professor!bond is one of my favorite au verses you have. can you talk about how his parents surviving changed him emotionally/mentally and how he lived the rest of his life?
he’s a vaguely functional human being jk but also not really jk
He really is a much healthier person mentally though. He gets to grow up happy, and while he still gets sent to boarding school he has a home to go back to during the holidays. He doesn’t love boarding school, but he toughs it out because he’s got parents to tell him that he’ll be okay. Monique always pampers him because she misses having him around, especially with Andrew still going on business trips. He grows up feeling grounded and with a sense of belonging that he never gets to have in other verses.
He still struggles with things, especially his mental health after his time in the Navy (PTSD, though nowhere near as bad as in any MI6 verses), but he fundamentally handles it better. Drink sometimes is a coping mechanism, but he’s more likely to stop before he’s truly over the edge. Although he doesn’t admit the full extent of his problems to his parents, they just know that he needs a bit of love and support. Andrew does this in a slightly more distant way, usually just taking James out for lunch if he’s in London. Monique though. Monique is the image of a doting mother and phones James a few times a week, makes sure he always makes the time to spend holidays with them. She knows that he’s sometimes far from sober during those phone calls, and that breaks her heart a little, but she also knows that he usually puts his glass down and abandons it once they’re on the phone.
He’s more obviously close with Monique than Andrew, but that’s largely just because of their respective personalities. Monique is more outwardly affectionate and doting to him. Massive hugs, a kiss on the cheek, his favourite meal on the table when he visits his parents. Andrew is more reserved, more similar to James really. Their love for each other is quieter, less obvious, but it’s still very much there. They’ll share a quiet drink after dinner, smoke a cigarette or two if they’re in London and Monique isn’t there to chastise them. Talk about inconsequential things, but always with the understanding that if James is truly struggling he can talk about it with Andrew.
He’s still standoffish, still fundamentally not someone who lights up the room when he enters, but he’s generally a lot happier. It’s not such a battle to make him laugh or smile. He’s more willing to trust people. More open to meeting new people and letting them in. He struggles a bit to get close with people - his trauma from the Navy does affect him - but he also has a group of genuine friends.
He’s still a playboy, but it’s not about a desperate need for validation and love. It’s not as much of a substitute for genuine intimacy. It’s simply that he likes sex and he likes younger women but most of them aren’t worthy of dating. He’s careful about who he brings back with him to Skyfall. Monique’s approval, in particular, means the world to him.
He becomes a professor of military history because it genuinely interests him. It’s something he was good at in school, something that his parents encouraged him to study further. There’s a satisfaction to seeing the students come to love the subject as much as he does. He enjoys teaching his students, even if they sometimes drive him insane. Andrew always teases that he’s just finally experiencing what they put up with when he was an angsty teen. He’s doing something he’s passionate about, not something to simply pass the time.
