#AND YET HIS MOTIVATIONS REVEAL A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SELF

[shoechoe]

Diavolo: Personality, Themes, Motivations and Beliefs

(This is the first of a series of posts about Diavolo’s character, though they can be read in any order. The links to the rest are here.)

In this post, I will try to define Diavolo’s themes and character traits. This will be a mix of attempting to pinpoint authorial intent and personal interpretation.

Word Count: ~3600

Identity and Connection

Diavolo has a few major themes present in his character, but I have always believed that his most compelling one is the idea of identity and connection to other people.

How characters relate to each other is a major theme in Jojo as a whole. Vento Aureo in particular explores the concept of trust and connection being risky, but a worthy gamble; there's always a risk in putting your trust into someone, but as much as it can be someone's downfall, it's a fundamental part of life and can be your greatest strength. This is expressed in all of the cast, but especially in Giorno, the protagonist, whose ability to make friends and inspire others is constantly noted as his main strength.

Diavolo is arguably the series' most ideological "opposite" to this theme that it has ever written. Going beyond other villain characters who simply don't form desire for socialization like Tooru or hide their true selves from others like Kira, Diavolo sees any connection to others at all as a danger. As a result, he scrubs his identity and presence from the world completely and never lets a single person see his face or interact with him in any way.

Theoretically, I could criticize Diavolo's writing right here. Having nobody in his mafia know anything about his identity despite him being their Boss, a highly communication-necessary position, is absurd and realistically impossible. But for all my complaints of how shakily written Passione is, it's such a Jojo-level impossibility that I can suspend my disbelief. Instead, I find Diavolo’s self-erasure a fascinating character trait.

It’s important to note that we have no evidence Diavolo sought to erase himself because it was his only option. Bruno once insists that he did this because there are specific enemies he knows are already after him or something else specific to hide, but they find no evidence that this is the case. As of what we know, Diavolo is simply incapable of trust; even the slightest connection to anybody at all is a perceived threat to him, including any knowledge about him being in the open.

While there are also your regular themes of good vs. evil, this is what I'd argue is the boldest contrast Diavolo has to almost everyone else in the cast. While the others choose to trust, build connections, and find strength in allies, risking betrayal, Diavolo chooses to cut off anyone from reaching him before they have any potential to harm him.

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Compassion

At first glance, Diavolo’s lack of sympathy towards others isn’t unique among Jojo villains. However, there are some differences between Diavolo’s value of people and, for example, DIO’s. While DIO is similarly self-centered, he understands other people very well, which he uses to charm and manipulate. In contrast, Diavolo also attempts to manipulate and convince his enemies into submission at several points, but they always fall flat.

Take, for example, when he attempts to demotivate Bruno during his reveal arc by convincing him that he’s too injured to continue fighting- to no avail.

Or at the end of the Risotto fight, where he asks Risotto to return his iron to him with promises of "dignity", which also doesn’t work.

Or the moment from the very final fight where he begs Bruno to let him have the Stand arrow, seemingly confused that he doesn’t see how he’s the only one “worthy” to be ruler.

I like to envision these moments as tied to his isolation and rejection of friendship. Diavolo, someone who has likely not communicated with others beyond threats and orders for years, both sees himself as an intrinsic ruler chosen by fate yet is utterly unable to understand other people.

In Diavolo’s first scene, he does not understand why Bruno cares about Trish enough to betray him after protecting her. Instead, his first assumption is that Bruno betrayed him simply due to craving power, a motivation more similar to his own.

Here, he displays an inability to sympathize with other people and their motives, particularly when they involve acting out of caring for other people. When he does attempt to understand the motives of others, he seems to draw on his own traits and beliefs. This can explain his bafflement as to how Bruno doesn’t see him as a worthy owner of the arrow; to him, he’s so obviously fit to rule that he can’t understand how other people don’t see the same way.

Diavolo also only expresses a semblance of “respect” for people who have power. He commends his enemies when they have impressive abilities and pose a challenge to him.

It is questionable if this trait is genuine or if it is simply an attempt at manipulation like his other attempts to convince his enemies to do what he wants, but it is a line he uses repeatedly. And fitting with his self-centered worldview, his first line of praise for others is their power because power is what he values most.

Diavolo values other people through traits he values in himself, the only point of view he understands is his own, and the selfless natures of the main cast are completely beyond his grasp. I do not think any of this is particularly a stand-out trait among Jojo villains, but in some sense, it is subtly unique.

Unlike the selfishness you see in DIO, Kira, or Kars, Diavolo’s selfishness results in scenes like the bizarre grovelling about how only he “deserves” the arrow and utter confusion that nobody else can see his deservedness. This results in the common perception of Diavolo as particularly “pathetic” compared to other villains, and it’s not hard to see why. I don’t think there are any other villains who are completely consumed by and, in some way, hindered by their own selfishness as much as Diavolo is.

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Tangent About Dio and Diavolo

As a side note, beyond the obvious parallel drawn between their “God” and “Devil” naming schemes, I believe that a lot about Diavolo’s character is also meant to contrast Dio:

Dio creates a cult-like following around his charm and ability, while Diavolo relies on intimidation and impersonal detachment. Dio also has a noted startling amount of charm and worshipers while Diavolo is near-universally despised and all of his attempts to convince characters with words are ineffective. Dio is extroverted and charming while Diavolo hides and threatens.

Some of Vento Aureo’s story progression can be seen as an inverse to Stardust Crusaders: The Crusaders were attempting to track down DIO’s stand from their knowledge of his identity. Meanwhile, the first thing Bucciarati’s group learns about Diavolo is his Stand, where they then attempt to track down his identity.

Dio enjoys mind games and inspecting his enemies while Diavolo is brutally fast and efficient.

Also note the (often pointed-out) stair scenes with Polnareff:

This is sort of a background detail, but it is ultimately not explored enough to be a defining feature of Diavolo’s character. (You will notice this a lot with Diavolo; details will be suggested to you, but nothing is done with them in a way that’s conclusive or even very prominent, leading you to question if it was even intentional.)

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“Results”

The most important and unique facet of Diavolo's ideology is his expressed belief that "effects" mean nothing in the face of their results. Essentially, he believes that the process of something doesn't matter as long as you get the "result" that you desire.

Beyond his monologues directly stating it, this is most obviously reflected in his Stand, King Crimson (literally having the ability to erase “effects” and leave only “results”) but it's also seen in other aspects of how he thinks and behaves.

He is brutally quick and efficient, wasting no time to cut straight to what he wants, like his murders being swift and sudden. As a result, despite having some of the lowest screentime, he has the highest major character kill count out of any main villain in the series.

He takes disgust in mindless hedonism with no material “result” to justify it, like when he finds Cioccolata and Secco’s simple sadistic enjoyment in torture to be incomprehensible- but he is still willing to utilize them when he needs to kill his traitors. (It is also notable that he takes such disgust in them despite doing things that are about on their level, just if they serve him a purpose- like his severe iron loss leading him to eat a live frog and drain a child of his blood while tying his mouth shut so he can’t scream.)

I also think this can be interpreted into his other behaviors. There is no point in the long-term work of gaining trust and having relationships when you can get the same “result” of raw power by cheating and intimidating your way to the top. There is no point in working to hide and keep your daughter safe when a more self-beneficial “result” is to simply kill her quickly and quietly.

This belief is directly challenged by the story, with his final punishment being related to it. When Abbacchio has his conversation with his murdered comrade, he’s told by him that when you only search for “results”, you will lose sight of the “truth”.

Then, Gold Experience Requiem- built as a direct counter to King Crimson and the only ability that can surpass it in the part- has the ability to remove the “results” to actions, leaving only the “effect”. As a direct callback to Abbacchio’s conversation, it echoes the sentiment “You will never reach the truth”.

Out of all the themes in Diavolo’s character, “effects” vs. “results” is the one that is probably the most cohesive (and probably the most intentional). I don’t dwell on this very much because I feel like it is very obvious and the fanbase is well aware of it, but it is a major overarching theme of the story.

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False God

I think the most interesting way to view Diavolo’s character is that in his attempts to secure his power, he is fighting against the nature of being human itself.

For much of the story, Diavolo is seen by everyone as nothing but a faceless authority only known as “The Boss”, his looming presence and power being the overarching threat of his character. “The Boss” is his ideal state, and it is the one he is in at the beginning of the story; in a sense, he is the “status quo” that Giorno wants to change. This could be read as an imitation of a godlike status- impersonal and meant to be obeyed without question, his power being silent but constantly present throughout the country.

Jojo often expresses the idea that human identities are shaped by connections and relationships, most obvious in parts like Jojolion. Jojo’s other villains also commonly have themes of shedding humanity to attain a higher status, like Dio’s ascension to vampire-hood literally phrased as a “rejection of his humanity”. Though Diavolo is never shown to be literally inhuman, I like to read his goal of cutting himself off from all other humans as both a ruthless securing of his power and a similar kind of attempted humanity-severance.

Diavolo himself has very self-aggrandizing dialogue, describing in his monologues that his life will “never ebb” and that he is destined to rule. This may seem weird for a character not shown to be literally inhuman, but under the lens of Diavolo attempting to surpass humanity, this dialogue makes sense. He both sees himself and wants to be seen as godlike.

This works in tandem with the connections Diavolo has to an Antichrist-like narrative, which I’ll get into.

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Fate

This interpretation of a desire to shed humanity can also be tied over into his desire to control his own fate and belief that he was chosen to be above others.

Beyond its ability to blindside its enemies, the core reason why King Crimson is so powerful is that it grants Diavolo the ability to surpass his own fate. Naturally, this is something that Diavolo prides himself in, expressing a belief that he was “chosen” to rule.

There is some contradiction with reality here, though; he believes he was chosen by fate, but his ability is to cheat fate. He declares himself destined to rule, but he is constantly fighting to defy and alter his destiny.

Diavolo’s active disdain for the idea of being led by fate also coincides with his major desire for control. The strongest changes in Diavolo’s temperament occur when control slips from his grasp; when we first see him, expressing his dominance and power over Bruno during his very first encounter with King Crimson, he’s icily calm and composed.

Throughout the story, this is his default state- unless an enemy manages to gain some kind of upper-hand on him, where he will have a temporary burst of rage or panic.

This rage usually subsides when he regains the upper hand and becomes confident in his victory. It only becomes sustained rage at the very final fight, when he is completely cornered and defeated, where he’s yelling in a barely-masked panic.

This rage at loss of control leads to the common mischaracterization of Diavolo being a very angry character as a general rule, but this is not really true. This temperament is a branch of his larger desire for control and freedom from fate.

Considering the heavy connection between Jojo’s fatalistic and religious themes, an easy interpretation can be made with Diavolo’s goal to control his fate and a desire to surpass or attain the will of God. When he loses control, this is being taken from him.

This is also somewhat tied to his ultimate punishment at the hands of Gold Experience Requiem. Not only is his Stand destroyed, but he is unable to move or control anything in any way as he is killed over and over for eternity. (There’s also some situational irony in his previous expression of never dying- technically, he gets just that.)

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Mortality

I’ve often seen theories that Diavolo is some representation of (or literally is) the Antichrist in disguise, and on some level, I think this makes sense. Diavolo created Passione and brought the lost souls in the country together before Giorno could, much like the Antichrist is prophesied to do in common Christian belief. Bruno’s belief and faith in Diavolo’s Passione as the justice in the world can be easily connected to the Antichrist being a false savior, alongside the Jesus narrative present with Giorno.

However, while his character can definitely be read as paralleling the Antichrist, I do not think Diavolo is actually any kind of supernatural entity. Among there being no evidence for that idea beyond his odd backstory, I find it far less compelling, especially considering his failed chase for higher power in the final fight with the Requiem arrow.

In the final fight, he chases after a final securing of his power that would give him true godlike abilities, only for that power to instead go to Giorno, the true savior. In this defeat, Diavolo proves that he is not chosen by fate to rule, nor will he ever receive the power of a god. His true mortal nature is finally exposed as he is doomed to be killed in humiliating ways for eternity.

The death loop is also where his aggressive secrecy about his identity and his rejection of allyship slips. He begins to cry out for help and yells “I am Diavolo!”

But nobody knows who “Diavolo” is, and nobody hears his cries. Just like he’s always wanted to achieve, he is completely and utterly alone, without anyone who knows or can help him, forever.

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The Past

As Diavolo states himself, his biggest fear is his past. It is the major thing that he interprets his failures through and what drives his anxieties- and, in a way, it’s what causes his downfall. It is likely some intentional irony or weakness in King Crimson’s ability that it gives Diavolo the ability to escape his future pitfalls, but he is defenseless against things that have happened in his past.

Diavolo’s fear of the past is likely a big reason why “paranoia” is a trait commonly read into his character more than what was probably intended. Indeed, it is something that he is haunted by throughout the story, and you see his nervousness hiking as the protagonists uncover more and more about him. However, this still isn’t exactly depicted as unfounded or irrational- it’s what the protagonists explicitly hunt to find first to take him down, after all.

I would say that the past is a real, potent threat for Diavolo, but it is a beast he created himself. His attempts to erase it only make it come back to bite him harder. His most major attempt to overcome his past with his murder of Trish is ironically what leads to Bruno turning fully against him, leading to his defeat.

Diavolo’s past itself isn’t necessarily the inherent threat, something accentuated by how the actual events of his past are never shown; his inability to accept his past turned it into one.

The past is also an important theme with the rest of the main cast, as we are given backstories showing how they fell down into the path of being a socially outcast gangster. However, we are shown throughout how they develop past their despair and seemingly hopeless situations to end up doing a good deed and finding hope by saving Trish. They are ultimately able to make peace and move on; Diavolo cannot.

(The only exception to this is Fugo, who was initially planned to be a traitor but ended up simply leaving the group instead. I believe Fugo’s lack of a developed backstory in the manga was a part of this initial plan in that he did not “move on” from his past to do a good deed like the others did.)

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Inevitability

The major roadblock to all of Diavolo’s motivations and the story’s slope down to his defeat is started by the existence of his daughter. She shakes the entire foundation of his perceived isolation; not only does she pose immediate danger to his anonymity, but her existence means he was never truly successful in severing his ties from the world at all.

Diavolo's attempted murder of Trish is the most personal example of his evil in the story. The reveal of his true plan functions like a twist, being the moment that completely breaks the characters' trust and loyalty to him. (He’s technically not a twist villain because we know Giorno was already planning on defeating him, but this is a major change in how we see his motivations and nature.)

Trish is the major person that “grounds” him throughout the story as an unbreakable connection and relationship. She is our first piece of evidence of Diavolo’s past and personhood, and therefore, what he wants to destroy the most. She is the biggest existing representation of everything he wants to destroy, yet can’t.

Trish being such a catastrophic existence to Diavolo is also, like his past being a danger, a beast that he created himself. His attempted murder of her is what finally turns the main cast decidedly against him; arguably, if he hadn't set out to erase himself in the first place, her existence would never have been such a life-ruining event for him.

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Contradiction

One of my favorite themes to interpret into Diavolo’s character is a nature of confusion and contradiction.

His complete anonymity is very effective as intimidation for a main antagonist, but it is also fundamentally self-destructive, in a sense. He erases himself, destroying his relationships and his goodwill, to become untouchable.

Despite him having so much power, most members of Passione we see care very little about the Boss, if not actively dislike him. La Squadra betrays the Boss after years of resentment, Cioccolata and Secco plan to attempt it, and even Tiziano and Squalo, members of his elite guard, act more out of care for each other than to him.

