#and thus feeling a little distanced from the fandom and from creating lately...I'll try again this weekend though I'll try

[kimtaegis]

hate to say it but july kinda sucked

[death-in-a-handbasket]

I swear to myself I am done making idv ocs,,,,, but I have an obsession with character design & making ocs and here I am AGAIN with my next one so I can build a nice big story where all my ocs are definitely happy ٩( ᐛ )و

He is finally the 'staff are a part of the manor' concept you inspired me with,,, hes the key holder ,,has the key to every room in the manor and is just kinda there in the background of everything,,, he brings that 'fading away into the flowers' vibe to the function that the haters just can't understand yknoe

I swear I don't abandon my original ocs they are all very loved and I'm trying to stop this creation addiction now💯

His name is Lavinia (or Vinnie) but he doesn't really share his name aside from theoretically some of the other workers? Raghhh,, sorry it's late by me so this is probably senseless rambling. I think he'd get along somewhat well with your character staff (I think that's the. Only way you've reffered to them,,, idk I cannot remember rn I'm sorry I need to go sleep, the one with luca)

He's not really shipped w anyone because he's very averse to most relationships in any way but,, yea

I enjoy him greatly !! he's rather solemn and gorgeous, I fuck with this. ALSO KEYMASTER JOB IS SO BALLER >>> I approve 10/10 he is canon 2 me. I'm imagining anyone who has been accidentally locked out of their room damn near falling over in surprise as this guy manifests next to them like he spawned out of the floral wallpaper and asking very morosely if they need some help. he just pulls an absolutely massive ring of keys out of his pocket and as he's unlocking their door for them they ask very nervously how he manages to keep track of all of them but when they look back he's fucking gone

also don't worry about relentlessly making ocs, I do the same thing, I love making self inserts and I have a shitload of fandom independent ocs but I fear I don't attend to them often enough </3 I am an absent father for sure I fear

as for staff, don't worry, they don't have a name, staff IS their only name, that's the only one they give out to people and they stubbornly refuse to give themselves a name or have anyone else give them one. they have a complex of sorts surrounding not existing, where because of their status as a non-human and their deep seated feeling of mundanity they consider themself not applicable to the title of being real

him and luca have a whole dynamic surrounding names that I'll put below the cut if you wanna read :0 !

okay. okay. so.

their dynamic to start involves staff trying to keep luca at a distance and luca trying to learn more about them and their non-human design as is his curious nature, thus they have a stubborn vs stubborn type feud that isn't really addressed as a feud but is there nonetheless

staff calls luca by his last name to enforce a sort of social distance and hold that divide of human vs non human, they are nameless and he is not, it’s also meant to hold him at an emotional distance because to use his first name would imply closeness. staff enforces this distance this because all they know as their identity is being separate from the manor guests they serve--further yet, sometimes when they do it it’s out of rudeness and to deflect him from them and sometimes it’s more out of self destruction than anything, such is the refusal to acknowledge one’s own being as worthy of humanity

on the other end of the situation it is a double edged sword of sorts for luca, being called by his last name has become strange to him as it’s been a long time since any part of his name has been spoken with even the slightest air of politeness, after being in prison it feels good to be referred to by any name at all, especially without ardent malice and disgust. however he’s aware of the separation they are creating which stings a little because he really would pay to hear them call him by his first name, even once would be pleasant. plus being called by his last name solely makes him feel a bit like his father, which stings in its own right,,,,,,he has mixed feelings on his last name for this reason

circling back once more, staff prefers not being referred to at all because it enforces the idea that they are in fact nothing, and while being called staff is a vague compromise of sorts, they are still off put by being given any title at all, not just for the humanity implication, but for the strange feeling that not referred to at all feels more comfortable and in tune with who they are (non-existence complex aside) than any name they could possibly have, such is the indecision of someone struggling to decide whether to be real or not

luca struggles in both situations, both options feel degrading to him, especially in the eyes of someone who has felt degraded and sub-human while in prison, to place someone in the category of less than human makes him feel oddly guilty despite the fact that he’s not the one enforcing this standard

he still finds it degrading to see them as nothing, names are very very important between these two and their choices of which moments they decide to address each other has its own subtext to it

that's all !! have a good day :33