#preston monterey

[melliotbracket]

@melliotwrites bracket round 1: the whiteboy smackdown

art by @prestonmonterey

[singing-melliot-headcanons]

vincent is really sensitive to physical touch because of being autistic. in freshman year he was ‘friends’ with adrian and preston because of ambrose, and the first time he ever interacted with adrian and preston, they decided to poke, prod and grab him because they knew he hated being touched. he had a meltdown and ambrose was really pissed at the two for doing that

That was the one time that preston and adrian didnt listen to what ambrose said

[prestonmonterey]

uhh, heres my contribution to the internet for the day. (cough, spreading adrian sea captain propoganda, cough)

(he just wants to sail the seas and be important to the plot or something, idk)

might, like, shade this or clean it up later?? idk. im pretty lazy.

(also working on a (not) super secret adamandi-related thing rn so get excited, or something.) (currently destroying my vocal chords. uhh i guess thats a hint.)

idk how long this took me i did most of it in class. maybe like an hour.

also drink water.

[toasted-valentine]

Consider: Adamandi AU where the Marmorius form a polycule are the absolute worst about it. Not that it’s a toxic relationship, they all are just obnoxious frat guys, and it gets worse after they start dating.

[vincentaureliuslin]

au edit :33 this is slightly satire

do you see what i had to go through to post this what the HELL

[sweet-thangman]

Basically Vincent Lin

[phaethonstims]

preston and adrians silly airplane arms :)

Look you didnt give me much to work with AND I FOUND THIS TOO FUNNY

In my own defense, modern day marmorius society would probably say these things.. but they're silly so -Owner 1

Gif creds to yours truly😜

[flyingwiththesun]

Do you guys ever think about the fact that Adamandi takes place in the 1930’s and that thus every living character would have to see World War 2? They cannot catch a break they literally went through all the events of Adamandi during the Great Depression only for an international war to strike just a few years after the graduate. 😭

[yourlocalmysticalvoid]

oh I wonder what this could be (it's another alignment chart)

[malicious-devourer]

i dunno if we've done this before but hey adamandi fandom

[talksee]

Part 2 of the sleepover post

[singing-melliot-headcanons]

Preston and Adrian don’t study classics, but are very well versed in Greek Mythology because they always let Ambrose infodump about it to them. In his mind it’s because he’s the leader of the Marmorius society and they have to listen to whatever he says, but in their mind they’re just having a grand old time listening to their best bro ramble about his interests.

In general Ambrose thinks they stick by his side out of obligation because of the Marmorius society but they really do care about him and like spending time with him. Something about unconditional love being literally right there in front of him and him being unable to recognize it because he doesn’t think he’s worthy…

was silly then you HAD to make it sad huh anon /lh

[haowenyang]

adrian/preston,,,.,,.,,.,,.

[eulaliesactualwife]

adrian and preston: *not breathing*

ambrose, (not) an empath: *keeps accidentally killing them by sculpting them*

[soundbodys]

AMBROSE BASSFORD: autism?

hi!!!! welcome to part 1 of "i've got some thoughts on adamandi" >:) i have some other analysis that i do want to share about other things, not just randomly diagnosing fictional characters! but this post is about ambrose being on the autism spectrum <3

i'm not a medical professional by any means, but this is just coming from both my experience as an autistic person and the research i've been able to do about the disorder. and other people's experiences! please dont come for me if things are just a touch inaccurate. without further ado: lets fucking gooooooooo!

[ID: ambrose bassford with his hands on vincent lin's shoulders. he is looking into the distance with a determined look in his eye. vincent looks towards him with concern. end ID]

(please excuse my terrible quality screenshots. um. yeah.)

i'll also preface this by saying that yes, much of this is also informed by his status as a transgender student in the early-mid 1900s. i still think it's fun to analyze and compare my (and others') experiences to his!

THE MARMORIUS SOCIETY

[ID: preston monterey and adrian farthington (or miscellaneous marmorei) putting a letterman jacket on ambrose. ambrose is smiling. there is a caption at the bottom reading "rooftops that nobody frequents where secret societies meet" in all caps. end ID]

firstly, i will address the marmorius society. i'm fairly certain that the marmorei in "word to the wise" are meant more to represent the then-present-now-past members that welcomed ambrose freshman year rather than preston and adrian, but thats ok. what matters more is the subtext in word to the wise that we can glean from the choreography and interactions between ambrose and vincent. beginning the song, and similarly his freshman year, ambrose struggles to fit in like each of the other students entering ardess. he initially seems more comfortable interacting with vincent, but then gets taken in by the marmorei. this is exactly where his mannerism and attitude shift