The only kind of explicit attachment to the Boss that we see is through members viewing him as a symbol or an extension of Passione itself. The sense of betrayal Bruno feels at his discovery of the Boss selling drugs to children and the attempted murder of his daughter is not due to attachment to the Boss as an individual, but rather his false belief in the morality of Passione and his leadership.

Perhaps most importantly, as a stark contrast to the fun, personality-based characters of everyone else in part five, Diavolo is very hateable. It’s something you see all over the fanbase. He kills four widely popular characters with no remorse and his uncaring nature gives him the feeling of utter unlikability. The people who support the death loop as an appropriate end to his character largely defend it not on the proportionate severity of Diavolo’s actions, but on his personal unlikability as a character. Not only is he hated by the cast, he is hated by the audience.

This creates a contradiction. Despite thinking of himself as a king above all others, Diavolo lives life as a dangerous balancing act. What he does to prevent betrayal, being ruthless and cutting himself off from everyone, ironically sows more betrayal by causing resentment. He wants to be erased from the world, yet he wants power, something inherently attention-drawing.

Him being cold and impossible to reach does make it monumentally difficult to hunt him down, but it also means he has no true ally, only making hatred and betrayal more likely. He is both immensely powerful and threatening yet utterly pathetic. He is hated yet obeyed, and despite holding power over everyone, he also must fear everyone.

Contradiction is a theme I will progressively expand and elaborate more upon throughout this series of analysis because you can find it throughout most of his major character aspects. However, in isolation, this is where I think it is the most obvious.

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I understand why people struggle to define Diavolo’s personality and themes in a cohesive way. What you choose to prioritize in his characterization is up to personal decision and it’s easy for people to read traits that were not actually intended or forgo his actual unique traits entirely. As a result, his character creates many vastly different opportunities for interpretation.

In my next post, I’m going to talk more specifically about what I think are the major flaws in his character writing.

[lonestarss]

WAILS SO FUCKING LOUDLY BTW.

[dolcettamagica]

𐙚˙⋆.˚ 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐬𝐬

ceo!sukuna x secretary!reader, modern au

tags: degradation, daddy kink, sexual indications and language notes: minors dni, listen to "you can be the boss" by lana del rey wc: 1.1k

Once again your Boss, Mr. Sukuna, was staring at you from across the private room at the bar you were drinking. It was almost a tradition that Sukuna invited everyone for a few drinks after an extremely hard day at work. As usual the most beautiful women were seated around him, all of them looking the same – tight pencil skirts and revealing blouses, the only difference being the colors of the said skirts. Yet his eyes were set on you, his secretary.

Feeling pressured, you avert your eyes from him. After all, you weren't blind, your boss was probably one of the most attractive men in the world. Nevertheless, you had resolved never to give yourself to him. Your job was more important than a man whose cock you would love to feel inside you.

There was another point that motivated you to stay away from Sukuna. All the female colleagues hated you. How dare you become his secretary? You. The innocent little mouse who worked in the company for less than three months. Nobody understood why Sukuna chose you out of all the applicants who were eagerly waiting for his acceptance. So engaging in any kind of sexual relationship with your boss would be a death sentence at your workplace.

As your shot glass touched your lips to take another sip, you looked back over at your boss and in that moment your eyes met.

Sukuna was able to get any woman he wanted and he would also be able to get any woman in general. He knew exactly what power he had over women. You, however, were still under his spell, still clinging to some irrelevant moral values. You were a challenge to him and he loved challenges.

Normally, secretaries always sat next to their bosses, but you always occupied the seat furthest away from him and out of sight. This time you were far away, but right at the other end of the table, giving him the perfect view.

Sukuna took in every little detail of your appearance. Your freshly washed hair, tied back in a neat braid. Oh, how he would love to take that hair in his hand and pull it while he thrusts into you from behind. Making you scream and beg for his cock to reach deeper into your clenching little pussy. A loose blouse was buttoned up to the neck, but Sukuna knew exactly what you looked like in tight clothes. After all, your Instagram was public. It would be so easy to stand up and rip off your blouse to take your big tits into his mouth.

"Mr. Sukuna, sir, are you listening?", he heard some woman almost begging for his attention. To be honest, he didn't even know what this chick's name was. Everyone was the same in his eyes, desperate. She pressed her chest against her arm, her tits almost falling out of her top. "You look so good in that suit, is it Armani?" He was wearing his best suit today, since he had something special planned. A bloodred suit with a black shirt underneath, he deliberatly left a few buttons unbuttoned. 

“Ms. y/n”, he called out, "You're staying late today. We have something important to discuss." The entire room fell silent. He sounded so serious. The other women beamed with shameful joy, imagining him screaming at you and firing you. He had completely different things playing out in his imagination though.

Blood rushed to up your cheeks as soon as you heard him call your name, his voice deep and husky. “Y-yes, boss.” You would have loved to run away. If you had known that your boss still wanted to talk to you afterwards, you wouldn't have drunk anything. You were already tipsy, doubting your self-control. Alone with Mr. Sukuna in this private room was both dangerous and seductive.

A few hours have passed and everyone has left, everyone except you and Sukuna. As soon as the room was empty you heard your boss's voice “Crawl over.”

“I’m-I’m sorry, what? I…I think I drank too much.”

“I said crawl over, now.”

Was it because of the alcohol in your system or was it because of Sukuna's deep dominant voice? Your body moved faster than your brain could register the movements and you slowly crawled over to him. Meanwhile Sukuna pushed the table further away from him. He was sitting on the ground, criss-crossed, something that was normal in japanese culture. “What a good little girl, listening to her boss”, he taunted you, his red eyes staring at you.

Ashamed and slightly turned on you knelt in front of him. What kind of situation was that and why the hell did you follow his orders? There was no time to search for an answer because Sukuna had already grabbed you by your throat and pulled you closer to him.

“You need to stop acting all hard to get, little one, it makes me want to ruin you. I know your pussy gets wet for me. Everytime you push your thighs together when I scream at a subordinate or the sudden breaks you need to take after I praise you. You like that, right? Being praised, gets your cunt soaking and seeking for my cock. Desperate slut.”

There was no room to answer once again. As your lips met, a wave of heat surged between you two, igniting a fiery passion that had been smoldering beneath the surface. The air around you seemed to sizzle with anticipation as you surrendered to the magnetic pull drawing you closer.

His hands found their way to your waist, pulling you in with an urgency that mirrored the racing of your hearts. Your lips moved in perfect synchrony, exploring and tasting, each kiss more fervent than the last. The warmth of your breath mingled, creating a heady mix of desire and longing that filled the space between you.

Time seemed to stand still as you melted into each other, your bodies pressed together in a dance of passion and need. Every touch sent shivers down your spines, igniting a hunger that could only be satiated Sukuna himself.

In that stolen moment, nothing else mattered but the electrifying connection you shared. It was a kiss that set your souls ablaze, leaving you both breathless and hungry for more. And as you finally pulled away, your eyes locked in a daze of desire, you knew that this was just the beginning of an unforgettable journey of lust.

“Here, slut”, a cigarette with a number on it was placed next to you on the table, “This is my private number. Call me. If you don’t, daddy will punish you real good, understand?” And with that he stood up, leaving you needy and hungry. Still out of breath your eyes fixated on the cigarette.

Would you text him or stand your ground?

[quack-quack-snacks]

Time Will Tell - Chapter 1.23

My Time Will Tell Masterlist

My Cha Hyun-su Masterlist

My Navigation and Masterlist

The Time Will Tell Glossary

Warnings: Hyun-su meeting his monster, reader is a cutie pie, the beginning of the basement and spider monster scene. Word Count: 1,443

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It was dark when Hyun-su opened his eyes, the only light a strange watery reflection on the walls he was surrounded in. Somehow, he knew what he was experiencing wasn’t real, and that thought was solidified when he sat up and saw himself standing 2 meters in front of him. The only difference between the two of them was the fully black eyes of the one standing. 

“What are you?” Hyun-su asked the boy who looked like him.

“I don’t know,” the monster answered honestly, his face devoid of any emotion as he spoke.

“What?”

“I honestly don’t even know what I am."

A rush of calm washed over him as a strange but pleasant sensation ran across his forehead. The monster in front of him seemed to feel it too, because they both sat there in silence, not trying to find out what it was that made them so calm. Rather, they were just enjoying it. Enjoying the strange feeling in their hearts as the touch continued. 

It was only after a minute when the feeling left completely that the monster spoke again, his motives much more clear with his next words. “You can start over in this place. You can live however you want now.”

“But if I reveal my desire, I’ll become a monster?” Hyun-su asked from his place still on the ground. 

The monster’s face formed a manic smile at his words. “Yeah. So tell me what you really want.”

The monster snickered as the original Hyun-su stood up and walked over to him, suddenly holding his spear. “Fuck you,” he said before jamming the spear into his other self. 

Except, the spear didn’t touch flesh. It stuck itself into a mirror, shattering it so that the monster Hyun-su in the reflection seemed to multiply. 

“Fine. Good luck, then,” the monster taunted before the same calming sensation passed over their foreheads. 

Hyun-su took a step back from the mirror and dropped the spear. The smile dropped from his monster’s face and he seemed more at peace than the entire interaction Hyun-su had just had with him. The touch moved down until it stopped at his upper arm, and all he felt was contentedness. It was a feeling he hadn’t felt in years. 

“Oh, I see,” his monster suddenly said. Hyun-su snapped his head back to him from where it had shifted away. “It’s her, isn’t it?”

Just as he was about to respond with a question, asking what it was his monster meant, his eyes opened. He found himself back in the arcade room, lying down on a few crates with his head on a soft fabric cushion. A warm hand rested on his upper arm, just like the feeling in his dream, and it caressed little shapes with its thumb. He raised himself from the crates, looking over his shoulder at where you sat reading. Or well, you were reading. Now, you were looking at him with a soft smile but concern in your eyes. 

“You’re up,” you said softly and pulled your hand away from his arm. He instantly missed the touch but did nothing to try and get it back. “I was worried about you. I am worried about you.”

“I’m fine,” he said on instinct and you gave him a light glare.

“I know that’s not true. You don’t have to hide how you’re feeling from me, Cha Hyun-su. I’m not sure if you trust me already, but I hope you feel you can someday.”

“I do,” he whispered, looking back down at his lap.

“Hm?”

He hesitated for a moment, taking that moment to look up at you again with such a sincere look in his eyes that you felt your heart skip. “I do trust you.”

Your heart skipped again at his words. “You… you do?”

He nodded, interlocking his fingers and averting his gaze back to his lap. You smiled and nodded, your face heating up despite his words being so simple. So simple yet so powerful. 

“Now be honest with me. How are you really feeling?” You asked him after the two of you sat in silence for a long moment. 

“I’ll be fine,” he reassured you.

“That’s not what I asked, Cha Hyun-su. I asked you how you were right now?” He sighed almost imperceptibly and looked down at his lap, staying quiet. You sighed too, reaching down and pulling out the first-aid kit again. “Now this is familiar, isn’t it?” You teased as you pulled out the band-aids in the kit. “If you don’t want me to see where you’re hurt, that’s fine… but you should treat them. They might heal quickly and you might not die from anything as serious as infection, but you still need to take care of yourself,” you whispered. You took out one of the band-aids before grabbing his hand and wrapping his fingers around the box holding them. Then, you gently lifted his right arm up, presenting the scars on his skin to you. You unwrapped the band-aid you took out and placed it over the healed wound. Then, as a response to the intrusive thought when it popped into your head, you pressed a gentle kiss onto it. Your face flushed and you glanced up at him embarrassingly before gently placing his arm back into his lap. “Goodbye, Cha Hyun-su,” you whispered before turning around and escaping out of the room. Your face burned as you played the whole interaction you had with him over and over in your mind. 

Eun-yu, who had originally come looking for you when she didn’t find you in the nursery when she returned, had seen everything and was smiling so brightly. She was serious when she said you were her best friend all those days ago. She didn’t have many friends, so even you showing her the sliver of kindness that you did made her want to keep you in her life forever. 

She walked away from the door since you escaped through the other exit and immediately saw her brother and Yoon Ji-su walking towards the door; her brightened smile disappeared immediately when she realized what they were there for. 

The night passed by quickly when you fell asleep next to your siblings, holding them tightly and keeping watch until your eyes were too heavy for you to hold them open. You ended up being the last one to wake up. Everyone decided to leave you in peace until you rose on your own, something you were equally frustrated and grateful for. 

When you did get up, the first thing you did was head straight to the arcade room and check on Hyun-su. You weren’t sure if he would be upset about what you did yesterday but you didn’t want to avoid him just because of that fear, especially when everyone else made it seem like he was the physical embodiment of the plague. 

You walked into the arcade room, expecting Hyun-su to be sitting there and staring off into space but finding the room empty instead. You felt anger but also confusion as it flared inside you. You weren’t sure what they could possibly be sending him up for this time but you were going to find out. 

You slammed the surveillance room door open when you got to it and opened your mouth, ready to curse Eun-hyuk out again. You stopped when a familiar figure was staring directly in the lens of one of the cameras. 

“Hyun-su?” You asked into the air, but it was quickly replaced with a gasp when his body got flung backwards and was left dangling in the air by a string. It looked like a giant spider web, but you wouldn’t be surprised if the monster was a spider. 

“Shit,” you heard Eun-hyuk mutter but your gaze was too trapped on the screen showing the boy you were slowly starting to grow affection for getting wrapped up in the webs of a giant spider-looking creature. “Han Du-sik, you’ll stay here and watch the cameras,” he then turned to you, grabbing your attention away from the screen and directing it to him. “You too.”

“What? No! I need to be down there with you guys!” You protested. 

“No, you don’t. What you need to do is be here with your siblings in case something goes wrong. They need you,” he said, and you could tell by his tone that he wanted the same to be true about him and Eun-yu. 

You waited for a few seconds, turning the idea over in your head before letting out a sigh and nodding. “Okay, just please bring him back safe.”

“We will.”

[characteroulette]

Okay here's a thing I thought about recently

You can tell the new writers didn't know what to do with Apollo because they kept trying to give him new gimmicks / motivations both times. First he's suddenly got a bestie he'll go insane for. Then he's got a whole secret childhood in a different country.

Meanwhile, Phoenix is RIGHT THERE with 7 years of unused time!! And they give him nothing. Not a single new thing is added to him. Worse, they even revert him to his original trilogy bluster and pretend his days as the cold poker player don't exist or matter. They actively take characterisation away from Phoenix.

Because Phoenix is the self-insert, right? Obviously, he can't have too much detail on him, he's here for the player to project themselves onto. It's not like he has his own wild characterisation (changing his entire life trajectory to meet his friend he knew for like 3 months of his childhood again, willingly and seriously cross-examining a parrot, refusing to elabourate on his past to the point of pretending his old friend is legitimately dead). It's not like he's grown at all from those experiences and should be less prone to falling to despair about his cases going off the rails (6-1 is the biggest offender to me in this regard; I get this is a higher stakes gambit than he expected, but my dude this is the first case you cannot throw out the despair pose like that it lacks any emotional impact and actively takes me out of the moment).

It's just very telling to me that, instead of utilising what possibilities they have (7 whole years!!), they pretend it's a complete blank for Phoenix. It may as well have just been a blink of an eye, it doesn't matter for him. It's less missing time and more just a single step over the issue.

