#diadop spy x family au......

[mister13eyond]

thoughts/feelings on slightly-better-dads au where the diadops adopt trish into a life of supernatural crime instead of a life of attempted murder? failing that: who r the best and most fun/disastrous ot3 candidates?

GOSH THESE ARE BOTH THINGS I'VE DEVOTED A LOT OF THOUGHT TO SO PARDON ME FOR BIG BIG INFODUMP

okay, so the first scenario is... legit a scenario my partner and i are playing with in roleplay right now... so this is a pretty well-built series of thoughts that i'll try to boil down into something comprehensible

but first and foremost, I think that it's interesting if the early part of Diavolo/Doppio and Trish's history is identical up to a certain point- ie, Donatella gets knocked up during a fling, raises Trish alone, and passes when Trish is 15. I think there's something really compelling about Trish still having to build a relationship with this utter stranger that is her father? Especially with Diavolo taking her under his wing as a pupil for crime, because I think like.... If he raised her from birth, I think Diavolo would be a very different person than he is now, and I don't think he'd have nearly the same philosophy on running Passione, since I feel like a lot of his insistence on power and utmost secrecy was at the heart of his position, and if he had people who knew him and spent time with him he'd be a drastically different person than a person who essentially spent every moment of his life alone. But if he's still Diavolo- if he's still been alone until now, and he still has Passione wound tight under his control, and he hadn't tried to kill Trish to wipe clean his identity, I could see him interested in the idea of legacy. Like... Diavolo has only ever trusted one person with the full breadth of viewing all of Passione as a whole- he only has one underling that is allowed in the position of underboss- and he knows for a fact that when he dies, that person will die with him. There would be a massive power void if Passione were to dissolve, but there would also be a whole bloodthirsty mess of infighting for the position and a possible schism if it were to be proven that Passione was without a leader. So I find it really interesting thinking about Diavolo seeing in Trish an opportunity, because I think that kind of pragmatic view would be the only way he would ever give Trish a chance? Because the thing I love most about the idea of him raising her as his heir is the idea of Trish as his heir, as she is now- ruthless, motivated, confident, guarded Trish. The same Trish that was raised by a single mother, the same Trish that demands givenchy blush and sparkling water from a crew of criminals who holds her life in their hands, the same Trish that held Bruno's hand in the elevator because she was terrified. I think she would have already somewhat built a determination about this and a tolerance for violence during her time being with the Bucci gang as they escorted her, and if she had any connection to or positive relationship to them I think she'd be willing to go- okay, so i become a criminal. so what? some of the only people i've ever been able to stand are criminals. SO I REALLY LIKE THE IDEA that she gets to San Giorgio Maggiore, and instead of what goes down in the elevator, it reaches its destination and she sees Doppio. Who is apologetic that the Boss wasn't able to come pick her up in person, but he'll be looking after her in the meantime! And for a while Trish is just like, floating around with Doppio waiting for the other shoe to drop, wondering if she's just in a further limbo and when her father is going to hurry up and kill her (because she's decided, at this point, that he is undoubtedly going to kill her, and he's just prolonging it.) And Doppio says he's never seen the Boss's face before, even though he's the underboss, and so she's CONVINCED she's going to be erased, if even his underboss can't know his face. Until one night, when Doppio is asleep in his room, and Diavolo makes his introduction to her. In person. Shows her his face, and Trish is convinced this is it.

