Malec ❤️

^^

Yes! That’s very important as well as tweeting #SaveShadowhunters. We’ve reached 900K tweets and getting to that 1 million mark in under a day would be important!

But also, here is the link to both request the show and to start a chat with Netflix to politely ask for the show to continue. Here is a template if you don’t know what to say:

At the time of the 1x06 flashback, you could tell Magnus was hurt by Alec’s reaction to having spent the night - he’d thought that Alec was different, that Alec saw him differently than the other shadowhunters, which is how Alec was able to begin breaking down the walls around Magnus’ heart without even trying. Yet here he was, jumping up from the couch so as not to sit next to Magnus, rushing to get out the door, telling him he couldn’t tell anyone he had been there. He was ashamed, though not necessarily for the reasons Magnus thought, and that shame brought out the defensive side in Magnus because it was something he’d dealt with his entire life.

Gone is the vulnerable Magnus, and in his place is the man who couldn’t understand why Dot would risk her life for a shadowhunter. He reminds Alec of something he probably never thought of before - which is that he has just as much reason to not want anyone to know he let a shadowhunter spend the night. That Alec is as much a pariah to the downworlders as Magnus would be to the shadowhunters. It’s not exactly the same, obviously, because although downworlders are powerful they’re not the ones in the position of power in their society. But it’s a connection that he and Alec have - that they both had every reason to not let their guard down, to not want to spend more time together. And yet they both went against their beliefs because their instinct was to trust each other. To help each other.

Alec smiles a little when Magnus says there must be something in the air influencing their decision, but I’m fairly certain Magnus already suspected it was more than just simple trust. He also learned something important about Alec - that he had walls around his heart, too. That Magnus, if only for a moment, was able to knock them down. And maybe Alec put them back up that morning, but if Magnus could get through them again, maybe both of them could find a reason to not need those walls anymore, and maybe they could both finally be happy. You could finally see exactly what it is that Magnus saw in Alec that night that made him feel there was a connection between them.

And ultimately, Magnus was right. Every time Alec or Magnus let down another wall around their heart, they achieved a new level of happiness together. Alec facing his fear of losing his loved ones and his career, because for once he wanted to put his happiness first. Magnus facing his fear of rejection, even after being rejected, because after a hundred years of not feeling anything, he had to at least fight for the connection he felt. Alec letting himself be vulnerable enough to apologize when he made a mistake and hurt Magnus, and vulnerable enough to go to him when he was hurting over the demon attack on the Institute. Magnus letting himself be vulnerable enough to take the next step in their relationship, even though he was afraid Alec would want to leave if he let him in too much, and even though he was afraid of how Alec would react once he finally saw physical proof of the demon blood in his veins. Both of them trusting the other not to break their heart. 

When Alec teases him the next morning and asks if he was really that afraid he was going to leave, Magnus says no, but the truth is that’s exactly what Magnus is afraid of. That the more he lets himself feel, the more he has to lose. That’s how he’s protected his heart for the past century. And when he thinks he might lose Alec in 2x10, he’s willing to do anything, risk anything, to ensure his safety, because he already knew he loved him. He’s known for a long time, which is why he was so afraid of doing anything that might push Alec away again. And then when he sees him again and Alec says he loves him, it’s like he’s in awe that Alec would actually feel the same way, that not only did he not want to leave after everything, but he was just as terrified of losing Magnus as Magnus was of losing him.

In fact, Alec continues to surprise Magnus with his acceptance and understanding. He doesn’t judge Magnus for having killed his stepfather, because he understands he was only a child and that this one act doesn’t define who he is as a person. He doesn’t just stop at telling Magnus his eyes are beautiful, or that physically he finds him attractive - he tells him that nothing about Magnus could ever be ugly, contradicting what Magnus has always felt deep down about himself. He makes him feel beautiful, desired, loved… everything he’s never truly gotten to feel before.

Which is why it’s so hard for him to choose between Alec - a once in a lifetime love that may never come again - and his people - innocent people who never asked to be born the way they were, who have had their lives controlled by people who barely distinguish the difference between their humanity and their half-demon blood, and who are just as entitled to life as anyone else yet continually made to feel otherwise. People who depend on Magnus to do what’s best for them. In some ways it’s the same struggle Alec went through in the first season, having to choose between his own happiness and his duty as a shadowhunter, but for Magnus it’s more complicated than the because the consequences of choosing his happiness won’t just be his to bear, should the worst case scenario happen. And even though Alec tries to convince Magnus that he doesn’t have to choose one or the other, it’s easier for him to feel that way because while his people are dying, they aren’t the ones being targeted for total annihilation. And it’s not that Magnus doesn’t recognize Alec’s attempts to bridge their worlds, even in light of his mistake - I think he just knows that the situation has accelerated beyond that, and the time it would take for it to work is time they may not have now that Valentine has escaped.