Beating a Dead Horse - Another Angel Dust Study
Thinking about Angel Dust and Valentino's arrangement. Angel yearns to be desired, to be good at something that garners admiration and attention. Angel seems to place his self-worth in how well he can please, how well he can follow orders, and not be perceived as a screw-up. Always subjected to scrutiny as a child can do that to you. At least, that's where I believe he's coming from without knowledge of his actual backstory.
Just dropping into hell, he'd rather find a way to have fun. Expressing his sexuality, since he was unable to do so while living, seems to be his biggest justification for his lifestyle. He lives as though he was deprived of that when he was alive, needing to begin anew away from the oppressive forces that pushed him to the brink.
There's nothing new about his [speculated] pre-established motivations, but I'm thinking more of his drive for sucess. Angel is a well-known porn star, Valentino's most valuable asset. Angel is the poster boy for Valentino's studio. As a former mafioso in a non-accepting time, known as a failure to the rest of his peers, harassed relentlessly until he overdosed, he was definitely engulfed in his family's shadow. Within a powerful family, he was seen as a mistake, a stain they couldn't wash out. He didn't have a place there.
Competing with family for praise and attention he needed to find elsewhere with the drugs, the partying, the secrets. He needed to escape the stress of being his family's punching bag. Born into a family with almost unlimited resources, he probably found ways to use his status to leverage those who didn't know what his family truly thought of him. He may have had loads of opportunities to maneuver.
In death, that financial and social advantage he exploited became a need. With Valentino, he would have the power and backing to get what he wanted.
When Angel had those rose-tinted glasses on during the beginnings of his and Valentino's arrangement, he wasn't concerned. His needs were met, he was obedient, he felt as if he had found meaning in romantic gestures and Cheshire-like smiles. Angel didn't consider the possibility of being restricted or controlled. The manipulative tactics set in. Isolation, gaslighting, taking control of his autonomy financially, physically, and mentally. Angel loses the concept of having a choice in what occurs next. He struggles to recover. He begins to fight inward, blames himself for the rejection, and assumes he was the one who had changed.
Angel firmly believed he was the reason Valentino's attitude took a turn. It conditioned him to become the perfect puppet, easily distracted by nice gestures in the face of desired behavior. Kept compliant with drugs and luxuries, all for complete obedience.
While he is giving up control it allows him an escape from himself. He was still receiving the same things, he just had rules to follow. He had to earn his desires.
With all of that truama compounding in his brain, the deal continued. Angel had trusted Valentino, so it was a no-brainer he agreed to whatever Valentino desired during studio hours. Angel was his star, he believed he would be treated as such. That changed with the contract that pledged his undying loyalty. Not having a way out paved the way for abuse.
Valentino's psychopathy made Angel into an object, a thing to be controlled. He cared more for the money he could make off of his vulnerabilities, how easy it would be to manipulate a heart that desires desire. That couldn't live without another second of praise, that would withstand any abuse, mental or physical, just to get a taste of affection.
Valentino is his prison, one Angel couldn't escape. That realization broke him, he began to lash out, plummet into a drug dependency. Valentino nipped that in the bud during studio hours, the abuse Angel had to endure excruciating. Angel was isolated from Valentino's employ, his favorite little secret as he was forced into rooms and cornered for Valentino to take his anger out on.
Currently, Angel is beginning to change after being separated from that toxic environment for a little while. Previously, he was living with Valentino, always under his watchful eye , given the illusion of choice within the terms of his contract. Still unable to make money, struggling financially unless he moved back in with Valentino, Angel is forced to find cheaper alternatives.
Thinking about Angel Dust and Valentino's arrangement. Angel yearns to be desired, to be good at something that garners admiration and attention. Angel seems to place his self-worth in how well he can please, how well he can follow orders, and not be perceived as a screw-up. Always being subjected to scrutiny as a child can do that to you. At least, that's where he's coming from without knowledge of his actual backstory.
Just dropping into hell, he'd rather find a way to have fun. Expressing his sexuality, since he was unable to do so while living, seems to be his biggest justification for his lifestyle. He lives as though he were deprived of that when he was alive, needing to begin anew away from the oppressive forces that pushed him to the brink.
There's nothing new about his [speculated] pre-established motivations, but I'm thinking more of his drive for success. Angel is a well-known porn star, Valentino's most valuable asset. Angel is the poster boy for Valentino's studio. As a former mafioso in a non-accepting time, known as a failure to the rest of his peers, harassed relentlessly until he overdosed, he was definitely engulfed in his family's shadow. Within a powerful family, he was seen as a mistake, a stain they couldn't wash out. He didn't have a place there.
Competing with family for praise and attention, he needed to find elsewhere with the drugs, the partying, the secrets. He needed to escape the stress of being his family's punching bag. Born into a family with almost unlimited resources, he probably found ways to use his status to leverage those who didn't know what his family truly thought of him. He may have had loads of opportunities to maneuver.
In death, that financial and social advantage he exploited became a need. With Valentino, he would have the power and backing to get what he wanted.
When Angel had those rose-tinted glasses on during the beginnings of his and Valentino's arrangement, he wasn't concerned. His needs were met, he was obedient, he felt as if he had found meaning in romantic gestures and Cheshire-like smiles. Angel didn't consider the possibility of being restricted or controlled. The manipulative tactics set in. Isolation, gaslighting, and taking control of his autonomy financially, physically, and mentally. Angel loses the concept of having a choice in what occurs next. He struggles to recover. He begins to fight inward, blames himself for the rejection, and assumes he was the one who had changed.
Angel firmly believed he was the reason Valentino's attitude took a turn. It conditioned him to become the perfect puppet, easily distracted by nice gestures in the face of desired behavior. Kept compliant with drugs and luxuries, all for complete obedience.
While he is giving up control, it allows him an escape from himself. He was still receiving the same things, but he just had rules to follow. He had to earn his desires.
With all of that trauma compounding in his brain, the deal continued. Angel had trusted Valentino, so it was a no-brainer that he agreed to whatever Valentino desired during studio hours. Angel was his star; he believed he would be treated as such. That changed with the contract that pledged his undying loyalty. Not having a way out paved the way for abuse.
Valentino's psychopathy made Angel into an object, a thing to be controlled. He cared more for the money he could make off of his vulnerabilities, how easy it would be to manipulate a heart that desires desire. That couldn't live without another second of praise, that would withstand any abuse, mental or physical, just to get a taste of affection.
Valentino is his prison, one Angel couldn't escape. That realization broke him, and he began to lash out, plummeting into a drug dependency. Valentino nipped that in the bud during studio hours; the abuse Angel had to endure was excruciating. Angel was isolated from Valentino's employ, his favorite little secret, as he was forced into rooms and cornered for Valentino to take his anger out on.
Currently, Angel is beginning to change after being separated from that toxic environment for a little while. Previously, he was living with Valentino, always under his watchful eye, given the illusion of choice within the terms of his contract. Still unable to make money, struggling financially unless he moved back in with Valentino, Angel is forced to find cheaper alternatives.
Resulting in his current arc with the hotel, finally learning who he is with a support system he has lacked. His freedom from Valentino will be a sight to behold when it does occur on the show, and I hope it results in the best possible conclusion for Angel Dust, betrayed in life and his afterlife.