#malec mundane au

[lurafita]

Mundane AU with supportive Maryse

If talking mundane au where Maryse wasn't the worst more accepting of her son's sexuality

Maryse: "You know, my friend Ethel, you know Ethel, right? She used to come over every sunday and play a round of cards with me while your father taught you how to throw a ball." Alec: "Yes, I remember Ethel. How is she?" Maryse: "Oh, she is just splendid! Her daughter is coming to visit her soon. Cynthia. You remember Cynthia, right?" Alec: "Yes, I remember Cynthia. Look, mom, the reason I came to visit today,-" Maryse: "Ethel is so excited! And Cynthia has grown into a lovely woman. I saw some pictures. Did you know she just finished her doctorate?" Alec: "No. That's really good for her. But, uhm, you see, what I was gonna talk to you about-" Maryse: "And, according to Ethel, Cynthia had a bit of a shine on you back when you were both teens." Alec: "Well, it's a small town, not like she had a lot to choose from. But what I was trying-" Maryse: "Oh pish posh! You were such a sweet and smart and nice boy! Cynthia clearly knew a good catch when she saw one, so don't sell yourself short. Maybe you two could reconnect a bit when she comes to visit. She is single, too." Alec: "Mom, I'm gay." Maryse: "… Well, why didn't you say so sooner? Just last week I met with Janine. You remember Janine, right? She used to babysit you when you were young. She has a brother who is gay. I could have gotten his number for you" Alec: "Mom-" Maryse: "Oh, and then there is this couple who moved in the old Byers house across the street. You remember the Byers, right dear? Old man Byers would always shout about stray dogs on his lawn, even though there were never any stray dogs anywhere!" Alec: "Mom-" Maryse: "Anyway, this new couple? Lovely people. Two gay men, married for 2 years now. They surely have some friends they could introduce you to."

Alec: "Mom, I'm not looking to meet anyone right now." Maryse: "Oh, that's fine, too. But you know, it doesn't hurt to look. You aren't getting any younger. And weddings take such a long time to plan." Alec: "Mom, I'm not even in a relationship yet. There is no wedding." Maryse: "And adoption takes some time too, you know? You still want kids, right?" Alec: "Of course I do, but-" Maryse: "Oh, I know! Old Dale, you remember Dale, right? He runs the local autoshop. He just hired a few new mechanics. And they like working shirtless when it's hot. We could go have a look. Make it a Mother Son outing." Alec: "MOM!" Maryse: "What? I'm old, not dead. I appreciate the sight of some big, muscly men from time to time." Alec: "Oh my god!" Maryse: "A mechanic actually would be a nice match for you. They are bound to be handy with their… tools." Alec: "… I'm gonna forget this conversation ever happened."

[i-have-not-slept]

Malectober Day 25: Button

“Fuck.” Alec muttered, staring down at the plastic button in his hand. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

Of all the times a button could come off his jacket, it had to be today. Today, when he had a meeting with the board of directors to present his new shares report. And of course today was the day he’d worn a jacket with only one button. The dress code at his workplace was ridiculously strict, and Alec knew that going in there like this would not be acceptable.

Desperately, he scanned the busy city street, looking for any place that might help him. He had half an hour before the meeting… but if by some miracle…

There. A small, fairly discreet shop with an overhead sign saying BANE’S TAILORING. Alec felt a small stab of hope. Maybe they’d be able to help him. He darted across the street, stopping outside the store. Smaller letters over the door proclaimed it to be a GENTLEMEN’S TAILOR AND ALTERATIONS SERVICE. Perfect. Alec ducked inside, jingling the bell over the door. 

The inside of the shop was cool and smelled faintly of jasmine. Under Alec’s feet was a red carpet that had once been plush, but was now slightly threadbare. Antique wood paneling covered the walls. The whole space had the feel of somewhere lavish but slightly rundown. 

Along the far wall stretched a large oak desk with a dark green marble surface, and now a man stepped out from a back room to stand behind it. He was tall, as tall as Alec, and handsome, with sharp cheekbones and a warm smile. His eyes were an unusual shade of golden brown, like sunlight through dark honey. He wore an expensive-looking purple suit, complete with a lemon yellow pocket square. He smiled brightly at Alec.

“Hello.” His voice low and rich, with an accent Alec column’t quite place. “How can I help you today?” 

“Uh.” Alec said. Caught up in studying the man, he’d briefly forgotten why he’d entered the shop. He remembered the button, and came forward to the desk. “Hi. I uh— I just lost a button off my jacket, and I have this really important meeting at work, and uh— I know I don’t have an appointment or anything, but um, I just wondered if you’d— if you’d be able to sew it back on. Or something. I’ll pay whatever you think is fair.” he added in a rush.

The store owner raised an eyebrow, seeming amused by Alec’s word vomit. “Of course. It would be my pleasure. Bring it here.” 

Alec laid the button on the counter in front of him. The man smiled at him. “I’ll need your jacket as well, darling.” 

Alec felt himself blush. “Oh. Uh. Yeah. Of course.” Feeling like an idiot, he shrugged off his jacket and laid it down beside the button. 

The store owner ran his long brown fingers over the loose threads in the jacket where the button had been. “No problem at all, just a simple repair job.” He glanced up at Alec, with that intriguing smile again. “What’s your name, anyway? I’m Magnus.”

“Alec.” Alec told him. He found himself smiling back.

“Well, Alec, this should only take a few minutes,” Magnus told him, pulling a box of thread spools out from under the counter. “Feel free to look around while you wait.”  

Alec did so, glancing around the room. It was full of fancy-looking suits displayed on mannequins, shelves of neatly folded shirts, and racks of ties. Absently, he wandered further into the shop, discovering that there was another room off the main one. Alec stepped inside, and his eyes widened. The room was a riot of colour and sparkles. Sequined evening dresses in a dozen different colours hung from the far wall. Fluffy tulle underskirts hung from the ceiling like brightly coloured clouds, in shades of pink, blue, yellow, peach, lavender. There was a large shelf of shoes, platform heels and pumps and stilettos. Everything shone or glittered or gleamed so that Alec was nearly overwhelmed. 

He stepped back into the main room. Magnus was carefully working a needle through the material of Alec’s jacket. He glanced up again and smiled at Alec. “See anything you like?”

Alec gestured vaguely to the next room. “I thought… I mean, your sign says that you’re a gentleman's tailor.”

Magnus raised his eyebrows. “We are a men’s tailoring service, darling.”

Alec opened his mouth again, and then stopped. He looked into the other room again, seeing suddenly how the cut of the dresses was….different, how the high heels were rather larger than women’s sizes. His face felt suddenly hot. “Oh.” 

“Yes.” Magnus confirmed, his eyes sparking mischievously. “I’m not much into drag myself— well, nothing more than the odd pair of fishnets and heels— but a lot of my friends are, and they have the devil of a time trying to find clothes that fit. So I expanded my business to accommodate their needs.” 

Alec’s face was burning. He didn’t know what to say, and the words fishnets and heels were spinning around inside his brain. “That’s uh— that’s really— really nice of you.” He turned away and pretended to be examining a rack of shirts as a form of escape. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Magnus grin as he bent over his work again.

——————————————————————————

 Magnus was having an unexpectedly good time. When the handsome stranger had stumbled into his shop, helplessly clutching a button, Magnus had been briefly dazzled by how stunningly attractive he was. He knew it was inappropriate to be checking out his customers, but god, that dark hair, and those eyes. He waited as the man— Alec— pulled off his jacket and laid it on the counter. Magnus grabbed his sewing kit and sat on the tall stool he used for quick repair jobs. It was the work of a moment to find a reel of thread that matched the colour of the jacket, and he began stitching. Magnus watched Alec surreptitiously as he worked. The grey suit and pale blue shirt looked good on him— Magnus suspected that the dark-haired stranger would look good in anything— but he couldn’t help thinking that a pop of colour in his clothes would make his skin and hair stand out beautifully. 

With a twinge of regret, he reflected that Alec was probably straight, based on his reaction to the dresses and heels in Magnus’s other room. He spoke teasingly, almost testing the other man, and didn’t miss the way Alec’s eyes lingered on his face and hands. Nor did he miss the way Alec blushed hotly at Magnus’s comment about fishnets and heels.

Hmmm. Perhaps he’d been too hasty to dismiss Alec as straight. 

Magnus finished stitching on the button and snipped off the excess thread. Alec was still studying the shelves, his attention turned away from him. Magnus considered for a second. He thought of the way Alec’s eyes had roamed over him, curious and surprised and maybe a tiny bit interested. Should he do it?

