Hoi! I just found your papers please work and I love it! I was wondering if you have any M. Vonel head cannons? Anyway, ❤️.
Heya! Sorry for the late response but I'm glad you like my work! It's been a while since I've been active in the papers please random so I haven't got a long list of M. Vonel headcanons in my head right now, but I do have one or two of them.
He's very serious and kind of cold to you in game and I do imagine that as his default setting, but I like the idea that he can definitely feign kindness and cheerfulness in some situations.
He just picks his attitude based on what he thinks would give him the most advantage with this person. With the inspector that happened to be a more serious attitude.
I also like the idea that the inspector and Vonel have run into each other outside of work. It took the inspector a moment to recognize the man without the uniform, but Vonel instantly recognized him.
If the inspectors son or niece were there I think Vonel would have talked to them with the feign kindness, kids are easier to get sensitive information out of after all. Not like he'd start an interrogation right there but you know, little things like "Ah I see you're in scout uniform, feels nice to serve your country, yes?" Just to see what the response is. If the child hesitates or just says something like "I guess" Vonel will take that as a possible sign that the inspectors family is not as patriotic as it should be.
Vonel also interviewed Dimitri when he was investigating the checkpoint. Dimitri didn't like to have someone poking around his checkpoint, to him that implied that the ministry of information thinks he's doing a shotty job. And Dimitri has enough authority to be rude and backhanded without being put behind bars so him and M. Vonel don't exactly get along lol.
Don't make fun of him for his height, he's not going to get angry at you or yell at you but he will furrow his eyebrows and look at you. If looks could kill you'd be dead.
Hi anon thanks for the cool ass question. (Sometimes I feel bad like I've abandoned the papers, please fandom when in reality I'm just focusing on other things)
Anyways here's some papers, please headcanons for you guys.
The inspector and his sister used to be some sort of rebellion fighters or saboteurs. Possibly during the war with Kolechia. That would explain why EZIC is so trusting of the inspector even if you completely ignore all their tasks. And that's also why your sister gets arrested during the game. Her husband and the inspectors nieces father was probably also part of it and either he was arrested earlier or he's dead.
The inspectors niece is also a bit older than his son, she's much more aware of how corrupt Arstotzka is and doesn't fall for the propaganda.
The inspectors son on the other hand is younger and has fallen for the propaganda Jojo Rabbit style. He's a sweet kid he just believes what the TV and teachers and politicians say. The rest of the inspectors family knows better but they don't correct him, you can't really trust a child that young to keep it to himself and they don't want to risk M.O.I knocking on their door over something a 6 year old said in school. It's safer to let him believe it and hope he isn't too radicalized by the time he's older.
The inspectors son is also a scout of some kind. Like the Soviet Unions young pioneers but the Arstotzka version.
I like to think the EZIC messenger is not the same guy every time. (There's actually some proof on this since the weight is different every time)
Sergiu lives with his mother, he's young and he's just been fighting in a six year war, he hasn't had the time to get his own place.
Sergiu's mother is around the same age as the inspector and went to school with him back in Nirsk. They weren't friends and barely talked but she would recognize him by name alone, the inspector on the other hand would barely remember who she was.
The one lady that recognizes the inspector says "you were such a little brat" so I like to imagine that the inspector was this shrimpy little kid who had a short fuse, was a bit of a know it all, and picked fights with kids over half his size.
Also the same lady says she worked with the inspectors father, for some reason I like to think that his father was a mortician.
His father was also abusive and distant, the inspector barely talks about him. Other than maybe occasionally doing the old man thing where he tells a "funny story" involving him that isn't funny at all.
Sergiu and Elisa met when Sergiu was deployed in some small village while Arstotzka was occupying parts of Kolechia. There wasn't much fighting to be done during that time and in that area, and Sergiu always tried to remain kind and respectful to the people living there, so he and Elisa had the time to form a sweet romance.
