About Fascination Frustration

Posts by Fascination Frustration:

Thinky Thoughts about This is Us (a show we hadn’t seen)

We discuss the first 4 episodes of NBC’s This is Us.

Spoilers for the first 4 episodes!

Come talk to us on Twitter and Tumblr, or email us and please review us on iTunes.

Subscribe to Thinky Thoughts on Android

Our Patreon page is here. Join us now for loads of awesome rewards including access to our discord chat, full of lovely awesome people (and us, we’re there too).

Thinky Thoughts about American Gods

We discuss the first American Gods in our continued exploration of Neil Gaiman themed adaptations.

Spoilers for the first 4 episodes, so if you have not seen Season 1 of American Gods yet and want to remain completely unspoiled, please watch the first 4 episodes first! 

Come talk to us on Twitter and Tumblr, or email us and please review us on iTunes.

Subscribe to Thinky Thoughts on Android

Our Patreon page is here. Join us now for loads of awesome rewards including access to our discord chat, full of lovely awesome people (and us, we’re there too).

Alec fic recs

Portable Magic by smilebackwards, Teen and Up Audience, 7000 words

Magnus may go slightly overboard helping Alec set up for the book club gathering.

Technically, perhaps, he didn’t need to create a signature cocktail or barter a favor to Raphael for O neg blood for the vampires or source the biscotti directly from Italy. But hospitality is important and these are Alec’s friends. He wants to make a good impression.

Or: Alec is in a Downworld book club and Magnus finds this unaccountably fascinating.

Good Omens 4/6

We’re discussing the BBC/Prime mini series Good Omens in six episodes. Join us for episode 4 – Saturday Morning Fun Time.

Our Patreon page is here. Join us before the 1st July for a chance to win a collection of Good Omens swag, and gain access to our discord chat, full of lovely awesome people talking TV, Movies and books, as well as a whole bunch of other cool stuff.

Come talk to us on Twitter and Tumblr, or email us and please review us on iTunes.

Simon fic recs

You better work, bitch by firstaudrina for blairbending (Jace/Simon; Clary/Izzy; Alternate Universe – No Powers)

“Looks like you got here just in time,” Jace the Personal Trainer says, gaze dragging up from the soles of Simon’s ratty Converse to the fluff of his un-brushed hair. “You know video games aren’t cardio, right?”

Speak No Evil by FannyTRedOrchid (Clary/Simon/Jace; time travel; prohibition era)

Valentine has hidden the Mortal Cup in another dimension. Clary, Simon and Jace go after it, and find themselves stuck in an era of underground clubs, rivaling gin runners, and an upcoming wedding. (A Roaring 20s Speakeasy AU)

Monsters by la_muerta (Magnus/Alec; Jace/Simon; Clary/Isabelle; Supernatural-verse AU)

The Lightwoods have been on the road hunting since their parents and youngest brother died in a mysterious house fire – a fire started by a man with yellow-green eyes, like a cat’s. They hunt the thing that started the fire, the thing that tore their family apart. They’ve been on the road for a year now, but they’ve finally got a name for the monster – the Prince of Hell, Magnus Bane.
What Izzy and Jace don’t know, of course, is how Alec got hold of that name.

I Kiss You Once or Twice… and Everything’s Forgotten by irisadler for stupidnephilimlove (canon pairings)

A post-canon, canon divergent look at Simon and Maia’s lives and the very real struggle to find some time together in the face of all their responsibilities. (Five times life intrudes on Saia’s alone time, and one time it doesn’t.)

Clary Fic Recs

Pinion by paperiuni for alistoney (canon pairings; episode tag: s02e14 The Fair Folk)

Clary grieves via art and demon-hunting, grows a very inconvenient crush, and finds a way under Isabelle’s cool and collected facade.
Or, a love story in charcoal and good intentions.

