone around, looking at it. “But it’s really interesting in a like… research way. Old tech is so fun to study.”

Aline nudged her, raising an eyebrow and Lydia sighed, before turning back to Clary. "Sorry, I shouldn’t have laughed, that was rude."

Clary shook her head. “It’s fine.”

Izzy rummaged through her purse for a second before she took out a bright purple card with a phone logo on it. “Here. That’s my payphone card. There’s a cabin right outside of the court.”

“I’ll pay you back,” Clary promised, taking the card and running off towards the payphone cabin.

She closed the door of the pod-shaped cabin before sliding the card in the slot. A screen lit up, showing her different options of call destination. She slid through several menus before she managed to find “Earth”. It seemed not to be a popular call destination. She entered the codes and the phone number and waited.

The tonality was a bit different than the Earth one, she noticed. There was a light noise and her mom picked up.

"Hello? Clary?"

"Hi, mom,” Clary sighed in relief. She hadn’t really known if this was going to work. Magic phones were not something she was used to.

“How is it going, darling?” Amber asked presumably from the other side of the universe.

“Everything is great,” Clary sighed. “The school is wonderful. I’m sharing a dorm with Izzy and four other girls. We’re currently out in the capital of the realm, and I had pizza that wasn’t called pizza at all!”

Her mom chuckled on the other side. “That’s great, Clary. Did you get your first classes already?”

“No, courses start tomorrow morning. But don’t worry, I’ll keep you posted, alright?” Clary smiled, and she turned around, twirling the cord of the phone in her hand as her eyes watched people walk by without really realizing.

“Don’t forget to be careful, okay? And call us whenever you can.”

“I won’t forget, I promise!” Clary said, and just as she was saying that, she saw it.

The yellow monster that had attacked Izzy, then her and her family in Gardenia. Was it following them? She had to do something, she had to follow it and try to keep it from her friends!

“Uh, mom, I’ve gotta go now, my friends are calling me, so a big hug and kiss daddy for me please. Bye.” Clary said as fast as she could before slamming the phone back on its hook and running out of the cabin.

The creature was acting weird. It stuck to the walls, trying not to be noticed, and creeping around the corner. Clary followed it as quietly as she could. As they both turned around the block, she noticed it was watching a group of people. It didn’t take long for Clary to recognize her friends.

It was insane how fast she’d gone from ‘these are strangers’ to ‘these are my friends’, but she’d always been a bit like that. She’d always been always ready to adopt people in her family.

She kept following the creature, even as it left its watching point and started walking into a dark alley. She swallowed. She wasn’t exactly super comfortable with finding herself in that alley but she really needed to know what was going on. And she was a fairy. She could defend herself, couldn’t she?

Clary settled behind a trash can, and watched as the yellow creature stopped in the middle of the alleyway. Suddenly, as three silhouettes moved out from the shadows, clouds gathered and wind blew, the temperature dropping sensibly.

The one that seemed to be leading the three people was tall. She had blonde hair, held up in a ponytail . She wore a sleeveless navy blue bodysuit and a royal blue cape, with boots a darker shade of blue. Down the front of the suit, Clary could see a white stripe that formed a thin belt with the letter "H" over the stomach. She had fingerless gloves, and even from far, Clary could see the dark eyeshadow that covered her eyelids.

On her right was another woman. Her hair was long, brown, styled in loose curls. She had the same type of bodysuit as the first one, except it was a dark purple color and her pants were shorter, more Capri-style. Her gloves, ankle boots, and choker were all a lighter shade of purple. From the choker down was the same white stripe as the first woman’s, except it formed the letter “C” instead of H.

On the left of the H-wearing one, was a third woman. She had brown hair as well, but tanner skin, her hair streaked with dark fuschia. It was messier than her dark-haired friend’s. Her clothing was a bit different, with a dress instead of a bodysuit. It was a dark fuschia dress with a flared collar, matching elbow-length gloves that stopped at the palm, fuchsia tights and short, dark fuchsia heeled boots with pointed toes. She had a choker as well, and the white stripe formed a “K”.

Clary couldn’t help the feeling of doom and gloom that overwhelmed her at the sight of them. She was trying to inch closer to listen more but the yellow monster moved, keeping her from watching and cutting off most of the conversation.

Finally, it moved again. “Well, that’s better,” Clary couldn’t help but mutter. Something shifted in the air, but she didn’t pay much attention to it. The three women and the creature had seemed to stop chatting and she almost swore. She had missed all of it.

Suddenly, she was brutally shoved by some sort of great force and she flew out of her hiding place and landed painfully at the feet of the women and the creature. She knew it had been someone’s doing, but she couldn’t remember feeling any… hands. It had been more like some sort of crashing wave or wall.

She struggled to get up, her whole body aching. The first thing she saw was the first woman’s boots. She looked up. They were all looking down at him with smirks on their faces, and all Clary could think was “run”.

The purple-wearing one disappeared suddenly, and Clary blinked. Nothing made sense.

"So, did you like our little joke?" H-girl asked, a cold chuckle in her voice.

Clary didn’t have time to reply because behind her, where her exit should have been, a voice resounded.

"Turn around!” The purple one exclaimed. “Surprise!" She was laughing at her now, looking at her like she was dirt under her shoe. Her cold smile didn’t reach her eyes. Clary could only feel cold. And scared.

She couldn’t be scared. She was strong, and she’d shown herself as strong, and powerful, in front of much uglier monsters. She’d helped defeated the troll and the red ant monsters, she could take down three twenty-year-old women, right?

“You won’t hurt me,” Clary exclaimed, trying to get up somewhat. Her body was shaky, and she couldn’t explain why. "I am a fairy!"

She opened her hand, and tried to get herself to shoot out some sort of energy blast. All that came out of her open palm was a little trail of glittery sparks, and they didn’t even graze the three women.

The blue one’s laugh was cruel, and it hurt Clary. She’d thought she could do it, but now that she was in an actual magic realm, nothing had happened. Was it only working in Gardenia?

"Ha! You think you scare us?” The blue one laughed. “I’ll show you magic.”

She held out her arms. From her hands came out icy blue sparks, and the temperature dropped down in seconds. Clary felt her hair rise and her body get colder, her teeth starting to shake. With another motion of the woman’s hands, giant icicles starting to bloom from the ground, trapping Clary in between sharp ice blades. She felt it some nick and tear at her exposed arms.

The one dressed in purple, the one that had shoved her earlier, moved forward next. With hands joined and palms opened, she threw a soundwave into the icicles. They broke, and Clary was sent flying back again, unable to catch herself as she fell. She was frozen, she had a headache and felt dizzy from the shock of the crashing sound wave.

She couldn’t do anything but watch as the third woman stepped forward. With a great snarl, the third one summoned was Clary could only describe as a tornado. She was swept away, and she screamed in fear. She couldn’t keep herself from showing how terrified she was. The tornado winds slammed her into the wall of a house, too high, and Clary grabbed onto the closest she could find, the edge of a balcony. Her cold fingers felt like they were going to break as she held herself there.

"And that is magic, little girl,” the third woman shrugged.

Clary made the mistake of believing that this was over. A very stupid mistake. An icy wind caught her and pried her from the balcony edge.

“Get down here! I’m not done yet!” The first woman exclaimed.

Clary cried out. It slammed her down into a pile of trash. Her breath was painfully forced out of her lungs and she struggled to regain it, feeling heavy weight on her entire rib cage. Her eyes seemed to be unable to really focus as tears of pain were overflowing them, blurring her surroundings.

“And now... The final touch!”

She didn’t get to take in her breath before ice grew over her. It started from the ground and encased her feet, growing over her entire body and pushing it upright, forcing her back to arch back. Her eyes were still open, she could see but she couldn’t move. It was so cold. She was going to die in there.

The blue-wearing woman walked to contemplate her work, and hummed in appreciation. Clary wasn’t able to hear what she was saying, as she scratched her nails onto the ice.

Clary, prisoner of the ice, was only able to watch. The three women seemed to be disrupted by something and Clary somehow saw what it was. Her friends stood in front of the women and the creature. The two groups exchanged taunts and the creature charged towards the fairies. Clary wished she could do something.

The girls dodged the first attack. Light blinded everyone suddenly, and when Clary could see again, the five young women were now in their fairy forms. Clary had already seen Izzy’s before, the orange crop top and short combo, but she’d never seen the others’.

Lydia circled the monster. She wore a full-body suit of a sparkling lavender color covering her torso and legs. Her powder blue knee-high high heeled boots struck the ground with certainty. She screamed something. Her wings were so different too, Clary couldn’t help but wonder why. It seemed that hers were the only ones that did not look like traditional fairies wings. Rather, they were green and in the shape of a glider. It was the same green that poured out her when a cage, which Clary guessed was why she had screamed earlier, materialized to imprison the yellow monster. It buzzed with an energy Clary could feel, even from within her icy imprisonment.

Aline striked next. She shouted something, probably the name of a spell, and her pigtails moved as she shot the energy beams towards the caged monster. Her outfit was now a glittery red left-sided one strap top with translucent pink fabric at the middle, a red mini skirt covering some matching shorts, and red knee-high wedge boots. It seemed strangely feminine for what Clary had seen of Aline’s style, but fairy forms were true representations of fairies’ power, not a stylistic thing.

Magic-made sound waves seemed to pound around the monster’s head, and even the ice vibrated. Clary saw Izzy wince at the sound of the magic waves. It was affecting everyone. Aline seemed to be the only of them not to be kinda uncomfortable with the sound. That could be due to the headphones her fairy form had added to her outfit.

