#there should be a shadowhunters calendars

[kajaono]

Why Netflix brought Sense8 back for a special and refuse to do so as well for others

Disclaimer: I love Fan campaigns, and I take part in many of them, this is only an analysis of the situation

When taking part in fan campaigns to save a show from cancellation I often here: „we brought Sense8 back, we can do so as well“

I think what people do not understand is how well Organized the Sense8 fandom was back then. Sense8 was one of Netflix first major shows, and one of Netflix first major shows with a lot of LGBTQ representation. Streaming was new and Netflix was growing like crazy, they were a single player on the market. Netflix did everything to make their show’s successful

The irony of the whole story is: Netflix themselves helped to build the Sense8 fandom. The promo campaign before season 1 dropped was insane. Posters everywhere, character trailers for every single one of the cluster, they even had trailers for sense8 in my German cinemas here. And! They even released season 1 on DVD. A nice white box set together with other shows (I need that box set so bad). They had social media accounts for the show. They send the casts on every major pride parade. Once season 1 was released Netflix continued to hype the show up. They didn’t just went quiet about it, like they do today.

Then Netflix announced a Christmas/New Year’s Eve special: To further hype the show up and to shorten the waiting time for season 2. it was again a major event.

When Season 2 finally dropped and was shortly cancelled after, the fandom was amazingly organized and HUGE! The fans already knew each other from conventions and prides. There were tumblr accounts only dedicated to the show, or single characters of the show

When Netflix cancelled the show they said: „the viewing numbers do not justify such high production costs“. But in the end the simple truth was that Netflix wanted to produce cheaper shows that were easily marketable. The show still had a lot of viewers, nevertheless

This is why it was so easy for the fans to gain 300.000 signs in five days on the Save Sense8-petition. In the end it was over half a million… in around two weeks! In just a few days they had bought the domain for savesense8.com and released a petition calendar: one month, everyday, one campaign.

Fans phoned Netflix. Send them Flipflops, letters, produced a whole music video in under a week and got an actor of the show involved, digged out every single mailing address they could find and wrote there. Netflix’s social media accounts was hardly usable anymore because the comment section was full of #savesense8 and I mean in an amount you can not imagine.

We were so loud that even the HEAD of Netflix wrote us a letter. And they even gave us a special mail address we should write to why we love Sense8.

So in under one month we got the show back. Because I think not even Netflix was prepared for such an outrage. It was new and unique.

And 2) the financial situation back then was completely different. The situation on the market was different. Prime just started producing their own shows, every other streaming service didn’t existed yet.

This is also why Shadowhunters got two specials right away because they were also amazingly organized, maybe even better then sense8. Look what they pulled off to get a season 3. if Netflix didn’t gave them their specials right away they would have gotten their special!

But most shows being cancelled today are small shows with really passionate fan bases but sadly not many viewers. I am all here for: „Netflix stop cancelling smaller shows, a successful company should have big and small shows“ but Netflix isn’t. And hence it is so complicated for small shows to get conclusion. Because 10M tweets are impressive but if you have a few thousand fans who tweet everyday that’s an achievable goal.

Look what sense8 had to pull off and we got a „we hear your voice, but sadly we can not bring back the show“ letter, half way through our campaign…

I really hate the whole situation honestly, but I have the feeling today major shows do not get canceled anymore, only the smaller shows that can not make enough noise to really bother Netflix…. I really hope that will change one day and Netflix will change their strategy

Until then we can not do anymore then support every small queer show and hope for the best

[hopeless-herondale]

Leon Verlac is the shadowhunter version of Elliott .

[mortalfaerie]

To Fake an Engagement (M.F.)

part 3/?

mathew fairchild x (fem) reader

wordcount: 3k

synopsis: part 3 of this series. reader and mathew are reunited at the london intstitute’s famous christmas party, and spend some impromptu alone time in the games room, where those 3 little words make an appearance. flirty, but no smut (yet). no coi spoilers.

You couldn’t help but feel something had shifted for the better after Anna’s party. Winter had descended now, covering London in a constant white cover, but you still wrote letters regularly to Matthew on the days you didn’t see him, and he wrote you back enthusiastically. 

As Christmastime approached, Will and Tessa sent invites to the annual Christmas Ball at the Institute to members of the Enclave, and you diligently ticked off the days on your calendar to December 25th. Shadowhunters didn’t typically exchange gifts or celebrate in the way of many mundanes, but as it aligned with the time that the greater demon, Lilith, was banished to Edom, it warranted note and minor celebration among the nephilim. 

But, for the young and carefree members of the Enclave, it was a party, and that was enough. 

Your dress for the event had been a gift from your parents, and was far more extravagant than the practical day dresses you normally favored. All the same, you felt a sense of private vanity as you regarded yourself in your bedroom mirror, dressed and styled for the occasion. The dress was a lovely green velvet, ideal for the colder weather, with wide, slashed sleeves and lace trim. Your maid had drawn your hair up in the popular “Gibson Girl” style, with stray curls framing your face and a decorative sprig of winterberries tucked into a hairpin. You felt, seeing yourself, like you were viewing a rare exotic animal, far from what you displayed on a day to day basis.

With a knock on your bedroom door, your maid alerted you that your family was gathering in the foyer to depart soon, and you gethered your skirts and hurried downstairs. You shrugged on your coat and allowed your mother to fuss over you a moment before shooing you into the carriage. Your father nodded in that sort of patriarchal approval most moderately wealthy fathers did, and asked if you had your weapon on you- you turned out your pocket to show the hilt of your dagger, sheathed over your petticoat. He nodded again, satisfied, and you were on your way.

The Institute at Christmastime never failed to amaze you. Tessa had an admirable eye for design, and always the ballroom and foyer were transformed with berries, bobbles, garlands, and sprigs of pine. There was even a felled tree decorated in the entrance, which had carved wood rune ornaments adorning it. As your parents greeted the heads of the Institute, Tessa tapped you on the shoulder to whisper, “They’re gathered in the games room, if you’d like to join them.”

There was no need to clarify “them,” it was only ever your closest friends, the merry thieves, Lucie, and now Cordelia too. You nodded and excused yourself, gathering your skirts and hurrying down the corridor to the closed doors of the games room, where you took a deep breath and pushed through.

When you entered, you found James and Christopher engaged in animated conversation, while Matthew, Cordelia, Thomas, and Lucie surrounded the billiards table as Lucie lined up a shot. Just as she cracked the balls on the carpeted table, the doors clicked shut behind you and all turned to look. A soft silence fell across them for a few seconds as they looked at you, and then Lucie broke it by throwing down the billiards stick and exclaiming, “Oh, good! Y/N, you’re here at last.” and enveloped you in a hug. 

You laughed at her enthusiasm, and went to greet the others. Having not seen eachother in some time now due to the weather, hugs were exchanged when normally they were not upon greeting, and Thomas patted the berry garland in your hair, commenting that you had not gotten taller in the past weeks, to which you stuck out your tongue.

The room resumed its activities before you had arrived, and you took a spot against the wall behind the billiards table, where it was now Cordelia’s turn. Matthew drifted back from the table to lean against the wall beside you. Matthew, unlike the others, had not hugged you in greeting, but smiled warmly and kissed your gloved hand.

“Hello again.” He murmured as he took his place beside you.

“Hello yourself.” you replied, bumping him with your hip.

“Is it too soon to ask for your first dance tonight?” he asked, his voice still a whisper. You turned to regard him, but saw he was serious.

“Well, Mr. Fairchild,” you said with mock formality, “my affections are not otherwise engaged.” 

He smiled and replied, “Most capital. I should look forward to meeting you on the dance floor, Miss. Y/L/N.”

After that, the comfortable silence slipped over you again, as it had at Anna’s party. Your hands were close enough at your sides that your fingers brushed his, and you noticed him looking down thoughtfully as they did. 

Before long, Will appeared at the door to tell you the enough guests had arrived that you all should make your way to the ballroom, and Lucie came to link her arm in yours, just as James took Cordelia’s hand, and the remaining 3 walked side by side. You thought to yourself, watching James and Cordelia warmly proceed ahead of you, that their fake marriage seemed to be faring better than you anticipated. Perhaps, not all sentiment they displayed for the public was fake.

In the ballroom, guests were finding their places at seats arranged along the walls, and you let Lucie guide you to a table in the corner, where often the 7 of you congregated during balls. As the piano turned out a german waltz, Will and Tessa took to the floor, as the hosts always have the first dance together. As they did, the young members of the enclave began to talk amongst themselves, finding partners for the next dance. Matthew found his way to your side just as the waltz ended, and the piano began into a joyful portland tune. 

“Shall we?” he asked, a gleam in his eyes.

You grinned in return. “I believe we shall.” 

He led you onto the dancefloor, where you took your place alongside other pairs, and began in with the lively, gliding steps of the portland polka. You laughed intermittently throughout it- the polka was a fast, fun dance, leaving little time for conversation. It was a dance to have with an experienced partner, one whose company you were comfortable in. Over the past 3 months, Matthew had proved to be all of those things, and you couldn’t help but smile as he spun you about.

At the end of the set, you bowed to each other, as was custom, and he asked, “Join me to procure refreshments?” 

You held out your hand for him to take, which he did eagerly. “Lead the way.”

He offered you a sherry as you passed the refreshments, and he told you all the gossip he had gleaned from his parent’s conversations over the past few weeks as you leisurely walked a circuit around the ballroom. You smiled and laughed at his comments, but secretly you were anxious that he would drink too much as the night went on. You didn’t mind him drinking a bit, you thought, and it was fun sometimes to drink with Matthew, but you detested being truly drunk yourself, and you had waited weeks to see Matthew again in person, you wanted to savor this Matthew, uninhibited, as best you could.

You sipped your drink until you emptied it, at which point he suggested you dance again. You knew that to dance with the same man multiple times was to declare your interest, but it was well known you two were friends, so it shouldn’t seem so odd. You let him lead you in a country dance, and then turned you to Thomas, then Christopher, and even James, who was as he always was, the picture of propriety. When came a partner dance, you even danced with Cordelia, who was remarkably graceful, and then Lucie for a more jaunty circle dance that you both tripped and giggled through. 

After an hour of dancing, you had slipped back to the wall near the table when you felt a tap on your shoulder. It was Matthew, who said, “Blast. I seem to have lost something in the games room. Would you come with me to look? I could use another pair of eyes.” 

You smirked. “A button, perhaps? You do have so very many on your frock coat today. But, yes I shall help you, Matthew.”

He linked his arm through yours, and led you to the games room, making cordial conversation the way there. When you reached it, you slipped in and found it empty. Still, not wanting to make a loud noise, you gently pushed the doors shut behind you and leaned against them. Matthew, several feet away, regarded you.

“I didn’t lose anything here, Y/N.” he said, his voice low.

You cocked an eyebrow in confusion. “Then why did you-” but he cut you off short.

“I missed you.” he said, quiet, as through confiding a secret. Your heart swelled, but you worked to steady it. 

“I am here. You have been with me all night.” you breathed. “How can you miss me?”

He walked closer to you, standing only about a foot away. “I have been missing you every moment I am not alone with you.”

Your heart thudded in your chest, your blush creeping up your neck. “Do not play with my heart, Matthew.” you warned, quiet as a mouse.

He placed his hand with the ring- your family ring- over his heart and said, “I am not playing with anything, Y/N.”

Your breath hitched and you clicked closed the lock of the door. The sound of it sliding into place reverberated through the room. You stared into his emerald eyes, searching for the sign of a lie or a joke, but found none. 

Finally, your heart in your throat, you said just loud enough for him to hear, “Then kiss me, Matthew Fairchild.”

He obliged, his ring-clad hands coming to cup your face, leaning down to close the distance between you, and you gasped and rose onto your toes to meet him. Your arms came around him, one on his chest and another on his back, holding him to you. You could feel his pulse, wildly fast, under his shirt and vest, and he pressed his lips to yours in a movement that was both patient and frantic, practiced and entirely unready. 

You knew Matthew had kissed people before. You had seen it, actually, at parties and at The Devil’s Tavern. Even still, his hands shook as he cupped your face, and you moved to cover them with your own, to assure him that you wanted this too. 

Instinct taking over, your lips parted as he moved against them, and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. You made a small noise of surprise but didn’t pull away, instead pressing yourself further against him. A sort of need burned inside you, a need to be as close as you possibly could. Your hands moved to knot in his golden hair, feeling the softness of it, and he made a noise akin to a moan against your lips when you closed your fingers around a tuft of his hair firmly. Startled, you pulled back to look at him, and he returned your look of surprise.

His face was flushed, lips pink from the pressure of kissing, and his green eyes were glazed with want. “Sorry.” he murmured somewhat sheepishly. Now, that was a moment to remember, a sheepish Matthew. “I… liked the feeling of it. I didn’t think.”

You playfully bumped his head in response. “Don’t be. I was just surprised.” 

This was the Matthew you loved. Unguarded, smiling in earnest, he looked like he had when you had first met him, the look of childlike wonder restored in his eyes. You moved your hand to his cheek and he leaned into it, looking at you with an expression that was so warm and full of awe. 

“Wait a second.” you said, and moved to pull off your gloves. On your hand, catching the witchlight, was the Fairchild ring, hidden under your dress gloves but worn as a private reminder, as a hopeful prayer. He smiled seeing it glint as you placed your gloves on the bookshelf beside the door. Then, you turned to him again and said very matter of factly,

“I want you to kiss me again.” 

This time, you were ready. More confidently, you let your hands travel up his back, savoring the smoothness of his silk vest. He cradled your head like you were all that was precious in the world, and the kiss became faster, more eager, until you parted again, panting. 

“Can I pick you up?” he asked.

 You furrowed your eyebrows, but nodded. In response, he swept you up in his arms, leaving you to wrap your arms around his neck. You didn’t look away from him as he carried you to the billiard table and sat you on it, making your height level. Your legs dangled off the edge, and you kicked off your shoes mindlessly and you grabbed hold of his tie and loosened it. With your hand still around the knot of it, you pulled, bringing him back to you as his hands went to steady himself on either side of you on the table surface.

“Y/N…” he murmured against your lips. It was like a question, a warning, and a plea all at once. 

“Please.” you murmured in response, and he moved to devour your lips again. 

