#lawsofchaos rambles

[lawsofchaos1]

Malec Promptlet: Nephilim Marry Quick

Nephilim are used to dying young, so they marry early and quick.

Shadowhunters marriages, especially for the old bloodlines, are typically arranged by the parents. Husband and wife either meet each other on their wedding day or go from first date to married in less than a month.

So, from Alec’s perspective, his relationship with Magnus isn't moving fast in the slightest - it's practically glacial with how slow they're taking it.

I want to see Alec talking with his various family members when they ask why he and Magnus are still dating, it’s been six whole weeks after all. I want to see Alec's inevitable internal angst-dialogue where he convinces himself that clearly Magnus has no desire to marry Alec even if he’ll apparently consent to date him.

I want to see Magnus when Izzy and Jace sit down with him and ask his intentions towards their brother since it’s been three months, an absolutely ridiculous amount of time, and they’re not married yet.

#malec #lawsofchaos rambles #shadowhunters #promptlet #alec lightwood deserves nice things

[lawsofchaos1]

Shadowhunters Headcanon #3

Institute Heads are always ranked as Commanders in the martial organization of the Clave. That being said, leading the 171-Shadowhunter outpost in Des Moines, Iowa, is not comparable to running the New York Institute.

New York, when staffed with her full complement of 5,469 active-duty Shadowhunters and 1,598 support staff, is the third-largest in the world. The garrison at the NYI is a city in and of itself, and Alec is Commander and General alike.

As a General of the Clave, Alec has full authority to lead other Institutes in battle when the Clave is on a war footing, and he has more limited authority to oversee the actions of the smaller Institutes in his region in the normal course of his duties. Every Institute in North America falls under either the New York, LA, or Montreal Institutes.

Alec, HOTI-NYI and General, answers to no one but the Clave.

#lawsofchaos rambles #malec #shadowhunters #alec lightwood deserves nice things #bamf alec lightwood

[lawsofchaos1]

Star Wars Promptlet

In one universe Obi-Wan Kenobi bows shallowly at the end of his formal report of the Battle of Naboo and requests the Council free the mother of his new Padawan from slavery on Tatooine. The Council makes agreeable noises and Obi-Wan tells himself that they will act on his request. However, wary of being accused of attachment, wary of his Padawan being taken away from him because he's too young, too inexperienced, too emotional, too much of a failure, Obi-Wan never checks and he never asks again.

In another universe, Obi-Wan Kenobi sees the dismissive body language of the Counselors during his report - it can't possibly be a Sith they whisper in the eddies of the Force - and he doesn't make a request before he leaves. Instead, he shows up at Quinlan's door in the middle of the Temple's night cycle and his creche mate takes one look at his face before putting on his Shadow blacks and sneaking them past the Temple guard.

Forty one cycles later, Obi-Wan picks Anakin up from where he'd been undergoing the crash course of So You Think You Want To Be A Jedi Knight in the Initiate's hall (which went shockingly well, Anakin making friends left and right and filling in some severe baseline knowledge gaps most of the Temple inhabitants took for granted). He hands his Padawan a small, carved bracelet - a broken chain - made from one of the few native plants of Tatooine, a gift from Shmi, and watches Anakin's eyes grow liquid-wet in joy and wonder.

Most people gloss over that Qui-Gon had bought Anakin and not Freed him, Anakin had noticed. Obi-Wan never needed to be told the difference. And Obi-Wan hadn't bought Shmi, he'd simply provided her what she needed to Free herself. And maybe a substantial portion of the Mos Epsa slave quarters along with her. (But that pesky little slave rebellion that started while Obi-Wan and Quinlan just so happened to be on planet absolutely definitely for sure couldn't be traced back to them. They'd made certain of that.)

The Temple still just shy of outright forbids Padawans contact with their birth parents, but every so often - although at least once a year - Obi-Wan sends Anakin on some strange errand that inevitably ends with him slipping into a booth and finding himself sitting next to his mother for a few precious hours of catching up. Their first meeting (after hearing all about how his mother Freed herself and so many others of course) is all about the new friends he made during his moon-cycle in the Initiate's dorms and how four of them have decided to claim him as a crechemate since apparently every Jedi needs crechemates and he came in too old to get them the normal way. Anakin thinks from watching Obi-Wan with Quinlan and Bant and Garen that this means he has siblings now.

(A few years later Anakin's definitely-siblings get sent with him on his weird errand that happens to be on Anakin's life-day and Shmi makes them all a cup of desert-scented tea and welcomes them into the family. Anakin doesn't cry, it's just the steam from the tea making his cheeks wet.)