Helen still looked uncomfortable as she flew forward, holding out arms covered in light pink elbow-to-wrist fingerless gloves. She blew on her hands and lime green magical pollen flew towards the monster. Clary had the time to notice that the pollen was the same color as Helen’s wings, line green, translucent and shaped like leaves.

The magical polen planted itself in the ground beneath the caged monster and wrapped around its limbs. Right as the energy cage broke, Lydia’s spell not holding for long, the magical plants held the monster tied tightly so it wouldn’t escape. Helen got back to the ground, fuschia dress blowing and revealing the mini shorts underneath, just as the vines growing around the monster seemed to get a life of their own and threw the bound creature towards a wall. The monster screamed as it flew.

As the three scary women realized the creature was defeated, they turned towards the fairies. The blue one, whose powers seemed to be ice-related, sent a burst of icicle daggers flying towards them. All the fairies gathered behind Maia, who deployed a plasma shield.

Maia’s outfit was an all-green, just as sparkly as the others’, ensemble, composed of a one-shoulder top and a mini skirt atop mini shorts. There was a sash connecting her top and skirt, and several silver rings around her outfit and on her arms. Her wings were sky blue with spiky-styled mauve tips, the same mauve as the plasma shield she was keeping up.

Immediately following the ice burst, the fuschia-wearing woman was the next to attack. Her energy ray was electric and it made Maia’s shield explode, sending all of them onto the ground.

Clary wished she could get to her friends, but she couldn’t feel anything in her body but the cold that was taking her over. She watched as Izzy stumbled to her feet and grabbed her scepter.

Suddenly, there was no more ice.

Izzy transported them nearby. Clary could still feel the cold, and she was struggling to move, every breath feeling hard and painful. Izzy sat down by her side, wrapping her arms around her tightly. Clary closed her eyes.

Izzy started radiating heat, and Clary snuggled deeper against her, laying her head on Izzy’s chest and sighing. She was shaking slightly but Izzy kept her close, one hand gently caressing her exposed, frozen skin.

“You’re gonna be alright, Clary,” Izzy whispered gently. “It’s okay, you’re safe now. You were so brave, I’m so proud of you!"

Clary could feel herself smile, at Izzy’s words. She was glad Izzy wasn’t mad at her for getting herself in danger, for getting her in the kind of situation where she could have had her scepter stolen.

She was starting to move and feel much better. As they both looked up from their little bubble of warmth, they noticed the four other girls, standing above them with arms crossed and something a bit annoyed on their faces.

Aline leaned forward, looking at them. “So. Is there anything we should know about Clary of Callisto?" She asked. She was angry. They all were.

Clary opened her mouth to speak, but once again, Izzy was too fast. "Er... Well, I might have been lying a bit about Clary’s background. I’ll explain everything on our way back to Alfea."

They all got on the bus and started the way back to the castle. Helen and Aline were sitting closely, and were chatting quietly, while Clary, Izzy, Maia and Lydia discussed Clary’s background a little more. Maia and Lydia were especially curious.

They weren’t that mad, it turned out, as Izzy explained everything to them. They were annoyed that Clary and Izzy hadn’t trusted them with the information in the first place, but they understood why they hadn’t, and it was all that mattered.

---------------------

The telltale tug of students entering the warded area of the school warned Hodge and Cleophas that the students were back. They’d been waiting for a few hours, ever since Hodge had seen them walk out and known, immediately, that with Isabelle of Solaria leading them, they would not be back by curfew.

He’d taken his concerns to the Dean, who had then told him that something was wrong with the list of enrolled students. According to the list he’d checked as students were coming in, Varanda of Callisto was present. However, Dean Graymark had received a message from the Royal Family of Callisto that their daughter wouldn’t be attending, since they did not trust Isabelle of Solaria entirely when it came to delivering the news.

A quick investigation had revealed that an unknown student had taken Varanda’s place, led into the castle by Isabelle. It had also revealed that said student was now sharing a room with the future Linphean Guardian Fairy, a young woman named Helen, and an apartment with Isabelle and another princess, Crown Princess Maia of Andros.

Both Hodge and Cleophas were ready the second the girls tried to come into the building. Isabelle was still leading them, which proved to be absolutely no surprise to both members of the staff.

Hodge cleared his throat, coming out of the shadows. “Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Cleophas nodded. "Young ladies! We were worried sick! Go to bed immediately. We’ll discuss the rules again tomorrow."

As all the girls walked past them, Hodge grabbed the arm of the red-haired one, the one they had realized was not who she was supposed to be. "Not so fast, Princess Varanda. Isn’t there something you forgot to tell us?"

The girl looked very guilty and sheepish as Hodge let go of her arm. He noticed also that the other students had stopped in their tracks the moment he had grabbed her. She was already making friends, and strong bonds were already forming between them and her.

“I’m not Varanda of Callisto,” the girl said softly. “My name is Clary Fairchild.”

Hodge shook his head. “Shame on you, young lady. Identity theft is not permitted. Especially identity theft of a royal.”

Dean Cleophas stepped forward. “She might not be Princess Varanda, but she must be a magical creature or the barrier would’ve kept her out. Now, tell me, Clary, why didn’t you give us your real name?"

"Well, I..." The girl started replying, but Isabelle cut her off, stepping forward.

“It’s my fault! This whole thing was my idea."

The red-haired student shook her head. "It’s okay, Izzy. I come from a small town on planet Earth called-”

Hodge scoffed. "Outside the realm of Magix? Utterly impossible!" Fairies hadn’t been born on Earth for centuries. Earth was a lost cause to magical beings everywhere, and no one ever bothered trying to reignite the Winx there. It had been too damaged, and the horrible circumstances of the Earth fairies’ disappearance had tainted the planet forever.

"I beg you, don’t send me away. I’ve always wanted to be a fairy with all my heart and now I can make my dream come true."

Hodge shook his head, deaf to her pleas. "You lied to us and that is unforgivable!"

"But, she also has a dream and she totally believes in it. She has displayed a great tenacity and isn’t that a quality that every fairy should possess?" Dean Graymark pointed out.

Hodge sighed a little. She was right. And it wasn’t like Varanda was going to come now that her place was free. They could keep the girl. They could also punish her severely with detention for the next three years for her lies.

"Now, go to bed, all of you,” Cleophas said. “And don’t make any more noise."

The six students thanked her and left.

Hodge immediately turned to her and shook his head.

The woman sighed. "I didn’t think there were any fairies left on Earth."

Hodge nodded in agreement. "Me neither, I thought they’d all disappeared centuries ago, when the Circle attacked them..."

"Well, then, who is Clary?"

-------------------

Not long after, the six fairies had gathered in Clary and Helen’s bedroom, wearing their pjs. Clary was wearing an oversized hoodie from a popular Earth tv show and some shorts. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed

“What if we called ourselves the Winx?” She suddenly blurted out, and everyone turned their attention towards her.

"What?"

Clary chuckled at their tired and confused expressions. "The Winx, us! I mean, if we’re going to be a group, we should have a name! Don’t you think?"

"Actually,” Lydia pointed out, something thoughtful on her face. “it’s not a bad idea... A name is good for a quick reference."

Izzy, who was sitting next to Clary, wearing a fancy, lacy nightgown that would not look too out of place in a period tv show, hummed. "It’s true! The three witches are the Trix. And we could be called something like…” She paused for a moment. Her smile became a little mischievious as she started offering names. “The Super Six... The Izzy Six... Oh, I’ve got it! The Airy Fairies!"

"The... The what?" Aline asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The Airy Fairies! It’s short and sweet and it rhymes!” Izzy chuckled. “What’s wrong? You don’t like it, Aline?" She said sarcastically.

"Nah... it sounds terrible!"

Maia raised a hand from her position on the floor. "I vote for Winx!"

All the others ended up saying some version of "Me too."

"Perfect!” Clary grinned. “We’re the Winx. I mean… it’s stupid but I saw it written on some stuff in Magix City. And I didn’t even think about asking: What does "Winx" mean?"

Helen grinned. “It’s the name of a fairy’s magical energy. I have a nature-sourced winx, while Izzy has a sun-sourced Winx. And it kinda also became the name of the basic fairy form. The one you saw us take today!”

“Nerd,” Izzy chuckled.

Clary chuckled as well and looked at them. “So now we’re the Winx. One day, everyone will be learning the definition of Winx, and adding a reference to us at the end.”

------------------

In the next chapter, there’s going to be a big party in Magix. This is an opportunity to meet the Specialists. The boys from Red Fountain are really amazing. The witches won’t be invited, and they will react. What will they do?

[khunvegas]

Tagged by @qpraphael  💖

20 First Lines and you just copy the first lines of your most recent stories. Bonus: Look for a pattern.

So, let’s see, I have 24 works so far, so that should work. A mix  between Malec and Saphael.

1. “In retrospective, Magnus should have thought this through. Mixing his life with a demon wasn’t the best idea one could have and agreeing to some kind of deal that involved sex was foolish at best but Magnus didn’t care. He just wanted this.” From my angel!Magnus, demon!Alec ongoing series. (Is it desire?)

