For @lightwormsiblings. I was beyond happy when I got you as giftee for this year's Secret Santa.I cannot put into words how grateful I am for the greats prompts you provided me with: you and I do share loads of tropes that I adore, and I must say that I've spent more time deciding what to write than actually writing as your prompts gave me so many ideas I would have loved to explore!I hope I've come up with something that you'll like as much as I enjoyed writing it.
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"And I know it's long gone and that magic's not here no more
And I might be okay but I'm not fine at all"
— Taylor Swift, All Too Well (Sad Girl Autumn) (Taylor's Version)
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Magnus is painfully aware of the friction that the gravel creates between the desolate asphalt and the soles of his expensive shoes.
He doesn't know how long he's been trudging, nor where he's heading.
He keeps putting one foot in front of the other. One dejected step after another. The painted white line that separates the lanes feels like a tightrope.
Walking a tightrope, he risks falling at any moment, but the void is not below him.
Hi I just wanted to say that your art of Ashton is so amazing. Like I could just stare at that forever! The COLORS and their jewelry. Just wow. Especially the earrings! And the Mohawk was just everything. You are so talented
Oh my goodness thank you! I really glad everyone's liked them :D. I almost didn't post it because I wasn't sure about the lighting, but it looks like I was just being silly.
Here, Next to My Heart by @lightwormsiblings is an emotional journey within Isabelle's psyche and a beautiful exploration of what it means to be vulnerable. Enjoy some introspection and a strong friendship between two fierce women we love dearly, it's totally worth it!
This fic was released on August 28th alongside other fanworks written for the Shadowhunters Mini Bang 2021 presented by the malecdiscordserver. More to come on September 4th, so stay tuned for new Shadowhunters content!
Hello!! For femslash prompts maybe Heline and one of them asking the other to be their date for the malec wedding?
For you, I would write absolutely anything 🥺
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A soft knock at her office door had Aline looking up from the stacks of paperwork her mother had left her before disappearing to take care of the ‘wedding situation’ as Jia had none-too-politely coined it. She rubbed at her eyes, cringing when she remembered she had put on makeup that morning, and hollered a clipped, “Come in!”
“Hi.” A sweet voice had Aline standing quickly, almost knocking over the cup of coffee she had made a few minutes earlier. She cursed and winced as she looked up to meet Helen’s eyes, smiling widely when she saw the takeout box in her hands.
“I could kiss you right now,” Aline said just as her stomach growled. Helen laughed and walked the rest of the way inside. She placed the box on the desk and tapped two fingers to her cheek, an invitation meant for Aline’s lips. Aline held Helen’s chin delicately in her fingertips and pressed a gentle kiss to the warm, flushed skin of Helen’s cheek before plopping back down to open the box.
“Maia’s been perfecting her recipes for that diner she wants to open. She’s got a warlock on staff that portals food straight to me when I want it. It’s a great deal,” Helen explained, sitting across from Aline and grabbing a fork.
“You do have a way of getting whatever you want, huh?” Aline teased through an overly full mouth. She chewed on the perfectly honeyed ham and practically moaned at the delicious taste. Maia’s food was the best, that much she was sure of.
“I like to think I do,” Helen said with a wink, stabbing her fork into a piece of pancake before Aline could block her. “Speaking of that…” Helen trailed off as if waiting for Aline to interject, but she was too curious at the segue to say anything. “Do you know what I really want?” Helen asked finally, crossing her legs and leaning back in the chair.
“My love and affection and appreciation for takeout?” Aline guessed, smiling messily. Helen giggled, grabbed a hashbrown, and tossed it at Aline who held up her arms in defense. She loved nights like that; where she and Helen were hidden away from judgmental eyes, free to tease and flirt and admire the other as openly as they wanted.
“Besides that,” Helen said with a roll of her eyes. Aline shrugged and focused back on her meal. “I want a date. To Magnus and Alec’s wedding, specifically,” Helen said easily, shrugging like it wasn’t a big deal.
Aline gaped at her for a moment, gulped, and said, “You want to go together? To the wedding? The warlock and shadowhunter wedding? That the Clave has not agreed to? As a… couple?” Helen nodded along to every question and Aline just stared.
