rowenathewitch

[clagri84]

Fic: A smile is a valuable tool - Chapter 3

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

It's Valentine's day and Alastor and Charlie have a pleasant date together.

...or at least that's what Al would have liked.

This chapter is sexy and I hope it's spicy enough for Erika XD (do you know that Erika, Charlie's VA, has admitted to reading spicy charlastor fics?)

[clagri84]

My Hazbin s2 bingo card

Just posting it here so I can come back and count the points after s2 :D

[clagri84]

Fic: A smile is a valuable tool - Chapter 2

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

I made a new update to my fic 'A smile is a valuable tool'. Charlie wants ANSWERS, but Alastor has other plans. (Hoping to finish most of this fic before s2 comes out...)

[dreamwreaver]

I'm the one who sent the last ask about feeling depressed from the toxicity I've encountered. thank you for the encouraging words, I sent that at a time it was feeling like everyone was against me in the moment

I agree whille, it's a nice thought, I wouldn't mind if Charlastor became canon in anyway-- i would even be happy if it was friends, queer platonic romantic or something. The fandom as it is now makes it so hard to like something you find comfort in, if it's not m/m (f/f is at a low point.). Even Charlie gets side shafted by the fandom as not important for Radiostatic or RadioApple in most cases. I don't even believe Chaggie shippers care for Charlie like that either (at least some I've encountered)

I think the most weirdest I've seen during the tiktok clip were people claiming they were going to off themselves if Charlastor became canon, why would they do that?? That's so horrible

Covid19 really brought out these insane people and now being in most fandoms feel so tiring from the toxic ship behavior

My response to the people threatening that is going to sound callous but honestly? I don't care. Like if someone's mental health is going to be affected by a fictional relationship happening that much there's more issues there than they're saying. But I also say the same of anyone who can look at Charlie and alastor's relationship and say he definitely sees her as a daughter.

(Tbh, I get concerned with a lot of dynamics people place that label on because if a relative acted like half of them do around their female friends to me my parents would have been in jail for murder)

Like, your mental health should not be entirely dependent on the possibility of a ship you either like or dislike happening. Do I like charlastor and would it be amazing for me if it became canon? Yes. Am I going to let whether or not it becomes canon affect my enjoyment of the show as a whole or my mental health? No.

Speaking of random and toxic af behavior, anyone else see Amir trolling the fans (as usual) with a new favorite ship tease, and someone legitimately said "as long as it's not charlastor I'll allow it" like what? Who are you to tell the guy who WORKS ON THE PROJECT WHAT HE IS ALLOWED TO SHIP OR NOT? Amir is a grown ass man and does not need some rando on the internet's permission to have fun.

Actually, I'm gonna put the screenshot in because it's important context:

I wish people like that weren't in fandom, but it's gonna take another subculture gaining traction for the normies to leave. And I hate that I'm looking forward to that day, but at least there'll be peace. It happened after thirty years with the Beetlejuice sequel, it can happen here too

[clagri84]

Alastor and Jafar: a comparison

In a recent panel, Amir finally admitted that Jafar was an inspiration for him when portraying Alastor. This came as no surprise to those who had already noticed!

Let's revisit the similarities between them in Season 1, especially between Charlie/Alastor and Jafar/Jasmine.

Thank you @rosegalaxy00 on twitter for the screenshot! Here is the moment on the Animate!Orlando panel in which Amir admits that he channels Jafar while playing Alastor.

This only confirms what many fans had already noticed: that the show is heavily borrowing from Jafar ( and the Aladdin movie in general ) for the characterization of Alastor, and partially also for Charlie. Let’s list all the similarities.

APPEARANCE

Two tall, slim men with a feminine appearance who have a staff as their main source of power. Pretty self-explanatory.

Some Charlastor shots are almost redraws of Jafar/Jasmine ones

During the deal scene in Hazbin Hotel, there are shots that appear to be directly inspired by Jafar/Jasmine scenes:

Even the choreography of Jafar/Jasmine scenes seems to be replicated.

Here, Jasmine confronts Jafar; he walks away from her, pretending to think, then returns with a different expression and touches her. The scene with Charlie and Alastor mirrors this almost exactly.

