#stephen bampton

Harold

fic picrew

Harold has not thought of changing his clothing since coming out of that exam, he is only clenching his teeth so hard it might explode which is why he is wearing a plain jumper over a shirt. the circular glasses are the most south asian thing ever (for me at least) , so thats a reference to that. he is very much trying very hard not to express his emotions, because he knows in the grand scheme of things it is only a "small issue" it doesnt really matter , the past is in the past and he should be done with it. but really he cannot stop thinking about it (shown through how there are stars in the background like explosions you can say but are faint). the white i think was also a reference to the "hot white breathe" of panic. green in regards to this references bile. he is somewhat disgusted with himself i think, and also haven't not eaten his stomach is not feeling great. the scars i think were references to his "night climbing" pasttime , but also in my notes i mention a doorway - who knows what that was about but.

feeling picrew

HE IS EXHAUSTED that is the crux. he is mentally lying on his bed , drifting and then crying into his pillow and curling into his blanket. i always imagine harold with frog-esque things becuase he is very cottage core to me (and also like part of the me thinks he really loves the creatures living in the bottom of the garden), (also gardening is a theme within the family ala my bad gardener george headcanon ,as those on the discord know) . but on another level it is also Harold trying to cling onto comfort, which he cannot get in the actual fic , because he is denying himself it. the scars on his face match up with the actual fic version , his hair is messier from mushing his face into a pillow and he is wearing a cardigan because i think of him as a knitter or that sort of craft aligned and when he is stressed he creates clothing (but thats technically not in this). there was additional purpose behind the sepia filter as well, that i cannot remember at the moment. but right now it reminds me of how harold feels somewhat like a faded photograph destined to a dusty cupboard past his prime (as i say in the additional tags it is much like the outro of olivia rodrigo's teenage dream - "they all say that it gets better/ it gets better the more you grow/ they all say it gets better/ it gets better but what if i dont?")

Bertie

fic picrew

Bertie here is trying to give a comforting smile at Harold, however his smile is wobbly, becuase he has also have other things on his mind (reeling from a letter from stephen, terrifed of hurting harold and on another level making him more upset (its bc of stephen) but also just being "urgently concerned" , bertie is full of multitudes). this is also referenced by the background in which according to my old notes before finishing this fic is a reference to now Bertie is also exploding with emotion , except with worry instead of panic.

with new eyes however , i think it also reflects how Bertie is also hiding his emotions as well (colour choice to me blends into the background more) because he is so focused on the task at hand, it is natural to him that his other emotions are set to the side in the background so to speak.

onto more miscellaneous details

-he has a scrape across the mouth from a childhood accident and has a cut across his cheek from his shared night climbing pastime. ---he also has sticky outy ears because i say so -he has the twinkle in his eyes because it is goddam Bertie Wells and he is full of charm and charisma, it is the same twinkle somewhat of the one that Felix, his uncle is reported to have. (he has been trying for years to have it , he has not noticed he kind of already does. nobody has told him)

another note: the green is bertie colour (because his "green trousers" and the blue harold but they have each others because they care for oneanother alot and are focusing on the others concern . harold feels like a very blue person to me (also besties)

feeling picrew

literally not much here other than a more visual manifestation of what he is actually feeling. background is darker bc he has also the holdover from being whipped up wiht emotion since reading the letter form stephen. brighter stars is a "fizzing like a rocket" reference

the moustache change is an oversight, but now i like to think that its a manifestation of how much he feels like hes aged since the events of arsenic for tea and his relationship with stephen (this is like literally pulling stuff out of nothing but like still). the heart breaking , kinda goes two ways: breaking for harold as shown in the fic and also somewhat breaking from stephens letter (also referenced through the picrew through the shooting stars on his shirt like their relationship which was actively not really healthy, and very quickly crashing and burnt through)

although that isnt explicitly shown throughout the fic i did want Bertie's inner turmoil to be an undercurrent throughout.

the pjama shirt according to my old notes has soemthing to do with how raw Bertie is feeling throughout the fic besides him just being worn

Stephen

Stephen is interesting, as although he's very much explicitly not in the fic he is very much guides Bertie's actions throughout. i honestly dont know why i decided to create him as a picrew as he isnt in the fic but i guess i wanted 4 picrews.

background is a grid bc mans in JAIL LIKE HE DESERVES.

hair is two coloured because i always thought stephen with black hair but the in the books hes got brown? so now hes got two coloured hair bc i wanted to pay homage to that.

stephen was always the type of person to be somewhat perpetually upset with Bertie or actually something or rather , and in Bertie's mind that is the image that is left of him, which is why he looks like hes sulking.

he's sweating because he actually does feel quite guilty and Bertie cannot find in himself a way to fully hold a grudge against him at least thats what it says in my old notes

now, i actually have no idea why he would be sweating maybe prison is hot

clothing - couldnt find prision clothes and wanted some sort of variation so orange on orange is what you get

Alfred

i have no notes post this point so we are in the vast deadlands now.

jacket literally just feels like a jacket alfred would wear in a modern au, same with the shirt also the eyebrow he would have a slit eyebrow

the heart i think is something to do with the fact that alfred actually really cares for harold (whether harold knows it or not)

only thing i truely remember is for the spotlight background its yellow because he's the one who goes "why the hell are you in the dark" and makes them turn on the light

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