#i should prolly make a verse for his pre hollow life

[solitariusdeluna]

One really wonders who came first, Lily or Starrk? Is Lilynette the Little Sister Starrk always wished to protect? Or is Starrk the older Brother Lily never had to keep her safe? Or Was it something else entirely, and the original tore themselves into the perfect idea of a brother and sister that would never be apart? What's your own personal headcannon for Starrk and Lily's origin?

-rolls up sleeves and drinks a good gulp of coffee for this- okay!! i had this in the inbox for well over a month now and i need to share my thoughts because it’s about time to! first off, thank  you for sharing and second i hope you like what comes your way keeping in mind your vast knowhow of the bleach world, this is just my humble interpretation of how i see starrk and lily. so thank you for asking! ^^

i believe starrk came first because he’s the stronger of the two and i’m also partly weaving in your thoughts about him being a power hog was it? power in this sense being the energy and force for strength and not the whole wanting to be in control thing because that’s not him with how he doesn’t care for leadership roles with the way barragan wants to be king. anyhoo, he absorbs life force and strength more because of his selfless nature and also because he doesn’t want to burden lilynette with their collective being and that comes with it. 

so in a sense there he is being rather protective of her because it’s in his nature to be that way. but i don’t think she was the little sister he wished for. when their entire being existed there was countless souls of those they encountered that happened to be absorbed by said being. 

that being was so alone and wanted craved companionship so much that it grew mad with grief and wanting. and in that process the strongest being starrk emerged and the second strongest being lilynette also came into being. so yes it was an entirely different being that housed so many souls (because of the whole absorbing souls thing) which was an unfortunate side effect of its strength.

and now to answer my own personal hcs for starrk and lily’s origins. 

we start with Starrk first:

okay, so the song viva la vida greatly inspires my take on starrk and is my go to song when i need a little boost. mostly because when i first heard it at the inception of this blog it vibed with him so much. Certain muses of mine just click so well with a song and it becomes there’s (case and point kensei and remember the name).

some of the lyrics that apply: 

I used to rule the worldSeas would rise when I gave the wordNow in the morning, I sleep aloneSweep the streets I used to own

I believe starrk was a general and a mighty good one who was adored by the emperor and I was toying with the idea that he was someone pretty important back in Rome. He’s from that time period of Marcus Aurelius who was an awesome stoic (also where starrk got into the whole stoicism school of philosophy) and just emperor. Starrk who’s name back then was Marcellus Silvanus Janus. He was a farming family and hailed from what is now known as spain, and rose through the ranks of the military but deep down loved the land and always wanted to go back and retire there once he was done serving his great nation. Emperor Marcus loved Starrk  and considered him a valuable commander of his armies. He went out for his many expeditions and always came back victorious. Now, since the emperor was so fond of Marcellus, his character and prowess he wanted to make him his next in line. Marcellus (It is a name derived from Mars, the god of war. It means young warrior or hammer) Silvanus (This was the god of the forests) Janus (This was the god of new beginnings and openings. Janus is a perfect choice for parents whose child symbolises a new journey). 

Marcellus was proclaimed emperor of Rome while in the eastern provinces of the empire and was subsequently confirmed as such by the Senate; however, for the duration of his reign, he never had the opportunity to return to Rome. He had accepted the role after the emperor died much to his great reluctance since he knew how things were in that coveted seat of power and how it was such a headache with all the other power hungry people wanting it as well. He followed in his predecessor’s policies hoping to make the empire stronger by stabilizing it from its territories and not really focusing on Rome and that was his biggest mistake. 

I used to roll the diceFeel the fear in my enemy’s eyesListen as the crowd would singNow the old king is dead! Long live the king!

As emperor, Marcellus first attempted to enact reform to bring economic and diplomatic stability to Rome. His diplomatic actions brought about peace with each of the individual kingdoms, however the additional monetary costs and subsequent fiscal reforms generated unrest in the Roman military within the capital and the family of the former Emperor who weren’t too thrilled with him took advantage of this unrest by causing a rebellion with some young 15 year old son of the former emperor’s cousin proclaiming himself as emperor with support by those rebelling legions in Rome. Marcellus at the time was busy fighting a battle but fled the battlefield in order to try and reach Rome and quell all this mad but before he could. he received word of his family being captured and executed on their land and he had to go back just as he was in the outskirts of Rome to find them dead and his home burned to the ground. He buried his wife and son and returned to the capital. 

One minute I held the keyNext the walls were closed on meAnd I discovered that my castles standUpon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

Except he never made it to the capital and instead was captured in and later executed in Cappadocia. After his death, the Senate declared him and his son enemies of Rome and had their names struck from the records and their images destroyed and wiped from history. 

It was a wicked and wild windBlew down the doors to let me inShattered windows and the sound of drumsPeople couldn’t believe what I’d becomeRevolutionaries waitFor my head on a silver plateJust a puppet on a lonely string

Oh, who would ever want to be king?

Who would ever want to be king, true words buddy i mean after all that mess he’s been through (and even though he doesn’t remember it all but still... it’s more instinct and self preservation mechanics kicking in than memories of that past life) can you honestly blame a guy for being strong but not giving a crap about ruling? 

And that’s how be become a hollow while keeping in line with his whole fair and upright ideals and character. ah, originally i was heavily influenced to just take the gladiator’s maximus’ story and make it starrk’s and i told lainey as much. but as i was writing this now, it evolved into a part that and part something else. but anyway here we are. his tragic tale that made him a hollow. 

As for Lilynette, her story isn’t as fleshed out as starrk’s is but to ever so briefly summarise it; 

I think lily died at a young age maybe in medieval times and was born into a gypsy family and had relatively strong powers that were not understandable so her family had to move about a lot to protect her and were prolly the leaders of the group but the ppl in her gypsy group resented that they had to move around alot because of her and set up some trap for her which ended in her demise. So her strong soul emerged into its own presence.  

anyways, back to their original form. I also think their hollow was a collection of all those MOUNTAINS AND MOUNTAINS of souls that died because of it. But then starrk and lily were the ones who finally emerged from that soul collection and that starrk houses the burden of all those souls and power more than lily does. The souls are prolly every single entity that came their way when they were one being that was looking for companionship. @cxrvina also pointed out that this hc of mine helped to contextualise how starrk and lilynette are completely different ages, different genders and different personalities.  

special thanks to the lovely @cxrvina  who encouraged me to share my headcanons and gave me that boost to finally write all this down and extract it from my brain. 

I hope this answered all your questions and once again thank you for sending this character developing and deep thought provoking questions because they are so essential especially when a muse is new.