#bottom magnus bane

[thelostgirl21]

I think one of the reasons why I absolutely adore Magnus and Alec's first time together is because, as Magnus once said, Alec is just so... innocent.

I know that fans are often equating him sort of pouncing on Magnus to passionately kiss him (as soon as he learned they had the apartment to themselves), and later eagerly pushing him towards the bedroom while starting to unbutton his shirt, as him being anything but "innocent".

But, to me, having the confidence to express his desires, going after what he wants, and taking charge of a situation - even one filled with some unknowns - is not something indicating a lack of innocence on Alec's part.

Part of it likely comes from his own temperament. Like Izzy said, he has a tendency to overthink things.

He can make brash and impulsive decisions, at times, in an effort to quickly fix issues causing him a great deal of emotional distress, true. But otherwise, he usually tries to look at a situation through as many angles as he can, collect data from a number of different sources, ask for other people's input, etc., before reaching a conclusion.

Once he does commit to a given course of action, however, he fully commits!

Not blindly (i.e. the feedback he receives from his environment will make him change course if he notices something's wrong and he's no longer sure that he's doing the right thing), but with an impressive amount of drive, willpower, and determination.

What makes him such a formidable leader, IMHO, is that he's got the strength of his convictions, while said convictions remain flexible and adaptable in light of any newly acquired information.

Whenever he realizes he's made a mistake, he's able to own it, figure out / explain why he made that mistake, learn from it, and work on solutions to prevent making those same mistakes again.

And it is a really, really good thing. Because, driven as he is, if he was remotely dogmatic in his beliefs or unable to cope with the idea of being wrong, he'd truly be dangerous - crushing anything and anyone in his path to reach his objectives.

But the point is that Alec is someone that typically tries to measure the potential impact of his actions before he reaches a decision.

And, since all of his concerns have been dealt with before - during the "overthinking phase" - there's often no longer any need for him to hesitate or hold back while acting on it.

In this very instance, it was rather clear that becoming sexually intimate with Magnus was something that he'd had the chance to think long and hard (no pun intended) about.

Since - given he'd already been with approximately 17 000 lovers before - the likeliness of Magnus being comfortable having sex with him was rather high.

From Alec's P.O.V., I'm guessing that the only one "reasonably holding them back" from being sexually intimate with each other, technically, was Alec himself.

I have a feeling that he already knew that, deep down, he felt ready to have sex with Magnus when he went to ask Izzy for advice.

He just needed to be sure that his lack of experience wasn't making him overlook any important variables before fully "going for it".

For example: Is there anything that Izzy wished she'd have known before she had sex for the first time that she didn't? Anything specific he should be made aware of? Anything he (or Magnus) could regret?

And she basically lets him know that - since Magnus and him genuinely care about each other - it's going to be fine.

If the thought of having sex with Magnus is something that Alec wants, if it makes him happy, then the best thing for him to do is to stop worrying!

She's making it rather clear that her own experience with sexual intimacy is - thankfully - not something she regrets, and there's no reason why Alec might regret it, either.

If it is something that he does yearn for, and since he's with someone that genuinely cares about his well-being and safety, then the only thing that might ruin this for Alec is Alec himself worrying about what could go wrong.

So, Alec pouncing on Magnus - going right after what he wants and what makes him happy with pure abandon once he's sure of his decision - to me, is extremely typical of the way Alec behaves in general.

But, most importantly, I see it as a sign of complete trust in his partner.

He's comfortable enough initiating the physical intimacy and openly expressing what he wants, regardless of his own inexperience, because he trusts Magnus to guide him through the process.

As it turns out, however, Alec had overlooked some variables - namely Magnus' own fears and insecurities. And this is where Alec displays traits that really show how innocent he is, too.

He sees Magnus as someone that loves him unconditionally, and that couldn't possibly seek to hurt or take advantage of him.

Alec is in love with him, he feels loved by him, and he's got no tangible awareness, apparently, that there is a significant power imbalance between them that Magnus (thankfully) remains very aware and respectfully mindful of.

I say "thankfully", because the fact that Magnus worries about taking advantage of any situation with Alec is a good sign that Alec's trust in him isn't being misplaced.

I believe that Magnus is fully aware that, his whole life, Alec has been conditioned to meet the expectations of those he loves and depends on to feel safe.

And, while they eventually did see the errors of their ways, his parents did use how they expressed or withheld love and approval towards their children as motivational tools to get them to act certain ways, and make certain choices.

Alec was even willing to go as far as marry Lydia because he felt responsible for fixing his parent's mistakes and restoring his family's honor.

He has a tendency to readily sacrifice his own wants and needs for those he loves - to put himself second.

And Magnus knows that he's always been very honest with him regarding his past sex life history.

From appreciative "name dropping" (Michelangelo was "excellent in bed", Casanova was "brazen"...) to him having been with "men, women, seelies, warlocks, vampires... a djin or two" (about 17 000 of them!), he's made it rather clear that sex is something he enjoys indulging in every now and then.

So, it wouldn't be far fetched for Magnus to worry that Alec would have interpreted his openness about sex in general as being something that he would absolutely need to have in a relationship in order to continue being interested in his partner.

It makes sense that Magnus would be concerned that he may have unwittingly offered Alec the impression that, if he took too long before being able to "give him what he needs" to be happy or feel fulfilled in their relationship, then he might decide that being with a 20-something inexperienced virgin Shadowhunter wasn't worth it, and/or go seek "his pleasure" elsewhere.

I mean, from what I understand, Magnus himself has often been made to feel like what he had to offer was either too much, or not enough, too. He even apologetically told Alec in the beginning of their relationship "I know I'm a lot to get used to".

So, his own ability to clearly express where he stands and what he wants or needs - and have his partner understand it - has been something that he's been made to feel very insecure about.

And the last thing he wishes to do, I believe, is hurt Alec or take advantage of him; to have Alec feel like he should be sexually active with him based on any wrongly interpreted signal that Magnus might have been unwittingly sending him simply by being open and honest about his past.

And if you do force yourself to have sex with someone without truly wanting it - for fear that you might be losing them if you don't - there's a very high likeliness of your own body responding to the sexual act as some form of aggression.

Sadly, once your brain starts making associations between the feeling that some of your personal boundaries having been violated and the person you were with when that feeling occurred, you may instinctively start withdrawing from them and be uncomfortable being generally intimate with them.

So, Magnus being instinctively cautious, and refusing to immediately take Alec's eagerness to be sexually intimate with him at face value makes sense and is extremely reassuring in its own way.

Alec also display some measure of innocence in the way he responds to Magnus attempt at slowing him down, too.

It goes from this sort of still somewhat eager open confusion where he's just verbally clarifying what he wants (Okay... I thought pouncing on your significant other once you've made sure the way is clear might convey "I want us to sleep together! Let's do this! I'm ready!"... Did I miss something? Damnit, Izzy, I swear if I learn there's some sort of mating ritual you're supposed to go through first, and you never thought to tell me, I'll be so pissed!)...

...to extremely focused on Magnus when he starts expressing his own concerns with Alec's wish for them to become sexually intimate together so soon into the relationship.

Alec's not just listening to his words, but appears to be actively looking for clues in Magnus' gaze and in his behavior to help him figure out what's happening, and what he might have been missing in all of his prior "overthinking".

While Alec doesn't seem to fully "get it" (apparently totally unaware that having sex with someone before you are fully ready might put a strain on a relationship, and/or just how easy it would be for someone to take advantage of the way Alec is so openly offering himself to them), he does appear to get that Magnus is scared that he is making the decision to please him, rather than because he truly wants to.

So, to me, having Alec clearly tell him "You have nothing to worry about, I want this", right before confidently pushing Magnus towards the bedroom while starting to unbutton his shirt, doesn't translate as a lack of innocence on his part, either.

I see it more as Alec's way of reassuring Magnus that he is genuinely ready for them to be sexually intimate together. It's him trying to make Magnus feel that he's doing this for himself, first and foremost.

It's Alec wordlessly saying "I may be inexperienced, but I don't see why being inexperienced should make me apprehensive about being sexually intimate with you. I trust you, I believe I'm making the right choice for myself, and I need you to trust me, too."

Alec's innocence also shines through in the way he initiates making love with Magnus like someone that's never been hurt in love before.

In the way he doesn't seem to have any specific expectations besides sharing something that's supposedly wonderful and fun with Magnus.

His guards are completely down, and he's just this happy, giggling, fumbling mess feeling his way around and trying to figure out the steps as he goes...

When Magnus teasingly remarks "that was graceful" (referring to how they both lost their balance several times while making their way to the bed - trying to remove pieces of clothing at the same time - to finally clumsily topple together on top of said bed), Alec gets in on the humor by happily replying "Shadowhunter" while gesturing to himself, then passionately dives right back in all the kissing and groping.

It doesn't seem to occur to him - not even for a second - that some sexual partners have a tendency to take sex very "seriously", and are unable to keep their concentration when the other person is constantly giggling and laughing or even *gasp* joking.

He's not acting like he's scared of messing anything up by not knowing what he's doing, either.

He's not worried about the possibility of Magnus gossiping about having slept with a Shadowhunter, while mocking his lack of experience or "technique" with fellow Warlocks.

There isn't the slightest notion in his mind that any of this could be about Magnus' wishing to add a Shadowhunter on his already impressive list of "sexual conquests".

Until Magnus interrupts them again, there's not a single tiny bit of concern being expressed by Alec about his ability to "offer a good sexual performance", and/or "living up to his partner's expectations", either.

He's just this happy, carefree, loving partner having the time of his life, exploring something new and wonderful in his relationship with the man he loves - something that he never believed he could ever have for himself - and staying in the moment.

He's (rightly) assuming that, because Magnus saw him when it seemed no one else did, told him that being "different" was a good thing, has since been able to set up clear boundaries with him and hold him accountable in the relationship without targeting his ego, and has never tried to make him feel like he's not "good enough" for him, there's no reason why Magnus should expect him to offer anything other than himself.

There's no use for Alec to attempt to pretend he's this amazing lover when he's never been in the position of being a lover before, and Magnus has clearly told him that "he doesn't care how many people he hasn't been with" already.

Magnus makes Alec feel safe, unconditionally loved, supported, and gives him confidence.

Generally speaking, in virtually any context, he uses his own power and experience to empower Alec and help him reach his own potential, rather than seek to dominate him and make him feel small.

He's someone that Alec feels comfortable being emotionally and physically "naked" with.

I remember that the first time I heard and watched the way Alec proudly answered "Shadowhunter" - then immediately grabbed Magnus to kiss him some more (barely giving him any time to process the comment) - I was just totally overwhelmed with "feels"!

Alec is just so blissfully happy and adorably confident and way too pure for this world in this moment! And it's such a delight to watch Magnus positively respond to him and savor those moments with him.

Being innocent, in a sexual context, is not something that I personally see as turning 3 shades of red and starting to giggle nervously because someone said the word "penis" out loud, or freezing at the thought of seeing or touching a bit of skin.

I mean, seeing how comfortable Jace was with Alec walking in on him while he was in the middle of foreplay with a member of his "book club", I'm guessing that it's not the first time something like that has happened between them.

Alec himself appeared to be more irritated with Jace's blatant lack of shame or sense of interpersonal boundaries, rather than traumatized over what he saw was about to happen.

And then, there's Isabelle that, if I remembered correctly, complained about how she was constantly talking to Alec about her love/sex life, while he kept everything to himself.

So, there's no question that Alec knows what sex is, and likely sees sexual activity as something natural that is nothing to be ashamed of.

Being in his early twenties, you would sort of expect him to be surrounded by openly sexually active people and understand what's usually "going on" in a bedroom, not to mention having been given plenty of time to explore his own body.

Thus, what makes him innocent, in the context of a romantic and sexual relationship, to me, really is how he approaches lovemaking with such an open and trusting heart, while laughing, stumbling, trying to connect with his partner and focusing on them being happy together without any hint of concern or fear of being hurt in the process.

And Magnus offers Alec a safe space to be himself and fully enjoy the moment they are sharing by letting Alec set the pace and following his lead. He's stumbling, giggling, and allowing himself to be blissfully happy right alongside him, approaching the whole experience as something new and exciting.

And it is. Each partner you share a bed with is unique, and you will need to find your own shared rhythm with them.

Magnus, however, could easily have ignored all of this and spontaneously taken the role of "the experienced mentor" that will teach the "newbie" everything he knows about sex, including the "best, most pleasurable way to do it"! But he didn't.

And if you're laughing at the statement I just gave, you'd be surprised with how many partners I've had, in my teenage and adult years, that approached sex as some sort of competitive sport, boasting at their own skills and experience, and immediately tried to "take you under their wing" to "teach you all of their trade secrets" as soon as they learned that they were the most experienced out of the two.

