All the legends are true

Simon: Hmm...

Simon, staring at Raphael: Personality!

Raphael:

i love everything about this ask. simon going to Magnus' for some sort of family dinner and he's like *ahem*. id like to thank magnus for this lovely event, and if allowed.... id like to say a few words *the lights dim, a powerpoint presentation begins, he has a laser pointer*

he got alec's help to set everything up in the living room so all he had to do was turn on the tv and his presentation would be there. alec only agreed because he thought itd be hilarious. he was right

the presentation is very sweet and fun tho and simon definitely fumbles a bit even tho he's Rehearsed and it features some really cute stuff like pictures of them together that simon uses to make commentary to Prove that raphael makes him happy and he'll do everything to give it back. and raphael kinda wants the earth to swallow him whole but he also kinda wants to cry. mostly to cry. wouldnt say no to being swallowed whole tho

and magnus is just like "simon i know you, i trust you with my boy" and simon is like "no, magnus, i'm making a statement here, by the time this is over i'll be your favorite of rapha's partners" and maia and mel are like "hey!!" but simon just keeps going

it lowkey starts an unofficial competition to be Magnus' Favorite even tho magnus has no favorites and he loves all of rapha's partners as long as they make rapha happy - and they do, thank you very much. but still every time they do anything for rapha theyre like "make sure to mention this to magnus :)" and rapha is all "you're insufferable. i swear you only spoil me because of him" which earns indignant splutters and a lot of cheek kisses until he takes it back

first gif: simon is told "be bold, simon". he smiles wide and says "i'm bold...." nods eagerly for several seconds, then adds, "...adjacent"

second gif: simon frowning annoyedly before crossing his arms over his chest

third gif: simon is told "maybe it's worth giving her the truth". he splutters, saying "what? come out of the coffin?"

fourth gif: simon running into the daylight, clary at his tail. he is beyond excited, his arms spread as he almost jumps down stairs

fifth gif: simon taking an artifact and saying, scornfully, "right, because who needs a powerful warlock when you've got a scrappy nerd from Brooklyn". that last part is said as he pretends to use it to stab something

sixth gif: simon looks at something in disgust, lips pursed

seventh gif: simon is asked "you staying out of trouble?". he smiles and says "well, i haven't been kidnapped in a while, so..."

eightieth gif: simon looking at himself in the mirror as he puts on a shirt, his abs on display

clary looks down at it, a little doubtful, and says, "you realize one of these days you're gonna have to tell me where and when..."

stormy i am so sorry to break these news to you but

[image ID: a screenshot of the "biggest fans" section of the @shadowhunterspolycule blog. the biggest fan, other than myself, is none other than the sender of this ask. end ID]

i think u kinda do ship the polycule

anyway! about your ask. i mean it's just true? first of all because it's a generational thing - he was born in the 30s roughly, chivalry and whatnot was still kind of a big thing. he was raised to be a gentleman and he probably learnt to express affection in the old fashioned courtship way, and besides, being autistic, he probably launched into those very easy, very set in stone rules of expressing affection to make it easier for him. and THEN he was raised by magnus, so. yeah it's a thing

so like rapha is the guy who brings chocolate and flowers, takes ppl to fancy restaurants and whatnot. granted his actual love language is also one of like, familiarity and taking ppl to small family owned restaurants, cooking for them, etc., but he also can put on a suit and take his partners somewhere fancy. besides, as someone who doesn't like kissing in the lips, he is a fan of hand kissing to express affection because it's like the least sexualized kiss ever, and it's just nice. and to him that's all it is but damn if his partners aren't swooning. especially simon. simon is Swooning. maia is all soft smiles and a cheek kiss in return, which makes him smile too, and meliorn treats it as somewhat natural because they don't have time to keep up with mundane customs and if it was a thing in the 18th century it probably still is now, one less thing to worry about. but they like it

and now magnus. magnus with camille belcourt on one wrist and alec lightwood on the other. 

(i know by the definitions i’ve set you could very much argue for one of his friends like ragnor, catarina, or raphael; in fact, i’d say they are just as if not more important than alec magnus’s happiness-wise, and if this were more about accuracy/good worldbuilding there’d probably be multiple names, especially accounting for polyamory or just generally you dont necessarily love one friend/family member more than the rest, but just–just let me have this, okay, i have a plan!) 