2. “Raphael looked around him, the pleased and content faces of the people of New York, the bustling of energy and determination knowing they were doing something good tonight. It was going to get colder tonight and while Raphael couldn't shelter for all of them, at least he could do this: provide food for the nights to come.” This one was before 2x17, about that Saphael sneak peak when they were talking in the shelter (?) with my own twists. (Unspeakable truth) 

3. “Magnus slammed against the wall, hands immediately on his hips, not letting him move.” Same series I said before, also kinda love how I started this one, not gonna lie. (There’s no way)

4. “Angels. Heavenly creatures that have one purpose and one purpose only and it's to keep peace on earth, keep an eye on the humans. Maintain the balance between good and bad, keep the darkness at bay and always one step ahead to prevent any trouble.” The first one on that on going series, which I don’t know how to end, honestly. (Perfectly wrong)

5. “Magnus would forever regret this decision for the rest of his immortal life. Being an angel didn’t give him enough time to regret about his decisions, since he had to keep an eye on every mortal on earth because Father was bored all those years ago and come up with the amazing idea to make these breakable bodies and insufferable attitudes.” And this is, originally, the first one-shot I wrote for the series, even thought I didn’t know it would turn out to be one. (Blurred Lines) 

6. “As much as Alec liked being back to work, getting knees-deep on the whole Clary-missing situation and a greater demon on the loose, there was only one person on his mind. Magnus.” I wrote this even before this half season started, basing it on the sneak peak we had back in december, about Magnus losing his magic. (I’m here for you) 

7. “Simon wasn’t known for his great ideas. In fact, those were scarce in the midst of the bad ones. Probably, the worst one was to follow Clary to the end of the world (meaning the downworld) and consequently turned to a vampire and the kicker was that he couldn’t go back. No, it wasn’t one of those things that could disappear once you figure out how to fix it” A Saphael one, where I pour all my bitterness on how they were treated and how Simon treated Raphael, specifically. Hard and cold truths, my kind of thing. (I had you)  

8. “In a world where beautiful people were paired with more beautiful people, there was Simon who still was working out the tricks and whatnot of a relationship.” Another Saphael one, a prompt really. I think this was a meet-cute in the AU *universe* and that I turned it into a series too. Also, Salec brotp vibes in this one (You and me, how that sounds?) 

9. “Magnus Bane’s life was good, really good. He lived in a comfortable apartment in Brooklyn, a job that gave him the opportunity to have every luxury he could have ever wanted. Really, it’s a good life. Except, he didn’t have someone to share that life with. But he wasn’t complaining because, while he couldn’t have that romantic life for himself, he could help others to find it.” The love of my life, my baby, the story I’m so proud of. My first WIP that wouldn’t be finished if it wasn’t for my beta ( @wewalkadifferentpath babe what’s good). This one is based from a movie that I liked so much I turned it into Malec and Saphael. (Can you find me someone to love?) 

10. “Four years ago, Alec was happily searching for a hook up, not a care in the world if someone described him as a playboy because in truth, he was one and he was unapologetic about it. Alec wasn’t one to regret his past, of course not, it was part of him, but he had changed ever since he met Magnus at the Mad Hatter party.“ A study in fic where Alec has no chill but also wants to make his wedding as perfect as he can with the love of his life. Part of the AU series (Keep me forever).

11. “Whoever said that being single it was a way to find yourself, find new hobbies, meet new people, have fun and whatever shit, they were a big fat liar. Being single was sad and dare Simon say, miserable.” Another Saphael one with the whole gang on the side (Mind if I call you boyfriend?) 

12. “There was something so calming, so relaxing when it came to the beach. Magnus didn’t like swimming, but staring and letting the wind mess up his hair and bringing his body at ease? Sign him up.” Malec. Thirst all around (Hotter than hell)  

13. “If someone were to say that Simon would end up being a vampire and head over heels for another no-nonsense attitude vampire, Simon would say that this person had spent a lot of time reading YA novels because he was going to be an accountant and get his shit together and ask Clary out.“ The longest one-shot I ever written and this one is based from a bunch of headcanons, after season 3A. This is mainly Saphael, fluff and happiness all around, what they deserve. (One Big Happy Family) 

14. “Magnus came to the conclusion that senior year could be the same thing as previous years or he could make this year his bitch, because why the hell not? It was his last year.“ A high school AU, a funny one because I can’t do serious stuff. Based only from one line “too tall to be gay” from another story- credits given of course (#TooTallToBeGay) 

15. “"So, I told him 'listen, if you think this is too much, you better leave'" Magnus took a sip from his milkshake, "you know what this douchebag did? He left!"” *ahem* This one is a bunch of all my guilty pleasures in one with comedy on the side and UST vibes. Like, I don’t even follow people that likes this stuff- that I’m aware of- but it’s there, it’s good. I like how it ended and people liked it too, so there’s that. (X2CU)  

16. “In all honestly, Alec loved working as a barista and while a lot of customers could be a pain in his ass, there were some that had lighten up his days and those tranquil moments where the coffee shop was quiet, he would stand there and just enjoy the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Black coffee with a lot of sugar was his weakness.“ A meet-cute sort of thing, barista!Alec, lawyer!Magnus. No chill whatsoever (Large frappuccino for the cutest guy on sight)

17. “"Again? Simon, this is the fifth time we come to this cafe. The coffee is not that good" Magnus complained, turning to look at Simon with his arms crossed and a raised eyebrow.“ Another Saphael one, a cute one I’ll tell you. (Boy’s Got Game) 

18. ““Honey, I’m home!”“ That’s it, that’s the fic. Mainly Saphael, because I’m still trash for them (Their little “gang”) 

19. ““Jace, how many times do I have to tell you I’m fine? I don’t need to date someone.”“ A single parent!Alec AU with Magnus as Rafael’s teacher. Cuteness Alert (I should thank your son)

20. ““Seriously, Ragnor, I must be cursed because how the hell this guy have the nerve to break up with me?” Magnus asked while bringing a glass of white wine to his mouth.” I would say that this is a Malec meet-ugly, Alec as a waiter but it has a happy ending (How do you feel about marriage?) 

I think everyone did this already but let’s see @katychan666 @lesbarton @measurelessdreamer @castleoffandoms @thesorrowoflizards @wewalkadifferentpath @raphaelxantiago @octoberdecemberwrites @kinkymagnus

[bellamyblcke]

here’s why jonathan’s 3b storyline is problematic (and it’s not the reasons you think)...

so the thing about shadowhunters 3b is that there’s a really compelling story buried UNDERNEATH the actual story that they’re giving us, but the writers are just careening right on past it, which is a damn shame. i think the problem really stems from the fact that they can’t figure out how they feel about jonathan (and in particular how his history of abuse informs his present actions), and therefore are treating his backstory/actions/motivations in a really haphazard and confused way (which isn’t necessary and is actually, dare i say it, pretty problematic).

under a read more bc this got... long 

so i’m not in any way saying that abuse excuses people’s actions, but jonathan’s history of abuse does make his choices throughout the show more understandable. his backstory is, i mean let’s face it, pretty ridiculously sad. he was abandoned by his mother as a baby (for killing some flowers?? mysterious) and raised by his father to be a child soldier for the first ten years of his life, abandoned (again) and then graphically abused by his surrogate mother for the next ten. he’s never known true love or compassion, and really just doesn’t understand how to exist in this world in a way that’s not violent or obsessive. which yeah does make sense based on this backstory. not excused, just like yes it makes sense. (and finding it sympathetic also makes sense, you’re supposed to, it’s really tragic). and the show itself is really leaning into this backstory for the sake of... complexity i guess?

the problem is that when they brought jonathan back for 3b, his ONLY goal was to win clary over so that they can finally be a family, and like yeah he has gone about it all wrong, but it is a goal that make sense and is actually pretty sympathetic (even if his methods (incest! incest!) may be less sympathetic (i could go into a whole rant on this too but i wont)). the question of why exactly he’s supposed to be the main villain of 3b when he’s just basically a little kid running around being like love me! love me! while also looking for a family heirloom so that he can feel safe from his abuser is a pretty damn good one (god the stan is really popping out sorry)

if they had given him a different goal (say for example getting revenge on lilith/the demon world that tortured him for the last ten years), and then had him trying to convince clary to help him, that would propel the story along in a much more interesting direction. by making the act itself monstrous (it would sort of be like a mass demon genocide?? which is questionable?? tho i suppose that depends on how we feel about the humanity of the demon world which is A Whole Other Can of Worms) but the goals understandable and even dare i say it compelling we would get to see clary questioning her sense of morality and her perception of jonathan as a monster. in this instance, he can be both a victim and a bad guy and a well-rounded, well-thought out character that is doing some complex villain work. (huzzah for storytelling!)

the way they’re doing it now the problem is that they’re using his victimhood as a tool to manipulate clary (which actually i’m... kind of okay with), but also still trying to make the argument that it’s only the rune that’s making her drawn to him. the rune is a VERY cheap plot device (and when cc did it the focus was on clary’s perception of jace under the rune and a (lying don’t remind me) jonathan so like a little more complex than this sort of blanket manipulative demon rune bs). by employing the rune as like a This Is Why she’s going dark plot device instead of having her make her own choices we lose so much of her agency in the story, and it also makes jonathan’s reasons for doing stuff just another part of his “demon” energy or whathaveyou. WHICH IS SO BORING.