Also this is petty but "King of Bluff"??? Why would that be his name. I hate this. Call him the "Turnabout Terror" he's THE Turnabout guy!! Any Prosecutor worth their salt should know by now that when their case seems to be going their way and they're close to that Guilty verdict, that's when they need to be afraid. That's when Phoenix Wright pulls out the most bullshit small detail and flips everything on its head. Pray he does not accuse you of being involved because it's a 50/50 chance he will tear open your secrets to reveal what crimes you are guilty of. Acting as if the guy who focuses in on the smaller details and is 90% of the time right on the money is lying his ass off is just wild to me. He may be putting on airs that these details are more important than he initially thinks, that he's flying by the seat of his pants, but his track record does not lie. The hoops we have to jump to be the underdog at all times is wild when we're inherently underdogs just from our profession alone, especially in this world.

Anyway yeah. Weird they chose to fuss with Apollo's character and story twice over when Phoenix is right there, with empty time to fill in, and yet he has negative character growth instead. Very telling of them.

[hellohiyoko]

The Hidden Danganronpa Trope: The Red Eyed, Pig-tailed, Girl In Red and Black

I had posted this on Amino once before, I figured to repost it here.

Aside from similar color schemes, similar hair styles, and similar eye colors, these three characters have a lot more in common than one would initially realize.

Spoilers below for Trigger Happy Havoc, Super Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, and V3: Killing Harmony, you've been warned.

Celestia Ludenburg from THH

The first red eyed, pig-tailed girl to set the precedence for her successors, is Celestia Ludenburg, the Ultimate Gambler. Makoto Naegi introduces himself and he's immediately suspicious of who she really is, seeing as "Celestia Ludenburg" is a rather odd name for a girl who claims to be from Japan. Regardless, she continues to lie and insist that Celestia Ludenburg is her real name.

At first glance, Celeste is seen as a rather cold, composed, and cunning individual who's willing to adapt to the killing game to live in Hope's Peak Academy for the rest of her foreseeable future. But in Chapter 2, we catch the ever so slightest glimpse of her true nature, as she yells and berates Hifumi due to the dissatisfaction of his milk tea. Her foreign accent disappears, and the calm, collected, individual is suddenly losing her shit, loudly might I add, over milk tea. Such an uncharacteristic crash out shocks the remaining survivors, this was a completely different person from who they've come to know.

It isn't until the end of the class trial in Chapter 3 that we learn who Celeste really is. If you didn't know then, you learned now that her vague European accent is fake. Even her name, "Celestia Ludenburg", as expected, was fake. Her real name is Taeko Yasuhiro, which she believes to be a "loser's name". She hates the common lifestyle she's lived up to this point, and hid her true identity from the rest of the peers. Who could've seen this coming? 😲

Peko Pekoyama from SDR2

Next up is Peko Pekoyama, the Ultimate Swordswoman. Immediately, you can tell that Peko and Celeste are two very different characters/people (depends on who you ask, ba dum tss 😉). While Peko is reserved and composed much like the counterpart aforementioned, she's much more trustworthy. She's open to social events such as parties and willing to put herself out there for introductions with her classmates, despite being emotionless. When meeting Hajime Hinata in SDR2 on Jabberwock Island, she's blunt with her intentions, stating that while she wants to get along, she won't hesitate to kill anyone should someone step out of line, all before anyone in SDR2 realized the predicament they were in.

Other than suspiciously meeting with Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu in the mornings when he left the group, nothing else seems out of the ordinary...

Until Chapter 2...

More specifically, the trial of Mahiru Koizumi's death. Toward the end of the trial, Peko tells those who have survived up to that point that she murdered Mahiru because she was Sparkling Justice, a vigilante who targeted criminals, in hopes that she wouldn't be considered the actual blackened. But thanks to Hajime and Sonia Nevermind, her lie about her motive and identity was revealed. We learn that the Kuzuryuu Clan adopted Peko for the sole purpose of serving as Fuyuhiko's sword and shield. She's not just a bodyguard, she sees herself as a tool, to be used by Fuyuhiko, void of any human emotion, intuition, or agency; a rather negative self image, wouldn't you say?

...is it clicking yet? Have you perhaps found a few similarities in Celeste and Peko? Keep whatever thoughts you have on hold as I talk about the last character.

Maki Harukawa from V3

Ah, yes, our final girl! Kaede Akamatsu and Shuichi Saihara meets Maki Harukawa as the Ultimate Child Caregiver, in the library of the Ultimate Academy of Gifted Juveniles in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. Despite another change in location, Maki appears to be reserved, composed, and cold initially. Despite Kaede's observation that Maki doesn't look like a child caregiver (and Kaito's opinion that she looks like someone who could fight), nothing else about Maki stands out too much in the prologue and first chapter.

Maki's suddenly thrusted into the spotlight in...you guessed it, the second chapter!

As soon as more Ultimate Research Labs become available, Maki goes off on her own and finds her own behind a gold and crimson door, which doesn't give a "child caregiver" vibe at all. She's even more distant than usual and doesn't let anyone see her lab. And once Ryoma's body is found, Maki refuses to participate in the investigation.

The second trial begins. Her refusal to cooperate and her lack of an alibi makes Maki quite suspicious. But she didn't murder anyone, she just lied about who she is. Toward the end of the chapter, Kokichi reveals to the surviving students that Maki's not a child caregiver, she's the Ultimate Assassin.

Unlike her predecessors though, Maki actually manages to make it to the end of Chapter 3, and survives the killing game alongside Shuichi and Himiko Yumeno, with some interesting character development. Throughout V3 and through FTES, we learn that Maki was tortured into becoming the assassin as we know (and love) today. She had went through so much pain and anger for being forced to kill people that eventually, she became numb to it all. Maki was used, and because of this, she begun to hate herself, believing that she was nothing more than a tool for killing who didn't deserve any friends or compassion (luckily until Kaito Momota convinced her otherwise).

So, to recap:

They're all female

They all have red eyes and pig-tailed hair with pale skin

Their ensemble consists of red, white, and black

They're initially composed, somewhat cold, and reserved

In Chapter 2, a part of their identity is revealed

(I say a part because in Chapter 2 of THH, it's revealed that Celeste's accent and personality are both fabricated, which isn't exactly her whole identity like Peko's or Maki's, but it's something)

Each one of these three characters have lied about who they really are~~

(Celeste lied about being...well Celeste, Peko lied about being Sparkling Justice and went on pretending that she and Fuyuhiko had no connection outside of Hope's Peak, and Maki lied about being the Ultimate Child Caregiver)

Each one of these characters have killed at least one person

(If you believe that Tsumugi is lying and Maki Harukawa is actually an assassin)

Each one of these characters holds a negative self image about themselves due to their past/upbringing

(Celeste hates who she is due to her "commoner" life, Peko believes she isn't human and that her only purpose is to serve Fuyuhiko, while Maki hated herself after being forced into becoming an assassin)

Quite interesting, isn't it? So what it does all mean? Eh, not much, just thought this was pretty cool.

I mean, if anything, should a fourth Danganronpa Killing Game ever come to fruition, and there's yet another girl with red eyes, pig-tails, dressed in red, white, and black, at the very least we all know to be careful.

[pennylime]

been on that world trigger brainrot fr (also a theory below the art) (long post)

I have a whole au living in my brain abt if yuma lives lmao. Maybe I'll sketch or talk abt it if anyone's interested.

Also, a theory I've been keeping to myself for years bcuz it's probably wrong:

Amo is the black trigger assassin. HEAR ME OUT !! I can't be the only one who's thought abt this at least a bit, right????

1. We haven't seen Amo's black trigger yet.

For triggers being so prominent, why haven't we seen Amo's? During Afto's invasion, we could have seen Amo's trigger, but we only got to see the aftermath. We also have no idea how he came into possession of it. We know it's VERY strong and VERY destructive. Kind of like an assassin we've heard of, yes? The assassin tore Yuma apart in a second, but it was only in like, small blasts? for lack of a better term. So the two are different in that aspect, but it's also been years since then, so Amo could have the room to improve.

2. Yuma hasn't met Amo yet.

Yuma has met like, almost everyone? Or has heard or seen them in passing? We've seen most of the squads, and were seeing more in the away missions test right now, and how they fight, their motives, and their skill level. Like, Yuma knows Amo exists, I'm pretty sure Amo knows Yuma exists, and yet they haven't met. Somehow. Seems kinda sus to me.

3. Kind of stupid, but Amo's hair and the assassin's is a little similar lmao.

Self explanatory. They do look different, but there's a three year difference, so yea.

4. We know next to nothing abt Amo.

We know his age, what he looks like, that he's anti-social, and doesn't really know how to reign in his power or that he really cares to. BUT we have no idea who is parents are, or WHERE he came from, or even when he joined border (that I can remember). He could be a neighbor, but he very may well be not.

5. We don't know what the assassin looks like.

We could chalk it to Yuma's memory, having the flashback being from his perspective and only seeing the assassin for a split second, but it also leaves a TON of possibilities of who they can be.

All of these put together COULD be deliberate. There has to be a reason!!! Like, waiting for a big reveal. Amo's mysterious nature really puts him up to be anything. But it really could just be that they haven't met yet because of simple reasons, and Amo is just some normal kid with a black trigger.

Like, this theory popped into my head one day as a what if, and since then, I've been running with it lmao. A lot of it is speculation. But I know that it can fall apart pretty easily, so I won't be surprised if it turns out I'm completely wrong.

But I also won't be surprised if I turn out to be right 😎

I hope I explained it at least somewhat coherently 😭

[triviallytrue]

Watching something as iconic as NGE is kinda funny because every now and then something happens and you're like "oh! that guy! from tumblr!"

General thoughts:

Poor Shinji. Dude keeps getting put in situations.

The Ender's Game comparison keeps coming up for me - child soldiers utterly essential to the cause. The big difference is that they are just completely flubbing their psychological management in NGE - in Ender's Game they had eyes on the kids 24/7 and maintained in-depth psychological profiles on all of them, whereas in NGE they have loads of money and manpower focused on maintaining the EVAs but their equally-essential pilots are just... going to school. Shinji got punched and they didn't know!

And what is Misato's deal, anyway? She's in her 20s and has a crazy amount of authority (she just requisitioned all of Japan's power) and they're just kinda... letting her manage Shinji? It's not her job, but she's just doing it? She's his commanding officer but also his mom/sister, which is a really bad combo. Also I don't think I'm imagining the grooming undertones, those seem intentional.

The real motivator for someone like Shinji is (of course) his social connections - the two schoolkids and Rei, and then maybe to some degree Misato, and then even more distantly his father. Kids don't put themselves through severe distress just for the abstract concept of "saving the world," especially a world that has thus far been very unkind to them. To bring back the Ender's Game comparison, this feels like a very deliberate point that Graff and friends were aware of (the way they used Valentine as a strategic resource) but in NGE it seems to be mostly happenstance that Shinji made some human connections before completely shutting down.

Rei thus far is an interesting foil to Shinji. Normally I get kind of put off by scenes like the one where he walks in on her, but it gives you a lot of important information about both of them. Shinji, underneath all the abandonment issues and repression, is still a pretty normal kid - awkward, horny in that embarrassing adolescent way, deeply self-conscious. Rei is alien (or perhaps just very autistic). She just doesn't clock 90% of the tension at all. She pilots the EVA without complaint (though perhaps with equal psychological distress, just heavily repressed). She also gets along very well with his shitass dad, which is revealing in its own way.

I'm told there is another child, a red haired one, named Asuka(?), the thus-far only implied Second Child. Wonder why she isn't here yet?

I heard that it was some kind of twist that the EVAs were alive in some sense, but doesn't that naturally follow from the first couple episodes? Unit 01 moves to save Rei without a pilot and then goes berserk to kill the angel. Maybe there's more to the twist that I don't know yet.

What's up with the angels? Why are they here, what do they want, what are they exactly? Who cares. They are a plot device in purest form - they enable the rest of the show, but the show is not meaningfully "about" them. They didn't half-ass it though - the designs are absolutely phenomenal.

Oh, and there's some second project NERV is working on, a human transformation thing that got mentioned once and never again. That will probably be important eventually.

[bad-and-drawn-that-way]

Electric Love - Full Chapters

Want early chapters? Read on Ao3!

Chapter 1: Not What I Expected

Notes: Support me by reading on Ao3! Kudos and comments help motivate me to see multi-chapter fics through to the end! I'll be posting announcements for the updates here. Chapters will come out on Ao3 BEFORE tumblr.

Some shit in this will probably be really OOC, but it's fanfiction so who cares? Enjoy!

Word Count: 6090

It was a day in hell like any other. Flashing cameras, idiots who came to Vox with questions below his caliber, the whole works. The overlord was half tempted to cancel any appointments he had after the current debut he was waiting to go on stage for. The only thing he wanted was to go home and eat an obscene amount of junk food while he zoned out to reruns of one of the shitty soap operas that ran on one of his channels.

He could hear the crowd of anxious paparazzi and ass-kissers just past the stage as he pocketed his phone with a deep sigh. Ignoring the concerned crewman who signaled it was time for him to go on stage, Vox grit his teeth and stepped onto the stage, immediately adopting an entirely different persona with a practiced smile. 

Cameras flashed and the crowd got louder as people cheered, shoved each other out of the way and paparazzi rapidly fired questions at him with microphones pointed his way. Vox resisted the urge to roll his eyes. You’d think that any experienced reporter with half a brain cell would know the chances of getting a response to such behavior was zero to none, and yet he was so familiar with the approach that it was boring.

Despite his disdain, Vox waved and grinned proudly as he stepped up to a podium in front of a large screen. "Hello my loyal audience and fans,” he speaks with a clear and confident tone. “Today we at VoxTech have quite the exciting announcement to make. For too long, we have been limited to regular television and radio media, well no more! Introducing VoxTube, the new innovative way to stream content and enjoy it at any time.." the crowd cheered and whistled louder at the sound of the word 'streaming' and then they all gasped at once during the reveal.

Vox paused to dramatically look away from the crowd for a moment, his eyebrows arching and the corner of his mouth curling up slightly, before looking back towards the crowd again with a smug grin on his face. "And now.. for the moment you've all been waiting for... the grand reveal!" Vox said as the crowd grew even louder with excitement.

Just as the screen behind him shifted to reveal the new platform, the screen flickered before showing a logo that was very much not his. In fact, it was the logo of the damned rival company that had been a thorn in his side for the past few months. “Oh for fucks, sake, not this again,” he muttered as he looked to the side to see his production crew scrambling behind the scenes to shut down the takeover.

The large screen was supposed to be demoing the “new” platform that was really just a rehashed regurgitation of an older platform. This was supposed to be just a quick cash grab, but now it was just a problem. Vox glared at the stupid halo logo as an unfamiliar, but jovial voice seeped through his speakers like a virus.

"Tired of being controlled? Tired of not being about to tell if your information is being leaked or if VoxTech is brainwashing you?" The voice asked as it revealed distasteful footage of mindless sinners in front of VoxTech products. "Then try Eternal Entertainment. Your anti-Vox streaming and video platform, completely free of VoxTech networks. Take back control of your experience!"

The crowd was silent as the screen played a jingle before going dark. It took all the self-restraint Vox had not to glitch out on the stage when he knew the cameras were still rolling. Immediately, the crowd had their phones out, downloading the new app. Reporter cameras were flashing as sinners got as close to the stage as they could. Microphones were shoved in Vox's direction as a dozen voices asked him about the new competition.

"Ah-ah-ah... Now, let's not be so hasty, hmm?” Vox turned to the crowd with a strained grin. “This so-called 'Eternal Entertainment' is merely slander propaganda! There’s no history, nor a face to the name of this company. There’s nothing to trust! At VoxTech, we care about users' safety and provide hell-wide coverage that this ‘competition’ simply can’t beat." Vox said, trying to convince the crowd that it was a mistake to download the rival platform.