Thankfully, my very first experience was with a guy one year younger than myself, that had only had one sexual partner before me, and who was just the sweetest, most attentive partner any virgin could have asked for.

He made the whole experience be about me being comfortable with what was happening and about us being and figuring things out together; and that was exactly what I needed at the time. He never made me feel like there was any rush for us to get anywhere specific together.

Sadly, not everyone is as fortunate. Some experienced partners appear to care way more about showcasing their skills and being praised for "giving you a good time", rather than achieving any sense of partnership.

I really believe, however, that the most experienced partner's role should always be to put themselves at the least experienced partner's level at first, so that they can then build something together from there.

Perhaps the least experienced one will be delighted to have the most experienced partner "show off" what they can do and teach them new things!

But the point simply is that it should be a choice they make, and not something that's being imposed on them from the get go on the assumption that "my job is to show you a good time and teach you stuff".

Immediately taking charge without first confirming that this is something the other wants or needs is the best way to damage the least experienced partner's confidence, make them feel like what they have to offer you with their current level of skills and knowledge isn't enough, and make them become overly fearful of taking initiative and just experimenting with different things in the bedroom.

And this is true whether the person you are with is someone you care about, love, and wish to develop a relationship with, or someone you just met at a bar and may never see again in your life.

Even if the goal of the sexual encounter isn't to build a more in depth relationship, the moment you are spending together is an intimate act where you are supposed to be partners. It's a moment where you need to make sure that you both (or all, should you be more than two) get something out of it, and feel like you are contributing to what's happening.

I have friends involved in BDSM - some of them enjoying the occasional company of a complete stranger as they feel it adds something exciting to the experience.

Anyone with a healthy approach to BDSM would tell you how important it is for any dominant/submissive dynamic to be consensual and include limits that all partners have discussed and agreed upon.

There's nothing wrong with the more experienced partner taking the lead in any sexual context, but they always need to make sure that this is what the other(s) want. Trust and communication are key - including paying attention to the non-verbal.

Thankfully, in this context Magnus handles Alec's innocence and inexperience absolutely beautifully, and is more than willing to make the moment about Alec and about the two of them.

Actually, Magnus is so skilled at matching Alec's own rhythm and sharing the experience with him, that he instinctively finds himself letting his own barriers down.

Apparently, Alec makes love with such an open heart and soul - hiding no part of himself in the process - that Magnus can't maintain his own glamour to hide any part of himself from Alec, either.

And, just like that, the power dynamic is changed!

In the Shadow World, Shadowhunters consider themselves the superior race since they share blood with the angels.

They are warriors of light imbued with Heavenly powers that proudly display their runes for anyone (except Mundanes, obviously) to see!

But the Downworlders - that share blood with demons - are taught to hide their "shameful demonic heritage" and are expected to constantly fight against their "demonic nature" that makes them "naturally more prone" to violence, decadence, evil actions, and so forth.

Warlocks may be the most powerful species of the Shadow World, they also are the literal children of demons - hybrids that can't even have their own children and who are carrying a physical mark that reflects their demonic parentage.

Some Shadowhunters apparently used to take those marks as trophies (it's pretty clear that Circle members still do), and it seems to be one of the ways that Shadowhunters sometimes use to confirm the identity of a warlock.

Later, we also learn that Magnus has been vulnerable to Asmodeus' influence as a child because he was the only other person he'd ever met with "eyes like his".

Magnus' eyes are tied to a lot of shame, early rejection (including his mother killing herself and abandoning him, when he was nine, when she finally realized what her son's cat eyes meant), and overall bad memories.

I think that the only times, until then, that we'd seen Magnus with his glamour down on the show was when he was trying to drive people away / intimidate them / remind them of how powerful and potentially dangerous he (or a spell he is performing) is.

It's when he wants people to remember that he's also "part monster", that they would do well not to get on his bad side, or make sure that someone requiring his services understands the type of forces they are dealing with.

Jocelyn Fairchild knocking at his door to get Clary's memories removed, those Circle members in the club, the one Magnus was fighting in his apartment...

They are all people that Magnus wanted to send some form of warning to, whether the warning was hostile, or not.

And suddenly, those "monster eyes" are on full display for Alec to see in a context where he wishes to make Alec feel safe and avoid anything that could ever drive him away.

Thanks to him having lost control over his glamour, Alec is now concerned that he's done something wrong...

And, although Magnus is quick to reassure Alec that his current reaction has nothing to do with something he did - or with him not wanting to share this intimate moment with him - he's still avoiding Alec's gaze, seemingly withdrawing from him, and offering no coherent or clear explanation as to why.

But, try as he might, Magnus can't bring the glamour back on, so he's essentially got two choices...

He can either trust that Alec won't leave once he sees his warlock mark, and that he'll be able to accept that it is a part of him that he can't always control (apparently).

That, should Alec find his eyes' appearance unsettling, they'll find ways to manage the situation until Magnus becomes better at maintaining his glamour around Alec while the two of them are being intimate with each other. Maybe get creative with the use of blindfolds?

Or he can continue to let Alec worry over what's happening while stubbornly keeping his eyes closed and refusing to look at him until he gets the glamour back on, thus maintaining a certain form of "barrier" between them.

Magnus thus chooses to take the risk of allowing himself to be vulnerable with Alec once again - allowing him to see him without any glamour - so he'll understand that his reaction wasn't caused by anything Alec did.

Or actually, maybe it was caused by something Alec did; just not by something Alec did wrong.

And I also love the way that Alec's expression doesn't change right away once Magnus finds the courage to turn around.

I love that Alec briefly continues to just look at him like he's still trying to figure out what's wrong with Magnus now that he's FINALLY able to look in his eyes - steadily searching for the answer there like he did earlier.

I like to think that Alec sort of initially just mentally went: "Okay, that's good, I've managed to get him to look at me. Now, I just need to convince him that it's okay for him to tell me what he meant by "los - OH!"

That the moment he realizes the eyes he's been looking into have changed color and appearance, he breaks into that slightly amused smile (mostly amused at himself for having been too focused on trying to read the emotions written there to immediately notice the change); relieved to know that Magnus and him will be okay.

Because, just like Madzie's gills looked incredibly cool, Magnus' cat eyes are absolutely gorgeous, and Alec knows he's just falling in love with his boyfriend's eyes all over again, gladly getting lost in their depth.

Alec can only hope that Magnus will believe him when he tells him that they are beautiful, that he's beautiful... That it will help relieve some of the pain, fears, and concerns he sees reflected in them...

Meanwhile, Magnus watches Alec go from being a concerned, confused, and inquisitive puppy; to a relieved, mesmerized, and adoring one in a matter of seconds!

Next thing he knows, there's a warm, gentle hand against his cheek; and a pair of open, steady, loving hazel eyes staring right back into his own, tenderly anchoring him there while Alec is calling his cat eyes beautiful, telling him that he's beautiful - all of him - with all the love and sincerity he can muster.

Magnus can allow himself to relax, lovingly reach up to caress the hand resting on his cheek while lazily blinking back at him in wonder.

His cat eyes - that Magnus had usually used to inspire respect and fear, to remind people of his powers and appear more intimidating - aren't driving him away.

For some reason, they appear to be drawing Alec in instead, inspiring him to move even closer to him rather than farther apart. And perhaps - just perhaps - if Alec can love them and see beauty in them, he might be able to learn to love and fully own that part of himself, too.

One of the things that fascinate me about Alec is that, once he found out that his parents and the Clave had lied to him his whole life about their involvement in the Circle, it's like he made the conscious decision to bring all of his perceptions of the Downworld back to factory reset.

He was able to recognize that all of the prejudices he'd ever had about warlocks, vampires, and other Downworlders weren't based on facts, and that there was no actual evidence that Downworlders were better or worse people just for having demon blood.

Instinctively, we fear what we don't know or don't understand - what we haven't been familiarized with when we were young. We perceive what isn't "like us" or "a part of our usual environment" as potential threats.

ROBERT: [Magnus]'s reputation precedes him. And even for a warlock, he’s a bit of a lothario. Alec, there’s so much that you don’t know about him.

ALEC: Well, then I plan to get to know him.

Alec's not denying that there are tons of things he doesn't know nor understand about Magnus, simply stating that he's not going to let that lack of knowledge make him treat Magnus as inherently "bad" or dangerous because of it.

He's going to take the time to get to know him - seek to better understand him - and he'll adapt his opinion of him based on what he sees, learns, finds, and experiences, rather than the opinion of people that have never bothered spending time with him, nor made any efforts to get to know him for who he is rather than what he could potentially do "as a warlock".

Better yet, he's going to start exploring the rest of the Downworld and getting to know their people as if he was experiencing their world and taking a look at them for the very first time, too.

When it comes to Magnus and the Downworld, Alec is choosing to leave himself open and trusting in the face of the unknown, rather than risking to unfairly treat them as threats to keep himself and fellow Shadowhunters "safe" from things they don't understand, yet are too fearful to go explore.

And, unlike Aldertree, he's wise enough to avoid treating anecdotal bad experiences, no matter how tragic or terrible they may be, as facts that can be generalized to all of the Downworld.

Just because the breaks of your car have malfunctioned and caused a crash doesn't mean that every car you'll climb in is ill-fated to have malfunctioning breaks and crash.

Alec is obviously not "innocent" all the way through. He grew up in a world of politics and is perfectly aware of the mind games and power plays that can and often occur there.

He was also emotionally and psychologically abused by parents that used his feelings to get what they wanted out of him (they may have thought they were doing it to protect their children from their past and the Clave, their behavior with their children was still controlling and abusive, even putting Jace, Isabelle, and Alec in the roles of the golden, invisible, and scapegoat child, respectively).

And that's sort of the point. Now that Alec has snapped out of it, he's very perceptive and typically good at noticing and identifying patterns of emotional manipulation, and/or when someone's motivations and goals go against the welfare of those they are supposed to be protecting.

And treating Downworlders as people also means avoiding to fall into the trap of idealizing them by believing that none of them ever would abuse their powers, among others.

Alec may have decided to start trusting and valuing Downworlders with an open heart, and utterly be refusing to see them as a threats based on their reputation and everything he doesn't know about them, but he still allows himself to have an opinion of each individual he meets.

Be they Shadowhunters, Downworlders, or Mundanes, if the individual's actions and motives appear to be self-serving, and/or threatens to bring harm to others, he won't trust nor support them.

But Magnus himself is the one that helped him realize that the way he'd been raised was wrong, and "snap out" of the manipulation and abuse he'd been the victim of. He's the one that inspired him to start questioning the "truths" he'd been blindly taught by the Clave, and to follow what he knew in his heart was right.

Magnus is the one that, while holding Alec accountable for his actions and letting him know when he didn't approve of his behavior, never tried to minimize what Alec was going through nor pretend that he was wrong for feeling the way he did.

In some ways, Alec is far from being innocent, but in others, he truly is.

He's never been in romantic relationship nor had sex with anyone before, he gets upset over the poor tunas being described as "fatty" on the menu of a sushi restaurant, he grew up being pretty sheltered from everything that exists outside of the Shadow World...

And, with Magnus, he doesn't need to pretend that he knows more than he does, nor hide any of that innocence from him, because he knows that he won't be judged for it, mocked about it or, especially, taken advantage of because of it.

He can afford to let his guards down and embrace that side of him that is filled with innocence and wonder because Magnus respects, values, and nurtures it.

What Magnus receives, in return, is the love and acceptation of someone that refuses to let other people's opinions or even blood connections dictate how he should see the world and others, takes the time to truly look at him, and openly tell him what he sees.

Alec doesn't care what warlocks marks are "supposed to mean" according to the Clave. Madzie's gills are cool-looking, so why shouldn't he compliment her on them?

Magnus' eyes are beautiful and he loves them, so why pretend otherwise?

"There is nothing ugly about you."

"I don't care who your parents are. I care who you are."

"You are the furthest thing from a greater demon."

After all, Alec's parents used to be Circle members, and he's the furthest thing from being Circle member, too.

All I can hope is that telling Magnus out loud that he shouldn't carry the burden nor shame of his parents' actions, or the fact that someone took advantage of him at his most vulnerable to try to turn him into someone he's not, is helping Alec truly internalize the fact that his family's crimes and mistakes aren't his to fix, and the way he'd treated or behaved with Downworlders before he realized how wrong his parents and the Clave were isn't something he should feel guilty about, either.

Take steps to make up for his mistakes and show proper responsibility for Downworlders who are under his people's protection, yes. Acknowledge what he did wrong and why it was wrong, absolutely.

But it doesn't make him a terrible person nor puts him at fault. He still deserves to be loved, cherished, put first, and be reminded of how beautiful he is, too.