Except he makes her a deal. Because he's been observing her while she was traveling with Doppio, assessing her from afar. And he has determined that she would be a worthy successor to all that he has built. She is not capable of taking it from him- not yet- because if he viewed her a threat, she would not survive. He makes this clear. But he sees in her the potential to step into his shoes, given time, training and guidance. And he has been thinking of legacy, and the fate of Passione. Trish doesn't understand why he isn't leaving it to Doppio, but he won't give her a reason aside from a solid and resolute "he will not be able to run it without me, no matter what." And Trish and Diavolo both like... Diavolo tells her, flat out, that he does not know how to be a father to her. He does not know how to be family, he does not know how to try and step into a role as her parent. And Trish is like, that's fine, i don't really have room for another parent in my life. my mom raised me pretty damn well on her own, and I don't think anyone can ever step into the shoes she filled. so like....if they're not going to come into this trying to force some familial bond neither of them wants, he gets a chance to bond with her as a mentor. Which I think is something Diavolo is far, far more equipped to be. Because he's spent so much time in that role for Doppio, and he is very comfortable conceptually with guiding someone into their own strength and slowly immersing someone in the world of crime. AND THEN YOU GET THIS KIND OF FUN DOUBLE LIFE, LIKE.... Trish is still living with Doppio, and as far as she knows, Doppio is just the Underboss, just some guy who has never met her father in his life. She's also partially convinced he's actually a blood relative of hers, because the resemblance is uncanny (which makes her feel very Odd about Doppio's fervent, romantic devotion to the Boss, because he can't find a way to be normal about Diavolo, not when he's actually Never had anyone else around who knows that the Boss even exists or who Doppio is. He's literally never been able to talk about his work with anyone else, with the level of secrecy he needs to operate properly as the Underboss, so when he can tell Trish even a little of anything the floodgates come open and he can't hold back the clear strong, absolute devotion with which he approaches his work, and Trish figures out pretty quick that his feelings about the Boss are not purely professional. But she also can't seem to convince him that he has anything to do with the Boss bloodwise- trust me, he has absolutely no link to a nobody like me, my father died before I was born- so she figures well, it's none of HER business.)

So she's kind of nurturing this weird almost-sibling bond with Doppio, because she's convinced they're two castoffs in the same boat together, and she's kind of in this wibbly spot where the two of them could almost bond if they weren't both so hardheaded. Because Doppio is really hardheaded and kind of sees her as a threat to his relationship with the Boss, because he doesn't understand why he's being tasked with looking after her when there is so much more important work he could be doing. And she wants to connect to him, and he keeps almost letting down his walls to her, but they're both so stubborn and get into very bullheaded arguments.

And like, at the same time, by night, she's training to be the Boss's heir. And Trish is harboring this secret- that she knows who the Boss is, that she's being trained as an heir, that he revealed his face to her- because she agrees when Diavolo asks her to keep this secret, is willing to pretend to Doppio like she's never met him- while Diavolo and Doppio's secret looms just outside of either Trish or Doppio's purview- so it's a really fun double life. Doppio wakes up every morning exhausted without knowing why, finds Trish just as exhausted in the morning, and neither of them knows the other was, essentially, out all night getting no sleep and training in combat and stand power. IT'S JUST A VERY VERY FUN KIND OF TENSION AND PLAY ON THE SECRET DOUBLE LIFE TROPE? WHICH MAKES IT VERY FUN TO PUT BOTH TRISH AND DOPPIO THROUGH IT..... Trish is trying to earn favor with Diavolo as her mentor by proving herself a worthy successor, eager to learn the ropes of what it will take to run Passione, and Diavolo is telling Doppio that Doppio's most important mission right now is to act as Trish's guardian and keep her safe and cared for, and Doppio thinks Trish is just a normal civilian he has to babysit, so they're never fully honest with each other.

But at the same time, Trish and Doppio are really actually connecting as a found family in a way Diavolo and Trish are not, as Trish actually like- finds a lot of solidarity with him and wants to bond with him in a familial sense, she just- views him as a brother, to some degree. She fully thinks they may be in the same position. And Doppio really is genuinely like for the first time in his life open to actually bond to someone else, and share any aspect of his life, because he has been so, so isolated for so long. And it makes him very weak to her to some degree, like- oh no, he's making a friend? oh no? he enjoys her company? there is someone he can experience equality and solidarity with? there is someone who actually gets to know him longer than a day? so the two of them really do wind up a weird little family even as Trish has a really professional, purely business and mentee relationship with Diavolo, focused as she is on becoming an heir and growing to be a capable enough leader to run passione.

oh my god this got so long, i was going to answer the second question about most fun/chaotic ot3 partners but I don't know if I have enough words left in me after accidentally that whole spiel. I JUST THINK A SLIGHTLY-LESS-BAD-DADS-CRIME-LIFE IS SO COOL AND INTERESTING CONCEPTUALLY AND HAVE GENUINELY BEEN EXPLORING IT FOR A WHILE IN AN AU WITH MY PARTNER.... AAAAAA thank you for the good question, this sparked me to talk about this headcanon so much. it's so good THIS WAS A GOOD INFODUMP OPENING