By the end of the war when Sergiu was no longer deployed in her village Elisa's family was killed, possibly in a bombing, and she was left with no one else.
Sergiu's mother was a bit reluctant about Elisa being a Kolechian and coming to live with them, but she trusts her sons judgement and was aware of the relationship since the beginning (he probably wrote to her about it during the war). She eventually started liking her a lot.
Elisa and Sergiu had a child pretty soon after Elisa moved in with him. Elisa insisted on the inspector becoming their first borns godfather, which he agreed to.
The inspector has a resting bitch face that makes him look threathening to most people. The entrants as well as the guards are usually are pretty surprised to find out how lenient and kind he can be if you have enough of a sob story.
The inspector is skinny and doesn't have much muscle (he works behind a desk all day and one of the entrants says "you're nothing but skin and bone" before giving him an ad for a gym) so he isn't really physically threathening but he is one of those threatheningly tall people.
Some of the entrants who insult you and who you have to detain have tried to get physical with him, but the glass divider thankfully makes it hard. The most anyone's gotten is grabbing his hand through the slot the papers go in and out of and pulling him against the glass but Calensk got to the guy before any real damage was done.
The inspector also has a ridiculously good aim. He has to open the booth door in order to shoot which also puts him in the direct line of fire, but he almost never misses. He may seem panicked when he tells the entrant to leave the booth but when he gets the tranquilizer gun or the sniper rifle in his hands he's scarily cool headed.
Dimitri comes to the checkpoint every time a terrorist attack happens, mostly to assess the damage and get a run down on what happened. He's never happy to learn that the inspector was usually the one who took down the terrorist and not the actual guards. "You are armed and trained men!! He's just an inspector! He does paper work all day goddammit! What am I paying you 2 credits an hour for??" Meanwhile the inspector is there like 🧍♂️ "I'm right here you know?"
Dimitri doesn't like M. Vonel poking around in the checkpoint, but he doesn't complain. M. Vonel probably has much more power than Dimitri does.
The inspector actually jumped the first time M. Vonel was in his booth. Just opened the blinds to start the day and that fucker was just standing there, menacingly. M. Vonel didn't mention it, but took note of the jumpiness.
Also M. Vonel doesn't really ever get mad if people mention his height to him. He's just disappointed they didn't come up with anything more creative than that. Not to say it happens often, his position is too indimitating for most people to try to insult him.
That being said the first time the inspector stood up in front of him his first thought was "oh god he's tall"
When dinner is served in the inspectors household the inspector is always "not hungry" and lets his son and later on his niece eat his food as well if they want. Once they've finished, if there is anything left over, he goes "maybe I could eat something". He wants his son and niece to eat their fill and he wants it to be guilt free so instead of just giving his food to them he pretends to not be hungry. His niece caught on after the second time of him doing that but she hasn't told him.
After you let Elisa through to Arstotzka and you save Sergius life once again they come to drop off some money for you (canon, mentioned in the game). I like to think the inspectors wife insisted they come inside for tea or coffee as well.
None of them said outloud that the inspector let Elisa cross the border illegally, it's not exactly a safe thing to say outloud, but everyone expect the inspectors son kinda figured. It was an unspoken understanding between everyone.
The inspectors wife was really proud of him for reuniting the young couple. She didn't acknowledge the illegal part outloud either but as soon as she put two and two together (which didn't take long, it was probably while Sergiu and Elisa were still at the door) she turned to her husband and went "oh [affectionate diminutive of his name], you're such a sentimentalist" and kissed him on the cheeck.
The inspector isn't too big on PDA especially in front of a co-worker so he was a bit embarrassed. Meanwhile Sergiu and Elisa were both thinking "aww, can't wait until we're also like an old married couple"
The inspectors son thought that Sergiu was really cool and asked him what working as a guard is like. Sergiu answered with the slightly more child friendly version of the job.
Sergiu and the inspector sometimes walk home together as they leave work. They may or may not talk much but the silence is never awkward. Sometimes they just complain about their jobs.