Alastor and Jafar: The Same Flavor of Flirting

Both characters have a flirting style that involves talking about completely unrelated things with their respective princesses while touching them inappropriately. (For example, in my screenshots, Jafar is apparently just trying to convince Jasmine that he killed Aladdin, while Alastor is simply teaching Charlie that smiling is a valuable tool. The fact that both of them happen to be hugging their princesses is, of course, a total coincidence, trust me :D )

They are both trying to get in their good graces without admitting aloud that they are interested. (Jafar finally reveals his interest to her in the third act of the movie, but Hazbin Hotel is not yet complete, so we cannot make that comparison.)

That's why, as a kid, the Jafar/Jasmine dynamic flew completely over my head while watching Aladdin. I thought Jafar’s desire to marry Jasmine and his flirtation were simply part of his evil plan to become sultan. However, he still wants Jasmine even after becoming sultan, indicating that marrying her was a separate goal.

This is similar to the mistake the fandom is making with Alastor: thinking that just because he needs something from the Morningstars (whatever that may be), all that flirting is just part of his evil agenda. But what if getting Charlie's attention is a completely separate goal?

Charlie and Jasmine

Charlie and Jasmine have the same hairstyle (!!!) and both have a short, white-clad father who is kinda useless as a parent (!!!). 

But the similarities end here, not only because Jasmine despises Jafar while Charlie considers Alastor as a very strange friend. Jasmine has a complete rejection for authority, especially male authority, whereas Charlie has lacked structure throughout her life, is unsure of herself and her project, and seeks guidance wherever she can. 

Alastor’s offers of help and guidance are accepted at face value and rewarded with kindness. Whether this will prove to be a bad decision for Charlie in the long run or her kindness will win him over in time remains to be seen.   Interestingly, it’s very easy to notice that “Hell’s Greatest Dad” was inspired by “Friend Like Me”. This means Lucifer and Alastor don’t just borrow traits from the Sultan and Jafar, they also have elements of the Genie. Which makes Charlie both Jasmine and Aladdin! (In case anyone was wondering who Aladdin is in all of this…) She’s the protagonist, and both of them are trying to impress her with their phenomenal cosmic powers.

Similar dialogues

Jafar asks Aladdin ‘Do we have a deal?’ when they are stuck together in the prison. Another instance in which Charlie takes the part of Aladdin instead of Jasmine.

The differences between the two men

The authors might have taken some inspiration from Jafar while writing Alastor, but the two characters are not a complete match. 

Most of all Jafar is a clear misogynist while Alastor likes the company of women but hates men.

Jafar thinks Jasmine is a hot, dumb bimbo, while Alastor might think Charlie’s ideas of redemption are silly, but he’s slowly growing fond of her, and that affection might be the key to his own redemption arc.

[dailyneverythingcharlastor]

🦌❤️🌈?? 🤨

[tenebroux]

Alastor & Charlie are based on the Phantom & Christine

I came to this conclusion as Phantom of the Opera is one of Vivziepop's favourite musicals. You can see multiple references to the production in Helluva Boss.

In Moxxie's Bad Trip, Blitzo dresses as the Phantom as it's canonically Moxxie's favourite musical too.

Even Blitz's default design is styled after the Phantom, with his face scarring shaped similarly.

Many have drawn comparisons between Alastor and Charlie's dynamic and that of the Phantom and Christine, but here's why the parallel works so well.

In POTO, Christine's conflict revolves around her perception of the Phantom as both a father figure and her sexual awakening.

Christine is confused as to what exactly the Phantom is, but her perception of him becomes very blurry as she is half-convinced he is the spirit of her father guiding her (and thus becomes her father figure via manipulation), but at the same time falls in love with him romantically.

Similarly, Alastor and Charlie's dynamic is based on his attempt to manipulate her by claiming he is her new father figure (this is despite Viv's confirmation that he does not view her as a daughter). Two episodes later, he sneakily reveals in "Ready For This" that he plans to guide and mentor her.

♪ Sing once again with me, our strange duet

My power over you grows stronger yet ♪

So, both the Phantom and Alastor manipulate their muse by adopting a fatherly role while secretly harboring deeper, more complex desires. Both see Christine and Charlie as protégés whose talents they want to cultivate, but their intentions go beyond mere mentorship. Both are mentor-student relationships, albeit the Phantom and Christine develop romantic feelings.