Suddenly, you heard someone try the handle of the door. At once, you were thankful both that you hadn’t lit any more lights than the usual witchlight, and that you locked the door behind you. Likely, it was another young couple looking to steal away somewhere, and they moved along the hallway in search of some other place. Matthew dropped his head into the crook of your shoulder and cursed, as you threaded your fingers idly in his hair. 

When you were certain they had passed, he pulled back and looked at you. “What are we doing?” he asked, a little breathy.

“I- well, you were kissing me.” you supplied, missing the warmth of his body.

“No, I mean, what are we doing? What is this?” he asked, gesturing to the space between you.

You removed your hands from his hair and wrung them in your lap. “Well, I... I enjoyed my evening very much so far, please don’t think that I haven’t.”

He placed a hand over yours to stop you from worrying at them. “But are we doing this because of the deal? Because it’s convenient?” 

Your heart fractured at the suggestion. Haughtily, you scooted off the table and paced, shoeless, away from him.

“Y/N?” he asked to your back.

“Do not speak about convenience to me.” you said, more sternly than you intended.

“What does that mean?” he asked, an edge of exasperation in his voice.

You whirled. “It means, Matthew,” you pointed an accusatory finger at him, “that I have loved you since I was 14 years old, so do not think to speak to me about convenience!” you hissed, still aware that you had to keep your voice down.

Matthew laughed humorlessly and raked a hand through his hair. 

You simmered in your building rage. “You said you would not play with my heart.” 

He pinched the bridge of his nose as he replied, “And I am not.”

“Then why would you suggest that you have brought me to an empty room and kissed me because of convenience?” you demanded.

“I suppose I thought because you would lose so little in this deal, that it might just be convenient excitement for you!” he exclaimed in a harsh whisper.

Your face burned. “I had thought better of your opinion of me.” you moved to go grab your shoes, but he caught your arm.

“I had no idea that you loved me!” he said, trying to halt you in your path. 

“Why else would I agree to this?” you demanded. “Why else would I hope that at the end of a year, you might love me? Why keep the ring?” you flashed your hand to him. “Why entertain ideas of marriage, Matthew? Why suggest I marry you if you didn’t think I loved you?”

“Because I didn’t want to think I would have to be alone!” he admitted. His eyes were sparkling with the suggestion of tears in the dim witchlight, but none spilled over.

You couldn’t take it. You might have been red with frustration and deeply annoyed with him, but you never could stomach Matthew to think so desperately low of himself. Without thinking, you wrapped your arms around his chest in a hug, and he froze, then enveloped you. 

“Matthew, you would never be alone. You have a parabatai, friends, and you would have found love regardless.” you assured him, but you felt the tremble of his body and accepted his nonresponse as him trying not cry. You hugged him closer, and listened to his heart rate as it began to finally slow, and his breaths became more even. 

“I don’t deserve you.” he said quietly.

“That is not for you to decide.” you countered, not releasing your hold on him. “I am happy when I am with you.”

He rested his chin on your head as he spoke, “But would you be happy if you married me?”

“Not for you to decide.” you repeated. “A marriage is a partnership. Its success would be as much my work as yours.”

He was quiet for a moment, before taking your face and turning it to him. “If you would marry me,” he began, “I would be forever thankful to you. I would spend each day in service of your happiness.” 

You kissed him again, sweetly this time, savoring his taste. When you pulled away, you said, “We should return to the ball before there’s much suspicion. Oh, and fix your tie and hair.” 

Matthew’s hand went indignantly to his hair, which was thoroughly mussed by your hands.

You smiled as you put your shoes back on and gloves, then peeking out of the door to be sure no one was there. You slipped out, Matthew’s arm cordially laced in yours, as you cut through to the kitchen to grab a piece of cake. While slipping through the adjoining sitting room with your spoils, you found your friends already there, having stolen some of the cake as well. 

“There you are!” Cordelia exclaimed, and gestured for you to join them, hiding out from the ball. 

James snickered, however, and added, “But first, look up.”

Confused, you looked first to Matthew, and then up to the archway above you, where a sprig of mistletoe was hung, probably by Bridget, with her folk traditions. 

You flushed immediately, and began saying, “Oh, really-” but before you could finish, Matthew snaked an arm around your waist and pressed a sweet, soft kiss to your mouth. You broke away, still blushed a deep red and regarded your friends who wore expressions of laughter, surprise, and suspicion. Lucie regarded you with a look that said you’d be explaining yourself later. For now, though, you went to join your friends eating pilfered Christmas cake as the night went on.

[dontmindmyshadowhunting]

To never being parted - Part 2 Chap 4 - The Birthday Party

This is the Chapter 4 of the mini sequel to my flower cards inspired Kitty Fan Fic “Am I Forgotten?”

AO3 Link here.

****

As it turned out, Jace absolutely loved his surprise. He jumped in the pop-out cake to hug Kit, who pushed him away, and they ended up rolling and wrestling amidst the vanilla buttercream, with a crowd of onlookers cheering. The most enthusiastic was Mina, who shrieked with delight during the entire fight.

They both had to change after that, which was a relief. Tessa had to hastily recover Kit’s dress from Mina, who had undertaken to lick the fabric drenched in vanilla frosting.

The party was as decadent as any party organized by Magnus Bane could be. Dark blue velvet banners hung from the ceiling, stitched with the design of stars which seemed to shine, as if the guests were standing under the night sky. Candles glowed from every surface. Magnus had magicked up a small playground for the kids in one corner of the room, far from the chocolate fountains.

Kit carried Mina around on his shoulders for two solid hours before she finally asked him to put him down. When he did, she whispered in his ear. “When I am older, I am going to marry that tall and handsome Centurion bodyguard who has been following us everywhere… He takes such good care of my big brother.” Kit felt all the blood drain from his face.

****

The dinner table was covered with food from all around the world but Kit settled for a burger. He noticed that Julian had made the same choice although he saw him slip his lettuce to King Kieran, who had decided to make an appearance for Jace’s birthday party. He was seated between Mark and Cristina, and both were trying to get him to taste Mexican food. He shot Julian a grateful look.  

“So, has Ty been sleeping in front of your bedroom, as he used to in Los Angeles? That was so cute!” Cristina asked Kit, in a cheerful voice.

“Of course not”, Kit replied. “He is absolutely welcome to my bed now.”

Everyone around the table froze before turning to look at him. Shit. Did he say that out loud?  

Kit moved his gaze towards the only person whose opinion mattered in the case.

Ty, who was seated next to Dru and Jaime Rosales, was staring at him open-mouthed, his cheeks flushed. Oh well, thought Kit. I am not taking it back anyway. If I said I was joking, Ty would take it literally. And we wouldn’t want that now, would we?

Kit shrugged and went back to eating his burger.

****

After dinner, there was a cluster of girls around Lily Chen, who was seated on a chair flaunting the Hot Shadowhunters calendar, as if it was the best book of the year.

She had decided to publish a first edition, as an experiment, in an attempt to boost the Clave’s revenues. Alec had been reluctant at first, but even he couldn’t deny the incredible success of the calendar after only a few weeks of sales. It had been sold to both Shadowhunters and Downworlders, entire stalls being dedicated to it in several Shadow Markets around the world.

King Kieran himself had bought several to add to his collection which included kitten and mundane firefighters calendars.

“So, of course we have Jace for the month of January. That one - and Mark Blackthorn’s - were the easiest pictures to obtain,” Lily explained as she enthralled her audience by flipping through the pages of the calendar.

On the front page, Jace was almost entirely naked, a well positioned sword covering his most intimate parts. Mark was just as barely dressed, poetically covered in roses and thorns.

“I had to negotiate with Magnus for Alec’s picture but as it turns out, I am quite happy with what he provided.” Magnus winked. In the picture, Alec was half naked, his muscles flexed as he was pulling an arrow to his bow. His skin was covered with black marks which stood in stark contrast with his white skin.

“Here we have Jem. Although he is officially retired from the Clave, we couldn’t do this without him. He is much too popular with the Shadow Markets’ crowd. He is only half naked of course, but compared to what people used to see of him when he was a Silent Brother, this looks like porn.” Most of the girls giggled.

“This is Simon, it was easy enough to obtain a picture of him. I just had to offer him a limited edition of a light-saver…”

“A lightsaber,” Isabelle corrected.

“Whatever. The most difficult one to obtain was Julian Blackthorn’s, of course,” Lily continued. “I had to hire a professional photographer…”

“You mean a paparazzi,” Emma interrupted.

“Emma almost broke his arm…”

“He was lurking behind a rock, taking pictures of Julian while he was surfing…”

“But apparently you both found an arrangement.”

Emma stared off into space. “He does have talent. He took amazing pictures of Julian on his surfboard… I made an album of them. He’s going to be our wedding’s photographer. Free of charge.”

“That’s my girl,” Julian said, raising his hand for a high five, though not moving his gaze from Tavvy.

Lily turned to Kit and Ty, then, pointing two fingers at her eyes and at them. “Now that you have come of age, I have got my eyes on you boys.”

Ty looked terrified but Kit only shrugged.

****

Kit danced with a lot of people. Mina, mostly, but also Clary, Isabelle, Emma, Dru, Aline and even Lily, who kept giving him a variety of nicknames. Mostly food-related. When he waltzed with Tessa, everyone stopped to observe their graceful twirls, and they were given a round of applause. Kit had to admit he was quite smug about it. Not a single dance with Ty though, who had mostly been hiding in a corner with his headphones on, his arms crossed, though a friend of Dru’s kept talking animatedly to him. He didn’t seem to notice.

After a dozen dances, Kit was exhausted and parched. As he moved towards the buffet to get something to drink, Emma and Cristina appeared out of nowhere to stand in his path, their faces alight with excitement. Kit had noticed that when Emma was not glued to Julian’s side, she was always running around with Cristina and Mark, like an iconic trio of besties.

“Welcome to the club,” they said in unison. Had they rehearsed that?

“What club?”

“The club of fearless warriors who decided to take the hazardous path of dating Blackthorn men,” Emma replied with an ominous voice.

“One word of advice,” Cristina said. “Get as much sleep as you can, while you can.”

“What?” Kit was puzzled.

“Hmmm, how to explain…” Emma put one finger on her mouth, her expression thoughtful. “Have you ever wondered why there are so many of them?”

“The Blackthorns you mean? Er- because they like kids?” Kit answered.

“True enough,” Emma replied, winking at him.

“What else is there?” Kit asked, as he had the feeling he was missing something.

Emma and Cristina burst into fits of laughter, clutching each other for support.

Kit shrugged and considered it as his cue to leave. Ty had already left the party an hour ago and Kit was wondering whether he should stop by his room to watch him sleep. Just a little peek. Ok, no, that was creepy.

As he was heading towards the door to leave the party inconspicuously, Kit was stopped mid-flight by a hand grasping his shoulder.

“Not so fast, Kit Herondale.”

Kit turned to meet Julian’s blue-green eyes. He was a different version of the Julian he had known.

The shape of his face was sharper, his features more chiseled and his luscious Blackthorn waves longer. There were no longer circles under his eyes and Kit had noticed that he had stopped biting his fingernails. He seemed happier, more rested. Almost… glowing.

Kit had to admit he was stunning. But I am already head over heels in love with his brother, Kit was reminded.

According to Jace, Julian had been a close and trusted advisor of Alec for the past few years, the Consul relying on him for war strategy and delicate political matters.

During the time he had spent in Los Angeles, Kit had witnessed how dangerous Julian’s sharp mind could be when he decided to use it. How deadly. And that was tired, restless Julian. Glowing Julian… their enemies would never know what had hit them.

Julian’s gaze moved to Kit’s chest, where the Blackthorn locket was resting.

“I see that Ty has given you his and Livvy’s pendant. I trust that you know what this means.”

His blue-green eyes were now boring into Kit’s, and Kit could not help but feel exposed, as if Julian was not looking into his eyes but straight into his head, accessing his mind.

“I do. This is it, for Ty. I am it . First and last. There won’t ever be anyone else for him.”

“What about you?” Julian’s gaze was still burning holes through Kit’s eyes.

Kit sighed. “You know what they say. Herondales love but once.”

“And you just realized that, where you are concerned, this is true?”

“No, Julian. I had already realized that three years ago.”

Kit turned to move, but Julian caught him by the arm.

“You already know what I am going to say next, don’t you?”

“Julian, I have witnessed what you were capable of in order to protect your family. I’d rather be facing the nine Princes of Hell.”

“Good,” was all Julian said, letting him go.

****

Tagging @darkkitai

[amchara-fic]

fic snippet from 'Herondales Don't Fail'

Samira’s shoulders slumped and she turned away. “I might as well just hand over the keys of the Institute now then, shall I?”

“God no, don’t do that,” Kit said lightly.

She snuck a glance over at him. “You don’t want to be head of the Institute?”

He shook his head, grinning at her.

She narrowed her eyes. This had to be a trick of his- she had heard that Herondales were wily strategists, although this was coming out of left field. She beat down that note of hope.

“Why not? You’re a Herondale; Evelyn is practically begging you to take over.”

Kit came over and took the dagger out her hand. “Nice ruby,” he said, hefting the blade and she could almost hear him thinking as he turned it over and it glinted in the light. “Looks similar to the ones I lifted out of the L.A. Institute.”

She rolled her eyes. “Teenage misdeeds, I’m sure.”

He handed the dagger back to her and hoisted himself up to sit on the narrow case that held some ceremonial swords. “I shouldn’t take over the Institute because I’m wholly unsuited to it,” he said. “I’ve broken Clave laws a lot - I’ve told my mundane friends about the Shadow World, I’ve been to mundane therapy, I’ve helped Downworlders escape Clave warrants, I’m definitely way closer to the mundane world than I should be…”

“I come from a mundane background,” Samira reminded him. “It seems to be less of a deal-breaker than it used to be. Plus, it doesn’t seem like breaking rules did Jace Herondale any harm.”

He let out a frustrated noise. “How about I just tell you- I don’t want to be head of the London Institute. Jace does a great job running the New York Institute but I’m not him. Fuck the Herondale name. Fuck its legacy,” he said, his blue eyes serious as he met her gaze.

There was a pause as they both sized the other up. “All right then…” Samira looked at him. “What do you want then, Kit Herondale?”

He gave a graceful shrug. “I dunno? To be a normal Shadowhunter, to go on patrols with my friends, to come back home to my brilliant boyfriend, maybe forge better ties between Shadowhunters and the London Downworld… I want to help rebuild the London Enclave however I can--” he said. “But I don’t want to be tied to it as head of an Institute. I hate meetings, politics… and paperwork.”