Magnus took a deep breath and went for it. Grabbing a piece of paper, he quickly wrote his number, before scrawling, Call me any time you need another button sewn on. —Magnus. He slipped the scrap of paper into the pocket of Alec’s jacket and straightened up.

“All done!” he announced. “Good as new.” 

Alec turned to face him, relief obvious in his face. “Oh, thank you so much. You’re an absolute lifesaver. How much do I owe you?”

Magnus waved his hand breezily. “Nothing. It was my pleasure.” 

Alec began to protest, but Magnus waved him away. “Really, darling, it was nothing.”

“Oh.” said Alec shyly. “Thanks. That’s— really kind of you.

Magnus grinned. If Ragnor, his old business professor, was here, he’d scold Magnus for giving away his services for free. But Ragnor wasn’t here, and Magnus’s store was doing well enough that he could afford to give five minutes of his time to a handsome stranger. “You’re very welcome, darling.” He noted that the word darling caused Alec’s cheeks to flush again, and felt a spark of delight in his chest.

Alec shrugged his jacket on, and Magnus admired the way his shoulders moved under the material. “Thanks again.”

Magnus beamed at him. “Hope to see you again sometime.”

Alec smiled, a small and embarrassed smile, but genuine. The shop bell jingled faintly behind him as he left.

Magnus leaned forward on his desk, toying absently with a reel of cotton. He wondered how long it would take Alec to find the bit of paper in his pocket. Something told Magnus he would call, and he smiled. Maybe, just maybe, this could be the start of something wonderful.

[lawsofchaos1]

Malec Promptlet: Circle!Alec AU

[Inspired by a comment from @crimsonpharaoh on my latest fic about the Circles very failed attempt to recruit Alec... What if they didn't fail?]

Alec is the eldest son and the acknowledged heir of two prominent, highly-ranked Circle members that are openly known to have recanted Valentine’s ideology in name only. When Robert and Maryse begin leaving the Institute in Alec’s care when he’s fourteen it becomes clear that Alec isn’t relying on his bloodline alone and is going to be an immensely powerful member of the Clave in his own right. 

The Circle would be utterly foolish not to recruit the Shadowhunter who is absolutely certain to become the next Head of the New York Institute. Especially when it becomes evident that the Shadowhunters of the New York Institute would happily lay down their lives for their beloved young leader. Whichever way Alec turns in this war, so too will New York. 

Kept wholly apart from the Downworld and with no formative mentors other than his parents, the Circle tries to recruit Alec … and Alec says yes. Everything he’s been taught says that Valentine is right - that the Downworld is a threat, and - well, Valentine’s not stupid. It’s clear that Alec is too ethical for torture and the worst of his planned experiments - but the Head of New York openly sympathetic to his cause? Aiding it, even subtly? Valentine is careful in his recruitment and how he presents the Circle’s aims. It works.

In canon, Alec is held back as he works because his pro-Downworld values are so far against the standards of the Clave, but if he doesn’t have that friction working against him? Alec rises fast and far in the ranks, quickly becoming the Vested Head of New York with his parent’s vocal support and he dominates the Clave’s political circles in Alicante. His Institute is loyal to Alec, utterly, and follows his lead. With the careful way Valentine (and Maryse) present the results of his actions to Alec, he has no cause to doubt the righteousness of his support for the Circle's planned rise.

Until he meets Magnus.

Magnus and Alec meet by sheer happenstance, literally running into each other on the streets of Brooklyn on one of the passingly rare afternoons Alec takes off both his patrol and administrative duties. Alec takes one look at the most beautiful man he’s ever seen in his life and is so tongue-tied he nearly fumbles accepting the resultant invitation for coffee.

For months, Alec grows deeper and deeper in love with the gorgeous and kind mundane, glowing in a way that’s noticeable even to his typically highly unobservant siblings. Alec has slowly begun to dreaming about them making a life together. Alec's is certain Magnus' soul would be deemed worthy of Ascension, but, even if Magnus isn't interested in becoming nephilim, Alec loves Magnus with everything he is and can't picture his life without Magnus by his side.

And then Alec’s world falls apart.

Magnus, just as glowing and just as in love, sits Alec down and quietly, nervously, tells him about the Shadow World. Tells Alec he’s a warlock.

If Magnus is a Downworlder, then nothing Alec has believed for his entire life can be true.

Alec is numb and disbelieving, but Magnus must take it as shock alone for he continues in his explanation, rubbing Alec’s back soothingly as he describes the terror and genocidal aims of the Circle.

Alec somehow manages to rasp out to Magnus that he needs time to think and he flees.

With a starting point Alec had somehow never considered over the last seven years, the threads start to pull apart and everything Valentine hid from him unravels in a series of horrible revelations that leave Alec throwing up bile in his sink. 

What has he done?

The next morning, Alec rises from the cold bathroom floor, limbs aching and head throbbing from lack of sleep. Silently, he goes into his office and gathers every document he has on the Circle’s activities. Everything he’s done for them, every horrible political aim he’s aided, every safehouse he’s helped conceal. He writes down names, he writes down dates and addresses, he sketches out images of the Circle members he’s seen and has no other information for. It takes him nearly until the sun’s last rays are fading before he’s done. 

And then he disarms himself. His bow and quiver. His blades and daggers. His stele. Even the slim hold-out weapon in his boot. Nothing remains.

Alec takes up his parcel of documentation and walks to Brooklyn, every step an inch closer to his grave. Every step an inch closer to his love - to Magnus, the High Warlock of New York.

When Magnus opens the door in leggings and only the barest make-up, Alec’s heart breaks. To Magnus, his mundane boyfriend had reacted very poorly to learning of the Shadow World yesterday. Badly enough that he likely is worried what Alec is here to say.

And Alec would give nearly anything to wrap his partner in a warm, familiar embrace and soothe his worries away, but Alec doesn’t deserve the comfort that would bring him too. He doesn’t deserve to even look at Magnus anymore.

Magnus brings him into the living room, gesturing him to the couch, but Alec stops short in the bare space in front of the coffee table. He looks to Magnus, memorizes for one final time what it is to have the man he loves look at him without hate and disgust in his eyes, and sinks to his knees on the ground.

Magnus turns around, startled, mouth open to protest, but Alec can’t listen to that - can’t hear what Magnus says before he knows of Alec’s sins. 

He places the parcel of information on the floor in front of him, focuses his gaze on his knees and confesses.

Everything.

[foodsies4me]

July Malec fic rec!

Thanking the ever talented and wonderful @lawsofchaos1 for letting me barge in the DM’s to ask for help for this month's theme! This time the theme is a double one aka parabatai-feels/Alec&Jace friendship and religious themes! The same rules apply as always, one fic per author, even though all of these authors have other brilliant fics you should be reading and if you want to add your own recs in the comments, tags, or reblogs please feel free to do so! 💜

Also, I have tagged the authors whose Tumblr account I know (aka found on their AO3 profile), but if you'd prefer I not tag you, please tell me! I don't want these to be annoying for the authors.

One-shots:

3 Times Jace Feels Alec’s Happiness by fancyachatup: Just like the title says, three times Jace feels Alec being happy through their parabatai bond.

Summary:

3 times Jace realizes that Magnus is the best thing that's ever happened to Alec.

I cannot touch because they are too near by @faejilly: Still one of my favourite fics about the parabatai bond to date!

Summary:

If Magnus is going to love Alexander (which of course he is) then he's going to have to understand his parabatai and their bond, at least a little bit better than he does now. But he's not entirely sure how or where to start...

The Oddities of Sharing a Soul by @facialteeth: Another lovely Magnus learning some more about the parabatai-bond and what it means fic. Cute and fluffy and definitely recommended.

Summary:

Magnus goes to visit Alec and learns from Isabelle that there are some odd features to having a Parabatai Bond.

and miles to go before I sleep by ralf: Magnus meeting his kids in the past. This fic is just adorable and reading it never fails to bring a smile to my face.

Summary:

“Alec, can you come to the Institute?” That's Clary's voice, coming through the line in a low whisper. Alec tenses instantly. “What is it?” “It's Jace.”

Parabatai by SilasSolarius: A more eldritch as well as a queer platonic approach to the parabatai bond! Also, Ragnor lives because of course he does!

Summary:

Summary: Parabatai. Everyone, even downworlders were aware of the most sacred of the Nephilim's bonds, and yet very little is known about it. As far as most are concerned, the bond is merely a fancy way of calling each other brothers-in-arms, or best friends. Yet in reality, it is so much more. Ragnor Lives! AU

Multi-Chapters or Series

Angelus ex Machina by @bluemeridian: Rec-ced by lawsofchaos1, but I will 120% rec this series as well because it is just avdnz’gj’z’glg I love it so much, the way they parabatai bond is described is exquisite.

