#tethers of fate

[alexanderlightweight]

Greetings and loves, for writing Wednesday: tethers of fate, more about Magnus and Alec relationship, please? Or Mafia wife Alec, if you prefer.

thanks and same! i'm going with tethers of fate

(this is after Magnus picks Alec up from Arawn's court and he's willingly inhaled or eaten unseelie what's basically magical THC/weed). if you're not okay with that, let me know and i'll write you a different scene.

<3 lumine

-

Magnus sighs and stares at a sleeping, exhausted Alexander and then turns to the mirror, admiring the bruises and bite marks and scratches on his skin. It takes a lot to bring Alexander out of an unseelie-dosed haze and Magnus is aware that Arawn’s court has been experimenting. They’re conducting ways to make the drugs they all indulge in more resistant to magic, hoping that Magnus will eventually be thwarted by their efforts.

It would be amusing if it weren’t so very irritating.

Magnus slides on a thin robe, barely tying it and letting the marks on his chest peek through as he unlocks the stasis magic on his fire messages.

The ones from the Institute he scowls at, including the fact that his magic had caught several attempts at tracking magic, focused on Magnus and one…

Magnus hisses out a breathe and crumples the magic he’s analyzing in his fist.

How dare they.

Magnus rarely agrees with Arawn but there is one thing he will never argue with, and that is keeping Alexander out of shadowworld politics and more importantly, away from shadowhunters.

There is too much leverage in an unseelie prince who is bonded and vowed to a king who is also an Elder. Alexander has only recently begun to involve himself out of a desire to protect Magnus, but it feels like too great a risk to continue to allow. Which means that Magnus will be demanding all those under his protection surrender themselves to his wards and safehouses or he will remove them from his people. He will not put Alexander in harm’s way for those who won’t listen. Not ever and especially not when it would risk a reason for Arawn to have a reason to counter Magnus’ claim on his son.

“Magn’s.” Alexander groans from the bed and there’s a muffled whine and Magnus turns with a smirk that blooms into a chuckle as he sees Alexander reaching out for him, eyes still closed.

“Yes, darling?” Magnus asks, striding closer and sitting close, hand running through soft tresses.

There’s no answer, just a pleased sound as Alexander rolls against him, nuzzling into his thigh with a sigh of contentment.

“Are you just going to sleep away the day?”

“Doesn’t matter—” he’s told with a tired yawn, “you’ll have business anyways.”

Magnus freezes, because that is true but as of late, Alexander has been demanding to join him and it sounds like he’s suddenly decided to not.

“Are you not coming with me, beloved?” Magnus asks soothingly, rubbing his fingers into the sore and tight muscles of Alexander’s neck.

“No.” Alexander scoffs and he shakes his head against Magnus’ thigh. “Not unless you want the next assumptive and rude client to dirty your floor.” It’s said with a dark glower and Magnus knows that the nephilim who came to him will forever find themselves an enemy of Magnus’ boy. Arawn does not take kindly to slights - intentional or not - his children follow his lead.

It's a part of why Magnus is so hated. He intentionally slighted every member of the unseelie royal family and Magnus would have done it a thousand times more if it had meant keeping Alexander.

“I would never think of objecting to you defending yourself, in any way.” Magnus reminds him — offended at the very thought — and Alexander lays back, smiling up at him with a softness that Magnus can hardly believe still exists in someone raised by the unseelie king.

“No, but it would bring attention to me.” Alexander reminds him and Magnus relaxes, running his fingers over Alexander’s jaw and chin and feeling the rough tickle of stubble there.

“Well, regardless. It doesn’t matter. All of those under my authority will be going into seclusion. I will not bring the problems of nephilim to my people or to my lair.” Magnus takes a moment to marvel at the treasure he holds and the vicious adoration that he’s loved with. “And never to you, more loved to me than my own heart and magic.”

Alexander rolls them over, somehow managing to get on top and pin Magnus now and there is a fierce light in his eyes as he looks down at Magnus. He bends to press his lips to each of Magnus’ cheeks, then his brow and each of his eyes with a barely contained devotion that has his kisses as light as a dragonflies wing.

There is an unspoken wealth of in each touch, for never can similar words leave his lover’s lips or Magnus knows the fate he will suffer will not be kind. Yet, what does it matter when Magnus is exalted beyond all else, by his Alexander.