The inspector usually stops by the store to do grogery shopping (if his paycheck allows him). On the day before his sons birthday Sergiu tagged along as he went to the store and watched the inspector stare at the price tag of the crayons intensly. When Sergiu asked him about it he explained that his son wants them for his birthday and proceeded to complain about how expensive they were. Sergiu slowly took out his wallet and was about to offer to pay for it but the inspector firmly told him "don't you dare" and paid for them himself.
The inspectors and his wife had some fertility issues for most of their marriage, as to why they're in their early 40s with only one child who is 6 years old at the time.
Jorji has tried to talk to Calensk while waiting in the line, but Calensk as remained a stone wall and has never really answered to him, other than maybe telling him to shut it.
After the inspector lets Jorji through he has sometimes stopped to try to talk to the guards on the other side of the checkpoint. Sergiu is the only one who has acknowledged him. Jorji told him that the inspector is a good guy and very chill even though he looks like a grouch. The inspector then opened his booth door to tell him to stop bothering the guards.
Papers, please headcanons/fan theories concerning the inspectors past
Since I now properly have papers, please brainrot (I will be posting more fanart as well) I thought I could share some of my headcanons about the inspectors past. It is implied that he wasn't exactly a model citizen since the ministry of information and ministry of income has been digging 20 years into his past. I like to keep headcanons close to the source material so some of these could also qualify as fan theories.
Also spoiler warning, I will be talking about the endings and such.
Back in Nirsk (possibly during the war) the inspector was part of some independent small rebel group.
You can make up your own mind of what the group did exactly, they could have been saboteurs blowing up railroads, or maybe they freed prisoners of war? Who knows.
His sister and his brother-in-law were also members of the group. While the inspector mostly handled paper work stuff like background research and perhaps some forgery his sister and brother-in-law did some of the more dangerous physical work.
His brother-in-law died at some point, his sister getting arrested during the game's story was due to M.O.I finding about her past.
This is why M.O.I is suspicious of the inspectors past as well but having a knack for paper work he was good at covering his tracks.
During the game you either somewhat help EZIC and get sentenced to death for it, fully help EZIC and help them blow up the wall and overthrow the government, flee to Obristan, or fully ignore EZIC and prove your loyalty to Arstotzka by simply doing your job.
In the latter case (ending 20 that is) M.O.I knows you had some rebellion in your past, but figures that since you've been nothing but loyal and haven't assisted EZIC in any way they're willing to ignore it.
They would definitely still keep tabs on the inspector.
Also explains why the inspector is so afraid of M.O.I and filling to flee the country even if it's by himself.
The rebel group wasn't associated with EZIC, but when EZIC was developing their plan to blow up the wall they did some research about who the border inspector was, knowing they'd need him to co-operate either willingly or because of blackmail.
They found out about his association with this smaller independent rebel group, and this is why they're so trusting of the inspector and willing to hand him the names of their agents on a silver platter.
I like to think the inspectors wife is aware of his past, but not about the specifics.
His uncle is also aware of it, more so than the wife, since both his niece and nephew were part of the group.
The mother-in-law hasn't been told about it, but she knows, she had her suspicions. The inspector knows she knows, she knows that he knows that she knows, they don't acknowledge it out loud.
His son is blissfully unaware and as far has he's concerned Arstotzka is a great nation and his father is a loyal Arstotzkan hero who has never done anything against the government. He's a nice kid but believes what he's told at school and his family keeps it that way because it'd be dangerous to tell him otherwise. Can't trust kids to keep secrets as big as that. (If you've seen the movie Jojo Rabbit that's essentially how I imagine him)
The niece is a bit older than the son (around 12-14) and she's an independent thinker and bit of a rebel like her parents, so she's pretty much aware of her uncle's involvement and what her parents were doing. She's smart enough to keep it to herself but will acknowledge her uncle's involvement directly to him as well.