Samira felt tired. “You say this now…”

“Right- maybe, in say another decade,” Kit said. He smiled cheekily. “Maybe once you retire, I’ll reconsider.”

“Oi, I’m only four years older than you,” Samira said, but she was starting to see a plan come together. And he had said…

“So, you think I should be the next head?” she asked casually.

Kit looked surprised at her question. “Of course. You’re miles better than poshy mcposh face.”

“Jacob isn’t that bad,” she conceded.

“He’s also a Dearborn,” he muttered but backed down when she gave him a look.

“Bit rich from ‘I don’t want to be a Herondale-”

“I never said I didn’t want to be a Herondale,” Kit hastily corrected her. “I just want to be one in a different way.” He considered her question but quickly answered. “And maybe it’s petty of me with the Dearborn stuff but c’mon surely you don’t want to exchange one pale, stale male for another, just with a hotter accent. Plus, you’re a better Shadowhunter than him, right?”

“Definitely,” she shot back. “Better than you as well.”

Kit’s grin changed to one with a challenging, arrogant edge. “Oooh, I see how it is.” But it quickly softened as he jumped down and started walking for the door. “Let’s not argue semantics but say that you’re much better suited to running an Institute and I’m much better at-”

“Being Mr April on the Hot Shadowhunters calendar,” Samira quickly interjected and she saw his face jump in surprise.

“That was one time,” he said. “As a favour to Lily...”

“Sure, whatever you say, pretty boy,” she said.

His eyes lit up, happy that she no longer seemed to hate him and as they left the weapons room, he outlined the con he was planning to run on Evelyn to convince he was a terrible Shadowhunter and should under no accounts be trusted to run an Institute.

(unpublished story, I just was enjoying this exchange too much to have to finish the full draft before it gets posted)

[purplebass]

Hi!! I don’t inow if you still take fic requests, but if you do, may I sugest a prompt? After reading the tlh calendar , Thomas page which is july more less the end of Chog it is mentioned that he goes to the zoo with Anna and Alexander, and I was thinking if you’d write something with Thomas and Anna? Like Thomas dealing with everything and wanting to be with his cousin to get away to what troubles him like the loos of Barbara, Alastair etc?

Hi! Thank you for this prompt. I had fun writing them, and I also put a little Cecily/Thomas and Cecily/Alexander in this 🌼✨ Hope you like it!

Characters: Thomas Lightwood, Anna Lightwood, Cecily Lightwood, Alexander Lightwood Rating: T

Thomas hadn’t been able to distract himself, and he spent the night wide awake, his eyes on the ceiling. Something had been bothering him ever since the night before, and it didn’t let him sleep. He didn’t have patrol, but no one of the merry thieves could meet him at the Devil’s Tavern to get his mind off things. He decided that he needed to do something after dawn. He couldn’t bear to spend another day worrying.

“Aunt Cecy,” Thomas said when he arrived in the kitchen of his uncle and aunt’s house. She was alone, her youngest lain with his head on her shoulder.

She turned, grinning. She didn’t look like she had slept much either. “Thomas, it’s you,” she said, and grabbed a bottle with milk. “Here, Alexander,” she told the baby, touching his cheek, and he raised his head, taking the little container with one of his tiny hands.

“Do you always wake up early, aunt?” Thomas wondered, taking a jug filled with water and pouring himself a glass.

“No, not every day,” she said. “It depends on when Alexander wakes. Today, he decided that the crack of dawn was the perfect time to ask for his milk, and since it was already clear outside, I decided to come here to prepare his bottle.”

Thomas smiled at his little cousin. He was drinking his bottle with determination. “What about uncle Gabriel? Couldn’t he do it?”

“Oh, he does it almost every day, believe me,” Cecily explained. “But last night he went on patrol, and he returned when Alexander started fussing. Perhaps he knew that his father was back, I don’t know,” she shrugged, cleaning the side of the baby’s mouth with a towel. “By the way, I wanted him to rest. What about you, Thomas? Is there something wrong?”

Many people had asked him that question in the last four months. Every one was concerned for him, but he didn’t want them to worry too much. “No, aunt. Nothing. I’m just full of energy today, that is all,” he smiled at her, and she nodded. Then he had an idea. “Would you mind if I took Alexander to the zoo today?”

“Not at all Thomas. He’d like it. He’s never been to the zoo.”

“Perfect,” he agreed. “Then I’ll go get ready and we’ll leave,” he said.

“Wait, Thomas,” Cecily started, but he was already leaving. “It’s only six in the morning...”

 ***

 Thomas wanted to ask Christopher if he wanted to come with him, so he waited for his cousin to wake up.

“I’m close to finishing something, Thomas. Another time,” Kit said, and Thomas thought about asking someone else to accompany him… but who? Luckily for him, someone decided that was the perfect day to visit their parents.

“Thomas, what are you doing here with my baby brother?”

It was Anna.

“We were going out,” said Thomas, checking Alexander’s things. “To the zoo.”

“I love animals,” Anna replied. “Can I come?”

“Of course, Anna,” he agreed. He didn’t tell her, but he was happy to go with her.

“Let me say hi to my parents first, okay? Unless they are still in bed,” Anna winked, and Thomas rolled his eyes.

 ***

 A few hours later, they had seen almost every animal present at the zoo. Alexander was liking it. Thomas noticed that he loved zebras and giraffes, and promised him to get him a stuffed animal in one of those famous mundane shops downtown.

Being with his cousins was helping him distract, but it wasn’t enough. He tried to keep a smile on his face wherever he and Anna exchanged a glance. He also tried to keep the conversation on general topics, steering away from the ones that were bothering him, but Anna started to get suspicious at some point.

“Something is troubling you, cousin,” Anna said, lowering her voice as they stopped in front of the elephants. “That’s why you wanted to come here.”

Thomas shrugged, and looked at Alexander in the black pram. He had fallen asleep. Ah, to be little like his baby cousin again. “I’m exhausted,” he answered. “And powerless.”

“Did you have patrol last night?”

“It’s not that kind of exhaustion,” Thomas confessed. He was already moving away from the spot, Anna walking by his side with her hands in her pockets. They weren’t glamoured, and a few people stared at them while they passed. It wasn’t every day to see two people who towered everyone else with their height. “I’m missing someone. It’s complicated.”

Anna glanced at the ground and smiled to herself. Thomas thought she understood what he meant well, and perhaps the feeling applied to herself as well. When she looked at him, though, she was serious again. “It depends on the complications, Tommy. Who are you missing?”

“Barbara,” Thomas said simply. He caught sight of a man selling cotton candy, and thought how ironic. “She loved that sugary thing,” he revealed, laughing nervously. His cousin Anna was still looking at him with a stern expression, but he was still glancing far away, as if reminiscing something from the past. “I wish I knew.”

“Knew what?” Anna asked, unable to understand whether he was talking about her own cousin being murdered or something else.

“Many things, Anna,” Thomas answered. “Who killed her… That we wouldn’t be able to come here anymore… That I would lose her.”

“It would be great if we knew our future,” she said. “But we don’t even know if we’ll survive today.”

“That’s so depressing,” he frowned.

“It’s not depressing. It’s life. And death is also part of life,” Anna concluded, checking on her baby brother who had just blabbed something. “He wants water,” she told Thomas, and he gave her Alexander’s tiny bottle. She lowered down to help him drink. “I’m also mad my cousin was murdered so brutally,” she continued. “And that we couldn’t save her.”

“And?”

“Why do you think there is an ‘and’?” Anna’s eyebrows rose up and she smirked. “You are right, by the way. The ‘and’ is the continuation. We can’t do anything about Barbara’s death besides from finding her killer. Why? Because we are still alive, Thomas. And there are people around us who don’t want to lose us either. You know that it’s a possibility, right? As shadowhunters. We may die in battle. We may be killed.”

“Then what do you suggest, Anna?”

“That you try to live the best life you can,” she said. “Loving people. Forgiving people.”

“What if those people hurt you?”

Anna seemed interested even more. “Are we still talking about your sister?”

Thomas debated whether or not to open up to his cousin. She wasn’t familiar with the person he was thinking about that much. “I’m talking about,” he sighed, glanced at one of the last stands before the exit, then continued. “Maybe you’ve heard from Matthew.”

“Thomas, dear. It’s true that I spend a lot of time with him, but he doesn’t spill other people’s business to me.”

“I’m talking about Cordelia’s brother,” Thomas revealed, and Anna stopped in her tracks for a moment.

“Alastair Carstairs?” she wondered out loud, and a person turned to face her as they walked. “Okay, I’ve heard about that. About what happened at Cordelia and James’ engagement party.”

“I see,” Thomas murmured. She knew. Other people were present, it wasn’t a secret.

“Why do you sound so sad?”

Did he sound sad?

“Because we were friends,” he explained. “Or at least I thought so.”

“Thomas,” Anna said, putting a hand on his arm so he would stop the pram. “Remember what I said a few minutes ago? I talked about loving and forgiving,” she declared. “If you love Alastair, perhaps you should forgive him.”

“But what he did-“

“Whatever he said, it’s in the past. You told me that you wish you’d known Barbara would die, to spend more time with her. This also applies to Carstairs. Seeing how you’re affected by something happened four months ago, perhaps you care about him. You can’t bring Barbara back to life, but you can talk to Alastair, if you like,” she smiled, then took the pram from his hands and started walking faster.

“Where are you going, Anna? Wait!” Thomas tried to run after them, but they were fast.

“We are going home, Thomas. I don’t know about you,” she said, and winked at him.

Thomas stopped, not caring about the people who could run into him, and thought about it for a second. He knew what she was implying. He wondered if he wanted to take her advice. He had never seen it from that perspective, but perhaps she was right.

He walked towards Cornwall Gardens without a second thought.

taglist (if you want to be added or removed, send me an ask): @minamrray @kit-12 @immortal-enemies @lucian-evander @esa-emery @danieldyers @blackthorn-trash @rinadragomir @fortunesandfables @itsdaughterofthemoon @blxck-swxnn @thomastair3 

[faejilly]

I was planning on doing a weird Priest!Kink/Angels Are Not “Nice” thing for the next installment of SH fic recs, (I know those don’t really go together, but Brains Are Weird, deal with it), or I was trying to, BUT I FEEL LIKE I’M FORGETTING SOMETHING and I’m staring at my bookmarks/ao3 tags and yet I cannot figure out what it is. :P 

/I am also looking at the tentative writing calendar I made for this year and doing the whole *crol*headdesk* thing because I’m already behind but also I can’t decide if I should still try and follow it and pick the thing due in August for the WIP Big Bang, or just start over entirely again? I think I need a virtual writing group to keep me on task, but like, a VC one not just text, I need to hear/see other people. 

like, this is the curated/edited/cut down Unending WIP List Of Doom, and it’s still clearly too much for me *laughs*:

Weekly Coda-fics! (This has not happened yet! But I’ve got nine months left, so who knows!)

Prompt Fills, Clizzy & Malec Epilogue ficlets

BINGO FILLS (whoops. some of the below were slated for these, but they keep scope-creeping at me, so. idk.)

alternate!Owl Angst

i am for you

fake!hating aka Secret Relationship & Extra About It 

if broken hearts were whole 

mer!Alec fics (slated for Camp NaNo)

Wing!Fic

spite!fic aka post 2x20 reconciliation/date night/Pandemonium!Porn

reverse!verse (Shadowhunter!Magnus/High Warlock!Alec)

Practical Magic AU

speculative theology aka priest!kink

procedural/mafia au crack!fic (maybe soulmates too? IDEK anymore)

with an if in its soul sequel

arranged marriage AU

[ohnotoomanyfandoms]

I THINK PEOPLE ARE IGNORING THE QUOTE ON JESSES CALENDAR PAGE - “I AM YOURS TO COMMAND” ajshhsjajaka

LUCIE HERONDALE QUEEN OF GHOSTS CONFIRMED! 

I am both excited and scared about this. Lucie will wield an immense power if all ghosts truly answer to her and are obliged to her command. 

We need to see to what extent she is able to control them and what power the ghosts indeed have. How can they help, apart from providing information and being her eyes and ears (which in itself would be of great assistance)? Lucie needs to tread carefully, and she had better not keep this business a secret from her friends. This is how big messes always start. 

Also, she needs not to abuse this power. It seems it’s only developing now and growing stronger over time, and we need to understand why. It clearly has to do with her grandfather Belial, but how? And most importantly, does he know that Lucie has this power? He seems not to have shown an interest in her before, preferring firstborn and male James (the patriarchy still rules in hell lol), but since he was not able to possess James, he will probably try with Lucie now (or Matthew). Or Jesse, if Lucie and Grace are able to revive him and he clearly will not receive the Shadowhunter baptism ritual performed by a Silent Brother and an Iron Sister. It seems Belial already has his eyes on and plans for Jesse anyway, as it’s clear from the epilogue in Chain of Gold. This only proves Lucie should stop trying to bring Jesse back to life. 

Anyway, to go back to ghosts, it would be interesting to see if Jessamine, who has known and doted on Lucie all her life, senses anything of a change in Lucie. If she does, she had better take it to Will and Tessa, who had better tell their darling daughter she should not be messing with the dead in any way. 

Ordering ghosts about can be useful during dangerous missions, but it’s not something Lucie should get used to relying on. 

Cassandra really needed to use the last name Di Angelo in this book since she’s giving Lucie Nico di Angelo’s power to command the dead, lol. 

[akindofmagictoo]

20 first lines tag game

this comes from @zmlorenz and also I think @amillionwips — thank you both!

rules: list the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20 stories just list them all). see if there are any patterns. choose your favourite opening line. then tag others. 

(I will tag @writingbyjillian @pamsdrabbles @sleepyowlwrites and anyone who wants to play!) 

Hurricane 

Tempest stilled her bouncing leg, eyeing her sleeping husband. Had she woken him? She took a careful breath and didn’t let it go until he snored and rolled over, pulling the covers tighter around himself. Still she waited. One breath. Two breaths. When he still didn’t move, she stood up and grabbed her coat and sword belt, not even bothering to put them on. Because she had to leave, and she had to leave today. 