When Palpatine starts showing a little too much interest in a young Padawan, Anakin listens when Obi-Wan warns him something might be wrong. After all, his Teacher is a Chain-Breaker- why would Anakin doubt him when his words suggest that Palpatine may be too close to a Depur to be trusted? His crechemates also don't like it and his mother says words he didn't know she knew in her own reaction.

The anonymous report Anakin submits to the Senate Guards that they might want to check in on Senator Palpatine and his creepy obsession with young kids stays anonymous, but it does get leaked and the ensuing media storm starts strong and ends stronger with the discovery of a Sith Master.

In short, Obi-Wan helps Shmi Free herself and a war that breaks a galaxy never starts.

#lawsofchaos rambles #star wars #obi wan kenobi #alternate universe #canon divergence #star wars prequels #anakin skywalker #obi wan and anakin #tatooine slave culture

[lawsofchaos1]

Malec Promptlet: Circle!Alec AU

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

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

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

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

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

Until he meets Magnus.

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

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

And then Alec’s world falls apart.

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

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

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

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

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

What has he done?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Everything.

#lawsofchaos rambles #malec #shadowhunters #alec lightwood deserves nice things #Significant Kneeling #magnus bane deserves nice things #promptlet #canon divergent au

[lawsofchaos1]

SH Promplet: Trust

Magnus doesn't realize how deeply and how rapidly Alec decided to trust him until long after they've been together.

Since nearly the beginning of their relationship, Magnus has been snapping up drinks and morsels for Alec to try, loving the thrill of getting it right. It's perhaps this attention to figuring out what Alexander enjoys that makes Magnus realize Alec never, ever consumes the food or drink other people hand him.

Jace and Izzy are exceptions to this of course (unless Izzy prepared the food herself), but it's not uncommon for there to be drinks or snacks set out at Cabinet meetings or for one of Alec's subordinates to toss him a water bottle when he's taking a short break from training. Maia has sent over beers to their table and warlocks at some of the hidden parties that Magnus takes Alec to will often hand them both a glass of wine at the door.

Never once has Alec taken a sip.

Oh he thanks them all politely and a few nuts make their way into a pocket or a thrown away napkin, maybe a little wine goes missing every time Alec passes by Ibram's potted wisteria. The water bottle is brought to his lips, but he never actually swallows.

Magnus doesn't realize why until perhaps six months after he first notices the pattern. Not until one night at a Clave function where he's accompanying Alec as his partner for once instead of as a member of Alec's Downworld cabinet.

The Institute Head for Singapore is handed a glass when he calls the room's attention to him while making a toast before opening the banquet. He sips along with the crowd and Magnus thinks for half a moment that he, like Alec, simply hates the taste of alcohol and hasn't yet managed to mask his disgust.

And then the man crumples to the ground, limbs twitching and eyes glazing over in eventual death. Alec is already tracing the path of Inquisitor's guards where they're running after the Shadowhunter who'd offered the poisoned cup. His sharp eyes find the culprit long before the guards do and Alec shakes his head.

"Idiotic and incompetent," he whispers for Magnus' ears alone. "What possessed him to take a drink from a stranger?"

Understanding dawns like a flood.

Alec had made Magnus a promise when he'd Ascended as Head, just weeks after the wedding-that-wasn't. He promised that he would protect himself- promised that he wouldn't be one of the Heads who fell early in battle or to a blade in the dark. Magnus hadn't understood until now that the blade Alec mentioned could also be a champagne glass from a stranger.

Assassination.

And yet. Alec had downed the drink Magnus had handed him the very day that they'd met.

#shadowhunters #promptlet #lawsofchaos rambles #malec #alexander lightwood deserves nice things #Clave politics

[lawsofchaos1]

Malec Promptlet: Royal AU

Asmodeus is the High King of Edom, a brutal and immoral overlord.

Edom conquered Idris two years ago after a long and protracted war, ended by the public execution of the King and Queen, Robert and Maryse Lightwood.

Alexander Lightwood, the Crown Prince and High General, is spared by Asmodeus, but only with the intention of having him serve as a living symbol of Idris' defeat by becoming the personal servant of Edom's own Crown Prince, Magnus Bane.

Prior to the war's end, Alec was able to send his siblings to safety in a neutral country across the sea, DuMort, even though he had to all but beg his sister and his shield-brother, Jace, to go. Alec had known that they were losing, the magic of Edom too powerful to fight much longer, and he'd played every emotional trick he could to make sure Jace and Izzy left their country and him behind. Max would need both of them with him to survive as a legitimate blood heir of a fallen kingdom.

Alec hadn't expected to survive himself.

But, when Asmodeus demands he bend the knee in the same room as his parent's bodies, Alec understands the trade at hand - his dignity for his remaining people's survival.

It's an easy decision for Alec to make.

