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Jul 17

Alastor's Original Plan in S2: 'Royal Flush'

(S4 Theory + bonus: analysis through the lens of African Diaspora spirituality)

The thing that got this theory brewing is the fact that deer antlers have a protective coating called 'velvet'. That was the pre-canon spelling of Velvette's name for a while, and given that pretty random and nonsensical scene implying that RadioDoll had been hanging out, I couldn't bring myself to ignore it.

Since it's been said that Velvette is the main Vee of season 4, following my theory about Valentino's story in season 3, I think this is how she could end up there, by being Alastor's 'velvet' – his real "ace in the hole":

I'll be upfront with the biggest, most glaring flaw in my theory: a royal flush is all one suit, Velvette as the ace would obviously be hearts, and RadioTrio are each of different suits. So. Boo.

But if you're willing to let that go, walk with me:

As Vox's hostage, Alastor is getting physically wheeled around by Vox and is bound by wires, mostly masked, mostly strapped to a chair. The other Vees are not interested in Alastor, as suggested by Valentino in the foreground of this scene.

Before his arrival, Vox is not in the room/scene. So why would Alastor be sitting in this chair with Velvette while Valentino directs strip choreo? According to what we've got, there's just no reason for them to be hanging out in this context. Alastor should be with Vox, as far as we're concerned. Presumably, the cut scenes would've filled in the gaps on why he's gone rogue here.

So this being left in sticks out to me, and I think of the allegedly cut RadioDoll moments, it was muscled in to breadcrumb what's to come and to keep a level of narrative cohesion. The execution is far from perfect, but we see this kind of thing with Vox mentioning he wants Angel Dust as a spy in s1e2, and him appearing at the end of the 'Poison' montage as the foreshadowing for their dynamic in season 2.

In his backstory, as told by Mimzy, Alastor came to Hell powerful but dismissed, which is exactly Velvette's role in the overlord meeting.

Additionally, Alastor is the one to cut the tension when Carmilla dismisses the meeting. It can be seen as a sarcastic quip that the meeting was "productive", but it genuinely was for him, because he immediately uses Velvette's tidbit as a lead to confirm Carmilla killed the angels and runs home to weaponise this info to get a deal with the princess of Hell.

And as has been noted by others, StaticDoll is like a sequel/reboot of RadioStatic: older overlord sees potential in younger overlord, a deep camaraderie...

And, as I see it, there are hints of there also being a one-sided attraction, which I talk about in this post. Velvette is a lesbian, but we don't see her with anybody. I have a feeling that even if that were to stay the same, a lack of attraction to men/a man could play a role in her story, the same way it does in Alastor's. I get the feeling that one-sided StaticDoll is a hot take, but it would make Velvette and Alastor's connection as foils much more direct, and would fall into a pattern of Vox being attracted to what is not meant for him. But StaticDoll are able to get it right platonically because of the differences between Alastor and Velvette.

(I think the one main difference between Velvette and Alastor is that she has an intact shred of selflessness/compassion, based on 'Hear My Hope'.)

But really, you can take or very much leave this part. I'm not that committed to it, and it doesn't impact my theory on Alastor's plan at all, it just boosts the idea of Velvette and Alastor as foils that will be actively contrasted against each other at some point. Vox definitely doesn't need to have an unrequited crush on Velvette for that to be the case, though. If I'm right about the rest of my theory, I'm sure we'll just get other parallels between them throughout season 3.

Velvette may also be in for some 'bad luck'. Valentino leaves the mirrors in her design studio smashed (as well as Angel's dressing room, but this is a story for another day), she has a broken mirror in her potion room, and the word "unlucky" is quite hamfistedly shoved into her establishing dialogue.

Calling someone an "unlucky bitch" for getting busted up by your mate is quite particular wording. This, along with her S1 Love Potion poster in the background, I'm sure was meant to clue us into her witchiness, but could also spell a bad omen in her future.

If so, I think Alastor will be lingering around, ready to strike a deal in her moment of need. Even if not, again, referring back to my theory for season 3, it won't be Velvette's moment specifically, but a broader eleventh hour for the cast (probably the Vees especially). In that case, getting roped into the radio demon's shenanigans is probably bad luck in and of itself.