I think what makes Malec such a beloved pairing is the amount of love and acceptance they have for each other, and their willingness to emotionally empathize despite their very different backgrounds and experiences.

Relationships do take efforts, but it is important not to overlook the type of efforts they require.

Relationships aren't about making the effort to change the other person to better suit yourself, nor to change yourself to become what the other person wants.

Because, while healthy relationships do, indeed, inspire people to change and (hopefully) become better; they do so by "unlocking" parts of ourselves that we didn't dare acknowledge, explore, develop, and/or express until then.

They do so by offering a supportive, loving, and safe environment for certain aspects of our personalities to hatch, take root, and/or grow.

But those are changes that come from within.

You can offer a romantic partner opportunities for change as much as you want, if they do not feel like they have anything to gain by embracing them (or worse, if their goal is to dominate and control the relationship), nothing good will come of it.

Those efforts, instead, are about learning to know and understand each other, finding the right balance between your partner's needs and your own, leaving your ego at the door while trying to resolve conflicts, admitting to being wrong when you are, showing appreciation and respect towards your partner for taking responsibility for their mistakes when it turns out that you are right, and seeking to come out of any conflict or difficult situation with the two of you having gained or learned something out of it, and with your partnership having ideally grown stronger from the experience.

Those efforts are about being willing to pool resources together to support and make each other stronger. They are about finding how to make your respective differences work in such a way that they complement each other, and accept that there are aspects of your lives where you'll need to agree to disagree.

Relationships take efforts, but they require healthy efforts.

And some of those efforts, thankfully, turn out to be more rewarding than anything else.

Because, while Magnus does have to make the effort of being mindful that he's Alec first romantic and sexual relationship, and he does have to make the effort of giving him space to explore, take risks, and set the pace for the both of them, he seems to be enjoying every single second of it.

Since Alec grew up in such a very sheltered environment, there are tons of things in the Mundane world - and even just life in general - that he's yet to have tasted, touched, seen, heard and experienced.

By loving him - by emotionally connecting with Alec - he gets the chance to re-experience many of the things he loves with him for the first time, too.

I have absolutely no trouble imagining Magnus bringing Alec to his favorite restaurants not so much for the food itself, but to drink in the sight of Alec tasting it and listening to him commenting on it - regardless of whether he ends up enjoying the same foods he does or not.

When they walk hand-in-hand in the streets of a foreign city, Alec is likely to pay attention to things that Magnus himself may never have noticed before, and appreciate details that he may have grown to take for granted over time, or stopped noticing after a while.

And, after having grown up with parents that - in Alec's own words - have drilled into him that he was never good enough, Alec has met someone that finds delight and joy in almost everything he does, and who treats him like he's the best thing that has ever happened to him in hundred of years!

Somehow, their respective needs and wants work together in a very beautiful and organic way.

They are different and they do come from different worlds, but their core values, personalities, ability to derive genuine happiness from their partner's own experience of it, and their desire to treat their relationship as a true partnership makes it work and allows them to overcome challenges together.

Magnus offered Alec a world he never thought he'd ever be allowed to have and experience.

Alec offered Magnus the key to opening his heart and fully emotionally connecting with all the wonders and joys of their world.

Magnus' powers is the magic he was born with, but Alec's love and innocence is the magic he chose to bring home with him and keep safe.

[shum-baby]

This fic is the pinnacle of dark Magnus bamf Magnus hurt Magnus and LOVED MAGNUS

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Tutor Sesh

Pairing: Jennifer Jareau x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~900

Warnings: fluff

Summary: You tutor the popular soccer genius who is failing one subject; the same subject which you happen to be excellent at.

Square Filled: “if you solve this i’ll buy you lunch.” for @badbitchesbingo

Author’s Note: JJ and the reader are in college

x

If you can get this paper done before you leave the library, you’re not going to have any homework for the entire weekend. This paper has been the bane of your existence and you’re about to finish it. The door to the library slides open which makes a weird air sound that causes you to look up in curiosity.

One of the most popular girls in school comes rushing in with her books clutched to her chest. Her blonde hair flows behind her messily but she doesn’t seem to care. She was supposed to meet you forty minutes ago but didn’t leave a message that she was going to be late.

“I am so sorry I’m late. Practice ran late.”

She is a soccer genius. She got a soccer scholarship when she graduated high school and is very good in all subjects but physics. She is very good at playing soccer but if she doesn’t keep good grades, she will be kicked from the team and lose her scholarship. You just so happen to be great at the subject she sucks at which is why you agreed to tutor her.

“It’s not a problem. Just let me finish this paper. I’m almost done.”

“Sure.”

She takes out her textbooks and notebooks while you try to focus on your paper. Her blonde hair falls in front of her eyes so she tries to blow it away only to have the same strand fall back in her face. She gets annoyed and tucks it behind her ear. God, she is so beautiful. Milky skin, golden hair, and oceans for eyes.

Yeah, you’re not going to be able to finish your paper. With a sigh, you close out your document and log out of the computer knowing this session is going to take most of your time.

“Okay, I’m ready.” JJ shows you her physics book which you’re quite good at. That’s the one subject that she isn’t good at which is why she asked you to tutor her. “Tell me what you’re having trouble with.”

“All of it,” she sighs. “We’re talking about the Magnus Effect.”

You try your best to explain the subject as best as you can but she isn’t getting it. You gave her a practice test just to see where she’s at but she fails it.

“God, I’m going to fail and I’ll be kicked off the team,” she loses hope.

“No, you’re not. Okay, I just have to go about this another way.” You look at her bag to see her soccer uniform sticking out of it. “I got it. Think about soccer, okay? A spinning object in motion exerts a net force on the air, which according to Newton's 3rd Law, exerts an equal and opposite force back on the moving and spinning object, altering its trajectory. The Magnus effect is why soccer players can bend a soccer ball into the goal around a five-person wall and why baseball pitchers can throw a breaking ball pitch.”

“Okay, I’m with you so far,” she nods.

As you explain it to her, you’re also drawing diagrams that are easy to follow. She has her notebook out and is taking notes to study later.

“When a soccer player kicks a ball off-center it causes the ball to spin. The direction and speed of the spin will determine how much the ball curves during flight. The curve of the ball during flight is known as the Magnus Effect.

“As the ball undergoes top spin,” you draw a clockwise rotation on the figure, “it causes the velocity of the air around the top half of the ball to become less than the air velocity around the bottom half of the ball. This is because the tangential velocity of the ball in the top half acts in the opposite direction to the airflow, and the tangential velocity of the ball in the bottom half acts in the same direction as the airflow.”

“Okay, now you’ve lost me,” she sighs.

“It’s the big words, right?” you chuckle.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, since the air speed around the top half of the ball is less than the air speed around the bottom half of the ball, the pressure is greater on the top of the ball. This causes a net downward force to act on the ball,” you explain.

“Think of when a soccer player kicks the ball right of the center. It spins counter-clockwise and the Magnus force acts left, causing the ball to curve left. When the ball is kicked left of center, the ball spins clockwise and the Magnus force acts right, causing the ball to curve right. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, better than this book,” she laughs.

“Okay, with that in mind, answer these questions. If you solve this, I’ll buy you lunch.”

“Okay,” she grins.

You spend the next hour explaining physics in relation to soccer so she’ll understand it, and she’s doing a lot better when it’s compared to something she loves doing. You two get lost in time until she looks at her phone.

“Shit, I have to go. Thank you so much for helping me.”

“It’s not a problem.”

You’re about to clean up when she grabs your face and kisses you. It comes out of nowhere which is why you’re so shocked, but she’s gone before you have a chance to do anything about it. She rips a piece of paper from her notebook and scribbles her number on it.

“Call me, okay?”

You open your mouth to reply but nothing comes out. She puts everything into her bag haphazardly before getting up. She waves at you as she leaves, and you’re still sitting there starstruck.

Did that really just happen? Even after she’s gone, you can still feel her on your lips. You touch your lips gently as if that will preserve the feel of her. Maybe you should tutor her more often.

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[murfeelee]

inZOI demo - It's awesome!

This demo blows TS4's CAS Demo clear out the water, it's not even close (my rants: X X).

Overall, I'd give inZOI a 9/10 for girls, 8.5/10 for guys (cuz they get way less options, as usual).

What immediately struck me's that the UI is finnicky AF. The screen text on the UI' s so dang faint that I was squinting the whole time, unable to really SEE where the buttons were.

[EDIT 8/23/24] I'm watching someone try the demo on Youtube and I feel dumb--you CAN change the color of the default background! Thank goodness! (We should be allowed to change the color of the text too, though.)

The color wheel needs the preset/copy ability The Sims has, so I'm not always inputting the same colors for every CAZ part. For some reason it does NOT like 000000 (black) as a color input for accessories, which is annoying.

But the GRAPHICS QUALITY, zomg.

(I tried to give Sakura pointed elf ears, lol.) We need more sliders on the zois' faces & body, but they're off to a GREAT start.)

The zois are absolutely stunning--these are the graphics I was praying for when TS4 was first announced, not that playdough garbage EA barfed up.

This aesthetic gives me HEAVY Cyberpunk2077 vibes, especially when the nail selector popped up--I love it.

(We just need TATTOOS & facial piercings!)

The hairs are ok--I LOVE that you can change the length--but it's only on SOME of the hairs, not all. Definitely need more variation & texture diversity--even EA had more braids, fros, dreads, curls, etc.

The clothes, shoes & ACCs options are modern, and some are VERY stylish, but kinda plain IMO (esp. the shoes, ick). My fave bottoms are the ninja-esque pants, which is why Sakuryuu are both wearing them--I was hoping for WAY more traditional Asian representation in the fashion department, wtf. U_U The textures are lovely--I love the shiny metallics. (We need some sheers though.) I want more shiny sequins & leather textures on the clothes--I need that the sequin jacket IRL.

The makeup's my favorite part--the eyes have soooo many options--you KNOW I had to give Ryuu slit eyes like a dragon/snake!

And I gave Sakura glitter & highlights. They just need to let us stack multiple makeup & jewellery, and we'll be gravy.

I expect/hope there'll be more options in the full release--this IS just a demo.

As for the cities, apparently the 3 worlds we're getting are Korea, Indonesia, & California--Pacific coasts, makes sense. They're locked off for the demo, but at least we got to see the map.

(As soon as I saw Indonesia I knew I had to go right back in and make my husband, Magnus Bane~!)

My laptop's nothing to write home about, but it ran super quiet while the demo was running (it definitely runs better than my Steam Deck, which was running kinda choppy). So here's hoping it doesn't effing COMBUST when I start sending zois into the city come full release.

THE HYPE IS REAL!

[send-up-my-heart-to-you]

nothing sets me crying more than reading the teasers for the wicked powers/the black volume of the dead, so why not overanalyze them and wish for death in the process (i got all of them from the page on fandom)

❗️spoilers ahead ❗️

he kissed each finger, and with each one of them spoken a word. five kisses, five words. his last.

no 🫶🫶 (im hoping this is a flashback gurl plz i hope its not the ‘lightwood death in each series’ thing coming after my life)

—————————

"oh, god, the lovebirds," magnus said, pulling the pillow off his face. "i hate happy couples."

this could be anything tbh but prolly gonna be in tbvotd

—————————

belatedly, she realized something else. "do you... have anything?"

he didnt seem to have recovered from her last comment. "but do you mean - wait, do i have what?"

she slitted her eyes at him. "something important."

"like what? the phone number for the white house?" a moment later, under her withering glare, realization dawned. "oh." his was the expression of someone who has run out of gas in the middle of the desert, miles from help. "i..."

there are literally zero names in this one but i think its gonna be smth w dru and jaime (maybe the eternidad ??) but i swear if it turns out to be a joke imma flip a table

—————————

"what if i just love you? what if i love you but i never touch you or talk about it, what would happen then?"

i think this might happen after a conversation between kit and ty where either kit says “its too dangerous to love me” or “i dont love you” and then ty replies w this

—————————

"well, its a bit ironic, isnt it?"

"what do you mean?"

"all that effort to convince you i wasnt in love with you, and here i am, dying in your arms."

this is gonna kill me i just know it, but i have a feeling its gonna be kit saying the first and third lines and hes talking to ty, and then i can imagine it saying “dont say that,” ty said furiously

—————————

his face crumpled. "he hates me," he said. "all i do is love him, but he hates me, he just hates me, i dont know why."

clearly gonna be ty talking about kit (to either livvy or dru ???)

—————————

there was nothing less sexy than an angry-looking cat on your bed.

okay this is 100% magnus’s pov in tbvotd 💀💀

—————————

"actually, its short for maximum lightwood," said magnus. "as in the most amount of lightwood you can have."

… no comment. actually, yea i do have smth to say. i love magnus.

