More dysfunctional dynamics —
Arthur's favourite is Alfred, but years of bitterness over Alfred's revolution means he doesn't treat him very well even when they finally get over that hurdle.
Meanwhile, Arthur thinks of Matthew as 'ex colony' and 'ally' and not much else, yet takes his side whenever there's conflict between the brothers, and treats Matthew like an equal in a way he only does with Alfred when forced to, and doesn't bother doing with Australia and New Zealand at all.
This is terrible for Matthew, and he doesn't realise it until it's too late.
A younger Matthew basks in the attention and flaunts it at his newly independent brother — to prove he made the right choice by not leaving, to work off his righteous anger for the hurt Alfred caused Arthur. For a time, Matthew really believes he's now Arthur's favourite, and he thrives.
Arthur, of course, is lavishing Matthew with attention to make a struggling Alfred regret his decision to leave. Matthew has new, comfortable clothes, and Alfred has to patch up the holes in his scratchy old shirts himself. Arthur spends nearly all his time with Matthew in the years after Alfred's revolution.
But eventually, Arthur's attention wanes. He has other colonies, more valuable ones, and Matthew doesn't have that something that makes Arthur love him despite a lack of riches. (Whatever Alfred had, Matthew thinks.)
In the meantime, Alfred's bonded with Francis, and their relationship is real. Francis treats Alfred like a son and a friend.
Arthur starts treating Matthew with polite disinterest, now that he's no longer trying to make Alfred jealous. Still, the physical dynamic between Arthur and Matthew doesn't change. Arthur treats Matthew better than he treats anyone else because he's used to doing that - there's just no feeling behind it. (Eventually, of course, that polite disinterest turns into a real acquaintance, a comfortable dynamic, but never the affection Matthew craves.)
It alienates Matthew from Australia and New Zealand, too, who see Arthur's treatment as a sign of love and favour they felt they didn't receive. They joke around with Alfred about Arthur being a jerk and then stop when they notice Matthew in the room.
Matthew can't say anything, not when Arthur never interrupts him when he shares his ideas. When they meet for breakfast every month and Arthur takes all his advice into consideration.
Matthew has Arthur's respect but lost out on everything else — a closer relationship with Francis, a camaraderie with Australia and New Zealand.
Meanwhile, no one thinks Alfred has Arthur's respect, but Matthew knows he has his heart, and Francis' affection, and a friendship with Australia and New Zealand.
How can Matthew not resent his brother for having everything he wants?
Hello 👋, My name is Momen Al Madhoun / I am a digital artist /a father of two children " Ezzdeen & Amir " I live in Gaza City in the heart of the Genocide, working tirelessly to amplify my voice to the world through my artwork.
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Rusted Knife, aka Jeff the pony commission for @tunapawz !
This was so fucking fun. I adore him forever always.
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Dare I say America core
I wonder how bizarre the US-Spanish War was for observers in Europe? like yeah the US has never been 100% truly isolationist, but Alfred has for the most part stayed to his side of the Atlantic (the Pacific is another story…). all I can imagine is just
Arthur, watching Alfred beat Antonio’s ass in 1898: if I had a shilling for every time I went a few decades without seeing my son Alfred and came back to find him grown and changed significantly more quickly than any nation naturally ought to, I’d have two shillings. which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice.
YIPPPPIEEEE
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Lil Jeff moment
imo a deeply important part of Alfred’s personality I feel like I should see but rarely do is his desire to be left the fuck alone. yes of course he’s a social butterfly but let’s be real: throughout the entirety of US history, Americans have wanted nothing more than extended Salutary Neglect from beginning of the colonies and we still try to go back to relative isolation now- now as in today, as in America First, etc. I think it’s fucking engrained. Americans expanded via conquest and colonization until we only had to deal with two neighbors (or, if you want to be an asshole about it, one neighbor and Canada, so 1 ½ neighbors) and a lot of people still bitch about not being isolated enough, we tried to keep out of both world wars, and in general we just kinda hate cooperating with others. one of the three main reasons for NATO’s existence is explicitly to keep the US from isolating and abandoning Europe again because boy do we fucking want to literally all the time.
so imo yeah Alfred genuinely loves socializing but his real passion in life is being left the fuck alone to do whatever hobby/business/productive thing he wants to do without being interrupted. this man has ADHD and just wants to hyperfocus in peace.
DROP YOUR DX FOR VOX !!!!! Please and thank you.
I would like to preface all my posts on headcanons related to psychology and mental illness with a disclaimer: diagnosing mental conditions, especially personality disorders, can be extremely challenging. It's a complicated process that relies heavily on a psychologist's interpretation of facts, making it susceptible to biases. Personality disorders cannot be diagnosed based on surface-level observations and are not just labels that we can assign to people like in the case of MBTI. Additionally, I am not a clinician with any expertise in diagnosing people. Therefore, the following post should not be taken as a reliable professional opinion. It's simply my interpretation of the internal mechanisms that may be responsible for the behavior of certain characters in my fan fiction. Furthermore, I want to make it clear that I have no intention of stigmatizing people with personality disorders by associating them with villains. A personality disorder does not determine someone's character or make them a bad person. Some characters may be evil because of the choices they make, not as a result of their mental conditions.
