#diplomator

And now I will spam with some "My Student Spirit" fanarts >:) Fan poster for 2nd season's 4 episode

where I tell you who he is (which is ironic because "who is Anton" is one of the oldest memes in the fandom).

Part 2 where I explain why exactly he is a tumblr sexyman (and he is one. no debates).

Now. You may have a reasonable question.

Who the fuck even is this guy?

What's his deal? Why should I care about him?

Diplomator is… not exactly a superhero, but he is certainly superhero-adjacent thematically. Let's call him "hero of the people". Quotation marks are important.

His whole deal is that every conflict can be solved with words. Including political conflicts and societal injustice. And of course, certain people didn't like that.

That's why he's in handcuffs in like half the pictures.

But why speaking out against government corruption specifically? You see, his dad is a corrupt cop politician. Very rich, very shady, very morally dubious.

Ignore the gay pining in the top part of the page, we'll get into it later. I want you to look at how small and uncomfortable he feels next to his father.

Diplomator's civilian identity is this fucking guy:

His name is Anton Zvezdochkin (Anthony Stellar in the official English dub, but we're not gonna call anyone by their English dub names because a dude born and raised in Russia cannot realistically be named Elijah, that's fucking goofy. Also it's pronounced Zvyozdochkin, but we russians do not respect the letter Ё, so we write it with Е instead, and that's why this transliteration looks more right).

He may look like your typical rich asshole from a straight romance movie of questionable quality, but don't be fooled, this is basically his Brucie Wayne persona. If Brucie Wayne and Tony Stark had a baby.

He's more than meets the eye. He's got nuance.

I feel like these pictures will tell you everything you need to know about him.

THIS is the person who grew up to be a man that hates cops and is running around Moscow in lipstick.

Yes, you read that right, his mask is drawn with lipstick. It even makes sense lore wise. It is illegal to cover the face during protests, but makeup is allowed, and a bright red stripe across the face is enough to throw off the facial recognition algorithms (at least before 2020, when the show takes place).

So the dad situation. It is a popular interpretation in the fandom that Anton's idea to create Diplomator is a logical continuation of his teenage rebellion phase. Which… makes sense when you think about it. He certainly didn't get his aversion to the way people use the power the system gives them out of thin air. He's seen this shit from the inside since childhood, and he didn't vibe with it.

But. He recognizes that he has a privilege in this system, and he's using it against the system that gave it to him.

Because of his dad's position in power, he had the get out of jail free card. So that's how Diplomator was able to do what he did and not die from "mysterious heart attack" after a year in prison.

But. You know who DID die due to mysterious circumstances? This guy!

The actual main character of the show, the spirit of my student himself, Olegsey Dushnov.

Yep. Anton is NOT the main character. He's honestly more the main character's love interest. It's basically if the dead wife from the flashbacks was the main character and the real hero.

I know, it doesn't look like it from all I've written here, but Anton really isn't the one the story is about.

Diplomator however…

Well, he's not Anton. Let's just say that.

"What does this even mean?!" you may ask. And I'll tell you.

Diplomator, at its core, is two gay people in a trench coat. No, seriously. It was a two people project. It wasn't planned this way from the start, but that's what it ended up being.

Anton is the body and heart, the one speaking at the center of the stage and leading people, and Olezha is the mind and soul, the one behind the scenes, calculating the risks and planning everything.

Without any one of them the existence of Diplomator is impossible. So if you don't like Diplomator, and you can't touch the son of an important government official…

We don't know if it's 100% true, because there'll be a third season next year, but for now it does look like Olegsey was killed because of his involvement with Diplomator.

And we know for a fact, that Anton's dad is covering up something and hiding the evidence.

Why am I telling you this? Well because now we can talk about his ✨grief✨.

You can probably imagine the levels of angst our fandom makes with this premise. Anyway. I don't want to spoil too much, so I'm gonna be vague.

This man is FLAWED. He's acting like a total asshole in his grief. Begs for forgiveness, then does something ten times worse.

He doesn't have a sense of identity or purpose in life. As one of my mutuals once said: the only thing he's good for is working with his mouth. Diplomator was a substitute for self-fulfillment. The outlet for everything he repressed. And with the death of Olezha he's grieving not only him, but also himself. And his own chances of "being a good person".

Anyway, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE SERIES (S2E5) UNDER THE CUT.