The journey from Idris to Edom is hard, but Alec holds fast and eventually they make it to Edom's capital and he is thrown to the mercy of the Crown Prince's household. Every so often Asmodeus trots Alec out for some public humiliation, to prove Edom's superiority in front of visiting rulers wondering whether to take the offered treaty terms or risk negotiation, but for the most part everything is ... fine.

Magnus, as it turns out, is a kind master and Alec has no complaints.

As the seasons turn and begin to repeat, Magnus and Alec grow to be friends, confidantes even, though Alec is never truly able to forget the precariousness of his situation. Magnus desperately wants to be more, but he also knows that Alec doesn't have the power to say no, so he contents himself as they are. 

Magnus dreams of Alec being confident enough in their firm friendship and trust to perhaps want to be together as well, dreams even more secretly of the two of them ruling one day together as fully equal partners.

(Alec refuses to admit, even to himself, that he often dreams of similar tidings.) 

One night, however, Asmodeus calls Alec to serve him in his private rooms with a group of counselors and visiting officials from their southern neighbor. Magnus sadly watches Alec go, knowing exactly why Asmodeus wants Alec tonight of all nights. Negotiation begins tomorrow on a trade treaty, and watching Idris' fallen prince kneel to an enemy king is a powerful reminder of what it can cost to refuse Asmodeus' wishes.

Magnus goes to sleep, wishing futilely he was able to help without making things infinitely worse, hoping Alec will be well and whole in the morning.

It seems like his head has just touched the pillow when Magnus is woken up, suddenly and shockingly, the embers of the previous evening's fire providing just enough light to see by. Jolting up, heart racing, Magnus' mouth drops open to see Alec kneeling prostrate at the side of his bed.

Alec is frantic, broken apologies mixing in with barely intelligible explanations of something Magnus can't even begin to understand, so frantic and terrified is his friend. Magnus doesn't know what to do because Alec is shaking and trembling, and, even in those first days when Alec had thought he was to be executed and his people punished at the first mistake he'd made, he'd never been like this.

Magnus tries to comfort him, making calming sounds and promising that everything will be okay, but Alec doesn't seem to hear him. Alec won't rise and Magnus hates it because this is how servants react to his father, so he slips to his knees at Alec's side.

Thanking all the gods that Alec doesn't flinch at his touch - Magnus doesn't know what he would do if Alec did - the story finally comes tumbling out, Alec still refusing to meet his eyes.

Asmodeus and his retinue had been drunk, but Alec is well enough used to that. The casual slurs and violence they throw his way are what Alec has come to expect when he is called to serve the King.

(Magnus is livid at this unthinking confirmation. Alec is too quiet, too resigned to complain, has never mentioned this to him before - though Magnus had certainly suspected - and Magnus can do nothing but seethe helplessly as Alec mentions it as though it is nothing.)

But something had changed midway through the evening - there'd been a new horror lurking in the glint of Asmodeus' eyes. He'd grabbed Alec the next time he'd been close enough and forced him on his lap, laughing and wondering to the crowd exactly how well the Crown Prince of Idris would warm his bed.

Alec had panicked.

He keeps apologizing to Magnus and Magnus has a sudden, horrified image of Alec having grabbed a knife and slit his father's throat and the two of them having to run to escape charges of attempted regicide (because obviously Magnus isn't letting Alec run away by himself), but Alec keeps going and finally Magnus understands what had happened.

Alec claimed himself to be Magnus' bed slave instead- the only thing the King would have accepted as a reason for Alec to say no. Alec has no rights of his own in Edom. Only if Alec already belonged to Magnus, a possession that would irritate Magnus if someone else used it, could he refuse.

But Asmodeus won't hide this.

Asmodeus will think it hilarious, and Magnus heart stutters in his chest because he can't deny it without condemning Alec to the executioner's block now that it's been said.

Everyone will believe that Magnus cares not for consent and has chosen to use a former Prince and defeated enemy in the basest way possible.

And he cannot deny it.

But Magnus swallows his horror and holds Alec to his chest, running his hand soothingly across Alec's back until the trembling subsides and his exhausted friend is nearly falling asleep in his arms.

Tomorrow will be one of the hardest days of Magnus' life, but he will do anything to spare Alec from his father.

Anything.

[Insert Happy Malec Ending]

#lawsofchaos rambles #malec #shadowhunters #promptlet #angst with a happy ending #implied dubious consent #Only implied - it does not happen #and the implication is not between malec

[lawsofchaos1]

Shadowhunter Promptlet: The Piano

A young Alec, overwhelmed by everything Maryse and Robert have dropped himself into his lap, runs away from the Institute- just for a few hours- to see what it would be like to be a mundane child. To see what it would be like to live with no responsibility, without parents who leave their bruises on his skin.

Somehow, Alec accidentally finds himself in a piano lesson with a bunch of other children and he discovers music.