Christine is also the first person to show the Phantom genuine kindness, thus opening his heart.

What else does POTO include? A love triangle between Christine, the Phantom, and her childhood friend Raoul, similar to how Alastor is very eager to get between Charlie and Vaggie.

To add, in 2018 Vivziepop animated this short clip of Charlie and Vaggie as humans, using audio from Parks & Rec.

Vaggie: Describe your ideal man.

Charlie: He's dark and mysterious, and he can sing, and he plays the organ.

Vaggie: I think you just described the Phantom of the Opera.

Charlie: *smirks*

[clagri84]

Fanfic- A smile is a valuable tool

I just published a new Charlastor fanfic. This time Rosie is not a matchmaker for them, but a ...jealous rival?

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[tenebroux]

Fusing & Merging Souls

Just a theory 🦌🌈✨️

Dark Romanticism often explores the intense, emotional and psychological contrasts of two characters, and the theme of two opposite souls coming together.

In my post here, I spoke about the themes of Charlie and Alastor suiting Vivzie's favourite musical, Phantom of the Opera. This is another classic dark romantic story.

The Phantom wants to fuse his soul with Christine's, which he sings about in "Past the Point of No Return".

Christine understands this, and that the two must become one.

Charlie and Alastor's Fusion

Before the release of the show, Vivzie would leave us crumbs of what was to come in the future. A few of her doodles during livestreams have already been fulfilled within season one, but there are still so many that leave us asking questions...

Of course, it could just be a fusion joke, but with everything else we've picked up on, there's always the possibility of it being something more. Watch this scene where Charlie gets stressed out and does a scary laugh. Her appearance changes slightly to resemble Alastor: pinhole pupils, sharp teeth, her eyelid looks like his monocle, her horns look like his ears. But most importantly, her creepy laugh had his radio filter over it.

It's almost like they fused together.

But what would be the point of a Charlastor fusion?

In literature, particularly within Dark Romanticism or Gothic contexts, the fusion of two characters (emotionally, spiritually, or psychologically) can serve as a metaphorical expression. So what if I suggested that fusion in Charlastor's context is a metaphor for marriage? Fusion implies a permanent, transformative union, just like traditional views of marriage: two become one flesh.

There's also a great deal of foreshadowing concerning these two when it comes to marriage...

Charlie owes Alastor a favour, as long as she hurts no one. Alastor wants power. Potentially, Alastor's ticket to power is to become King of Hell, which is vaguely told to us through his lament in episode eight.

I wrote about it in a previous post, but these lyrics are much more clear in the official Spanish version, which plainly have Alastor admitting he will soon be King. But King Alastor was already foreshadowed too, wasn't it?

"I dub thee King Roach!"

For Alastor to become King, there are three obstacles. Lucifer, Lilith, and Charlie. As of now, Lilith seems to be out of the picture, or maybe she's working with Alastor? Charlie, though? She's a Princess and next in line to the thrown. Marrying her would mean he and Charlie are both next to become the King and Queen.

I also feel this was foreshadowed in the pilot episode. Three Apples on the jackpot would symbolise the three Morningstars, but the third one is a deer skull, and Charlie falls right into it.

So that leaves Lucifer, the literal King of Hell. How can Alastor possibly usurp the King!?

I guess we'll see if something happens to Lucifer, or if he's faced to give up the throne. But I find it interesting that Lucifer is depicted as a Ring Leader as in a circus troupe. If Charlie became Queen, she would have to become the new Ring Leader, too. Is that why Vivzie drew her and Alastor as Ring Leaders together?

Let me know what you think...

[clagri84]

Save your first dance for me: A Vaggie x Carmilla (VagMilla) essay

In this essay I will list some reasons why I think Vaggie and Carmilla from Hazbin Hotel have more chemistry than it seems and why this pairing definitely needs more love from the fandom.

Before starting, let's make some observations about our lovely girls!

Vaggie is a trained dancer

Yes, you heard that right. When the Hazbin Hotel Playbill came out, a page was dedicated to each character writing their own presentation. This is how Vaggie presents herself:

My first reaction was: WTF? Trained as a synchronized dancer? Vaggie doesn’t like to dance! Is this bad writing? She…

And then everything clicked in my mind. It might not be bad writing. We’ll see in a following paragraph.