Summary:

Demons have disappeared from the city and the local Shadow World has discovered the hard way that the only thing worse than demons is an institute of Shadowhunters with no demons to fight. But that situation is (hopefully) temporary. The whole thing with the parabatai bond being weird is something else entirely.

Take Me To Church by j_writes: I don’t’ know how to describe this fic other than I love it, that’s all.

Summary:

Alec is the acting head of the Institute trying to deal with the new pressures this title brings. A string of Mundane murders and strange demonic markings leads him to seek help from the nearest High Warlock, Magnus Bane. Upon meeting him, Alec realizes that his secret is at risk of being revealed. He tries to keep his growing attraction for Magnus hidden as best as he can. With the support of his sister, Isabelle, who is trying to find love herself; they both try to discover if they can let their worries go and accept love with open arms.

The Whipping Boy (orphan account): This fic hurts. It just hurts.

Summary:

1. a boy brought up together with a young prince and required to take the punishment for the latter's misdeeds 2. scapegoat

The burden of command is one Alec shoulders gladly. When protecting his family has always meant taking responsibility for their actions, he's had a lifetime to prepare. 

It's the one thing he's good at. The one thing about himself he knows is worthy.

So, of course, Magnus and his siblings hate it.

The truth written on our souls by @to-the-stars-writing: Immortal Alec meets good parabatai Jace meets some religious imaginary meets magic gone wrong and worldbuilding which are the two things that make me go feral above all, so yessss!

Summary:

Be careful what you wish for.

That was a saying that was something most people threw around in a teasing sort of way. Something to chide another with, maybe, after something goes wrong. But when dealing with magic there were no truer words. Be careful what you wish for was a very clear warning. One that Alec had heard Magnus lament over people not heeding so many different times.

Today was only further proof of that.

They’d come into this planning on doing a spell to give Alec immortality. They’d done their research, prepared themselves as best they could, but they’d forgotten that basic tenant. Be careful what you wish for.

Holding Angels by @echo-bleu (Hi Echo, I love you💜💜💜): Alec tells the Clave he made the wish and not Clary. This fic hurts and is painful and I love it.

Summary:

The decision is anything but easy, but it’s simple. It’s suddenly limpid in Alec’s head, like this is the moment he’s been waiting for his whole life.

(He tries not to think about how morbid that thought is.)

“I would have done the same,” he repeats. She sniffles against his chest.

“In fact,” he continues, pushing her back gently to look at her, “that’s exactly what I did, as far as the Clave is concerned.”

Alec tells the Clave he's the one who made the Wish.

Laudanum by @lawsofchaos1 that I couldn’t not rec. (Sorry, Laws you had to know this was coming when you mentioned religious imaginary). While I generally try to limit myself to complete fics, this fic has had me by the jugular for years now and I am obsessed.

Face blank, Alec steps forward without a moment of hesitation to stand in front of the Inquisitor, his people parting respectfully before him to clear his path as he goes. He comes to a halt a few paces in front of the Clave representative and the guardsmen she’d brought from Alicante. A coiled leather whip hangs from the belt of the man at her left shoulder.

Shoulders drawn back and hands clasped behind his waist, Alec meets Imogen Herondale’s steel gaze. The words are ritual and although Alec has said them many times before, never before has he meant them less.

“That it may please the Angel to bring back into the way of righteousness all such as have erred, I place myself before you for Discipline.”

Imogen Herondale smiles.

[alexanderlightweight]

*Wednesday is subjective and can last up to 36 hours due to insomnia. Wednesday starts on Wednesday and ends when the author passes out sometime later.

The Rules + Notes

Only Malec prompts accepted

It’s okay to prompt another chapter for an existing fic, even the oneshots. There is a chance i won’t be able to or want to fill it, but i’m always willing to consider. Just be polite.

I write a lot of dark stuff, so feel free to specify if you want to avoid something or want something specific.

I really do enjoy just the fun of building a fic from a single word, but I’m also happy to try and tackle any longer and more complex prompts. 

If your prompt isn’t filled the week it’s sent it, I’m still going to write it. I always respond to an ask to explain why I won’t fill it if I’m not going to.

If I can’t/wont fill a prompt, I’ll post it and explain and say it’s okay to send another.

prompts are only open on writing wednesdays or if i specify otherwise (this was changed because of how many prompts i get easy wednesday and thats the specific prompt day)

feel free to ask me if i've got your prompt but please know it sometimes takes time to get to all of them and I write verses based on the mood I’m in

I don’t post all of my fic fills to ao3 but I do try to do about half of them. Posting takes a lot of spoons and I generally end up adding more to the fics when I post them so it takes a bit.

I want it very clear that I do this because it’s fun and healthy for me and everyone who prompts is super sweet and I don’t do it to get feedback from prompters (but I always enjoy it)! It's really just worth it to me for the expression of shared art. Because I wouldn’t write half of the fun stories I love creating and exploring without the prompts from others to tickle my thoughts.

However, my partner and I are very protective about my mental health and I have social anxiety to the degree that I sometimes still need my handheld after strangers talk to me so I don't go rolling into a blanketball and scream.

If you are rude, I will sic my boyfriend @saeths (who is an asshole) on you and they will happily come down like a blistering gust of burning wind from an out of control wildfire. Seriously, they think it’s fun to fuck with people and they’re very protective. {i have npd and a lack of acceptable targets -saeth}

They would enjoy it, except the part where it made me upset. 

So don’t make me upset and I won’t set saeth on anyone.

Also saeth and i tend to flirt in posts on our blogs back and forth. so if you don’t want to see that because you’re here for fics and want to avoid it the tag is always ‘saeth & kitten’

- Lumine

The Author likes to write

darkly!soft romance

magical realism & magical flora and fauna 

Dead Dove: Do Not Eat (3DNE)

Magnus/Cat/Ragnor friendship 

Exploring the eldritch and angelic natures of nephilim and the fallen divinity of greater demons

Alec’s Institute and shadowhunters being competent 

creature!character fics

soulmates

The Author won't write

non-con/rape

cheating

major character death

hurt no comfort

sad endings

any main pairing besides malec

mpreg/kidfic

camille centric fics

non-magical mundane/shadowhunters inverted au’s

Verse List (under cut)

this eldritch delight – soft-horror malec (Alec is the Trueblood heir, Addams Inspired) 

star eater – sentient!shadow Alec Trueblood au 

the agony of living – chronic!pain alec

Elysiums Tears – Alec is cursed with visions of the future(s)

all your cracks I’ll paint gold – deruned Alec 

the bonds i'd break – all your cracks i'll paint gold au

in his wake, petals fall – Alec loves flowers and Magnus loves indulging him 

cider verse – Alec and Magnus are in a secret relationship since before canon 

pray to the hunters – Alec worships dead shadowhunters instead of Raziel 

the price of lust – Manipulative dark Magnus 

a stolen blade – assassin!alec au soulmates

dressed to kill – mob!wife Alec

flames of triumph – Phoenix Magnus & unicorn Alec 

ripples of magic – Sentient Institute & wards

in the light of the night – Alec hunts circle members to feed the angelic core 

the core of me belongs to you – Alec is the institute 

rituals & souls – Magnus summons an alec for himself after meeting the possibility of him 

to find, to yield – power imbalance, dominion magic

the frost of fury – competent Alec takes no shit in his institute

to break with fate – the circle wins 

all my fears forgotten – alec has amnesia 

like real people do – dragon!alec 

saint & sinners – shadowhunter!magnus & mentor/mentee

hoarfrost kiss on lips aflame – nephilim are more eldritch than mundane and it presents in the most chilling of ways

heartbeat like fire – sentinel!magnus & guide!alec 

spoils of war – Alec is a political hostage disguised as a groom 

devotion across worlds – Alec Trueblood (sentient shadows) is summoned to another universe and mistaken as an angel

marriage of inconvenience – Magnus marries Alec to save him from marrying Clary 

running from my dreams – alec has to work through past trauma when the Institute is poisoned 

walls of adoration, claws of desperation – Magnus and Alec are pre-canon secret relationship. alec is older in this fic, he's 7 years older than izzy and was raised by trueblood grandparents

bleed for desire – Magnus is king of the east coast and happily steps in to take care of newly born vampire Alec 

art of obsession – au of bleed for desire (instead alec ends up falling into Edom and Magnus decides to keep him there for a bit and go on vacation for a bit)  

your heart is full of jewels – alec is mistaken by mundanes as a sugar baby

an extension of you – alec is known as belonging to magnus' and that means something for downworlders

