A Prince Restored, A Lover Lost

Title: A Prince Restored, A Lover Lost

Artists: @capcavan and @another-random-stranger

Beta: quill_and-ink (AO3)

Rating: Teen and Up

Pairings: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood

Word Count: 24k+

Summary: A SH 2x12 canon-divergent story where Magnus isn’t rescued by Alec and is executed in Valentine’s body by the Clave. His last moments of life are that of absolute agony…

…until the moment he wakes up in Edom and in the company of Asmodeus. 

Given a second chance at immortal life, Magnus returns to New York only to discover that, despite the seemingly fleeting moments he’d spent in death, decades have passed in the mortal realm. 

In a desperate attempt to reconnect with the Downworld/Shadowhunter family he was just beginning to build, Magnus finds everything and everyone changed. And the one he misses the most…he can’t find at all.

Devastated and unmoored, Magnus returns to his loft. And while the place is mostly the same (aside from inches of dust and stale air), it's the pile of mail at the door that stops him short. Because among the credit card applications, coupon sheets, and charity solicitations, are letters. Letters upon letters and each is labeled to mark the passing of time - Day 3, Day 64, Day 378, Day 1104 - all written in a heartbreakingly familiar hand. 

Through Alec’s words, the events after Magnus’ passing begin to unfold. And with each painful letter, a hopeful path back to the man who had the makings to be Magnus’ greatest love begins to be revealed.

Link to AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49775434/chapters/125643631

This fic was created for the Shadowhunters Mini Bang 2023: Presented by the @malecdiscordserver. 

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Epilogue

Wait do the fandom actually believes that the Alpha Pack is there because of Stiles, and for Stiles???

Derek, i get it. They got wind of him turning Alpha mode and biting teenagers left and right without care n making his own army of deranged angst wolf teens with questionable morals (+ a deranged post-burnt uncle)

Stiles, on the other hand? Bro could've had his death story earlier if he wasn't friends with Scott. He got targeted because he's friend with Scott the lone wolf who defied his alpha(s). He's also alive because of Scott's weird tendency to befriend enemies. The reason Scott became a werewolf at the first place is because, canonically, Stiles doesn't give a damn about "killer on the loose, might show body later ttyl" shenanigans 😭

In this claim, I was referring mostly to the period of time between Season 2 and Season 3 (September 2012 to June 2013) and the Tumblr meta and AO3 speculative fiction that was produced then. There is plenty of content where the creator said "this is how I think Season 3 will go" and it has the Alpha Pack focused on Stiles.

But this was no surprise to me, after the fact. During every hiatus (until 6B and the movie) fandom content was filled with straight-up fantasizing about how the next season was going to be Stiles's season, by which they meant that the show would make him its incontrovertible focus. And when it came to 6B and the movie, when that option was no longer on the table, suddenly the show that they had spent so much time writing meta and stories about turned into, to paraphrase a vast majority of fandom, a sh*tshow.

Think about the contradiction there: the show became terrible and unworthy of their time only when it finally became impossible to imagine it being ultimately about a white male character.

But you're right, there was simply no indication that Stiles was destined for greatness in the first two seasons, though it was not because he was inferior to anyone. He had opportunities to go to the forefront and he chose not to. In Code Breaker (1x12), in Ice Pick (2x02), in Raving (2x08), in Battlefield (2x11), and in Master Plan (2x12), he had opportunities to take on the role of lead protagonist, to seize the narrative, and the writers had him make the very deliberate decision to remain where he was. This is not a negative criticism of the character. Stiles may have been written as insecure but he was also written as deliberate. He defined his own role in the first two seasons, the same way Scott did, and he never decided to do what was necessary to become the lead protagonist. He was never going to abandon his friends, he was going to use the talents he possessed, but he didn't want to transform himself in order to help others, the way Scott chose to do. Anyone who watched the show understood exactly why Stiles chose that.

Just as we understand that it is Scott's choice to become something other than he wanted to be for the good of others, made after experiencing the terrors of Season 1 and manifesting it through his decisions during Season 2, that makes him the target of the Alpha Pack in Season 3. The writers clearly intended for him to demonstrate something extraordinary, and Stiles, for all his cleverness, didn't. This was constantly displayed in the narrative and in acting choices, again and again and again.