The Language of Flowers by astudyinfic (canon pairings; Alternative universe)

Following the loss of his brother, florist Alec Lightwood wants to do something to remember him by. Enter tattoo artist Magnus Bane who brings beauty and love into his life. What starts as a one-time thing blooms into an expression of love for all the important people in Alec’s life.

Choose your weapon by Aryn (canon pairings)

“Why did you choose a bow and arrow as your weapon?” Clary asked.
Alec pinned Clary with a glare, the effect of which was somewhat undercut by the fact that he was holding a sandwich halfway to his face. “We’re not doing this.”
or
Alec teaches Clary how to use a bow, and it goes surprisingly better than expected

The Making of a Good Shadowhunter by dreamerbydawn (canon pairings)

Isabelle fumes at Max being failed on a test and it’s left up to Alec to teach his little brother the most important lesson of being a Shadowhunter. Clary just happens to learn something as well.

all the streets lead to morning by paperiuni (canon pairings; Episode Related: s02e12 You Are Not Your Own – Post-Episode: s02e14 The Fair Folk)

You miss me when I’m gone, but you don’t know how to be close when I’m there.
Alec sees the weight of recent events on Magnus, but is stymied by exactly what to do. Going on a mission with Clary provides not so much a solution as a way forward.

Therapeutic Ice-cream by kuriositet (canon pairings)

After Morning Star. Alec and Clary are having trouble sleeping with everything that’s happened, and by chance they find themselves opening up over ice-cream.

faith falls hard on our shoulders by gingergenower (canon pairings)

He can hear Clary breathing, calm and trusting that he knows what he’s doing. He’s got to figure a way out of this.

Looking forward to Good Omens

It’s here. Armageddon has reached us. The end is really really bloody nigh. We’re talking all about the upcoming BBC/Prime mini series Good Omens, how we came to the book, and the talk we attended with Neil Gaiman and Aziriphale and Crowley themselves. We are very very much looking forward to Good Omens…

Our Patreon page is here. Join us now to gain access to our discord chat, full of lovely awesome people talking TV, Movies and books, as well as a whole bunch of other cool stuff.

Come talk to us on Twitter and Tumblr, or email us and please review us on iTunes.

Jace Fic Recs

Safe Haven by SuperficialPeasant (canon pairings; Dark fic – read the tags – Emotional/Psychological Abuse; Psychological Trauma; Psychological Torture)

Jace reminisces about better times. (A ‘Best Laid Plans’ oneshot of missing scenes)

You better work, bitch by firstaudrina for blairbending (Jace/Simon; Clary/Izzy; Alternate Universe – No Powers)

“Looks like you got here just in time,” Jace the Personal Trainer says, gaze dragging up from the soles of Simon’s ratty Converse to the fluff of his un-brushed hair. “You know video games aren’t cardio, right?”

Nobody no body nobody by firstaudrina for girljustdied (Maia/Jace; Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence; Werewolf Jace; Referenced Self-Harm; Implied/Referenced Abuse)

Jace becomes a werewolf. Maia picks up the pieces.

Angelus ex Machina series by Blue (Canon pairings; Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence; Parabatai Bond)

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

A Horse That Loves You by Lemur710 for Mia_Zeklos (canon pairings; Parabatai Bond)

Magnus rushes into battle to rescue Jace—and comes to terms with what it means to love a shadowhunter with a parabatai.

Speak No Evil by FannyTRedOrchid (Clary/Simon/Jace; time travel; prohibition era)

Valentine has hidden the Mortal Cup in another dimension. Clary, Simon and Jace go after it, and find themselves stuck in an era of underground clubs, rivaling gin runners, and an upcoming wedding. (A Roaring 20s Speakeasy AU)

Monsters by la_muerta (Magnus/Alec; Jace/Simon; Clary/Isabelle; Supernatural-verse AU)

The Lightwoods have been on the road hunting since their parents and youngest brother died in a mysterious house fire – a fire started by a man with yellow-green eyes, like a cat’s. They hunt the thing that started the fire, the thing that tore their family apart. They’ve been on the road for a year now, but they’ve finally got a name for the monster – the Prince of Hell, Magnus Bane.
What Izzy and Jace don’t know, of course, is how Alec got hold of that name.

