#ngnnn divorce...

[nibwhipdragon]

Hehe Caejose

I really can't tell if this was for the ask game or not lmao, I'll take it as an ask for the ask game in case though

I do ship the ship, if you've looked through my blog at all that's very apparent

I haven't finished writing it all yet but uhh. From what I have written so far it's going to be pretty long. I'm holding back so much to not talk about the whole divorce fic I have planned out for the two but I can't promise I can stop the Divorce Rant. It's all under the cut

Ok I've finished writing, took me around 2 hours of thought collecting and writing and boy is it a large chunk of writing. Enjoy.

1. What made you ship it?

Ok ok to put it in the most simple of contexts it was Breadcrust Crusaders that caused me to ship them. Yes, the fanfiction about McDonald's. That one.

With that aside, let me get into the real nitty gritty of this.

First of all, they're foils. They have enough similarities in what sort of characters they are, but they also have enough differences to make them truly work. Caesar prides himself on his heritage and family; Joseph doesn't, he cares about his family but he won't do things in the honour of his family name like Caesar would. Caesar had to look after all his siblings from an early age, and later survived on the streets in a gang (so he was possibly homeless at that point too?); Joseph was an only child that grew up with wealthy family members, possibly in a large house too (I cannot for the life of me remember if where Joseph lived is mentioned like that at all). Inferring from the material, Caesar's a "rise and grind" sort of person (he spent all those years on the street looking for his father to kill him. That's dedication. He was certainly on the grind), and of course, Joseph's very much not that (his most hated phrases are literally "hard work" and "work hard"). Caesar's a more serious person, Joseph's more laid back. The list can go on.

The similarity that truly makes them foils imo (excluding being hamon users obvs) is that they both came from "broken" homes. Caesar's father left his family at a young age, his mother taking the rest of the cash they had left and leaving (or it was another family member that did that? I know someone took the money and that Caesar didn't have a mother). Joseph's father was killed when he was a newborn, his mother having to leave him behind. Joseph grew up with nobody but his grandmother and a surrogate father of sorts to call family. Caesar grew up with nobody but his siblings (whose fates were not touched upon – they could've died for all we know) and eventually gang members to call a family. They both seem to have anger issues too (Caesar's first form of attack before getting trained by Lisa Lisa was hitting someone over the head with a crowbar, and Joseph somehow managed to get arrested 3 times in total before turning even 20, probably has to do with his whole thing of beating up cops) and I believe that the sort of childhood they both had caused/is linked to it, but that's a post for another day.

Their differences balance each other out – Caesar's there with his seriousness and his grind mindset (god I can't believe I'm using that phrase unironically) in order to push Joseph into action when needed, and Joseph's there with his more chill and lighthearted personality to get Caesar to actually relax for once when needed. Joseph has an education, whereas Caesar probably doesn't due to their respective childhoods. Caesar would be able to do more practical things such as cooking and cleaning, whereas Joseph probably doesn't know how to do all of that as he comes from a wealthy family and other people likely did it for him. They're like food (I apologise I feel as if I'm going to go a little insane now I'm comparing them to food). You know you can mix honey with spicy stuff to make really good sauces? Like the sweet and the spicy clash against each other because they're different and thus end up simultaneously balancing and bringing out their flavours more, making them better than how they would be separate? That's them. Not only do they balance each other out, but they fill the niche the other does not have, and if they'd had more time together in canon, I'm sure they'd have character development into more well-rounded people due to these differences. Caesar could teach Joseph life skills; Joseph could help Caesar with the education he wouldn't have been able to access.

Their similarities provide them with a sense of connection to one another. I'm not too sure how to explain it, but despite their "broken homes" being different, they're fundamentally the same, and if they'd had the chance to actually talk and tell each other about it in canon they would've had a "Oh shit your just like me fr" moment. To have the same sort of past grants you a sort of bond with the other person you can't get anywhere else, a sort of "you understand me like nobody else can" sort of thing. That bond is the foundation of the ship imo, with their personalities and differences being the extra stuff on top.

To put it simply, they fit together like lego, and boy, I love putting lego in my mouth.

