“Sakaguchi Ango, Port Mafia’s intelligence agent,” I try getting into his frame of thinking by reciting his title. “A secretive, knowledgeable man. No one knows your true identity.” - Oda Sakunosuke
It's hard to divorce Ango the informant from Ango the individual because of how formative his career has been on him. However, for a guy who's lived a chunk of his life pretending to be someone he isn't, it's worthwhile to examine him in both lights.
Ango the Government (Elite) Informant
Throughout his entire career in espionage, Ango has consistently been involved in information brokering and intelligence gathering-- even when he isn't under government employment. This is an indication of the attitude that Ango has both on and off work: His meticulousness for detail, his dedication to work (three all nighters to finish a report on time, and he isn't even the procrastinating sort!), and most notably, his mental resilience. Odasaku remarks upon this himself:
"Of course, Ango has information on the mafia that is more precious than gold. To prevent the possibility of information being leaked by enemy interrogation, this responsibility must be given to someone who is unafraid of punishment and is mentally resilient."
Wealth, scandal and pleasure were never on his list of vices; even in an environment as highly corruptible as Port Mafia, he remained constantly diligent and sometimes, to the amusement of his friends, a constant (but efficient!) grump. That's probably how he ascended as quickly as he did through the ranks. He's good at what he does and despite the occasional grumbling, also has the self-confidence in his handiwork that helps foster others' trust in what he does.
There lies the oddity, though. Constantly described as someone unflappable, "scholarly" and serious, Ango nevertheless managed to successfully infiltrate into Mimic, a band of death-seeking violent militants that delighted in battle. For all that Mimic was, they were nonetheless loyal, choosing death over abandoning the brotherhood. How is it that someone as non-violent (and foreign, in both a literal and figurative sense) as Ango have managed to convince the close-knit Mimic to accept him as their brother-in-arms? It can only be surmised that Ango, grump and all, can actually be fairly charismatic when he wishes to be. Port Mafia may have been interested in picking his mind (to some extent, Mimic was too), but to have appealed to such hardened individuals-- Ango must have truly had a silver tongue.
But if Ango is as charismatic as he (could) have been, why doesn't he attempt to be more sociable within the structures he's infiltrating? Partially is his own fail-safe mechanism, but as they always say: The best lies are always those with a little bit of truth in them.
Ango the Individual
Getting glimpses of Ango's actual impressions of things is a fairly rare occurence. It's not because he doesn't have any, mind you, but mostly because he's become pretty adept at suppressing his own thought processes to defer to those expected of him. If the government tells him that he'll have to sell out one of his (criminal) comrades, for example, Ango would have doubts but do it nonetheless. But it's in these pocket moments of individual free will (and of such, doubt) that Ango's true personality shines through.
Take, for example, how he acts when he's drinking with Odasaku and Dazai back when they were all still part of Port Mafia. Ango is prickly and probably the shining paragon of sarcasm, but there's something genuine about that attitude, of how he's never particularly spiteful despite the withering remarks. He even cracks jokes -- something entirely unexpected for such a serious man of his stature. It's a far throw from the seemingly overconfident Ango who pushed people and the idea of friendship away at the start, who would rather have Odasaku and Dazai stand far away from him while conversing with him.
Ango, for the lack of a better term, mellows upon forming bonds. Odasaku reminisces about the trio's friendship as thus:
"It’s as though the hierarchy at work doesn’t exist and we are just drinking and chatting together. About things that happen on the street, alcohol, people we’ve met; there are no topics we are particularly passionate to share between us. Even so, we can talk endlessly without stopping about even the small things. Like soldiers that meet on the desert battlefield serendipitously, encircling the campfire, we quietly carry certain things forward, quietly drinking, enjoying the insignificant times spent together."
Odasaku is hardly one to look at memories through rose-tinted glasses; he's pragmatic and for him to speak so highly of their friendship belies how close the trio were. Considering his position as a triple agent, such close camaraderie would be a highly dangerous thing for Ango; even if it is assumed that he could possibly talk his way into becoming friends (with one of the youngest prodigies in Port Mafia, nonetheless), the fact remains that he chose not to do so and was practically bullied into befriending them. Perhaps in a time where he kept having to keep things more cloak than dagger, having people whom he didn't need to try so hard to appeal to seemed immensely relieving. Even if they don't know each other's backstories (or perhaps, it's because they don't know each other's stories), they are oddly close friends.