A FightingChance by heartsdesire456 (canon pairings; Alternative universe)

When Magnus Bane bought the space for his dance studio, Pandemonium, he had no idea that the wall between it and the MMA Training Gym next door was so thin. Neither did he realize that a dispute over the loud music would lead to him becoming involved in the world of MMA and, more importantly, guide him to the man who would end up changing his life.

with an if in its soul by jillyfae (canon pairings; Grief/Mourning; Temporary Character Death; Parabatai bond)

Magnus always knew he was terrible at losing people. This time is even more complicated than usual, but maybe he won’t have do it alone.

All this devotion by Hagar (canon pairings; Parabatai Bond)

The worst part is, Jace can’t regret believing that particular lie.

Closed Doors Don’t Lie by RedOrchid (canon pairings and references to past Alec/Jace – but no romantic Alec/Jace in the fic itself; Parabatai bond)

When the summoning of the Memory Demon reveals that it’s not only Clary’s memories that have been meddled with, Alec finds himself being pushed off the path set out for him and onto a different one.

Day 3: AU Settings Day by notcrypticbutcoy (canon pairings and background Simon/Raphael Isabelle/Lydia; Soulmate AU)

Alec Lightwood has always been an artist. When he was a child, he’d draw all over his hands and arms. As an adult, if he runs out of paper, he crosses onto his arms. But the best things he writes on himself are the words he exchanges with a faceless, nameless stranger, who lives halfway across the world. His soulmate.
Or: In which Alec has a soulmate, Jace is a good brother, and the world really seems to be out to make this whole thing difficult.

Tether by ithilien22 (canon pairings; episode tag: s02e03 Parabatai Lost; parabatai bond)

While the others race to save him, Alec drifts.

Spare Key by cinnaluminum (canon pairings; episode tag: s02e06 Iron Sisters; parabatai bond)

It takes a rare kind of courage to be so explicitly vulnerable, and it’s not the kind of courage Jace has ever specialized in. He knows it when he sees it, though, every time Magnus stands in front of Alec with his big, glittery heart on his sleeve.

Aftermath by Rizandace (canon pairings; episode tag: s03e10 Erchomai; parabatai bond)

Every beat of his heart is Clary. Clary. Clary. Dead. Dead. Dead. Jace thinks it might kill him, so he shoves it down, shoves it within himself as far as it will go, and he stumbles, like a man no longer possessed, back down to the street, ignoring Izzy and Luke and Simon and the world. He needs Alec. It’s the only thing he can let himself think about now. Alec is still breathing. Alec is alive, and that is going to have to be enough for right now.

i cannot touch because they are too near by jillyfae (canon pairings; parabatai bond)

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

We Built a Dynasty Like Nothing Ever Made by Madalena (canon pairings; Canon divergent from 2×17)

After Alec’s confrontation with the Seelie Queen puts his life in danger, a desperate attempt to save him has consequences and repercussions the likes of which the Shadow World has never seen.

NOTE: Good Jace throughout but part 5, We go deeper than the ink beneath the skin of our tattoos, is particularly wonderful.

Children of Nyx – orphan account (canon pairings; non-romantic Jace/Alec; dark fic – read the tags)

There’s a reason parabatai are forbidden from sharing physical intimacy. It’s the reason Alec convinced himself he loved Jace for so many years. The consequences are said to be catastrophic. In the fallout from Lilith’s rampage, Jace accidentally triggers an ancient weapon and sets off a chain of events that threatens to destroy everything: his bond with Alec, Alec’s relationship with Magnus, and the very foundations of the Clave itself.
AKA the fuck-or-die fic in which the fucking is somehow the least of everyone’s problems.