This is the result of hours on VC, an AU created based on a single silly expression and the slow spiral of insanity that eventually becomes...
Gideon Nisi Schlemiel, or the "Anti-Mordecai". (All art by @thisisanerror )
A bookish and reserved man, Gideon doesn't dislike talking to people, but he certainly struggles with it. He's anxious, easily flustered and prone to nervous sweats. But he's a very kind man with an affinity for math and botanicals.
Gideon has a few... Struggles in everyday life, ones his mother tries to assist with, but generally pushes too hard on. He has a high reliance on routine and order. He suffers from texture and taste sensitivities (he hates crunchy things, sour things and spicy things) and prefers baggy clothes due to intense tactile sensitivities, also avoiding uncomfortably tight or clingy fabrics altogether.
Despite Gideon's difficulties, he has a strong advocate in his sister, Esther. A no-nonsense and feisty personality, Esther will mercilessly tease her brother - it is her right, as his little sister, she says - but should anyone else mess with Gideon, heads will roll in short order. Even mother is not safe from her wrath when it comes to protecting Gideon's gentle nature.
With Gideon's differences compared to his canon counterpart, his family life is also quite different. His mother finds Gideon to be too soft; she and Isaac often argue regarding nature versus nurture in regard to his eccentricities, as well as Esther's near indomitable spirit. These arguments never resolve and soon after Mordecai turns eleven, they part ways, with Esther and Gideon ending up with their father in St Louis.
Isaac ends up as bookkeeper for the Little Daisy, getting his children jobs in the cafe when they're old enough. Once the Lackadaisy Speakeasy opens however, Esther is soon drawn into the underground world of bootlegging, torture, murder and everything in between. (Mostly torture - she had a lot of repressed anger about the divorce.)
Gideon is far more content to continue working the books or the cafe with his father until Isaac's health declines too far and he is forced to retire. It's then Gideon learns the true nature of the Little Daisy Cafe - as well as the existence of Lackadaisy in the caves below - and he...
Well, he freaks out a little.
Good thing Esther is there to slap some sense into him.