But that's exactly when his priorities start to go askew. Ango as the government informant makes the call to poison Odasaku so that his continued existence isn't revealed to Mimic. These are where his priorities are meant to be. But barely 24 hours later, he hightails it to the bar that the trio (i.e. Odasaku, Dazai, Ango) frequents in a desperate attempt to salvage the relationship -- and damningly, reveals crucial info about Mimic's leader to the other two. It's a ridiculously high-stakes gamble: This meeting could've been discovered by his superiors, or Dazai could've called for backup to eliminate a confirmed Port Mafia spy. There was no reason for him to have been able to walk away alive from that, and it's ridiculously telling that a man as meticulous about plans and details as Ango would've left such a gaping hole in his plans. And his reasons for the reveal:
"Dazai, Odasaku-san, I am the same as everyone. As a member of an underground organisation that I cannot disclose, as an ability user who arrests ability users, I have always buried myself in the dark corner of the government. I am a person who can never live a life walking the path of light.” Ango says, looking at us. “Someday, when the time changes, when the Special Ability Department and the mafia’s structures change, when we are in positions of greater freedom - can we come back here to drink?"
It rounds out and confirms the image of Ango as a sympathiser, a sentimentalist. He's hardened by his experiences, but not enough that he won't offer up his life in favour of his friendship. Granted, he does lose the friendship in the end (Odasaku dies, Dazai swears him off as an enemy), but he keeps going back to it. He clears Dazai's ledger when Dazai wants to move to the Armed Detective Agency. He warns Dazai about the Guild's diplomatic immunity and Dazai follows up by breaking Ango's airbag just when a car crashes into theirs. Persistence, despite constantly being met by animosity.
If we round everything up, an image emerges: Of a highly efficient man who's bathed in crime for a good half of his life. But also a lonely man who craves friendship - not for popularity's sake, but for companionship and to feel a little more human. That's probably not all Ango is, but it makes up a huge part of him.
AU History: By all means and fancies, there was no reason for Ango Sakaguchi to enter the intelligence business.
Born to good, honest merchant parents on Leith, he received a good education of which he displayed an aptitude, in mathematics and economics. Taking over the family business would've been a logical progression for such a methodical person, but Ango would instead go on to join the Company. Too young to join the machinations of the Company's hulking finance divisions, he was offered - and accepted - a role in Intel instead.
The next few years would prove to be challenging...and rewarding. Investment from beyond the Quad was flowing in, bringing with it both fresh and weathered faces of criminal activity. It was a boom - one that the Company would be interested in sustaining, assuming that the easily volatile conditions were kept under control. Ango was to be a piece in this. He started off being placed in a minor criminal ring distantly linked to the Company's less...savoury activities, working as one of their hacking grunts. He rose quickly through the ranks, graduating out of commonplace cyberhacking to more nitty-gritty information brokering.
But that wasn't enough. It wasn't reactivity that the Company needed, it was proactivity. Proactivity in gauging where the dice would land, where the business would flow. Small fry - such as the group that Ango was part of - had absolutely no clout. And so, Ango was moved closer to the other side of the board: To the Mafia.
Operating several star clusters away, the Mafia controlled (and is still controlling) a large share of criminal activity within several star clusters. The J star cluster has been mostly free of their influence due to the overwhelming presence of the Company, though with investments starting to flow in, it was regarded as a sphere of opportunity.
To gain the Mafia's attention in the shortest time possible, Ango allied himself with a separatist division within his current group. They conspired to break into one of the highly secured vaults owned by the Mafia -- a task made only possible by Ango's numerous contacts and his background in cyberhacking. They succeeded in breaking in and spiriting away several valuables but that didn't last for long.
The Mafia placed bounties of the heads of all those involved in the heist and picked them off one by one. Most didn't get happy endings -- or rather, most got an end, period. Ango went on the run, utilising the Mafia's rather unreliable communication systems to keep them off his trail. It was a costly gamble that could have ended with him dead in a ditch of a remote planet somewhere. However, upon being cornered, Ango was instead given an offer: Work for the Mafia, or meet his end, like the rest of his cohorts.
He took the offer.
Within the next few years, he would ascend the Mafia corporate ladder, going from a lowly accountant to - at his highest - the Mafia's lead intel officer. All significant business negotiations had to pass through him, and only few could rival his memory for the names of all those under Mafia payroll. All this info would be transmitted back to the Company, but if they intended to act upon this goldmine of information, they made no indication of it.
At least, not till Mimic entered the picture.
Ango may have been the main intel officer for Port Mafia but he certainly wasn't the only one. News of Ango's double timing reached Mafia's leader and instead of dismissing him bloodily, they instructed him to instead instigate the entrance of Mimic, a violent mercenary group from a neighbouring planetary system, into the Mafia's territory. With no choice but to obey, he complied. The resulting blowout led to the start of a bloody conflict between the two sides.
(Though-- despite what it may have sounded like, the Mafia had solid non-Ango reasons for bringing Mimic into their stronghold. If required to expand upon this, I can provide the info.)