not all that glitters is gold – dragon!magnus with a lot of kink and monsterfucking

for you the world will burn – maryse isn't a good person, but she is a good mother and that is sometimes the more dangerous combinations

finders keepers – alec ends up in another universe and that magnus decides to keep him

feral sweetness, like honeycomb – incompetent shadowhunter and Alec deals with them and Magnus is there watching *its how they meet

soulfire – magnus summons another magnus bane to help him save his soulmate. magnus/alec/magnus

flames so cold they shatter – alec gets the lightwood family gift and remains the lightwood heir... and the only lightwood left

to tremble from your gaze – BDSM verse, dom!magnus and sub!alec

the craft of adoration– alec manipulates his way into magnus' arms

the most fragile of poisons – magnus pretends to be a damsel in distress, aka enjoying overprotective alec

undertow – kelpie!alec au with accidental courtship and BDSM

the treasure of kings – alec and magnus aren't impressed to find that lilith's son takes after his mother (aka wants to bang a lightwood)

the same sky – malec time travel to back a few years before canon, both of them

a warlock's hoard – a/b/o universe, omega/omega malec

to be or knot to be – a/b/o universe, alpha/alpha malec (look it was punny, i couldn't knot use it)

the worth of a life – asmodeus asks for the parabatai bond instead of magnus' magic to save jace

the desecration of souls – lilith has a claim to alec as her son thanks to valentine's experiments

the bonds i'd break – au of 'all your cracks i'll paint gold' where alec takes a chance and steal leaves nephilim/shadowhunter society but keeps his runes

guided by my unchained heart – alec resigns from the institute when jace is made hoti and goes to magnus

the taste of his magic – dragon!alec and magnus (he can shift into a cat) meet because alec can't keep his claws off of magnus' garden

(i'm trying to add some stuff but saeth will come back and fix it!)

[khaleesiofalicante]

Holi Dani honey. Today i have a very very long long question

How do you feel about Etta? I don't think I've ever read that you mention her, and in your fics I don't think she ever appears. Camille (iconic), Imasu (damn bastard) always appear and I think you mentioned Woosley once. But never Etta.

The story of Magnus and Etta hurt me a lot. It's my Roman empire lol so much love and it still couldn't work. That is hard. Magnus has had two great loves, I think Cassie herself said it, and they are Alec and Etta. And of course, he has loved other people because Magnus does nothing but with all his heart, but Etta is the closest to the kind of love he has with Alec. And it still didn't work because of something Magnus can't control: not being able to have children. And then Etta got Alzheimer's and everything was even worse.

It's easy to talk about Camille, Imasu, or Woosley because it's easy to hate them and identify their mistakes and how they hurt Magnus intentionally or by being cruel in the name of being honest. Etta is not like that, it is something more complicated and painful, more intimate, deeper. It's incredible how there can be so much love and so much pain intertwined.

I understand that it is difficult to write about her, because it is difficult to write badly about her and usually when people read Malec fanfics they want to read fanfics about their favorite couple, not read one of them in love with someone else. But that's why I wanted to know what you thought of her, what she made you feel or if you perceived her in a different way than mine.

I know TLND Alec would have taken Etta's existence very hard, he wasn't in a good place. But in another AU, do you think he would have gotten to know her? Do you think he would have always felt insecure knowing that Magnus loves someone else almost as much as Alec, even when he was the one he chose to marry and have children with?

I loved this analysis! Thank you so much for sharing this with me! I loved it very much.

I like Camilla as a character (not as a partner of Magnus), but out of all of Magnus' exes, Etta is my favourite too.

This whole little analysis reminded me of a quote from one of my future fics: "Sometimes the way someone breaks your heart says more about them the way they love you."

Not only did Magnus and Etta have a beautiful love, but they also parted so beautifully. It was pure and good. Not exactly the right person wrong time, but the right person too much/not enough time.

There are many things that I like about her. I like that she was mundane. I like that she liked the arts (just like Magnus). She liked Magnus for who he was and she was very transparent about what she wanted in that relationship and what she didn't. In essence, it was such an honest relationship. No games. Not from either side.

Etta actually does appear in TLND! She's in a chapter called "To Be Loved By Magnus Bane" (i think! it's in timeline 2). I've also alluded to her in a couple of fics, I think. Although I'm not very sure about that.

I wish more writers (including myself tbh) would explore other relationships of Magnus - either in a fic with alec or even as a standalone one shot or something. Because there is so much to explore and dive into.

You are SO right in that some fans/readers turn it into a competition. Magnus loves Alec more and Magnus never did that/this with this ex, but he did it with Alec. I think you can write about Alec being the love of Magnus' life, and still write about all the other great loves he had. It doesn't, in any way, diminish the love Magnus has for Alec.

As for your question - in a mundane au it really depends on the context. I think a younger alec definitely would've been insecure. But I'd like to think, Alec in general, would've been grateful for Etta for loving Magnus the way she did and for bringing light into his life (That's the Alec I know!)

[wade-winston-wilson]

I'm actually more than a lil obsessed with the idea of a While You Were Sleeping AU for Jimon.

• I imagine it's a Mundane AU, because Simon in glasses.

• Also an 80's AU, BECAUSE I'm imagining Simon works at a newsstand. Izzy is a regular. A regular he has a big, fat crush on.

• While Simon is rambling on to her about something, she gets into an accident. I'm thinking a bike runs into the stand and knocks her down. She hits her head and gets a concussion?

• Simon takes her to the hospital. While she's being wheeled away, he sighs wistfully about how he hopes she's okay, they're supposed to get married someday.

• A nurse overhears that and automatically assumes Simon is Izzy's fiancé. She ushers him into the room, tells everyone on the floor.

• Before Simon can protest, Alec Lightwood and his husband, Magnus, come barreling into the room, followed by a stern looking Maryse, young Max, and a disgruntled Robert Lightwood.

• To Simon's surprise, Luke Garroway is there too--his best friend's dad.

• Maryse is actually so distraught over Izzy, that Luke encourages Simon to keep up the charade--at least until Izzy is awake and okay. Her family can't take anymore bad news right now.

• Alec is wary at first, because Izzy would've definitely told him if she's been seeing someone--let alone that she's engaged.

• Simon is THIS 🤏 close to coming clean, when tall, blond and handsome walks through the door, face flushed like he ran all the way there.

• Simon is struck with the OH NO HE'S HOT SYNDROME, and puts up with the charade, doing his best to throw Alec off his scent.

And in the end, Jace and Simon fall in love. Isabelle meets Maia and they get married. Malec are already married and are about to adopt. That is all I have.

[tommy-kinard-buckley]

This is for my first Malec au which is a mundane au so this is part of it

Magnus is best friends with Catarina Loss who is a nurse at a local hospital that apparently the mayor works at. Magnus had heard all about the Mayor of New York City from Cat. He is sitting in his office listening to Catarina talk about Alec like he has for the last 3 months. “He literally offered this cute little girl to stay at his house because her parents put her in front of the hospital and left. It was adorable Mags.” Magnus rolls his eyes and groans, feeling extremely annoyed. It's not that Alec has done anything to offend Magnus personally. It's just that Alec is a lightwood and lightwoods are never kind to anyone. Robert Lightwood was Mayor before his son, Alec and he was the worst person New York City has ever seen. Magnus remembered the winter he met Robert for the first time. Magnus had recently lost his job and his house in the same week and was now homeless. It was the middle of December so it was extremely cold and brutal for the homeless community in New York City. Magnus ended up accidentally seeing up his small makeshift tent right next to the mayor's house that day. It had started heavily snowing and Magnus knew that he needed better shelter if he was going to survive the night. He looked at the mansion next to his tent and ran for the front door to ask the Mayor for shelter in his house for the night. Robert answered the door quickly with an annoyed expression. “Hello Mayor Lightwood, I was wondering if I could stay at your home for the night? It is snowing heavily and I just really need somewhere warm to sleep just for the night.” Magnus was shivering and Robert didn't care about it.

No pressure tags below

@thisbuildinghasfeelings @carlos-tk @lemonlyman-dotcom @rmd-writes @firstprince-history-huh @storms-s @goodways @paperstorm @carlos-in-glasses @reyesstrand @reeeallygood

[tscclace]

In Another Life

Summary:

When Jace and Clary wake up to find themselves trapped in an alternate dimension where they are no longer Shadowhunters, they must figure out how to fill the role of their mundane selves while they try to get themselves home. But just because they are not Shadowhunters, it does not mean that the world is as simple as one might think. Especially when the question stirs in their minds of what really happens in a world without Shadowhunters? And is Valentine as good as he seems?

