#yakov taught vlad how to read and write in russian and english

[stinkrascal]

When you say they bully vlad, is it bully affectionate or bully bad?

mostly bully affectionate but vlad takes literally everything personally because he is an insecure narcissistic baby man so when they mock him he's like "I've no idea why I bother with the likes of you people. You are all moronic, crass, and therefore beneath me." to which theyre all like "ok Vladdy Daddy <3 whatever makes you feel better!"

[stinkrascal]

If it's not spoilers could you please talk about vlad? Like what does he like, hobbies and how he feels about his family, the small stuff, thank you! And I can't wait for your Breanna and Vlad spinoff

hello anon thanks for the cool question!! and thanks so much, i really hope u guys enjoy the backstory reprisal!! im getting so close to finishing it, i can't wait to post it for everyone to read!! <3

i'm putting this under a cut because ohhhhhhhh boy did i ramble so hard lol.

vlad loves reading and writing a lot! he reads almost constantly, and he's a bit of a braggart when it comes to his vast knowledge of many different things, which he's learned about from books alone. he has no formal education, so reading was his only avenue for learning for a long, long time. after becoming a vampire, and before meeting breanna, he spent many centuries alone, with his only company being the books he surrounded himself with, so reading very quickly became a huge pastime for him. before becoming a vampire, vladislaus was actually illiterate and couldn't read or write; he was taught to read and write in english and in russian by yakov petrova, a natural-born vampire whose native language is russian. so, vlad honestly has a bit of an inferiority complex when it comes to his own intelligence. because of this, he tries to make up for that insecurity by being as well-read as he possibly can. even after all these years, he still has that lingering fear in the back of his head, so he's almost always reading in an attempt to learn more and more! as far as writing goes, he enjoys using his writing as a way to vent about his frustrations, and often he uses his writing to delve into the deeply personal history of his past, as well as some of his crueler intrusive thoughts he doesn't wish to admit to anyone aloud. he isn't a professional by any means, and his writing is something he doesn't share to most people, not even to breanna at times, but it does help him significantly. if he were to pursue any career, he would be an author!

he also really loves music! one of his greatest hobbies is collecting new vinyl and listening to it with breanna, so they can discuss how they feel about the music. he's listened to literally everything, and since vampires integrated with humans and were granted access to internet usage, now he can listen to all the underground artists he never would have been exposed to when vampires only lived among themselves! not only does he love music, but he's musically gifted himself; he can play the piano and the organ, and he's a good singer. he's shy about his talents, though, so he won't often play for people. occasionally, he'll play for his family, though :-)

vlad is EXTREMELY family oriented, and he cares very very deeply about his family. this has been true of him his entire life, even before becoming a vampire. in his human life, he lived on a farm with nine younger siblings. as the oldest child, he took on much of the childcare for his younger siblings, and as such became something of a surrogate father to them, as their real father was often gone, and their mother was bedridden from various illnesses. so, even at a young age, he's been rather paternal and nurturing in nature, always wanting to provide for others. vlad has this deeply-rooted insecurity, where he needs to feel needed, he needs to feel as though his help contributes to something greater, and to him, fatherhood satiates that desire. so, as you can imagine, he puts ALL his effort into his family, honestly, to the point where he's extremely distrusting and dismissive of people outside of his family, and he can be extremely overbearing at times. he's the type of person who always thinks he's right, so when he sees his children in need, he's not shy to give his input on what he thinks they ought to do to better themselves. sometimes this is appreciated, but other times it can come across as condescending and patronizing. which, rest assured, he is condescending and patronizing, but he doesn't mean to be--he's just seen a lot of suffering in his lifetime, and he can't imagine that suffering being inflicted onto his wife and children. he feels very responsible for the wellbeing of those he cares about, so he'll do practically anything he feels will keep them safe. at the end of the day, though, he's just happy to have his children around. honestly, if vlad had it his way, none of his children would ever move out of the house! they'd all just live together in one big, happy family forever and ever. he's the person who's always organizing family dinners, outings, and vacations, the one who always texts and facetimes his children without so much as a warning, just to ask them about their day, and if anything cool has happened. and if nothing cool happened, that's fine! he just loves the sound of their voices. after going so long without a genuine connection with anyone, he relishes in the fact that he has such a large family with such a close bond!

i've mentioned this a lot before, but vlad is VERY overprotective of breanna especially. obviously he feels this way about his children too, but he has such a close bond with breanna, being away from her feels unthinkable. he always wants to be around her, he's constantly checking up on her and making sure she's okay, she's happy, she's cared for, etc. they met during a time where they both felt completely alone, isolated from the world around them, with no friends, no ambition, and no care for their own wellbeing. he honestly sees a lot of himself (and a lot of his younger brother, who will be talked about one day far in the future lmao) in breanna. in a lot of ways, even though he didn't know breanna when she was a human, he feels personally responsible for her troubled upbringing, and he feels this even more now that they're together. whenever she faces any problem, he feels like he personally needs to fix it, as to alleviate the hardships she's endured.

so, it's no surprise that he's EXTREMELY clingy and needy, and honestly very codependent. if you asked vlad about himself, i think he'd have a hard time coming up with an answer which doesn't revolve around him being a father and a husband, him caring for his wife and children, because he's honestly just so enmeshed into that lifestyle and especially w/ breanna that it's hard to see anything else. i amount that to him being a deeply insecure person, someone who constantly feels anxiety and someone who constantly needs reassurance that he's needed in this world. it's definitely one of the reasons why he's so attached to breanna, because she makes him feel needed. obviously there's other reasons too!! like, they genuinely just get along and treat each other well. but there's no denying she itches this particular scratch for vlad (and it's the same for breanna too, i would say their relationship is very symbiotic in this sense).

what i'm trying to say, is that while i think this man seriously needs some therapy to work on the centuries worth of insecurities he's woven into his very being... he does genuinely love and care for his family very much, and he wants nothing more than to see his family happy. it's just that sometimes he expresses this feeling in very questionable and unhealthy ways.

he's just a very paternal and pathetic and pretentious man and i love him so very much for that <3