Carmilla is a mum but not a wife

Carmilla likes to remind everyone how much she loves her daughters (Odette and Clara), but she never seems to talk about the father of her daughters, why?

Wild theory: what if Carmilla, like Stolas, is a queer parent and the dad (or dads?) is not in the picture? Maybe she desperately wanted to be a mother so she just went with random men to get pregnant?

Ok after the presentations let’s start analyzing their moments together.

Whatever it takes…or Far longer than forever?

I’m a fan of the Swan Princess cartoon so when I watched Vaggie and Carmilla singing in harmony but physically apart something about the choreography made me immediatly think of the Swan Princess duet “Far longer than forever”. In that musical number the two lovers are forced apart and long to find the other again. Rewatching the two songs side by side it’s probable Vivziepop took inspiration for the staging of the "Whatever it takes" musical number. 

You can see for yourself:

Vaggie and the Swan Princess both raise a hand to the sky and the part where the camera circles around the couple singing in harmony is really similar, even with identical hand movements.

Ah and also, do you know what the name of the Swan Princess is?

Odette.

Like Carmilla’s blonde daughter (blonde like Princess Odette in the cartoon!). Vivziepop 100% saw this movie.

The cartoon was an adaptation of Tchaikovsky's classic ballet, Swan Lake, so this fits with Carmilla’s ‘dance’ theme.

The other daughter, Clara, is named after the protagonist of the Nutcracker, another classic ballet.

My question is: why would you choose one of the most romantic musical numbers from the 90s as inspiration for a song between…two complete strangers that are talking about different people? That is really weird.

The “duet among physically separated people” is usually used between lovers, future lovers or love rivals. Vivziepop herself used this trope with the Stolas/Blitz0 song “When I see him”. 

Out for love

When Carmilla and Vaggie meet for the first time, some interesting things happen:

Carmilla immediately understands that Vaggie is an angel (smart girl!). This is important because their relationship starts from honesty from day one, Vaggie doesn’t feel the need to hide who she is to be accepted.

Vaggie laments that fighting with long hair is hard, so Carmilla, to taunt her, immediately lets her hair down.

“Letting her hair down” is a common romantic trope.

Letting Her Hair Down - TV Tropes

Often, when a female character is particularly serious or uptight, her hair will be serious and uptight too — pulled back in a tight bun, or

From TV Tropes: Often, when a female character is particularly serious or uptight, her hair will be serious and uptight too — pulled back in a tight bun, or something of that sort. When a woman gets a love interest and starts to loosen up a little, she will start wearing her hair down.

Carmilla’s portrayal is suspiciously similar to the trope: she is a strict woman with a strict hairdo who so far in the show has been portrayed as just a stiff boss or a mother. Immediately after taking her hair down her beauty increases 100%,her posture changes and she becomes sexy and spicy!

If instead of Vaggie there was ANY man in this scene (Zestial? Alastor?) and Carmilla suddenly let her hair down and started kicking his body with her powerful legs (<3) I bet most people would start raising their eyebrows. Fanservice-y women are just for the male audience right? God forbid there’s a lesbian watching! (*cough*heteronormativity*cough*)

Anyway, the ‘Out for love’ song starts and at first the two women are at odds with each other (but still sexy) but then they start enjoying themselves and dancing in sync.

Vaggie has,in fact, the posture of a trained dancer. But why didn’t we notice it before? Why did I think that Vaggie hated dancing?

Well, that’s because Charlie has asked Vaggie to dance with her twice and follow her in a song/dance number…and twice has Vaggie refused. The reason given in the show was that Vaggie thinks singing/dancing is not serious enough to convince demons of their cause…but what if the show was conspiring to have Vaggie’s first dance be with Carmilla?

Vaggie was hiding parts of herself to fit in the demon world and one of these parts was her love for dancing (not serious enough for demons apparently!). Now she’s finally free to live in truth and reclaim her identity as an angel, with the help of a person that didn’t have any problems with who she is. That’s why she gets her wings back.

Maybe it’s too much of a stretch but I must point out that Carmilla helped Vaggie become an angel again, like Derek helped Odette become human again.

Another thing to notice is that character being in sync is used in the hellaverse to hint at romantic compatibility. In the Stolitz duet I linked before Stolas and Blitz0 are not in sync because their relationship is having big issues, but they start singing in sync in the Mastermind song, when they are finally on the same page. Vaggie/Carmilla start singing in sync even before meeting each other, and now they even dance in sync…maybe this is a bit suspicious, isn’t it?