Theo x Aella Little Mermaid AU

Water closed over his head, tugged at his clothes. Tugged him down… down… 

He wanted to cry out for help, but the water filled up his mouth before he could make a sound. Cold stole into his limbs, heavy and dark, weighing him down. 

His chest ached, searching for air. Deep, cold darkness wrapped around him. Dragging, pressing, pulling down.

Down… down… down… 

When he’d hit the water, he’d panicked. That was gone now. All he felt was the cold, the deep dark cold.

a random post-canon Theo x Aella oneshot 

Thunder rumbled overhead, blending into the drumming of the rain on the roof. Aella tucked her blanket more tightly around herself, but it did no good. She couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t keep her mind off the locked front door, Alanna’s instruction to stay inside. It felt too much like other locked doors. Every time she closed her eyes, she was back there again and—

No. Sitting in this bed alone with her thoughts would do no good.

a post-canon Theo x Aella oneshot (sort of the former version of the one above)

“Read the mermaid one again.” Aella snuggled against Theo, pressed up between him and the arm of the big old armchair. 

a Theo x Aella modern AU 

Even with a map on his phone, Theo was impressed he’d made it to the small cafe on the main street. True, it was the main street, but his new house wasn’t, and directions weren’t his forte. Given how recently he’d moved, it was at least understandable. 

The cafe was small, but its list of drink options was larger than he’d expected. But it included several types of tea, so he ordered a familiar English Breakfast and sat down at the nearest table.

post-canon oneshot of the Hurricane women play ‘theatre’ 

“So, who’s up next?” Aria stretched out in her hammock. “As much as I enjoyed being the defence lawyer, I think it’s someone else’s turn.” 

“I’ll play the accused. I want to try my daring escape again,” Aella volunteered, sitting up. 

Theo grinned. “Because you got caught last time?” 

a crossover royalty AU with another project (Labyrinth) 

(this isn’t the first line, but it’s the first lines where Theo appears. also, you would be correct if you assume that the Spanish princess is not Aella. that is the complication.) 

“Spain confirmed the marriage alliance,” said Jared. “We still have to confirm it one last time, though.” 

Theo glanced up at his dad. “Hardly surprising, really. They offered it, after all.” 

Jared nodded. “Are you still alright with this? We can turn them down now, if you want.” 

“My calendar is free,” said Theo, straight-faced. “I mean, it’s not like I’ve got my eye on someone else or whatever. Just as long as I’m not expected to actually have a romantic relationship with the Spanish princess.” 

the below are all fanfictions. [ps my AO3 is @/ sidebysidewithafriend go check it out if any of these fics interest you] 

Shadow and Cottontail (Harry Potter: Marauders (OC insert)) 

(this is co-written, I’m posting the first part that I wrote) 

“Is there mail today?” Kai Lupin jumped the last step down to the dining room. This was the same question she’d been asking for five days, but she asked anyway. 

Her mother Hope was about to answer when an owl swooped through the open window, a parchment envelope clutched in its beak. 

“I think the answer is yes,” said Remus, descending the stairs behind her with a little more care than she’d taken. Kai rolled her eyes and crossed the room to see what the envelope contained.

Hope was already taking it from the owl. “It’s from Hogwarts,” Hope said, and Kai’s heart leapt, only to be dashed by her mother’s next words. “But there’s only one envelope. It’s addressed to you, Kai.” 

Told You You’d Kill It (Harry Potter: Romione) 

“Ugh.” Ron shoved his books to one side and ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up in all different directions. Hermione hid a smile as Ron drew his hands inside his jumper sleeves.

Through a yawn, he continued, “I’m done. I’m so tired.” Probably from his basketball training, but schoolwork was also a struggle for him, she knew. And they’d been studying in the library for several hours now. No wonder he was exhausted.

Thank You For Saving My Cat (Harry Potter: Jily) 

Lily pushed herself up to a sitting position and breathed a small sigh of relief. At least she was out. She turned back to the house, watching the orange flames that danced over the structure with her heart in her throat. Was it her imagination, or were they growing smaller?

Most of her stuff could be replaced. But she hoped nonetheless that she wouldn’t have to.

Then she remembered the one thing she’d left behind and couldn’t replace. Crookshanks. She stumbled to her feet. Legs shaking under her, she ran to the nearest firefighter and grabbed their sleeve. The firefighter gear covered its occupant’s face, but the voice sounded male. “Are you alright?” He took her arm gently, steadying her.

3AM (Harry Potter: Wolfstar) 

The beeping of the fire alarm filtered into Sirius’s sleeping brain, burrowing in until he couldn’t help but wake up. At which point he groaned and wrapped his pillow around his head, trying to block out the noise.

But this was a fire alarm, so really he had to get up. Grudgingly, he removed the pillow from his head and fumbled for his phone to check the time. The light from the screen was blinding in the darkness of his dorm room, but after a moment his eyes adjusted to see that it was 3:07 AM.

Give Him Back to Me (The Great Library: Wolfe x Santi) 

Day 1

“Nic?” Wolfe half-rose from the bed at the sound of knocking, leaving his Codex open beside him. Something was off, though. Nic wouldn’t knock. He had a key. Besides, Nic was away in Belgium, training a new company. He wasn’t due back for another day or two, and that was assuming everything went to plan.

Nevertheless, when the knock came again he got to his feet and headed for the door.

Death Is Not Fair (Shadowhunters: (very angsty) Malec) 

It wasn’t fair. Then again, life wasn’t fair.

And neither was death.

It shouldn’t have happened. It should have been a simple mission. The scans and all the reports had said there was just one demon in the area. It was a larger, stronger demon, and would’ve put up a good fight, but it was still practically nothing to a Shadowhunter like Alec.

Untitled (Shadowhunters: Sizzy) (unfinished and un-posted) 

Izzy was swearing off dating. She’d kind of thought about it before, but hearing about the amount of drama in Jace’s love life right now cemented the idea firmly in her mind. No more dating. Between that and the mess Alec had gone through a couple of months ago, she wasn’t sure she wanted any part of that. Not to mention that of all the boys she’d dated, none of the relationships had really been right. Did she believe in The One? She wasn’t sure. But none of her boyfriends had been it, that was for sure. So no more dating for her. She was here to study forensic chemistry, after all, and surely it was better to concentrate on that.

Moving Day (Riordanverse: Blitzstone) 

Last? signed Hearth. 

Blitz brushed a speck of dust from the shoulder of his shirt, studying Hearth’s face. He knew exactly how many boxes were left to move, and it was more than zero, but the elf was looking paler than usual. If that was possible. As he watched, Hearth swayed a little and put a hand on the wall for support. “No. But I’ll get the rest. You need a break.”

Untitled quarantine AU (Riordanverse: Percabeth) (unfinished and un-posted)

“Thanks for letting me stay over to finish this project,” said Annabeth, setting the last piece on the model Coliseum she’d made. They’d done most of it last night, and she was just adding the finishing touches now. Although that had been before school had been shut down; they’d been notified the night before, but since she was here she’d been determined to finish it.  

Untitled (The Hobbit) (I have a “better version of Tauriel’s arc” thing in the works, and this is an accompanying oneshot of how the Durins died in this version) (un-posted) 

“Where is he? It looks empty. I think Azog has fled.” Fili glanced around nervously, his breath steaming in the icy air. 

“I don’t think so,” said Thorin. 

Footsteps sounded on the ice, echoing in all directions. It was impossible to know their source. 

“We’ve got company,” Thorin growled. 

Kili readied his sword. 

This was practically everyday for them at this point. Every motion of his sword, every footstep, every bit of it was familiar. Fili hardly had to think. His sword flashed in the faint light. Droplets of blood and crystals of ice spattered his exposed skin, hot and cold. He was at home here; he might not have been on the ice before, but with a sword in his hand and Kili and Thorin at his back, he was content.

this is VERY long. if you read to here, thank you! and maybe consider reading some of them in full on my AO3? 

[quillify-tries-to-talk]

WHY ON EARTH DON'T YA AUTHORS TALK ABOUT MENSTRUATION?

This has been bugging me for a long time and I finally decided to write about it when one of my friends (@leiiblackthorn) spoke up on her IG story.

Here's the female reproductive system. Now, what happens is that every 28-31 days an egg is released from one of the ovaries. That's called ovulation. If the person decides not to have sexual intercourse during ovulation period, no sperm reaches the egg and hence, it isn't fertilized.

But the uterus always, always prepares a nice, spongy lining rich in blood vessels to accomodate a future baby. But the unfertilized egg has no use for it. So, the lining and the egg come out through the vagina in the form of blood and mucous every month.

And that, folks, is menstruation.

It happens EVERY MONTH (did I mention that?) And no, it doesn't mean that we have a fixed date for it. It cycles through the beginning, middle and end of the month throughout the year and varies in duration (3-7 days).

So I don't understand why YA authors neglect to mention it when their protagonists and audience is made up of TEENAGE GIRLS. Y'know, girls who are just starting puberty, girls who are possibly confused about this whole process because their parents didn't bother to explain or because they picked the wrong info from the internet.

Most will say that mentioning a period isn't important to the narrative but you know what? People with periods have to orient their entire schedule around their cycle. We have to check our cycle before saying yes for a vacation, or a night out, or just studying, going to school/college/work.

There are places in the world where women don't even have access to proper menstrual products like cups or sanitary pads. In my country, we're often handed a pack of sanitary napkins in a black polythene bag because it is somehow oh-so-shocking that girls need menstrual hygiene products. It happens every month! It's a biological process! It shouldn't be a matter of shame to discuss it!

The YA demographic caters to 11-18 year old kids. Here's an idea: instead of writing the same old story with a generic badass girl, and sex scenes, why don't you mention periods!!!????

Like, in the Shadowhunters series, we have women fighting and training to kill demons in different eras (modern, Victorian, Edwardian) and I do like those stories but c'mon! Why can't Cassandra Clare mention something about how women managed their periods? Why can't Julian Blackthorn or Emma Carstairs be seen giving Livvy and Dru the info about menstruation? Why can't we see Tessa, Cordelia, Lucie, Sophie or Cecily or Charlotte talk about menstruation or manage it in that time without the modern menstrual products? It'll make them more human, realistic and relatable. Even I've mentioned menstruation in my novel, and trust me it's not that hard.

Some ideas:

1. You can mention someone checking the calendar for their period before saying yes to an outing.

2. You can mention a person slumping down because they have terrible cramps and their friend offering them a chocolate or medicine.

3. You can mention someone saying that they're on their period and that's why they're exhausted more than normal.

There's endless little ways in which you can insert the topic of menstruation to normalize it.

And those who say that it's not important to the narrative: let me tell you that the plot—or the sequence of events that the characters go through— does not make up the entire story. The story is also driven by character-development scenes, little interactions and simply the characters getting to know each other and working together.

Children, including boys (trans and cis), need to know that there's nothing wrong with menstruation. If we can explain it to them in a simple way, perhaps they'll be more understanding and less confused in the future with their girlfriends/sisters/moms. Menstruation isn't something scandalous or something that should be hidden from the public eye. It's high time we started giving them that love and comfort in a world going to hell.

[malecsecretsanta]

Merry Christmas, cakelanguage!

For @cakelanguage. I hope this is fluffy enough with everything you wanted and that you love it!

Read On AO3

*****

A love like us comes with the brightest of halos

Every year like clockwork Alec would find on his desk sat under his morning cup of coffee the official invitation to the Clave Christmas party. It was always specially embossed with his name and title in silver ink on the envelope as though hoping that for once he would make an appearance to show that he was supporting the Clave’s most recent attempts to try and sort out the relationship between Downworlders and Shadowhunters which had been Alec’s biggest project since he had made the move the Alicante.

But the first year that he had seen that envelope what had stood out the most to him was how incomplete his name looked since it seemed to have been reverted to his name pre his and Magnus’ marriage back in New York which immediately had him narrowing his eyes. Though Magnus had claimed it didn’t bother him when he brought it up….not what the invitation was for because he had no intention of going, and that it was probably due to some bigoted HR member who either didn’t believe they were actually married or was part of that small portion of the Clave which still believed despite all his hard work that Shadowhunters should not be involved with Downworlders. Something that Alec was determined to fix.

That had since between corrected after he’d sent copies of their marriage certificates [both Clave approved and their official one sent to the New York office] to HR to Magnus’ amusement along with a letter explaining quite clearly that he and Magnus were married and he would appreciate being referred to as Inquisitor Lightwood-Bane from now on in an official capacity unless he stated otherwise. This had immediately resulted in a rather embarrassing letter of apology from the member of staff involved at the time which Magnus hadn’t been able to stop himself laughing at for at least a good month before burning it.

But every year when Alec saw the envelope there was always that knot in the pit of his stomach that he could never seemed to be rid of when it came to Clave approved functions. He had only been to a couple and that had been in his first year at Magnus’ insistence that he get to know some people he was working with so it would stop him from missing everyone he knew at the New York institute so much. He had tried but just because he had a higher title in the hierarchy now did not mean that it made him feel any more comfortable. True he had come out of his shell a little since he came, rather publicly, out of the closet but there was still the part of him that hated being the centre of attention out of some deeply engrained fear in his childhood that associated attention with punishment.

Not that he had had bad experiences at those events, he was well known after the battle of Alicante and his alliance with the Downworlders, but he always struggled with what to say and if Underhill, who had been transferred at his insistence as his assistant, hadn’t been there he probably would have resumed his usual role as the wall flower. It was just the way he had noticed every other person invited had brought their other halves leaving him feeling like he was missing a limb as was always the case when he had done something like that without Magnus.

But this year when he saw the letter, he bit his lip as he sunk into his chair and removed the coffee so he could look the invitation over when before he would have just thrown it into the trash without so much as a glance and told Andrew to send the organiser a thanks but no thanks RSVP.

With a sip of coffee, he leaned back into his chair and opened the envelope which revealed a magnolia card also embossed in silver writing completed with a fancy looking glittery border around the edge and angelic runes in each of the four corners. It was a standard invitation really, only made to look fancier and even though there was the increasing niggling to throw it out he instead settled for calling out to Andrew.

“Yes…. Alec?” Andrew asked, appearing through the doorway with his usual tablet and dressed in a higher than normal class suit which he knew by the way the other stood he was uncomfortable with but had worn to make Lorenzo happy much like Alec had in the beginning with him and Magnus.

