sanctuary

His family lives closed away in a manor or up on the Reacher, but he lives in a hut with the magical creatures. Humans children Expeditioners come to his Never Never Land and steal his breath and then melt away like snowflakes, but he stays the same. He's Peter Pan but not. Grown yet never aging.

Or he's Christopher Robin--forever wandering the Seven Acre Woods, talking to the same animal friends for a century and nothing changes but everything gets worse.

What do you do when the world was made for someone almost exactly like you, but not you? The world wraps its arms around you, accepting you anyway, but you're not a child. You're a grownup and this world is too small somehow but also too painful. It's dying when you are not. But you can't think about that because you're worried about adult things like family and duty and sacrifice and secrets.

I find it beautiful that Verso was created to fill an emotional gulf for Aline, but he was such a true mirror to "Verso" that he ends up filling that emotional gulf for the painting.

Wip of a post Verso ending scene.

I went with his ending as it seemed like a logical one at the time but the more i think about it the more I realize i relate to Maellicia more in this story...

To think she got another chance at life where she got to find her people and make her own choices in life, only for it to be ripped away from her too fast, and now she has two lives and two brothers to grief.

Gustave & Verso ( parallels ) | In the shadow of the monolith

It's about escapism. It's about surviving despite it all. It's about the wonder of the world even in darkness. It's about mimes beating the shit out of you.