—————————

"no one who loved you would want you to sacrifice your own happiness."

if we’re going by the thing where kit doesnt want ty to love him for his safety, then someone is gonna say this to kit for sure

—————————

alec was beginning to understand how the slings and arrows of fortune and history had shaped magnus and made him what he was. it was a delightful sort of discovery, as getting to know magnus always had been. magnus was probably the one person in the world who'd never bored him.

im craving more malec scenes please dear god

—————————

"i was thinking about monogrammed towels," said isabelle.

"my name is going to be simon lewis lovelace lightwood," said simon. "no monogrammed towels."

first off, i forgot that simon wants to take isabelles last name

second, his initials are technically S.L.L.L oh my lord

—————————

it was late, and someone was trying to break into the high warlock of brooklyn’s apartment.

​magnus bane, the high warlock in question, felt this behavior was rash and foolish. he’d been passed out on his still-made bed, too exhausted to slip under the burgundy and emerald sheets, or even take off his robe, when he heard the noise of his window sliding open. he was grateful for the robe. he felt it would be demoralizing to face housebreakers in nothing but silk pajama bottoms.

​also, the housebreakers had done nothing to deserve such a sight.

seeing magnus bane in nothing but silk pajama bottoms is the stuff of dreams

jokes (even tho i meant it with full seriousness) aside, this is definitely gonna be the opening lines of tbvotd. if it turns out to not be, i will never show my face in public again because of how sure i am right now

[elvishdemigod]

Happy Pride to all those black-haired canonically queer characters! Gotta be one of my favorite genders! (I couldn't find art of just Johann, and no art of Miles as far as I could find)

From Left to Right, Top to Bottom:

Nico di Angelo (Gay) [PJO, HoA, ToA, & TS&TS]

Marceline Abadeer (Bisexual) [Adventure Time]

Marshall Lee vampire & Marshall Lee human (Bisexual) [Adventure Time]

Vanyel Ashkevron (Gay) [The Last Herald-Mage series]

Lysander (Gay) [Silk & Steel series]

Johann (Gay? I think?) [Monster of Elendhaven]

Princess Dennaleia (Lesbian) [Of Fire & Stars duology]

Miles Yoon (Gay) [Lore]

Alec Lightwood (Gay) [Mortal Instruments series]

Magnus Bane (Bisexual) [Mortal Instruments series]

Valentine (Gay) and Spelldon (Bisexual) [Monster High]

Piper Wright (Bisexual) [Fallout 4] (Yes, she counts, since she's romancable by both player genders, and I think made a mention of dating a girl once?)

Zagreus (Bisexual) [Hades game]

Bonus: David Williams (Bisexual [Fallout 4 oc]

[mlmshipbracket]

Fourth MLM Ship Bracket Propaganda Submissions

Below you will find all of the submitted and approved ships for the Fourth MLM Ship Bracket Tournament along with the form to submit further propaganda at the bottom

This is another opportunity to submit propaganda for your favorite ships. Wether you were unable to submit propaganda for them in the initial form or you spot your favorite ship who has no propaganda submitted. Ships with a strikethrough have propaganda submitted, I will continue to update this post as propaganda is submitted. I will accept further propaganda for ships with already submitted propaganda but please prioritize those with out.

The goal is to have propaganda for all ships but I understand that may not be possible. Therefore I will be leaving the form open for a few weeks to see if we receive propaganda for at least half the ships.

Note: Please reach out to me if you spot any mistakes in character or fandom names, even if it is only formatting or spelling issues.

Monkey D. Luffy/Roronoa Zoro (One Piece)

Kyojuro Rengoku/Akaza (Demon Slayer)

Mikhail”Misha” [Heavy]/Dr. Ludwig [Medic] (Team Fortress 2)

Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas (Homestuck)

Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng (Guardian, 2018)

Oliver Marks/James Farrow (If We Were Villains)

David Starsky/Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson (Starsky & Hutch)

Tinn/Gun (My School President)

Loki Odinson/Mobius M. Mobius (Loki)

Jaime Reyes/Bart Allen (DC Comics)

Levi Schmitt/Nico Kim (Grey's Anatomy)

Ren Amamiya or Akira Kurusu/Goro Akechi (Persona 5)

Wallace Price/ Hugo Freeman (Under the Whispering Door)

Daffy Duck/Bugs Bunny (Looney Toons)

Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan (Guardian, 2018)

Isak Valtersen/Even Bech Næsheim (SKAM)

Henry "Monty" Montague/Percy Newton (Montague Siblings)

Nico di Angelo/Will Solace (Camp Half-Blood Chronicles)

Argos/Mr. Plant (The World of Mr. Plant)

Richard St Vier/Alec Campion (Swordspoint Universe)

Klaus Hargreeves/Dave Katz (The Umbrella Academy)

Woody/Buzz Lightyear (Toy Story)

Victor Lawson/Hap (In the Lives of Puppets

Charlie/Babe (Pit Babe The Series)

Fred/Shaggy (Scooby-Doo)

Simon Snow/Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Grimm-Pitch (Carry On)

Gaius Octavius/Jedediah Smith (Night at the Museum)

Sound/Win (My School President)

Pat/Pran (Bad Buddy)

Mike Wazowski/James "Sulley" P. Sullivan (Monsters, Inc.)

Nicholas “Nick” Bell/ Seth Gray (The Extraordinaries)

Evan 'Buck' Buckley/Edmundo 'Eddie' Diaz (9-1-1)

Sean/White (Not Me: The Series)

Vegas Theerapanyakun/Pete Saengtham (Kinnporsche: The Series)

Runaan/Ethari (The Dragon Prince)

Larry Daley/Ahkmenrah (Night at the Museum)

Tintin/Captain Archibald Haddock (Tintin comics)

Bai Lang/Jin Xun An (My Tooth Your Love)

Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin (The Man from U.N.C.L.E)

Wario/Waluigi (Mario franchise)

Peter Parker/Miguel O'Hará (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse)

Steve Rogers/Anthony "Tony" Stark (Marvel Comics)

Dave Miller/Jack "Old sport" Kennedy (Dayshift at Freddy's)

Boston/Nick (Only Friends)

Kinn Theerapanyakun/Porsche Kittisawasd (Kinnporsche: The Series)

Satoru Gojo/Suguru Geto (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Craig Cuttlefish/Octavio Takowasa (Splatoon)

Tulio/Miguel (The Road to El Dorado)

Sun Wukong/Neptune Vasilias (RWBY)

Zachary Ezra Rawlins/Dorian (The Starless Sea)

Fox Mulder/Alex Krycek (The X-Files)

Thomas/Newt (The Maze Runner)

Fulgrim/Ferrus Manus (Warhammer 40k)

Kim Theerapanyakun/Porchay Kittisawasd (Kinnporsche: The Series)

Alec Lightwood/Magnus Bane (The Mortal Instruments)

Tan/Bun (Manner of Death)

Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi (RWBY)

Rhy Maresh/Alucard Emery (Shades of Magic)

Yashiro Isana/Kuroh Yatogami (K Project)

Jaskier/Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher)

Dustfinger/Mortimer "Mo" Folchart (Inkworld series)

Brandon/Sky (Winx Club)

Phineas Taylor “P. T.” Barnum/Phillip Carlyle (The Greatest Showman)

Alfred Hillinghead/Henry Ashe (Bodies TV Show)

Baal/Inanna (The Wicked + the Divine)

Timothy "Tim" Drake/Bernard Dowd (DC Comics)

Vash the Stampede/Nicholas D. Wolfwood (Trigun Stampede)

Anthony Lockwood/Quill Kipps (Lockwood and Co)

Henry Winter/Francis Abernathy (The Secret History)

Crowley/Aziraphale (Good Omens)

Dainix/Falst (Aurora Comic)

Prince Rupert/Prince Amir (The Two Princes)

Finn/Poe Dameron (Star Wars)

Jean Luc Picard/Q (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Will Stronghold/Warren Peace (Sky High)

Heart/Li Ming (Moonlight Chicken)

Wallace Wells/Todd Ingram (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off)

Sunai/Veyadi Lut (The Archive Undying)

Linus Baker/Arthur Parnassus (The House in the Cerulean Sea)

Aaron Slaughter/Jace Boucher (House of Slaughter)

Hercule Poirot/Captain Arthur Hastings (Hercule Poirot)

Phaya/Tharn (The Sign)

Hercules/Iolaus (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys)

Todd/Black (Not Me: The Series)

Julio "Rictor" Esteban Richter/Shatterstar (Marvel Comics)

Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu (Word of Honor)

Siffrin/Isabeau (In Stars and time)

Kendall Knight/Logan Mitchell (Big Time Rush TV Show)

Yuichiro Hiyakuya/Mikaela Hyakuya (Owari no Seraph/Seraph of the End)

Palm/Nuengdiao (Never Let Me Go)

Khatha/Dome (Midnight Museum)

Asterix/Obelix (Asterix Comics)

Bowser/Luigi (Mario Franchise)

Lucien "Luc" O'Donnell/Oliver Blackwood (London Calling)

Kazuki Kurusu/Rei Suwa (Buddy Daddies)

Benjamin “Ben” Tennyson/Kevin Ethan Levin (Ben 10: Alien Force)

Lumière/Cogsworth (Beauty and the Beast)

Damian Wayne/Jon Kent (DC Comics)

Spy/Dell Conagher [Engineer] (Team Fortress 2)

Shanks/Buggy (One Piece)

Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Ecks (Six of Crows)

Harold Finch/John Reese (Person of Interest)

Ulrich Stern/Odd Della Robbia (Code Lyoko)

Vincent Freeman/Jerome Morrow (Gattaca)

Eustass Kid/Killer (One Piece)

Christopher Hitchcock/Jalil Sherman (Everworld)

Frodo Baggins/Samwise Gamgee (Lord of the Rings)

Edgin Darvis/Xenk Yendar (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves)

[alexanderlightweight]

I'll confess, I did read your previous prompt but it had slipped my mind and I was not thinking of it specifically when I wrote mine. I just really like hair lore and long hair and fancy hairdos and can never get enough fics with those. So if you want to extend the previous verse or if you've got a slightly different idea and want to write that instead, I will be entirely happy either way Thanks for picking mine! I'm all excited now ~~ \(^o^)/ ~~

haha you're good. i just was trying to figure out if it was a continuation or not but here we go! new hair lore from a different verse lol

i hope you enjoy!

<3 lumine

-

“And what will you need for this ritual?” Alec asks, barely looking up from where he’s bent over a screen. Because if he sees Fray with braids other than training ones, he’s going to throw something — probably her — and he wants to finish this conversation.

There is silence and Alec looks up, frown on his face because he isn’t sure why they’re stalling or why they have yet to introduce whoever they’ve brought with them.

“This is, uh Alec this is Magnus Bane.” Fray says and Alec’s eye twitches, ready to rip out the braids currently in her hair and the small little demon bone charm in it.

“Yes, I know the High Warlock of Brooklyn.” Alec allows, nodding casually to Magnus who is watching him with far more interest than he did when Alec was seven and trying to stalk him out of the Institute.  It’s been years since he’s last seen him and Magnus is only more handsome, more beautiful and Alec reminds himself that business has to come before pleasure.

“It’s a sacrifice.” Magnus allows, “nephilim hair is steeped in their grace and the price to pay for nephilim memories must of course, come from a nephilim.”

“Alright.” Alec says and when Jace gives him a surprised but pleased look he adds, “Fray, you’ll supply as much as needed.  If there is more needed, you can request volunteers though no one is obligated to help you.”

“Alec—”

“Surely you weren’t expecting me to volunteer?” Alec asks casually as he stares Jace down. “If you and Izzy and interested in volunteering then of course I’ll allow it. If mother asks, I’ll make sure she understands it was a sacrifice for a…” his bottom lip curs into a sneer despite himself, “comrade of yours.” 

Magnus Bane is staring at him curiously, eyes incredibly intent and Alec is trying so hard not to let it affect him, even when it makes him want to stand straighter and turn, to show off the charms on his braid.

“Seriously? It’s just hair! These are my memories.” Fray tries to explain and Alec sighs, because his hair is more important to him than a stranger’s memories and he turns to Magnus.

“What are the specifics?”

“I’m not actually sure—” Magnus tells him and he seems completely at ease with the admittance. “Jocelyn Fairchild didn’t care about how they were protected, only that the memories would be nearly impossible to get.”

“My mother—”

“Shut up.” Alec says at the same time Magnus snaps his fingers and Clary goes surprisingly silent and then her face twists in outrage.  Alec snorts and ignores her, giving Jace a look that just dares him to interfere.

“A price will need to be paid to summon the demon, let alone find out what the cost will be.”

