#custodisi

do you ever come up with a joke that you think is really funny but then about halfway you realize it’s beyond your ability to execute and not that funny after all but you’re already so far in you have to commit to the bit and finish it

Okay so this one is 110% focused on my OTP and NoTP and theories and head cannons I now have and have to adjust. Warning that I discuss Custodisi as a creepy character. Also this gets way way way too detail focused and there’s probably a lot of things I forgot while writing this, details I unconsciously cherry-picked to make my argument.

I kinda noticed that in some ways, Custodisi could be a foil for CG? Personality and story-wise they’re opposites:

Custodisi is almost never freaked out, no matter how bad things get (even when facing Cegoratch). Whereas CG- well...

There’s also their attitudes towards the horror of the world. Custodisi sees horrible things and although he calls people out on them, he doesn’t reject evil itself. He commits atrocities knowingly and willfully because he just doesn’t care. Contrast CG, whose attempts to improve the world kick-start the entire show, and whose belief in Emps has more to do with his faith that Emps is good than anything else. 

Both CG and Custodisi have the foresight and wisdom to understand evil in their own actions and in others. Unlike many characters they don’t delude themselves into thinking they’re acting for the benefit of the world (or the greater good some would say) or are justifiable. But their attitudes and resulting conclusions are polar opposites.

Both are fairly laid-back and willing to be led by others. However, where they recognize their leaders faults and how they draw the line is different

CG draws the line when he feels the consequences would be harmful for others or the rest of the world. He lets himself be thrown around and almost killed, but try to kill one’s own son and he’ll stand up and say no.

Custodisi draws the line when it suits him- when he has something to gain (such as being allowed to continue being naked). Even when calling out Emps about Uriah, he never showed any sign of actual disobedience beyond simply wanting to say what he had in mind

Also, when CG is defiant he only shows his defiance itself- he said ‘no’ and that’s that. At most he’ll discuss the details and facts of the issue at hand without cutting to the core of it. Custodisi, in our biggest examples of direct defiance that goes beyond petty exhibitionism and lust, goes on to explain why he’s saying what he is in full detail

Speaking of, CG can defy one order and still think the exact same of the person he’s arguing with- he does this with both Magnus and Emps, keeping his disagreement separate from his perception of them. Whereas Custodisi seems to actually respect the Emperor less and less each time he stands up to him, attributing his actions in The Last Church to flawed personality immediately. Perhaps this contrast is purely situational, but it’s still interesting that this is what the audience has gotten to see.

CG’s loyalty to Emps includes delusion and willing disbelief in his problems- albeit this aspect is slowly fading, as it does so his willingness to go behind Emps back increases. Custodisi sees and fully accepts Emps flaws, and his loyalty and willingness to obey isn’t changed in the slightest by this (though this might be because he doesn’t care about doing horrible things) (also note that not changing doesn’t mean he was always obeying- he still went around naked after all)

Their character development is both best shown through their willingness to defy Emps. However...

CG starts out unwilling to defy Emps at all but can clearly recognize the actions he disagrees with (even as he's in denial about them later) and slowly grows the will to disobey

Custodisi starts out fully willing to disobey Emps if and when it suits him, and slowly grows a more nuanced understanding of Emps faults and the actions he disagrees with

TL;DR: CG starts with comprehension and gains will, where Custodisi starts with will and gains comprehension

Both consider the emotional states of people around them when stressful situations arise even though their own emotions are running high, but in different ways

CG gets Boreale and Diomedes out of the room when he’s fighting with Magnus, but makes no attempt to comfort them

Custodisi comforts Whammudes when both are terrified by Cegoratch, but beyond emotional support he makes no attempt to make the situation any better or to do anything beyond emotional comfort

TL;DR: CG focuses on action correcting the situation when considering others feelings, while Custodisi focuses on emotional comfort

As Magnus’ “love interest” they’re pretty different:

Custodisi chases Magnus while Magnus pursues CG

Magnus and CG both help push the other towards the character development that they have in place and in many of my interpretations can’t grow close together until/unless they do said character development, while I think a genuine Custodisi/Magnus pairing would work pretty well even if all character development just stopped for both of them