It had taken Alec a while to insist when he took the role that Andrew did not need to call him Inquisitor Lightwood-Bane or sir when they were alone but every so often he would still slip up or take a while longer than necessary to address Alec like he was still trying to break the habit.

“Come in for a minute…I could do with asking you about something…” Alec said, watching Andrew step inside uncertainly before closing the door and sitting down on the otherwise of Alec’s desk.

“Sure, what’s up? It’s not about that meeting with the Seelie court is it? Meliorn has already tried to convince me for the fourth time that he is more than happy to speak to Jace instead of you if it’s an inconvenience.” Andrew sighed, though Alec knew as well as the other that as much as Jace would prefer to have an excuse to go the Seelie court Alec couldn’t let his parabatai act on his behalf this time.

“No, it’s not about that. But let me speak to Meliorn later, he really needs to just ask Jace out instead of coming up with excuses through me.” Alec said, Andrew nodding in agreement before putting his tablet upside down against the desk for the time being.

“So, what do you want to talk about?” Andrew asked, taking the invitation when it was offered to him.

“About this….I’m thinking of maybe going this year….schedule allowing…” Alec said, watching Andrew take a glance at the date before turning his attention back to the tablet holding all his memorable appointments in the run up to Christmas.

“I think you should be free that night and even if you weren’t, I would still encourage you to make your excuses and go. You’ve been getting fire messages every year asking why you haven’t gone so far, and I think this might be a last-ditch attempt before they give up.” Andrew said, flicking through his calendar until he found the right date.

“Ok, I was just wondering…. does that extend to you too?” Alec asked, Andrew scribbling a note on the right paper to remind him of the appointment before looking at Alec again.

“I think if you want to invite anyone else that is at your discretion but why not Magnus?” Andrew asked.

“I am going to ask if he wants to come but I just wanted to know if there was at least the chance that you and Lorenzo might be there in case things get awkward considering Magnus hasn’t come to any other events in the past.” Alec said.

“You mean in case things get rather anti-Downworlder? But yes, if you want us to, I’m sure I can twist Lorenzo’s arm to come…. you know how he loves those things. But he won’t be the only one, I mean Helen and Aline are sure to be invited since it is for Heads of institutes as well as inquisitors and I doubt they would want to miss it.” Andrew agreed, scribbling a note to himself in the border of the current day’s page to fire message his other half about the event.

“And hopefully if I speak to Meliorn about it he might use it as an excuse to ask Jace to come along as long as he can keep him under control.” Alec said wistfully but Andrew seemed to be able to tell that was not the important thing on his mind.

“Are you worried about asking Magnus, Alec? I mean he may ask why you didn’t ask him sooner but I’m sure he’ll understand why, and I can’t imagine him turning down the chance to go to a party.” Andrew said.

“It’s not Magnus I’m worried about…. it’s everyone else who’s not so pro- the new direction on Downworlders we are taking. I mean I’m sure you’ve seen enough of my mail to know that not everyone is supportive to the notion and the last thing I want is to put Magnus in that position. I know it’s taken him a long time to fully settle in Alicante and the last thing I want to do is disrupt that.” Alec said, fidgeting with his wedding ring uncertainly.

Though Magnus had maintained from their wedding day that he would go wherever Alec did after he was offered the job as Inquisitor Alec had been ready to throw the offer in the bin and just continue to live their days out at the New York Institute like he had always wanted. But when Magnus was offered the role of first ever High Warlock of Alicante too, he had known that wasn’t going to happen. With Lorenzo still the High Warlock of Brooklyn there had been little reason for them to stay and he had known how unhappy Magnus would be sticking around in New York without an official role to help people like he was so used to doing.

But it hadn’t been easy being the first High Warlock in the city of a country that was still trying to wrap its head around all the changes being implemented where Downworlders were concerned. And though Magnus had tried to hide it, Alec had known it was feeling like an up hill battle for his husband when the vast majority of his work was intertwined with the Clave and his office was right in the middle of the Hall of Accords. In the first week, each time Magnus had come home he would immediately wrap his arms around Alec tightly and take shaky breaths against Alec’s neck as though trying to remind himself of why he was so hellbent on doing this to begin with.

And though Magnus had managed to charm a few people there was still a pretty big anti-Downworlders offensive which made Alec even more certain that he needed other Downworlders in their lives to even out the balance for the sake of Magnus’ sanity. It had seen Helen and Aline visiting more than once a month if their institute was quiet enough to allow them and with Andrew working in Alicante Lorenzo seemed more inclined to drop in every so often even if the other warlock’s presence seemed to aggravate Magnus more than help but Alec knew he appreciated it. They had hosted Catarina, Madzie and Tessa a few times but the other warlocks seemed to feel the same unwelcoming atmosphere and were always more inclined to just say in Alec and Magnus’ apartment through out their visits instead of venturing out into Alicante itself.

All of this had been the reason why Alec tried to steer clear of putting him and Magnus in a position where they would receive that negativity and another reason why he had put the invitations in the trash in the past. But maybe now it was time for him to show those he worked with that he loved Magnus, that their approval of his marriage was not something he needed and they would just have to get used to it.

“I know how much you love and want to protect Magnus, Alec but I can assure you that he can more than take care of himself. He has had centuries of dealing with all the prejudice and bigotry of being a Downworlder and has grown a thick skin. But if there does come a point where he can’t take it I’m sure he knows that you will be in his corner to shield him from the blows and that probably means more to him than anything. Just ask him…if he says no then that’s fine but don’t deprive him of the opportunity to make the decision for himself.” Andrew said, setting the invitation back on the desk in Alec’s direction before getting up.

“I guess you’re right, thanks Andrew. For the moment don’t ask Lorenzo until I’ve spoken to Magnus, I’ll let you know tomorrow.” Alec said, offering the other a smile of thanks as he retreated towards the office door.

“Of course Alec, It’s what I’m here for. But you might want to down that coffee quick, you’re meeting with the Consul starts in fifteen minutes. “ Andrew said over his shoulder as he walked out to his desk to grab some papers that Alec had asked for.

It left Alec to scold his mouth as he downed the coffee in one and grabbed a file from the top of the pile on his desk before following Andrew out the door.

XO

That night when Alec finally had managed to get away from the office later than he had intended due to an overly long meeting with Meliorn where he tried to steer the other to just talk to his brother honestly instead of coming up with excuses to be around the other which from the pricks of irritability from his parabatai rune made it obvious that Jace knew what he was doing and wasn’t impressed in the slightest. He had at least managed to speak to Meliorn about the original reason for the meeting so that was something, but it did mean that when he got home Magnus was already going about his nightly routine.

“There you are, I was beginning to wonder if I needed to portal you home or not…” Magnus hummed as Alec wrapped his arms around his waist in a hug and pressed a kiss on the side of his neck.

“Sorry, I had a meeting with Meliorn and you know how much of a talker he can be when Jace is the topic of conversation.” Alec sighed, Magnus turning around in his arms and capturing his lips in a kiss so deep that it had Alec’s knees nearly buckling.

“Hm, I know and as I’ve told him over and over again that using Clave business as a reason to be around him isn’t going to work forever. But I am trying not to meddle too much, if Jace still isn’t ready to be with someone else after Clary left then we need to give him time, of course telling Meliorn that is like talking to a brick wall on any given day.” Magnus said, their foreheads touching as he brushed his silver painted fingers against Alec’s cheek soothingly. “Now have you eaten. I have put some dinner aside for you which just needs warming up.”

“Not since Andrew pushed a sandwich and coffee in my hand between meetings,” Alec murmured tiredly as Magnus tutted and pecked a last kiss to his lips before leading him towards the kitchen table and once he was seated turned to heat up the food.

Alec watched Magnus from the table, the way his husband who had to be exhausted himself seemed more fixated on ignoring his need for sleep to look after him, with a smile. He took the drink he was offered with a kiss to Magnus’ hand that had Magnus rolling him eyes at him fondly before he turned to checking that the Chinese was heated enough.

Once the food and utensils were in front of him he expected Magnus to disappear to bed with a last comment about putting the plates in the dishwasher and checking the cats had food in their bowls before he came to bed. Instead Magnus seemed fixated on joining him and sat opposite him at the table with a cup of green tea, entwining Alec’s shin between his own under the table so they were still touching while Alec was eating.

“So how was your day? Anything interesting that I need to know about?” Alec asked, around a mouthful of food that reminded him of their last date night in Shanghai what felt like years ago.

“Not so bad, mostly just catching up with other High Warlocks and checking in to see if there is anything they need. But I wasn’t in the office long enough to exchange words with anyone who wants me kicked out of the city if that’s what you were asking…” Magnus said, raising an eyebrow at him over his drink.

“Sorry, I know you are more than capable of handling things yourself. I just can’t help but worry about you…. call it my prerogative as your husband. The last thing I want to hear is that something or someone is causing issues and I don’t know so can’t help.” Alec said softly his gaze rested on his food though knew by the way Magnus grazed his foot up his inner shin that he was forgiven

“And I love you for being so worried about me darling, but nothing is going to change if you have to come to my rescue everytime someone looks at me the wrong way. I promise if anything serious happens you will be the first to know though things have been getting better a bit at the time over the last four years and that’s all we can ask for.” Magnus soothed, as Alec toyed with his food a little.

“I suppose.” Alec murmured, downing a mouthful of sweet and sour pork.

“Anyway, aside from your marathon meeting with Meliorn anything interest happen with you? I heard rumours through the hall that you were in a meeting with the consul about something…” Magnus asked, taking a sip of his drink.

“Just the usual update on the Downworlder-Shadowhunter alliance progress. I don’t know why Jia keep insisting on updates when I would tell her if there was anything she needed to know.” Alec said, stirring his food around in the sauce a little longer.

“I’m sure she has her reasons. Though I have managed to sign up another couple of warlocks for the alliance on a couple of my visits. They will be in contact with you to formalise it in the next couple of days, they were a bit iffy about that but I did assure them that even though you are an Inquisitor you are still my husband.” Magnus said, getting a nod of agreement from Alec whose mouth was full.

“There was something else….” Alec said once his plate was empty and he could talk before Magnus could conjure his plates in the dishwasher and herd Alec to bed.

“Can’t it wait? You look like you’re ready to fall asleep before we get you to bed at this rate…” Magnus asked toying with the tea bag as Alec put a hand on his own.

“Not really, I need to give my answer soon, but I wanted to discuss it with you first.” Alec said, stifling a yawn that had Magnus giving him a pointed look though he continued regardless. “I got an invitation to the yearly Clave Christmas party this morning…”

“Oh, I didn’t know there was one. I mean you’ve never mentioned it before….” Magnus said, tangling their fingers together with the close to empty mug now rested forgotten between the elder’s forearms.

“Because I never wanted to go before. You know how I feel about unnecessary socialising….” Alec said pointedly which got a nod of acceptance from his husband.

“Yes I do, but that does make me wonder what makes you want to go this time?” Magnus asked, letting his fingertips linger over Alec’s wedding ring.

“I thought maybe you would want to come with me? I mean only if you want to. I know that being in a room with the entire higher hierarchy of the Clave from Consul to Head of Institutes can’t exactly be considered the most entertaining party but I have a feeling if I don’t go this time they might give up inviting me which given I’m head of trying to bridge the attitude regarding Downworlders is not a good look.” Alec said, knowing he was rambling by the way Magnus let got of his ring and brushed his fingers soothingly over Alec’s palm.

“Darling, if you want me to be there then I will be there, there’s no need to be so worried about convincing me.” Magnus said softly.

“I just want to make sure you won’t be uncomfortable with any unwanted attention if I’m pulled into work conversations. Besides Helen and Aline will be there and I’ve already asked Andrew if he and Lorenzo will come too.” Alec said.

“I promise I’ll spend my whole night with Lorenzo and Andrew and Aline and Helen if it makes you feel better but I highly doubt anyone would really want to try anything at a Christmas party with bosses everywhere.” Magnus said, untangling one hand from Alec’s to conjure the dirty dishes away before getting up and tugging Alec’s captured hand. “Now come on, let’s get you to bed before you fall asleep at the table.”

“What would I do without you Magnus….” Alec murmured sleepily as he pushed himself up from his chair and let Magnus lead him in the direction of their bedroom.

“I shudder to think my darling,” Magnus said softly, kissing Alec gently on the jaw he closed the door behind them with a sparkle of magic.

XO

After mentioning the party to Magnus, it was like a weight which had unknowingly been sitting on Alec’s shoulders had been removed. It left him feeling more assured about the situation which seemed to become even more certain after Andrew assured him that Lorenzo was looking forward to it and that they had already received a kind of informal follow up from both Aline and Helen in case Alec had not yet made his decision. But the closer it came to the party the more the previously silenced anxiety seemed determined to make a reappearance which had him going over the arrangements for that night with Andrew at least once a day in the lead up to the night itself.

“Alec you’ve got to stop worrying….” Andrew said, after reassuring Alec for the fifth time the day before the party that everything was sorted, and everyone was coming. Something which seemed to have been kickstarted again by the fact that Jace had RSVPed in Isabelle’s place as the Head of the New York institute representative, so at least one of his siblings was still at the institute, with Meliorn bringing up the rear though the fact the newly crowned Seelie king was making an appearance seemed to make those higher up the food chain a little uneasy.

“I know, the amount of sleep I’ve lost over this thing is well into hours and Magnus is starting to get worried about me. I just want everything to be perfect.” Alec sighed, scribbling random runes on a draft copy of the newest Downworlder-Shadowhunter alliance bill that was going to get redrawn up anyway.

“And It will be, but you just need to focus on what you can control that night. There’s going to be other Downworlders there to stop the backlash, I’m going to be there In case you need me to step in though I have a feeling everyone will be more focused on impressing King Meliorn that everything else will just seem insignificant in comparison. You just need to enjoy your time with Magnus which I know has been on the lacking side for the past few months.” Andrew said pointedly.

And there was no denying how true that was. It had been months since he and Magnus had managed to have any kind of date night in their apartment let alone go out anywhere together. If It wasn’t due to Alec’s own late-night meetings with various Downworlders keeping him tied to his office, then it was Magnus being called in for emergencies every which way at a moment’s notice. They did try every so often to come up with something and set time aside but something would always cause it to fall through leaving them instead waiting up for the other at home and spending the half an hour together it to took them to eat once they walked in the door before turning in for the night.

