Nero always wanted a son. A strong son. An Iron Gold. A Conquerer. His first son was absolutely perfect. Claudius was exactly what he wanted and what he would always search for in his - let’s say adoptive sons - after he was killed. (He found it in Darrow more than anyone else).
Then, he gets the twins. And although it is rare and a true blessing to have them, Nero isn’t happy. Why? Because they are not strong. Well, Virginia is, but she is female and he prefers his heirs to be males. Adrius is a weakling, not a warrior or a conquerer. Not the Iron Gold he wants. In his eyes, his youngest son is what Julian au Bellona or Sevro au Barca was considered. An imperfection of nature. Something which would not survive out there in a Society which corrupts Peerless Scareds. In Nero’s eyes, Adrius will be killed in the Passage. And if he passes that, then he won’t survive for much longer at The Institute.
And although Adrius’s drive to win anything at all, to be the absolute best at even small and insignifiant children’s games and his eventual downfall into madness comes from his father constantly abusing him (emotionally of course, psychologically surely, but we do not know if physically too) we cannot deny that he completely deserved to be executed.
I consider Adrius to be one of the best villians ever written. Hell, he can give The Joker a run for his money (or what that saying is like). But he completely deserves what comes for him at the end.
Adrius is not the only one abused by Nero. Mustang is too. Her relationship with her father is toxic for her. She was daddy’s girl, because she is the only reminder of that woman who meant the world to Nero. But she is not the son he lost. She is strong and intelligent, but she isn’t a he. She goes from ‘daughter’ to ‘whore’ in a matter of seconds when she seems useless to him. She is never enough for him. She is a Reformer. Nero wants to kill Reformers. If he wasn’t murdered and everything went according to Fitchner’s plan, he would have ordered every Reformer to be executed (althought they came to join their so called cause, and Mustang really belived her father would give them a chance and would actually agree to changes). He also counted on her love for Darrow to soothe her sorrows after the deed was done (he wanted Darrow as his heir marrying Mustang to strenghten the Augustus bloodline). Darrow says on multiple occasions that Nero was horrible, but he was her father after all, that is why she couldn’t forgive Adrius for killing him. For killing Claudius too.
Why Mustang did not end up like Adrius? She had the Telemanuses. Adrius felt alone and unloved after his mother died and maybe until Mustang pulled his feet to break his neck. And more importantly, he did not want to open up. Not even to Mustang. And besides, Nero kept them apart at all times…how could she have breached his walls?
Mustang made choices on her own. Even when they went against her father’s views. She owned them and never apologised for them. She chose to learn the political game from the very best and chose to be a Reformer and support causes like The Independence of the Rim and (i hope i wrote it so you can understand what I mean) intercolorist couples and their rights to reproduce.
She chose to use Cassius, she chose to betray the Sovereign, she chose to follow Darrow, she chose to bear his child and protect him no matter what and she chose to help Darrow any way she could to build a new world for thier half Gold half Red son to live in as peacefully as one can.
Adrius chose to survive by all means in the Institute. Anything to win. To prove his father that he is indeed the son he wanted. He chose to consume human flesh, he chose to kill anything standing in his way, he chose to put Octavia into a corner and make her do what no one ever dreamt of - step down and hand him willingly her sceptre - he chose to order his BoneRiders to lance the nukes on Luna, because if he couldn’t be Sovereign no one could. He chose to kill his father, because if he was willing to consider a Red his heir and true son instead of him, then he should die.
Now, Adrius is a problematic fave in my opinion, but what I love about him is that he is not a innocent cinnamon roll or shit like that. He actually deserves his ending.
(NO CHILD SHOULD BE ABUSED BY THEIR FATHER LIKE THAT, THAT HE DID NOT DESERVE THE ABUSE! HE NEEDED HELP TO COPE WITH LOSS NOT SELF WORTH ISSUES, FUCK YOU NERO!)
Adrius au Augustus, The Jackal, deserved to die the way he did for the horrible thing he did, because he wanted to do them, he chose to do them and he owned every single one of them.
But he didn’t deserve Nero au Augustus as a father. And neither did Mustang. But that is that kind of thing no one can control.
Sorry for the long post. Just needed to say this about the #favevillian .
germansingergirl
izzy806
blakekathryn
romaincrisis
theartofmadeline
