I was thinking abt Cater x Vil as one does, bc they're like my first ship ever on twst and I don't even remember what made me ship them (probably the aesthetics), but I love them so much anyways, and as much as I love angst, it seemed to me that Cater's depression is often the point of connection in fics and the whole story resolves around it. Or Vil punishing himself for being an asshole.
So, trying to think of other things to start the story it came to me that, basically, the solution is always to make Cater an artist. Whether is fashion, music, photography, anything, the point is always to make him have a way of artistic expression, because when you're always pretending to be someone you're not, then the true self behind the mask needs to express itself on some form. But then the question is, what if anything is enough, because that's usually it. Either you find purpose on art that consumes your sense of self and identity entirely (a bit like Vil if you ask me), or you're shallow and empty like a ghost haunting a memory of the person you used to be.
Ofc I need to read and reread a lot of stuff, but it always weirded me a lot that on book 5, Cater wasn't chosen to dance in the SDC, according to Vil bc he lacked passion even if he performed flawlessly. When they're literally searching for perfection. And that's because you can't have art without soul, without something you need to say even without words, and then I got to two conclusions. Either Cater doesn't really know who he is, and his performance is empty because it doesn't have any soul behind it, or is too scared to let it show and he's acting even when he should let his mask off, he doesn't allow himself to express his soul even through art.
But the thing is, what if the story is about finding that purpose? Not them bonding over an already shared interest and Vil slowly discovering Cater's actually pouring all his feelings onto his craft, and all that stuff, but rather him learning to find himself again with Vil's help. A bit like Mafuyu and Kanade bc I love niigo's story of them helping Mafuyu find herself through music.
But the question now is why is Vil even in the picture. And the answer is, obviously, Rook, who will find Cater's true beauty even behind his acting, bc that's why he's the Chasseur d'amour, art and all things beautiful. But that feels a bit too much like cheating so I have to give it more time and thought and everything. And probably read the vignettes. That's what I have for now.
Basically I'm trying to find the depth in an apparently shallow character that never lets his mask fall for long enough to let us actually see what's behind. That's the trick, it doesn't even matter if you know it's an act, as long as you don't see below the surface and know what's hiding down there, the mask still fulfills it's purpose.