All the hours he spent in his role as Inquisitor seemed to put those he had been so used to as the Head of the New York Institute to shame and left him feeling exhausted everytime that a day off was called off or when their weekends were interrupted one way or another.

All of that was the reason he was so hell bent on making that night so perfect. A night that would give them some time to themselves, something to remember when they were chained back to their desks before the Christmas holiday started and they would find themselves pulled this way and that to different places to be with family or friends. They would definitely have to make sure to put time aside for themselves, but he had a feeling that would not be possible until at least New year’s.

“Yeah and that’s why this needs to go well…. but I promise this is the last time I ask. I need to look into the accords archives for an audit of signed paperwork by the Seelie court for these years, can you get Sylvia to pull them out for me?" Alec asked, pushing a paper covered in the titles of all the relevant accords with their years beside them towards Andrew who nodded.

“Ok as long as you are sure. I’ll send the list to her now, it’s not an urgent request is it?” Andrew asked attaching the list to his tablet’s case with a click.

“No, but tell her I would like them before Christmas if possible, it’ll give me something to look over.” Alec said stretching in his chair, Andrew scribbling the comment at the top of the list with a nod.

“Anything else you need before I get on with the paperwork for the presentation at the Vampire conference next week?" Andrew asked, though his attention seemed to dwindle at the sound of someone clearing their throat pointedly from the doorway.

“Lorenzo…nice of you to drop in. You hoping to take Andrew out for lunch?" Alec asked, offering the High Warlock of Brooklyn a smile when he appeared into view.

“Only if that’s ok with you Alec…” Andrew interrupted before his other half tried to bully his boss into him taking the rest of the afternoon off and casting the warlock a look of warning when he opened his mouth.

“Of course. Once you’ve sent that list you’re free to go for the next hour….I think I have an appointment with a Clan leader from Hanoi next which will keep me fairly busy while you’re gone.” Alec said, getting a wink of thanks from Lorenzo even as Andrew herded him outside and closed the door behind them.

It left Alec to turn his attention to the makeshift lunch which had appeared in a shower of blue sparkles earlier that day like Magnus knew his mind would be on anything but food that day and he hadn’t yet had the chance to touch yet. It gave him something else to focus on until the clan leader arrived and had him looking forwarded to the next night when he would finally get the chance to spend some quality time with his own Warlock for once.

XO

The night of the party had finally arrived, and Alec had managed to get away relatively early with Andrew practically shoving him out the door before someone could try to get his attention and leave him running late. It left him now trying to decide what to wear as he waited for Magnus to appear since his husband had promised he would get away early even if it meant that he had to be shoved through a portal by his own assistant.

Alec had just showered and managed to settle on a suit that Magnus had brought him not long after they moved to Alicante as a congratulations on the new job present but had not as of yet actually been seen the corridors of the Accords Hall, when he heard the sound of a portal appearing in their lounge and paused from doing the buttons of his shirt in their room to check that it was actually Magnus.

“Ah you’re already here Darling, I thought I might need to drag you away from your desk.” Magnus beamed, from where he was setting his bag aside.

“Well I’m sure if Andrew had not been the one to push me out the office that I would probably still be there.” Alec smiled, pecking a kiss to Magnus’ lips as he passed him on the way to their room.

Soon the room was filled with the sound of music from the deep depths of Magnus’ side of the closet as his husband set about the task of deciding on what to wear despite the fact he had assured Alec he had already decided, although Alec didn’t doubt for a moment that he had already changed his mind at least three times since that conversation. It left Alec to finish getting ready, settling for giving the matching tie a miss and trying in vain to tame his hair in the mirror on Magnus’ dresser. He had just added a belt to his pants and grabbed his shoes when Magnus appeared with an outfit on a hanger in his grasp on his way out the wardrobe and flashed him a wink before the bathroom door closed behind him.

More than used to Magnus’ process for getting ready for a night out Alec settled on retreating to the lounge and checking in with those members of their crowd that were coming in the meantime. Aline seemed to be ready and was waiting for Helen to decide on her outfit since she was talking to one of their subordinates at the LA Institute about a situation they were currently having, though Aline had said she had tried to take the phone off her wife at least three times to take over Helen had sent her a look leaving her banished to the lounge in their wing at Penhallow Manor in the meantime,

By comparison Andrew was still stuck at the office, though when Alec asked he claimed it was nothing that couldn’t be handled another day and that Alec should just focus on the party which Alec appreciated but it still made him feel a bit guilty that Andrew was left to pick up his mess instead of getting ready himself with Lorenzo just so he could have a good time which he undoubtedly deserved.

That then left him to check in with Jace, who though he was staying at the Lightwood family home in Idris had recently been to see the Herondale Ancestral Manor and while he had accepted his lineage still did not completely feel like a Herondale after so long of being a Lightwood. By comparison to Andrew and Aline, Jace seemed to be as much of a wreck as Alec was which seemed to be amplified by the feelings bleeding through their shared rune. Alec knew all of that was more to do with him going on an actual date with Meliorn for the first time in Shadowhunter public and what it actually meant.

Alec spent a while assuring Jace that he did not need to feel guilty about what happened to Clary, that the redhead would have wanted him to be happy more than anything and that he owed it to himself after all he had been through for him to at least give Meliorn a chance. He did not doubt that if given the chance to prove himself as a worthy partner instead of Jace writing him off that Meliorn would be just the kind of match that Jace needed to help ease the lingering feelings that still remained for Clary.

“But I mean he’s the King now Alec, the damned Seelie king! Why would he even want to be with me to begin with? I just don’t get it….” Jace rambled from the other side of the phone, Alec watching out the corner of his eye through the open doorway to their bedroom as Magnus appeared from the bathroom.

He was dressed to impress like always, though it was a little more toned down than back when they were still dating. A crimson silk shirt that was open from his collarbone to midway down his chest with the material shimmering each time he moved and add to that a pair of black tight jeans seemed painted on to his figure and Alec could barely stop himself from drooling as Magnus disappeared from view to his dresser to finish getting ready.

“Jace, whether he is the Seelie king or not makes no difference. I mean if I remember rightly, he made his intentions towards you quite clear back when you were sharing the alliance rune together. Sometimes those kinds of things build bonds that shouldn’t be ignored, and you never know being around him might do you some good.” Alec said, biting his lip as he made himself get up from the couch to look out the window to distract himself from Magnus while speaking to his parabatai.

“I don’t know Alec…” Jace sighed, and it was clear that he was getting cold feet almost as though he was sure that this one date could spell the rest of his life being a kept shadowhunter in the Seelie court and it was something that Alec had never thought Jace would think of. He had always been the one-night stand type right up until clary walked into his life and it seemed to have changed his whole perception of relationships.

“I don’t know what has made you so fixated on the future suddenly but try not to think of it like that. Just think of it as a date, a date doesn’t need to mean anything more than that and if by the end of the night you can see yourself seeing him again then you can worry about what it does or does not mean for the future.” Alec said, soothingly hearing Magnus humming softly from behind him causing him to turn around and see his husband sat on their couch tying his shoes.

“Yeah, I guess that can work, thanks Alec. I should probably get ready then, he wants to meet up before the party, but I’ll see you guys there.” Jace said, his tone sounding a lot more certain than before as though Alec had managed to lessen his fears.

“I’ll see you there, bye Jace.” Alec said, hanging up and sitting beside Magnus to put his own shoes on, pausing to press a kiss to Magnus’ jaw causing his husband to smile at him.

“Is he a bit nervous?” Magnus asked, getting up to put on the leather blazer that had been sat beside him on the couch and fill the pockets with the essentials he needed.

“He seemed to be jumping the gun a little, sure that if he went ahead with this date that it would mean him being Meliorn’ s consort tied to the Seelie court forever or something. I think I’ve managed to make him see sense since it’s really just a first date at this point, but I doubt that Meliorn would let him go so easily.” Alec said, putting his own phone and wallet in his blazer pockets once his shoes were on.

“Well Meliorn is a Seelie….I mean he is the Seelie king sure and while they are usually not exactly known for being the most monogamous I doubt that Meliorn would be throwing Jace out his bed at any point to be with anyone else, which is strange because I never really saw Jace as his type.” Magnus said thoughtfully with a shrug. “You ready to go now?”

“Might as well, though I’m sure we might be early it might give us a chance to catch up with a few old friends.” Alec smiled, resting a hand on the small of Magnus’ back as he pressed a kiss to the nape of his neck causing Magnus to melt against him and cast him a look.

“You know you can be very distracting…” Magnus sighed, though turned his head and caught Alec’s lips in a deep kiss that had Alec willing to just say to hell with the party and steer magnus back to their room to unpeel all the clothes from his husband’s body. As if seeming to read Alec’s thoughts Magnus reluctantly pulled away. “Um….I swear we can get to that later….”

“You promise?” Alec asked nuzzling Magnus’ neck as his husband started to conjure the portal to the venue of the party.

“Oh believe me darling, all I will be thinking about tonight is the things I am going to do to you once we get back here.” Magnus grinned, sliding his hand into Alec’s and leading him through the portal.

They found themselves standing in the corridor outside the accord hall which seemed to have been redecorated for the occasion with sparkling snow flakes which seemed to have been bewitched with magic to make sure they didn’t melt and strings of tinsel which were entangled with star shaped fairy lights along the walls to direct people to the correct door. Alec squeezed Magnus’ hand once the portal closed behind them and led the way towards the door which seemed to be acting as the main entrance as all others they passed were locked.

A member of the Gard was stood outside checking off the names of people that were coming and he looked the couple over.

“Inquisitor Lightwood-Bane and High Warlock Lightwood-Bane, please come on through.” He said after checking them off and moving aside to let them pass.

The room seemed to have been rearranged from the usual hall setting that Alec was so used to seeing it as. Instead of the multitude of antique hard wood desks and multiple uncomfortable benches which Alec had more than enough experience with there were multiple tables dotted around the room all dressed with white table cloths and miniature Christmas trees covered in fake snow with silver decorations hung among the branches in the centre of each table. A temporary bar had been erected by the head chair where Consul Penhallow sat during any meeting along with a couple of tables either side where Andrew and Lorenzo seemed to have already found their way and were ordering their drinks.

Alec let Magnus lead the way towards the bar and order for them both, his husband immediately starting to talk to Lorenzo about how things were in New York, seeming to settle Alec a little as he stood with one arm around Magnus’ waist while his other hand picked up his glass of wine. He was perfectly content to let Magnus do all the talking and just take in the atmosphere, looking in the direction of the door just in case any of their other friends appeared.

Soon enough Helen and Aline appeared, the couple chatting animatedly among themselves probably about the situation that was happening back in LA but it seemed that even with their thoughts stuck in LA they had still wanted to make the effort. Both were wearing elegant dresses in festive colours though he knew Aline had probably only done at her wife’s insistence since she had always been a tomboy as long as he had known her, to the point that it had been a miracle to get her into a dress for his and Magnus’ wedding.

The couple also moved towards the bar, greeting Alec and Magnus warmly and being introduced to Lorenzo and Andrew that neither had met before. And once they all had their drinks they moved together as a group towards the tables to see if there was one allocated specifically for them but when they saw that wasn’t the case instead grabbed one in the middle of the room.

Alec pulled out a seat for Magnus who rolled his eyes at the gesture but was more than well acquainted with his manners appearing when he was still feeling out of his depths and settled for resting a soothing hand on Alec’s thigh under the table once he was sat beside him. Aline and Helen were thankfully too engrossed in getting to know how Andrew and Lorenzo had met to notice the exchange, but Alec was sure Aline had noticed and would give him hell for it later.

The hall began to steadily fill with other Inquisitors appearing at the table to speak to Alec and either exchange pleasantries with Magnus if they hadn’t met him before or catch up on his work and express an interest in his next big project if they had. Other Heads of Institutes that Alec had met or at least been acquainted with back when he was the Head of the New York institute came to his table to catch up though there were quite a few new faces that only knew him as Inquisitor Lightwood-Bane who seemed to steer clear. Jia had appeared at some point but avoided their table probably preferring to speak to Aline somewhere less public meaning that they still were on rocky ground and made Alec glad that she didn’t try to put him in the middle.

Soon everyone was seated, but from the buzzing around them Alec knew they were waiting for Meliorn and by extension Jace to appear though they seemed to be cutting it fine making Alec wonder if they had decided to give the party a miss and do something less public instead. Although by the jittery feeling from his parabatai rune that didn’t seem to be the case meaning Meliorn had just wanted to be fashionably late since he knew people were expecting him.

“Why does everyone keep looking at the door? Are we expecting a special guest or something?” Aline asked when someone appeared with her second drink.

“You could say that…King Meliorn hasn’t exactly been very public since he was crowned.” Magnus shrugged, though the way Helen stiffened made it clear she didn’t know about the change in the throne.

“King Meliorn….when did that happen?” Helen asked, though before either Alec or Magnus could give her a reply there came a ripple through the crowd that caused them all to turn and look towards the doorway to see Meliorn appearing with Jace beside him, the blonde trying to ignore the attention but Alec knew it wasn’t easy.

“Whoa….Jace and Meliorn? When did that happen?” Aline asked, her gaze pinned on the couple as Meliorn led Jace towards the bar.

It’s a long story…. but whatever you do don’t stare. Jace is already pretty edgy about the whole thing, I think he wishes Meliorn had chosen some place less public for their first date.” Alec said, watching Meliorn try to reassure Jace by keeping his attention on him instead of on the crowd of his peers who were watching them.

“That is typical Meliorn though…” Helen sighed, taking another sip of her drink as she let her gaze linger over the newest member of royalty that she would have to speak to at some point or another.

Alec watched as Jace started to lead Meliorn towards their table only for a member of the Gard to stop them and gesture to a table that seemed to have been set up specially for Meliorn in an attempt to get on his good side. But after taking a glance at Jace, Meliorn declined the offer and rested a reassuring hand on Jace’s arm as he led the way to the table.

Once they were seated the food started to be served and it left them enough time to try and talk while they ate. Helen seemed to be the one who was determined to engage Meliorn in conversation about his new role but the other merely said to come and see him in Faerie at some point and he would gladly tell her everything before turning his attention back to Jace in a way that had his parabatai flushing as he tried to answer his question.

