#as a notorious holland vosijk lover. i want it to be him. i really do. but he is too out of character for me to believe it

[starsailores]

i could write thousands of words on what i think about holland's ghost in threads. but i think this sums it up

[starsailores]

for the character ask game: holland a darker shade of magic, 20 26 30? and also anything you want to answer!!

it is autism time. obligatory warning for adsom spoilers, mainly for book three.

20 - a weird headcanon: not so much a weird headcanon as the first one to come to mind, but i firmly believe that this man is good with animals, without really trying. in general, i hc animals in makt (or white london at the very least) as being drawn towards magic, because it is heavily linked to survival, and that is part of it. but i also think most animals, particularly cats, would be fond of holland's demeanour, and he is the type of person to leave scraps of food out for strays wherever possible. and there was one cat in particular that hung around the castle while vortalis was king because holland grew a little too fond of it, and he eventually named it 'vofa' because of the way it snuck around the place like a ghost. if anyone asked, he would deny caring about it. but vortalis knew better and actively encouraged that cat to hang around more often.

26 - when do you think they were being the most 'themselves': ough this is an interesting one because holland vosijk is notoriously inauthentic. that being said, i can give one of two answers. the first is the easy answer, which is that he was most himself while acting as a knight to vortalis, because he was living and working alongside his closest friend (maybe lover. depends on my mood) and thus felt safe enough to let down his walls for a while and simply be himself (and this was before the danes fucked him over). the more difficult answer that fits into the canon timeline of adsom is when he and kell fight side by side in rosenal against the copper thieves, purely for the line 'holland had the strange urge to say more'. there were hints of him growing more comfortable around kell prior to this, and i do think he is most 'himself' in their interactions, but this one gets me because it shows that there is still a part of the old holland who wishes to discuss magic, politics, and the like, and attempt to forge relationships (be it for survival, success, or simply personal enjoyment)

30 - the funniest scene they had: most of his scenes make me either smile or cry regardless of whether they are funny or sad, but i often think about his first scene in book one, where he sneaks into rhy's bedroom, borderline flirts with him, leaves, finds parrish waiting outside the door, mutters something about sending one guard away only for another to take his place, and immediately makes the man forget he was there. there was no reason for him to flirt or act the way he did, he is just a silly and melodramatic little guy. and that was my introduction to him