Post City of Glass Jace and Clary go to a universe similar to 1x10 Shadowhunters AU dimension.

Ships;

Clace, Sizzy, Malec

unfortunately currently Jocelyn x Valentine but not forever

Chapter One:

Chapter Two:

[onetimetwotimesthreetimess]

will u be posting amnesia au soon or are you planning to finish lrhwy first? or both of them together?

I plan to finish LRHWY first.

I don’t think I can simultaneously post both the fics because the characterisation will get complicated for me. Malec in both these fics are human and in the same age range. If one of them was in a different setting, it would’ve been easy but since both are mundane aus, it might get messy. And I want to do justice to LRHWY Malec before I start writing about HIADT malec.

Plus I barely have time to write these days lmao, two fics means double the anxiety from not being able to post skshskskw.

[lurafita]

In case of mundane au, I can't help but picture this kinda scene.

Alec: "You have another date? With another guy? Again?" Izzy: "Not everyone meets their soulmate in kindergarten, you know." Magnus: "Don't exaggerate, my dear. Alexander and I only met in elementary school."

[the-great-lightwood-bane]

Unscheduled Meetings

Malec | Rated general | tw for canonical MCD in Thule, but not in any of the other AUs

Summary: A (relatively) everyday trip to confront a warlock results in something decidedly not everyday.

Who would’ve thought Alec’s magic held the key to unlocking the multiverse?

A/N: Written for Whumptober day 1: A little out of the ordinary | Adverse Effects | “This wasn’t supposed to happen”

This fic is based on five alternate universe versions of Malec, all of which I’d suggest having some familiarity with before you read. They are:

Unforeseen AU Malec (my AU);

Malec from book canon;

Malec from show canon;

Malec from This World Inverted from the show;

and Malec from Thule in TDA.

Read it on AO3 or below the cut.

The warlock stood in the back of the alley, posture defensive, hands raised with magic swirling around them. 

Magnus was at the other end, hands held up to either side in a gesture of peace; Alec was standing beside him, carefully not touching his weapons although they were within easy reach. The warlock wasn’t evil, just spooked; they’d been raised by a pair of obviously abusive mundanes who’d kept them around purely to do magic for them. An uncontrolled blast of magic had alerted Magnus’ attention to the young warlock, and they’d arrived to see the house in flames with the warlock staring at it in shock. They’d unintentionally killed everyone inside. Wariness was only to be expected. 

Unfortunately, the armed Shadowhunter blocking their way out of the alley wasn’t helping matters. Alec didn’t want to move in case it startled the warlock, but Magnus wasn’t having any luck, so he took a slow, careful step backwards. 

It was the wrong move. 

The warlock’s eyes widened, and magic expanded from their hands to form a swirling portal which swept forward along the length of the alleyway, sucking in bits of dirt and litter as it went. Magnus threw up a hand to stop it, but the magic wasn’t working normally; Alec didn’t know for sure, but he guessed it was wild magic, uncontrolled and uncontrollable. 

He reached forward to pull Magnus out of the way just as the portal swirled brighter, and sucked Magnus in. 

Alec didn’t know if he was screaming, saying anything, breathing; all that mattered was Magnus, who’d fallen into an undirected portal without thinking of a destination — Magnus, who’d be trapped in limbo—

The portal was still open, still swirling, but the young warlock’s shock had halted its advance. Alec didn’t think; he thrust his hand into the portal, envisioning his golden magic spinning out of his fingers, finding Magnus, pulling him back—

It felt like there were multiple Magnuses, for a delirious moment, and then the portal swirled more sharply and Alec felt himself lose his footing, and fall, directly into the swirling, spinning lights. 

Desperately, Alec reached for Magnus, and the world dissolved in gold. 

~

Magnus couldn’t keep the smile off his face, nor did he want to. He thought his soul might bubble up through his chest from the sheer exhilaration of this moment. 

Alec was standing in front of him, smiling equally brightly with an element of earnestness in it, his gold jacket glinting in the light of the torches around them and the stars above. Waves lapped at the beach, one after another, soft and soothing, recalling memories of a sunlit childhood that might have ended in pain but had still been happy, as long as it lasted. 

For a long time, Magnus had thought of that childhood as the last time he’d been truly happy — before his eyes and magic showed themselves to disastrous consequences, before he’d learnt the hard way how cruel the world could be. 

Now, looking at Alec, looking at his soon-to-be husband, Magnus thought that this, right here, was better than anything else. Better than all the world. 

For a strange moment, Magnus thought he felt a tug on him, a tug that felt like gold and Alec, but he forgot it in a moment as Alec pulled out his stele, preparing to draw the rune on his hand that’d bind them forever. 

Smiling, Alec reached for Magnus, and the world dissolved in gold. 

~

“Dance with me?” Magnus asked, holding out a hand. 

Alec chuckled, the two of them both thinking of a few hours earlier, when Magnus had asked the same question. The wedding was over now, reception and all, but euphoria was still bubbling in Alec’s blood. “You sure your feet aren’t too bruised?”

“Walking on air,” Magnus returned with a huff, hand still stretched out. 

Alec reached for Magnus, and the world dissolved in gold. 

~

“You may now kiss the groom,” Raphael said, and Magnus’ soul felt alight with the love in his chest. Raphael’s presence at his wedding was one of the few strong opinions he’d had on the ceremony; Alec had organised nearly everything else, thanks to his time planning parties. 

There was a swell of light in Magnus’ chest, like Alec was holding out a hand through the dark. 

With a smile to outshine the sun, Alec reached for Magnus, and the world dissolved in gold. 

~

The dagger slid easily between Magnus’ ribs. Light drained from the golden eyes Magnus hadn’t been able to glamour for weeks, now. Alec pulled out the dagger in a fluid movement, and thrust it up into his own chest just as he’d done to Magnus. 