So where did this idea that the show would eventually turn to Stiles for its lead protagonist come from? Well, if you've followed me for any length of time, you already know the answer I am going to give you. It's the same reason that a significant part of the fandom invests, with laser-like focus, in Stiles's dead mother, in Stiles's barely-mentioned ADHD, in Stiles's supposed super-intelligence, in his possession by the nogitsune, in the "chemistry" but not the content of his interactions with Derek as the only things worth paying attention to in the story. It's the same reason that the fandom disregards, often coupled with vicious dishonesty, Scott's strained relationship with his father, Scott's established disability, the way his heroism impacts his education, the sustained horror of Scott's repeated physical and mental violations, and the heart-felt content of his developing relationship with Derek. It is this reason that their reaction to the show is absolute hatred of a protagonist of color and the weird, bizarre, and twisted mutation of a perfectly fine white male character into a spectral avatar of entitled fandom resentment. (What else could produce the amount of fury we see because a 31-year-old Scott doesn't drive a 46-year-old Jeep?)

BUT IT'S NOT RACISM.

A Prince Restored A Lover Lost

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/8Av6g9s by dani_dabbles He turned sharply to face her, putting her in the direct path of his sudden fury. “I do know, Cat! I know that the one person who I thought knew me on a level few have ever achieved didn’t see me beneath that facade. But I also know that I will never get his side of the story or find peace with what happened because he’s dead! Alexander is dead! He’s…he’s…”   A SH 2x12 canon-divergent story where Magnus isn’t rescued by Alec and is executed in Valentine’s body by the Clave. His last moments of life are that of absolute agony…until the moment he wakes up in Edom and in the company of Asmodeus. Given a second chance at immortal life, Magnus returns to New York only to discover that, despite the seemingly fleeting moments he’d spent in death, decades have passed in the mortal realm and the love of his life is gone. The only thing Alec left behind were letters, marking the passing of days: Day 3, Day 64, Day 378, Day 1104. Through Alec’s words, the events after Magnus’ passing begin to unfold. And with each painful letter, a hopeful path back to the man who had the makings to be Magnus’ greatest love begins to be revealed. Words: 2062, Chapters: 1/10, Language: English Fandoms: Shadowhunters (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M Characters: Magnus Bane, Alec Lightwood, Asmodeus, Catarina Loss, Jace Wayland, Isabelle Lightwood, Original Shadowhunter Character(s) Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s02e12 You Are Not Your Own (Shadowhunters TV), Post-Episode: s02e12 You Are Not Your Own, Temporary Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Love Letters, Resurrection, Magnus Bane Needs A Hug, Alec Lightwood Needs A Hug, Everyone Needs A Hug, Grief/Mourning, Valentine Morgenstern Being an Asshole, Magnus Bane and Valentine Morgenstern Body Swap, Tissue Warning read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/8Av6g9s

#both times magnus has been tortured to exhaustion #his most painful memories dredged up against his will #and both times he gets to his feet and throws himself back into the fight #running on nothing but the sheer force of his will #that's power #and nothing can take it away from him

Countdown to SH S3B: 60 days

↳ Endless gifs of Clary Fray 4/?

Domestic Sebastian in Shadowhunters

2.11 ; 2.12 ; 2.15

Lightwoods Appreciation: Isabelle Lightwood in 2x12

“...the best anti-bullying expert ever.”

#GlowTP

Writers Month 2019 Day 2: Hurt/Comfort (Malec)

(post 2x12, because I was recently talking on Twitter about my headcanons about the wards after Clary blew through them like paper in that episode.)

Alec stumbled in the dark, cursing under his breath as his toe his caught the edge of a side table that hadn’t been there an hour ago. Things must be worse than he thought if Magnus had redecorated yet again.

Carefully, he eased around the corner into the living room where Magnus kept his apothecary. Sure enough, the far corner was lit in a pool of yellow light, a smear of color in an otherwise dark space.

Magnus was hunched over several cauldrons, hands dancing as he measured and mixed ingredients without pause. The low melody of his voice filled the air as he talked himself through whatever bit of magic he was working on. Behind him was another new addition to the loft’s decor, a whiteboard with scribbles that were more letters than numbers. Perhaps some obscure demonic language, but not one that Alec had ever studied.

Alec cleared his throat, heart breaking as even that small noise caused Magnus to startle.

“Alexander!” Magnus’ elbow nearly knocked over the cauldron at the very edge of the table but his quick reflexes caught it before its contents could escape. “You should be in bed.”

Magnus never used to startle, but ever since getting his body back from Valentine, he’d been on edge, even here in his home. Alec hated it.

“So should you.” He ached to take Magnus into his arms and kiss away the deep line of tension between his brows but he’d learned the hard way that crowding Magnus only agitated him more. “The bed’s too big without you.”

