Idealism vs. Cynicism - An Ace Trappola Rant
Overanalyzing my favorite son yet again.
Randomly thought about my "Ace is an artist" headcanon and was like "this man is the definition of a dreamer" and hear me out on that.
Ace is probably one of the most outwardly cynical character in all of Twisted Wonderland. Brutally honest, very aware of everyone's faults, and knows how inferior he is in terms of magical prowess compared to his friends (at least before he got his UM). He's painfully aware of how this world works and where he stands in it. He knows The Player is going to have to go home at some point and that one they do, he'll probably never see them again.
Even so, he still dreams of a possibility where they get to stay with him and the rest of Heartslabyul. And that is so interesting to me. Because normally this trope of "character A doesn't want character B to leave them" includes character B staying for good but that's not what happens. Ace's dream has The Player find a way to travel between worlds as they please, which is so not possible. Forgetting the shipping fan service element that was no doubt factored into the creation of Ace's dream, I can't help but mention the fact that his dream also includes Cater and Trey, who he knows are going to be leaving soon. It's not really brought up, but I think the fact that his upperclassmen are in the dream and not just Deuce and The Player makes it even more heartbreaking, as he doesn't want Cater and Trey to leave either. Obviously The Player is the center because he'll literally never see them again, but the addition of the upperclassmen just add to how idealistic his dream is.
And it's evident by how surprised everyone is that they were NOT expecting Ace's dream to cover such a serious and emotional topic such as the Prefect going home. Because even they know that The Player can't travel between worlds whenever they want, so surely Ace must know that too.
And Ace is very aware of this (as he out-logics Sebek in their argument that ends with the others agreeing that Sebek was in the wrong). Just like how he's very aware of how weak he is in offensive magic. Just like how he's aware of how all of his friends are slowly advancing and becoming more powerful without him. Just like how he's aware that if he were to fight anyone one on one, they'd wipe the floor with him. It's not his opinion. It's fact.
But clearly there's also this part of him that does dream and hope and wants to be more than he already is. He wants to be strong, he wants to fight, he wants to do all these things but is too self-aware of his own faults and weaknesses for his own good.
And the other thing about this hidden idealism is that it's strong. It took the physical force (because his none of them could out-logic Ace and get him to see reason that way) of Cater's clones beating him up to come to his senses. This is not to say that his dream was the hardest to deal with (not by a fucking long shot) but of the freshmen? The only one that could even compare was Jack's, and even then, once he realized he snapped out of it as opposed to Ace's dream where he willingly fought to stay. Because he wants his dream to be reality so badly. Because he'll have to go back to the misery that is him losing his closest friends.
Ace sees how the world could be but is all too aware of how the world is.
He's too scared to ever hope for more because if he does he'll just get hurt and he feels powerless to do anything but stand there and point out the obvious. His desires and wants that seem so easy for others around him to achieve conflicts with his cynicism and causes him to stay stagnant. And it's frustrating. It's frustrating to see what could be but be unable to achieve it.
His discovery of his UM feels like a turning point for him, as now he finally has a unique weapon (and pretty powerful one at that) that puts him on the same level as the rest of his peers. Even though he doesn't really seem confident that he'll be able to use it again when the time comes, and even though he (and the audience) don't really know how it works, he's got something valuable now. Something that could get him where he wants to go. Something that opens the door to so many possibilities for him.
And on the topic of him just brushing the discovery of his UM off, I think it's just that. It's the first time he's used it and he doesn't know what it actually does. He doesn't understand how valuable and FREAKING COOL his UM is because he doesn't know the intricacies and limitations of his spell. Can he steal someone's spell whenever he wants? Do they have to be using to spell for him to cast it? How many times can he use it? Can he use it on multiple spells at a time? It's why he doesn't make a big deal out of it and just deflects, because he can't dare to hope right now when everyone else is in pain and Riddle is unconscious.
I hope we get to see more of Ace's idealism and actually see him take risks for himself and his friends (emotionally, he's all down for risking his life lol).
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