As the light faded, Alec reached for Magnus, and the world dissolved in gold. 

~~~~~~~~~

Magnus blinked his eyes open to a blank emptiness of space. 

A moment later, Alec was beside him, hand reached out and covered in golden magic. Magnus’ heart dropped; he’d hoped Alec could escape the young warlock’s out-of-control portal, but clearly not. 

Then, in a flash of gold, another Magnus appeared in the space in front of them, an Alec at his side — both of them wearing jackets in gold and blue, runes drawn around the borders, hands linked over the stele they held together. 

Magnus stared. 

The two of them stared back. 

The staring contest was broken when, with another burst of gold, a third Magnus and Alec showed up — except these two looked different. This third Alec was taller than he should’ve been, taller than any of the Magnuses in the room; the Magnus beside him was shorter than usual, too. Both had dark brown hair, rather than black; both were wearing black jackets, Magnus’ over a red vest and shirt with a ruffle, Alec’s over a white shirt and bow-tie. Alec had several runes visible on his skin — the deflect rune was prominent on his neck — as though he’d only just drawn them. 

The fourth Magnus-and-Alec to appear — Magnus was unsure how long this would go on — looked more like Magnus-and-Alec number three, although Alec was wearing a patterned suit jacket and Magnus’ hair was more subdued than Magnus ever let it be. Strangest of all, there were no runes on Alec’s skin — not a permanent Voyance rune on his hand, not scars from old runes, not Alec number three’s neck rune. 

When the fifth Magnus-and-Alec showed up, Magnus was expecting them, but he was not expecting them like this. There was a bloody hole torn in Magnus’ chest, and at his side, Alec was on the ground, a dagger buried in his ribcage with his hands wrapped around the hilt. 

Magnus’ world screeched to a halt. 

He darted over to their side, the other Magnuses moving at almost the same time, but it was clear that it was too late: this Magnus, this Alec, were beyond all help. 

“What is this,” two Alecs — three and four — asked in unison. 

Magnus swallowed back bile, glancing around at the four other groups and thinking of the gold magic dusting his Alec’s hands, the gold light each Magnus and Alec had emitted as they’d arrived here. “I think I know,” he said softly. 

~

Alec sat down heavily on the ground — was it ground? what was this place? — with Magnus (his Magnus) beside him. He felt like he was experiencing whiplash, too many emotions one after another; one moment he’d been on the beach in LA, in the middle of a wedding ceremony, and then he’d showed up here with another Magnus and Alec standing nearby, and then with more versions of themselves showing up, including one version where both he and Magnus were dead. 

The first Magnus he’d seen — the one who looked like his Magnus, unlike the two short Magnuses — apparently knew what was going on. 

“How much does everyone know about the multiverse?”

Alec nodded, thinking of Emma and Julian’s trip to Thule, but one of the Alecs — the tall one wearing a far more brightly patterned jacket than Alec would be caught dead in, and without a voyance rune on his hand, which was disorienting, because wouldn’t Alec be a Shadowhunter in every universe? — said “nothing”, so Magnus no. 1 explained. 

“Essentially, every time something happens that affects the world, another dimension splits off in which that thing happened differently,” Magnus told them, falling into the lecture mode Alec recognised from his own Magnus. “Think of it as, I don’t know, a bunch of bubbles drifting through the air. It’s actually four-dimensional, but it’s easier to think about in three dimensions, so just envision that. All the bubbles split off, at one time or another, from an original bubble, and so in each of them, different things are going on. Each one is a different dimension, a different realm; the air around the bubbles, to continue the analogy, is Limbo. We’re each from a different dimension, in which something went slightly differently and changed things.” His eyes flickered to the Alec and Magnus on the ground — in that universe, at least, things had changed for the worse. “Clear so far?” 

Alec with no runes nodded. 

“Good. Now, the interesting thing is that while there are many copies of us in different dimensions, there’s only one version of any demon or angel, and that demon or angel can travel between realms far more easily than anyone from a particular realm. Demons also have the Void, which is something like a realm but isn’t a version of this realm — it’s something totally different. One can speculate that angels have an equivalent of the Void, but there’s no proof of that.” Magnus no. 1 glanced around to make sure everyone understood, then went on. “I’m not sure if this happened in any of your realms, but a little while ago, my Alec and I fought Sammael.”

The two short Magnuses — both in suits, one wearing far more subdued clothing than the other — stared, as did the Alec with the deflect rune. Runeless Alec looked confused; if he wasn’t a Shadowhunter in his dimension, he likely knew nothing of Sammael. 

Magnus no. 1 went on. “Anyway, a lot of stuff happened — it’s complicated — but in the end, Alec gained some of Sammael’s magic, which allows him to teleport (not Portal, teleport; again, it’s complicated) and gives him some basic warlock magic, although he’s still working on mastering that.” The Alec sitting beside him raised his hand, letting gold sparks dance around in. 

Alec blinked. How come he hadn’t gotten warlock magic fighting Sammael? 

“As Sammael exists outside of the different dimensions, my theory is that every Alec, in every dimension you exist in, has a small seed of the same magic,” Magnus no. 1 continued. “Not enough to do anything normally, but I think my Alec might’ve pulled you all here using a combination of his magic and yours.”

“But how?” the two short Magnuses asked in unison, then glanced at each other in surprise. 

“I’m getting to that,” Magnus no. 1 said, eyebrow raised. “What happened to us right before coming here was that I fell into an undirected portal without thinking of a destination, and Alec fell through after me, trying to reach out to me with his magic.” 

“Limbo,” Alec’s Magnus breathed, eyes widening. “The way we portal one place to another — it’s through Limbo, which is the space between dimensions. So if you and your Alec fell into limbo while Alec was trying to reach you with his magic—”

“—he didn’t just reach for me, but for all the Magnuses in nearby dimensions,” Magnus no. 1 finished. “And the spark of magic in the other Alecs would’ve reacted to his magic, and pulled all of you here.” 

~

Magnus let out a slow breath. “You can’t portal out of Limbo,” he said, “so how are we supposed to, well, get back?” 

To his relief, the Magnus who’d explained the situation smiled. “The Alecs should be able to take you back. Coming here — using that spark of magic in them — has strengthened their magic, according to the scans I’ve done. While Portals aren’t possible from here, every Alec should be able to teleport back; they’ll just need to focus on something they’ve got an emotional connection to back home.”

Letting out a breath, Magnus reached out to tangle his fingers through Alec’s hand. He felt Alec’s ring against his fingers — the ring he’d given Alec before going to Edom, the ring Alec had put on for a second time only hours earlier. 

“Then we should go back as soon as we can,” the Alec who had no runes said, leaning forwards. He was the only Alec who looked like Magnus’ Alec — lighter hair than the others, hazel eyes as opposed to blue, tall — but he was also the only one without any runes at all. 

“It won’t matter when we leave here,” Magnus-who’d-explained-everything told him. “We’re outside of time here — we can go back to precisely the moment we left from.”

Runeless Alec let out a breath, relaxing slightly. “Good, ’cause my siblings do not know about the whole Shadow World thing, and I don’t think vanishing in the middle of my wedding is the best way to break it to them.” 

The Magnus beside runeless Alec — he looked the same as Magnus himself did, height and hair colour-wise, but his hair was abominably flat — nodded agreement. “I’d like to delay the interrogation as long as possible.”

“I doubt the interrogation will get any better over time, babe,” runeless Alec returned. “If anything, it’ll get worse since they’ll be mad we’ve kept it from them for so long.” Magnus blinked in surprised bemusement at babe. Alec — his Alec, at least — only used endearments rarely; aside from the occasional “love”, he preferred to use Magnus’ name. 

“I was talking about the interrogation on which myths are real, which superheroes each Downworlder is most similar to, and whether I’m basically Gandalf or not,” flat-hair Magnus told him. “Izzy and Simon are going to hound me.”

“Yeah, I don’t envy you,” runeless Alec returns with a grin. “Better brush up on your comic book knowledge—”

“Wait,” Alec — Magnus’ Alec — broke in, frowning. “Izzy is a comic book nerd in your dimension?”

Runeless Alec blinked and glanced over. “Yeah. It’s, like, an obsession with her and Simon. Isn’t that the case in your dimension?”

“My Izzy was raised as a Shadowhunter,” Alec replied. “We didn’t exactly have much exposure to mundane comic books.”

“Same with mine,” the two other Alecs — the shorter, blue-eyed ones — chimed in. 

Magnus leaned forward. “What’s your dimension like? I’m assuming you’re not Shadowhunters, but how did that happen?”

Flat-hair Magnus was the one to reply. “A couple centuries ago, the Shadowhunters used Raziel’s Wish to rid the dimension of demons. Shadowhunters essentially blended with the mundane world after that, since there wasn’t really any point to having them. I thought I’d seen the last of all this until another dimension’s Clary showed up—”

“Wait, that was your dimension?” Magnus cut in. “Our Clary went to another dimension, said there wasn’t any magic there—”

“Yep, that’s us,” runeless Alec put in. “I met Magnus thanks to that whole thing, so I suppose I should thank you.”

“None of that happened to us,” the two blue-eyed Alecs said, again in unison. 

“I want to know more about Izzy the comic book nerd,” Alec interrupted. “Do you have pictures?”

Runeless Alec blinked, then pulled out a phone. “I doubt I’ve got data here, but I’ve got a few photos saved.” 

Alec leaned over to look, and Magnus followed; the two blue-eyed Alecs leaned closer as well. This Izzy bore no runes; she looked like the Izzy Magnus knew, but she was wearing glasses — glasses — and a Star Wars T-shirt, far less revealing than her usual attire. Alec pulled out his phone to compare; runeless Alec’s eyes widened at Izzy in one of her Pandemonium dresses, which showed far more skin than it covered. 

“Yeah, that looks more like my Izzy,” one of the blue-eyed Alecs — the one in a gold jacket — commented. “But she’s so short.” 

~

Alec had no idea how long the eight of them spent talking. The others explained a bit about their pasts — all three pairs had been part of a war against Valentine, which was very odd, seeing as Alec knew him as Clary’s father and a tech company CEO. It was disconcerting, to say the least, knowing that in another dimension, he wanted to exterminate all Downworlders — including Magnus. 

More than that, though, Alec was feeling a bit… lame. Every other Alec was a Shadowhunter, trained his whole life to fight demons. One was Head of the Institute, apparently the highest position in New York; one was leading an international organisation called the Alliance which attempted to help with Downworlder-Shadowhunter relations; and one was something called Consul, which meant he was effectively in charge of every Shadowhunter, everywhere, in his world. 

In comparison, Alec’s job as party planner felt a bit ridiculous. Frivolous. 

As though he knew what Alec was thinking, Magnus glanced over at him, eyebrow raised. Alec smiled and shook his head; he knew Magnus saw straight through him, but he didn’t exactly want to discuss his insecurities in front of the probably-never-insecure Shadowhunter versions of himself. 

“What about those two, though?” the Alec with the rune on his neck asked, glancing over at where the two corpses still lay. “What do you think happened to make everything… worse?”

It was disconcerting, to say the least, to see himself and Magnus lying dead on the ground; Alec had been trying not to look at them. They’d clearly died just as they arrived here, judging by the blood that’d pooled from their matching wounds. 

The blue-eyed Alec who had Sammael’s magic leaned forward to look at them, then suddenly blanched. “I — it looks like they — look at the angle of their bodies,” he said at last. “I think — I think this Alec killed Magnus, and then himself.”

The other blue-eyed Alec, the one in a gold jacket, glanced at his Magnus and then back at the two on the ground. “I wonder if they’re from Thule.”

“Thule?” blue-eyed Alec number one asked, head tilted to the side. “I don’t think that’s happened to us yet.”

“Our realm’s Emma Carstairs and Julian Blackthorn accidentally ended up there a few days ago,” blue-eyed Alec two explained. Alec had no idea who these people were, but the other blue-eyed Alec nodded in comprehension. “It’s another dimension which split off when Clary died at the Battle of the Burrow. Sebastian and his army of Endarkened took over the world; the Blight showed up sooner than it did in our realm—” he cut off at the confused faces around him. Even the other blue-eyed Alec didn’t seem to know what the Blight was. 

“I won’t go into all the irrelevant details,” blue-eyed Alec no. 1 went on, “but the Blight’s a disease which only affects warlocks. At first it simply makes them weaker, but eventually… eventually they transform into demons. The cure is water from Lake Lyn; if anything starts happening in your worlds, try using that. Thule’s warlocks didn’t figure it out until it was too late and Lake Lyn was inaccessible. Thule’s Magnus got sick, started transforming; he begged Alec to kill him. Alec did so, then killed himself.” His lips were pressed together, voice slightly rough. Alec couldn’t blame him; if something like that were to happen to his Magnus…

The tall Magnus who’d explained the situation at the start abruptly turned towards his Alec. “You killed yourself? Why would you do that?”

His Alec — the one Alec had taken to calling blue-eyed Alec no. 2 — blinked. “That wasn’t me. It’s an alternate universe, Magnus!”

Tall Magnus no. 2’s hands curled around his shirt. “If I die, you are not allowed to do anything like that! Who would take care of our kids? How could you do that to them?”

“We never had kids in that world,” blue-eyed Alec no. 2 replied. 

Tall Magnus let out a breath, but his fingers didn’t loosen. “You are not allowed to hurt yourself, under any circumstances. Do you understand that, Alexander?”

“I would never,” his Alec said soothingly. “Never.”

The other blue-eyed Alec glanced at his own Magnus, then back to the two of them. “That’s… precisely the conversation Magnus and I had when we heard about it.”

“Same people, different universe,” Magnus said. “For now, though, how about getting back?”

