«Gustave is a borrower. While searching for a new home with his kind, he is saved by a human, their greatest danger.
It is there, within the walls of this immense manor they decided to move in, that an unlikely bond of trust is about to bloom.»
A Borrowers/Expedition 33 AU comic
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Chapter 1: From the Maw / Chapter 1.5: Angel's Fingers / Chapter 2: Against all Odds / Chapter 3: Gustave's Journal / Chapter 4: The Dessendre Family / Chapter 5: He plays Music / Chapter 6: Little Mice / Chapter 7: The Wedding Ring / Chapter 8: Close Call / Chapter 9: Verso / Chapter 10: We can't be seen / Chapter 11: Returned / Chapter 12: Reunion / Chapter 13: In the Cellar / Chapter 14: To the Rescue
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> Links to art of this AU : The Leaf / He's playing / Blueberries / Safe with him / Esquie plush / Fascination
There is a difference between knowing something and remembering something. He knew that Verso and Gustave were close, but couldn't remember the context of their relationship.
Something was missing...
Keeping my rambles here since the post is already long lol
It's easier to notice what memories are yours and what memories you were given when so much is missing. Verso knows Gustave was so important to the family, and yet he barely remembers any time spent with him....
Why did it become to clear when he saw the man in Lumiere?
Verso has always had a hard time before trying to parse what memories he had were lived and not given to him by Aline, but now with Gustave in the mix, it's easier to tell. Aline never saw too much of Gustave and Verso together. They were... friends? Maybe something more, but Aline never saw anything more than longing glances and lingering touches.
The fact that there was a man in Lumiere bearing the face of someone from Verso's past meant danger. He's not sure if he was made by chance or intent, but it would be hard to deny that when painted Verso looked at the man who looks and sounds like Gustave, the holes in his memory burned.
Gustave is in a similar situation. Much of the memories given to him by Clea to complete his mission were to help him with keeping his character as true as possible to manipulate the painted family. But over the years after he was first painted (made to be younger when he was sent to Lumiere as to not rouse suspicion that this man didn't age lmao) the gaps in his memories became obvious. He only ever remembered what Clea had seen and experienced herself, though he had knowledge of more.
He knows what Verso and Gustave's relationship was, because Clea had seen more of them than Aline. Thankfully it was only a kiss, but being sworn to secrecy by the boys, Aline never knew.
aaaaaaanyways thanks for reading all that prose i've been thinking about this au a lot and have settled on the themes of knowledge and memory being the core tenets of this AUs Verstave dynamic. our painted boys have missing memories the other might have, but whether their original version's relationship means anything to them is up for debate.
Can't stress enough how much the painted boys are not getting into a relationship because of who they were based on were also in a relationship. they've got their own fucked up situationship heheh
also my wife told me its very important to mention that clea caught verso and gustave making out ontop of the piano in verso's room lol
Okaaaaayyy my everything hurts after working until around 2am to finish colouring but lets talk about these bozos
immediately after the last page the two are interrogating getting to know each other while verso is taking them to the manor (i'm wanting to make a small comic about them at the manor and the curator's reaction) but neither of them trusts the other.
verso is still trying to understand how gustave even exists and who made him and most importantly, to what end? did aline paint him because she already revived her dead son, why not her favourite dead apprentice right? did renoir paint him to be spiteful and petty while trapped under the monolith? neither of those make sense to be true, so what is he? does gustave know what he is, what the original knew about his original?
meanwhile, gustave had been working under the suspicion that verso is lying about not working with renoir anymore, especially so since he was basically kidnapping maelle (he thinks verso was going to "forcefully expel" her from the canvas). considering one of the core tenets he was literally made with was "protect alicia" this man was ready to throw down even though he would lose. i don't think that clea entirely believes that painted verso stepped away from painted renoirs mission cuz of her general disdain of the painted people of the canvas and I wouldn't be surprised if that sentiment bled into gustave when she made him, so he also has that going against him.
these two idiots are about to try and do 5d chess because they don't trust the other's true intentions, not realizing they are in fact wanting the same end goal lmao
ok I know everyone’s considered Ryland grace wearing an “I put the ace in space” t shirt but. have we considered the infinitely funnier option of putting this shirt on eva stratt
