could we hear more about ur ocs? Gabriel's story in particular
hello curious anon :-) why of course ! be warned : this response is quite lengthy
gabriel stern was born out of wedlock right on the cusp of the 2000s. his parents were excessive paranoiacs about the world ending (Y2K) in their own respective ways, & in any other circumstances would absolutely not have a child. neither were ready nor necessarily fit to be parents (or even married, for that matter, but having a child & not being married was social suicide), but alas he was born in december 1999. spoiler alert, Y2K was not the end of the world, so it turns out gabriel was a commitment for the long run. a mixture of social pressure, clashing personalities & parenting styles, differing belief systems, & overall resentment towards the other made their marriage horrible. sarah was a bit more aggressive & overall cruel, a matriarch of the family with a husband scared of what she can be like when shes upset. chainsmoker. complex & uncertain beliefs of her families religion & her own thoughts on it, making her a bit more cynical. she is not always cruel; she can regret the ways she acts deeply. unmedicated. however, at the end of it all , not a great mother. theodore is not great either , but he tries. bit of a music geek & most of his fault lies in avoiding conflict & standing up for himself or his son; a pushover. introduces gabriel to bands & music & the neutral milk hotel when hes a bit older. the vinyl gabriel has is from his father.
i don’t want to say he’s necessarily neglected, but his childhood is a lot of learning things the hard way or through the family chunky computer with whatever advice was available in 2009. curly hair is not theo’s specialty. a lot of crying & matting of hair & resentment. a lot of isolation, too. gabriel is an only child who by all accounts is a bit strange by other peoples standards, so his friends when he’s young are sparse . he has a few, but is always an outcast in any social setting . despite feeling uncertain of himself even at a young age, could see a connection of his ‘weirdness’ to sadako yamamura. one of his earliest halloween costumes is of her. even when he was young he did not necessarily wear feminine clothing ; wore what was in the closet or hand-me-downs .
his teenage years were a mix. very self conscious of his teeth; got braces around 13 or so. got to meet donny around this time. they were both nerds in their respective fields & were drawn to one another because of how neither felt as if they belonged. hung around similar groups. gabriel harbors a crush, less because he truly likes him but more so someone has finally given him the time of day & does not treat him like dirt. still, comes with downsides. he is starting to realize that he doesn’t like the way he looks, the body he’s in, but simultaneously feels the need to almost give in to femininity in order to be liked. makeup is revolting; the texture feels awful. nevertheless, he tries to be someone he is not, tries to be beautiful in whatever way donny likes. sure, it works, but at the cost of losing a part of self which feels genuine. they get closer, into an awkward phase.
that is until he opens up about how he doesn’t feel like a girl, feels like someone else. sure, i feel like someone else too sometimes, donny remarks. these feelings are not the same. still overlapping social circles, but less femininity. descent back into baggy shirts that overlap & clothes far too big. more masculine -> feminine -> masculine once more. 16-17 is a strange middle state. he does not like who he is, & this is obvious to other onlookers. very easily bullied in the way where if you don’t have a strong grasp of social cues it seems like sincerity. he does not realize people dislike him or are making fun of him. cuts his hair around this time; it was quite long for a long time. around shoulder length.
senior year is where it all unravels. awkward & stagnant, their conversations turn more into sexuality & gender. being gay is odd, sure, but something donny’s family could accept. it is near prom that gabriel (with the help of his father) takes the risk & cuts his hair to the length its seen here (second drawing) & wears a suit, which causes physical abuse from his mother & peers. the broken glasses time. cannot afford to fix them adequately. donny & gabriel are no longer friends, because donny’s family wouldn’t let him be around someone who is transgender in any capacity. graduated, dealt with suffering, left. he becomes more himself & a bit less crushed under the weight of his family once he moves away from his remote hometown. he struggles, but he is happier.
at some point baphomet appears & we get the respective act one, two, three, & four. loosely. it is safe to assume some of his financial stability is in part from a demon that does not understand how money works that just gives hundreds to him like its candy because he sees it around. this among many variables is why it does not work. act two is the culmination of trying to let someone down easy who has immense power they themselves do not understand. i mean, having someone literally give you a beating heart… its absurd. & it does not help their family (air quotes) hates you for the crime of wanting boundaries & not wanting someone to be obsessed with you. warped perspectives & the fact that demons are real to any extent & so violent causes quite a mental breakdown. copes in the only ways that he knows how.
around end of act two — act three he puts himself out into the world more to both positive & negative effect. writes a book wrt demonology & his experiences with the occult including baphomet. causes constance to become yet another case of an obsessive individual, hoping gabriel might know which demons or sins caused the disappearance of her sister. reconnects with donny. they sleep together at some point when they are intoxicated & it does not go over well. the complexities of learning you have free will & making shitty decisions because everyone does that. mariam & gabriel meet one another around act three & she is a good grounding force for him. they are opposite sides of a similar coin. they are good friends & often celebrate the holidays together since both of their families are not exactly accepting. beetle (beelzebub) is also friendly to gabriel. a bit annoying & eccentric, but you always have someone like that. flor & adrina are also friendly with him & a bit more comprehensive of the whole baphomet is a demon thing since it’s more up their alley of what they believe in.
what i am saying is he has friends & community which he did not have before. act four is a kinder time, a better closure. this does not mean it is easy; however, he has people he can rely on. happiness is subjective, but he’s doing alright. that’s what he would say anyway.
this is not an end all be all list : this is what i have been able to write throughout the span of getting this ask to now. i hope this is not too overwhelming
amandla
turnnoffyourmind
kianamaiart
theartofmadeline
gracieabrams
vaporwave
2087