~~~~~~~~~

Gold spun into Thule’s red sky, and two figures appeared on the ground. Both dark-haired, clinging to each other even in death. Nobody saw them come; this world had almost, but not quite, fallen. 

It would fall soon enough. After, though, a girl named Livia Blackthorn might help it rise. 

~

Gold spun into wedding decorations, bright colours replacing blankness. Magnus pulled Alec into a kiss, and the crowd cheered: it had been no time at all since they’d vanished, it seemed. 

He pulled back for a moment, just long enough to meet Alec’s eyes. “You know,” he murmured into the fragment of space between them, “you’re definitely my favourite version of you.” 

Alec smiled. 

~

Gold spun into the comfort and safety of the loft, and Alec let out a breath, nearly stumbling. Whatever this golden power was he held now, he rather liked it. 

Magnus grinned at him, but before he could speak, a fire message flashed through the air and into Alec’s hand, followed almost immediately by a second one to Magnus. 

They opened the messages at the same time. Alec huffed, while Magnus remained silent and still. “They’re trying to get me to be Inquisitor, again. I already said I wouldn’t go to Alicante without you—”

“But what if,” Magnus said softly, staring down at the message, “you didn’t have to?”

~

Gold spun into a night sky scattered with stars and a beach in LA, waves crashing one after another on the shore. 

Alec still held the stele in his hand, and with a smile, Magnus reached forward to curl his own fingers around it. It lit up white with the faintest hint of red. 

Without hesitation, Alec moved the stele towards his own hand. Magnus traced the rune with him, strokes and curves he’d imagined drawing a hundred times, a thousand times. He might never bear a Wedded Union rune, but Alec would, and that was enough. 

Then Alec pulled something out that flashed gold and showed it to him: a pin in the shape of the same symbol. 

Magnus wondered if he might explode from all the joy inside of him as Alec pinned it to his chest with careful fingers. He’d never take it off. 

~

Gold spun into the alleyway where they’d left, just as the portal swirled shut. 

The warlock was gaping at them — they had just gone through a portal and then reappeared unharmed, Alec supposed — but the most important thing was that the warlock wasn’t throwing around random spells anymore. Alec doubted if they’d resist Magnus’ help any longer. 

Sure enough, they listened to Magnus as he told them that they weren’t at fault for anything they’d done in a burst of wild magic, and Alec guessed that he and Magnus would soon end up with (yet another) Downworlder protegé. 

Once the young warlock had settled down, Magnus opened a portal, and Alec followed him through — not to the loft, as he’d expected, but to a landscape he recognised immediately as Idris. 

“Why are we here?” Alec asked, glancing at Magnus as he began to walk, but Magnus only raised an eyebrow at him. 

They crested a rise, and Alec understood as he looked down at the lake below him. 

“I figured,” Magnus said with a smile, “we should probably start stocking up on Lake Lyn water.”

[dhampiravidi]

AU where Valentine died in the Uprising...

Most of the Circle members, including Valentine, are killed. The Lightwoods are still sent to the New York Institute as punishment & Jocelyn (plus Luke) is still living in the city w/Clary

Jocelyn returns the Mortal Cup to Idris

Pangborn & Blackwell leave "Jonathan"/Sebastian (here he'll be called "Fabian") at the Geneva Institute as a toddler

Hodge "finds" baby!Jace in New York, where he's taken in by the Lightwoods (so we still have our fabulous trio)

Fabian receives dreams from Lilith, who claims to be his mother. He has his blood tested at a Shadow Market & realizes that he does, in fact, have some demon blood. He runs away, afraid of what the Shadowhunters might do if they found out

My OC, Jas, loses her father at 15 & reluctantly has Magnus take her to Idris, where she grows up w/her uncle Michael Wayland & his son Jonathan

Fabian grows up hunting independently & becomes cold but not entirely heartless. He finds the Fray residence

Simon & Clary grow up together as mundanes, until Clary is told the truth by her brother. She ends up training at the New York Institute

Thinking Malec happens not long after the Lightwoods need help w/something (so Alec meets Magnus then) & Alec realizes that Jace is attracted to Clary

Jas visits the New York Institute, curious to know what her father's parabatai & former friend is like

At some point, Imogen Herondale (Jace's grandma) TELLS Jace who he is, because that part of City of Ashes made me scream--

What doesn't happen:

The Mortal Cup is kept as a tarot card til 2007

Valentine has time to traumatize Jace & Sebastian

The Waylands are killed

Ithuriel is imprisoned in Wayland Manor when Valentine decides to move in & use it as a base

Simon becomes a vampire, then a Daylighter, then a recipient of the Mark of Cain & finally an Ascended Shadowhunter

So similar, but slightly more happy.

[foodsies4me]

May Malec fic rec!

Thanking @crystalmir for this month's theme which is soulmate AU's! The same rules apply as always, one fic per author, even though all of these authors have other brilliant fics you should be reading and if you want to add your own recs in the comments, tags, or reblogs please feel free to do so! 💜

Also, I have tagged the authors whose Tumblr account I know (aka found on their AO3 profile), but if you'd prefer I not tag you, please tell me! I don't want these to be annoying for the authors.

One-shots:

Magnus, How Long Have You Been Twenty by @Master of Unlocking: A soulmate AU where you don't age past a certain age until you've met your soulmate!

Summary:

Soulmate AU where you age to about 18/21, and then you stay that age until you find your soulmate.

The Space Between by @gingersnapwolves: soulmate AU, the usual Clave being awful as well as some Alec and Magnus being badass. I don't know how often I've read and reread this fic by now.

Summary:

Every warlock has a soulmate. 98% of the time it’s another warlock, but sometimes it’s a mundane, a seelie, or even a Shadowhunter. Until their name appears on the warlock’s chest (and their corresponding soulmate’s), there’s no way to know. Enter Alec Lightwood, who wakes up at fourteen with a warlock’s name on his chest. Horrified at what it means, he keeps it hidden. But five years later, Magnus Bane is captured by a team of Shadowhunters, and it’s only a matter of time before someone sees Alec’s name on his chest.

see me light up from the rooftops by @oh-la-fraise: Short and sweet and fluffy, just the way I like it.