(I've already posted some stuff here so I'm not going to repeat myself.)
Okay, so, Vox has Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). It's crucial to distinguish this from "common narcissism" (people often described as "narcissists" by others just because they are egotist assholes; kinda ableist, you shouldn't do it because it's extremely stigmatizing towards people suffering with actual NPD) . While those individuals typically function well, those with NPD exhibit all the traits – grandiosity, egocentrism, attention-seeking, intense power fantasies – but as it's a disorder, these traits lead to inflexible and maladaptive patterns of behavior and cognition.
NPD has its roots in intense feelings of shame, low self-compassion, and self-loathing. In my interpretation, Vox has always felt inadequate. His father inherited an enormous amount of money, establishing a media conglomerate in the 20's. Vox's mother, captivated by the world of movies, used them to escape her reality as a trophy wife. Despite her dreams of becoming an actress, Vox's father, possessive and protective, prevented her entry into the entertainment industry. As a compromise, he made their son a child actor, with the condition that it would be temporary. When Vox grew older, he was expected to transition to learning business and other skills, ultimately to take over the family's empire.
So, Vox was never enough for either of his parents. His father thought of him as annoying and unserious due to his talkativeness and exaggerated behaviors, attributing it to growing up surrounded by actors. As for his mother... Vox turned out to be a terrible actor, struggling to convey emotions that weren't bombastic and over-the-top. Being a teenager is humiliating enough, but imagine being a teenager bad at something and forced to do it for a worldwide audience, when the whole production crew is annoyed with you. Fortunately, he grew up to be devilishly handsome (not to be a simp, I just believe someone must be handsome to endure the ethereal punishment of having their face swapped for a TV screen) and entertaining, leading them to make him a TV host and media personality.
Anyway, NPD is all about creating a perfect self and projecting it to the world when you're deeply ashamed of your true self. It means that, no matter what you're doing, you're constantly concerned about how it looks to other people. You constantly play an exhausting game, trying to win gold stars of social admiration for every-fucking-thing, guided by superficial ideals of wealth, perfection, beauty, and, above all, power. One reason Alastor's existence bothers Vox so much is the fact that he cannot comprehend the idea of someone choosing radio over his "objectively better and correct" medium. Vox lacks the ability to understand nuanced sentiments, which ironically makes him thrive in Hell. In this anarchocapitalist, lawless society, survival of the fittest prevails, and this is a game he excels at playing.
Generally, the best approach for individuals with NPD is to pull them out of delusional thinking by confronting their beliefs about the world and themselves with reality (it should be performed by qualified therapist, especially when someone hasn't completed any kind of therapeutic process yet). However, in Hell, Vox's behavior was no longer in violation of social norms; on the contrary, it was highly rewarded. Consequently, he completely lost his shit, became unhinged, and began acting on all his previously suppressed urges. He finally fulfilled all narcissistic power fantasies and became (almost) untouchable. Now, he's ready to kill anyone who questions him, seeing it as threatening to his fragile image of the perfect self.
He exhibits strong bipolar tendencies. Most of the time, he's power-tripping in a semi-maniacal state. Periodically, he undergoes deep, depressive episodes, locking himself up in his apartment and avoiding interaction.
Constantly guarding this fragile image of the perfect self that he built is exhausting. The bigger this image gets, the more fragile it becomes, like a house of cards. And guarding it becomes more and more exhausting. But there's nothing scarier than the idea of the facade falling apart and people seeing him as he is: imperfect and vulnerable, damaged and ashamed, rotten and evil. Deep down, he knows he's unlovable, and it hurts. He knows that true love exists; he craves this ultimate form of admiration and devotion, but it requires vulnerability and honesty, which he's not capable of. He's only vulnerable with Valentino, and only occasionally when he's intoxicated or when Val fucks every last thought out of his body. He's very much a controlling top insecure about his masculinity, so the latter happens rarely.
Also, drugs. Oh, do this man enjoy some coke. Other drugs and booze, not so much; they make him feel less in control. But getting coked up, going out, causing a scene, killing some poor souls, and relishing this feeling of being completely untouchable? Feels so good.
When it comes to Alastor, he hates him because he's jealous. Despite all his efforts—building a perfect persona, a perfect company, perfect entertainment—this stinky, outdated, and boring radio demon gets so much attention and admiration that should be his. Moreover, he feels that Alastor can see right through his bullshit. He's so paranoid about it that he's almost certain Alastor knows about his childhood traumas, about his death, about all his truths, and could one day broadcast it for all people of Hell to hear. So, he needs him dead.
Note: these headcanons (especially Vox's past) are very important part of my fanfiction. Please feel free to use them in your fics but I'll appreciate if you tag me 🩷
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