Having learned the basics, Alec knows better than to ever reveal it to anyone at the Institute. But, over the years, he sneaks away a few careful hours at a time. He finds public pianos in the parks or he slips into unlocked middle schools, or, later, unlocked high schools or colleges, blending in and sneaking into their practice rooms to bring the music in his head to life.

Alec never tells anyone, not even Jace, about his escape. Jace has always been different and just because it's okay for him to play music, doesn't mean it's okay for Alec.

One day, Magnus and Alec are visiting one of Magnus' warlock friends and Alec, with permission, goes to explore a few nearby rooms while Magnus and his friend catch up. He doesn't dare even sit down on the bench when he finds the piano, but he knows that this room is too far for them to hear, so he plays.

Magnus walks in without Alec noticing at first, but when Alec catches movement out of the corner of his eye and turns, he's frozen.

[Teenage HOTI-Alec with his mundane accidental-piano-friends below the cut]

Imagine a fifteen-year old Alexander Lightwood, overwhelmed from his recent installation as Acting Head, sneaking into the local high school band room to practice on their piano. Imagine Alec meeting this group of kids who basically adopt him and keep claiming him as their brother/visiting cousin/best friend from another high school whenever anyone else pops into the practice room and asks who this random kid is who definitely doesn't go here.

The tattoos and leather jacket make Alec incredibly popular with the teen girls going after the bad boy and Ryan, Haley, and Alison find Alec's total and utter obliviousness to them absolutely hilarious.

But, the little trio also sees his constant injuries and how exhausted he is all the time and one day Haley kind of snaps and pulls a fuzzy blanket out of her backpack and demands Alec take a nap while she practices Braham's lullaby.

(Alec acquiesces and the trio subtly collates a list of the songs that Alec will sleep through while they play. A few times here and there Alec will creep into the practice room, shadows both in and under his eyes, and he won't even try to put fingers to piano- just tentatively pulls out the blanket from Haley's backpack that is now undeniably his and curls up in the corner to sleep fitfully while Ryan guards the door.)

They see how lonely he looks sometimes, how burdened, and the trio drags him out for milkshakes and tell horrible jokes until Alec truly laughs - looking honestly surprised that that sound even came out of his mouth.

And Ryan doesn't make a big deal of it, but he sees how Alec keeps stroking his Haley's blanket between his fingers, enjoying the softness. The next day, Ryan starts keeping a large black hoodie he found made out of the softest material he's ever felt in his tuba case, waiting for the next time they walk into what has become their practice room after school to find Alec lurking in the corner.

(Ten years later, Alec still wears that sweater whenever he needs some extra comfort.)

The night after the wedding-that-wasn't and before Malec's first date, Alec climbs up the fire escape to the 34th floor of and apartment building in Queens and knocks on Haley's window. He then proceeds to have a Gay Panic on her and Alison's couch before they calm him down and convince him to go woo his man.

A year after that, Alec is a groomsman at Ryan’s wedding and Ryan is suddenly stuck trying to explain to his wife why they have a lovely package of custom daggers as a wedding present.

A few months after Magnus finds Alec hardly daring to touch his friend's piano, Haley, Ryan, and Alison are invited to the loft for dinner. Magnus can barely contain the joy and love in his heart as Alec and the trio recount the stories of their meeting and the blatant shenanigans they got up to over the years. Yet, Magnus' heart is somehow even more full as he watches the four friends troop over to the newly installed piano in Alec and Magnus' living room, trading off playing each other's favorite songs until long into the night.

#malec #shadowhunters #lawsofchaos rambles #alec lightwood deserves nice things #promptlet #fanfiction

[lawsofchaos1]

New Fic: Origin of Alec's Deflect Rune

I put out a poll last month asking everyone which of my current WIPs you were most interested in me finishing - the ficlet about the origin of Alec's deflect rune was the far and away winner! It's just been posted and I hope you all like it 💜 A huge thank you to @dr-lemurr for the art and to @foodsies4me for the beta!

#lawsofchaos rambles #shadowhunters #malec

[lawsofchaos1]

Malec Promptlet: Alec learns magical theory

Or the one where you can't actually live with the High Warlock of Brooklyn and not learn at least a little bit of magic.

Alec adores sitting in his spot in Magnus’s apothecary and watching him make potions or transcribe texts while Magnus absently commentates on everything he does. Magnus has never before allowed anyone such unfettered access to this space before and is constantly surprised at how much interest Alec takes in his work and the intelligent questions he asks once he’s sure he’s not bothering Magnus by asking.

Catarina comes by one day and is shocked that Alec automatically follows her and Magnus into his apothecary and even more shocked when Alec not only clearly has his space there, but Magnus isn’t  fluttering about uncomfortably with someone intrudingin the magical heart of his lair - he’s moving around as though Alec belongs there.