"What about the rumors of Vox programs being coded with hypnotic influence?” A reporter asked as they shoved down another. “This new rival platform promises protection from the threat of corporate dating mining and influence. What do you have to say about that?" A reporter asked.

"Hypnosis? No no, no.. that’s ridiculous!" Vox scoffed, shaking his head as he tried to sound convincing. "It’s already been proven that any rumors about such malware were nothing more than scandalous lies created to discriminate against the powers of tech demons like myself,” Vox said, theatrically shaking his head as he played the card his PR team had him prepared for at all times. 

“Look, you know you can trust and rely on the wonderful VoxTech. We have been nothing but honest and transparent... unlike those frauds at 'Eternal... uhh..'," Vox tried to remember the name of the rival platform.

"Eternal Entertainment!" Someone from the crowd yelled. "It already has 300,000 downloads!"

"See? That’s nothing!” Vox laughed with a strained smile. It was something. Low numbers for a platform overall, sure. But to already have that many downloads mere minutes after the hijacked debut? Yeah no, Vox was freaking the fuck out. 

The crowd continued to get louder, and Vox felt anxious electricity thrumming through his veins. Everything was getting overwhelming and he only had so much bullshit he could come up with on the spot before he started contradicting himself. He continued to smile as his magic pulsed through the nearby cables of the stage as he searched for anything he could use as an escape. He found a security camera in an alleyway a few blocks over and put on a professional grin. He just needed a closing statement, and he'd get out of there. Easy.

"Well then," Vox cleared his throat and put on his best, most charismatic smile. "I promise you all, this so-called “Eternal Entertainment”, is nothing but a passing fad! It's just a desperate attempt by the competition to try and take you away from the best hell has to offer. The very best streaming and media..." Vox's eyes narrowed as he looked around at the crowd and his smile slowly faded. "Me."

The chaotic crowd suddenly fell silent as his screen flooded their vision with red and black spirals. The sound of a pin dropping would be deafening compared to the frantic clamoring that had filled the space only moments ago as Vox flooded the crowd’s minds with VoxTech propaganda and affirmations. Once he was content, Vox used the camera to teleport to the alleyway while the crowd was left temporarily mindless.

“F̸̛̫̝̉u̴͑͜c̵̮̀ḱ̷̩̆î̴̩͘n̴̯̬͐g̷̮͌̚ piece of shit m̷̨͙͗o̴̲͎͐t̸͉̜͒h̷̙̃e̶͎̦͋r̵̟͘f̷̱̄͒û̸̥ć̵̙ͅḱ̶̡́ę̷͎̄ŕ̵̠̳ś̶̝͗,” Vox swore as his screen glitched hard the moment he was out of sight. He continued to swear and vent out his frustrations as he kicked an empty paint can on the ground next to a dumpster. Fortunately, there weren’t any sinners passing by to witness his tantrum. He wasn’t in the mood to drop another fucker until they were brain-dead.

Once Vox got the rest of his frustrations out of his system, he collected himself and sighed. He pulled out his phone and opened the app store, cringing as he saw the rival app rising in the trending downloads. He closed his eyes and focused his abilities as his power surged through the network and hunted down the source engine running the app. With so many devices accessing the network, he was able to narrow down the location quickly.

"Perfect,” Vox said with a sinister grin. “Now to take care of this problem once and for all."

Any time he’d tried to hunt down Eternal before, Vox had run into dead end after dead end. He couldn’t track down the sinners running the rival software, nor could he track down any of their host servers. The hubris of his newfound enemy would be their undoing. Anyone in the entertainment industry worth their salt knew how easily things could be exposed upon release. By loudly announcing their debut when they hijacked Vox’s presentation, the company had left themselves wide open for him to latch onto the smallest flaws and hunt them down properly. 

Vox wanted to destroy the place and make sure that their platform never gained any kind of popularity or power in Hell ever again. He finally pinpointed the location where the platform was being hosted and was pleased to find it wasn't anything impressive. There was no polish. The building didn’t even look like it was any sort of office or official business. If anything, it looked uninhabited. He pulled up the address on his screen to see what he could find out about the location’s history. 

The building was a rundown observatory run by some random sinner he couldn’t care less about before one of the biggest exterminations of the past century. The neighborhood the building was near had been so thoroughly gutted by the angels that the entire area was abandoned due to superstition. Well… as abandoned as any corner of the overcrowded ring of hell could be. It was the perfect place for unsavory types to hide in the shadows. 

Vox scanned the exterior and his smirk only grew as he took note of the lack of any sort of security. "This will be easy..." Vox said to himself as he locked on to a computer screen he sensed inside of the building. Wanting to get the drop on his cocky competition, he teleported his way inside the old, abandoned observatory. Vox was expecting a potential fight. Maybe guns. Probably a lab full of desk jockeys. What Vox didn’t expect was for his feet to barely touch the ground before he found himself suddenly in agonizing pain. His vision was clouded over with purple smoke and he heard the sound of glass shattering as his entire body short-circuited hard from the overwhelming pain.

Vox screamed, dropping to his knees as his systems malfunctioned from the icy-hot burning sensation shooting across his skin. His face bluescreened and his vision went dark. The last thing he heard as he lost consciousness was the sound of someone swearing and footsteps rapidly approaching him as he passed out.

----

Vox gasped as he felt his systems finally reboot. He ran an internal diagnostic as he sat up to look around, dazed and disoriented. The burning sensation had faded, but his head was pounding. His vision slowly cleared as he took in his surroundings. It looked like he was in some sort of office.There was a large, overflowing bookshelf by an open window and a desk with an impressive computer set-up on it. Vials filled with purple, sparkling mist were scattered around the entire room, all with different labels on them. The space was messy, yet somehow… cozy. At least, it felt more comfortable than the majority of the sleek areas of hell he was more familiar with. 

Vox looked down and quirky an eyebrow as he held up the soft blanket draped over his lap. He tried not to think of what sort of diseases could be lurking in the old couch he was lying on as he processed the situation.

"W... what..? Where am I… How did I get here...?" Vox said as he blinked a couple of times, trying to remember what had happened before he lost consciousness. "What the fuck is this place?"

"Oh shit, you're awake!" A voice startled Vox and he tossed the blanket off of him as the door to the office pushed open. He hadn’t noticed that it had been cracked open, nor had he noticed you waiting for him to wake up out in the hallway.You’d been leaning against the doorframe and scrolling through social media as you waited for him to regain consciousness.

 You stepped into the room, smiling sheepishly as you pocketed your phone, “Sorry, I didn’t want you to wake up alone and be confused, but it also felt weird to just sit in here. How are you feeling?”

Vox didn't know what to expect when it came to his new rival, but he couldn't have imagined you. Hell was full of sinners of all shapes and sizes. Vox had seen some crazy shit, but he’d never seen someone as… soft as you. You weren’t dressed to the nines or in some wild costume like most. Instead, you were just wearing sweatpants and an oversized hoodie with your hair pulled back in a messy bun. You looked like a burnt-out college student rather than a sinner trapped in hell.

“You know,” you smirk. “I may not have been the one running the campaign against you, but you may have wanted to take that whole anti-Vox thing a bit more seriously before just barging in here.”

"You're... the owner of the rival platform..?" Vox said as his eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes and no," you cringe. "Normally, I’d be chasing you out of here with a broomstick, but I might have royally fucked up and have no idea what I’m doing," you admit.

“What?” Vox asked flatly. He had been expecting tech bro assholes who would monologue at him in an attempt to piss him off. He’d been expecting the run-of-the-mill hellish power-hungry welcome he’d come to love tearing to shreds any time someone was stupid enough to try to overthrow him. He expected literally anything else but this.

“It… would probably be easier to just show you,” You sigh as you walk over to your computer and wake up the idle screen.

Vox stood from the couch and crossed the small office to look at the screen.  It revealed that millions of sinners had already made accounts on Eternal Entertainment’s new platform, and a decent amount of accounts had already started uploading content. To say it was successful would be an understatement.

"Millions..." Vox muttered under his breath, feeling more and more threatened by the platform as he saw the success it was already having. "How the hell did you manage to pull this off?"

You chuckle, rubbing the back of your head nervously. "Yeah, uh, about that... I don't... know."

"You don't k̴n̷o̵w̵?̴" Vox flipped on you with a spark. His eye twitched as he tried to pick apart your game. Were you bragging? Were you about to threaten him? Were you a fucking idiot?

"Excuse, the fuck, me?” Vox growled as he grabbed your hoodie and pulled you forward. “Do you mean to tell me this was just some fucking pet project or some shit?"

"Yes and no?," you cringed as Vox made it clear how fed up he was getting with that answer.

Normally, you wouldn’t let anyone yank you around, but you’d dug yourself into some pretty deep shit. The guilt that came with that kept you complicit for the time being, but you still pushed his hand off of you. 

"The truth is, I… made the platform,” you admit sheepishly. You’re quick to defend yourself as you see Vox’s expression fill with rage. “But I’m not the one who released it and I don’t work for Eternal. I swear!”

“You realize how fucking fake that sounds, right?” Vox growled as he felt his claws itch with the desire to rip you apart.

“Yup,” you swallow. “I understand the shit sandwich I landed myself in very much, Mr. Big Scary Evil Overlord Sir.”

“But,” you say as you pull back your desk chair and pull up your browser. “I have proof. If you don’t believe me after you look at it, you can kick my ass to your heart’s content. But I think you’ll quickly realize I do not know what the fuck I’m doing and I couldn’t have made this shit the way you’re thinking I did, even if I tried.”

Vox squinted at you with distrust as he looked between you and the chair. He grabbed the back of the offending furniture far tighter than was necessary and yanked it out of your hand as he sat down with a grumble.

He started scrolling through the history of your browser and clicked through the tabs you’d left open for him. It looked like you had signed up for some sort of coding workshop and had no idea what you had signed up for. What was poorly disguised as a hands-on tutorial for beginner video game coders to learn how to make mock platforms for marketing was a trap to lure in people to do Eternal’s dirty work. It was the sort of thing that would never pop up on Vox’s radar. It was obviously a scam to the trained eye and a weak attempt at throwing suckers like you under the bus.

“You’ve got to be fucking joking,” he said as he looked up at you incredulously.

Your face flushed and you looked away from him with an embarrassed frown as you crossed your arms. “Oh fuck off,” you grumble. “I’m broke as hell and it was a free course in an area I need to learn to make my games. It sounded too good to be true.”

“Because it was, dumbass,” Vox snorted as he shook his head and kept digging. He followed the data trail of the domain the workshop was hosted on and pulled up a few unrelated tabs that you hadn’t already pulled up from him so he could figure out how you’d discovered the suspicious content in the first place.

“Hey!” you gasp as you try to stop him.

“If you don’t want to end up an electrified shish kabob on the floor, you’ll let me work,” Vox said, not taking his eyes off the screen for a second as he installed some of his searching software to run in the background of your system.

You huff, watching him continue to dig through your computer before you turn on your heel and walk out. “Just don’t move or delete anything.”

Vox rolled his eyes as he continued his search. He quickly understood where your worries stemmed from. He hadn’t paid too much attention to your mention of it earlier, but it was obvious you were some sort of video game developer. There were folders filled with concept designs, dialogue chains, and amateur attempts at programming. It seemed while you thrived in the creator side of things, your tech knowledge was severely lacking. A quick invasive peek at your bank account showed that your funds were as well. You had big visions for someone with only yourself as a resource.

He paused as he opened a folder in your files that was filled with what appeared to be pictures of you and what he assumed were your friends. His eyes widened as he recognized several faces smiling innocently compared to the lewd expressions he’d seen them make in Valentino’s films. What caught his attention even more was the multiple pictures of you with Angel Dust and his little cyclops friend who had a knack for explosives.

Before he could dig any further into your personal life, several windows popped up to let him know the diagnostics had finished running the background.

Vox’s leg started to bounce with anxious energy as the reports from the programs he’d run earlier started to flood in. He immediately followed the trail of information and found several other websites connecting to Eternal that eventually led him to a secluded forum with all sorts of shady shit. He opened several threads that related to himself and the other Vees and inhaled sharply as he started to read through everything.

"Anti-VoxTech underground network…?" Vox whispered aloud. An anxious thrum of energy ran through him as he tried not to freak out. What if this person used the platform to spread propaganda against him or to leak information from his networks? What if this person was trying to destroy him from the inside out? His paranoia began to intensify and he felt small sparks licking at his skin when suddenly, a coffee mug was thrust in front of his face.

He looks up at you as you hold out one of two mugs to him. He takes it slowly from your hand as you look at him unimpressed, yet expectantly. “Thanks…?” He says slowly as he is once again thrown off by how much you didn’t match his expectations. He looks down at the liquid in his hand before looking back up at you distrustfully. For all he knew, your weirdly casual demeanor could have all been a trick. Poisoning him in the afterlife wouldn’t kill him, it’d just be a major inconvenience. Even so, he hesitated.

“Oh for fucks sake,” you roll your eyes as you realize why he was hesitating. You stick your pinky in his cup and pop it in your mouth to show him it was safe. “It’s just hot chocolate,” you huff before you take a sip from your own mug. “I was going to make one before you just zapped your ass in here and it felt rude to only make one for myself.”

Your eyebrows furrowed as you looked the bewildered overlord over. “Shit, but your face… Can you even…? Wait no, that’s also rude. Fuck.”

Vox burst out laughing as you verbally tripped over yourself. Yeah no. There was no evil ploy here. You were just a weirdly endearing dumbass.

“I can drink,” Vox grinned as he finally lifted the cup to his lips. His eyes widened as he took in the unexpected taste. While he could eat and drink, he unfortunately had lost his sense of smell with his afterlife form. He wasn’t expecting the slightly sour tinge of raspberry syrup that mixed with the more standard flavor of the drink.

You watch him curiously and his eyes lock onto yours in an instant. Your face flushes and you turn away as you try to not-so-smoothly play over the fact that you had been trying to see how his mouth worked. “S-So, did you find anything?”

Vox sighed and set his mug down as he turned his attention back to your computer. “Yes, actually. Surprisingly enough, I’ve found more on your very shitty and outdated computer than my team has in the past six months.”

He ignores your offended protests about the quality of your setup as he looks through one of the forums. He ignores the way you lean into his personal space as you look over his shoulder and read the comments yourself.

“I just don’t get why there’s this large of an interest in working around my products,” Vox grumbled as the two of you read through the conversations.

You raise an eyebrow and peer down at him. "You and the Vee's don't exactly have the best rep with lower-class sinners. It may be hard for a big powerful dude like you to comprehend, but believe it or not, some people like their privacy."

Vox frowned as he begrudgingly sipped on his drink. He would never admit out loud how much it was soothing his nerves. “We’re in hell,” he reasoned. “Surely dating mining which pornos the average sinner watches to increase ratings and production quality isn’t the top concern these idiots have.”

You roll your eyes and sigh as you sit on the edge of your desk. Your hips carelessly pushed some things back, but you paid it no mind. “It goes deeper than that and you know it. Hell, I know it and I think this entire experience has proven how much of this shit flies over my head.”

Vox’s eyes drift to the vial you bumped with your hip and he pauses as he considers just how harmless you really were. While it was clear you weren’t the most program-savvy, Vox hadn’t forgotten the abrupt welcome he’d gotten when he tried to sneak in. Whatever that mist he’d been enveloped in was bottled and stashed all over the place. He still had more digging to do.

Sensing the shift in Vox’s attitude, your eyes follow his gaze and you cringe as you tuck the vial out of sight.

“So you’re not a complete idiot then,” Vox said as he placed his empty mug on the table and stood over you.

“That’s different,” you mutter as you shrink in on yourself and avoid looking him in the eye.