Alec sighs and looks at Clary with a frown and draws a small, ritual knife from his sleeve.  “Take off until just above the charm, that should be enough to figure out what the actual price is.” He holds it out, handle first to Clary and she crosses her arms and snorts.

“You cut your hair!” Clary spits out, the spell finally gone, “you’re the leader, aren’t you! So cut your own damn hair, Alec.” She tosses her red tangle of braids, “you’re a guy. You don’t even need long hair.”

Alec blinks and then he moves.  Clary is on the ground a moment later and he pins her there with his foot on her shoulder blades, one hand in the garish mess of braids.

“Do you want your memories back?” He asks calmly and Jace and Izzy are still, their faces pale from the moment Clary demanded he cut his hair.  The moment Clary garbles out a yes, Alec ignores anything else she adds and he cuts. 

There is a tiny chime, like a gong being shattered and Clary shudders as what little has grown of her angelic power is sheared away.  This is meant to be a sacrifice; it always is when a shadowhunter cuts their hair and Alec feels no sympathy.  The tiny demon bone charms disintegrates and he scoffs as he tosses the bundle to Magnus.

“The charm broke, it didn’t consider any of her demon kills to be valid.” Alec says mockingly, because Jace and Izzy insisted that Clary counted as bloodied even though Alec was sure it didn’t.  The charm dissolving without the connection to Clary’s core makes it clear that she’s not as strong or as capable as they keep pretending.

Clary sobs on the ground, looking up at him in horror and Alec shrugs.

He’s given Clary Fray every opportunity to learn and ask questions.

“You don’t get to pick and choose what parts of our culture you like.” Alec tells her and Magnus hums in agreement as he steps up close and the look, he’s given Alec is so hard to turn away from, but he does. “You want to be a part of our world, then you pay the prices like everyone else and you don’t get to ask others to sacrifice parts of themselves for your own vendetta.”

“Get her to the infirmary.” He tells Jace, “she’ll be fine in twenty minutes with a little adrenaline. Tell them to give her one of the weaker IV cocktails for nephilim children, she won’t be able to handle the amount an actual shadowhunter can handle.” He turns to Magnus then and swallows, “would you like to discuss the array and look over the wards in the rooms we have in our ritual rooms?”

“That would be perfect, thank you Alexander.” Magnus murmurs and he steps up next to Alec and smiles, something daring in his gaze. “Lead the way?”

[malec-ao3feed]

Where art thou? Why not uponeth me?

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/KTrSWjz by newtntommy Alec has been doing this for a long time, and Magnus has been watching for a long time. It's a thrill with the many virtual eyes watching, and Alec enjoys letting them vote on how his night is going to go. Or - Alec is a camboy, and he really loves pretty things. So does Magnus. Words: 4274, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Magnus Bane, Alec Lightwood Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood Additional Tags: Camboy Alec, Sex Work, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Camming, Top Magnus Bane, Bottom Alec Lightwood, Light Dom/sub, Sex Toys, Lingerie, Piercings, Praise Kink, Alec Lightwood Has a Praise Kink read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/KTrSWjz

[carelessflower]

One lost one life

For September 24 prompt: sacrifice @animalecfest

Winds blew past Alec's hair, cold and wild, screeching down the bottom of the cliff, where none escaped, even the brightest beacon of light.

This was it. All of those nights, tangled up in each other's arms, hid away in places whose future wouldn't weigh them down.

Alec should have known better.

He suddenly got the urge to laugh, what use of tears anyway?

Alec should have known better, didn't he?

The cruelest joke he could delude himself in.

With his life.

Camille was still speaking, honey voice cutting through the air, the web of her poison dipped in victory.

Alec stared at the man he thought he knew, drank in every detail, the curve of his lips, the spark in his eyes, that fleck of hair falling into his star-lit eyes.

Axel was rendered useless like Alec but he wasn't shaking, Alec had no doubt. An honorable fighter,, his steely blue eyes determined, in spite of all the cuts and bruises on his face.

Axel was the moon, Alec was the bug who got lucky enough to fall in the holy light.

Axel. Alec. Magnus wasn’t even trying to hide it. Alec was just too much of a lovesick fool to stay awake.

"Didn't you want to date him for his heart? To save your precious Axel? Nine-tailed fox heart is quite the treat for immortality, you know." Camille sneered.

“Let them go,” Magnus replied calmly. “And you might go unharmed.”

“On the contrary my dear, I’m feeling a bit more generous today.” She sneered, and pointed towards where Axel and Alec were tied up. “I’ll release one, your pick. The other’s coming with me. Don’t try any funny business dear. You know I don’t like disobedience.” Her voice was sweet, the kind one could drown in.

Alec fixed his eyes on Magnus, that fleeting hope died every second. When Magnus spoke next, Alec knew fate had sign the death sentence for him

“—Release Axel.” Magnus was looking straight at Camille, then Axel. Not even sparing Alec a pitiful final glance.

Of course.

Of course.

“Poor Alexander,” Camille faked a sigh. “Never the first choice. Oh well, since you don’t want him, I guess there’s no use for him.”

She was about to push Alec’s off when he started laughing, hard. The sound wasn’t louder than a whisper, yet he laughed as if his life depended on it.

"I'll repay my debt to you, Magnus Bane." Alec smiled, using the only power left in him to pull the sword from Camille's hand. "From now on, we’re equal. I hope we never see each other again.”

Nine-tailed foxes had nine lives, their tails represented that. Cutting of one required a life.

A life for a life.

How fair.

The cold knife cut slashed like butter, it was the pain of millions of shards exploding, burying themselves in his chest, and rotten away the flesh. His every nerve was pulling itself apart, burned and writhed and torn, an infinite inferno.

Alec cried out in pain, body empty and lost.

When he fell, he heard a scream.

[themagnusbane]

Murder at the New York Institute

Title: Murder at the New York Institute

Artist: @la-muerta

Rating: Mature (Chapter 7 only. Will give a heads-up)

Pairings: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Clary Fray/Isabelle Lightwood, Jace Herondale/Simon Lewis

Word Count: ~27k

Summary: Pull out the Cluedo board they said. It would be fun to play they said. Nothing could possibly happen on Samhain they said. And now, Magnus and Alec, Clary and Izzy, Simon and Jace have been pulled into an alternate New York Institute, with no powers, no idea what has caused it, or who has brought them there. Oh. And there’s been a murder. Except, can you kill a dead man twice? And can Valentine Morgenstern just SHUT THE FUCK UP!

This fic was created for the Shadowhunters Reverse Bang 2024: Presented by the @malecdiscordserver

Chapter Five: Miss Fray

Sixteen steps later and Clary Fray found herself by the stairs. She’d kept mental count, and taken longer steps than her five foot five frame would normally allow. 

Her hope had been that she would at least make it to the bottom of the stairs. That way, all she would have needed would have been another turn. And she would have found her way into the prison cell. 

Unfortunately, she fell just short of the required number of steps, which meant she was at the top of the stairs, not the bottom, as she’d hoped. 

But, no worries. Clary simply pulled to mind the detailed granite reimagining of the New York Institute that she’d drawn for Izzy for their six months anniversary gift. She closed her eyes for a minute, briefly letting go of the sketch and turned her attention instead to the girl, with her sun kissed skin, her thick, wavy, black curls, her favoured deep red lips, pulled into a smile as she gasped to see the place that she considered home, captured, inch by beautiful inch on a canvas that stretched almost four metres in length. 

It had been so hard to log it up the stairs to her apartment, after she’d had it delivered. It had taken weeks of work, carefully mapping every inch of the New York Institute, so that it would look as lifelike as she could possibly get it. 

Watching Izzy’s face light up with pure delight had made it worth all the effort. The kiss that her girlfriend had pulled her into, had been like sinking into the intoxicating taste of a good Irish coffee, warm, heady, wet, and Clary had dived in for more, drinking in Izzy’s sounds, her taste.

Fingers buried in her hair, sliding underneath her dress, seeking the heat that it was so desperate to sink into. 

“Not a good idea to be thinking that right now Fray,” Clary reminded herself. 

She needed to focus. 

Alec was right. The sooner they figured out the mystery of who had “killed” Valentine, the sooner they could unravel the identity of whoever had them trapped, and the quicker they could get home. 

And if she had plans to make sure that neither her nor Izzy left her bed for the rest of the weekend, it was nobody’s business but theirs. 

Plus with all the bullshit she’d had to deal with by being yanked into this pocket Shadowhunter universe that Magnus had deduced they were in, she was due to spend hours losing herself in her girlfriend. 

Work can bloody wait. 

Clary reached out to touch the bannister. A part of her worried that maybe whatever barrier that kept them rooted, and prevented them from moving beyond the specified number of steps they got with each roll and turn of the dice would prevent her from touching the bannister. 

But Clary sighed with relief when she met no resistance, and allowed the solid oaken wood to hold her weight as she rested against it.

“That is a terrible place to choose as a resting spot, Clarissa. You’re going to fall and break your neck.”

Clary rolled her eyes. 

“Or fall and NOT break your neck. And instead you’ll just be stuck somewhere at the bottom of those stairs. Forgotten. And when everyone has solved the mystery and are returning home, they will come looking for you, and won’t find you anyway. And maybe Isabelle would stay loyal to your memory for like a year or two. But then, five years from now, her memory of you would have soured because you know Isabelle Lightwood deserves someone who can match her energy and passions, and is present for her, in a way she needs. But that person won’t be you. Instead, you will be here, stuck at the bottom of the stairs, with wood chunks up your ass, because you thought that leaning against a structural mistake of a bannister was a good idea.”

“By the Angel, would you shut up!!! Were you always this chatty?!!”

She couldn’t see him, but Clary was fairly certain, Valentine most likely shrugged. “Maybe. We didn’t have enough of a relationship for you to get to know me as well.”

“And whose fault was that?” Clary snapped back. “Forgive me if I thought mum’s decision to run as far away from your bigoted, genocidal, delusional ass, was the absolutely best thing she could have done. Considering she was unfortunate enough to have been saddled with you as an ex-husband.”

“Ah. Clarissa. You wound me.”

And now she was certain he was smiling. 

“Well, keep talking, and we might just skip right past wounding you, to make sure that even your spirit stays dead.”

“More dead than I already am?”

“I don’t know. Should I try coming up with a new rune to test how dead you truly are, and if it’s possible to make you deader than dead?”

That shut him up immediately, and it was Clary’s turn to smile. 

Knowing Valentine though, there was absolutely no way he was going to stay silent for long. She gave him a couple more minutes, and she was fairly certain he would find something else to yap about; all threats of damage to his soul forgotten, because if there was anything that Clary had learned in the years she had spent fighting her father. Whether she was fighting him for Jace, her mother, or for the sake of the world, it was that Valentine Morgenstern loved the sound of his own voice. 

It helped when she was using his propensity to never stop talking, to figure out a way to buy herself some time and thwart his plans. 

But on days like today, when she just wanted some peace and quiet for herself, to brainstorm on exactly who might have killed Valentine in this fictional New York Institute that they’d been in for hours already, but which definitely felt like days, having Valentine yap nonstop was annoyingly irritating to her. 

“So, what are you hoping to see in the prison cell?”

“Hopefully a spirit muzzle I can use to keep you from talking completely.”

She heard him laugh. 

Not the sadistic ones she’d heard when he was taunting her and her friends. Or the cruel ones she’d heard when he was torturing and hurting Downworlders. Or the gleeful one he’d had when he was summoning an angel with the hope that he would wipe out an innocent group of people that had done nothing wrong, except be different in the face of Valentine’s desire for the supremacy of Shadowhunters blood. 

No. This was a pure laugh. A happy one. Without any artifice, or malice. It was merely Valentine, finding himself delighted by her words and reacting accordingly. 

It made Clary’s skin crawl. 

“Please stop laughing.”

“Why?”

“Because then I remember that the man who is laughing is the same monster who planned on killing all my friends, and their friends and families, and innocent people who’d done nothing wrong, but be Downworlders in a world that you wanted populated by Shadowhunters. And it makes me hate you just a bit more.”

That put a stop to the laughter. 

There was a long pause, and just as Clary felt her eyes drooping slightly as her body started to tip its way into sleep, she heard Valentine say. 

“I’m happy you know.”

Clary opened one eye, and waited. 

“That you killed me.”

Her second eye joined the first. “Why?”

It took a while, and when he spoke, his voice was a bit more subdued. “Because you stood up for what you believed in. You took a stance, and fought for it. And you defended it with a blade in hand. I underestimated you Clarissa. And you showed me that you are every bit the warrior your mother is. I think you hold the best of both of us, actually.”