Summary:

“Alec,” Magnus said, his face falling. “Short for Alexander, I assume?” Alec frowned. “Yeah. Why do you look so disappointed? Are you more of an Alexi kind of guy?” Magnus smiled for a second, and Alec cheered with victory internally. “No, I just. . .Oh, it’s so stupid, and not something I should be discussing on a first date. It was an Alexander that broke my heart in Paris.” “Yeesh,” Alec winced. “Well I can promise you, not all of us are complete idiots. Which he would had to have been, to dump you.” Magnus snorted. “That’s the even sadder part—he didn’t dump me. We never even met.”

Before the Day is Done by carmenlire: Ales as a Head of the Institute but also as an author! Magnus as his kind of pen pal, the High Warlock of Brooklyn and his unknowing fan.

Summary:

Alec reads the email twice through before letting out a breath. He feels anticipation thrumming through him at the invitation and it doesn’t vanish no matter how hard he tries to shove it down. He’s looking forward to meeting Magnus in person. While there’s still some anxiety lurking underneath it all, it feels almost inevitable. Truth be told, he’s always felt drawn to the High Warlock. Magnus had been the only downworlder to acknowledge the change in leadership first. He’d been surprising magnanimous in wishing Alec a successful tenure and providing his contact information if he ran into any problems.

Who are you really? by @skylar102 : The scene of Magnus pressing Alec's lost baby blanket to his face as he realizes he finally has a soulmate after 400 lonely years makes me slightly feral.

Summary:

When your soulmate loses something it gets sent to you and vice versa. For almost 400 years Magnus thought he would never have a soulmate until one day a pacifier shows up in his loft.

all these stumbles and falls by @echo-bleu evil on the feels-front like all of Echo's fics, but what else is new. (Love you, Echo <3)

Alec has always kept his male, warlock soulmate a secret. He knows he can never have what he wants. On the eve of his wedding to Lydia, he finds himself on a warlock’s doorstep to finally break the bond, and be free to complete his duty to the Clave and his family. It will all be fine. Except that his soulmate mark is desperately clutching at his chest, shaking like a leaf, and its large golden eyes are pooling with tears. And that said mark looks exactly like a tiny version of the warlock who just answered his knock.

To Touch and Be Touched by TobytheWise: short 500-word ficlet, but still an adorable and enjoyable read nonetheless.

With a black handprint across his cheek, Alec always imagined meeting his soulmate for the first time would be a painful affair. When the day finally comes, Alec is pleasantly surprised.

Multi-chapter fics or series:

Making Memories With Mistletoe by @notcrypticbutcoy is another lovely fic by notcrypticbutcoy. There's a small amount of angst, but it's mostly a feel-good fic for me

Summary:

How was that even possible? How could Magnus’ soulmate be someone who didn’t believe in the concept? The universe had to be playing some kind of cosmic joke on him. *** When a mysterious and very attractive stranger walks into Magnus’ magic shop three weeks before Christmas, he doesn’t expect it to be his soulmate. Nor does he expect his soulmate to deny the entire concept of such a thing. Or: in which Magnus owns a magic shop, Alec doesn’t believe in soulmates, and the universe has a funny way of making things work out.

Machiavellian by @alxndrlightwoods: While a one-shot the fic is part of a series that I love even though it's dark and gory - or maybe just because? Warning (especially for the later parts) for Underage, Gore, and some very enthusiastic and graphic murder aka make sure you read the tags.

Summary:

He can see the thoughts whirling in Magnus’s brain. Magnus had managed to make it four hundred years, patiently waiting and keeping a weather eye on the Lightwood family for the majority of that. And his beautiful, perfect, wonderful soulmate hadn’t even managed to make it three years. They were disgustingly perfect for each other.

The Gift of Choice by @tinylilemrys: Soulmate AU where you can choose whether to accept or reject a soulmate (something I'm personally a huge fan of) and it's just written so well.

Summary:

Neither Alec nor Magnus is particularly thrilled at the discovery of their soul marks. Alec because he knows that the design of it means that his soulmate is a Downworlder, something practically unheard of in Shadowhunter society. For Magnus, the idea of being permanently attached to a joyless demon-killer is hardly a thrill. Given that they can choose if they accept their soulmate or not, the decision seems like a no-brainer. But when Alec finally meets the beautiful, other-worldly Magnus and Magnus meets the gorgeous, self-sacrificing Alec, it becomes clear that the decision might not be as easy as they thought it would.

it doesn't matter (if it's now or then) by @soveryaverageme: Alec knows Magnus is his soulmate. He also knows he isn't Magnus', but he's fine with it. Really.

Alec’s words were branded across his right forearm, spiraling towards his shoulder. The phrase “I’m Magnus, I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced?” was stark across his skin, as bold as his own love. They were a comfort and a reminder every time he drew his bow back to fire another arrow. He knew every curve and bend of his words. He could trace them without looking. He had never seen Magnus’ words, but he knew was that they weren’t his.

Through a Glass, Darkly by SolarisRasa: Last but not least on this list, a fic that deserves more love in my opinion. Magnus creating a Veil between the Downworld and the Nephilim is such an interesting concept!

A century ago, Magnus Bane, sick of the struggles between the Downworld and the Clave, created a spell: The Veil. It separated the Downworld from the Nephilim, both sides blind to each other in the world. A red-head with demands, a sharp spike in demons, a new Head of the New York Institute, and...gardening? Draws Magnus toward the Shadowhunters world again. With his city slipping, the Clave bearing down, and the High Warlock's demand for better protection, Alec Lightwood seeks a more equal footing with the Downworld.

[alexanderlightweight]

Hi! 🫐 What’s your favorite underrated thing in your fandom? (A ship that only you seem to write for, a character there’s almost no fics about, a trope that criminally hasn’t been written yet, etc.)

hi! thank you for the ask ^_^

i think the biggest thing that i feel is underrated that i love outside of some malec stuff, is team immortal.

i adore cat and ragnor and magnus and i think that they have some incredibly tight bonds. but because ragnor died there isn't much about him out there and i love reading when he is alive but i always want more

i think the biggest thing is pretending that there isn't a magical ward at the hospital because you cannot have obscenely rich warlocks interested in healing not fund and help get a magical ward in the hospital they work at.

like you know magnus and ragnor were bored one week while cat was complaining about being unable to safely take care of a warlock child with colic because of the magic and the next day there was a mysterious donation, a rather reclusive old englishman got involved and suddenly, there is an extra, super secret ward.

everyone thinks that it's for like politicians, crime lords, people who have a lot of money and want privacy meawhile in the ward:

cat: take the medicine and stop turning my scrubs green

baby warlock hiccuping with colic: k *cat's scrubs turn and stay searing neon orange*

--

also there is a giant lack of shifter au's, daemon aus, sentinel/guide aus, small magic aus, etc and i loveeeee all of those things

the shadowworld is magical and there is so little exploring the more magical side of the world and all these hidden realms that mundanes can't and dont know about and i just am so invested in exploring that and adding my own stuff

OH

NEPHILIM ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE SPECIAL ABILITIES THE LD BLOODLINES BUT WE ONLY SEE IT IN CLARY. who then has extra special stuff because of her angel blood

also has no one considered that Helen also might have double angel blood? we don't know how her genetics work and gentics are weird. she could have angel/angel blood instead of angel/demon blood because she certainly isn't angel/human.

and eldritch nephilim/warlocks who have greater demn blood

eldritch is so underrated and i adore it so much!!

<3 lumine

[khaleesiofalicante]

My roman empire is that short period of time in lbaf 3 when Alec was the consul and Anjali was the inquisitor(shortly before Alec's retirement) What a badass duo!

How is Anjali's relationship with malec like in lbaf? Especially after her parents died.

I was wondering. Devlin Corp was a mundane company,and quite a famous one. So after the clave took over it, what does the mundane world believe about what happened? They know about downfall of DC and Devlins death, but with all the work going on in present time in DC which is related to Shadowworld, what is the mundane world thinking about what is happening?

Also, how is Camila (Rafes friend,not daughter) doing? Does she have any relationship?

ALEC AND ANJALI SUPREMACY. (Also, we'll see them as President and his right hand in mavid rwrb au so yaaay)

We know she has a good relationship with them. She reaches out to them for advice and support whenever she wants - also not them taking her side during rosewood fights hehe.

Funny you ask about Devlin Corp because we'll actually look more into them as we move forward (and in the next chappy too 👀 and yes i am trying to find the time to do the outline amidst all the chaos)

Camila is girlbossing with Gigi. As we know she is a doctor and she researching and specializing on schizophrenia. We'll see her again in the main fic when we need Camila's help with some stuff...And no she is single ;)