this also opens up ANOTHER huge problem. by having the demonic tether make clary think jonathan’s abuse plotline is compelling, it implies that an abuse narrative is actually NOT a compelling/valid reading of his plotline. which makes me pretty deeply uncomfortable. when clary tells isabelle in 3x18 that jonathan’s not a monster and that he’s really a victim of lilith and valentine and then that comment is immediately framed as having been influenced by the demon rune, it completely negates all the work that was done in 3x17. which is so frustrating, like what was the point of going into his history of abuse if none of it matters anyway? if he’s purely demonic and manipulative and it’s all going to go down the drain? that conclusion was one that clary could have come to on her own, and having her grapple with the fact that there are legitimate and really tragic reasons for jonathan’s behavior is MUCH more interesting than just throwing away the work they are already doing in the show. and i feel like they do this some of the time (her being upset that she wasn’t able to save him when they were kids for instance), but then really back off from it by pulling in the rune, which is just so irritating. and also pretty deeply problematic if we’re looking at jonathan as a character who has been legitimately abused and is still suffering the consequences of it. (this ties into a lot of other instances in the show where they want the emotional shock value of abuse without really wanting to deal with the aftermaths of it. (ie. jace and maia))

here, they’ve set up the stakes to be almost purely personal, but then they aren’t willing to go the distance on following through with that would mean in terms of clary and jonathan’s relationship (and if they were really going for it, they would include jace in this dynamic as well, bc it make sense that he would have a lot of feelings about jonathan, and jonathan about him, but they’ve just... thrown that aside). by focusing exclusively on clary, they also open up a whole separate issue: bc jonathan’s whole plot line is focused on gaining clary’s love and affection in order to “fix” him (from his perspective), it makes fixing him clary’s business, which it isn’t. she has no duty (morally) to help him, but she does (narratively), if the whole story is hinging on it. there’s definitely a way that his core character traits (his need for love and affection, his misunderstanding of violence/love, his obsessive tendencies, his rage) could be played with in an interesting and compelling way and ways in which the dynamic with him and clary could still be an important part of the show without defining him by her (and specifically by tying it very explicitly to incest in order to make it “monstrous” WHICH IS A WHOLE OTHER CAN OF WORMS) but the way that they are doing it now puts all the stress points in the story in all of the wrong places. 

all of these issues are lurking in the show currently, and it’s making me really worried for the finale bc i know none of them are ever going to be addressed. and i’m pretty damn sure they’re just going to be like “it was the Demon Blood” even tho it really clearly... wasn’t. this is really just an issue of clarity in terms of storytelling (and it’s something cc definitely couldn’t get right in the books either so maybe it’s not entirely the showrunners fault), still, i think when we’re dealing with such contentious subject matter, this clarity is really important. bc the way they’re doing it now they’re just sort of using abuse for Effect and not treating a serious issue seriously, which is pretty problematic. but then again, why am i surprised? 

this is also not to negate some of the really good working they’ve done on jonathan’s character this season, it can just be really irritating when the writers undermine their own work, and they’re so damn close to doing something really good. but alas.

[lenaisanerd]

i know it’s expected that i be serene

When Clary texts Simon requesting Fullmetal Alchemist, he knows something's up. But Clary seems to be in denial, and so Simon dispenses the ultimate cure-all: Hanging out with her best friend. (ca. 3500 words)

tunes.

Read on AO3.

 This story was co-written with my darling @raisehades. Please enjoy the hard-earned fruits of many late-night Google Docs comment battles.

Clary: can i come ober

  Simon: Ofc

  Are u okay?

  Clary: yes i just want so talk and cuddle or something

  Simon: Okay. Want me to set up anything?

  Clary: fma? 2009?

  Simon: I gotchu

Simon was slightly worried.

First of all, Clary wasn’t usually this reserved in her texting. Her lack of exclamation points coupled with the request for her favourite show could only mean one thing: his friend was way more down than she was letting on.

But he would deal with that when she brought it up because, well, he was also happy; Clary and him used to do this a lot – go over to each other’s (parent’s) place to hang out and watch something they both more or less enjoyed and maybe even talk about their lives and their feelings and- stuff.

But ever since the whole… half-angel manic pixie dream girl mom reveal (the HAMPDGMR) and everything that went down in consequence of the HAMPDGMR, they simply hadn’t done this sort of thing anymore. Sure, they hung out with all their other friends, at parties at Magnus’ loft or karaoke night at the Hunter’s Moon. And while that was fun, it was different when it was just the two of them.

Even during their brief dating stint, there wasn’t much they did that they’d done as friends. Simon had enjoyed what they’d done together, of course, but looking back it had been obvious that this wasn’t ideal for them.

Ideal was this: Lugging the connector cable for the TV into the vicinity of his laptop, powering both up and then loading a site with English subtitles of Hiromu Arakawa’s masterpiece Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

Also ideal: Clary bringing weird snacks with unpronounceable names from the Polish bodega down the street from their old high school. That store had become their first stop after class when they were younger and would sneak candy into movie theatres or curl up on the couch in Clary’s living room and watch Audrey Hepburn flicks with Dot. Simon was almost certain he would be able to eat some and keep them down by now.

Well, actually, in a perfect world, Simon would have loved to cook something for Clary (the food at the Institute was a far cry from what any sane person would call comfort food. Or edible). But one of the results of moving out of his mom’s place just after he’d become a bloodsucking creature of the night was that he owned basically no dishes, or pots, or kitchen utensils.

Even compiling his stuff with Maia’s (who had lived next to a Chinese restaurant for her entire adult life) yielded five plates, one bowl, two chipped mugs, and somehow a ridiculously large amount of cutlery. So cooking anything more than a bowl of cereal was out of the question until they got around to buying some usable stuff. Simon could already see himself and Maia filling their birthday and Christmas/Hanukkah wishlists with basic household items for years into the future. Ah, the joys of adulthood.

Still, this was almost the Saturday morning of his dreams. In the past year, Simon had come to understand that while moments of normalcy were few and far between, when one came along they had to hold on tight for as long as they could. Which was exactly what he was planning to do.

“I’m telling you, Polish Bodega lady has to be a Downworlder. We just have to find out what flavor she is.” Clary started on her new favourite topic as soon as Simon opened the door. She draped her damp jacket over the back of a kitchen chair to dry, dropped a plastic bag on the table, and re-tied her wet ponytail.

Simon started rummaging through the contents of the bag. “Okay, one: I don’t like “flavors”, at all, two: how do you know she’s not just a normal human being who just happens to own a windowless shop where she basically lives 24/7? Oooh, you brought those weird milk drops!”

Clary had her back turned to him while she stretched as far as she could to reach the plates and mugs on one of the high shelves above the sink, not quite managing it. “She never sleeps. Sometimes I come by that store when I’m on patrol, and she must be there all night. Every night. And every day, too. Either she never sleeps, or she has at least two clones.”

“Maybe she has an identical twin sister.” Simon took pity on her and handed her the dishes. Clary took them and ducked out under his arm from between the sink and his body in one fluid movement. Then she set to digging through the fridge for some soda for herself, and a bag of A+ for him, hugging the plates and mugs to her body with her free arm.

“I think I caught her staring at my runes. She definitely at least has the Sight.”

“Oh, so your angel-ninja sense is tingling? Tell me, is there a type of demon that loves to disguise itself as an old lady and watch reruns of Polish soap operas?”

“There’s only so many demons that can be terrorizing Manhattan bankers at a time, you know.”

Simon let out an undignified snort of laughter, of the kind that, had he been drinking at the time, would certainly have made him exhale his drink through his nose. Clary stuck her head over the fridge door grinning triumphantly. Then she emerged fully from its depths with a bottle of coke wedged horizontally under her chin, the plates under her arm, right hand holding the mugs, and left hand holding the blood bag. Standing up was a precarious balancing act, and Simon rushed over to take the bottle from between her chin and collarbone. After he snatched up the bags of sweets from the table they continued their procession into Simon’s bedroom.

Maia and him had moved in together just after New Year’s, into a tiny two-bedroom apartment in Fort Greene. They had decided against sharing a bedroom, though, mostly because of their sleep schedules. As Maia had put it, one partner strangling the other because a certain vampire keeps making noise all through the night while a certain werewolf is trying to sleep is not very conducive to a healthy relationship. Of course, they often spend the night together anyway, although those weren’t the nights when they did much sleeping.

“Come lie down, thought you wanted to cuddle,” Simon said, sitting down on the bed and patting the spot next to him. Clary flopped down and threw her legs over his. Balancing the snack plate carefully on her lap she fluffed the pillows behind her and finally settled down.

It was several skipped episodes, an entire bag o’ blood, and a good two thirds of the coke later when Simon got to find out why  exactly  Clary was in such urgent need for Comfort TV Time.

“Did you know jat Ling’s name doejn’t need the ng sound at all? It’sh Lin in Japanese and”, Simon swallowed the milk drops, “the Chinese translation both, so they just changed it for us for some reason.”

“You’re going to regret eating those,” Clary said with such a comical expression of distaste on her face that Simon couldn’t help but laugh out loud. She rolled her eyes. “Suit yourself. I won’t mop it up, though.”

Simon was still grinning when Clary reached forward to pause the episode on a rather unfortunate still of Major Louis Armstrong in motion.

“Do you think Izzy would like this,” she said, suddenly serious.

“Who wouldn’t like Fullmetal Alch- ”

“You’re right. Of course she would. Continue.”

Simon took her vague gesture towards the screen as a command to unpause. About half a minute later she piped up again, this time not even bothering with the pause button. “Her favourite character would have to be Mei-Chang.”

“Really?,” Simon indulged, reminding himself that he had in fact watched this episode several times in his life(un-life?) already and could live (hah) with not catching every subtitle, “I would have thought Olivier, Lan Fan… or maybe Riza? One of the really cool badass ladies.”

“Izzy may be a really cool badass but trust me, she loves little girls with a passion for science. Did I tell you about that dinner party at Magnus’ place? She was off in a corner with Madzie all evening, talking about chemistry or something. It was adorable.”

“Yes, I – I don’t know how I managed to forget. You’ve told me about it... several times now.” Simon was quite proud of his wallowing pause here.