[alexanderlightweight]

so this is super helpful because i didn't really look up much about Arawn other than his description so i didn't have much knowledge or understanding of how the courts and the hunt worked in shadowhunters.

especially because i'm more familiar with Arawn the lord of Annwn, so i just have been going off that lore and some other things that i know from other unseelie myths. (it's why Alec calls Arawn 'tad' because it's welsh and the Araw n i know best and am interested in is Welsh) though i like his horns in his picture

this is super helpful btw, ty. i'm going to pick and choose from that definitely.

also in this arawn is definitely more interested in his kids in a very... asmodeus way i think.

his kids are an extension/expression of his power and he delights in being praised through their deeds and also works very hard to ensure his children adore him above nearly all else. arawn really hates when his kids find lovers outside of his court (those relationships dont normally last unless his kids get bonded without permission) and if he could kill magnus for (in his opinion) 'tricking his son' then he would tbh. he's also not happy about how much alec's not his kingdom since you know, he lives with magnus.

it's not healthy at all by human standards but they're also not human and things are much more either intense or boring and so it works for them.

the other thing that is implied in the fic but not outright stated is that there is a general issue with time here. alec's gone back in time centuries and no one knows that yet because of how time works for faerie rings.

also alec is super favored but he's also incredibly favored because he's never going to be an heir. he's the one kid who will never be caught up in any kind of power struggle and arawn appreciates the idea of that. he also is having a bit of a power trip at having stolen a nephilim babe as his own son

alec's also incredibly receptive to arawn's magic because it saved him and latched on and that also forms a bond. also, tbh arawn's the kind of dad where at some point the kids are just like 'please don't pay us any attention so we can do things without you knowing every single detail' and alec is a consistently shiny distraction for arawn.

especially after he bonds with magnus

arawn lovingly interrogating some of his older children about what they've been up to and five minutes in someone goes: has alec visited recently, i haven't seen him in forever

cue a 3 day rant on magnus bane being the bane of arawn's existence while alec's siblings nod in agreement because 1) they miss their baby brther and 2) life is so much easier with alec around to distract arawn and 3) you don't disagree with arawn about magnus and arawn wont realize for months that he never got any new information.

he continually falls for it not because he's unaware of the manipulations, but because his anger at magnus is so great that a switch is just flipped.

thanks again for the info dump btw, i'm excited to use some of it!

<3 lumine

Tumblr is being fucky with asks so throwing my "random book canon faerie info" here @alexanderlightweight

Ok rant and TDI spoilers incoming below the cut. Not really a prompt more...random info to be used if you think it fits?

Arawn is definitely more of an asshole in the books. He doesn't really care that much about any of his kids but:

His favorite was Erec, very sadistic, loves abusing his siblings, got jealous when he realized one of them was more popular than him and convinced the king to give him to the wild hunt. Probably would not react well to Alec being the new fave

The wild hunt doesn't belong to either seelie or unseelie courts but is willing to deal with them. It's led by Gwyn ap Nudd, who out of all the faerie "leaders" is most likely to get the "tough love" title. very similar to your Alec now that i think about it, esp considering he started bending his own rules as soon as he met Diana (bit similar to mirai) bc he's that in love. Actual members of the wild hunt can only leave if permitted by him. They also have one eye color changed (black/gold/silver)

The wild hunt sibling is Kieran! He's a pretty important character but for now he ends up taking the throne, and he's dating 2 shadowhunters one of whom is Helen's younger brother, Mark, who was also in the wild hunt.

There are two separate cases where Arawn used dark magic and spells to give heirs extra power and strength, which is probably something he'd do to Alec:

The first case was Auraline, a child of both him and the seelie queen who was supposed to inherent both their thrones until there was a prophecy and he sent the riders of mannan (near invincible, loyal to the unseelie king and do whatever he wants, would definitely cause trouble if asked to go retrieve Alec) after her. She ran away, married a nephilim, and their descendant was actually adopted by Tessa and Jem, so Magnus sending Alec to them actually tracks with canon a bit.

The last unseelie heir we care about is Adaon. He's probably the "nicest" but what REALLY matters is that he and Magnus had a thing (implied in the books but confirmed by CC) that i assume Alec would not react well to

[annemarieyeretzian]

laudna’s thread was silver??? now it’s gold??? now it’s connected to imogen’s???

[sangre]

water, running down my face / water, running different ways water, like a billion waves / water, just a tear in space. ✧

for my ffxiv oc, eden mercure. prior to enw, he was not a little predisposed to world-shattering grief and causing problems bc of his weary heart. SO, when i got to elpis, it wasn't long before i decided that he was a hermes shard rather than one of azem. it's just too perfect a story.. anyway, please enjoy my love letter to him before dawntrail! and go listen to this song, it's so good

[baeshijima]

when you have a crisis over whether or not a kiss scene is needed to make the yearning and reunion and pent up emotions that much more meaningful or if it is better to have them commit small fleeting touches and nuzzles and trembling eyes and

[ludinusdaleth]

something about ludinus coming so close to being a druid, to being a force with nature, to being a keyleth of his time (especially seeing how parralelled their beliefs, lifespans, & weights on their shoulders are). but being so terrified of giving in to a cause. of not having full control of it. he creates & toys with synthetic nature because he cannot control it otherwise. he butchers ashari practices & slaughters fey to gain their abilities. he doesn't even want the power. he just needs it because the calamity showed him what being powerless in the face of infinity meant. calamity cannot happen again. what the gods did cannot happen again. but he ensures it does, as he chooses to face infinity with all the power he now has in tow.

to be a wizard in the age of arcanum was to take. was to create anew by taking. was to scoff at druids & their pathetic thoughtfulness to the old ways & their slow softer ways of life in the face of "progress". to chase a way to prove to the gods they were equals or better, because to face the idea they were just small specks in the universe and that was okay was terrifying. ludinus is terrified of being a person. he's terrified of admitting he could be small. because he knows what he's done to those under his boot, and he knows it is ugly. surely everything bigger than me, is a predator like predathos. like me. surely everyone would rend the world apart to feel whole like him.

somewhere in the luxon ludinus covets, desperate to escape fate, theres a side of the dodecahedron, saying: you could have been a druid.

and it's making me weepy.