Alec and Andrew mostly ate letting their other halves fill the silence with conversation about potion ingredients they were lacking, fellow warlocks they had seen or not seen for a while and topics that they wanted to bring up at conferences. Every so often Alec with let his hand linger on Magnus’ thigh or catch his hand for a kiss to the back earning an adoring smile from his husband even as Lorenzo rolled his eyes and murmured something to Andrew about how whipped he was that had Magnus giving the other a look.

“Oh I don’t know Lorenzo, I seem to recall hearing rumours about how you loved to be whipped back in the 60’s unless I heard wrong of course…” Magnus quipped causing the other to flush minutely behind his Old Fashioned.

“Yes well….it was the sixties….i haven’t done that for quite a while…” Lorenzo said, at the enquiring look that Andrew sent in his direction.

“Oh I’ll bet…” Magnus murmured under his breath as Alec set his utensils on his empty plate. “Darling, could you get me another drink?”

“Of course, same again?” Alec asked, picking up Magnus’ glass as he got to his feet.

“Thank you love.” Magnus smiled, pecking a kiss to Alec’s cheek before he left the table in the direction of the bar.

He arrived at the bar to find Cody Nightshade from the Helsinki Institute and Mika Castel from the Auckland Institute chatting away with Christopher Makepeace from the Melbourne Institute, though the trio quickly veered off when they spotted Alec was there.

“Hi, my husband will have the same again thanks.” Alec said, with a smile at the bartender before turning to look at the three one of whom avoided his gaze like what they had been saying related to him. “Nightshade, Makepeace, Castel, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you all back in Idris.”

“Yes, well with everything being so busy at the moment that I was lucky to get away in the first place. A few too many nests have popped up around the country so we’re having to juggle each individual state since they don’t all have their own institutes.” Christopher said, while Nightshade seemed determined to not look at Alec at all.

“Is that the same with you Castel? I know that one institute covering multiple islands can be a bit hard to deal with.” Alec asked, Mika sipping his drink.

“Especially when that institute isn’t in the centre of the country as would make sense. By the time we manage to get down there or inform the Manila institute for back up the demon responsible has already killed the mundane or the nest itself has been moved on from the last recorded spot. Maybe if we had the option of a similar structure to London in New Zealand then it might make it easier for us to keep things under control.” Mika suggested, Christopher nodding in agreement.

“Something to maybe speak to the Consul about, I’m sure she would be able to see the benefits to that in places which historically aren’t known for having multiple bodies around to cover all bases. But if you would prefer for me to be involved in the conversation with the two of you just send me a note and I’ll be more than willing to help. ” Alec said, thoughtfully as the bartender appeared with Magnus’ topped up glass. “What about you Nightshade, everything working better in Helsinki after the recent restructure?”

“Pfft, is that what you call it? We’ve been inundated with more Downworlders than actual Shadowhunters since, I don’t see what use they are when we were dealing well enough without them.” Cody snorted, shaking his head.

“As I recall your institute was one of the lowest performing before the restructure and from the last report that came across my desk productivity seems to have tripled since the High Warlock and Clan Leader started allowing their communities to get involved. Besides there is not enough staff volunteering to be in Helsinki to begin with, something had to be done otherwise it would have been closed.” Alec said carefully though he could feel the atmosphere change especially by the way that the other two Institute Heads remained shtum about the direction the conversation was taking.

“But maybe if the structure weren’t so focused on bringing Downworlders in and more on dispatching bodies evenly to Institutes regardless of preferences it would be different. Not that I would expect you to consider anything of the sort.” Cody huffed.

“And what exactly do you mean by that?” Alec asked, his tone shifting from friendly to what Magnus called his ‘Inquisitor’ voice that demanded respect and had been used in more than one of his meetings with difficult people.

“Well ever since you were made Inquisitor all you’ve done is try to bring them in. I mean you even married one of them and then managed to negotiate the condition of you taking the Inquisitor role so that he got a role of his own. And that’s not even counting the alliance that you started to get them more proactive in the accords process. Why don’t you just kick all Shadowhunters out and give them to the keys to every institute?” Cody sneered, downing a mouthful of his drink.

“Because that would be the complete antithesis of what I am hoping to achieve. Yes, I may have married a Downworlder but not just because he is a Downworlder. My husband has had to endure centuries of bigotry and prejudice because of who he is and yet despite it all the reason he lives and breathes is to look after people and be there for people when they need him. That kind of humanity and love deserves nothing but our respect and praise let alone a role made specifically for him to thrive in. Sure we could have continued on the path of ridicule and segregation, where we continued to look down on them as underlings but we would be missing out on key skills and resources to streamline what we do.” Alec said, sternly not appreciating the fact that all the joy he had been experiencing through out the night was being shattered to pieces because of one of the very people he had been hoping to avoid.

“And the fact that he gives it to you good has nothing to do with it I’m sure.” Cody smirked, causing Alec to narrow his eyes.

“What the hell did you just say?" Alec demanded, feeling his patience wearing thin at the attitude of the other though his attention was soon diverted at the sound of his name being said in the melodious voice of his husband who seemed to have approached them during the conversation.

“Darling he isn’t worth it. He’s probably had too much to drink that’s all, just come back to our table.” Magnus soothed, approaching Alec, and resting a reassuring hand on his own that was curled in a fist which would have easily connected with the other’s jaw if he hadn’t been stopped.

Alec let out a shaky breath to steady himself and uncurled his hand so Magnus’ fingers would tangle between his own and while Magnus grabbed his new drink, Alec offered Castel and Makepeace looks that had them removing the glass from Cody’s hand and steering him towards the door. He let Magnus lead the way back towards their table, squeezing Alec’s hand reassuringly as the indignation of what he’d heard continued to make his hands shake.

“You OK?" Alec asked when they sat down, Magnus offering him an adoring look that confused Alec for a moment.

“Darling, I’ve just heard the man I love and cherish more than my very being standing up for me with words so beautiful and eloquent about his love and respect for me as a person let alone as a Downworlder. I couldn’t be more ok if I tried.” Magnus said softly, causing Alec to flush a little as he looked down into his own half-finished drink.

“You heard all that huh?" Alec asked, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Kind of hard not to. I was just wanting to check if you wanted another drink yourself and instead, I’m gifted with the most complimentary words you’ve ever said since our wedding vows.” Magnus smiled, cupping Alec’s cheek and brushing his thumb against his jaw.

“Well every word of it is true. I just don’t understand why some people don’t see how beneficial an alliance would be, bringing the gifts that Downworlders have into the organisation just seems like a no brainer and yet there are still ridiculously stubborn people that can only see the downsides.” Alec sighed, though when Magnus kissed him, he knew he had said the right thing.

“Now if only the whole Clave thought the way you do darling.” Magnus murmured, with a promising smile that Alec knew meant they were leaving soon, and he couldn’t wait.

“Here, here.” Meliorn chipped in, breaking the moment between the couple, and reminding Alec that they had had an audience ever since they returned to the table.

“You think so Mel?" Jace asked, brushing his fingertips along his date’s arm until their hands met.

“Definitely, I mean everyone in the Downworld never doubted that you love Magnus Alec. We just never realised how much you respect him too. To be fair, we always have given how long he has been around and how much he helped during the two uprises but to hear it from the Shadowhunter who loves him the most, it really make you appreciate the kind of relationship the two of you have.” Meliorn said softly, his free hand curled around his glass of Seelie wine while the other engulfed in Jace’s grip gave the blonde’s a squeeze.

“Without a doubt.” Lorenzo agreed reluctantly, though his gaze was rested on Andrew who gave him a soft kind of smile that made it clear he felt the same way about the other.

“Anyway, I think we’ve had enough excitement for tonight don’t you Alec? Time to go home.” Magnus said, after downing his free glass of wine in one.

“Really? I thought you’d want to enjoy the rest of the night and I’m fairly sure there’s a couple of new inquisitors I haven’t got to meet yet.” Alec asked with a raised eyebrow.

“And normally I would darling, but let’s just say I think we need somewhere less public for me to show you how much what you said meant to me. After all I did promise we could pick up where we left off later, didn’t I?” Magnus murmured low into Alec’s ear, the timbre of his voice easily making Alec give in and get up from the table the rest of his meal and drink forgotten.

“We should catch up after Christmas, maybe have a dinner or something at New Year’s.” Aline suggested, a knowing twinkle in her eyes as Magnus got up from his chair and let his hand rest on Alec’s side.

“I’ll ask Izzy if you and Helen can from over for Christmas if you want. I think Alec might prefer that he and Magnus keep New Years just for them.” Jace said, winking at Alec who mouthed a silent ‘thank you’ at him.

“Have a good night all and Andrew don’t worry about coming in early tomorrow I think you deserve a half day off after dealing with my paperwork this afternoon.” Alec smiled at the group as Magnus led him towards the door with his hand sliding down to rest on his waist with the obvious intention of going lower which was thankfully obscured by the pair turning the corner and passing through the waiting portal.

Needless to say, it was a party that no-one was ever going to forget in a hurry.

Fin.

[la-muerta]

I know I’m not going to be able to fill anymore squares by the deadline so this is my masterpost for Shadowhunter Bingo!

1. we’ll be dancing all night (Clizzy | T | 1,552 words | Dance AU) Clary, a small-town girl with big dreams, moves to L.A. and ends up working as a waitress at a neo-burlesque club called the Pandemonium.

2. A Midwinter Night’s Dream (Malec | E | 4,063 words | Mistletoe) While chasing a white hind through Blackthorn Woods, Prince Alec, soon to be king of the realm, meets a sorcerer named Magnus under a bough of mistletoe growing on an oak tree.

3. Facilis Descensus Averno (Malec | E | 2,706 words | Wing Fic) The descent into Hell is easy. Father Alec Lightwood has never truly understood just how easy, until Magnus finds him.

4. Chain Reaction (World Inverted Malec | E | 4,562 words | Fuck or Die) When shadowhunter Clary from the other dimension comes crashing into Magnus' simple, boring, magicless existence and awakens Magnus' dormant magic, she awakens a lot more than that.

5. Mr December (Malec | T | 1,408 words | Firefighter AU) Alec is a famous architectural photographer who has agreed to help do a photoshoot for the Brooklyn Fire Department for a charity calendar. One of the firefighters should really have come with a goddamned warning.

6. I have the ocean's soul (Maiabelle | T | 2,318 words | Long Distance) While out "fishing" (avoiding her brother) on a warm summer's day, Maia accidentally catches a very odd fish.

7. a girl in a garden  (Clizzy | T | 1,135 words | Marriage) King Robert Lightwood has decreed that it is time for his eldest son to take a wife. Heart-weary on her brother’s behalf, Isabelle escapes into the palace gardens for a breath of fresh air, only to lose her own heart.

8. Thunderstruck (Malec | E | 18,152+ words | Sports AU)* Jace and Alec were once world champion motorcycle racers, but an accident forces both of them into retirement. Alec swore he would never get on a bike again - until their chief engineer Izzy gets wind of a talented illegal street racer who could put them back in the competition. *I haven’t managed to complete the fic, so I made art for the square instead

9. One Year Later (Malec, Clace, Sizzy | T | 3,367 words | Immortality) The morning after Clary chases Jace down a dark alley and remembers his name, everything changes.

Didn’t manage to complete as many squares as I planned to but the rest of my ideas ended up really long D: At least I managed one bingo? LOL

Much thanks to @shadowhunterbingo​ for organising!

Here’s my card!

[belsmomaus]

First Lines Meme

I haven’t been tagged, but it’s been a while since I wrote anything (and since I’ve done one of those) and hopefully a bit of reminiscing will get me in writing mood again (even if I kinda switched fandoms again... well...)

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favourite opening line. Then tag 10 of your favourite authors!

1.  The cobblestone feels strange underneath Alec’s feet, the play of its surface unpredictable.

Alicante (Shadowhunters) - Malec, Black Mirror - San Junipero - AU (therefore character death, but not really, but you’ve been warned)

2.  They came from all sides.

Drained (Shadowhunters) - magical exhaustion; Magnus is in a tough spot and gets help from an unexpected source. 

3.  “Magnus,” Alec complained against his lips, “we should-”

Flower (Shadowhunters) - Malec-Advent calendar, married Malec, soulmates; the Seelie Queen makes an unexpected appearance at the Downworld council...

4.  The thin layer of frozen snow beneath their feet crunched with every step of their feet.

Warm (Shadowhunters) - Malec-Advent calendar, future Malec, parents Malec, for once just pure fluff (which I rarely ever do)

5.  The sun was beating down on him.

Friction (Shadowhunters) - Malec-Advent calendar, humor, Jace is being Jace and Alec and Magnus have to live with the consequences

6.  It is morning and Madzie is awake.

Sick (Shadowhunters) - Malec-Advent calendar, babysitter-Alec; Catarina is sick and Madzie is scared

7.  It was late and yet the city didn’t seem to care.

Ring (Shadowhunters) - Malec-Advent calendar, married Malec; Alec has a bad day and old insecuries rise to the surface

8.  “Oh, come on!“

Luck (Shadowhunters) - Malec-Advent calendar, humor; Clarie decides it’s time the whole gang gets to know (and play) some mundane board games - hilarity ensues

9.  Alec woke up to a high pitched, pitiful wailing.

Tired (Shadowhunters) - Malec-Advent calendar, future fic, parents-Malec; just some sleep-deprived Malec, sprinkled with fluff

10.  Magnus is stumbling, the ground lurching beneath his feet.

Sad (Shadowhunters) - Malec-Advent calendar, hurt no comfort, Raphael is a good friend; Magnus gets attacked after he broke up with Alec (in season 2)...

11.  “Magnus!”

Cute (Shadowhunters) - Malec-Advent calendar, humor and some rare fluff with a touch of embarrassed Alec

12.  “Phew! I think that was a tad too much.”

Retepsian Cuisine (The Orville) - Ed/Kelly, married Ed/Kelly, pre-show; just a good old little happily married hurt/comfort story inspired by Kelly’s line in season 1 that as long as Ed is cursing the injury isn’t that bad (or something like that)

13.  “Do you really have to go, sweetie?”

Endorphins (The Orville) - Ed/Kelly, married Ed/Kelly, pre-show; it’s their one chance at seeing each other between missions and Ed is being, well, Ed...