(tw abuse–from both camille and maryse, but mostly the former–and mentions of suicidal ideation) 

yes!!!!!!!!! YOU GET IT!!!!!!! 

with the jace vs maryse thing in particular like…..the jace one has such good parallels and also that sweet sweet i hate jace juice, and it really plays into the whole “alec being convinced he’s totally in love with him” + parabatai/devotion/misplaced trust thing but also… the maryse one… both her specifically using it to manipulate him and like, later when she’s had her character development having to face that and realize just how bad she fucked up, or more accurately, just how fucked up she was? also good shit. 

i think i like the jace one more narratively speaking and also it’s very debatable which of them has hurt alec more anyway (in the long run probably jace, but maryse did a lot more damage early maybe?) but also since i’ve used the same trope of the romantic manipulation for both magnus and maia as well, i almost prefer it being a totally different brand of it, if that makes sense? (but also parallels and them uniquely understanding each other’s situation, even if it was pretty damn different having like, even a modicum of true empathy…..oof. although that still exists to a slightly lesser degree with maryse, although it’s not like magnus hasn’t had experience with manipulative parents, either…)

that makes sense–also i do love izzy having alec and maia having luke. i did consider simon and clary, bc as a concept their friendship’s cute and all + as you say it’d make a lot of sense and contribute to his whole initial infatuation with her but in canon… it doesn’t really work cos she’s literally like the world’s worst friend. in an alternate universe where she’s part of the polycule and doesn’t suck ass, maybe? like ideal fanon clary instead of canon clary. 

otherwise probably becca–actually, you know what? what if he still has maia and like, despite being the only one in the polycule to have it be romantic plus how it’s not reciprocated (it doesn’t need to be to matter, which is the point, but the stereotype is that that means the love is unrequited/uneven/somehow inferior) he just. isn’t jealous or upset or weird about it, he’s just like “wow im so lucky to have maia’s name 😍” and he isn’t like. weird about it at all you know? that could be sweet, showing these different like. ways the relationships work in the polycule and how none of them are treated as inferior even tho very few of them are actually on each other’s wrists, and in this case, it’s not ““requited””. but also becca is good, bc platonic soulmates babey!! (well, it’s not really soulmates, but you get the idea. i do really like it being becca, too.) 

oh, there could also be a few platonic ones like, within the polycule, but they are somehow the only ones not dating, but since most of them are dating, that basically leaves like, options we’ve already closed, aka clary and simon (well, clary’s not dating any of the other guys+meliorn either in the usual configuration of the polycule, but if someone tries to tell me clary and meliorn or clary and *begins puking before i can say raphael* are soulmates in any way shape of form i’ll laugh them out of town) and like, izzy, who’s got alec, but even if not, it’d be like, either izzy and raphael (who’s taken, bc it’s rosa, no questions, and even if it weren’t, magnus would be next on the list, and anyway, sorry izzy, but if you were on raphael’s wrist you’d probably not be the good name lmao) or izzy and simon (no) so like. idk 

also i would like to say: maia thinking she’s getting into this relationship with her soulmate (jordan), obviously this is not the case, and then like. luke was the one to find her directly afterwards, right, so like. she’s just gotten out of this super shitty relationship and runs immediately into her other name. and it’s like wow a year ago i might have tried to deck you, now i’m 90 percent sure you’re going to be the best thing that’s ever happened to me?? partially why she trusts him and is willing to be so vulnerable with him beyond her just not having much choice in this situation. but weirdly, it puts her at ease, because like magnus, it helps her realize that uh, yeah, jordan was not the “good” name + she’s like, 99 percent sure this means she can trust luke. 

funny you would say that because i was actually just thinking about the seelies!! i was also thinking that they wouldn’t have names but i was more thinking something about how culturally that probably wouldn’t make sense to them. like, from what we’ve seen seelies whole thing is that they are guardians of the realms; they have a very deep connection with nature and don’t really separate it between good and bad, it sounds to me like their thing is more about equilibrium; so i think culturally the idea of “one who makes you happiest” doesn’t make sense because in seelies’ understanding of the world everything is connected, you can’t single out someone as a source of your happiness. it is way more about building an, idk, ecosystem of support, you know what i mean?