Sensing the danger in the situation, the Company arranged a hasty extraction for him, but the Mafia wasn't going to let their bargaining chip escape without capitalising on him. A trade agreement was forged, of which one of the conditions was for the Company to give priority to Mafia-allied businesses when dealing with firearms and cybernetics within Mafia territories. In return, the Mafia would allow the Company to conduct trade unhindered within their areas of influence.
Upon his return to the Quad, Ango was promoted to the role of Senior Intelligence Officer, and essentially benched from field duties to keep him away from the public. A necessary move considering how safety and how widely known his face was at one point -- but one that he finds somewhat relieving nonetheless.
no subject
It's hard to divorce Ango the informant from Ango the individual because of how formative his career has been on him. However, for a guy who's lived a chunk of his life pretending to be someone he isn't, it's worthwhile to examine him in both lights.
Ango the Government (Elite) Informant
Throughout his entire career in espionage, Ango has consistently been involved in information brokering and intelligence gathering-- even when he isn't under government employment. This is an indication of the attitude that Ango has both on and off work: His meticulousness for detail, his dedication to work (three all nighters to finish a report on time, and he isn't even the procrastinating sort!), and most notably, his mental resilience. Odasaku remarks upon this himself:
Wealth, scandal and pleasure were never on his list of vices; even in an environment as highly corruptible as Port Mafia, he remained constantly diligent and sometimes, to the amusement of his friends, a constant (but efficient!) grump. That's probably how he ascended as quickly as he did through the ranks. He's good at what he does and despite the occasional grumbling, also has the self-confidence in his handiwork that helps foster others' trust in what he does.
There lies the oddity, though. Constantly described as someone unflappable, "scholarly" and serious, Ango nevertheless managed to successfully infiltrate into Mimic, a band of death-seeking violent militants that delighted in battle. For all that Mimic was, they were nonetheless loyal, choosing death over abandoning the brotherhood. How is it that someone as non-violent (and foreign, in both a literal and figurative sense) as Ango have managed to convince the close-knit Mimic to accept him as their brother-in-arms? It can only be surmised that Ango, grump and all, can actually be fairly charismatic when he wishes to be. Port Mafia may have been interested in picking his mind (to some extent, Mimic was too), but to have appealed to such hardened individuals-- Ango must have truly had a silver tongue.
But if Ango is as charismatic as he (could) have been, why doesn't he attempt to be more sociable within the structures he's infiltrating? Partially is his own fail-safe mechanism, but as they always say: The best lies are always those with a little bit of truth in them.
Ango the Individual
Getting glimpses of Ango's actual impressions of things is a fairly rare occurence. It's not because he doesn't have any, mind you, but mostly because he's become pretty adept at suppressing his own thought processes to defer to those expected of him. If the government tells him that he'll have to sell out one of his (criminal) comrades, for example, Ango would have doubts but do it nonetheless. But it's in these pocket moments of individual free will (and of such, doubt) that Ango's true personality shines through.
Take, for example, how he acts when he's drinking with Odasaku and Dazai back when they were all still part of Port Mafia. Ango is prickly and probably the shining paragon of sarcasm, but there's something genuine about that attitude, of how he's never particularly spiteful despite the withering remarks. He even cracks jokes -- something entirely unexpected for such a serious man of his stature. It's a far throw from the seemingly overconfident Ango who pushed people and the idea of friendship away at the start, who would rather have Odasaku and Dazai stand far away from him while conversing with him.
Ango, for the lack of a better term, mellows upon forming bonds. Odasaku reminisces about the trio's friendship as thus:
Odasaku is hardly one to look at memories through rose-tinted glasses; he's pragmatic and for him to speak so highly of their friendship belies how close the trio were. Considering his position as a triple agent, such close camaraderie would be a highly dangerous thing for Ango; even if it is assumed that he could possibly talk his way into becoming friends (with one of the youngest prodigies in Port Mafia, nonetheless), the fact remains that he chose not to do so and was practically bullied into befriending them. Perhaps in a time where he kept having to keep things more cloak than dagger, having people whom he didn't need to try so hard to appeal to seemed immensely relieving. Even if they don't know each other's backstories (or perhaps, it's because they don't know each other's stories), they are oddly close friends.