Magnus begins teaching Alec basic potions when he realizes how much Alec loves helping him in the apothecary, usually fetching and carrying ingredients. (The first time Alec pops up his side with a vial of angel’s fern in hand, Magnus blinks at him in confusion wondering how in Lilith’s name Alec had known he needed it. Alec grins. The potion is a healing one and Magnus had just put in three drams of fire lizard blood, a toxicant he knows from last week’s batch of burn serum can only be neutralized with angel’s fern. Magnus is both a little bemused and vaguely proud.)

Jace and Izzy come over one day and need a basic healing potion. They say they’ll wait for Magnus, but Alec just walks into the apothecary (asking his siblings to wait at the door since Magnus isn’t there) and begins gathering ingredients and preparing the workspace. They’re very confused. Magnus comes home in the middle and wraps his arms around Alec from behind, burying his face in the back of Alec’s neck and muttering something sotto voce that makes the Shadowhunter blush. Jace and Izzy cackle in delight.

In the middle of the Institute cafeteria one day when Magnus is visiting, Catarina and Magnus get into a spirited debate on the use of mundane ingredients in healing potions. When Alec comes to joining them at their table, dropping a kiss on Magnus’s cheek as he sits, the listening Shadowhunters are nonplussed when their Head has very definite opinions on this topic.

#lawsofchaos rambles #malec #shadowhunters #promptlet #alexander lightwood deserves nice things #magnus bane deserves nice things

[lawsofchaos1]

Shadowhunters Promptlet: Blood Magic

Nephilim are taught from the very moment they can speak to never, ever allow a warlock access to their blood. A warlock's power is in their core, where they can use it and manipulate it, but nephilim don't have magical cores - their power is located in their blood.

The use of nephilim blood in a potion or ritual gives the warlock using it absolute and total power over the Shadowhunter in question- not just over their body and what happens to it- harm or injury or even death- but power over their minds and hearts as well. Anything the warlock wants to do to them, they can.

It is the nephilim culture's highest taboo and the punishment for a warlock caught using nephilim blood is the most brutal and ruthless torture the Clave could imagine when they wrote the laws. (And they were very imaginative.)

Magnus and Alec have been dating for almost a year when Magnus, as High Warlock, begins seeing young Downworlders coming down with a mysterious illness. More and more children start getting sick and nothing Magnus or any of the warlock healers do can help. They have no idea what's happening, but it's growing exponentially worse far too quickly. Then, the deaths start.

Magnus pores over his texts, desperate to find a solution and he finally does. The ritual he needs to perform to save the children, however, requires a nephilim to give their blood. The catch? The blood must be given unknowingly. The reason for the ritual cannot be explained beforehand.

Alec, of course, agrees without thinking when Magnus asks him to be in one of his ritual circles, seemingly uncertain why Magnus seems nervous about asking. Alec has served as a placeholder in several rituals for him before- it's certainly not a big deal.

Until Magnus passes Alec a dagger, the edges honed into lethal sharpness, in the middle of the rite and locks gazes with him, looking pale and far too close to terrified for Alec's sanity, and asks him quietly for seven drops of blood.

#malec #shadowhunters #lawsofchaos rambles #promptlet #magnus bane deserves nice things

[lawsofchaos1]

Malec Prompt-let: Nameless Nephilim

What if nephilim aren’t given names when they’re born? Shadowhunters are an incredibly communal society- all glory is to your family and your people, not to you, and so the idea of names is considered too individualistic. Instead, children are given a Line Name and a Blessing Name, a title. 

For example, Alexander means ‘Protector of Men,’ a suitable title for the first-born son of an Old line, while Isabelle is ‘Pledged to God,’ typical for a daughter, and Jonathan is ‘Gift of God’.

(It’s also telling that Maryse and Robert’s Blessing Name for Alec is one of the few options that isn’t a thanksgiving or a description of devotion to the Angel - it’s a task. It’s a statement that he was born for and lives for a single purpose - that he is only made worthy in the eyes of his Line through accomplishing his title, not through simply being.)

Young nephilim often play with shortening their names as a way to differentiate themselves and make something approaching a name, but you cannot truly name yourself.

(It’s even considered slightly rebellious that Alec, Izzy, and Jace are fully grown and still go by their short-names, Jace particularly so given that it’s so different from his Blessing Name.)

Izzy and Jace have quietly been given personal names over the years- ones used only by the closest of loved ones. Alec uses their True Names occasionally, but only in the most personal and private of times. (Neither Robert nor Maryse know their children’s True Names.)

Alec, however, has never been given a true name. He never lets on how much it hurts that both his siblings think nothing of commenting on how much Alec’s Blessing Name fits him, how much he lives to uphold his mandate. 