“I can fix that,” Magnus waved his fingers.

“Or you can come to bed.” Alec swallowed the lump in his throat. “Please come to bed.”

Magnus stilled, and the lack of movement made him seem much smaller. “I can’t,” he whispered. “Not yet.”

Alec didn’t need to guess what research had captivated Magnus enough to keep him from sleep for so many nights on end. It was the same thing he’d been working on constantly since the day he’d regained his body. ““The wards won’t be finished tonight,” he said. “And they won’t be finished tomorrow or the day after that. You need rest.”

The agitation was back, firming Magnus’ strong shoulders and bringing the fire back into his eyes. “You saw the rune Clary made. And while I’m grateful to Biscuit for bursting in and sending Valentine back to that cell—” Magnus’ whole body seemed to shudder at the word, as if a part of him was still reliving every moment of his capture—"she exposed an unacceptable breach in my own protections. What use are my wards if they can be brought down with nothing but a stele?”

It was a familiar argument, and so was Alec’s rebuttal. “All the magic in the world won’t matter if you drop from exhaustion.”

Magnus’ eyes flickered to the whiteboard. “I’m so close, Alexander, Just a little more work and this place will be absolutely impenetrable. I can even put the new wards up in the Institute if—”

The ache in Alec’s chest grew so large it drowned out the words. His world narrowed to the dark bags under Magnus’ eyes, the telltale chips in his nail polish, the way he swayed on his feet even as he spoke.

This couldn’t go on.

He put both hands on Magnus’ shoulders, moving slow enough that Magnus could retreat if he wished. He didn’t, and some of the tension in Alec’s chest eased at that. With the same care, he ran a hand up Magnus’ neck, cradling the base of his skull. Magnus leaned ever so slightly into the touch, betraying how exhausted he truly was.

“Okay,” Alec said, reaching with his other hand for the stele he’d tucked into his sweatpants when he’d first woken up alone and worried. Before he could change his mind, he ran it across his stamina rune and felt the familiar energy sweeping through him, lighting up his senses and setting his nerves on edge. He felt refreshed, as if roused from a full night’s sleep and a cup of coffee.

Magnus blinked several times. “Alec, what are you doing?”

Instead of answering, Alec put away the stele and tugged at Magnus’ hand. “You can work on the wards tomorrow. I’ll keep watch until then.” Why he didn’t think of this solution before, he didn’t know, but the answer suddenly seemed crystal clear. If Magnus didn’t feel safe behind his wards anymore, Alec would give him the next best thing.

Magnus dug in his heels but made no effort to break Alec’s grip on his hand. “That’s kind but unnecessary. I can look out for myself.”

“Even High Warlocks need sleep.” Alec took a step closer, recognizing victory when Magnus didn’t retreat. “And I already activated the rune, so I’ll be up all night anyway.” He brought their joined hands to his lips, not bothering to hide the pleading in his eyes when he said, “Let me do this for you,”

Magnus’ eyes went wide and this time he didn’t protest when Alec led him towards the bedroom.

The door swung shut behind them, closing them off in the place that was fast becoming a sanctuary in Alec’s mind. Here, away from the street noise of the balcony, the silence seemed unbreakable, a blanket spread over the two of them that separated them from the outside world.

It was an illusion neither of them moved to break as Alec unbuttoned Magnus’ shirt and helped him out of his pants. His fingers skimmed along each inch of newly bared skin, a comfort rather than any intent towards more strenuous activities. Gently, he took off each of Magnus’ rings from unresisting fingers and lifted the layers of necklaces over his head. Magnus didn’t say a word as Alec tilted his head so that he could disentangle the earcuff from its usual place, though the peaceful smile on his face gave Alec hope that he was going about this the right way.

Once the last piece of jewelry was removed, Alec deposited the whole handful of heavy silver adornments onto the bedside table. He didn’t think Magnus would stay awake long enough to get his makeup off and so, clad in nothing but his boxer briefs and his eyeliner, Alec bundled him under the covers. Magnus must have thought the same, because he let Alec take him to bed without a word of complaint.

In almost no time at all, his breathing slowed and evened out, his body going limp and vulnerable in sleep. Alec wasn’t naïve enough to think that one night of rest would solve all their problems, but it was a good first step.  One they were taking together. It was enough to give him hope.

Deep in sleep, Magnus shifted on the bed so that he was sprawled on his stomach, one arm tucked under the pillow and the other slung across Alec’s waist where he sat propped up against the headboard between Magnus and the door.

Alec kept watch over him all night.