“I’m not so sure about that,” Vox hummed as his eyes sharply searched your features like a shark drawn to blood in the water.

His clawed fingers wrap around your jaw and he slowly makes you turn towards him. His grip was firm and the sharp edges threatened to break skin, but he was also somewhat gentle, after all, you had gotten him this far. A looming threat if you suddenly decided to stop cooperating.

“You deleted your visits to those forums in your browser history before you let me access your computer,” Vox said slowly as he watched your every expression carefully. You were avoiding his eyes, which meant you knew what he was capable of. “Why?”

“It doesn’t matter,” you say slowly as you try to keep your breathing even. You couldn’t afford to panic. “I probably just accidentally cleared it when I was wiping my cache or something. Aren’t you supposed to do that every now and then, or something?”

Vox quirked an eyebrow, looking completely unimpressed. “You’re not a good liar.”

“Oh fuck off,” you frown as you look up at him without thinking. 

Vox grins and his eyes immediately spiral as he tries to pull you under his spell. You gasp and for a moment he thinks he has you… only for the spirals not to reflect back at him from your own eyes.

“What…?” Vox blinks as his grip on you loosens.

You smack his hand away and dive out from under him as you try to get away. Vox growls, whipping around and grabbing your arm before you can slip out of the office. You let out a startled yelp as he slams you against the wall and twists your arm behind your back.

“What the hell is going on? Who are you, really?” he interrogates as he twists your arm harder.

It didn’t make any sense. You were a walking contradiction. He genuinely didn’t sense any malice directed at him from you. Your search history barely skimmed anything relating to him. If anything, you had done more research on Velvette and Valentino, which he had to admit, in any other scenario may have bruised his ego a hair. You accidentally helped a rival company launch an attack against him and let him search your system without any hesitation, yet the second he locked in on those vials, you changed your tune completely.

Not only that, but you were somehow able to resist his hypnosis. He’d seen the faintest flash of connection in your eyes that told him you weren’t immune. Yet you had somehow managed to slip out of the hold he’d tried to cast over you within seconds.

“Let me go, asshole!” You shouted as you tried to slip out of his grasp. You hiss in pain as his sharp claws dig into your arm and draw blood.

“I don’t think so,” Vox growled as he tightened his grip and drew more blood. “What the hell is in those vials? And why were you on those forums in the first place? Tell me or I’ll rip your arm off.”

You bark out a laugh despite the fear, “With those fucking twigs? I’d like to see you tr-AH fuck! Alright alright!” You relent as he slams your head against the wall with his other hand.

Vox loosens his grip ever so slightly, but watches you like a hawk.

“Everything I’ve told you so far is true,” you start with a sigh. “I don’t know jack shit about most of your area in things, but I only found the workshop because I was on the forums.”

“And why would you be there?” Vox frowned. “You don’t have anything my company would care about on your systems. You’re a shit liar, but get any ideas of telling me it was for privacy out of your head.”

Your eyes dart and he can tell you’re trying to think of a way to weasel out of telling him the truth. Whatever it was, you really didn’t want him to know. Which meant he needed to know.

“Tell me,” Vox growled as he pressed you harder into the wall.

“V-Valentino,” you whimpered as the pain started to wear down your willpower. You weren’t exactly accustumed to this sort of experience despite your time in hell. You kept your head down as much as you could. You only dared to kick up dust for one reason and you’d done your best not to get caught for it up until now, but you had been careless.

“What?” Vox blinked as his grip relented.

“I,” you open your mouth, only to cringe. You really didn’t want to tell him, but if you double died without at least trying to pull something, it would only leave the very people you were trying to protect in deeper shit. Vox would figure it out after killing you anyways. Spilling the beans and trying to figure something out in the process was your only hope.

“The mist wasn’t mean to hurt you,” you say slowly. “I’ll talk, so fucking let go first.”

Vox watches you distrustfully, but releases your arm and steps back. He stands between you and the door, so he’s willing to play along if it means he’ll finally have the full picture.

“I don’t… pay much attention to hell’s politics,” you sigh. “I don’t care about power, I don’t care about overlords, but I do care about my friends.”

For the first time since Vox had gotten here, he saw something familiar flash in your eyes. The dark twisted bloodlust he’d seen in most sinners. “I don’t use my powers much,” you say as you walk over to your desk. “I’m not really trained to fight like most people down here. I’m cooped up in here most of the time, so it’s not like I’ve ever really had a reason to start shit.”

You pick up a vial and hold up your other hand as a small portal opens above your palm. “This is about all I can do,” you say. “I had a buddy who liked to research sinners abilities and I didn’t really care if he looked into mine.” 

You had to bite down the fond smile at the memory of Baxter’s pestering. “He discovered that at low enough levels of activation, magic could be collected like a liquid or a mist with all his fancy tech shit. Again, you know how much of that flies over my head.”

Vox looked between your hands and nodded silently, watching you carefully as he waited for you to put together the pieces for him.

“Using the residue of my abilities, he tried to replicate that love potion shit you guys sell. He wanted to see if he could recreate it and then make a repellent.”

Vox’s eyes widened as he looked at the vial and it finally clicked. “It’s a repellent against Valentino’s magic.”

You wave away the miniature portal above your hand and nod with a frown. You hated every part of this, but at least he hadn’t killed you yet. “Like I said earlier, there's a high demand for slipping out under the Vee's control."

“Is that how you resisted my hypnosis as well?” Vox asked carefully.

“No,” you shake your head. “That’s something else entirely. No schemes or any fancy shit like that involved there.”

“Then why did the mist hurt me?” Vox frowned.

“Well, for starters,” you smirk at the memory. It had freaked you out pretty bad in the moment, but after the shit Vox just put you through, you kinda loved that he’d gotten his ass handed to him. “The guy I told you about was here and was trying to make a new batch. You literally teleported in the middle of us making the shit and knocked over the batch we’d been producing so it was heavily concentrated.”

“Secondly, you’re around Valentino all the time. When is that guy not blowing his slut smoke all around you?” You cross your arms.

“That…” Vox thought back to how often Valentino smoked his pipe around him. How used to seeing the pink smoke around him he’d gotten. He didn’t have a sense of smell so he was entirely immune to the effects. So much so, he had no reason to notice how it was completely seeped into his clothing and probably coating his entire body in an unnoticeable residue.

"Yup," you sigh. "If I had to take a guess, then that’s why.”

"And the reason you’d help your friend make this…” Vox trailed off as he remembered the pictures he’d found on your computer. You were friends with a lot of Valentino’s sex workers, including Angel Dust. Vox was a business partner, a friend, and sometimes a lover of Valentino. Valentino was notorious for the abuse of his sex workers. An abuser of some of your closest friends.

You frown, turning away from Vox, your body language acknowledging him as a proper enemy for the first time since he's broke in. "You get it now.”

He knew about Valentino and his history of abuse towards sex workers. He had seen his behavior first hand and knew the moth’s behavior was vile and repulsive. But the worst of it was never directed at Vox himself. Some of it, yeah, but… Vox hadn't really cared about anyone else. He had better shit to think about.

"I see…,” Vox hummed as he picked up another vial off the floor and twirled it between his claws. You really could benefit from some basic cleaning around the office. “So you’re planning on beating him at his own game." Vox said, his eyes narrowing as he looked at you with a mix of suspicion and admiration. "Clever... very clever.."

You cross your arms, watching him sharply as you wait to see what he'll do about it.

"You got the information you wanted." You say flatly. He knew who was attacking him with your software now. The Eternity shit he’d found on your computer was a solid lead. However, he now knew of your efforts against Valentino. You weren’t a fighter, by any means, but you were prepared to protect yourself if you had to.

Vox's eyes narrowed as he looked at you in a new light. Your lack of personal interest in politics and the standard hell powergrabs had him intrigued. He wondered just what you’d be capable of if you did play the same game that everyone else did. It was clear you were resourceful and crafty, yet you directed those efforts towards something so… mundane.

"You’ve proved useful enough so far, and I thank you for that. Depending on your next answer, I may even let you keep your insides where they belong. So, let me ask you this..." Vox said, continuing to look at you with his eyes narrowing. "If those experiments are unrelated to my influence entirely, then how are you able to resist my hypnosis?"

Whether he meant to or not, Vox just handed you the key to your survival on a silver platter. Your eyes widen and you try to hide the excitement at the opportunity as you level your best poker face. “It’s pretty simple actually,” you say as you inspect your nails nonchalanetly. A bit too theatric, perhaps, but you were trying to play it cool. It didn’t matter that you weren’t actually succeeding. 

“Hypothetically, I may or may not have discovered how to counter your hypnosis,” you hum as Vox’s eye twitched. “Hypothetically, I could sell that information or simply just post it to the Eternal forums. I’m sure everyone would love to know how not to get sucked into your marketing schemes.”

"You want to make a deal," Vox realized, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly and dead pixels flickered to life under his lip. This just got so much more interesting for him.

[dotthings]

So, in the overall of these final S7 eps, there are multiple characters showing varying degrees of caring about Cas. It’s not that it’s only Dean. There’s Meg, whose primary motive is to use the Winchesters as her doorway to get back at Crowley and use Cas as protection, but she does have a tiny soft spot for Cas and she does stick up for him. There’s Sam, who sits down and talks to Cas and tries to find out how he’s doing, and he is very gentle about it, and that’s good.

But of all the players in the story who care about Cas, Dean is the one who keeps blazing on his arm how much he cares. He is the one most personally impacted by Cas’s situation and he keeps trying the hardest to get through to Cas. And Dean proceeds to show again and again how much he cares, even if he doesn’t always handle it the right way.

There’s a scene where Sam and Meg confront each other, and it’s a power struggle over Cas as a strategic asset. It’s really noticeable how different it is for Dean.

I noticed several instances where Dean was tired, kinda chillin’, zoning out a bit, when there’s news about Cas he immediately snaps to attention, eagerly demanding information, is Cas is okay, where’s Cas. His whole energy changes.

On Cas’s side, he only throws himself physically back into the fight when it’s to defend Dean: when Hester advances on Dean, going into Sucrocorp HQ with Dean, and when Dick Roman lunges toward Dean and Cas shoves Dean behind him. They then team up to kill Roman.

Cas is clinically suffering from a severe case of PTSD. He’s not so far gone he has no awareness of what’s up in his own brain at all—he says “It took everything to get me here,” he tells Sam that taking on Sam’s pain was a way to blunt the guilt and anguish of what he was already feeling for the things he did—almost like a form of self-harm. Take on a different pain, to make the original pain more bearable.

It’s not only what Cas did in S6/7. This was all that landing on top of pre-existing trauma as well. Some things the show hadn’t actually revealed yet by S7, but since we know it now, it’s applicable—the millennia of brainwashing resets. Then everything we saw so far, where everything Cas thought he knew, his entire belief system, collapsed, Cas rejected Heaven, sided with humanity, was hunted by his own kind, followed by Apocalypse II electric boogaloo and the things Cas did in S6/7, believing it was the only way to save the world and his family, believing he could take it all on by himself, and he was wrong, and then all the guilt for the things he’d done crashing onto him, followed by his absorbing Sam’s hallucinations.

It’s no wonder Cas is shattered. And Dean is not okay either, struggling as he watches Cas go through it.

Dean’s frustrated and terrified. He lost Cas, then he gets Cas back, but then semi-loses Cas again because Cas isn’t entirely himself, unable to fight, talking nonsense, caught in a disassociative episode, and talking about bees and monkeys because he literally, just actually, can’t.

Yelling at Cas isn’t effective to shake Cas out of his trauma-induced state of numbness. But Dean doesn’t only lash out. I completely understand Dean’s pov and why this is so personal for him and why he is so distressed and scared by Cas’s mental state. It is a reflection on how deeply emotionally entangled these two are. Dean is just too close to this, and because Dean relates to Cas, maybe he fears seeing that vulnerability—if Cas could break, so could he. But Dean is also so very patient and repeatedly keeps trying to reach out to Cas and talk to him.

When Dean finds Cas in the game room, he tries talking first, plays a game of Sorry with Cas, he makes every effort to put aside his own fears and frustrations to try to reach Cas, and then after some time has passed, Dean finally snaps and flings the game on the floor.

Cas very purposefully getting down on the floor and picking up each piece so carefully is so loaded. What is going on there. Is this Cas trying to signal to Dean his regrets, via the care he is taking by picking up the pieces himself, even though Cas isn’t able to articulate things fully to Dean yet? Is it another way Cas is saying I’m sorry?

There’s nothing performative about Cas during his PTSD episode. His brain is cooked by trauma and he’s is struggling to find his way out and back to himself, and his ways of communicating are ineffective but he’s trying. He needs time and he needs compassion. Dean is short on patience, it’s true, but he has plenty of compassion.

Also in play is Dean’s panic seeing how vulnerable Cas can be. Cas is an uncanny eldritch horror who can do angel magic and he is immortal and bullet-proof, and Dean has lost so many people he loves. Cas is the friend Dean can care for who should always come back. Who should be safe. Being confronted with Cas’s vulnerability shakes Dean to his core.

“Nobody cares that you’re broken” arises in part from Dean’s fear, pain, and worry, plus there is a certain degree of projection in play too. It’s how Dean was raised by John, what Dean heard growing up. Dean was never given that space to process the horrors of growing up a hunter, the traumatic things happened to him.

“Nobody cares”—the opposite is true in fact, it’s that Dean cares *so much* he can’t bear witnessing what Cas is going through. And Dean has no idea how to fix it.

Here’s another thing about Dean: he already welcomed Cas back. He knows Cas is good. He already forgave him. In Born Again Identity, he believed in Cas and his ability to make things right, without question, he didn’t reject him. He believes in Cas more than Cas believes in himself. So when Dean, who believes in Cas so hard, while Cas by his own admission says he’s afraid he will screw everything up, sees Cas refusing the call, over and over, that’s going to scare Dean even more.

Dean telling Kevin the angels don’t have “the equipment to care. Seems like when they try, it just breaks them apart.” Right there in front of him, Dean having to see the wreckage of Cas, who cared so hard he imploded right before Dean’s eyes.

Over the course of these set of episodes, Cas slowly starts to emerge from his PTSD bubble, slowly starts saying more rawly honest things, reacting more emotionally and more seriously and doing less and less deflecting, until finally he’s ready.

It’s Dean who finally gets through to him, not by yelling, but by reaching out with his words and showing acceptance. “I’d rather have you. Cursed or not.” Dean believes in him—Cas just needs to see it and believe in himself the way Dean does.

“Nut up. We’re all cursed. I seem like good luck to you?” is Dean going even further, reaching out by relating himself to Cas—to help Cas see they aren’t so different. So that maybe Cas can see himself reflected in Dean and see his own capacity for goodness and for bravery, and finally come home.

[sharaug]

𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔

❝ everything beautiful comes with pain. roses have thorns, don't they? ❞ ─ unknown

AUTHOR'S NOTE ❳ this entire one shot was inspired by @skittlescripts triad au! please go check them out for more content on it, if you'd like! :>

➔ ᴅɪsᴄʟᴀɪᴍᴇʀ(s) :: this is my first time writing for anything lmk/jttw related, so forgive me if a lot of the characters in this are ooc. also, this whole thing is a completely self indulgent "what if" blurb on my interpretation of skittles's mc, so all of this is (obviously) not at all canon to their au aha-

mc in this one-shot is a mystic/demon monkey like wukong n macaque cuz i'm different (/j) also, in case it wasn't obvious already, she's based off of yor briar/forger from spy x family

blood, violence, and cursing will all be featured in this. i tried not to make it all too graphic, but i'd suggest reading at your own risk just in case if you're not a big fan of that stuff

not beta read + edited we die like my motivation to finish school work 🫡

NOT MANY WERE━━━brave enough to sleight the Great Sage Equal to Heaven these days, but Sun Wukong supposed that demons wouldn't be, well ... demons if they didn't make any foolish decisions every now and then.