Clary said, “Well.” and when Simon looked over to her she was visibly re-invested in subtitles. He suppressed a fond headshake and decided to let her have this one.

The next time they got through a good fifteen minutes during which Clary only noticeably stopped herself from interrupting twice and Simon started quietly wondering if eating those drops was a bad idea after all.

“Could we invite her to something like this?”

“Izzy, you mean?”

“Ah, yes. I just mean, like, we’ve hung out at the Hunter’s Moon and the Institute and stuff but I don’t know, would she like just… watching anime? Snacking?”

Simon really did put up with a lot, huh. “I don’t know, what do you think?”, he said in his least exasperated voice and leaned forward once again to press pause. He looked over to Clary, who was searching through one of the bags of candy for the last red one with the utmost concentration.

“I think she’s probably never been able to do something like this but that… she’d probably like to try. And I guess it depends on the show if she’d enjoy it. Her attention span is better than ours’ for sure, though. Maybe I’ll ask her.”

“Instead of me?! I’m hurt, Fray.” Simon placed a hand over his unbeating heart and pulled what he hoped to be the most devastating pout since Shrek’s puss in boots. He probably didn’t succeed in that.

Clary repaid his efforts by hitting his shoulder. He whined out an ooow and curled up to smoosh his head into Clary’s side. Her shirt muffled his sigh, and she recoiled from his breath, pushing him away with a giggle.

“Simon, stop that! You know I’m ticklish!”

Instead of letting up, Simon wrapped his arms around Clary’s waist.

“Zis vasn’t my decision.” Simon was using his best Bela Lugosi accent. Clary’s eyes widened in mock horror and the corner of her mouth twitched upward. “You brought zis on yourself. If Izzy is going to be your new best friend now, you must face...ze octopus!” His legs wrapped around Clary’s knees while she wriggled and squirmed and laughed.

“Hang on, what do you mean ‘my new best friend’? Simon Lewis, you’re not suddenly getting jealous, are you?” Clary asked when she had successfully freed herself from Simon’s grasp and they were both lying on their backs, looking at the ceiling.

“Pssh. No,” Simon lied. Clary had the decency to look slightly guilty. “Maybe you just have a crush on Izzy, ever thought about that?”

He had expected a pillow to the face for that tease, or another assault on his shoulder, or a bit of banter. What Simon had not expected was Clary suddenly looking all serious.

“Huh. You know, I’ve never considered that. Thanks, Simon,” she said, and Simon was quite proud of himself for being as good at identifying sarcasm as he was, but he really and truly couldn’t tell what Clary was thinking then. As his friend leant forward to unpause their series he decided she must just be a bit tired of antics for today. Understandable, really.

Yesterday’s summer storm had turned into persistent rain. It pitter-pattered against the fire escape and the windowsill, occasionally cutting through the sound coming from the TV’s speakers. During the peak of the heat wave, Maia and Simon had opened all the windows in the apartment to let in a breeze and had jammed whatever was handy at the time underneath to keep them from closing. There was a guitar foot rest wedged in the crack of Simon’s bedroom window.

“Simon?”

“Yeah?”

“I definitely have a crush on Izzy.”

The pause button had never been pressed so quickly. It would have been a world record, if world record judges liked to hang out on rickety fire escapes peering through windows to see if random teenagers performed laws-of-physics-defying feats from the comfort of their beds.

Simon lay back down, face to face with Clary. She seemed way more casual than what Simon thought was appropriate for the situation.

“So…Izzy. Isabelle. Really tall, beautiful, kinda scary. Terrible cook. We’re still talking about our Izzy here?”

“Yep.”

“Huh.” Simon let that sink in for a minute.

“And, uh. How long have you known?”

Clary let out a hollow chuckle. “Consciously? About 30 seconds.”

Simon sat up. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Clary. I know you won’t like hearing it, but I’ve been your friend for over ten years, so I feel it is my duty to tell you this: You are such a dumbass.”

With a big sigh, Clary rolled over and buried her face in a pillow. Simon could barely make out her voice, but what she said sounded distinctly like a whine.

“What was that?”

Clary came up for air. ”I know.” Definitely whiny. With a very long vowel sound.

“I mean, you’re in so deep that I’m surprised you don’t need scuba gear yet.”

A groan.

Simon bumped her shoulder gently with his elbow. “Did I make you skip to the ‘wallowing in your own misery’ phase of having a crush?”

“No, it’s just...I can’t believe I never noticed.” Clary sat up, her legs crossed, facing Simon. “I only spent, oh, the last year with Izzy, every day. And– and looking back on some… things, it’s becoming really clear that I’ve had a crush on her for a while. And now I just feel like the biggest idiot in the world, and also what the fuck do I do now, Simon?” While she spoke Clary had let her head sink into her hands. Simon was of the opinion that they had just passed ‘wallowing’ and were well on their way to “breakdown”.

Simon leaned forward and, as gently as he could, pried Clary’s hands away from her face and held onto them for safekeeping.

“Hey, slow down, ‘cause this is bringing back really bad memories of pre-finals all-nighters.” This at least got a little smile out of Clary. “Now, can we back up just a bit to the ‘things’ you’re currently re-examining?”

Clary thought for a moment and then answered slowly, as though she was choosing her words with care. “Like, for example, why I love when she does my makeup. She’s really focused and just gets so close to my face and then she does that thing were she bites her lip and narrows her eyes, and sometimes I just want to lean forward and… kiss her?”

Immediately and seemingly instinctually, a grin tugged its way up the corner of Simon’s mouth. “Should I go get that scuba gear?” Clary rolled her eyes in response, but continued her recounting of Isabelle’s many virtues.

“And, uh, I always pick Izzy as a training partner, even though she does not go easy on me, because I kind of like when she kicks my ass.”

Simon only held in a dirty joke by viciously biting his own tongue. Clary was in distress. In distress.

His friend looked up at him from behind a strand of hair as if sensing his struggle but, judging by the nearly imperceptible untrackable movement of her eyebrows, refusing to acknowledge it. She headed on.

“Like, Izzy isn't really like anyone I've ever met before? And it's so - uh, exciting? Just to see her, like, do things her way. From the start she's made me feel like I belong, when, like, no one else really bothered to try?” Clary exhaled and shook her head. “I don't know. Maybe that's a bit much. I mean, what if we start dating and it immediately goes sideways? It’s just - we have too much history together. Maybe that doesn’t make any sense?”

Simon frowned. “No, I get it. She's really important to you.” He tilted his head to catch Clary’s gaze again. “And I know you’re really important to her. I don’t think one bad date could end your friendship. Also, you’ve known her for a year. If you want to call that ‘too much history’, I guess it might be, but when has that ever stopped you?”

Clary barked out a laugh. “Yeah, our relationship wasn’t exactly a success, though.”

“Okay, that’s fair, but Izzy isn’t me. And you aren’t the same you you were a year ago. Things are different.”

Clary looked ready to argue again, but kept quiet. Her body language was singularly vulnerable but her expression was more thoughtful than anything, brow furrowed tightly. She picked absently at her fingers which were still stained with oil paints, green and purple and gold. The rain continued its assault on the fire escape.

Eventually, after a long moment of silence, Clary stretched out on the bed next to Simon and, tugging at his shoulder, gently nudged him to lie down too. Clary tilted her head so it was lying against his shoulder and they lay there listening to the city they had been hearing their entire lives. But it was different now, wasn’t it? Simon had super vampire hearing and Clary had her angel ears and this wasn’t the city they had known anymore, because they knew what hid under the surface. But then, well, New York had never been the city they thought they knew. Simon had meant what he’d said: Clary had changed, and he had changed, and their old world felt lifetimes away. A year ago he would have said this was a bad thing. Today, he... wasn’t so sure.

“Should I tell her, do you think?”

“Hmm? What?”

“Izzy.”

“Oh.” Simon tried to get his train of thought off the existentialist detour track. “Uhh,” he said, intelligently, “I don’t know. Give me a sec.”

“Yeah, of course. Can you think while we watch?”

Simon nodded and Clary unpaused the episode. She propped her head up on her hand to get a more comfortable angle at the screen, and Simon’s eyes caught on the rune on her neck, right against the edge of her jawline. That was the first one, the healing rune that had seemed so out of place the night he’d found her by the church. By the Institute. Now, he couldn’t really imagine Clary without the runes, each a different part of her new life. There were the quick, simple ones Jace had drawn in the beginning, joined by the strong, decisive strokes of Isabelle and the slender script that indicated Alec, and of course Clary’s own hand, elegant and curving. Some for protection and some for strength, for courage and speed, fresh ones and older, darker marks. There was a story for every single one. A bit of experience. A battle won or lost.

He didn’t often dwell on this, but it sometimes occurred to Simon just how strong his best friend was. She had been through so, so much and come out on the other side a victor, maybe through luck, but also through sheer stubbornness. It was one of the things he loved (and sometimes loathed) about Clary. Simon was extraordinarily grateful that, even though both of them had lost a life, they had gained a new one, and one that had the other in it.

“Clary.”

She turned her head so she could look at him. One side of her face reflected the  flickering lights of the TV. “Yes?”

“I think you should do what you think is best. Trust your gut. You’re gonna be fine.”

Clary looked disappointed. “That wasn’t much of an answer, oh great oracle,” she said.

“Well, that’s the only one you’re gonna get. This oracle is closed for the day,” Simon replied. He crossed his arms over his chest to emphasize his statement. Then, very quickly and stumbling over his words a little, he added: “I just really respect you and I think you’re really smart and have good judgement, and you can sort this out for yourself. Also if anything goes wrong this means you can’t blame me, so–” The rest of the sentence was cut off by Clary rushing to hug him. Her shoulder banged into his chin rather painfully. He would, of course, not have it any other way.