Alec, however, just wants a name that’s his, something that tells him he’s worthy of existing for himself and not just in relation to what he does for others. 

When Alec meets Magnus, it’s the first time he’s ever heard his Blessing Name in full and not loathed the sound of it. When ‘Alexander’ rolls off Magnus’ tongue, it feels like a Blessing and not a a command that has shaped his entire life, for better or for worse.

Magnus has no idea of this custom of the nephilim, however, until one night after a visit from Maryse, when the stress and the pain and everything just get to be too much and Alec breaks, unexpectedly snapping to not call him that when Magnus pulls him against his chest to murmur ‘Alexander ‘ into his hair.

Magnus freezes, hesitant, and Alec can’t bare to let Magnus think he’s done something wrong, but he also can’t bare to see Magnus’ face when he tells him that he doesn’t even have a name, so he keeps his head buried in the cool silk of Magnus’ shirt as he haltingly explains the concept of Blessing Names to his boyfriend.

Later that night, tears dried and emotionally spent, Alec and Magnus are curled up together in Magnus’ sheets when Magnus whispers a name, a true blessing into Alec’s hair.

Beloved.

#lawsofchaos rambles #malec #shadowhunters #promptlet #canon what canon

[lawsofchaos1]

Shadowhunter Promptlet: Empath Alec Lightwood

Imagine an AU where certain powerful Downworlders and some Shadowhunters from the oldest bloodlines, the ones most connected to Raziel, have special powers.

Alec is the eldest son of two ancient lineages and no one is surprised when his gift is unusually strong. Alec is an empath/psychometric and can feel everyone's emotions through touch. The emotions are overpowering and hurt, so he wears gloves almost every waking minute of the day and avoids touch from pretty much everyone, only occasionally allowing Izzy or Jace close, but never any direct skin contact.

Magnus, son of Asmodeus, is equally strong in his gift - a telepath who can influence people's emotions in addition to reading minds. Although, people are horrible, so Magnus has iron clad shields to prevent that as much as possible.

Magnus has locked his heart away for centuries because he is terrified that his partners only 'love' him because he's influenced them without meaning too.

When Magnus and Alec meet, Alec is absolutely entranced. Nobody has ever felt so good to him before, and feeling the edges of Magnus' emotions is like sinking into a warm bath. Magnus resists his own fast fall into love until he finds out that Alec is immune to being influenced by his emotions - he can feel them, but he knows they're not his. Magnus cries for the first time in centuries when he realizes that Alec's open adoration for him isn't something Magnus unknowingly manufactured in the thrall of loneliness and desperation.

Alec is touch-starved, their kiss at the altar the first time Alec has touched anybody's bare skin since he was a child. Afterwards, Alec indulges in Magnus' touch every chance he can get, reveling in every brush of warmth from Magnus' hands and lips and arms.

[Only hit Keep Reading if you want some optional hella angst before returning to the happy ending as scheduled.]

They’re still the wonderful, schmoopy Malec we adore, but Alec always feels in the back of his head like he somehow lucked out and stole Magnus from someone more deserving - he was literally Magnus’ only option after all.

On a mission one day, however, Alec discovers a lead on a magical artifact that would enable Magnus to selectively neutralize his powers.

Alec would do anything for even a small chance at changing his husband’s life like that- letting him be able to finally hug Ragnor and Cat and Raphael, let him hold Madzie’s hand.

But Alec knows in the deepest part of his heart that with every step he comes closer to finding the artifact, he takes one step closer to losing his husband. Why would Magnus choose Alec if this discovery opened up the whole world for Magnus to choose from?

Three weeks later, in an abandoned dockside warehouse, Alec stares down at the gem in his hand and thinks that it’s a cruel irony he would find this on the evening of their third anniversary.

He contemplates waiting, contemplates giving himself just one more time with Magnus, one more night to burn in his memory to last for the rest of his life, but he knows that every stolen touch would feel tainted and wrong.

The only question is, after giving the gem to Magnus, does he wait for his husband to ask for his freedom or does he offer to give it to him before he is forced to hear that request cross Magnus’ lips?

Alec doesn’t know which one will hurt worse.

[Return to happy ending post-haste after suitable amount of Miscommunication and Angst]

#malec #shadowhunters #lawsofchaos rambles #promptlet #alec lightwood deserves nice things #magnus bane deserves nice things #optional angsty middle before return to happy ending #angst with a happy ending

[lawsofchaos1]

Shadowhunter Headcanon/Promptlet: Traditional Dress

Shadowhunters began separating themselves from the mundane world in the first or second century AD, and many of the ways they live in Alicante haven’t progressed much since that time, especially their manner of dress.