The ways in which their respective character development as encouraged/assisted/pushed on by Magnus exists is parallel in it’s execution- both gain something that can or does help them stand up to Emps

CG gains more of a spine through calling out Magnus’ bullshittery- which we haven't seen come to Emps-related fruition yet but it does seem likely it will

Meanwhile Custodisi accepts and learns to recognize the sins of the Emperor. Most of this is through reading The Last Church but he mentions Magnus and the trial of Nikea specifically in his accusations

Speaking of, the character development that Magnus’ presence helps push CG and Custodisi towards parallels in how Magnus is present and plays an influence

In CG’s case it’s through Magnus’ mistakes, and his direct interactions traveling with CG

For Custodisi it’s the ways in which Magnus was wronged, and through observing his life as an outsider

In my more headcannon based world of TTtD, both CG and Custodisi start with purely lustful interest towards Magnus for his body. Custodisi falls in ‘love’ through observing Magnus’ past, and doesn’t develop any interpersonal relationship with Magnus prior to falling in love. CG meanwhile keeps the two separate for a long, long time, finding friendship and companionship in Magnus first, and from a narrative standpoint he’s kind of more attracted to ‘future’ Magnus in the sense that ‘future’ Magnus has to become reality before CG will be able to trust him with his heart (ie Magnus needs character development before CG can fall in love- again something I like in a fictional pairing that I can’t like in real life because fiction lets you orchestrate it so that character development can coincidentally work like that without any of the creepy aspects of one character changing solely for love or one character changing another into the kind of person they want to be with)

CG’s eventual attraction to Magnus builds in real-time from experiences and events they share, and is a result of their platonic relationship growing closer

Custodisi’s attraction to Magnus builds from his mental image of Magnus, and in his mind he slowly imagines a bond between them increasing in strength over time

Likewise in my headcannon interpretations of the characters, CG undergoes character development started by outside forces that Magnus contributes to by coincidence of personality types. Custodisi undergoes character development largely in reaction to his desire for Magnus

And on a 100% headcannon basis, I like to imagine both characters are Switches, both in terms of pitching and catching AND in terms of dom/sub. Both are, I imagine, are also fully willing to use sex for purely carnal pleasure and have done so

Custodisi has no sexual limits, isn’t bothered by immorality, and carnal pleasure is the end-game of his sexual goals.

ONE interpretation has him use sex without any acknowledgement of interpersonal bond-strengthening tied into it

SECOND interpretation has him use sex with bonds included, but sex is a required trait of all bonds. If he doesn’t want to screw you, you are a non-entity to him. Whether those bonds are brotherhood (other Custodes), servitude (Emps), superiority (implied to be CG), or ‘romance’ (Magnus) there’s no relationship at all unless there’s sex involved in some capacity

CG meanwhile has a firm basis of consent that’s important to him on both receiving and giving end, and he also uses sex also as thereputic activity- though that’s entirely separate from purely carnal sex.

CG’s behavior is the same, though the comparisons with Custodisi differ depending on my interpretation of Custodisi, so I’ll put both

ONE interpretation has CG also see sex as a bonding experience and a potential conduit for deeply personal relationships, as it was with Shadowsun

SECOND interpretation has CG hold sex as a potential aspect of interpersonal relationships, not a defining factor. Some relationships don’t need sex at all, of his some powerful bonds are asexual, and he can feel completely different about a person’s sexual appeal to him than he does to their personality (as with Magnus, and probably many of the people he’s slept with- perhaps even Shadowsun if they never did BDSM [as that would mean he trusted her with his heart and with his emotions and who he is, but they didn’t have and didn’t need a reflection of that trust to occur in the bedroom])

Of course there’s also just the fact that sex dominates Custodisi’s life in every or almost every aspect, whereas I imagine CG is actually freakier that Custodisi, but he keeps his sex life private

Also just to get this out of the way the entire next paragraph is a spoiler for my fanfic Three Times they Don’t so it’s behind the cut.