Some people might object that Carmilla is just meant to be an older mentor to Vaggie, and nothing more. And they might be right! But isn’t this friendship too fleshed out for a simple mentor-pupil relationship? Rosie has a similar role with Charlie and she just showed up when needed, while Vaggie has more songs with Carmilla than with her actual girlfriend.

Also Carmilla is Vaggie’s mentor but, in some ways, Vaggie is also Carmilla’s mentor. Carmilla was willing to do whatever it takes to keep her daughters safe, even letting everyone else die, and Vaggie convinced her to step up and get out of her isolationist mentality. She still doesn’t fight to protect the people of Hell but…I bet Carmilla will be the easiest Overlord to redeem. Will Vaggie help her?

Conclusion

All my links to 30+ years old songs and TV tropes pages don’t change the fact that there’s still not enough content to have a definitive opinion. But my goal is not to convince you of the canon possibilities but to get more people on board this ship, because it kinda feels lonely right now XD. Some Alastor ships are built on MUCH MUCH LESS, let’s give these two girls some love.

A big thanks to @rosegalaxy00 on twitter/ X for helping me write this essay :)

[tenebroux]

Why so much foreshadowing between Charlie and Alastor?

It's important to explain the significance of visual cues in media. These cues serve as storytelling tools, subtly conveying emotions, themes, and foreshadowing key events that will eventually take place later in the story. For example, as discussed in this post, I talk about how Tim Burton frequently uses visual symbolism to enhance the romantic and psychological depth of his narratives. Foreshadowing through imagery is particularly crucial, as it allows artists to hint at future developments, creating a sense of deeper engagement with the story.

Here are a couple of examples of heart symbolism in shows like South Park and Fallout. These hints can serve as a hidden narrative, and usually shippers tend to notice these key visuals because they add an unspoken layer of meaning to the characters they're most interested in. To clarify, Cartman and Kyle [first image] are a very popular ship, often mistaken as a couple, and speculated to be in love by many fans. Having full hearts indirectly on display between the two works as a silent visual cue; a letter from the artist to the audience; yes, you are noticing the unspoken chemistry between them. While the Ghoul [second image] sews Lucy's finger onto his own hand, creating a heart shape from the threads, which hints to fans that their hostile relationship will eventually soften. Both connect the two through a simple shape, and yet it's such a powerful storytelling device.

Similarly, Vivziepop is no stranger to the use of visual imagery in order to convey romance between certain characters. Often, you will notice couples like Stolas & Blitzo and Moxxie & Millie rely on symbolic motifs, body language, and colour schemes to enhance their onscreen attraction. Brandon Rogers confirms this here. "Everything is drawn intentionally."

Apology Tour is a great source of these sorts. A giant broken heart to represent the pain Blitzo caused Verosika? An arrow through the heart to represent Blitzo and Stolas' heart-piercing emotional pain they're going through? Three pierced hearts to foreshadow a love triangle?

This type of imagery carries over into Hazbin Hotel, where several unexpected characters have been marked as potential subjects of romantic foreshadowing. Vox lights Valentino's cigarette with his power, forming a heart of electricity. Knowing the nature of StaticMoth's relationship, this one isn't too surprising, but a nice confirmation that they do have love for each other.

You might recall the recurring gag involving the hotel wall being repeatedly broken. In the pilot, Sir Pentious blasted a hole in the wall, and in the series, he did it again—this time joined by Cherri Bomb, who also left her mark. Notably, both of the holes they created were heart-shaped, subtly foreshadowing their eventual relationship.

I find it even more impactful when you notice these details in an animated show compared to live action. In live action, actors may not always have complete control over their facial expressions, and small framing mistakes can occur. While framing errors can happen in animation as well, every scene is intentionally drawn and carefully reviewed with the specific question in mind: "What does this convey?"

With that being said, is it intentional or coincidence these two characters have an abundance of interestingly framed scenes and romantic cues between them?

Not just the famous heart pillow scene, either. Albeit, this scene was riping with symbolism. What do snakes and apples symbolise other than Temptation? How convenient it takes place on Charlie's bed.