Still, though, that thought couldn't possibly be enough to calm him back down into a more rational train of thought—especially when one of the 'foolish demons' just mentioned currently had a gun held up against his son's temple.

"Take one more step, Great Sage," mocked the bastard with a sneer as he pressed the weapon further against Xiaotian's skin, which in turn drew out a small whimper from the boy that made Wukong's rage flare even more. "Go ahead. Do it and see what happens to your kid right here."

This was frustrating. So frustrating—especially when his treasured staff was currently laying right in front of his feet, right where he'd dropped it after the demon threatened to pull the trigger if he didn't. Under normal circumstances, he could bless the world by ridding it of this pest's existence in under ten seconds flat, yet ...

Wukong's gloved hands tightened into fists at his sides.

The Great Sage, the Monkey King was immortal. His son, however, was not.

And mortality had always been such a fragile thing.

"Remind me, demon," Wukong began after wetting his lips. "What is it that you'll get out of all of this, exactly?" he asked.

The demon threw his head back and laughed, the action alone being enough to jostle the hold he had on Xiaotian. For a moment, Wukong allowed a small ray of hope to shine through for his son: believing that maybe he could use this as an opportunity to slip out of the large demon's grasp and run over into the safety that the arms of his father provided.

Unfortunately, though, that hope was quickly snuffed out when the demon sobered up and tightened his hold around the mortal boy he held captive. Xiaotian looked like he could start crying any second now, and Wukong had to internally count to twenty before all of his impulse control flew out the nearest window and set him loose to show this sorry excuse of a 'crime lord' what had made Heaven fear the Monkey King in the first place.

"Now, what kind of a question is that, o' Great One Equal to Heaven?" The demon grinned, revealing rows of sharp teeth stained yellow. Wukong had to wrinkle his nose at the sight. "I figured it'd be obvious what I want, considering the fact that it's what every demon in this cursed city wants from you," he laughed again.

"Oh?" Wukong rose a brow, playing dumb to stall for time. "And what might that be?" He tilted his head.

The demon's brow twitched. "Don't play dumb!" he snapped. "I want your title! This city! Everything you have!" he raved.

He's getting worked up now. Wukong spared a glance to Xiaotian, who was somehow even more stiff than before. That would be a good thing if it weren't for the fact he was holding my kid hostage right now, he thought with a "Tsk."

"So that's it, huh?" Wukong pulled out one of his 'politician' smiles, as Macaque liked to call them. "Well, how 'bout we make a deal then, yeah? You let my kid go, unharmed, and I'll see about getting you all of that and more," he offered, using the kind of tone of voice you'd have when joking around with a friend.

Wukong felt one if his brows twitch when he caught the demon rolling his eyes with a smirk, looking smug. "Do you take me for a fool, Great Sage?" he questioned.

Yes, Wukong desperately wanted to answer. Anyone with half a mind would.

"I know of your tricks. Hell, after all the preparations I've gone through to get to where I am now, I'd say I even know you better than yourself!" he confessed, practically radiating with confidence with the way he puffed his chest out.

Wukong barely suppressed a snort. He saw Xiaotian bite his bottom lip and look away, eyes half lidded and expression practically the very definition of unimpressed.

Wukong suppresses a grin at the sight. That's my boy.

"Now ..." The demon lifted the arm he was using to hold Xiaotian in place up to the boy's neck and pulled him closer, the barrel of his gun once again returning to his temple. "Seeing as how I have you right where I want you at last, I say we discuss your inevitable defeat to—"

The demon was cut off by the abrupt sound of his men screaming out in agony from outside the room, followed by a persistent, almost pleading, knocking on the door.

"Sir! Sir, please! It's an emergency!" the voice of a younger demon spoke from outside, sounding panicked.

Wukong turned to the door, brows raised and interest piqued just as the demon released a frustrated groan.

"You may enter," he told, albeit reluctantly.

In an instant, the door was opened, revealing the younger demon's disheveled appearance and the blood coating his skin and attire in splatters.

Wukong perked up slightly. Had the backup he called for finally come? (Took them long enough.)

"What is it?" The demon took a step back, obviously stunned by his subordinate's troubling appearance. "What's going on out there?!" He growled.

"I-I'm not sure, sir!" the lower demon answered, visibly shaking. "S-some broad j-just—"

He was cut off before he could even finish his sentence by a silver dagger abruptly piercing through his throat, taking the life of his eyes away and leaving only his corpse to fall to the floor in a pool of its own blood.

Wukong blinked, pleasantly surprised. Not at the lower ranking demon's sudden death, but at the fact that he had never seen any of his own men wield a dagger in that style before.

"N-no ..." Ears flickering at the crime lord's voice, Wukong returned his attention to him and nearly did a double take when he saw that he was now trembling where he stood: eyes wide and face for some reason more horrified that it had been when the Great Sage entered the room.

What ...

The sound of heels clicking against the floor and then coming to a stop behind him made Wukong's ears flicker a second time, and the Monkey King turned around to see just what—who had inspired such fear into the demon who had been so proud earlier before him.

He found his breath hitching in his throat before he could stop himself.

Standing in the doorway in a sleek black dress and thigh high boots, there stood yet another mystical monkey much like him and Macaque, yet so different at the same time.

"Excuse me, Cheng Xue of this sector's crime syndicate ..." she spoke, voice eerily calm and eyes luminous. "I'm terribly sorry for interrupting this little meeting of yours, but ... tell me ..."

She smiled, sharpened thorns made of gold glimmering in her hands as she raised them into the light.

"May I have the honor of taking your life this evening?"

Against his will, Wukong let a shudder travel down his spine.

The demon, too caught up in his own fear, stumbled further away from the ethereal beauty standing at the door, her whisper of death enough to make his pulse race and send his arms into an unexpected spasm that sent Xiaotian falling to the side on the floor right next to the very gun his life had been threatened with.

"N-no, you ... YOU CAN'T!" he cried, back meeting the desk and putting a stop to his tracks. "I RAN AWAY CENTURIES AGO! I OWE THEM NOTHING, YOU HEAR ME?! NOTHING!!"

The monkey draped in ebony stepped closer, her smile never leaving and her eyes remaining pinned on her target as though he were a silly little mouse that had fallen into a cat's claws.

"I WILL NOT DIE THIS WAY!" the demon continued deliriously. "I WAS SO CLOSE! SO CLOSE, YOU HEAR?! YOU CAN NOT DO THIS TO ME!"

Another step forward.

The demon flinched back violently and opened his mouth yet again, a shriek on the tip of his tongue.

All that followed after, though, was the mere sound of his body falling backwards onto the desk: his mask of horror, forever engraved on his face, now painted with a crimson that ran down his forehead from the thorn-like blade that had been thrown directly into the center of it.

The room was silent after that, allowing the occupants to take a moment to process what had just transpired until two of them snapped out of their stunned daze and ran to eachother—one of them tackling the other in a bone-crushing hug.

"Holy shit, kid." Wukong felt as though a weight had just been lifted off his shoulders. "I'm never letting you out of my sight again," he decided.

Xiaotian only let out a watery laugh in reply and snuggled further into his father's chest, his hands shaky as he gripped the fabric of his suit.

Amidst their heartfelt reunion, Wukong lifted his gaze up to the lady of thorns, wanting to ask if she was single thank her for stepping in when she did—even if she most likely didn't originally come here to save them some trouble.

What he quickly discovered, however, was that she was no longer there.

Instead, what once sat in her place was that of a red rose with thorns.

[shoechoe]

Diavolo: Why is he like that?

(This is part of a series of posts about Diavolo’s character, though they can be read in any order. The links to the rest are here.)

Diavolo is an oddly written character on multiple levels. You often see major parts of his character described and interpreted in vastly differing ways by the fanbase. This post will try to define why Diavolo’s writing is very messy and divisive among audiences.

Word Count: ~3100

Is Diavolo really “paranoid”?

Diavolo is designed to be mysterious, and as a result, he gets very little screentime, more vague characterization, and less information given about him than other villains. Because of this, and combined with some odd writing quirks, it is easy for people to project traits onto Diavolo that are not actually very expressed in canon.

Take, for example, “paranoia”- a common descriptive word used by the fanbase (and myself in the past) to describe Diavolo. It certainly seems like a sensical trait for Diavolo to have, considering his total incapability of trust leading to him not allowing a single person to even see his face. However, despite this, not once is “paranoia” a description actually used in the work.

In fact, other characters do not actually seem to think that their boss’s maintenance of complete anonymity is even very remarkable at first. When it’s talked about, characters largely regard it as a necessity to remain unthreatened as a mob boss.

This ties into his personality as well. Diavolo, to me, does not seem to act like the writing was putting emphasis on him as someone who has dedicated himself to total isolation from other people for over a decade. For the most part, he just acts like a normal Jojo villain beyond his unique fighting style of sneak-attacks; he is able to communicate, taunt, and express himself towards others just fine.

I see it as a common interpretation that Diavolo is so paranoid that he’s explicitly impaired by his inability to interact with a single person, but while that might make some sense logically, this not being brought up at all nor reflected in his personality or the character’s reactions to him leads me to believe this is not the intent.

The surprised reactions at the lengths he goes to maintain his secrecy only begin when the characters realize the level of brutality he uses for it. The major turning point when his intent to kill Trish is revealed comes with Bruno’s surprised remark of “He wanted to completely erase his whole identity!” expressing true surprise for the first time.

In conclusion, I would not be surprised if Diavolo coming across as “paranoid” was largely accidental. The actual intended trait seems to be simple ruthlessness and selfishness with his isolation being part of an overarching theme in Vento Aureo of allyship being valuable.

His self-isolation and pathological hiding of his identity is still an important part of his character, but it does not seem to be intended as behavior stemming from particularly irrational fear, more simply high caution in a way that is cold and cruel.

That being said, this feels weird. Considering the logical conclusion of what “erasing your identity completely and letting nobody see your face” sounds like, “paranoia” is both significantly more interesting as a character trait and makes far more sense. It feels like the overwhelmingly obvious way to frame his character, so why doesn’t the story seem to realize it?

---

Why is he like that?

This deconstruction reveals a contradiction. Diavolo’s self-isolation is somehow both his most major trait and driving motivation, yet oddly under-reacted to and relatively unexpressed in his personality and ideology. I think this quirk of Diavolo’s writing is a result of a few things.

The first is Vento Aureo having a very half-understood and, for lack of a better term, vibes-based comprehension of the mafia. Put bluntly, Diavolo’s logically extreme and intense lengths of anonymity are treated as an accepted precaution because the mafia setting is written for an exaggerated action-adventure story and not in a way that is logically sensical.

This isn’t inherently bad, in my opinion, since Jojo’s impracticality is a hallmark of the series. However, Diavolo’s self-isolation being unique, resulting from extreme paranoia as an individual character trait, would still have been far more interesting. It would keep the exaggerated and impractical feeling of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure just as intact, but more focused on a major character displaying strange, exaggerated and fun traits instead of the poorly-developed background details of the setting only making him seem that way by accident.

The next and bigger reason is the way that Diavolo is designed as a character. In Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, villains are often written with fun designs, powers, and fights in mind above anything else; as a result, you could say they often aren’t really written like humans. This becomes most obvious in a villain with as bare-bones direct characterization as Diavolo.

His trait of self-erasure is largely used to set up the plot of the main characters uncovering his identity as well as to design him for intimidation and a fighting style of sneak-attacking, but it’s not really used for anything about his actual identity and ideology as a person. As a result, his motivation of self-isolation influences him as an enemy who hides, but his personality writing ends up underwhelming.

---

Implication over Implementation

This fanbase projection of character traits onto Diavolo is part of a bigger pattern with his writing. I find that it often seems like there’s more character to him than what is actually present once deconstructed. This is because the story will often attempt to characterize him beyond his bare-bones essentials by implying more of a character than it actually writes.

For example, the story sometimes tries to keep him interesting by introducing odd details that are never resolved. Most notoriously, his detailed birth is urban legend-like and a seemingly impossible tale, yet is given no explanation.

Personally, Diavolo’s birth is not actually something I think much about. My opinion is that this backstory sequence was created to add an element of unresolved mystery to a character for whom mystery is a major theme; it likely has no intended meaning, and if the meaning was critical to his character, it would have given us one.

(My personal interpretation is that, since it reads much like a folktale or a misty urban legend, it may not even be accurate to what Diavolo’s past actually is. It’s an echo of an echo of what remains of the knowledge of his past, passed down and exaggerated until it seems supernatural.)

Though, this birth sequence is a major focus of fanbase discussion; often, you will see people take this detail and come to character-redefining conclusions about Diavolo. It is common for people to state this backstory means that Diavolo is something inhuman entirely (a demon, typically), and essentially reshape their entire perception of his character around that.

This is odd because, beyond symbolism, nowhere else in the story is Diavolo shown or even suggested to be inhuman. Despite this, you see people who assert that it is outright canon and important to the narrative. (It’s common for people to reinterpret his Dissociative Identity Disorder as demonic possession, but this is stated nowhere. Especially in the manga, I think this is pretty clearly not the intent. I will elaborate on this in a different post.)

I think this fanbase focus all speaks to the way Diavolo as a character is left as the vague implication of something that he could be rather than what he is. These stray details that trail his character are left to distract from his actual characterization being very lacking. People are led to practically write their own version of Diavolo because the most eye-catching parts of his character are little more than a jumble of suggestions.

What we know about Diavolo’s past in general is an odd combination of bare story mechanics and, again, the implications of a character with more depth that is never followed through on. For example, why would Diavolo of all people have a fling with a random woman?

It’s the first thing we know about his past, yet it is never given any explanation to connect it to the man we see in the present. (This leads to the common idea that it was actually Doppio who had the relationship, but in the manga, this is also explicitly false.)

You could argue that there’s some idea present that Diavolo once had some capability of love, but since nothing is actually done with that idea, this is also little more than a vague implication. Diavolo still lacks character depth because there is nothing present that shows or explains this past behavior.

The hints in Diavolo’s character lends to wide interpretation, which can be fun, but this aids in giving him an illusion of depth. It creates a state where I could sit and imagine many plausible narratives and facets of depth for Diavolo despite his actual executed writing being very shallow.

---

Intimidation

The attempts at deeper characterization for Diavolo being a mess is frustrating, but it wouldn’t be inherently character-ruining as I do not believe that Diavolo requires depth to be a good character.

While a villain can be enhanced with depth, the story is ultimately not about them; they are obstacles for the heroes. As a result, villains with strong intimidation and on-screen performance can easily shine without any true complexity.

First and foremost, Diavolo is intended to be an intimidation-heavy villain. This is where the emphasis is present; any extra characterization or attempt at depth and background detail is secondary to his main function of being an intimidating obstacle for the main characters. However, unfortunately, the execution is also mixed here because his intimidation is at its peak at the beginning of his screentime and is on a downwards slope from then on.

Diavolo’s single best scene in the story is probably our first encounter with King Crimson at the San Giorgio Maggiore church. His terrifying Stand on display with Bruno being utterly ripped apart after we spent the entire first half of the story getting through La Squadra without a single loss is an immensely powerful main villain entrance. His level of strength and menace was hinted to us the whole time, but it is only now that we see it up close.