here, we see ambrose fitting in (or, making an attempt to) with the other marmorei. from vincent's account, we know that ambrose's actions and behaviors almost completely changed after becoming part of the society. this is a really roundabout way of saying hey, ambrose found a place where he thinks he might belong! rather than learning and adapting to normal and regular social rules, he latches onto and mimics a very specific subset of people. to him, they know what they are doing and they have a way of being social that he can't understand so he mimics instead of just adjusting the way he already was. this mimicking makes a bit of sense in that he's not quite conforming to social cues (he still doesn't exactly fit in), but he's trying to. it feels to me a bit like how it is to feel alienated from your peers, even though you are trying your hardest to mask. of course, his "off"-ness is also contributed to by his transness so take that as you will.

2. WHAT DID HE JUST SAY?

[ID: ambrose is standing facing vincent. vincent is facing him with his hands to his back uncomfortably. the caption reads. "i've been looking to include more variations in body type." end ID]

this one is shorter than the marmorius society bulletpoint. actually, most of them are. that one is long winded. ANYWAY, ambrose is kind of... interesting when it comes to his interactions. specifically, he encourages vincent to join the marmorei by saying he's been "looking to include more variations in body type." to him, he's being completely honest and genuinely wants vincent to take interest in his phaethon project. unfortunately, to both vincent and much of the audience, this comes off as comically insensitive at best or offensive at worst. this comes from a lack of awareness of social cues, similar to the lack of knowledge of social norms from the previous bulletpoint. while he knows how to conform to the marmorei, there is still a lot of social cues he needs to work on. often, autistic people will speak bluntly and honestly in their communication. this is really not that far off, even if it was just a little gag!

3. OMG, SENSORY ISSUES!

[ID: caption reading, "he didn't eat the apple because he said he didn't like how its flesh felt on the skin of his thumbs." end ID]

kind of self explanatory. all metaphors aside, ambrose doesn't like the flesh of a peeled apple on his thumbs. i understand (<- i loooove peeled apples though)

4. BLACK AND WHITE THINKING: IF NOT ME, WHO?

[ID: lyrics reading, "if i was stronger i could fix this; / cut the bad and leave the good / be the marble and the sculptor / like my father says i should." end ID]

[ID: lyrics reading, "so my parents and my girlfriend / my closest friends and you / will know i deserve their love / once there's no more work to do / there are only three people who'll be perfect in their eyes / me, myself, and i" end ID]

two screenshots! often, autism causes what can be called "black and white" or polarized thinking. it's like, there's only one solution or there are only the extremes (although, this isn't to be confused with the black and white thinking associated with BPD. i don't have experience on that but ive heard quincy and vincent can fit the bill). for ambrose, there's only one solution to both his dysphoria and distorted self worth: becoming the perfect man by... becoming marble or whatever. as if there is only ONE way to do this, without alternative methods. i sometimes find myself in the same spiral, and have meltdowns either when it doesn't work out or if i'm offered an alternative solution that goes against what i thought might work. even in the second screenshot here, we see that he thinks the only way to earn love is through this specific task. he cannot be unconvinced, even if vincent tries to offer him an alternative solution.

5. WHY APOLLO, BOYS?

[ID: ambrose is hanging off a ladder, his hand out and mouth open singing. the caption reads, "apollo's look is yours: sound body, sound mind" in all caps. end ID]

this is where i dip more into the headcanon territory than i already have. i couldn't really include every screenshot where he talks about a) apollo, b) sculpture, or c) fitness. this is kind of part of his character in general but i like to think of it as his special interests. it's remarkable how many autistic people i know who have majored in something related to their spinterests (including myself! in a way)

6. DON'T FLATTER YOURSELF, LIN!

[ID: vincent awkwardly puts a hand on ambrose's arm, ambrose looks at him longingly. end ID]

ambrose... did not interpret the social cues correctly in the scene directly after "sound body, sound mind." it's really just written in the text, but just in case, i will remind you that vincent pretty much says "hey, i kind of strived to be like you because i had this incorrect assumption of who you were, sorry about that lol" and ambrose took it all wrong and thought this was a romantic advance. he just... didn't interpret it right. honest mistake, but a very common mistake among autistic people. and, unrelated to the autism thing, his comeback isn't smooth at all lmao

THERE YOU HAVE IT! i'm sure there could be more to be said, but my hands hurt (disability) and i can't think of any more off the top of my head. feel free to add on with anything you want to say!!!! thank you for reading!!!! here's the sillies for you, as a reward for getting this far :)

[ID: preston, ambrose, and adrian with their arms on each others' shoulders, stepping in sync. end ID]