#❛ a dreamer with the fever to be great — character study (julien). ❜

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as ive added more and more stuff and kinda revamped things i think im gonna change the red collars from their previous arms dealing to a vigilante gang where they fight against more violent crime groups and help out innocents. personally i feel like it fits more with julien's backstory and his desire to avenge olivier/dax, eventually getting to the point where they can take down julien's dad. just makes more sense to julien's character and i think helps me figure out his morals a bit better.

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i just realized i forgot to continue my lil list of shipping difficulty-whatever i was doing for the last three so here it is. kai, ry, and wren are here / benji, takeshi, and reo are here if ur curious about them.

julien: slowburn kind of guy. he's still mourning dax in his own way and his heart is a bit closed off to the idea of love at the moment. he's focusing on work and the gang, so it's really not a priority. in a sense, he's also kind of afraid to fall and he can sometimes be picky with his romantic partners. julien knows what he wants and he's not afraid to wait for it, but at the same time, very dedicated guy once he does fall and super romantic and patient. type to sweep someone off their feet if they let him and if he wants to.

dax: also slowburn, but he's not as picky as julien. similar to julien, romance is the last thing on his mind considering he literally... doesn't even know who tf he really is. he's like not completely shutoff to it, like if it happened, he wouldn't fight it too hard, but he'd also be a bit more hesitant to really try too much with someone unless he really liked them.

anya: not too hard, but not necessarily easy either!! anya can sometimes fall quickly for someone, but overall, it does take her a bit of time to get comfortable with the idea of being with someone. she had a relationship before but it wasn't a very meaningful one, so it's still kind of new to her. she's also a bit jaded when it comes to love due to her issues with her parents and their divorce, so she needs some time to kind of trust that the person she's with is a good person to her and whatever.

overall, from most difficult to ship with to least, i'd rate it as:

kai

ryouta

takeshi

julien

benji

dax

anya

reo

wren

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julien and takeshi are such polar opposites yet balance each other out so well and i’m honestly here for it.

like takeshi is so fiery. he knows what he wants and he isn’t afraid to fight for it. mostly driven by anger and hatred all his life, he’s been through the ringer, but he doesn’t back down even if it costs him his life. he’s devoted, but only to those who prove their worth to him.

meanwhile julien is so still and collected. he’s passionate about things and when he feels he can open up and fall in love, he gives his all to somebody. a hopeless romantic deep down, but now jaded from the death of his first love so he’s unable to really believe in it anymore. still, a part of his heart remains open to the possibility he can feel again. he cares deeply about the people who are loyal to him and would give his life for them if needed, but he’s not impulsive like takeshi. he’s always five steps ahead and never acts on his emotions without thinking it through.

despite their differences, somehow they both respect the hell out of each other and have come to develop such a deep bond. honestly i see them as fire and water and they have a very interesting dynamic that i wanna explore more.

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❣ Julien

pros & cons of dating my muse ✯ accepting!!

pros: - he's VERY understanding and levelheaded. he likes to offer solutions if necessary, but he also doesn't mind just listening to his partners vent if they need to. - devoted. he's not one to give up on anyone once he commits to them and would do anything for his partner. - constantly wanting to do things with his partner. love language is quality time so he's always planning dates and thinking about when he can see his partner next.

cons: - bit of a workaholic so sometimes he'll put too much focus on his work and neglect other aspects of his life. - in a sense, he can be a bit clingy. he loves spending time with his partner so this can often result in him wanting to see them too often. might be overbearing. - he has a bit of a cold side when he's angry. it'd take a lot for him to get to this point with his partner, but if it did, then he's very hard to communicate with as he's a little ruthless and doesn't appreciate being crossed.

✯ @lured-into-wonderland

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 ❣ Julien

pros & cons of dating my muse ✯ accepting!!

pros: - he's a hopeless romantic. very loving and very much loves to please his partner. will always aim to give them a great experience emotionally. - will also aim to give them a great experience physically so... he's very attentive, is what i'm saying. - v rich. lowkey can be a sugar daddy if ur muse wants LOL

cons: - obviously affiliated with some Bad Shit so if his partner isn't involved with crime, it can be ethically questionable. - can be a bit over-protective at times simply because he has such a strong fear of losing his partners like he lost dax. if he feels a situation is unsafe and life-threatening for his partner, he'd forbid them from it and stop them however he can. - kind of hard to get his attention romantically? he still mourns and loves dax a lot so he hasn't even considered opening his heart up again for the most part.

✯ @hhemeraa

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i'm actually quite glad i decided to add daxton to the blog because it's really allowed me to flesh out more of julien in turn. like writing their relationship and how they grew up together and how they both influenced each other was pretty interesting to me. when you think about it, julien could've turned out to be just like his father, emotionless and power-hungry, if not for dax's love and positive support. of course, while dax was fully aware of what julien's family, and julien himself, was capable of, he knew at julien's core that he truly just wanted to be better than that, better than the violence he was born into, and that made dax see julien as an actual person, not another weapon/tool to utilize. this in turn allowed julien to see himself for more as well.

dax truly was inspired by julien and his natural ability to lead, but julien was inspired by dax more. his kindness, his values, his beliefs, his care for others. even after julien's father faked dax's death, julien knew he couldn't shut down emotionally... that would dishonor his lover's memory. he carried his grief and simply allowed himself to feel it and process it even if it almost crushed him. this prevented him from going completely cold and it was this that ended the cycle the vernier family's possessed for years. now, julien does have a thirst for power, but this is only so he can take care of his people and ensure nothing/nobody can ever harm those he holds dear again like julien's father did to dax.

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tag dump 8.

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my favorite thing about julien is he can be so intimidating and terrifying and have no remorse whatsoever when dealing with crime related things, but then he sees someone he cares for and he can switch from scary, serious crime boss to a lovesick puppy in seconds. 

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julien and kai are both artists who enjoy drawing, but it’s significantly different for both of them.

for instance, kai is more interested in drawing portraits of people and capturing their emotions in that instance and i think he does so to help him cope with his inability to express his own emotions. he likes to observe people and then draw their facial expressions later on and then look back at it, reflecting on what could have been going on in their head at that moment. kai’s also a sucker for drawing people close to him, whether he cares for them platonically or romantically or even if they don’t know each other. drawing people is a huge fixation for him.

julien, on the other hand, is more technical. he likes to draw landscapes, scenery, inanimate objects of all sorts. a lot of his sketches are used for the tattoo shop he owns, but they’re mostly all flowers or animals, rarely any portraits or anything. julien also isn’t too into sketching. he does do it, but it’s mostly for work at this point. he enjoys painting a lot more and photography as well. a lot of the time, he’ll take photos of scenery he’d like to recapture with paint and brush. it’s incredibly rare that he’ll draw/paint someone, but if he does, it’s usually because they mean a great deal to him and he wants to give it to them as a gift.

in either case, they’re both extremely talented artists and love to draw. they’ve actually met before, back when kai was homeless, and kai was offered a position of employment with red collar ink but turned it down due to recognizing takeshi as benji’s brother and not wanting to be dragged back into his former life