While those nephilim stationed at Institutes have transitioned into wearing more contemporary mundane-style clothing so they don’t have to be glamoured every time they leave their own enclaves, most nephilim still wear the knee length (or floor length) belted Roman tunics when at home.

In the six months or so they've been dating, Magnus has only ever seen Alec in mundane, era-appropriate clothing. Alec has been the Commander of New York for so long that he rarely has the opportunity to relax - even in his own rooms at the Institute Alec is typically in clothing suitable for quickly throwing patrol leathers over in emergencies.

However, when Alec moves in with Magnus, he realizes how much it means to him that Magnus doesn’t treat Alec as a guest or as company- but treats him as if he belongs there, as if his home is Alec’s home too. 

Alec loves seeing Magnus in his elaborate Consular High Warlock wardrobe, but he adores seeing him in a pair of soft leggings and a loose, comfortable T-shirt, something reserved solely for intimate nights spent relaxing together in the loft.

Realizing how much it means to him that Magnus is so overtly comfortable around him, Alec hopes the reverse might be true as well and impulsively decides to make an impromptu trip to Lightwood manor after a Clave meeting. The backpack with a few of his favorite tunics is unpacked at the loft later that day in just a few minutes.

The next night, Magnus emerges from the bath in buttery-soft, neon pink leggings and one of Alec’s old shirts. Alec swallows dryly even as Magnus’ eyes gleam in simple pleasure at Alec’s reaction while he demands Alec switch out his patrol leathers for something more comfortable before joining him on the couch. 

Alec happily agrees and heads into the bedroom to change. Tentatively, however, he reaches for one of the comfortably worn tunics he grew up associating with true relaxation instead of the sweats he learned to make do with in New York. 

#shadowhunters #malec #lawsofchaos rambles #alec lightwood deserves nice things #promptlet #shadowhunter culture #probably not at all historically accurate

[lawsofchaos1]

Promptlet: Malec Early Meeting

Izzy and Jace start clubbing early because Shadowhunters consider themselves adults around fourteen when they begin full mission status at the Institute. So, sixteen year old Alec just sighs and brings his Advanced Clave Law seminar work to Pandemonium and sits in the corner of the bar with a thick legal text and his battered spiral notebook for his rough draft essays. He doesn’t care if Jace and Izzy are taking field assignments, they’re still his little siblings and need a chaperone.

Magnus, obviously, starts hearing gossip from his bemused bartenders about the young nephilim downing club sodas with lime while frantically highlighting a battered copy of the Accords and decides he needs to figure out what's going on. Immediately.

So, Magnus ends up chatting with Alec (who, as it turns out, really likes the Shirley Temple Magnus snaps up for him in what was supposed to be a joke) and starts flipping through Alec's latest homework assignment. Magnus blinks, snaps up another Shirley Temple to keep Alec busy, and carefully reads the essay twice over, pulling out his own notebook (bound leather and fountain pen with a gold nib of course) halfway through. Alec found a loophole, a big loophole, that would exempt Downworlders from being questioned without notification to their faction leader. 

Alec is an absolute disaster of a baby gay whenever Magnus so much as says hello or looks in his general direction, but, once he starts arguing the Law? He is vicious and ruthless and sharply concise. (Although Magnus becomes a little bit of a disaster himself when Alec absentmindedly starts chewing on his cherry stem while debating the finer points of interpreting The Clave vs. HOTI-Beijing, 1823.)

Ragnor comes over all the way from England just to see Magnus utterly lose his cool at this now seventeen year old shadowhunter who is literally drinking Shirley Temples and eating his weight in the extra cherries the bartenders slip him because they adore him too. Also, in terms of relationship dynamics? I think it would be kind of fun to explore Alec having a gigantic crush on Magnus (and Magnus just kind of utterly adoring Alec in turn between his obvious looks and, more importantly, his intelligence and his sharp humor and just .. everything) but also realizing that Alec is seventeen.

Alec is much more open (not that he had a snowball's chance in hell of hiding his Gigantic Crush on the High Warlock from anyone in Pandemonium except his siblings), and wages what amounts to pretty much open warfare to get Magnus to date him. He's insistent that Shadowhunters don't mature as slowly as mundanes (which.. fair) and makes bulleted lists and actions plans for every reason Magnus tries to say he deserves better/Magnus is too old/Alec is too young/etc.

And.. just how the Downworlders slide a stray Shirley Temple across the table for advice? Alec starts bringing little vouchers for a certain amount of advice time (or maybe little cupcakes or chocolate chip cookies that he makes for Jace and Izzy or something?) and slides them furtively across the table.

"Where might one take the High Warlock of Brooklyn out on a date?"

And then somehow two days later Magnus ends up in Central Park responding to a call from one of his warlocks and instead Alec is waiting there with a picnic lunch and a blanket and looking very, very smug.