In the first image below, Vox warns of the dangers if Alastor strikes a deal with Charlie, and how the two are becoming closer. He says this while looking down at three images: two hearts connecting the photo of Charlie and the photo of Alastor. In the second image, Angel Dust's heart is almost perfectly aligned to Alastor's neck, with Charlie next to him in full view. This short frame occurs just as Sir Pentious says "sex before marriage".

Whether it's on the nose or indirect, there's always hearts somewhere between these two. I find 'unnecessary' hearts like the first image below are especially interesting. From no angle whatsoever do Alastor's tears in his coat look this way, at all. Nevertheless, it was drawn to look like a heart just as he leans over Charlie, to which she reacts shyly and places her hands between her legs. To double check, I traced both shapes in a separate layer.

This one is a little sneakier. When Charlie and Alastor first enter Rosie's place, the framing is deliberately set up so that the crook of Rosie's arm is directly opposite the pointed dip by the side of the door. Due to the semi-rounded shapes of the doorframe, this creates a heartshape. Which two of the main characters are placed within the heart? I traced the shape in a separate layer to outline the heart.

Reader, I implore you. Should you think I am pulling your leg, take a closer look at Sir Pentious and Cherri's heart explosions. They're subtle clues for those willing to look for them.

With that being said, I encourage you to investigate yourself. Maybe posts like this were not so coincidental after all.

"But Viv hates Charlastor!"

Whatever the outcome may be, I can guarantee you that no creator is under any obligation to reveal their characters' true intentions to you directly. If you truly love those characters, and if you truly love the work of the artist, then look for the clues she lays out for you within the final product. What you see on screen is what's canon.

[clagri84]

Becoming the mask you wear, a Charlastor essay

I have read some of the season 2 leaks and I have…opinions. I believe a certain leaked season 2 episode strongly hints towards Alastor having feelings for Charlie and I’m going to explain it under the cut. Don’t read if you don’t want to be spoiled!

Note: I'm still avoiding any spoilers on Vox or on Alastor's past so please don't mention them in the comments!

Episode 4 Season 2, that should be retitled “Getting rid of all the Alastor red herrings in Season 1”

A quick recap of Season 1 from Alastor’s point of view

Season 1 has seen Alastor starting to do good acts for evil reasons (becoming friends with Charlie to get a deal). Charlie has rewarded his good behaviour with kindness and that has tempted Alastor into his very first 100% good act: risking his life to fight against Adam.His first genuinely good act resulted in…failure and loss. He was forced to flee to survive, his mic was broken, and he lost his power. So what happens in one of the leaked episodes of season 2?

Alastor and Lucifer: the ‘dad Alastor’ joke finally put to rest

Alastor and Lucifer have a discussion.

Two things that Lucifer says make Alastor VERY angry:

He reminds Alastor that Charlie has a girlfriend

He accuses him of abandoning Charlie and not protecting her

Alastor gets so angry that he leaves the hotel.

If Lucifer thought that Alastor was just a friend/father figure, a simple "You failed to protect her" would have been enough. But the fact that he adds the note about Vaggie suggests that he wants to discourage a possible romance. As for Alastor, his anger after Lucifer reminds him that Charlie has a girlfriend could indicate that he feels frustrated about not being able to be with her.

Basically,now that Charlie is not around, they both have dropped the “who is the best dad” charade and they are admitting what is the real conflict between them: Lucifer doesn’t want Alastor as a boyfriend for Charlie and he doesn’t want him as a protector for Charlie. Alastor is pissed because he cannot be a boyfriend and he has failed as a protector. 

The real conflict between Al and Luci is due to the fact that he doesn’t want him as a son in law, not as a…second dad to a very adult, college graduate daughter?(Seriously?) 

I noticed it on my first watch but 90% of the fandom missed it, why?

Season 1 Episode 5 is a silent match between Alastor and Lucifer: Alastor wants to piss Lucifer off and the first thing that comes to his mind is to pretend to be her boyfriend without Charlie noticing (see pictures if you didn’t notice…) Lucifer squirming everytime Alastor touches Charlie is super hilarious.

Then when Charlie informs Lucifer that she has a girlfriend, Alastor quickly changes strategy to annoy him and starts singing about being a better dad. But someone that was ready to pose as her boyfriend 3 minutes ago is really not a plausible dad for Charlie :) . Even in the dad song Alastor can’t stop hugging Charlie inappropriately.

