Devious Little Fella

hunting stars

The repeated feminization of Vergil/V as Vergil's human side in Visions of V intrigues me greatly, especially since (as per the concept art) Capcom did toy with the idea of making V a woman.

While Griffon is clearly doing it to get under V's skin, V doesn't really have much of a reaction to it. It's not until after Griffon promises to stop that V even acknowledges it and says good, otherwise he would've plucked Griffon's feathers, but Griffon feminizes V repeatedly and he never showed a reaction prior.

It's an interesting choice for several reasons. First, it's clear Griffon-- who is the manifestation of Vergil's trauma & nightmares as Nero Angelo-- is using it derogatorily and with the intention of getting under V's skin, but it doesn't seem to have that effect. V exists because Vergil sought to dispose of his "weakness" by physically cutting away his humanity. Since his humanity is also tied to notions of emotion, compassion, and connection it's a means of coding humanity as something soft, passive, and undesirable in Vergil’s power-focused worldview. While there's no direct textual evidence for it, since Griffon is the one saying these lines, perhaps he's mocking V the way Mundus mocked Vergil, especially as it relates to the interplay between femininity and humanity.

But I also think it's interesting since the franchise makes an interesting distinction between their demon side and human side when it comes to the twins. They inherited their demonic power from their father-- a man-- and Vergil always connected with his demonic side more as a means of seeking power, which we know was a desperate attempt at regaining control and agency in his life since he was afraid of ever being afraid the way he was as a child again (and the fact that, more than anything, he just wanted to be loved and protected so he's trying to hide that). But they inherited their humanity from their mother and she seemed to really inform their worldview. Dante sought mother figure after mother figure, having been adopted by the unnamed woman and living with her on Morris Island, then having Nell, then Mundus specifically using the likeness of Eva against him by way of Trish, the details about how Dante cries in his sleep for Eva, etc. Dante was never afraid of embracing his humanity and his emotions, but he didn't like embracing his demon side, while Vergil was the complete opposite.

But all of that comes to a head in VoV where Vergil learns that Dante's humanity is what makes him strong and by throwing that away in his quest for power, he was doing himself a disservice. He can't run from his humanity and by extension his perceived "weaknesses" (trauma), so he instead of decides to (literally) heal his inner child.

So overall, it reads like an interesting sorta commentary on the perception of gender and gender stereotypes, especially since Vergil has more ""stereotypically feminine"" interests like poetry & literature, music, antiquing, musicals, fashion, etc. Vergil buries his "softness" under a cold, stoic exterior, and obsessing over strength. Griffon, as a mouthpiece for Vergil’s internalized toxic ideals, mocks those “feminine” traits—calling him “princess” or “lady,” making comments about how he can be "cute" or "soft"—because Vergil subconsciously mocks them in himself due to his perceived notions of what it means to be powerful or strong. He's constructed an identity (literally, with Urizen) where he is not allowed to be gentle, so the parts of him that are, get externalized, ridiculed, and repressed

[I could honestly write a whole other post about Vergil's relationship with Eva and his mommy issues 'cause holy fucking christ does the VoV manga hit you over the head with it....]

The World Rally Drivers Alliance (WoRDA) are taking a vow of silence against the swearing ban

didn’t plan on colouring it in at all but here we are

Not Ollie admitting that he and Gabi got shit-faced before Imola last year then proceeded to get 1-2 so they concluded that "the best preparation for a race weekend is to be completely drunk the weekend before." 😭

nico rosberg is a triple threat. haunting the narrative, being haunted by the narrative, and sometimes narrating the narrative (on sky sports)

vashwood fanart is on another level as usual, damn istg this is so good

personal hope, personal hell, and lullaby of unfulfilled dreams

The bee movie but it’s Kimi as the bee Sebastian as the woman mark webber as the boyfriend aka the only normal person in that movie and Fernando as the bee bestie because why the hell not

Please someone see my vision

Channel 4 F1 intro bit: "F1 2025 Script Meeting"

Oscar overtook Lewis on the last lap powered by spite alone

Good enough

Welcome back, Sebastian Vettel