“Thank you, Simon. I love you.”

Simon smiled into Clary’s shoulder. “Love you too, Fray.”

[bytheangell]

My Latest Mistake

(Read on AO3)

“Alec…” The voice that reaches him from his office is soft, hesitant. Alec isn’t sure if it’s because Jace is too busy tip-toeing around him over everything with Magnus, or because he’s still embarrassed over getting bested by an art student who only learned about the Shadow World a few months ago, but either way he’s tired, and isn’t sure he can deal with any more just then.

“Can it wait?” Alec sighs, glancing down at his desk at the mountains of papers in front of him. There is no shortage of reports to file - about Isabelle’s undercover investigation into Glorious and taking down Aldertree, of Jace’s undercover operation to follow Clary and Jonathan, of the fact that they lost Clary and Jonathan, and now have to account for the potential kidnapping of the Seelie Queen… it’s a lot. It’s too much, but at the very least it’s a distraction from the fact that his personal life has fallen to pieces around him.

“No.” Isabelle says, coming up behind Jace. Her face is solemn, more serious than he’s seen in days, even when he first brought up Asmodeus’ ultimatum to her.

“Look, if this is some sort of intervention, we can just skip the theatrics and--” Alec starts, only to be cut off by Jace again.

“It’s not. But it is about Magnus.” Jace looks nervous. So does Isabelle. If this was just about him, just about his relationship, then they wouldn’t be so hesitant to barge in and try to put him in his place. He knows his siblings better than that.

“What is it? Is he--” Alec starts, but the words fall short. He’s lost the right to ask about Magnus, to know how he’s doing, what’s going on in his life, the moment he cut things off between them. “It isn’t my business. Please, you two, I know you mean well but just--”

“He has his magic back, but he’s with Asmodeus.” Isabelle says.

It takes him a few moments to process that statement. That’s impossible. Asmodeus is in Edom, unless…

“A warlock was found dead in her shop in the city. Upon further investigation there were signs of a rift opening, of stronger demonic energy than we’ve registered since Lilith. We tapped into some cameras in the city and tracked the last person to enter and leave the shop at the time of her death. He followed Magnus through the city… it’s Asmodeus. We’re sure of it.”

Alec’s mind is blank. What happened? How did he get here? Was it something he did, something he said, that allowed him to break his banishment in Edom? Or did Magnus bring him here, calling to him in his time of need? Alone, with no one to turn to but the only family he has left?

...did Alec drive Magnus to this?

“Thank you for telling me, I-” but his words fall short again. He should tell the Clave. He should warn them, gather every force they have to defend against the Greater Demon the way he failed to do with Lilith… but he falters, again, the same way he had before when Jace was the one at risk.

This isn’t what he wanted. He didn’t make a deal to get Magnus his magic back only to send him into the arms of a abusive, neglectful father. He didn’t give him his powers only to pit him against the Clave.

“...what do you want us to do?” Jace asks, as if reading his mind. And maybe he is. Bond or not, Jace always had an uncanny ability of knowing what he’s thinking. It made them terrors at the Academy, and especially for their mother, but now he wishes nothing more than to keep his thoughts to himself. He doesn’t want anyone to know the pain he feels… or the guilt.

“Who else knows?” Alec asks, his tone teetering carefully between hopeful and fearful. If no one knows they can cover it up, but at the same time if no one knows then it falls solely on them to decide the fate of the entire Shadow World in this moment. One gives him two choices, and the other makes the decision for him, forcing his hand.

“Just us, and Underhill. He’s the one who tracked surveillance,” Isabelle says.

“Show me.”

“Alec, I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Izzy says, shooting a nervous glance in Jace’s direction. “Show me.” He repeats, and this time he’s standing up, back straight, voice stern. It isn’t a request. He needs to see the consequences of his decision.

“...Alright.”

It’s a quiet walk to the security room where Underhill looks both surprised and horrified to see Alec stroll in through the door.

“He wants to see the footage,” Jace tells him, the look on his face making it very clear that this isn’t up for debate.

“Fine. But don’t shoot the messenger,” Underhill says, rewinding a series of surveillance tapes before hitting play.

Alec watches Magnus get his magic back, feeling some small flicker of hope for the first time all day.

“He did it,” Alec mutters under his breath, the smallest smile flashing across his face.

It doesn’t last long. Asmodeus tracks Magnus’ magic signature, following him at a distance to the love locks. Alec feels every last ounce of hope inside him burn away with the lock on the ground. His chest is tight and he can’t fight the tears that fall silently at the sight, remembering the words Magnus uttered before engraving them with his magic.

The same magic that turned them to ashes now in his wake.

It isn’t any easier to watch him meet with a Silent Brother - over what they don’t know, there’s no audio on the cameras they tap into, only images. But it’s clear that Magnus isn’t okay. It’s clear that even with his magic he’s still distraught.

This was supposed to fix things. Magnus is supposed to be happy again. Whole again.

What went wrong?

They lose the cameras when Magnus disappears, only to pick them back up again with Magnus walking next to Asmodeus. There’s no magic binding him, no sign of coercion. They’re just walking, side-by-side, and when the finally come to a stop it’s for Magnus to open a portal that he patiently waits for Asmodeus to step through first before following through and closing behind them. The tape cuts out, and Alec leans forward, eager for another glimpse of the man he loves, for any sign of where Magnus is right now and proof that he’s alright. The timestamp shows this footage as within the hour.

Alec’s eyes are glued to the screen but when he finally pries them away the others in the room are all focused on him, watching and waiting for his reaction. No, more than that - they’re waiting for instructions, because now it’s up to him what they do about his ex-boyfriend gone rogue with his Greater Demon father.

He knows they’ll keep this quiet if Alec asks him to… but can he? What kind of leader does that make him if he does? Does he want to leave behind the legacy as the only Head of the New York Institute who habitually put the well being of Downworlders before that of his own people?

Is he capable of doing anything else, when the Downworlder in question is Magnus Bane?

“Thank you for telling me.”  Alec still doesn’t know what he’s going to do.  

“I’m so sorry, Alec,” Izzy says, reaching out for him. He doesn’t fight her embrace, but he doesn’t return it, either. He doesn’t deserve the comfort, not when he’s the reason for the pain in the first place.

“Don’t be. I made my decision. Magnus has his powers back. It’s what he wanted… it’s what he needed. What he does with them now isn’t up to me.”

“Alec, just tell him about--” “No! I can’t, Izzy, I- I won’t. I won’t take this away from him.”

He’s never felt so lost. So helpless. Magnus has his magic back but Alec knows the sort of person Asmodeus is. He knows what Magnus thinks of him, what he feels about him. How low must Magnus be to turn to his father for comfort? For acceptance?

Or, Alec shudders to think, for companionship?

“We can’t make the same mistake we did with Lilith,” Alec says, his voice resigned. “Underhill, alert the Clave about Asmodeus. This is a serious threat to the entire Shadow World… to the entire world.” This is his fault. He was selfish. He was foolish. So eager to give Magnus what he thought he needed he played right into the hands of a Greater Demon. This couldn’t be a coincidence…. It had to be something he did. Something he missed, that allowed Asmodeus to come here now.

How could he be so stupid?!

Of course Asmodeus would swoop in as the savior, returning Magnus’ magic to him, his life, his very soul. He played the savior at the expense of Alec’s love, and Alec let him. He practically handed Magnus over on a silver platter, abandoned and betrayed and vulnerable.

This wasn’t Asmodeus’ doing, not entirely, Alec realizes. He’s just as much to blame.

“Where are you going?” Jace asks, face pulled tight with concern as Alec pushes past them into the hallway.

At least there’s one thing Alec is entirely positive of right now, in a sea of doubts. He can trust Isabelle and Jace to do what needs to be done here. The Institute can take the lead in tracking down Asmodeus. But as for him?

His loyalties are owed elsewhere.  

“I’m going to save Magnus.”

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

Shadowhunters 3x20, City of Glass -- Review

Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m super late on this. Really, I’ve been really bad for all of 3B on doing these in a timely manner but can you really blame me? 3B sucks. It’s easily the worst season of Shadowhunters. While previous seasons of Shadowhunters have never been shining examples of great story-telling but at least things were happening and I didn’t hate the main characters.

As always, this is a critical review of Shadowhunters. I’m not a fan of this show, have never pretended to be. If you stan this show, that’s perfectly fine, we like what we like. I’m not going to stop you from reading this (I can’t, really) but I will caution you against it. These are my opinions. They may be unpopular. There will also be spoilers for the episode and possibly for the books. Read at your own risk.

So there were a couple of moments in this episode I didn’t hate. It’s still a bad episode of TV but there were moments where it engaged in some more ridiculous bits that made me remember why I decided to keep with the show. The show can be so ridiculous it’s funny and that’s what I enjoy about this show. If this show would learn to not take itself so seriously while being ridiculous, this would actually be a pretty fun show.  But ultimately, this episode does this thing where it executes things in the most non-epic way possible and it’s just really boring to watch for the most part.