But back to Season 2!

We drop completely Alastor talking about “dying for his FRIENDS” or about “protecting the hotel”, the focus is on Charlie and Charlie alone. According to Lucifer he failed in protecting Charlie, not generically her friends.

Because everything was always only about Charlie even in season 1, but I won’t elaborate on this here because I want to stay on topic ;) 

For me this essay can stop here and conclude that Alastor’s feelings for Charlie are canon, but wait,there’s more!

Charlie’s interview

Charlie has an interview and two important things happen:

Charlie confirms that she is bisexual (for all the viewers at home that didn’t know yet)

Charlie has a panic attack when Baxter starts reminding her of Sir Pentious, gets teased by the journalists and the crowd for it, and what does Vaggie do? She doesn’t help her and cringes in silence, covering her face as if pretending she doesn’t know her.

This behaviour by Vaggie is not new, she did the same in the pilot, being embarrassed by Charlie while her interview was failing. For people that think the showrunners have forgotten the pilot…they have not forgotten, they are just incorporating all the ideas very slowly in the main series :) 

So in the same episode in which Alastor’s feelings become more obvious the viewer is reminded that Charlie is bi and that her current relationship has…issues. 

Could this be…intentional? 

Not intentional in the sense that Ch@ggie will ever break up in the future (no, the author has said they will have a sex scene, remember?). But the series probably wants the audience to start rooting for Charlastor, even if it’s an impossible romance.

Also notice that last time Charlie tried to impress a crowd (in cannibal town)it was a success because Alastor was helping Charlie. Now she fails again because no one is really helping her. (I want to make it clear that this is not character bashing of Vaggie on my part. It’s the show itself that is making those parallels, for who knows what reasons)

Alastor and Rosie

Alastor is super pissed that without his mic he is weakened, so he asks Rosie for help but she cannot fix it.

We learn that Rosie is Alastor’s master and she acts creepy toward him, calling him ‘handsome’ and ‘his pet’ . 

Following his conversation with Lucifer, it becomes evident that Alastor’s objective in Season 2 is not only to regain his power but also to reclaim his role as Charlie’s protector. 

We know that he hates being on a leash and observant viewers also know that he doesn’t like being touched by her (see pictures below), yet he’s willing to go into the lion’s den to fix his mic. 

Rosie being Alastor’s master and not Lilith like everyone (me included) had assumed completely changes Alastor’s role in the story.

Alastor’s literary pattern: becoming the mask you wear

Alastor haters basically think that Alastor’s role in the story is going to be like the frontman’s role in Squid game, season 2. They both joined the heroes for evil reasons and they both helped them to gain their trust. Haters believe that,like the Frontman, Alastor will backstab Charlie and use her trust for him against her. But Alastor and Frontman have very important differences.

Alastor’s goal is sympathetic: Frontman’s goal is to make the Squid Game succeed to keep the rich guests happy. Alastor is a black man that wants freedom from the chains of a white woman, you can’t get more sympathetic than that.

Alastor and Charlie’s goals are not in conflict: 456 wants the Squid games to end, Frontman wants them to succeed. Alastor's evil plan against Charlie is probably to force Charlie to fight against Rosie. Since Rosie is not someone connected to Charlie (like Lilith),their goals (running the hotel vs getting his freedom back) can both become reality. That can explain why a character like Alastor could plot something against Charlie while simultaneously having feelings for her. 

Alastor believes he is justified in seeking his freedom. Since Rosie holds no personal significance to Charlie, he does not view his actions as harmful to her, and he thinks that the only way to get help is to force the princess with a deal, because he has never had anyone on his side willingly,he always had to survive alone and force people to have any help. Will his outlook change in S2? Something tells me it will :) 

I believe Alastor’s character arc in the whole show is going to be Becoming the mask

Becoming the Mask - TV Tropes

A trope that takes place when a spy, mole, Con Man or another character about to embark in an infiltration or deception mission takes an ide

A villain that joins the heroes and starts doing good acts for evil reasons, until the difference between what is fake and what is real starts to blur and he becomes more and more good as time passes. Note that the tv tropes page I linked mentions that “They might even fall in love with another person whom they're explicitly supposed to be taking advantage of.”  :)  :) :)

Because of those literary rules, it is unreasonable to completely discount every good act Alastor did in season 1 because his motivations are unclear. Doing something good for evil reasons is still doing good, and doing good for months (not a couple of days like Frontman…) changes you overtime. Charlie’s positive feedback is also making the act of doing good rewarding in itself and that encourages Alastor to become the hotel’s protector for real and risk his life against Adam.