which okay i guess complicates the lore a bit because then are the marks a result of a cultural landscape? or maybe it’s more the other way around and one of the reasons why the seelies have a fundamentally different understanding of the whole “people who make you happiest” thing is because they don’t have marks as they aren’t human nor do they have human heritage. but i just love the idea that to meliorn the marks pretty much don’t make sense

and of course shadowhunties would be like “this proves seelies don’t have MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS” even tho id argue that it’s way more meaningful to think of your relationships in terms of a constant build finding a balance than some set in stone stuff. i mean i know that’s not really what it is but like, measuring the happiness someone can give you and assigning them that role is a way less meaningful concept of a relationship to me

anyway my point is that racist bias against it is stupid and meliorn doesn’t really care because they think human (and human-adjacent ppl i guess lmao) obsession with the mark is also stupid. but they don’t realize what a relief it is until they get with the polycule and not only does no one care, no one even has their romantic partners as their soulmates in the first place (or if u go with ur idea for simon which i think can be a good trope subversion if played well, that only one does and it’s not treated as particularly meaningful) nevermind doubt their feelings just because they don’t have a name on their wrist

so in short like meliorn feeling comfortable and happy with the polycule rights!!!

as for the rest of the answer (lmao this was just the tags rip) i agree, i do like jace more narratively speaking, but i also think maryse makes more sense? jace couldn’t even have done as much damage to alec if it weren’t for maryse in the first place, and i quite like that angst you had put there about how alec expected to at least have a “soulmate” that was his equal, not someone in an inherent power imbalance with him. like that just gotta fuck you up, especially when he is already in a situation where he feels so powerless and not listened to, you know? so yeah i think maryse makes a lot of sense and actually might be very powerful narratively speaking. plus it’s not like the recognition between alec and magnus isn’t there because magnus has been abused by his dad as well, so, you know. and like if the whole misconception thing about who the “good” one is and who the “bad” one is is bad enough when you are an adult, when you are a fucking KID and one of them is your mom, that’s just… a lot

that also adds a lot of room for maryse to work with because like “can’t you see that magnus is the bad one? that he’s tearing this family apart? pulling you away from me?” and dosajdas

yeah absolutely i mean if we are talking polycule it’s always fanon clary but even then i kinda feel like she wouldn’t be the one who makes simon happiest. she matters to him, obviously, and they love each other, but still, at the end of the day she’s just not his most meaningful relationship. i could work with maia being his mark and that just not being meaningful but i also really like the idea of everyone having platonic “soulmates” specifically, because like, fuck the idea that romantic “soulmates” should be the default, y'know? but i also think there are good things to be explored about how this doesn’t mean saia has a more meaningful relationship than the other parts of the polycule or that maia loves simon less than simon loves her or whatever. but also i don’t like what it means for simon’s other relationships you know? aaa idk

lol hey maybe simon’s “happiest” mark is himself and it sounds really conceited and he always assumed that he was his worst one not his best because he’s clearly always sabotaging himself lmao, but it’s not about that, it’s about how for so long he let himself be defined by his love for clary specifically and this dedication to romantic love had been ruining him and his self esteem, and the person who can make him happiest is himself and loving himself and growing confident you know what i mean??? and it doesn’t mean simon is conceited because we all know he’s not, just that it’s a painful lesson he’s had to learn that he needs to be his own person first and foremost

i love the idea of the “soulmates” in the polycule being the ones not dating but yeah that doesn’t really work because most of the people not dating aren’t that close or even have bad blood like izzy and rapha like you said doiadsioaj but maybe simon is clary’s happiest? i honestly have no idea who could be clary’s, like, genuinely doijadosiaj maybe her mom and dad? which, oof

also the fact that you mentioned that rapha’s is rosa no questions made me realize that i didn’t mention that in my first “reply” but i think rapha’s worst person would definitely be either camille or the vampire who turned him, because they turned him away from everything they loved. or it could be himself haha :) hmmm let’s not think too hard about that

no but really it makes sense because with the way he’s always punishing himself - either physically or emotionally - and just torturing himself thinking he isn’t worthy of anything and that he’s a monster and an abomination i find it hard to argue that rapha isn’t the person who hurts rapha the most. hmmm fantastic. i’m sure this also could mean a lot of things for a saphael plotline but my head is empty rn

the saphael gifs show: raphael carrying simon's body, bridal-style, to the shadowhunters; the two of them talking, closely, before shadowhunters walk in; raphael talking to simon calmly, almost painfully, after simon was turned, simon looking hurt; and raphael and simon staring through a cracked window in a door, thinking