The Dark!Clary I Never Wanted

So we got dark!Clary which was ultimately pretty boring. Most of the things she was just doing were cliché things and being evil just for the sake of being evil. Dark!Clary is really only here for the purpose of shock value and it’s not actually meant to develop her character in any way. The show tries to retcon their bad story-telling in that regard but they’re a couple of seasons too late trying to build up that Clary chose to let the mark take over because she wanted a family so badly and she couldn’t tell that her family was the friends she made. Considering Jocelyn has barely had a mention since her death and it’s never been noted that Clary feels alone with little to no family left, I have to call bull shit on that, writers. It would’ve been a nice character arc if it was developed but the way they tried to execute it in this episode is lazy and indicative once again that they never want Clary to be seen as anything less than this ideal and perfect creature of pure light (and as I’ve said time and time again, Clary is not a character meant to be portrayed that way, there is darkness in her and Clary would be such a fascinating character if the show would just let her be the flawed, selfish, self-centered creature she really is).

But it is a nice sentiment that the people who love Clary band together to try and save her although how that all happened was really just non-epic. Clary and Izzy twirl swords and kindjals around for a little bit and Clary brags about how she’s grown to be a better fighter than Izzy and I fail to see what’s new about that. Clary Sue has always been ridiculously over-skilled when it came to fighting, anyway. It’s hardly news that of course she would surpass Izzy because the narrative demands that she does. Like I said, it’s a nice sentiment that everyone is showing up to try and help free Clary but ultimately it’s kind of pointless for them to be there since none of them are able to break her free from the influence of the mark. Only when Jace stabs her in the shoulder severing the link is when Clary breaks free. From a character development standpoint, having everyone there is really just pointless. They’re not really doing anything impactful. And I just wish we had gotten more of a high-stakes approach to stabbing Clary with that sword. A very similar scene occurs in Book 5, City of Lost Souls when Jace is the one in Clary’s position and Clary is faced with the conflict of Jace being controlled by Jonathon. She spends most of the book unable to let him go and is obsessed with trying to save him and refuses to acknowledge that she may not be able to break Jace free and refuses to even consider killing Jace. But by the end of the book, she’s faced with the consequences of letting Jace run around under Jonathon’s control and how it’s now having very serious repercussions on the world. She’s armed with Glorious but she has no idea if Glorious will kill him if she stabs him but she ultimately decides to take that risk because she realizes that the real Jace buried underneath that control wouldn’t want to live the rest of his life being controlled like this and helping to destroy a world he vowed to protect. So she stabs him. In the show, we don’t really get any mention of the consequence of stabbing Clary with Glorious. Even just a scene where Jace has a conversation with Alec about how he he’s afraid to do this to Clary would’ve been enough to give some stakes to this situation but alas, Shadowhunters and high stakes with consequences? Please. But Glorious gets rid of the mark and Jonathon for some reason, grows wings. Yeah, I don’t get it, either. Because we just need to further demonize him, I guess? Subtlety, the show’s achilles heel. And the Morgenstern sword conveniently can open rifts to and from the hell dimensions. But honestly, at this point, I really didn’t expect anything better from Shadowhunters. This show has always been super ridiculous and convenient with the abilities of its historical relics. But it does beg the question. Jonathon is only ripping holes in the dimension because Clary reverted back to her original self. So provided Clary hadn’t changed back, what on earth was their plan? What was their endgame? How can we go an entire season without the villain actually having a villainous plan?

Glorious also explodes and shrapnel gets embedded in Izzy’s back while she’s trying to protect Simon so of course, cue the obligatory Sizzy scene.

Malec Gets Back Together

I think I said in the previous episode that surely Magnus couldn’t be so stupid as to not even consider that Alec breaking up with him and Asmodeus’s presence isn’t a coincidence. Well, I was wrong. Magnus really is that stupid. And even worse, it takes Maryse pointing it out to him before he figures it out so this kind of implies that without Maryse, he was never going to figure it out. And this show also does this really irritating thing where no conversation can occur between two people without a third person prompting it. Simon can only make a move on Izzy because his sister tells him to. Magnus can only talk to Alec about this break-up because of Maryse opening his eyes.

But by the end of the episode, Malec gets back together and having learned absolutely nothing from their conflicts this season. They just pick up right where they left off. Magnus doesn’t acknowledge how his actions while being without his magic made Alec feel like crap. Well, Alec does learn that Magnus can’t function without his magic and that he’ll always be second-place when it comes to Magnus’s magic but guys, it’s all okay because Magnus has his magic back so there’s no point in talking about that anymore. Explain to me why it’s a good idea for these two to get married when they can’t go through a single conflict without ever actually dealing with it? I really hate drama for the sake of drama and it doesn’t lead to character growth. But that’s Shadowhunters for you. These writers are above character growth, after all.

And Magnus banishes Asmodeus back to Edom with his WonderWoman powers, so aside from the fact that I don’t understand how he could overpower a prince of hell, it was a cool special effect, so I’ll give the show that.

More Bullshit With Maia

So after choosing to be with Jordan (a very poor choice to begin with but whatever) Jordan eventually dies. How messed up is that? Jordan asks to continue their relationship knowing he didn’t have much time left. Who does that? Oh right, an abuser who doesn’t respect their partner does that. And Maia gets through this by claiming she’s an alpha. Which you know, I would be living for except she’s done absolutely nothing to prove that she’s worthy of the alpha position. She’s had moments when she questions leadership but she’s never once done anything that shows she would make a good leader which is why it was so important for her character arc that she have that fight with the alpha but instead the writers chose to just kill off the entire pack? So while I’m all for Maia calling herself an alpha, it’s also something that leaves me feeling empty because Maia hasn’t proven herself at all yet to be a capable leader. But then again, she’s learned her leadership capabilities from Luke, so that’s already setting the bar pretty low (Luke was a terrible alpha, there, I said it).

City of Glass

So that epic scene in the third book where demons attacking Idris is finally here. And I don’t hate aspects of these moments. Finally, we get something with actual consequences and stakes. And for once, our “heroes” are faced with a conflict that they don’t know if they can overcome. This is also when the ridiculous parts of the episode starts coming in. I could not take those cannons seriously and I loved it. I missed being able to laugh at this show.

But in these moments is also where it’s shown that our “heroes” are just kind of the worst. We have dragons attacking in every direction in Alicante, people are being slaughtered left and right, and all our heroes can do as this is happening all around them is to give grand sweeping love proclamations. Entirely too much time is spent on Helen and Aline expecting they were totally not making out (even though we all know they were and I don’t even know why I’m supposed to care, these characters are barely characters). Your city is on fire, I think you have bigger issues. Then we have Clace exchanging cheesy lines in the middle of everything on fire. And Malec makes up and also proposes to each other while everything is burning. Sheesh, priorities people. But the episode leaves off with Magnus travelling to Edom to close the rift because he conveniently has the power to do that.

And just as a sidenote, I didn’t particularly enjoy Magnus’s entrance in the City of Glass fight. It just really devalued Izzy and Alec taking their stand. At least let them get a few kills in before Magnus saves them. Alec makes this grand sweeping statement about them being Lightwoods and that they can handle this and then Magnus swoops in and saves the day and it’s just like, “why?” They were having a moment. I was looking for some epic Lightwood sibling bad-assery but, nope. Shadowhunters has no concept on how to execute an epic scene, I have no idea on why I possibly thought they would.

There were a couple of fun ridiculous moments that I enjoyed in this episode but ultimately, we just got more of the same bland writing we’ve been getting throughout season 3 and I am so glad this showis about to end. Character development continues to be something of a myth on this show. This show gets a C. Just kinda average, I guess.  

But on to the final two episodes. I cannot tell you how anxious I am to finally be done with this show. Season 1 and 2A was fun and trashy but now this show is just dull and empty. It’s for the best it was cancelled and I can only hope it’ll fade away into internet obscurity.

[ketzwrites]

Rewatch 106: Of Men and Angels

Not a lot of action in this episode aside from the blue flashbacks, but it is still a good one. The focus is on the family dynamics and I dig it. 

Teaser

lol Magnus asks what happened to Luke and neither Simon nor Clary gives him the right answer. Luke challenged the alpha. He wasn’t “attacked” and we can see that he needs a warlock’s healing magic. Good thing Magnus arrives at the right conclusion on his own.

I don’t understand if Luke’s hallucination is a figment of his imagination or if it is a magical link to Jocelyn. All I got was that they are dressed as their younger Circle Member selves.

Act One

Sure, the Seelies want to be on the winning side, but this argument doesn’t work when the “winning side” wants them all dead. Also, Maryse was such a bitch.

Clary feeling guilty for doubting Luke is a great moment. So is Magnus hijacking Luke’s healing process to ask for Alec to come and see him. Smooth.

Alec thinks Maryse is on edge, Izzy thinks she’s acting as she usually does. We know Maryse is worried because the Lightwoods might lose the Institute. Supposedly, Alec is right but it’s interesting that Izzy doesn’t perceive a difference in treatment: it speaks a lot to her relationship with Maryse. Same thing with how Robert is affectionate with Izzy but goes straight to business with Alec. These parents clearly have favorites.

This suit and shirt make Max look like the rich kid that thinks he’s better than the other kids at the playground. I know kid-actors aren’t usually great, but this is the wrong fit for Max even physically speaking. Emeraude and Matthew look like siblings and they look like they could’ve been Nicola and Paulino’s children. Blonde, round-faced Jack Fulton? Not so much.  

Jace changing “virgin” to “powerful” is hilarious to me.

The issue between Alec and Jace is quite interesting. On one hand, Jace is arguably breaking the rules to do the right thing: he’s helping Clary to get her mother back, he’s interfering in Downworlder business to save Luke’s life. However, Jace has and is able to get away with rogue behavior: in a few episodes we will see Maryse saying that Jace’s methods might be unconventional, but he gets things done. Alec is in a different position. He doesn’t get a pass; in fact, his superiors (who are also his parents) expect and order him to follow the rules. And it is only because Alec follows the rules and bears that responsibility that Jace (and Izzy) get to be the wild younger children. Jace deciding to go rogue is one thing, Alec deciding to go rogue is another.