Clary burst into laughter. She wasn’t expecting it. She hadn’t given thought to laughing. But at the words from Valentine, it was a dam that she had no control over, and it spilled into laughter. “Both of you?” Her laughter stopped, and she knew her face hardened. “I am NOTHING like you, Valentine. Every bit of me that you see and admire, is because of my mother and because of Luke. Two people who saw you for what you TRULY are, and wanted nothing to do with you.” She sneered. “Why on earth would you think I got any bit of me from you?” She didn’t mean it to, but the last word of her sentence went a bit high, venturing into hysterical territory. 

Valentine tsked. “Nothing of me, and yet you have people in your corner, loyal to the death. For you. Nothing of me, and yet you’ve watched people sacrifice their lives for you, for your cause, and done NOTHING.”

Clary hissed. “I never asked them to. Unlike you who DEMANDED it of them.”

“And yet, we both lead people into battles where there are no guarantees or certainty that they would all return. The difference is that I don’t pretend to be anything other than what I am.”

“No. The difference is that I recognize the humanity, the soul of the individual sacrifice. I consider it an honour that they too believe fighting for justice and what is right, is the right thing to do. You, on the other hand, fail to see the value in any other person’s life, but yours.”

“That is not true. I saw the value in yours. Why else would I feed you Ithuriel’s blood? If not because I know what you’re capable of. What you were conceived for, and I wanted to see that fulfilled.”

“You saw the value in mine, as an extension of yourself, you narcissistic, self-absorbed, psychopathic piece of shit,” Clary hissed through gritted teeth. “The fact that you have the GALL to mention the name of an angel you captured, tortured AND EXPERIMENTED on, and try and paint your actions like they are in some way altruistic is VILE! You should be GRATEFUL that you’re as far away from me as possible Valentine. Because I would gut you AGAIN, in a heartbeat, without second thought, for your bullshit.”

“Clarissa, I—“

Clary Fray. Please roll the dice to gain some movement. 

Two sets of voices, and they each provoked two separate reactions from her. The fact that she would think anything remotely relieving about hearing the voice of the entity that had her and her friends and lover trapped with her pathetic excuse of a father, was definitely not something she had ever thought possible. 

But here they were.

And the night was proving to be nothing like whatever she could have possibly envisioned it was going to be. 

“Roll the dice.”

There was a brief pause. And then the message popped up. 

You have rolled a fourteen. Kindly proceed for the specified number of steps. 

Clary breathed a sigh of relief. A part of her had been terrified that she would roll a number too low to get her into the prison cell, which would then mean she would have to be stuck with Valentine for even more time, as his delusional ass tried convincing her some more. 

Fourteen however meant that she would be in the prison cell soon enough. And if she played her cards right, she just might be able to get back to the library in the very same turn. 

She made it into the prison cell, with four more steps to spare, and Clary breathed a sigh of relief. But just as she made to sit in the chair that Imogen often used whenever she showed up at the New York Institute to interrogate yet another person, innocent of a crime, but convicted by the prejudice of some of the other Shadowhunters, she remembered what she was meant to be doing in the room, and jumped right back up. 

This was not the time to dawdle. The sooner she found some proof that this could have been the possible murder location, the better for all of them. 

The problem though was that she had no idea what she was looking for. 

The cell was as utilitarian as always. Two chairs. One for the prisoner and the other for whoever was interrogating them. A glass window to keep those imprisoned, away from others if they so choose. And a couple of standing desks. 

There was no blood splatter. No sign of struggle. No evidence of—

Clary caught herself and laughed. What on earth was she doing? Of course there would be no physical evidence were this to be the actual room. Valentine Morgenstern was not in possession of a physical body, so expecting the room to have blood splatter was a reach. 

As for the sign of struggle, that would be hard as well, considering that he didn’t have the form for it.

Clary couldn’t believe she was about to ask. But it said a lot about how out of options she actually was, to have to resort to this. “Do you have any memories of what this second death of yours was like?”

Valentine hummed and haw’ed for what felt like fifteen minutes, but was most likely just five, before he responded. “Nothing. One minute I was about to see Raziel. Felt the betrayal and pride that you’d gotten the better of me, and the realization that your ideology would be the one left standing.” He sighed again and Clary pictured him, both palms open wide, spread out as if in supplication. “And next thing I knew, I was here in whatever this place is, stuck with all of you. Able to hear and see you, but without any physical form.” He huffed a frustrated sound. “I can’t tell you anything you need to know. I’m sorry.”

Clary waved away the apology. Even as she’d asked, she’d known it was a long stretch. Expecting Valentine to know anything that would actually help them figure things out was her subconsciously most likely trying to get her to not work, with the hope that the answer would come to her. 

Clary popped her knuckles. Bending her fingers every which way to improve their circulation. 

Best get to work then. She went down on her knees, wincing slightly at the cold of the tiled floors as she looked every which way. Trying to piece together whatever evidence she could find. 

Why would the killer have picked the prison cell? Easy. It was secluded. Far away from the rest of the Institute. ure, this pocket universe New York Institute, was empty save for the six of them, and Valentine’s disembodied voice. But to think like that, was to limit the results. 

If the Institute really was as active as it was back home. With people coming and going. Wandering every which way. Stopping by unexpectedly to see their friends and colleagues, and catch up about the night’s hunting activities; if she were a murderer, wanting to execute Valentine Morgenstern, because that would be what it would have been. An execution, where would she have done it?

Preferably, somewhere a bit farther away. Somewhere, other people would never suspect, or even accidentally stumble upon. Some place far enough where the sound of a gun going off, would not alert needless interference and questions. No possibility of a timely rescue. She would simply stand there, and watch Valentine, slowly bleed out and die on the cold floors. 

Clary moved her feet every which way on the tiled floors. 

Plus, tiles were remarkably easy to clean. All the killer needed was some sort of thick cloth to soak up the worst of the blood. Then a thorough mopping with bleach, and no one would be any wiser. 

The only thing left was to figure out who the killer could possibly be. And considering what she knew, the answer was pretty clear. 

Clary smiled. 

“It looks like you’ve figured out how this place could possibly be a murder location.”

She nodded. 

“Care to share?”

She rolled her eyes. “And why would I do that with you? You’re already dead. Why do you care?”

He paused a bit. “Maybe before you make an accusation, and it turns out to be false, you might want to consider running it by me first. Who knows. I might bring a new perspective. Consider something that never even crossed your might. Or point you out to a new suspect you never considered.”

Clary eyed the air above her head, skeptically. 

She heard Valentine tsk. “You are too distrustful, Clarissa.”

“And whose fault is that?” She shot back. 

“Fair point. But more to the point. What I’m trying to explain is that you mention who you suspect, how you think they did and why you think this is the room where the murder took place. And I try to give you my unbiased thoughts on whether or not I agree. A false accusation means that you’re out of the game, according to its rules, and that is something you cannot afford to let happen.”

Clary opened her mouth. 

“But that is all it’s going to be. My thoughts. I’m not going to give you some sort of final answer to the question of ‘Here is the person I am 100% sure is the killer.’ One, I’m sure that the system won’t allow me. And two, that takes away from what whoever stuck you in here was  hoping to accomplish. Someone that’s capable of moving Magnus Bane to a pocket existence, and have him lose his magic too? That is not someone to be trifled with.”

His tone lowered. He sounded somber.

Clary considered his words; chewing on her lower lip as she deliberated her answer and if it was the right one or not. 

Finally, She sniffed. “Fine.”

She ignored the smug tint to Valentine’s “Finally!” And proceeded to tell him who she suspected the killer was. Where the murder had been carried out, and with what weapon. 

After she was done, Valentine paused, then spoke, sounding quite impressed. 

“Not bad Clarissa. Not bad at all.” 

She would never admit it to anyone else, but in those words, the confirmation that her insight might be possibly right, she felt a little smidgen of pride. 

[serendipminie]

Top 5 fictional romances?

Oh, that's a good one! I'll do five but I don't think they'll be in any order T-T

1. Kinn Theerapanyakun X Porsche Kittisawasd - KinnPorsche : La Forte

(First picture - Kinn on the left, Porsche on the right / Second picture - Porsche on the left, Kinn on the right)

A mafioso and his ex-martial artist turned bodyguard. Begins to sob. Seeing both their individual character development and relationship development throughout the show was so satisfying.

The development of their universe and of all the other characters surrounding them was also very in depth!

2. Hua Cheng X Xie Lian - Heaven Official's Blessing

(First picture - Novels: Xie Lian on the left, Hua Cheng on the right / Second picture - Anime: Hua Cheng on the left, Xie Lian on the right)

A feared, powerful ghost king and the beloved prince of a nation; the thrice-ascended god of misfortune. This whole series had my heart so much that I ended up buying all the books so I could reread them T-T

Both characters are so sweet in their own ways, always protecting each other and could both kill anyone very easily all while looking like that.

3. Nakahara Chūya X Osamu Dazai - Bungou Stray Dogs

(First picture - Manga: Chuuya on top, Dazai on bottom / Second picture - Anime: Dazai on the left, Chuuya on the right)

An ex-mafioso turned armed detective and a mafia executive that have known each other since they were fifteen. Always teasing each other-- walking the line between allies and enemies, and yet there's nobody who knows the other better.

Although this miiiiiight count as more of a ship, the official manga arts lead me to believe it's very intentional :3

4. Nicholas "Nick" Nelson X Charlie Spring - Heartstopper

(First picture - Graphic novels: Nick on the left, Charlie on the right / Second picture - TV Series - Charlie on the left, Nick on the right)

Two high school boys in a sweet romance-- one the school's rugby star and the other a practical outcast. Aside from the typical teenage angst, both the novels and show had so many fluffy moments.

It was so satisfying to see the relationship develop as something very wholesome.

5. Alexander "Alec" Lightwood X Magnus Bane - The Shadowhunters series

(First picture - Official novel art: Alec on the left, Magnus on the right / Second picture - TV Series - Alec on the left, Magnus on the right)

A demon hunter and his warlock, angel blood meets literal spawn of hell. Instead of a necessary rivalry, they clicked rather easily.

One of my worst hyperfixations was definitely on the Shadowhunters series and any books related to the universe-- recently, these two even got their own side trilogy dedicated to a vacation the two took in book four of the original series! I adore their dynamic so much skdgskdga

That's it!

Thank you so much for the ask :3 (And if these are all mlm pairs. What are you going to say about it sdsggkagdsa)

[emmalovesfitzloved]

Top 10 fave TSC characters, and bottom 10?

Thank you so much for the ask! 🫶

Top 10:

-Thomastair

-Wessa

-Malec

-Christopher/Grace

-Kit +Ty

-Emma + Julian

-Sophie + Gideon

-Jordelia

-Herongrastairs

-Catrina + Ragnor

Bottom: (not really fair to say “bottom” bc tbh I don’t really dislike any ships, I just feel indifferent towards them batch. But trust and believe there are ships I HATE and feel ANGER towards in other fandoms i.e. in comics, so I sympathise, but this one isn’t one where I get this feel.)

-Jessa

-Clace

-Luccie + Jessie

-Simon + Isabelle (they can be cute tho)

-Gabriel + Cecily

-Ash + Dru

- Ari + Anna

- Kieran + Mark + Cristina

-Jocelyn + Luke

-idk who to put for last… probably Camille + Magnus XD justice for Magnus Bane’s heart ❤️

Edit: due to my MISREADING “characters” for “ships” here’s the answer you asked for 🤣🫶:

1. Alastair

2. Thomas

3. will / Tessa (I won’t choose 🤣)

4. Matthew

5. Magnus

6. Christopher

7. Alec

8. Grace

9. Emma/Julian (again I’m cheatingggg)

10. Ty/ Kit (can’t choose!)

Bottom (again ditto what I said before. This is not dislike but rather meh shrug. I don’t not like anyone!)

1. Sophie

2. Cordelia

3. James

4. Ragnor

5. Simon

6. Jem

7. Henry

8. Charlotte

9. Jace

10. Clary

[yourartmatters-itswhatgotmehere]

Representation matters!-in TV/MOVIES.

i am, obviously, not able to type ALL here, but the ones i know and love dearly+the ones I think are most important for the viewers♥- I WILL KEEP UPDATING THIS WHEN NEEDED♥) +obvi not in any important-order!!

1. BISEXUAL-BI-REPRESENTATION (as a bi person myself I still think this should be represented more in media everywhere(when it’s done right!))