This teenage Shadowhunter is outsmarting him. What even is this?

Also, Can you imagine the first time an old fling of Magnus' portals in to Pandemonium for the evening, expecting a night of fun, and the moment they ask where Magnus is at the bar, every Downworlder in hearing distance is glaring? Suddenly a good dozen wolves and vampires put aside their decades old fights and start running interference to keep this brazen interloper away from where Alec is holding court ranting about the Clave's shoddy grammar and lack of consistent position on Oxford commas (which, how dare) and how that can be used to interpret their latest ruling in three different ways, depending on what side you want to fight on.

(Magnus is sighing and staring dreamily from across the table.)

One day, Camille starts her usual nastiness and trying to get Magnus to come crawling back and Magnus feels .. nothing for her. The only thing Magnus feels is rage that Camille would try to interfere when he's clearly ... dating someone now.

And Magnus blinks wildly internally because holy shit he's dating Alec. WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN MAGNUS DOES NOT KNOW

I do think Magnus would hold off on anything physical until Alec was what Magnus considered of age, so think how fun it would be to explore how the two of them date when their primary love language can't include sex?

Think of all the cuddles and the literal sleeping together and the hand holding and the forehead kisses and, excuse me but did I mention the cuddles? I really want Magnus and Alec cuddling on Magnus' throne at Pandemonium after a hard patrol and Alec falling asleep and all the Downworlders just kind of cooing at their very favorite nephilim.

(I also imagine an impressively oblivious pair of siblings who don't realize their brother isn't just moping in a corner while they dance for literal years.)

When Alec is older maybe Jace and Izzy start trying to subtly tell him it's okay to be gay, he doesn't have to hide it - they'll still love him, and Alec is just .. like .... 'what are you talking about?' as he smugly claims his gorgeous boyfriend.

#writing prompt #promptlet #shadowhunters #malec #fanfiction #lawsofchaos rambles

[lawsofchaos1]

Malec Promptlet: Pole Dancing Alec

Though most Shadowhunters patrol only in teams until sixteen, Alec is still months from his thirteenth birthday when Maryse sends him out alone for the first time. It's a small area with no reports of demonic activity, but the order still raises eyebrows among even the seasoned hunters who recognize the political mess Maryse is clearly planning to dump in her son's lap as soon as he comes to his minor majority. Alec knows what Maryse is doing too, but he still takes the patrol as serious as though there had been reports of demonic activity. Which is why he's stalking across the rooftop of a mundane strip club when he sees a group of men harassing three women in the alley. Alec hesitates because not interfering in mundane affairs has been drilled into his head by Maryse almost since he could speak, but the moment one of the men moves to actually hit one of the women, Alec jumps down in fury. It's barely a minute's work to take down the aggressors. The three dancers don't let Alec run off and, over a cup of thank-you-coffee, Alec somehow ends up making the first friends he's ever had outside of his younger siblings. Over the next few years, Alec ends up being introduced to a whole host of other dancers both through his new friends and because Alec sometimes sees them being harassed on the streets and he obviously Does Not Allow That in his territory. 

(They obviously adopt the random scary-child who runs off anyone even hinting at being impolite to them.)

Alec gets to know them and finds out how insanely in shape they all are and asks them to teach him some of their routines (and he ends up trading them lessons in self-defense and stabbing rude assholes in turn). His siblings never find out that Alec becomes amazingly proficient in pole dancing and when Jace complains about his own routines not producing the same results as Alec's, Alec just smirks.

Alec has never really ... shown off, per se, his skills in front of anyone before because he really appreciates the artistry and the strength it requires, but also views it as kind of ... private - just something he shares with his mundane dancer friends.

Then he meets Magnus.

Yeah, let's just say that when Alec asks Magnus to conjure a pole in the living room of the loft one night, Magnus is thrilled, but he’s honestly expecting just a (very) fun evening of messing around and being silly with each other.

Right up until Alec casually lifts himself up with one hand on the pole until he's nearly perpendicular with the floor and Magnus sits himself down, abruptly, as Alec starts to dance for him.

#lawsofchaos rambles #malec #shadowhunters #writing prompt #promptlet #canon what canon #magnus bane deserves nice things

[lawsofchaos1]

Shadowhunters Headcanon #1

Part of the reason Alec never dated before Magnus is that there is literally no one at the New York Institute not in Alec's chain of command. Alec is effectively a general responsible for the lives of several thousand soldiers, and that fact has to be front and center in his head at all times. His people can't technically consent to a relationship because he's their commanding officer. And, unlike other Heads who typically are married or engaged before becoming the highest rank in their territory, Alec is fourteen when he becomes vested as Head.

#headcanon #shadowhunters #malec #alec lightwood #canon what canon #Consular High Warlock 'Verse #lawsofchaos rambles