Diavolo’s strongest moments in general are the ones where he appears quickly and suddenly to brutally murder a character. The deaths of Abbacchio and Narancia were both shocking, intense, and well done. It’s often suggested that Diavolo should’ve had more screentime, but I would argue that his low screentime fits with his fighting style of hitting and running; any more would’ve just detracted from his strongest aspects.

Unfortunately, this is not perfect. One of Diavolo’s issues is that his character is often kneecapped when the story has no other way to move forward. Most of his dialogue is not very unique or interesting, focusing largely on exposition for the audience to understand what’s happening, which both weakens his memorability and often contradicts his main intended trait of secrecy.

(How is it a fitting trait for Diavolo, a character noted for his excessive caution and dedication to letting no one know anything about him, to fall into the generic villain trap of over-confidently revealing himself and explaining how his ability works before he makes sure his enemies are dead?)

Despite it being crucial for a character with such little screentime and information to spare, his presence feels stifled by plot contrivance and little effort was put into making his personality unique. This prevents him from being as strong as he has potential to be. However, this was not a character-ruining problem until the final fight.

---

The Final Fight

What makes Diavolo so intimidating in his initial scenes is how it gives you a look into his terrifying level of power and a reminder of how much the odds are stacked against the main cast. This effect begins to wane, however, with the introduction of Polnareff and Requiem stands.

It is at this point that Diavolo’s illusion of invincibility begins to break. It is revealed that not only has Polnareff managed to survive with vital information against Diavolo and has been waiting for an opportunity to defeat him for years, but Requiem stands can far surpass King Crimson’s ability.

I would not have a problem with the story building a way that Diavolo can be beaten if it was not this sudden and unsatisfying. We spend the story expecting Diavolo’s defeat to come from a result of impressive detective work and the monumental survival skills of the main characters, but it is instead from someone never mentioned before who suddenly shows up with all the information about Diavolo and how to defeat him. It utterly lacks buildup and takes away the agency of the main characters by throwing the information they were fighting for straight into their laps.

Then the final arc comes, and instead of being focused on Diavolo, it’s more focused on Silver Chariot Requiem and the totally new Stand upgrade system. When we understand how Diavolo’s Stand works, there is now suddenly an ability more powerful than his by orders of magnitude, and he’s surrounded by the ally characters, the intimidation from when Diavolo dominated the scene is gone. He vanishes into the bigger priority of dealing with Requiem and King Crimson suddenly loses the feeling of being the most powerful ability in the part in an unceremonious and unsatisfying way.

The story attempts to maintain his style of hiding and sneak-attacking, but all this does now is cut into his story presence during the already clustered, poorly-paced, and anticlimactic final fight. More screentime ends up being given to Bruno in Diavolo’s body than Diavolo gets in his own body.

And since Diavolo is ultimately a very bland character beyond background implication, he’s effectively completely forgettable throughout his most vital moments on screen. A lot of people only come out of Vento Aureo remembering Diavolo’s fate of the death loop because, to put it bluntly, that is the only interesting thing he does during the entire final arc of the story.

---

Mixed Feelings

Logically, Diavolo being bare-bones, incoherently characterized, and ending the story as a forgettable character is simply a result of bad writing. However, I feel this intersects with his themes in a very oddly interesting way.

Diavolo’s desire is to become fully unknown as an individual. Nobody in the cast knows him with any sort of closeness, and every person we know of who has is dead and gone, mostly at his hands. Essentially, as I discussed in my last post, he has destroyed his personhood.

Because of this, us only knowing bare-bones details of his past that don’t seem to make sense, only suggesting fragments of a character narrative, his traits beyond his bare essentials vague and misty, is kind of fitting. In a cast of colorful, personality-based characters that are easy to like and attach to, Diavolo stands as the absolute antithesis, cold and menacing and devoid of likability.

We never understand Diavolo as a person because it’s what he’s dedicated himself to scrubbing from the world. We know that there was a past and an individual who used to be there, but we will never see the full picture, and it’s what dooms Diavolo to be unloved and unremembered. He ends the story as a husk of himself; he sacrificed his personhood for power, and when that’s taken away, there is nothing left.

This does not change that Diavolo is an underwhelming character and his time on screen is painfully dull. However, I, personally, find something in it extremely compelling. I almost find it difficult to start imagining rewrites that would fix this issue because I am kind of attached to it.

My biggest wish is that the story felt more aware of what it implies Diavolo’s character to be and thus was more able to capitalize on it. The theme of corruption and power destroying an individual has the potential to work very well with Vento Aureo. However, unfortunately, the traits I find most interesting are ones I can only conclude to be unintentional.

---

Brief Alternatives

The issues with Diavolo’s character are often a result of story-sweeping problems with Vento Aureo and rewriting to fix this would likely require majorly reconstructing the story. However, I do have ideas for individual altered scenes to improve things.

For a personality enhancement, I would emphasize paranoia and aggressive secrecy. Imagine Bruno’s first encounter with King Crimson, but instead of Diavolo giving a monologue about his ideology, he remains almost if not completely silent while King Crimson tears Bruno apart. I feel this would not only fit for a character that is built around mystery and pathologically hides as much of his identity as possible, but it would be extremely menacing and unique- even for the scene that is already his strongest.

However, given the dialogue-heavy writing style of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and the nature of King Crimson’s ability requiring some explanation to be understood, I don’t think this is realistic. Much of the time, Diavolo’s over-explaining and lapses of caution are relied on to make the plot function. You might be able to make it work if you create a way for the characters to find out how King Crimson functions by themselves, but that’d be very difficult as King Crimson’s nature is confusion.

Additionally, if Diavolo was written to be more straightforwardly paranoid or otherwise unique in personality, some of the issues with his blandness during the final fight could’ve been avoided even if it was structurally the same. If he can’t be intimidating, at least make him fun to watch.

I would also emphasize Donatella’s character and story role by giving us hints as to what her relationship with Diavolo was like. The easiest way to do this would be to add either a flashback sequence with Trish talking to her mother about her father or an even simpler scene of Trish recounting what her mother told her about her father’s personality and traits at the time.

This would allow for a more obvious narrative of a power-fueled lean into heartlessness and paranoia (though the idea that he was a normal man at this time would conflict with the heavy implication that he buried his mother alive, but this elaborates on the side Donatella knew of him). It would make the mystery of his character feel more solidified while also keeping it vague and misty. It would also add a tinge of sadness to his and Trish’s characters by emphasizing that this is all that remains of his known personhood.

---

There is an odd haze of vagueness and confusion to Diavolo’s character that makes it difficult to describe him accurately or conclude what is intended and what is not. This results in a very interesting fandom reaction: Usually, people will either come to wildly individualized conclusions and interpretations of him, or they will simply dismiss him as boring and flat. I think both responses are understandable for such a contradictory character.

In my next post, I’m going to talk about King Crimson and how it is both probably Diavolo’s best aspect as a character yet likely a major contributor to the story’s messiness.

[thequietkid-moonie]

Their crush doesn't mind their clothes

[ HEADCANONS ] [ Chihiro, Kou ] [ Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc ] [ Wotakoi Love is hard for otakus ]

I guess im writing a carefree pan!reader...idk anyways I love both of them, both are soooo cute and amazing, I love my shy beans ❤️❤️❤️

Chihiro Fujisaki

Chihiro isn't the most distrustful person but still he is pretty insecure and shy, his personality is already pretty soft and his past bad experiences just make him more introvert, not wanting to open up so easily with anyone

Still it doesn't take much time before Chihiro starts to feel more comfortable with you and even call you his friend, and when he does he becomes pretty clingy and friendly, is always kind and polite but when Chihiro knows that he can trust you he becomes more sweet and friendly

It take a while for him to develop romantic feelings towards you and he doesn't notice them right away but still it doesn't take him much time to understand his feelings, he noticed how his heartbeat goes faster, his cheeks become really warm or how he feels a little shy and anxious around you, but is a different type of anxiety, it isn't like when he was scare for being attacked by someone, is a kind of excitment for see you and yet nervousness

Chihiro is really nervous about having a crush, and not just the normal nervousness people feel while having a crush, he is really nervous that you won't like him, let alone his true self. Even if you were always kind and gentle with him Chihiro is completely scare about your reaction when you find out the truth about him not being a girl

Also, it isn't just his clothes and facade what make him nervous, is his weakness, even if he is sure that you will never laugh at him for dressing up as a girl or being so weak the memories of his past doesn't leave him alone, specially now that he has a crush he is completely scare that you will react bad if he ever tell you the truth or that he could bring you problems if people find out his secret, laughing at you for dating some weirdo

Chihiro want to become stronger before try to confess his feelings, he wants to be able to win the strength and courage to tell you the truth directly, and, hopefuly, you will like his true self

Chihiro is to scare about telling you the truth that is more likely that you will find out by accident (specially since he had never tell anyone about it), either by a bad timing you catch him going to the boys bathroom or dressing rooms or somehow manage to see his school credential where it specify his gender, no matter how it happen the moment it happen Chihiro is imediatly in panic, tears already falling from his eyes and before you could say anything he is apologizing, invaded by the embarrasment and shame, he doesn't run away just because he doesn't have the strength to do so

You trying to comfort him it confuses him a little and yet it makes him feel less nervous about the whole thing, however he won't be able to calm down until you clarify that is okay, he doesn't have to feel ashame or anything, you don't judge him for the way he dress or for saying that he is a girl, when you reasure him he finally manage to stop crying (at least enough to speak) he still wants to explain to you why he does, he feel like he own you an explanation even if you don't need it but he won't fully calm down until let him explain

He tells you everything about the bullying he suffered while being a child and how he decided to act as a girl to avoid it, and when you say that you undestand and will support him if this is what he wants, even promising to keep the secret his heart skip a beat, just by your words Chihiro is fullfil by an inmense hope and start crying again, but this time out of relief and happines, even this time he does it in your chest, thanking you over and over again

After this Chihiro feels so happy and motivate, he still wants to become stronger, so stronge that he will have the security to reveal his secret to the rest, but right now he is happy knowing that he may have a chance with you since you just accepted his true self

Kou Sakuragi

It take a while for Kou to develop a crush since normally she feels too anxious while being in public or interaction with others, so for her you two have to be friends first

Once Kou start to feel more comfortable she start to show more herself freely, not feeling so bad by just being herself (but when she noticed how much she get carry away she gets shy again and apologize almost like if he had done something bad)

However when Kou develop romantic feeling for you it would take her a while to noticed it since she is just enjoying the feeling of comfort and joy it brings her being with you, but she will notice soon or later, at first she feels completely anxious over it but as time pass by she start to calm down more and more, she feels shy about her feelings but it isn't like she doesn't like them

Kou is pretty shy and insecure already and her clothes shows just that since she normally just choose the ones that she feels comfortable with, not really trying something new or too extravagant for her taste. If you ever mistake her and think that she is a boy for her looks she totally understand why, she won't blame you but it make her feel bad and anxious, like if she were lying to you, Kou wants to explain to you that she is actually a girl but she is too scare about your reaction, what if you feel like she was just tricking you? what if you see her as some kind of weirdo or even a pervert? what if this changes the way you see her? what if this change your relationship? The anxiety is eating her alive

Even if you don't mistake her for a boy her appearance make her a little insecure and with the responsability of explaining to you her style

She isn't like other girls, she is not exactly girly and she sometimes thinks that for that reason you may wouldn't even see her as more than a friend

Kou just doesn't talk about her clothes, so it has to be that she change her clothes one day (like when Narumi and Koyanagi help her buy new clothes) or that she explain to you that she just dress the way she feels more comfortable, or maybe even you were the one pointing out her clothes, it doesn't matter how it happen the moment the topic of her clothes is bring up she immediatly gets nervous, but when you tell her that you don't really mind how she dress (or even compliment her) she is shocked and more calm

You insisted that is okay for her to dress up the way is more comfortable for her and that even when she is a girl she isn't obligate to be girly, and even when the words already left your mouth Kou is taking a moment to understand your words and one more to comprehend that you actually say it. Kou is insecure and shy so you reasuring her that you don't care if her style isn't the most extravagant or girly and even that she looks good it makes her feel flustered

This little reasurance that it could be seen like nothing is really special for her, her clothes are comforting for her and you accepting her just as she is it makes her fall in love with you a little more, and, also, it makes her feel even more comfortable around you

[kiefbowl]

I really loved your post about how you shouldn't settle for a man who acts like you're lucky that he is with you. As a straight woman who has never been in a relationship at the big age of 23, who is also insecure about it, it felt really valuable to me. I also wonder if what you talked about can also be applied to dudes who make a whole thing about how their gf is depressed/insecure/whatever but they love her anyway. I was feeling sad today (for reasons not even related to a man) and being a girl who is sad that naturally made me think of the song that's like "this is the story of a girl who cried a river and drowned her whole world...although she looks so sad...i love her when she smiles". And I caught myself thinking "i wish i could find someone who loves me even though i'm sad a lot of the time." And then I remembered your post and I was like...oh...hmm

I think loving someone who struggles in this way is different than loving someone "despite" them being "ugly." However, yes I think you should be cautious about men who lay it on thick that they love you despite your depression. I thinks some things to keep an eye out for:

does he encourage healthy practices for you and him, or does he enable your bad habits?

does he pay attention to all your emotions, or seems only deeply interested in your sadness? does it feel fetishistic?

does he seem to have a narrative about you he puts forward to his friends and family? like, is your depression your number one feature? does he act like it's his story to tell, rather than take cues from you when and how to talk about it?

does he talk about your depression like a muse, or his own motivation to get himself better? this is objectifying.

does he connect your sadness and trauma to beauty, physical or otherwise? huge red flag.

outside of your relationship, is sadness sexy for him? were other girls he dated depressed (and it's all he talks about)? does he have a hero complex he finds arousing? does he make offhand comments about sad singers, sad movie stars, sad video game characters? this might be esoteric, but people reveal themselves in small ways when they're not thinking too hard about it.

does he keep you sad, does he take you down a peg? does he remind you that you're sad, that you're depressed, does he whittle down your self esteem? when you have a good day, does he ever say things like it won't be long until you're depressed again? does he never let you forget you're only a sad girl woman, instead of a full complete person?

does he expect you to act differently for him than he does for you when he is suffering from similar issues and symptoms? if he's sad, should your world stop to get him back on his feet - yet when you're sad, it's a fact of life and his only responsibility is "loving you"?

any expectation on his part that sex with him should be healing - red flag, big red flag. that's your determination, and you are in your right to say no to sex, any sex act, anytime. you don't have to "try" anything to see if it makes you feel better, you don't have to pretend orgasms are magical drugs, and you don't have to lie about if the sex you just had was good or bad, or did something extra for you or not. loving sex might help your symptoms, or might not, you don't have to convince yourself one way or the other. especially not for the sake of his ego.

Additionally: does being with him feel like it's aiding your health, recovery, or just in general? This is true of all relationships for everyone, but I think if you know you struggle with depression, it's important to remember that you need to prioritize treating your depression, and that shouldn't be a shock or surprise to someone who loves you. If your relationship is taking energy away from yourself, and if it feels like it exacerbates your symptoms, let him go. He doesn't have to be malicious for this to be true. Your relationships should be fulfilling, help you thrive. Not everyone can do that for you, even loving people who try their best might not be who you need right now.

Good luck!

[illuminatedquill]

Sabine Wren (A Quick Study)

Know Thyself to Break Cycles

I was heavily debating whether to make this post because there is always a chance that I’m Talking Out Of My Ass and Looking Too Much Into It but, hey, that’s the fun of it, right?

Speculation and analysis. For this post, it’s about - who would have thought? - Sabine Wren, everyone’s favorite Mandalorian Jedi.