-bi boys: Jesper Fahey (Shadow And Bone), Nick Nelson (Heartstopper),  Alex Claremont-Diaz (RWRB-Red White & Royal Blue), Timmy Andrews (The Craft: Legacy), Malakai Mitchell (Heartbreak High), Magnus Bane (Shadowhunters), Gar Logan-BeastBoy(DCTitans), Aki Menzies (GossipGirlHBOMax),, Salem Saberhagen (SabrinaTheTeenageWitch-90s), Li Shang (Mulan1998), Lucifer (Lucifer), Jeremiah Fisher (The Summer I Turned Pretty),  Gael Martinez (Good Trouble), Michael Guerin (Roswell, New Mexico), Evan "Buck" Buckley (9-1-1), Dustin ‘Dusty’ Reid (Heartbreak High), Patrick Zweig (Challengers 2024),

  - bi girls: Anna Taggaro (OTH-One Tree Hill), (and to me Peyton Sawyer, Brooke Davis(the actress said it so it’s canon!), Rachel Gatina (OTH-One Tree Hill), Nina Zenik (Shadow And Bone),  AJ Campos (Crush2022), Hope Mikaelson (TO-Legacies), Ava Silva (Warrior Nun), Katherine "Kitty" Song-Covey (XO Kitty), Missy Beckett (Heartbreak High), Yasmina-Yaz Fadoula (JWCC- Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous & JWCT-Jurassic World: Chaos Theory), Casey Gardner (Atypical), Noa Olivar (Pretty Little Liars:Original Sin), Abby(Atypical), Beatrix "Bird" Castro (Finding Carter), Marissa Cooper (The O.C), Alex Kelly (The O.C),  Aneesa Qureshi (Never Have I Ever),  Lake Meriwether (Love, Victor),  Vada Cavell (TheFallout-2021), Eve (Lucifer), Stella Yamada (Lemonade Mouth 2011), Sahar Zahid (Heartstopper (sinceS2) ), Nora Holleran (RWRB-Red White & Royal Blue), Haley Dunphy (Modern Family), Eleanor Henstridge (The Royals), Maureen Johnson (Rent the musical), Anthea (Shazam! Fury of the Gods), Daphne Blake (Scooby Doo), Sue Gilbert (Dickinson), Toni Topaz (Riverdale), Marie Moreau (Gen V), Jackie (Love Lies Bleeding), Isobel Evans-Bracken (Roswell, New Mexico), Francesca Bridgerton (Bridgerton), Helga Sinclair (Atlantis: The Lost Empire),

(for an epic and very queer historical-fiction tv show watch MARY & GEORGE !!)

1b. PANSEXUAL-PAN-REPRESENTATION

Max Wolfe (GossipGirlHBOMax), Mazikeen (Lucifer), Mal (Descendants Movies), Josie Saltzman (Legacies,TO,TVD), Penelope Park (Legacies), Klaus Hargreeves (The Umbrella Academy), Isabel (Bottoms 2023), Karen Shetty (Mean Girls 2024), Benedict Bridgerton (Bridgerton),

(for an epic and very queer historical-fiction tv show watch MARY & GEORGE !!)

1c. ASEXUAL/ ACE REPRESENTATION

Raphael Santiago (Shadowhunters), Isaac Henderson (Heartstopper), Tolya Yul-Bataar (ShadowAndBone-Grishaverse), Tori Spring (Heartstopper), Douglas ‘Cash’ Piggott (Heartbreak High),

2. GAY/ LESBIAN REPRESENTATION

-gay:  Wylan Hendriks/Wylan Van Eck (Shadow And Bone), Prince Henry Fox (RWRB-Red White & Royal Blue), Jack McPhee (Dawson’s Creek),  Alec Lightwood (Shadowhunters), Simon Spier (Love,Simon2018),  Victor Salazar (Love,Victor),  Benji Campbell (Love,Victor), Rahim (Love,Victor), Charlie Spring (Heartstopper), Brimsley and Reynolds (OueenCharlotte-BridgertonSpinoff), Eric Van Der Woodsen (Gossip Girl), Quincy “Q” Shabazian (XOKitty), Damian Hubbard (Mean Girls 2024), Nick Feinstein  (The Fallout 2021), Alistair Ellington (Maxton Hall : The World Between Us (2024)), Wilbur Evans (Geek Girl),

-lesbian: Beatrice (Warrior Nun), Shotgun Mary (Warrior Nun), Diana Berrigan(White Collar), Fabiola Torres (Never Have I Ever), Ellie Chu (The Half Of It), Sammy Gutierrez (JWCC- Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous & JWCT-Jurassic World: Chaos Theory), Emily Fields (Pretty Little Liars),  Maxine Baker (Ginny & Georgia),  Izzie Taylor (Atypical), Calliope "Cal" Burns (First Kill),  Juliette Fairmont (First Kill), Tara Jones (Heartstopper),  Darcy Olsson (Heartstopper), Mia Karp (Vampire Academy), Meredith Beckham (Vampire Academy), Tamar Kir-Bataar (Shadow And Bone), Nadia Zhabin (Shadow And Bone),  Simone Jackson (DaisyJonesAndTheSix), Yuri Han (XO Kitty), PJ and Josie (Bottoms 2023), Hazel Callahan (Bottoms 2023), Madison (Finding Carter),  Kit Tanthalos (Willow), Jade (Willow), Sabina Wilson (Charlie’s Angels 2019), Velma Dinkley (Scooby Doo), Winnie Black (Miller’s Girl), Janis ‘Imi’ike (Mean Girls 2024), Emily Dickinson (Dickinson), Sasha So (Heartbreak High), Monet de Haan (GossipGirlHBOMax),

(for an epic and very queer historical-fiction tv show watch MARY & GEORGE !!)

3. TRANSGENDER PEOPLE REPRESENTATION

-Elle Argent (Heartstopper),  Anybodys (West Side Story 2021),  Luna La (GossipGirlHBOMax), Chanel (Warrior Nun), Naomi (Heartstopper), Felix (Heartstopper), Amy (RWRB-Red, White & Royal Blue), Ash Romero (Pretty Little Liars:Original Sin),

4. Non-Binary/Genderqueer/ (they/them) Representation

-Darren Rivers (Heartbreak High), Addison (Never Have I Ever), Klaus Hargreeves (The Umbrella Academy), Jordan Li (Gen V),

(we seriously lack the representation in popular and mostly-watched shows and movies for teenagers and young adults here tho),

5. ASTHMA REPRESENTATION

-I don’t see this represented enough in TV or Movies for Young Adults, nor Kids.

5b. DISABLED CHARACTERS REPRESENTATION:

Kaz Brekker & Jesper Fahey & Wylan Van Eck, Genya Safin(Shadow And Bone) , Rebecca Hall-Yoshida (Never Have I Ever), Maxton Hall : The World Between Us (2024),  +  JWCC-Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous & JWCT-Jurassic World: Chaos Theory

+ MORE BELOW(and above in this entire post♥):

6. EPILEPSY REPRESENTATION

Nathan Walter (My Life with The Walter Boys),

6b. DIABETES REPRESENTATION

Cassie Salazar (Purple Hearts), Abby Brown (OTH-One Tree Hill), (still not enough tho, if it’s done, it is so often shown WRONG..)

7. ADHD REPRESENTATION

Jesper Fahey (Shadow And Bone),  Percy Jackson + other Demigods (Percy Jackson and the Olympians), Alex Claremont Diaz (RWRB-Red, White & Royal Blue),  Anne Shirley (Anne Of Green Gables 80s movies), Neal Caffrey(White Collar), Stiles (Teen Wolf),  Jesus (The Fosters),  Sara Eriksson (Young Royals),

7b. AUTISM REPRESENTATION

Sam Gardner (Atypical), James McEwan (Heartstopper), Wylan Hendriks/Van Eck (Shadow And Bone), David Kostyk (Shadow And Bone), Amanda (Change Of Habit 1969), Oskar Schell (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close), Sara Eriksson (Young Royals), Quinni Gallagher-Jones (Heartbreak High), Francesca Bridgerton (Bridgerton), Harriet Manners (Geek Girl), Toby Pilgrim (Geek Girl),

8. DYSLEXIA/ DYSGRAPHIA REPRESENTATION

Wylan Hendriks/ Wylan Van Eck (Shadow and Bone), Percy Jackson (movies + tv show as well), Donna Martin (Beverly Hills 90210), CeCe Jones (Shake It Up),  Evan Chapin (Atypical),

8b. DEAF/Hard of hearing(whichever u urself use!)COMMUNITY REPRESENTATION+ the use of Sign Language

Feel The Beat 2020, Ginny and Georgia, CODA 2021, Switched at Birth (2011–2017), Echo(Marvel), Eternals,

9. LATINX LEAD REPRESENTATION

Ava Silva (Warrior Nun) , Lissa Dragomir (Vampire Academy), Wednesday Addams (WednesdayNetflix), Anna Taggaro (One Tree Hill), Santana Lopez (Glee),  Ella Lopez (Lucifer), Pilar Salazar (Love, Victor), Victor Salazar (Love, Victor), Maria (West Side Story2021), Cassie Salazar (Purple Hearts 2022), Alex Claremont-Diaz (RWRB-Red, White & Royal Blue), Jackie Howard (My Life with The Walter Boys), Noa Olivar (Pretty Little Liars:Original Sin), Descendants (2015) & Descendants 2 (2017) & Descendants 3 (2019),

10. BLACK PEOPLE AS THE LEAD REPRESENTATION

Ariel (TheLittleMermaid2023), Raven Baxter (That's So Raven), Cyborg (Teen Titans), Antwon Skills Taylor (OTH-One Tree Hill),  Darius Bowman (JWCC- Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous & JWCT-Jurassic World: Chaos Theory), Calliope Burns (First Kill), Rose Hathaway (Vampire Academy), Starr Carter (The Hate U Give 2018), Mary (Warrior Nun), Mia Brooks (Love, Victor), Simone Jackson (DaisyJonesAndTheSix), Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson and the Olympians), Faran Bryant (Pretty Little Liars:Original Sin), Tabitha 'Tabby' Haworthe (Pretty Little Liars:Original Sin), Darren Rivers /they/them/ (Heartbreak High), Toni Topaz (Riverdale), Sarah Fox (My Babysitter’s a Vampire), Wilbur Evans (Geek Girl),

+ Queen Charlotte & Bridgerton

10b. INDIGENOUS PEOPLE REPRESENTATION

Malakai Mitchell (Heartbreak High), Missy Beckett (Heartbreak High), Reservation Dogs, Rez Ball (Netflix, out soon), Mohawk Girls,

11. ASIAN LEAD REPRESENTATION

Alina Starkov (Shadow And Bone), Mal Oretsev (Shadow and Bone), Tamar Kir-Bataar (Shadow And Bone), Tolya Yul-Bataar (Shadow And Bone), Lara Jean (To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before), Ellie Chu (The Half Of It 2020), Tao Xu (Heartstopper), Kitty Song-Covey (XO Kitty), Isabel (Bottoms 2023), Minnie 'Mouse' Honrada (Pretty Little Liars:Original Sin), Ash Romero (Pretty Little Liars:Original Sin), Sasha So (Heartbreak High), Jordan Li (Gen V), 

(+desi women) Edwina Sharma & Kate Sharma Bridgerton (Bridgerton), Devi Vishwakumar (Never Have I Ever), Inej Ghafa (Shadow And Bone), Zoya Nazyalensky (Shadow And Bone),  Mohini "Mo" Banjaree (Lemonade Mouth 2011), Princess Jasmine (Aladdin 2019), Emma Morley (OneDayNetflix), Amerie Wadia (Heartbreak High),

12. THE MAIN CHARACTER WEARING GLASSES REPRESENTATION

Elle Argent (Heartstopper),  Ellie Chu (The Half Of It), Emma Morley (OneDayNetflix), Velma Dinkley (Scooby Doo), Margot Rivers(Get Even(2020) ), Harry Potter

13. MUSLIM REPRESENTATION

Rahim (Love, Victor), Aneesa Qureshi (Never Have I Ever),

14. NARCISSISTIC/ABUSIVE PARENT REPRESENTATION

Nathan Scott + Lucas Scott & Brooke Davis(OTH-One Tree Hill),  Wylan Hendriks/ Wylan Van Eck (Shadow And Bone),  Pacey Witter (Dawson’s Creek), Chuck Bass (Gossip Girl), Kenji Kon (JWCC- Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous & JWCT-Jurassic World: Chaos Theory), Michael Guerin (Roswell90s/RoswellOG), Blair Waldorf (GossipGirl), Daisy Jones (DaisyJonesAndTheSix), Rose Hathaway (Vampire Academy)  + Disney’s Tangled +  James & Lydia Beaufort (Maxton Hall : The World Between Us (2024))+ Descendants (2015) & Descendants 2 (2017) & Descendants 3 (2019),

15. VEGAN REPRESENTATION

Gar Logan/Beast Boy (DCTitans), (..like seriously we NEED more representation here..)