I really like the uncle/niece dynamic between Magnus and Clary. He praises her a little too much, as previously discussed, but I guess Clary is one of the few people Magnus watched grow up. I’ll resign myself to him doting on her a little.

This macho-dispute between Jace and Simon is making me roll my eyes. You both fancy Clary, get over it. Luke is literally dying, so if you care about her, hurry up and help save Clary’s father-figure.

Simon pseudo-defends Alec while arguing with Jace and that makes me wonder how a friendship between Simon and Alec could’ve been had they bonded even a little in the last episode. That said, Jace freaks out again when Simons rubs salt on the wound: Jace and Alec’s friendship is strained and Jace loses it.

Act Two

I still love this scene between Alec and Maryse so much.

Honestly, the whole dynamic between Magnus and Clary is great. But the still “Bring it, Warlock” ruins it. Clary is about to learn how her beloved mother was a founding member of a blood supremacy group that preyed on warlocks like Magnus. Had Clary realize how racist she sounded and apologized by the end of the explanation, it would’ve been one thing. As is, the line is as tone-deaf as they come.

Kat looks nothing like the actress playing young Jocelyn. That’s a casting mistake because people literally take Clary for Jocelyn when they first see her. They should’ve chosen an actress that resembled Kat or let Kat herself play the part.

And now we get a parallel scene with Izzy and Robert. I dig the Lightwood family so freaking much.

The Clave is doubting the Lightwood command of the New York Institute because of the unauthorized missions Alec sanctioned. Which started after the Clave’s orders to keep Clary in the Institute back in 102. Let’s count those rogue missions, shall we? 1. searching for Dot at Pandemonium; 2. going to the City of Bones; 3. attacking the DuMort; 4. (arguably) meeting with Magnus Bane; 5. searching for J.C.’s box at the Fray’s loft. That’s about five missions (the Magnus Bane one might have been authorized since Hodge knew about it) that Alec sanctioned without the Clave’s approval in the span of about four days. No wonder the Lightwoods are losing the command of the Institute.

Act Three

Okay, Magnus. Sure, if it wasn’t for Jocelyn and Luke, Valentine would’ve taken the Mortal Cup. But if it wasn’t for them, the Circle wouldn’t exist either. One thing doesn’t cancel the other. They have Downworlder blood in their hands and Clary is right to be upset.

Alec’s motivation to go and help Magnus is reaching his breaking point. He’s about to lose the last thing he had, his private life. At this point, he doesn’t care anymore what the consequences of his disobedience will be. He already lost it all.

OMG JACE AND SIMON STILL HAVEN’T GOTTEN THE STUFF MAGNUS NEEDS. IT’S BEEN HALF AN EPISODE. THIS IS PISSING ME OFF.

Act Four

Sorry for the outburst. Anyway, how convenient are Simon’s hallucinations? Always when he’s alone.

Gay Love saved Luke.

It’s interesting how medieval the Shadowhunter culture is. More interesting still is how Izzy didn’t seem to understand that until now. She behaved like the wild child her whole life without realizing there would be consequences? Unfair consequences, but still. I guess Izzy is smart, but not wise.

Some Alec and Clary bonding. Noice. Another superficial making up for the Parabatais. Not so noice. I wonder why Alec doesn’t tell Jace about his impending marriage. Still, Jace is so emotionally dysfunctional he can’t even bring himself to articulate an apology to Simon for putting a blade to his neck, so the young men in this show aren’t exactly great communicators among themselves.

Maryse is so close to telling Izzy about her past in the Circle. Well, of course, she won’t, but she does tell Izzy about how she was wrong for thinking that she could “change the world by breaking the rules.” Only, Maryse’s rule-breaking meant killing innocents. Izzy’s rule-breaking means self-expression and sexual autonomy. There is an important distinction to be made there.

Wait. Is Luke implying that experimenting with Downworlder blood is what turned Valentine into a monster?

Act Five

Oh, yes. It’s the blood injections that made Valentine mad. Not his ideologies, not his jealousy, not his twisted principles. The Downworlder blood. This is bullshit.

I want to point out that Luke (and presumably Jocelyn) were still going on rogue missions to kill Downworlders with Valentine up until when Valentine set Luke up and left him to die. It’s important to me to point this out.

Act Six

While Izzy represses herself into the box her mother wants her in, Alec has that drink he postponed with Magnus. I dig this parallel a lot.

At the risk of losing my Malec card: Magnus’ iconic “you’ve unlocked something in me” line comes out of nowhere. He saw Alec twice: one time for a second or two, and another when they exchanged a few sentences and then Magnus proceeded to hit on Alec hard to little-to-none reaction from Alec. Then they talked on the phone. At this point, Magnus could, at most, feel attracted to Alec. Saying that Alec’s mere presence made Magnus think he’s ready for a serious relationship again is a little hard to believe. I prefer the “breakfast” 218 scene where both Alec and Magnus trust each other against their “better” judgment but also don’t want anyone to know they were nice to a shadowhunter/downworlder. There, I said it. Please don’t kick me out of the fandom. I still love them.

Luke is a little bit exalted, isn’t he? Kind of yelling. That’s a weird direction for the character.

Clary’s power of turning things into drawings was inherited from Jocelyn; they are not due to her pure angel blood. I need to remember that.

[heavenly--fire]

This is the end

Ok I know I’m stating the obvious for the book stans and I probably hung on longer than I needed to considering many people I know didn’t even get past end of season 2 but I just can’t watch Shadowhunters anymore, I just can’t. It feels like a chore and when you’ve got a a shit ton of uni work and the golden age of television around you wasting 40 mins on something that is so far away from canon that you don’t even know who its for anymore, the motivation of fandom loyalty doesn’t seem to cut it.

Don’t get me wrong Season 3 is miles better than season 1 in terms of characters. In fact the whole mental heath emphasis on Jace is, I’d go as far to say, improving on cannon but it’s still far away from being good. At this point I can’t actually put my finger on why exactly I find it unwatchable but I think it’s mainly because of the shaky world building and consequently the lack of stakes (lots of ex machinas) and also that all the fun seems to have been sucked out of it. It’s a shame because I think all the actors do a decent job (even Will Tudor’s replacement which I didn’t think I’d say) but there’s little they can do with a shitty plot and lazy writing.

Problems I had specifically from the 1 1/2 episodes I managed of 3B: The pretty unnecessary loss of Magnus’s magic - it’s again bizarre world building to create a rule that warlocks can completely lose their powers just so there can be a few situations where Magnus can’t save the day, we all know that they’ll come back at some point in the season, thus making the emotional impact of this pretty limited . You could say it’s a character moment because he wants to become strong without it and learn how to fight which is fair but in the second episode he reveals he’s a black belt, so the plot of the first episode seems entirely pointless and the character arch completely contrived . Clary and Jonathon - I was most excited for this, I even considered just skipping the other parts of the episodes to watch theirs and it started off ok - we can see the beginnings of CoHF dynamics - but then in the second episode clary convinces Jonathon that she trusts him and he should let her go into Paris even though in the first episode she literally does this and then betrays him, this happens before the title sequence so it’s meant to be like ‘oh no clary has gone evil’ but it’s pretty abundantly clear it’s a lie. Again if you can’t keep consistency in plot and characters for two episodes, the rest of the season looks pretty draining and pointless. Simon, mark of Caine - Saia is actually one of the things that’s been getting me through Shadowhunters and I think Alberto is great but I just find his plot lines really unimportant to the overall story and so find it hard to care about them at all. In fact the moment I stopped the second episode and knew I couldn’t continue with the show was the reveal that the old vampire they were looking for was Caine. Literally. Just. Fuck. Off.

TLDR: Finally given up on Shadowhunters, very sad about how things turned out, due to overly serious tone and shitty writing and inconsistent characters I’ve decided to not waste anymore time on it.

(I made the text colourful to distract from how disappointed and sad I am about this whole thing)

P.S Apologies for how poorly worded this is but I have too many catch up essays to write to actually make thus coherent.

[jcmorgenstern]

serious question here: why does todd hate clary and jace so, so much. like, together and as individuals. because this whole mess is just another excuse to shit on clary and make jace look bad.

Honestly I can never quite tell what’s intentional on todden’s (todd and darren? new moffattiss? I wasnt even IN that fandom) part, but im not loving this in combination of the entirety of 3a where Clary was basically Jace’s emotion sponge. literally not even anything against clace just the writing.

readmore for salt and general bullshittery also rape mention

Like 3a just felt like an overdramatic “she’ll stick by him through EVERYTHING” male fantasy and now 3b feels like yet another overdramatic “his dream girl is being STOLEN will he SEEK REVENGE” male fantasy. and while i know that’s simplistic, probably kind of unfair, and totally reductive, that is a HUGE intended or unintended consequence of bonding jonathan and clary and letting a character who is canonically an attempted rapist mind-control the person he wants to rape so like ??????? genuinely i wonder what goes on in their discussions. like this series already has a reputation for being the “incest series” and they’re really not helping with that.

idk luke seemed to imply it would get toned down and jonathan would be more of an “annoying little brother” to clace but honestly i don’t see the “jace and clary act really non-sensically” trend to not continue. I was kind of hoping dark clary could just be some dumb power fantasy fun where she fucks shit up and she and jonathan chew scenery and make a big mess but so far we don’t even get that. and this has also relegated jace to nothing more than an occasional afterthought which totally has nothing to do with The Incident at all