But that's exactly when his priorities start to go askew. Ango as the government informant makes the call to poison Odasaku so that his continued existence isn't revealed to Mimic. These are where his priorities are meant to be. But barely 24 hours later, he hightails it to the bar that the trio (i.e. Odasaku, Dazai, Ango) frequents in a desperate attempt to salvage the relationship -- and damningly, reveals crucial info about Mimic's leader to the other two. It's a ridiculously high-stakes gamble: This meeting could've been discovered by his superiors, or Dazai could've called for backup to eliminate a confirmed Port Mafia spy. There was no reason for him to have been able to walk away alive from that, and it's ridiculously telling that a man as meticulous about plans and details as Ango would've left such a gaping hole in his plans. And his reasons for the reveal:
It rounds out and confirms the image of Ango as a sympathiser, a sentimentalist. He's hardened by his experiences, but not enough that he won't offer up his life in favour of his friendship. Granted, he does lose the friendship in the end (Odasaku dies, Dazai swears him off as an enemy), but he keeps going back to it. He clears Dazai's ledger when Dazai wants to move to the Armed Detective Agency. He warns Dazai about the Guild's diplomatic immunity and Dazai follows up by breaking Ango's airbag just when a car crashes into theirs. Persistence, despite constantly being met by animosity.
If we round everything up, an image emerges: Of a highly efficient man who's bathed in crime for a good half of his life. But also a lonely man who craves friendship - not for popularity's sake, but for companionship and to feel a little more human. That's probably not all Ango is, but it makes up a huge part of him.
AU History:
By all means and fancies, there was no reason for Ango Sakaguchi to enter the intelligence business.
Born to good, honest merchant parents on Leith, he received a good education of which he displayed an aptitude, in mathematics and economics. Taking over the family business would've been a logical progression for such a methodical person, but Ango would instead go on to join the Company. Too young to join the machinations of the Company's hulking finance divisions, he was offered - and accepted - a role in Intel instead.
The next few years would prove to be challenging...and rewarding. Investment from beyond the Quad was flowing in, bringing with it both fresh and weathered faces of criminal activity. It was a boom - one that the Company would be interested in sustaining, assuming that the easily volatile conditions were kept under control. Ango was to be a piece in this. He started off being placed in a minor criminal ring distantly linked to the Company's less...savoury activities, working as one of their hacking grunts. He rose quickly through the ranks, graduating out of commonplace cyberhacking to more nitty-gritty information brokering.
But that wasn't enough. It wasn't reactivity that the Company needed, it was proactivity. Proactivity in gauging where the dice would land, where the business would flow. Small fry - such as the group that Ango was part of - had absolutely no clout. And so, Ango was moved closer to the other side of the board: To the Mafia.
Operating several star clusters away, the Mafia controlled (and is still controlling) a large share of criminal activity within several star clusters. The J star cluster has been mostly free of their influence due to the overwhelming presence of the Company, though with investments starting to flow in, it was regarded as a sphere of opportunity.
To gain the Mafia's attention in the shortest time possible, Ango allied himself with a separatist division within his current group. They conspired to break into one of the highly secured vaults owned by the Mafia -- a task made only possible by Ango's numerous contacts and his background in cyberhacking. They succeeded in breaking in and spiriting away several valuables but that didn't last for long.
The Mafia placed bounties of the heads of all those involved in the heist and picked them off one by one. Most didn't get happy endings -- or rather, most got an end, period. Ango went on the run, utilising the Mafia's rather unreliable communication systems to keep them off his trail. It was a costly gamble that could have ended with him dead in a ditch of a remote planet somewhere. However, upon being cornered, Ango was instead given an offer: Work for the Mafia, or meet his end, like the rest of his cohorts.
He took the offer.
Within the next few years, he would ascend the Mafia corporate ladder, going from a lowly accountant to - at his highest - the Mafia's lead intel officer. All significant business negotiations had to pass through him, and only few could rival his memory for the names of all those under Mafia payroll. All this info would be transmitted back to the Company, but if they intended to act upon this goldmine of information, they made no indication of it.
At least, not till Mimic entered the picture.
Ango may have been the main intel officer for Port Mafia but he certainly wasn't the only one. News of Ango's double timing reached Mafia's leader and instead of dismissing him bloodily, they instructed him to instead instigate the entrance of Mimic, a violent mercenary group from a neighbouring planetary system, into the Mafia's territory. With no choice but to obey, he complied. The resulting blowout led to the start of a bloody conflict between the two sides.
(Though-- despite what it may have sounded like, the Mafia had solid non-Ango reasons for bringing Mimic into their stronghold. If required to expand upon this, I can provide the info.)
Sensing the danger in the situation, the Company arranged a hasty extraction for him, but the Mafia wasn't going to let their bargaining chip escape without capitalising on him. A trade agreement was forged, of which one of the conditions was for the Company to give priority to Mafia-allied businesses when dealing with firearms and cybernetics within Mafia territories. In return, the Mafia would allow the Company to conduct trade unhindered within their areas of influence.
Upon his return to the Quad, Ango was promoted to the role of Senior Intelligence Officer, and essentially benched from field duties to keep him away from the public. A necessary move considering how safety and how widely known his face was at one point -- but one that he finds somewhat relieving nonetheless.