16. JEWISH PEOPLE REPRESENTATION

Seth Cohen (The O.C), David Gordon (Gordo) (Lizzie McGuire),  Ben Gross (Never Have I Ever),  Cyrus Rose (Gossip Girl), Max Wolfe (GossipGirlHBOMax), Danielle (Shiva Baby)

17. LOSS/ GRIEF REPRESENTATION

OTH-One Tree Hill, Roswell90s/RoswellOG, Shadow And Bone, White Collar, JWCC-Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous & JWCT-Jurassic World: Chaos Theory, Never Have I Ever,  OneDay(Movie+TV show), Red, White & Royal Blue(2023), Vampire Academy(2022), Fallen (2024), Fallen (2016), The Vampire Diaries + Legacies, My Life with The Walter Boys, Wild Cards, Young Royals, Dickinson, Pretty Little Liars:Original Sin/Summer School, Heartbreak High, The Fallout(2021), Maxton Hall : The World Between Us, The Last Tycoon, Dawson’sCreek, All Of Us Strangers 2023, Get Even(2020), Chambers 2019, Feel The Beat 2020, My Old Ass 2024, Anne Of Green Gables 80s movies,

17b. BAD MENTAL HEALTH/ DEPRESSION/ SUICIDAL THOUGHTS/SELF-HARM

OTH-One Tree Hill, Roswell90s/RoswellOG , Shadow And Bone, White Collar, JWCC-Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous & JWCT-Jurassic World: Chaos Theory, Legacies, Red, White & Royal Blue(2023), One Day (Movie + TV Show),  According to Greta(2009), Better Off Dead (1985), The Beat Beneath My Feet(2014),  Rocketman(2019), Mary & George, Heartstopper,  Maxton Hall : The World Between Us,  Dawson’sCreek, Fallen (2024), Fallen (2016), Vampire Academy (2022), Get Even(2020),

  18. WRITERS/AUTHORS REPRESENTATION

Anne Shirley (Anne Of Green Gables 80s movies), Lucas Scott (OTH-One Tree Hill), Wednesday Addams (WednesdayNetflix), Emma Morley (OneDayNetflix+Movie), Prince Henry Fox (RWRB-Red White & Royal Blue),  Dan Humphrey (Gossip Girl), Joey Potter (Dawson’s Creek), Ezra Fitz (Pretty Little Liars),  Cairo Sweet (Miller’s Girl), Emily Dickinson (Dickinson), Penelope Featherington Bridgerton (Bridgerton),

19. FRIENDSHIP/ FOUND-FAMILY REPRESENTATION

OTH-One Tree Hill, Roswell90s/RoswellOG, Shadow And Bone, RWRB-Red White & Royal Blue, JWCC-Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous &  JWCT-Jurassic World: Chaos Theory, White Collar, XO,Kitty, Heartstopper, Love,Victor  ,Teen Titans(OG), Scooby Doo(Everything), Daisy Jones And The Six, Lemonade Mouth 2011, Bottoms 2023, Willow(2022-2023), My Life with The Walter Boys, Charlie’s Angels 2019, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Pretty Little Liars:Original Sin/Summer School, Heartbreak High, Dawson’s Creek, The Thief Lord(2006), Warrior Nun, Living for the Dead, Maxton Hall:The World Between Us, Legacies, Lockwood&Co, Finding Carter, Fallen(2024), Fallen (2016), Vampire Academy(2022), The Fosters, Lab Rats, My Babysitter’s A Vampire, Descendants (2015) & Descendants 2 (2017) & Descendants 3 (2019), Get Even(2020), Feel The Beat 2020, Anne Of Green Gables 80s +00s movies,

20. FOSTER KIDS/ KIDS WITHOUT A PARENT FIGURE/OR STRUGGLING TO FIND ONE/ ORPHANS/ ADOPTED/

Landon Kirby (TO-Legacies), Anya/Anastasia(1997), Michael Guerin(RoswellOG/Roswell90s), Carter Stevens/Carter Wilson (Finding Carter), Anne Shirley(AnneOfGreenGables 80s movies), Callie Jacob(The Fosters), Sam Walker (OTH-One Tree Hill), Peyton Sawyer(OTH-One Tree Hill), Christian Ozera(Vampire Academy),Lissa Dragomir(Vampire Academy),  Hope Mikaelson(TO-Legacies),Gar Logan(DCTitans),Nick(No Good Nick), SHADOW AND BONE, Heartbreak High, Fallen (2024), Fallen (2016),

21. JAPANESE REPRESENTATION

Kenji Kon (JWCC-Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous +JWCT-Jurassic World: Chaos Theory), Gar Logan (DCTitans), Paxton Hall-Yoshida (Never Have I Ever), Jo (Running for Grace2018), Hiro + Tadashi Hamada (Bix Hero6),  Stella Yamada (Lemonade Mouth 2011),

[aficionadoenthusiast]

[ID: top panel: happy guy looking at 'AO3: 29600 works in Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood'; bottom panel: disappointed guy looking at 'Shadowhunters (TV) (25800)' End ID]

[hcartachesx]

if you’re hearing RUNNER UP by BAILEY SPINN playing, you have to know KENDRA CRANE (SHE/HER; FEMALE) is near by! the 31 year old 911 OPERATOR has been in denver for, like, 1 YEAR. they’re known to be quite PESSIMISTIC, but being HARDWORKING seems to balance that out. or maybe it’s the fact that they resemble KAT GRAHAM. personally, i’d love to know more about them seeing as how they’ve got those RAINBOW BOOKSHELVES, HALF DRAWN SKETCHES CRUMBLED IN THE TRASH, AND STAYING UP ALL NIGHT MAKING SOMETHING FOR OTHERS vibes. and maybe i’ll get my chance if i hang out around the CHERRY CREEK long enough!

This is probably going to be really long I am sorry. There are some wanted connections at the bottom as well as on my page!

Basic Info

Full Name: Kendra Anne Crane

Nicknames: Ken, Kenny

Age: 31

Birthday: January 18th, 1992

Zodiac: Aquarius

Occupation: 911 Operator

Schooling: Parsons School for Design

Hometown: New York City, New York

Ethnicity: Americo-Liberian, Ashkenazi Jewish

Languages Spoken: English, ASL, Hebrew, French

Gender: Cisfemale

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Relationship Status: Single

Living in: Cherry Creek District (Owen’s Crescent)

Family Info

Maternal Grandparents: Alan and Bertie Cohen lived in Denver most of their lives. Alan was a business owner and mayor for ten years before retiring while Bertie was a teacher. They left their home in Cherry Creek to their granddaughter Kendra.

Parents: Neil and Amelia Crane are well known Manhattanites who participate in many charitable functions within New York. Neil is the CEO of a Fortune 500 company and Amelia is a former fashion editor and socialite, sitting on the board of many charity groups.

Siblings: Mitchell Crane, the oldest of the Crane children, is a Yale School of Law graduate and a district attorney, on his way to becoming a judge and beginning his political career. Alana Crane, the youngest of the Crane children, is a socialite and social media influencer, having a hand in everything from modeling, travel, and small acting parts.

Pets: Mushu (ball python), Magnus Bane (cat), Oz (pitbull), Rowan and Aelin (lovebirds), Pax (horse)

Physical Info

Hair color: Black

Eye color: Green 

Height: 5’2”

Tattoos: ‘Love’ in Hebrew along her back below her shoulder blade, ‘Hic Sunt Leones’ on her left wrist

Piercings: Two in each lobe

Character Inspo: Monica Gellar (Friends), Brooke Davis (One Tree Hill), Jen Lindley (Dawson’s Creek), Feyre Archeron (ACOTAR), Grace Ryder (911: Lone Star), May Grant (911), Amanda Rollins (Law & Order SVU), Olive Smith (The Love Hypothesis)

Background

Kendra was the middle child of the Crane family, an upper class family from old money and history. The Cranes have been in politics, the stock market, car manufacturing… You name it, someone from their family was probably involved in it. While her mother came from a more simple background, she was still pretty well off as well. She has an older brother, Mitchell, who is following in their grandfather’s footsteps and getting into politics, gunning for Congress eventually, while her younger sister is more of a free spirit. 

Kendra was always the middle child, the scapegoat of the family. She was either ignored or being blamed for her sister’s problems, like somehow she was the reason her sister got super drunk at a party Kendra didn’t even attend. Alana had a lot of medical issues when she was born and almost didn’t make it, so she could do no wrong in her parent’s eyes. She got everything she ever wanted and the slightest accomplishment was ten times better than anything Kendra worked hard for. Sure, Kendra got straight As and an award in science, but Alana got homecoming queen.

Needless to say, there was always a bit of a competition between the two. Alana got all the praise, love, and attention, but she couldn’t match Kendra’s brilliance and talent. Kendra was super smart and talented in art. She got into Parsons School of Design easily while Alana decided to put college off and travel the world and finding herself (note: ten years later and she’s still ‘finding herself’).

Despite not getting much attention from her parents, she had the support of friends, grandparents, and professors who saw her talent and encouraged it. After graduating from Parsons, she started her own line of wedding dresses and became a huge hit very quickly. Her parents weren’t that impressed but at least other people saw her potential. 

Kendra met Daniel Trent at a party, which she was attending to meet people who may fund her next collection. He was charming, sweet, and made her feel like the only girl in the room. He was a hedge fund manager, making a stupid amount of money for stuff she didn’t quite understand, but he was supportive of her own passions and job and it was a great love story. They dated for years before getting engaged. But things all crashed weeks before the wedding.

That was when she walked in on her fiance sleeping with her sister. Turns out, they had been sneaking around behind her back for two years of their four year relationship. He admitted that he was in love with Alana and wanted to end their engagement. 

This wasn’t exactly new to Kendra. Alana had a history of stealing her friends, crushes, and boyfriends before. But she had thought that Daniel wouldn’t do that to her, that he only wanted her. She had seen her sister try to flirt with him when she first introduced him to her family, but he had ignored her. Apparently not as much as she had thought.

She had enough of her sister and yelled at her, really telling her what she thought of her. And wouldn’t you know it, her parents took her sister’s side, saying that there was nothing they could do and they should just let the lovebirds be. And Kendra had enough. She blew up at her parents as well, telling them they always took Alana’s side and didn’t care about her. Even her older brother was taking their side. So that was the last straw of being ignored by her family. She left.

The one family member that had always been on her side was her Bubbe Bertie. Spending time in Denver with her mother’s mother was a time when she didn’t have to compete for attention, it was just given freely as well as love. And a few years ago when her bubbe died, she had left Kendra her house in Denver, Colorado. Her maternal grandparents Alan and Bertie Cohen had lived in Denver most of their lives and Alan was even the mayor for several years. She had always been happy at their house, so she decided to go and live in the inherited house. She hadn’t been to Denver much in the few years, but it was far away from her family and that is what was important. 

Kendra couldn’t stand her own job though. Designing wedding dresses was just breaking her already fractured heart even more. She had worked months on designing and making her own wedding dress for the wedding that didn’t happen. She had plenty of money so she didn’t have to work, but she needed something to do to get her mind off things. Back in high school, she had done a volunteer program at a mental health crisis hotline, which then led her to helping out at a 911 call center later on. She had enjoyed being able to help people and was good at it, even though it was stressful. So she decided to do that again. 

Kendra has been settled in Denver for 6 months now, trying to rebuild her life and forget about her heartbreak from both her fiance and her family. She is focusing on her job, her books, and her pets. 

She is very dedicated to her pets and puts in a lot of effort researching all they need before adopting them. She also extensively trains them when needed. Kendra is a huge fan of books and has a huge library in her new home. She also enjoys cooking, especially sweets, and crafts like crocheting, knitting, and the like.

Kendra is stubborn through and through. When she made up her mind to cut off her family, she refuses to change it. She can hold a grudge when she feels it is justified. She is hard working and dedicated to whatever she decides to do. She is loyal where no one has ever been loyal to her. She is intelligent and loves puzzles and anything that makes her think. She is a huge animal lover and will gladly donate her money to animals in need. She is the type to sacrifice herself for others. She is very artistic but hasn’t drawn or sewn anything since the breakup. She is more guarded with her heart, not trusting that people will stay with her.

Wanted Connections

Childhood friends: Kendra spent a lot of summers, winter holidays, and spring breaks in Denver, so maybe your muse and hers were friends during that time

First Kiss/Crush/BF: It would be so cute if during those times she was in Denver, she had a little crush or something and they would send each other letters and emails and everything until it kind of just fizzled into friendship because long distance is hard

Coworkers: If your muse would work within emergency services, maybe they would know each other! They could grab drinks together after particularly bad days

Fan: Kendra was pretty well known and popular in the bridal fashion world, so maybe your muse is a huge fan of hers and doesn’t get why she’s not doing it any more. Maybe they even encourage her to design again

Knew Her Grandparents: Kendra’s grandparents were very involved in the social scene in Denver, so perhaps your muse knew them or heard of them before!