i know its been said before but the similarities between dion's arc and joshua's arc, especially where their attendants are concerned, is really interesting. they both essentially let go of/gently dismiss their attendants by the end of the story, as they can go no further with their respective charges. it's also really interesting that where joshua kind of rebuffs jote's affections, dion kind of leaned into terence for a time, maybe trying to fool himself a bit. but the end result is sort of the same: they both realize they can't/don't want to lean so heavily on a person who doesn't view them as an equal, but rather as some sort of superior. especially where jote is concerned i feel like joshua has had enough of people mothering him and trying to keep him out of harm's way. considering his childhood i wouldn't be surprised if he secretly held a liiiiittle bit of resentment towards the undying generally, who maybe offered him more freedom than anabella but also still treat him as an object to be coveted as opposed to a real person. it's really wild to me that he went straight from the clutches of one bloodline purist into the hands of, yknow, MANY bloodline purists lol. because that is what the undying are. they're literally 'phoenix placeholders' basically. its nuts. anyway.