some information on my portrayal of rafael, because i am Sobbing:
— rafael is more reserved with most people. it takes him a lot to be more open with most, but when he begins to feel more comfortable, he can be the sweetest person. — rafael spent the first five years of his life living on the street and that has caused him to have major attachment and trust issues. he did not like to be touched, either. it took him a very long while to truly believe that alec and magnus actually wanted him. as he grows older, he begins to trust them more and more but the fear of abandonment never really leave him. he has nightmares ever since the institute incident and he’s working on it with his family’s help. you can read more about it here. — he has always had the instinct to care about the people he loves before himself. that is also why he didn’t like to tell his family about his troubles so he doesn’t feel like a burden to them. he, with the help of alec and magnus, is growing out of that, but he sometimes finds himself involuntarily doing that. — rafael would only speak spanish when they first brought him home and it took him a long while to get really comfortable speaking english. he still speaks spanish because even though he started a new life and has a new family who he adores, he never wants to forget his roots and his family from argentinia, even if he doesn’t remember much. — ever since rafael was a little boy, he had promised himself that he would protect max since the moment he laid eyes on him. some may think it’s ridiculous, since he was just a child back then, but anyone interacting with rafael could notice that he meant it. in fact, if he could, rafe would probably want max to be his parabatai. — magnus and max being immortal is something he thinks about a lot. it’s not noticeable unless you look closely at his actions : the way he makes sure to spend a good amount of time with them, the way he stays silent whenever anyone mentions their age, etc. he pretends he doesn’t think about it but he does. more than he’d like.