Aline didn’t want to keep them a secret, even from the beginning. If she could have told the entire Clave about their relationship, she would have, but Helen was insistent that even though she was half shadowhunter, she was still a seelie. Her seelie side would mean the perfect Penhallow bloodline would be tarnished - words that had Aline thinking Helen had already talked to Jia about it - even if her skin held runes better than most. To hear that Helen wanted to attend the wedding at all, let alone with Aline at her side, was more surprising than the meal.
“Listen,” Helen sighed, standing to glide in front of Aline and reaching to lace their fingers together, “this thing we have? It scared me at first - still scares me more often than I’d like - but I hide half of myself every time I wear my hair down to cover my ears or layer my foundation over the vines on my neck. I’m not willing to hide the one thing in life that I’m truly proud of.”
“Me?” Aline asked shyly, peering up at Helen with wide eyes and trying to understand how she was so lucky. Helen laughed and pulled Aline to stand, wiping her thumbs around Aline’s eyes no doubt to clear the makeup she had smudged earlier.
“Yeah, you, Dork,” Helen tacked on like a fond afterthought. “So, will you be my date to the most controversial wedding the Clave has ever seen?” Helen asked nervously. Aline kissed her passionately and hoped the resounding confirmation was obvious.
Hey babe, just got off work and I was thinking we could do Chinese and a movie at your place tonight?
To: Magnus, 5:30pm
I went ahead and ordered Chinese—and I got your favorite because I’m quality boyfriend material. Get back to me soon before it gets cold!
To: Magnus, 5:59pm
Okay, so I thought we had talked through the whole you blowing me off because you’re a warlock thing. Do we need to have another Talk? Because I’m totally down. It can be a Chinese and Talk night if you want.
Also, I’m getting really close to eating your vegetable Lo Mein because it smells amazing…
Scrolling back through his earlier texts, Alec bit his lip contemplatively. He had been standing at the bottom of the stairs of Magnus’ apartment complex for ten minutes now as he argued back and forth with himself. Maybe Magnus was just busy and didn’t have time for him tonight; Alec certainly didn’t know what all warlocks got up to on an average day. But on the other hand, he had never known a more attentive texter than Magnus. He had thought about calling, but that just felt desperate after all the texts he had sent had gone unanswered. After a calming deep breath, he pushed open the door and headed for the elevator.
As soon as the doors to Magnus’ floor had opened, he saw a small pile of mail sitting just outside the door as if it had been abandoned there. Oddly enough, it lifted his spirits—Magnus very well could be busy working on a potion or a spell or a summoning, too busy to even get his own mail. Or answer the phone.
He rapped three times on the door with his knuckles. “Hey Magnus? It’s me. I don’t know if you—” The door abruptly swung open, but there was no one behind it. “Uh…Magnus?” He tentatively stepped in and was met with the odd smell of burnt sugar and ozone.
From somewhere in the back apothecary, he heard Magnus. “Alexander? I’m back here. Sorry, I’m working on something a bit—ouch—finnicky and I couldn’t come get the door without worrying about contamination.”
Alec froze mid-step. “Contamination? What the hell are you working on?”
“Don’t worry, it’s contained in here. You can come in. Oh, and would you grab my phone from the end table? I think I heard it ring earlier but my hands are a bit…occupied.”
With anxiety percolating in his stomach, Alec scooped up Magnus’ phone and pushed the apothecary door open with his free hand.
The large marble-top table sitting in pride of place had a large glass basin sitting on it, taking up nearly the whole surface and containing a strange viscous liquid that looked oddly metallic with its deep silver coloring. Magnus stood over it, moving his fingers in slow, fluid movements over it as his magic left his hands in serpentine movements. On the wall behind him, a small section of the wall was now charred in a strange sweeping pattern and at first glance, Alec could have sworn there was still a bit of smoke emanating from it.
“Wow.”
Magnus looked up from the basin and gave Alec a smile that made him forget everything he wanted to say. The exhaustion that dulled his expression was unmistakable, but that smile was still the one—the one that gave Alec’s skin feel all tingly and hot. “Hi, Alexander. Was that you calling me earlier? I meant to call you back but…” He waved his hand vaguely at his worktable.
“Well, actually,” Alec handed over the phone, “that was some other poor soul in need of the great Magnus Bane. I was the one who sent the three text messages an hour ago.”
With a furrowed brow, Magnus looked down at the screen and scrolled through his missed messages. “Oh. I am so sorry; I suppose I got more than a little carried away with my work. I should have at least taken a few breaks to—You got Chinese?” His eyes flickered over Alec’s shoulder in search of takeout bags that might be visible in the living room.
