i wish VLR had more definitively addressed dio being taught shitty ideas about women instead of leaving it in the nebulous realm of "is it supposed to be his upbringing or do people just write men this way"

addressing how sexism is permeated is an alright story goal in itself but i feel like no fantasy/sci-fi game really commits to it so you get characters who are just sexist sometimes without the space for onscreen character development or at least calling out

dio being raised by a cult in the apocalypse & Thoroughly Deluded but also developing his own also fucked up, idealized ideas abt rebellion is probably the most interesting thing about him but... on surface level/in fandom sometimes it's like haha funny sexism

i only care bc dio is one of the most interesting characters in VLR to me, but i think it's so bizarre when ppl take ingrained idealization of cisheteronormativity/misogyny at face value instead of looking at growth being unlearning instead of giving into it in a different way