14.  Kylo longed for his bed right now.

Valentine’s Day - bland and shallow, like most things in the Republic (Star Wars - Sequel Trilogy) - Kylux, sequel to Midwinter Calendar, unfinished and abandoned, I loved working on this and I absolutely hate that it’s unfinished but I’m absolutely out of the fandom at this point and I have no idea what I wanted to happen in this last unwritten chapter or how I wanted to get to the ending I had in mind and sadly it’s just undoable at this point; so sorry, guys - it was Hux answering to Kylo’s gift of an Alderanian tradition (something like and advent calendar) with a tradition of his own home world

15.  Hux was pissed!

A Different Angle (Star Wars - Sequel Trilogy) - Kylo & Hux, Hux witnesses one of the Force conversations between Kylo and the scavenger girl and it gives him an interesting glimpse into the other’s mind

16.  He couldn't watch this a moment longer.

With a little help from a friend... (Star Wars - Sequel Trilogy) - Mitaka & Hux, Hux/Sleep; Hux is beyond his limits of stress and sleep deprivation and Mitaka can’t help but do something about it

17.  “You bring two of them in our midst and claim you want to help us?“

One tends to lose one’s mind (Star Wars - Rogue One) - Cassian/Bodhi, everyone lives AU, established relationship; Bodhi is faced with his worst nightmare and yet he never hesitates a second...

18.  Verifying the rumor that the Empire has given up their newly installed listening post in the forests of Zastryll.

Sticky and thick, then it’s perfect! (Star Wars - Rogue One) - Cassian/Bodhi, everyone lives AU, established relationship; their mission doesn’t go as planned and one of them gets hurt...

19.  There is a legend on Fest.

Hijo de la luna (Star Wars - Rogue One) - Cassian/Bodhi, songfic but not really, kind of soulmates, tried a different style here, still proud of this one; practically the song ‘hijo de la luna’ is a legend across the universe, but it’s real, for Cassian is that child

20.  “You’re beautiful.”

Under the Moon (Star Wars - Rogue One) - Cassian/Bodhi, sequel to Hijo de la luna, some insecurity, some fluff and a tiny bit of sexy times

So, all in all I’d say, it’s mostly short statement sentences or direct speech of some kind. Strangely enough I like number 7 the most (although it’s not one of my favorite works), but I kind of like the sound and the mood the sentence is setting: It was late and yet the city didn’t seem to care. 

If you’re interested, feel yourself tagged :)

[takaraphoenix]

I love Once Upon a Time. I loved it since it first started airing and I first started watching it. For years, it was my absolute favorite TV show.

This post isn’t really about the show, in case you’re getting your hopes up. I rambled about it at length here, which resulted in a rewatch, which stirred up some old things that I want to talk about here.

I loved this show, I loved it a lot. Peak loving it started in about 2013. Because sharing something you love with someone you love just makes it all the better, right? And my best friend back then, she also loved it, she loved it so much.

We used to watch it together. Meet up regularly to watch a bunch of episodes together. We turned the half season about Fr0zen into an all-day drinking game binge, because we both disliked that movie greatly but love this show.

We just -- clicked on this. Her favorite fairy tale is Beauty and the Beast, a story I... don’t dig at all. But OUaT’s Beauty and Beast are just about the only valid BatB adaptation and the only time I ship those two.

We got to fangirl about it all together, ships, characters, plotlines, Disney movies handled badly/good. It was so much fun.

And then things started to slowly... fizz out. Occasions on which she took the time for us to watch together became rarer and rarer.

And I know she had a lot going on back then in her life, mentally, physically, just everything really. And I 100% understand not having the emotional capacity to hang out with people.

But it was... kind of... just me. We were facebook friends too and I’d see her post about that weekend she went on a con with those four friends, that Wednesday afternoon she spent gaming with this friend, that Saturday she drove hours to visit another friend. And when every time I asked, the answer would be she’d be too exhausted right now, or she had just spent last weekend socializing so she needed a “me weekend” this week?

There’s not always having the emotional capacity to socialize and then there is having the emotional capacity to socialize with those people but not with one person in particular, because on her own, she kind of just stopped suggesting that we could do anything. Even on the more social days, I saw her post about the people she sought out to hang out with while I kept getting told she had no capacity for it.

That’s telling. At one point, that starts becoming a pattern and it starts becoming telling all on its own. And when you live only half an hour apart but have only seen each other three times over the course of an entire calendar year - and those three occasions were her birthday, my birthday and the birthday of her other best friend with whom I was friends too, not a single day where we just hung out, but “obligatory” meet ups of birthdays? Heck, I see my extended family more often because we throw in Easter and Christmas into that mix.

For many, many months I keep thinking that I was asking too much, demanding too much attention, because she has her mental issues and everything going on. But the more time passed and the more often I saw her have the emotional availability to hang out and be with other non-me people, the more I felt like no, I wasn’t really asking too much, because a friendship should be a two way street. I shouldn’t have to be the one to carry the entire brunt force of emotional availability and support and understanding for her; she should, despite her own situation, also be able to make time for me. In at least some way, at at least some point.

I spent that whole year having a USB drive laying around with a half watched season of Once Upon a Time (we made it halfway into season 5B). And it’s stupid and it’s not even about the show really, the show and those episodes on that USB drive just symbolize how much time she used to be able to take for us, how much fun we used to have together, how eager we both were to spend time together, and how it was now just me, carrying it around, trying to run after her, begging for some time she may have to spare for me.

During that year, we had a fallout. A stupid argument that somehow evolved into a huge fallout in which many things were said that are now burned into the back of my mind because they just cut that deep. And when I thought we could rekindle, we needed to talk about this, it was too much work. That’s what I was told, in the end, point-blank, that working through our issues and talking about this thing that really hurt me a lot emotionally would be too much emotional work for her. 10 years of friendship weren’t worth that work to rekindle.

That was one and a half years ago now. We haven’t spoken since.

I haven’t touched Once Upon a Time in three years total. Since we stopped watching, in the middle of season 5B - I had finished the show already at that point; was one and a half seasons ahead of where the two of us were stuck, which only shows just how much she had been putting me off even before the total stop in watching, especially considering we used to watch four, five episodes in a sitting on a normal day, especially considering we watched a whole half season in that one day. But between the actual release of season 5 and the finale of season 6, we barely watched half a season.

And I deleted the other left over episodes from our rewatch in angry frustration and I really haven’t been able to go back to Once Upon a Time since then, because just looking at it makes me remember all the good times we had - and remembering the good times just makes it hurt all the more, because those are the parts you miss.

It’s been three years since I last watched Once Upon a Time. Even though it is my favorite show. Even though the craving for that beloved show and how much I loved it had been there. But it just... felt way too sad to consider watching it all alone, because it’ll make me miss the best friend I lost.

I started rewatching Once Upon a Time four days ago. Because a silly little ask about my opinion on this show that I used to love so, so much sparked the curiosity of my best friend. Because, against all odds, this absolute disaster who still hasn’t finished watching Shadowhunters and is just really, really bad at watching TV shows, decided to watch OUaT, of all shows. Of all the shows I’ve been recommending her and told her to watch over the past three years that we’ve been friends now, she ended up to pick this one, this one that I hadn’t actually even explicitely recommended to her.

Of all the shows to watch, she picked this one. And she seems to really love it. And I am enjoying her enthusiasm so much and hearing her fangirl about all those characters and ships that I used to love so very dearly made me miss it so much that I decided to start rewatching it too.

And now we’re both half a season into this show and I get to fall in love with all my favorite characters and ships all over again, I get to experience that immense joy of watching something I love with someone I love who also loves this thing so much. And I missed this so much.

I missed this show so much, but this isn’t even just about the show as a piece of media for consumption; I missed loving this show with someone else. I missed this feeling that it gives me and I don’t know if, or when, I’d have been able to rewatch that all on my own again because it still makes me sad at parts because it makes me remember a friendship I lost, but now it also makes me incredibly happy to be able to share it with this friend I cherish.

And I really don’t know how to put into words how much this means to me, on such a weird level, so instead of being a Normal Person and just telling her, I am writing sappy, stupid posts on tumblr because this has become my way of coping with big emotions that make me feel things.

[affcgato-archived]

Holidays - Christmas, & New Years.

headcanon’d with @ethcreal‘s Ash Morgenstern in mind.

Much like other Shadowhunters, Jonathan ascribes to no particular religion or faith as he’s allied himself with every mundane belief system. In a sense, he sees his lifestyle as a religion wholly unto itself in a way but that is neither here nor there regarding how he sees the holidays.

The only real winter festivity Jonathan observed, prior to the birth of his son, was the winter festival of the Angel. The festival is held on the day Raziel is said to have to Jonathan Shadowhunter & given him the Mortal Instruments*. As a child, he wasn’t permitted (for what would later become very obvious reasons) to go to the Lake & set the lit paper lantern on the lake as is the tradition for Shadowhunters residing in or visiting Idris. He was, however, permitted to partake in the spiced wine & he & his father would cast slips of paper with their wishes for the upcoming year into the hearth to burn up overnight1. This is his equivalent of a New Years tradition.

After escaping Edom, & now as an adult, holidays didn’t feel like something that should register as important until Jonathan saw his mother & sister, & how they had taken to celebrating certain mundane traditions. These traditions became a bonding point for him & his new-found family. While he might not be personally into many of the traditions, everything starts with him kidnapping his mother & sister, & then later his son, & witnessing the lighting of the tree at Rockefeller Center. Afterwards, there’s ice skating at the Rink at Rockefeller Center, & sometime during the next few weeks there will be another outing to The Pond at Bryant Park for the small shops put together in the same style as a European Christmas market2.

He’s more than game to help trim a tree, put together stockings, & he is very much into cooking the meals - that’s actually his preferred place to be during the holidays; the kitchen, not out in the bitter cold that cuts through him worse than most given his body’s acclimation to the fires of Edom. However, this doesn’t stop him from accompanying Clary for a stroll through the city to see the famous Christmas window displays (Macy’s on Herald Square & Sax Fifth Avenue are two not to be missed. But the pièce de résistance is Lord and Taylor on Fifth Avenue, which they both enjoy with Ash, & steaming cups of cocoa or coffee.)

One of the few traditions Jonathan will partake in without prompting is baking Christmas cookies. It’s a tradition is father taught him - likely from the Swiss influence of their ancestors, & definitely a significant break from the rigid training Jonathan was subjected to during all of his childhood. All of the cookies are Swiss or German, & he typically makes enough to box up & distribute as his own sort of gift to the people he cares for in the Institute. Varieties include mailänderli (small, cut-out cookies flavored with lemon zest), brunsli (cut-out cookies containing chocolate and ground hazelnuts or almonds), chräbeli (small cookies containing whole, toasted anise seeds), spitzbuben (jam-filled sandwich cookies flavored with vanilla), & zimtsterne (cinnamon stars).

Once Ash is in the picture, he also sets up a small advent calendar with little trinkets or candies for him each day - but instead of marking the days until Christmas, it marks the days until the winter festival of the Angel. He also helps him carve several Räbeliechtli - little lanterns made from turnips - for his room in the Institute. He also has a special tradition with Ash - stolen shamelessly from witnessing it with Alec, Magnus, & their children*, each year Jonathan gets Ash a small ornament to mark them spending Christmas together as a family. Each ornament is dated, & a special little note is engraved for his son on the back. Once Ash finds his ornament on the tree, he can bring it to his father who will hand over his “last gift”3 of Christmas day - often something very special to go along with the ornament.

As for New Years as its own entity, Jonathan never celebrated it more than the winter festival of the Angel until connecting with his family. Now he partakes in many of the same traditions with Clary, even going as far as to subject himself to Times Square to see the ball drop at least once. The next morning he makes brunch for his family, his way of starting the year with an act of creation rather than the destruction that he still very much feels is hardcoded into his very blood4.

*only applicable with my own Alec, when referenced in threads with other Alec’s, it will be a tradition of his own design with his son.

1Typically these wishes would be the same in nature as Jonathan was largely raised & indoctrinated into Valentine’s extremist view pertaining to Downworlders & the eradication of anything demon-blooded.

2A special, verse specific note, but in his ballet verse, Jonathan will do all of these with his family in addition to giving them tickets to watch him perform the Nutcracker Ballet with his troupe, the New York City Ballet at the Lincoln Center.

3This gift is one of special significance. Perhaps a weapon, his first witchlight, or a book that Jonathan feels is important to his son’s studies but mostly this gift is special, & something he knows/hopes Ash will look forward to each year.

4After Ash comes into the picture, the only thing that changes if that Jonathan tapes one of the earlier New Years’ celebrations from an earlier timezone so that Ash can “watch” the ball drop at a more reasonable time, then be happily & sleepily tucked into his bed while his father enjoys a glass of champagne & watches the ball drop over the city with the other adults.

[catthecoder]

Hello it’s your secret santa here again! Advent calendar chocolate definitely counts as holiday food. I’ve been loving your answers! What do you like most Bughead and if you could see them in any universe holiday movie/book or just any alternate universe what would it be and why? 🎄

haha, thank you for validating my (bit childish) advent calendar love 💕 

i’m glad you’re enjoying my answers - i’m sorry for taking so long to answer, last of my assignments were due at the end of last week and i kind of had like zero time and energy to do with anything else... but i’m done (and i’ve taken a few days to relax and reset), so hopefully, no more long waits between answers

what do i like most about bughead? i very much vibe with their aesthetic, which, i know, is a bit superficial, but i just really like that. i like this entire, kind of vintage style they have going on, i like their writer/journalist/detective vibes. and to add something deeper, i really enjoy how they fit together in a relationship - they challenge each other while also being the other person’s biggest cheerleaders and best friends. they simply work together well.

if i could see them in any universe holiday movie/book or just any alternate universe what would it be? i’m the worst person with keeping up with holiday movies/books - i honestly can’t remember the last festive thing i have watched/read (except for like festive episodes of tv shows). but if we’re talking non-festive aus, i’m always down for some shadowhunters!au (shameless self-plug, i guess) - that universe has so much potential for bughead. but i should probably pick an au i hadn’t already spent that many hours thinking about/writing, so right now, queen’s gambit au pops into my mind and honestly? betty as a chess prodigy, the smartest girl in men’s world; jughead as a well-established player, betty’s kind of enemy/rival turned mentor/friend turned lover - i could easily see him as benny... god, the more i think about this, the more i want to read (or even write it) it - somebody stop me, i already have too many wips and no time and motivation to write 😭 (i’m going to regret this decision so much later oops 👀)

thank you for your lovely questions and i’m sorry for taking so long to reply, i promise i’ll do better! 💕