With faux-hurt, Alec clutched at his chest. “And here I thought you would be happy to see me.”
Magnus clicked his tongue pityingly and leaned over to press a tender kiss to Alec’s lips. “Of course I am. All the more so because you brought one of my favorites.” Right on cue, his stomach grumbled in discontent. “Yeah, I’m definitely glad you came by. The last thing I ate was my cranberry-orange scone with my coffee.”
“It’s almost 7 o’clock! No wonder you’re so hungry!” Alec grabbed one of his hands and towed him from the apothecary into the kitchen. “Let me just reheat these, they’ve gone a little cold by now.”
Before he could unearth even one takeout container, the whole bag had abruptly become moist with hot steam coming from inside. Magnus smiled modestly. “Nothing a little magic can’t fix.”
“I keep forgetting that.”
Alec grabbed clean plates and utensils while Magnus poured two glasses of chilled wine. With preparations made, they moved into the living room and settled into the opulently soft cushions of the couch. Magnus even flicked a finger towards the stereo, causing it to come to life with the vocal stylings of Nat King Cole.
Magnus moaned appreciatively with his first bite of food. “I am absolutely famished. I really should keep a little something to eat and drink in the apothecary so I don’t unintentionally starve myself.”
“Good thing I’m an overachieving boyfriend, I guess.”
“I’m sorry that I worried you, Alexander.” Magnus’ voice had gone solemn, and he set his chopsticks down carefully before continuing. “And the conversation we had about…me, and what you’re a part of when you’re around me, it is resolved. I don’t want you to feel like you can’t be safe and secure here, when we’re together. That’s why we had the Talk, as you called it.” A shy smile started to warm up his face.
There were so many things Alec wished he could say simply and succinctly, but when he opened his mouth to explain, to say any of them, his mind was full of television static that obscured every intelligent word he had prepared. “My relationships in the past have just been pretty simple, living most of it independently of one another, and this is the first time I’ve found myself in a position of wanting to make promises. I want to have a relationship with a real future for the very first time, and that means being transparent and vulnerable, which I’m still learning how to do.”
Magnus was just looking at him intently with a thoughtful expression, and it didn’t help Alec feel any more confident in what he had managed to put together to explain himself. This precious new thing growing between them felt so fragile in his hands unlike anything he had had before.
Finally, Magnus pressed his warm palm to Alec’s cheek. “You’re new for me too. It’s been…a very long time since I’ve been in a position like this. But I want to be now, with you.”
Alec’s heart thrummed an excited cadence in his chest at his words.
Suddenly, Magnus stood. “I just had a thought, Alexander. Will you come with me to the apothecary?”
Alec raised one quizzical eyebrow, but took the proffered hand.
Magnus pushed the door open with his shoulder and returned to the strange silver liquid. “Come closer, it’s all right.”
Tentatively, Alec stood across from him and peered into the basin. “What is this stuff?”
“Broadly speaking? Mercury. This particular form, however, is called argentum vivum—living silver. Today we call it quicksilver. The ancient Maya are believed to have used it for divination. There are records that date back to the Maya Classic Period, and a few even prior to that.”
“What did they use it for?”
“It was poured in a basin and used as a mirror.” Magnus planted his hands on either side of the table and leaned closer to it. “It was believed that one could see their destiny within it. It takes discipline, but there was a time when I was able to do it for myself. It’s been more than a century, though, and it can be volatile to work with, but that’s why I was…practicing.”
Alec took a small step closer. “Are you talking about scrying?” Upon seeing the inquisitive look on Magnus’ face, he shrugged. “I’m dating a warlock. I did research.”
“Yes, I am. Perhaps it would set your mind at ease to get a glimpse of the future.” Magnus paused, as if contemplating his next words carefully. “Our future.”
He started to summon his magic back to his hands but Alec reached out and intertwined their fingers, allowing it to encircle them instead. “I don’t need it, Magnus. This is ours.”
hello I just wanted to tell you that I love reading your tags on posts, they make my day
aaaa 🥺💖 thats so sweet <33 im glad you like my weird ramblings :)) (when i do ramble. i just realised i havent really tagged much the past few days jshjfk rip)
Just a friendly reminder that when the Consul asked Gideon and Gabriel to report on Charlotte, they literally wrote him complaints on how she spends all the money on hats and "other feminine articles"