2. What are your favourite things about the ship?

THE ANGST OH GOD THE ANGST...I like angst a normal amount. I think the caejose ship specifically is great for angst, because of what actually happens with Caesar's death. I feel neutral/vaguely like most other ships in the jjba fandom (Joseq has my heart though <3), probably because to me nothing feels as raw and genuine as the act Caesar did for Joseph. Like with Kakyoin his final act was for the whole remaining team and not Jotaro specifically, same with Abbacchio and Bucciarati (no hate on the ships for those though! If anyone comes across this and gives me shit for it I will literally eat your digestive tract). The fact Caesar put all of his hamon – his life energy, essentially his entire being – into that hamon bubble speaks volumes about their bond, their connection, and it makes the death so much angstier. Caesar wanted to protect Joseph so much that in his dying moments he created a protective casing made solely of materials from himself around Joseph's last hope of living, and GOD....I actually can't

The angst about the possible religious guilt Caesar would've had is great too (and also links to the death! Wowie!). Italy was a Catholic country at that time period and, well, it's the 1930s so

It's so incredibly fucked he gets crushed by a stone that's shaped like a cross. Like genuinely what the fuck (♥️). I don't think Araki ever explained why it was cross-shaped, but that's way too specific of a shape to just be brushed off, it probably has some narrative importance and idk if I'm correct but I'll sure take a shot at guessing! It's just. I feel like the rock being shaped like that is symbolic of Caesar being "crushed by the weight of his sins", his sins being loving Joseph. It happens almost immediately after he creates that blood bubble for Joseph, and that HURTS man. Gets crushed by the cross right after such an act of love it just feels like a fuck you and OUGH

The blood bubble in general actually. Let's not talk about the bandanna and such as I've already gone over Caesar giving literally almost every last piece of him in that one final gift.

The antidote ring. Oh, the antidote ring. First of all, it's a ring, so it's linked to marriage, and marriage is linked to love, so forth. BUT. It's Whammu's antidote ring specifically. It's the antidote for the Wedding Ring of Death around Joseph's heart. The heart. I am actually feeling tired eepy atm so I can't articulate on that more, maybe you can come to your own more detailed conclusion on that but AOUGH

Joseph also doesn't die after Caesar does! He has to live with the guilt of Caesar dying because of their argument that they never got to reconcile from! Waoh!!! That's angst you can develop on in a lot of ways! Love that!

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on the ship?

Ok most of my complaints mostly extend to the Classical Yaoi genre as a whole so I won't mention those. However I have seen some fanarts that just...make one of them thin as hell??? Like not even feminine (Where's my fem Joseph art at tho. Where's my massive tiddied babygirl at do I have to carry that entire genre by itself I'm bad at drawing), just thin. Of course I won't extend this sort of feeling towards artsyles that just don't translate beefiness well into it as that's understandable, as well as people starting to get into drawing as drawing muscles is pretty hard. But you can just tell when that sort of thing is a blatant choice, you know? Idk why, it just rubs me the wrong way. Especially with Joseph. Just. Bro it doesn't fit his character at all. Do you KNOW how scary really tall lanky white British boys can be??? Both thin or both beefy, one or the other, all or nothing

I also don't like how Joseph gets wooed/flustered over Caesar's flirting. I'm sorry but his flirting is shit it sounds like he's listing the most cliche romantic stuff from a textbook to those women. It might be the AAA battery within me speaking (aromanticism + asexuality + autism) but how the hell would anyone fall for his flirting?

"Your eyes are one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen" Where's the heart? Where's the soul? Where's the meaning? Can you truly show how much you love someone like that when it can be said for everyone else, a simple copy paste? Where's the intimacy? Where's the fucking love???

It's all so hollow and meaningless, and I'm sure Joseph would hate that sort of flirting. He'd probably take the piss out of Caesar doing it, if anything. He'd want something with substance, something that actually had meaning to it. As much as I do enjoy caejose complimenting/flirting with each other I feel like it almost all falls into that and I hate it. I want to see them do things that actually shows them caring about each other. Joseph trying his best to learn as much as he can about Italian culture and maybe a bit of Italian himself because of how much Caesar cares for his heritage. Caesar prompting Joseph to talk about his interests because he likes how passionate Joseph is about them. That sort of thing. Just something, anything that gives their relationship some meat, that makes it feel more real. Please.

This probably doesn't come as a shock but I want them to divorce at least once. I love divorce and because of the stuff above they work perfectly for it. I don't mind how they'd end up (remarry, stay divorced into joseq, remarry + caejoseq, stay divorced but still go into caejoseq via other means) I just need them to divorce so badly. I am. Wanting to talk about the planned caejose divorce fic so much but I won't I've held out this long I won't talk about caejose divorce

#ask game answers #jjba #joseph joestar #caesar anthonio zeppeli #caejose #Breadcrust Crusaders is the center of most things tbh #you know how I'm Like That towards Joseph? well guess what made me like that. just guess. #as for HOW Breadcrust Crusaders made me like caejose/made me like that towards Joseph #basically it was all through just sitting there and thinking abt the dynamic to write the ship easier #and for Joseph i just thought about his character a lil too long #and also all the stuff Joseph went through in Breadcrust. that too. #ngnnn divorce... #josephposting