Obsessed with the idea of Winnie turning Vox into Proto Vox actually. Please expand upon this idea
It’s her (very counterintuitive) idea of “reconciliation.” Thalia and Buskin somehow managed to go 60 years in Hell without recognizing/noticing Vox, but now that the whole “Might of Lilith” fiasco has put him on their radar, Thalia finds herself longing for a do-over. She’ll never admit that she was wrong for turning on young Vox after his injury, but she still feels entitled to having him in her life (similar to how Vox feels entitled to keep his own children With Him rather than allowing them to seek redemption in Heaven or make their own way in Hell), soooo... convoluted scheme time! Vaughn may not be interested in reconciling with them right now, but once Thalia gains ownership of his soul and can prevent him from running away again or making calamari out of the two of them, he'll remember what a happy little family they used to be and see that Mother Knows Best after all. Besides, he's already destroyed his public standing and his relationship with his partners, so it's not like he'd be leaving anything important behind, right?
jtbc, vox’s response to this insanity is to sic shok.wav on his own mother the moment he’s back to normal
…okay, but if it HAD lasted more than ten minutes:
Thalia and Buskin act as the co-directors of their little cast of trapped souls. Using their contract strings, they’re able to control how their contractees move and what they say. Without their input, their victims just hang there, silent and motionless, fully conscious but trapped within their new, wooden shells.
When Thalia gains control over Vox, she doesn’t give him a chance to argue/fight back. Even as he’s absolutely boiling with rage, he’s helpless to do anything as his body is puppetted around the stage, cheerfully reciting the words that his mother wants to hear.
At first, it appears that Thalia has full control over everything Vox says and does. However, as his captivity stretches on, Vox makes two discoveries: one, that while he can’t control what he says, he still has some control over how he says it; and two, that Buskin has just as much control over him as Thalia does (even if he doesn’t use it very often), and has some real doubts about the efficacy/morality of this plan. If Val and Vel don’t rescue him first (although, given that this is happening not long after the S2 finale, Vox isn’t fully confident that they’re even searching for him), it looks as though Vox is going to have to manipulate his way out of this one.
Thalia, humming cheerfully as she sets down a plate of Vaughn’s favorite food in front of Vox’s limp, perpetually grinning body: 😊
Buskin, sitting across from Vox at the table: ………………………Winn—
Thalia, her mask flipping upside down in anger: THIS IS NORMAL!!!!!!