But villains can’t become good so easily. Alastor suffering failure and loss because of his first truly selfless act is a classic step in a villain redemption arc. His role as hotel protector is also challenged by Lucifer who wants to take his place. Alastor will probably be tempted into starting to do evil again, but his friendship with Charlie has changed him for good and he won’t be able to follow through. 

Alastor can fall in love despite being ace

In a recent episode of Helluva Boss, Masquerade, we see Mammon, a character that identifies as ace, flirting with Leviathan,a pretty demoness, and asking her for a date. That is 100% the author trying to tell us that ace people date in the hellaverse.

Rosie being Alastor’s master reframes her statement about any Alastor romance being impossible. She is not a well meaning friend who knows Alastor like the back of her pockets, she is his ENEMY, he is secretive with her and clearly touch-repulsed by her. 

Rosie probably doesn’t know that he’s not aro and that he’s not as touch repulsed as he seems to be (at least not with Charlie! She can hug him with no problem.)

In season 1 Alastor being ace is used as a jab only against Charlie/Alastor, while with other people Alastor is explicitly shown to reject them or avoid being touched by them

He has openly rejected Angel twice (in the pilot and in ep1s1)

He doesn’t like when Rosie touches him

He cleans his hand after greeting Lucifer

He hugs Mimzy but when SHE tries to touch him he swats away her finger

He rejects people left and right without mercy and without care,yet with Charlie (and with Charlie only) we rely on second hand information from an unreliable source (Rosie) instead of the script having simply Alastor say “sorry Rosie, she’s just a friend”? Mmmmm…sounds like a red herring to me!

Why did the show choose to trick the viewers like that?Probably the show runners wanted to establish Alastor as a character in his own right before focusing on romance. 

But I think this was a really bad choice on their part because some viewers will resent being tricked like that. Romance should never be a mystery to solve.

Conclusion

This is only episode 4 guys! In season 1 Charlie and Alastor barely interacted in the first 4 episodes and we still got two episodes with good Charlastor content (ep 5 and 7). Now that the good content is starting to flow even in the first episodes I wonder what on earth could happen in the later episodes. 

As for Charlie…who knows? Based on the available information, it seems unlikely that Charlie will break up with Vaggie, despite Vaggie’s questionable behavior in the leaks. But maybe the couple will solve their problems for real this season?Only time will tell.

Personally I think Charlie/Alastor will be a story of an unrequited romance, like Phantom/Christine from Phantom of the Opera.(PotO is Vivziepop’s favourite musical,COINCIDENCE?) 

Like Phantom, Alastor is an older villain (though not truly older, as Charlie is over 200 years old) who poses as a father figure while secretly harboring romantic feelings for the girl. But the girl loves someone else. What will happen?

A big thanks to

@Sternentorte and

@rosegalaxy00

on twitter/ X for helping me write this essay :)

[son-of-alderaan]

“Talk me about his lightsaber.” | Stephen Colbert asking the most important questions.😂

[om-nom-berries]

@ the survey q’s about downloading, won’t most people who want to download do [long press] + [Save Image]? Or [right click] + [Save Image] if they’re on a desktop?

Anon, I recently thought so, too. But then I kept getting requests for a compiled PDF version of In My Dreams (my long ass Rey/Kylo comic). And people are downloading it off Gumroad (over 500 since I posted it).

So yeah, people CAN right click save on individual pages, but almost no one wants to do that for long comics. Instead, I thought “let’s dig deeper on this”. That’s where those questions are coming from.

In general, my questions are around how people are reading/making webcomics in this new era of social media and smart phones. When I started making webcomics (2003), the scene was different. Stuff has changed so much. Project Wonderful just announced it was closing down because ad revenue tanked and they can’t get enough readers off social media networks (the loss of Net Neutrality in the US is going to make that worse, I’m afraid) I’m trying to get the lay of the land to help myself, other creators, and readers.

[fyeazootopia]

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