Specifically, there’s a scene in Ahsoka episode 6 that I keep coming back to that I’ll be talking about in this post.

If you somehow haven’t watched Ahsoka yet, then be warned - SPOILERS under the cut.

Here’s the scene:

[gif supplied by @sersi]

Here's why this scene intrigues me so much.

First - Natasha Liu Bordizzo is hella pretty, guys.

(. . . Yes, this is important info.)

Second - notice how Sabine is responding to Thrawn here. It’s not a direct stare. Up until this point in the conversation she's Not Impressed with Thrawn's grand return.

She’s looking at him from an angle; specifically she is tilting her head at him.

That’s significant. Why? Because:

Tilting can similarly indicate curiosity, uncertainty or query, particularly if the head is pushed forward, as if the person was trying to look at the subject in a different way in the hope of seeing something new. The greater the tilt, the greater the uncertainty or the greater the intent to send this signal.

It’s clear that Sabine, despite her bravado, is feeling uncertain about various things regarding her situation.

1. She just doomed their home galaxy to find Ezra.

2. She left Ahsoka for dead.

3. She possibly left Hera (and Jacen!) for dead.

4. She doesn’t even know if Ezra is still alive.

So, yeah. She’s standing on shaky ground and she knows it.

But these matters are the obvious issues. And we all know that there are deeper emotions are at play here for Sabine.

Because this whole conversation has Thrawn - one of the Empire’s, if not the most, brilliant strategists - admit that he is completely confounded about Sabine’s motivations.

Thrawn. Confused. With. Sabine.

Let’s look at it again:

This is Thrawn.

The concept of loyalty is not unknown to him. He understands that; he literally has an entire army and certain parts of the Imperial Remnant that are loyal to him, waiting and preparing for his return!

He studies the culture of a species; their art, their music, their history to understand them - and to exploit weaknesses that are revealed through that same study.

He’s not a stranger to the Ghost crew, either! He’s even seen Sabine’s art. He knows her - or so he thought.

And, yet, he does not understand why Sabine made such a risky gamble. It goes beyond loyalty.

And I think that puzzles Sabine, too. Because my belief is she thinks she knows why she's gone so far to find Ezra.

But if Thrawn is confused about why're you doing something, then wouldn't you start to question your own motives, too?

Hence, the head tilt. Sabine, seeking to understand why he's so confused about her motivations - and, maybe, realizing that he's not the only one who is confused.

Third and last point:

Kudos to Natasha's fantastic acting here. There's a level of nuance to her expression at the end that I am obsessed with.

It's a blink or miss it moment but pay close attention: right at the end, after she says, "You wouldn't understand."

Sabine goes from steely-eyed determination to . . . something that looks a lot like surprise. And a hint of realization.

It's like what she said or how she said it just surprised her. It's just the slightest lifting of the eyebrows and widening of the eyes but . . . that's how it looks to me.

Sabine, as stated earlier in the episode, is not one for self-reflection. But here, in this confrontation with her old foe, she ,maybe, partially, realizes something about herself here.

What could it be? Personal interpretation: that her reasons for finding Ezra are not so cut-and-dried as she once thought. That there are deeper forces in motion, driving her forward.

To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom. - Socrates

I've talked about this before that Sabine not understanding herself - and not being in tune with her feelings - is a huge reason for her actions in the show. And because she lacks this self-awareness, her judgment going forward will remain clouded.

(Which is, you know, not good for a Jedi.)

I know I'm treading close to dangerous waters here . . . but I'm coming from the perspective of someone who watched Rebels and saw Sabine and Ezra as wholly platonic. Deeply, truly, best of friends.

And now, after having watched Ahsoka, I don't see that as being the case anymore. At least for Sabine. It's different now.

There is something more going on here. It's been talked about and analyzed before in this fandom by smarter people, but there's quite a number of scenes that dance around the subject of Sabine's feelings towards Ezra.

It's never addressed head-on but acknowledged, indirectly, by four other notable characters -

Ahsoka

Baylon Skoll

Thrawn

Shin Hati

Ahsoka comes the closest, telling Sabine she knows how much Ezra means to her - but also warning her to put her 'personal feelings' for him aside to service a greater good.

Baylon Skoll says Sabine's 'focus' on Ezra blinds her. And, you know, tempting her with, "Do it. For Ezra." at the end of Episode 4.

Thrawn - well, we discussed him already. "Gambled the fate of your galaxy on that belief," what a line. It goes so hard, I love it so much.

And, interestingly enough, Shin Hati also indirectly acknowledges it with the casual observation: "the one she so desperately seeks".

(Hera also clocks Sabine from the get-go, knowing precisely how to hook her in to working with Ahsoka again. "She'll do it for Ezra.")

It's the rancor in the room! They're talking around it, but never directly addressing it!

These dialogues they have about Sabine and her feelings for Ezra - it's so similar to how someone tries to describe the shape of something but it's obscured or hidden, you know?

You get a detail here and there - bits and pieces of a larger, more coherent picture, but never the whole thing.

That's what it feels like to me, in terms of the dialogue; like they can't quite grasp what she's feeling/what's driving her, but catch just enough to make a close estimation.

(I can't tell if any of this is intentional and it's driving me nuts. What are you playing at, Filoni.)

Sabine does get past her fear of losing Ezra with her decision to stay on Peridea with Ahsoka, though. However, much as that is a pleasing 'full circle' moment for her character arc in this season, there's still greater tragedy on the horizon -

Because Ezra still doesn't know what she did to find him. It's one thing to lose someone physically, as in death, but to lose them in the sense of a relationship: a foundation of trust, respect, and love is uniquely devastating.

That's one of my main issues with the ending for Ahsoka. Sabine's arc rings a little hollow because she didn't open up to Ezra like she should have. That was the real test, I think, and she failed.

It's going to be a never-ending cycle if she doesn't come to understand herself and her feelings.

One of Ahsoka's main themes is actually breaking cycles, it seems. Baylon wants to break the cycle of never-ending wars plaguing the galaxy.

Ahsoka wants to break the cycle of darkness inherent in her Jedi lineage; she stops Sabine's training precisely because of this fear that her pupil will turn to the dark side.

And Sabine wants to stop the cycle of loss that's been all too prevalent in her own life.

Baylon thinks he's found the 'start' of his cycle which has something to do with the Mortis gods.

Ahsoka came to terms with Anakin's legacy and is coming around to mend the relationship between herself and Sabine . . . but Thrawn's pointed observations in the finale and her reaction to them still show that's something she will continue to struggle with.

Also, judging by the expression from hearing this conversation, Sabine doesn't know about Anakin or how his legacy has cast this large, looming shadow over their master-apprentice relationship. So Ahsoka has still yet to properly break that cycle if she does not open up to Sabine about why she stopped her training.

(Or how Ahsoka is afraid of Sabine's potential should she fall to the dark.)

As for Sabine . . . she never told Ezra the truth. About any of it. And the loss she truly fears may yet come to pass as a result.

Breaking cycles is all about knowing thyself.

For Sabine, that means coming to terms with how she really feels about Ezra. Being honest with him about everything . . . and willing to let him go, if that's what it comes to.

I don't know how you repair a relationship after committing such a terrible act.

I've literally written several fanfics regarding the consequences and potential angst of how Ezra and Sabine could fix things.

(And I'm still writing them now, I promise! Right after finishing this. And getting some sleep.)

It's Sabine and Ezra. She loves him. Doesn't matter how you interpret it, that's a fact.

And he loves her. Maybe even enough where he can "love her more than anything she could do wrong", which I'm paraphrasing from Andor.

(It's such a great line. Up there with my favorite from Doctor Who: "Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?")

Star Wars is all about that, right? About how it's never too late to make amends; that love can turn back the darkness and drive out hate. It's one of the reasons why we love this franchise so much.

It shows that we can always forgive and love each other and fight for each other, no matter how far off the path we have wandered.

They'll find their way back to each other. Not because of the Force; because it's those two.

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.230 thoughts

[Big VIC is Back in Town!]

(Topics: art - visual metaphors, thematic analysis - perspective/tragedy, character analysis - Victor, lore analysis - Negators)

Reunited and It Feels So Good

Artistically, I think this might be the most beautiful chapter in the entire series. The imagery of Julia literally entering Victor's soul through the wound she inflicted, his happiest memories floating by on hazy film screens until finally she arrives at the start of it all, only for the screen to shatter and reveal the stairway of Victor's descent into isolation and despair, with a young Victor, his true self, waiting at the bottom, flanked by the motivations of his and Juiz's mutual love...what else is there to say about that sequence than simply that it's gorgeous??

And for this younger Victor to look at Julia, see how much Juiz has changed, but still smile and call her partner, is proof that the most fundamental aspects of Juiz have not been lost. After all, who would know Juiz better than Victor?

This new Juiz, with no connection to all of the joy and pain that her past self had experienced and endured, went out of her way to find her way to Victor and tell him that even here, when it seems like he can finally die, that she wants the ending to their story to be a happy one...of course he realizes that this is still Juiz. The Juiz that he doesn't know yet does know

I've talked before about how one's soul is telling of how the view themselves - Fuuko is still her short-haired self with Gina's jacket tied around her waist, Haruka is still the little girl who lost her grandfather, etc., but this is the first time we've seen someone update that sense of self. When Julia takes Victor's hand, his young, thin arm immediately bulks up, accepting all of the struggles that made him as strong as he'd become over the eons so that he could use that strength to continue fighting for his partner, but this time retaining the glowing grin he used to sport when around her

This is what I mean when I talk about this cast becoming complete. The best traits of his past self and the best traits of current self have come together to make Victor's absolute best self. Gina's philosophy on change becoming flexible rather than reversing, Feng's acceptance of age while still striving to reach the peak; Undead Unluck's reverse character development style is not about undoing what has been done, but finding the balance between one's old and new perspectives

What's particularly fun about this is that, in Victor's case specifically, perspective is a major part of his character arc

A New Take on an Old Classic

It was during the Andy vs Victor fight that we first learned that Negator abilities could be altered through interpretation; in Andy's words, the key to Negator abilities is "all a matter of how we perceive the Rules," and for Andy, Victor was the embodiment of that concept, as the two of them had different takes on what it means to die in the first place

Victor is, quite literally, Andy with a different perspective. They both clearly have the same core personality, but that personality was shaped by radically different experiences, which in turn gave birth to radically different philosophies

Back then, the dividing line between these philosophies was in the sense of logic they used for manipulating Undead; for Victor, he used it to manipulate his body, the part of a person that can die, but for Andy, he used it to manipulate his soul, the part of a person that can't die. However, this still wasn't the key difference in their approach; where Andy realized it was a matter of recontextualizing the Rule itself, Victor simply moved his body as he pleased. Victor wasn't thinking about the implications of his Rule, he wasn't saying "technically that drop of blood is still my dying body," it was all just a matter of course

Victor evolved his ability through sheer brute force and experience using it, not self-reflection and careful introspection. In all of his eons of existence, Victor's soul is still the child from 460 billion years ago; he never let that base interpretation of himself change, never challenged himself to become anything more or anything else. Until now

Now Victor understands that the Rules aren't set in stone, that they aren't matters of fact. And as it happens, it's not just the Rules that can be examined, deconstructed and recontextualized, it's also the tragedies that make Negators and all people who they are

Tragic Origins

When Fuuko said that the world of L001 was too different from L101 for Unjustice to manifest, I thought she meant it in the sense that the structure was too fundamentally different, like the lack of UMA Sex or what have you. Instead, it seems that it's because of the context that Unjustice itself was originally given to Juiz under: as the first Negator, Juiz wasn't chosen by a predecessor, but by Justice itself

Moreover, the accompanying tragedy was surprisingly subtle, to the point that I'm not sure anyone involved even realized at the time what the cause was. While Victor was resolving to die, forget, and eventually remember Juiz, Juiz accidentally used Unjustice on him, forcing him to declare that he would instead become Undead, and thus cursing him to live forever

That context really was near-impossible to recreate in L101; all Negators have already been selected, and it is no longer within Unjustice's power to assign new Vessels. I suppose Unjustice could still manifest by forcing someone to commit an act they wouldn't, but the scale would be so different that it may not successfully resonate with Juiz's latent soul

Which is why Victor went out of his way to reframe Julia's actions

If I Could Do It All Again

As Victor said, he was about to fade away forever. Presumably, Andy and Fuuko used Unluck to target Victor with Death's scythe, separating the piece of Andy's soul that still held Victor's within it from Undead. Since they were two separate entities, Victor was no longer Undead, and thus susceptible to Death in the fading piece of Andy's body

By reviving Victor, though, pulling his soul back to the forefront of the Andy fragment, Julia forced him to lose his opportunity to finally die and thus continue his unending life. This is the moment that reawakened Unjustice, allowing both Julia to stop Soul's final attack and Victor to become Undead once again. The difference this time, though, is that Victor can live with a smile

Just like Andy, Victor now has something to live for again, a beacon of hope guiding him to a goal he once thought unreachable. It's tragic that he didn't get to die, but while tragedies are unfortunate, they aren't always bad. After all, remember what Fuuko said in ch.122? She was only able to meet Andy because she endured hardship. The same goes for Victor now: he is only able to experience this hope and happiness because of his repeating tragedy

Everyone experiences tragedy and hardship, but it's what we do afterward that defines us. Losses hurt, but it's our decision whether we allow them to break us or make us stronger. We can give up, we can pick up the pieces to fit them back together, or we can throw them out and build something new from scratch, but no matter which we choose, it's our choice

In L100, Victor gave up. He was broken and thought everything was unsalvagable, so he tried to force Juiz to give up too. But now in L101, even after her death, Juiz was able to start anew as Julia, and still fights to make something better. After seeing that, how could Victor not pick up the pieces and start again?

How could he not take the eternal tragedy of his immortality and negate it?

The Exception that Proves the Rule

While Luna's first appearance to Juiz and Victor was oddly underwhelming, her words were simply fascinating: Negator abilities were a glitch in Sun's Rule system, an unintended side effect to the creation of the UMAs. For Death to exist, then so too must its inverse: Life. For Movement to exist, then so too must Stillness; for Luck, Misfortune; for Justice, Amorality. These Rules are defined by how their states differ from and compare to their inverse, and those inversions needed to manifest somewhere

Presumably, Luna could have created her own set of UMAs, but instead she chose to implant these anti-Rules into the side effects of her own creation, Soul: humanity. This became the basis of the Gods' game: the UMAs that govern the Rules vs. the humans that negate the Rules

From there, humanity negated every expectation placed upon them. They found ways to extend their lives, to manipulate their fortunes, to grow beyond their tragedies. Humanity was always going to rebel against the Rules that God placed upon them, so it was simply perfect that Luna bestowed the Negator glitch upon them - it merely crystallized their nature into a more directly applicable form

Victor's ability to see his tragedy from a new perspective is the final evolution of this concept - the thing that makes him a Negator, the curse that has been put upon him, is now his hope for the future. Other Negators have taken this to heart as well, like Shen legitimately enjoying Untruth or Nico deliberately accepting Unforgettable to see the path to victory, but Victor is the first to look at the tragedy itself as a blessing, thus completely freeing the Union from the last element of the Negator system that was tying them down

Now all that's left to do is overcome the Rules themselves

Of course, that doesn't mean that this is the end already. I've mentioned before that Soul is certain to enter Phase 3, which will turn the tide back in the favor of the Master Rules, but the return of Undead Unjustice is a huge milestone moment for the Union. I sense the Bad News phase is coming soon, but no matter what happens, I know that the Union will overcome it

Until next time, let's enjoy life!