[greektragedybitch]

my sexual orientation is fictional characters that have the potential to go insane and be unhinged

[siliconcat]

tbh I forget the scarlet sisters exist like 80% of the time… I think about the tsukumo sisters more than them

[godihatethiswebsite]

I’m with that one anon: f the other omega, time to put ourselves first😅I mean, how would she even be able to compete with the omega who is their true scent match? Best she just runs along and finds herself a new pack🤗

Anyways, I am so excited for the new chapter! Love, love, love your writing

Ya'll are so vicious I love it! 🤣 If it's any consolation: omega isn't the only one going through it...

Hope you enjoy the new chapter! ❤️

[whitedahlia13]

We were sewn Into the fabric Of a fate Stranger than fiction And we frayed At our ends Again and again Disillusioned by a phantom Of greater possibility We were two threads Tethered end to end Caught between Oceans and islands Entangled by moments Of nothing And everything

-Words from the Fire, Two Threads

[ravs6709]

“What about the sooty bastard, though? I heard that he tried to get back to the pro gaming scene before quitting recently." No one replied.”

where’s yjh :(

Yjh gone missing hours once again </3

[alexanderlightweight]

More Unseelie!Alec please.

hope you enjoy!

tethers of fate

<3 lumine

-

Arawn sighs and runs his fingers through Alec’s hair as they both lounge in the twisted throne of the trees roots. His son dozes trustingly on his thigh - just as he did as a mortal babe - as Arawn looks over his courts antics and gossips and the whispers of the spies under the music of the trees.

“Tad,” one of his older children says, coming near and he smiles, a soft violence in his smile as he looks into purple and orange ringed eyes that come from his child’s other parent. “Is he staying longer this time?”

“Something like that—” Arawn promises with a smirk, because Magnus Bane can hardly portal to Arawn’s son’s side while he’s currently working in the Spiral Labyrinth. And Arawn has used a favor owed to ensure that Bane stays away for at least a little while. It won’t last as long as Arawn would prefer, simply because Bane is too possessive of Alec to be distracted for very long, but it’s enough to win this time.

Arawn likes that, winning the small games and battles he and Bane engage in, but it’s only a temporary balm for the battle Arawn lost before he even knew it had begun.

Alec’s soulbond to his husband pulses hatefully beneath his skin and if it wouldn’t kill Alec to do so, Arawn would tear it out and merely spend centuries healing the wounds he caused to Alec instead.

They nod and bend, pressing a kiss to their sleeping brother’s brow and imparting a little spark of magic. Arawn grins, sharp and terrifying in his approval and then others of his many children gather around. They all show their love in similar ways and each caress imbues a piece of their magic into their sibling, refreshing his deeply anchored connection to all of Arawn’s blood and power.

It is a strange thing, at times, to witness the lack of rivalry between all of his children and Alec. It’s a burden his son must bear as he is the only one safe for them all. For Alec will never be in line for the throne and Arawn has never wanted him to be. When the innermost members of his court began to spin the wheels and play for who they want to support, Alec alone will the one they know will not stab any of them in the back.

Metaphorically, of course… and perhaps emotionally and magically.

Arawn has hardly raised so many precious heirs for them to slaughter each other. No, his children will compete for his throne and while they will sow discord among themselves, they know better than to overstep. After all, an heir is not the only position his heirs hold. For each will go out and spread his reach far and wide as they gather their own smaller courts in their own names and power but under his crest. It is a boon and a credit to his blood and love for them, for them to all succeed.

Arawn feels more settled now, as the magic of Alec’s heartkin settles over his skin and in him.

Bane may have the higher claim, but he is one and Alec’s family are many. Bane will never be able to fully take Alec away from them, no matter how much he wishes and therefore, he will never truly win.

[astral-express-family]

Oh hey I don't think I ever posted this here. Family flowchart moment.

Familial day seemed like the perfect day to drop it <3

I can't believe I forgot to add Jasmine, my wonderful and lovely sibling-in-law Jasmine who I love to death <3

[annemarieyeretzian]

imogen saying “laudna is everything. you can see it. she had her fate thrust upon her. it was something she didn’t ask for, but she’s embraced it and become strong with it and overcome it.” 🥺

[daydreamerdrew]

More Fun Comics (1935) #58

[impossible-rat-babies]

I wanna do like. lore heavy gpose bc both return to oblivion and last words of a shooting star have been haunting my brain