Plan A: "Ace in the Hole"

The queen and ace are skipped in the set Husk plays when he loses his soul to Alastor. The last cards we see him 'lose' are himself as the jack and Alastor as the king (I don't know how you play poker, but you get what I'm saying here)

In 'Loser Baby', we see that Niffty is the queen card. Within the card set that Husk uses in battle, and the one we see in 'Loser Baby', the king and jack cards look different from those in his backstory, but are a husk-kin hat and a crown with antlers, likely different in the backstory only to make it clearer to us that it's Husk and Alastor while they flew by.

In battle with Velvette, Husk throws out a royal flush as weapons, and he himself turns into a 10 of spades and a joker. It seems Husk, previously an overlord and having gambled them away to Alastor, is bringing the personification of the 10 card, via the souls he used to own/gambled away to Alastor, since the image is of him holding the ten cards.

So every card value for the Royal Flush has souls associated with it... Except the ace, which is an ace of hearts.

So... where are we getting it?

As I was overthinking the inspiration for the Vees' logos, it struck me as odd that Velvette's V is so specifically a heart, consisting of two parts (V + 3), when a V can quite easily be made to resemble a heart on its own. It's more of a heart than a 'V'. And it resembles a phone, which while fitting, is kind of an odd choice for a logo? This is meant to be a symbol that can be stuck on anything, like Vox's wifi ripple/wave roundel, which can be slapped on haphazardly, and Val's wing motif, which we see patterning the couch he takes his CEO interview on like a designer monogram.

Velvette's oblong really doesn't work as that kind of logo.

But, given its ratio, it could work as an ace of hearts, right?

(From page 68 of the artbook on the left)

Rosie is a 'maneater' who mocks Alastor for his asexuality, whereas Velvette is a lesbian, wholly uninterested in Alastor's romantic or sexual proclivities. From their first shared scene, Velvette has been a reflection of his younger self, proven herself capable, and is constantly waving this ace of hearts around under everyone's nose.

Is this swaparoo not exactly what he'd be looking for?

And Alastor's first thought to get himself free of Rosie is to infiltrate V Tower.

A plan resting on Vox tapping Charlie on the shoulder always seemed convoluted and ridiculous, right? Even Vox is baffled. Me too, bestie.

It would be far more logical if Alastor's target was something/someone he actually needed to be at Vee tower to access. Because summoning Vox, at its most difficult, requires standing on the edge of his turf. And Charlie has invited Vox to the hotel and held hands with him already. Breaking free from Vox via Charlie is not the plan (doesn't even make sense for that to be the plan, he could've just... not walked into the shark's jaws in the first place).

While Alastor is pretty happy to give Valentino the business by way of his petite, bloodthirsty minions (+ Niffty hehehehe), he is relatively soft on Velvette (so is Husk, who acts more as a distraction). Alastor uses his shadow to pull her down into a car.

That's it.

This makes 0 practical sense, because Val only has a handgun in this supernatural "RANDOM BULLSHIT, GO!!!" fight. Not an auto, not even a semi. Getting magic-user, Velvette, to permanently disengage should have taken urgent priority, right after not getting 'killed' by Vox.

Some may see this as Alastor’s chivalry, but even if I bought this Alastor loves women thing or even put it down to benevolent misogyny, given the circumstances, this is just a touch too far beyond that in my eyes. I believe he has a genuine, preserving concern for her, and dedication to avoiding bad blood that he doesn’t have for Valentino because Velvette is of use to him.

He calls for the 'truce' with Vox because "it's making it harder to do what [he has] to do". What exactly is that?

We don't know what Rosie's deal with him was, but per her telling Alastor he doesn't decide whether the hotel is approaching Rosie's goal, we know it involved him having to stick it out with Charlie against his will. And, clearly, Alastor's ambition extends beyond what Rosie wants.

(I'm assuming Rosie's thing is to do with Lilith tbh. I have no evidence, but it's just the vibe I'm getting. Not relevant to this theory anyway.)

But say Vox accepted him as an eternal prisoner, and did not have ambitions to rush Heaven, what the fuck was the plan? Because the Heaven plot was not public knowledge until the Vox Populi/Dei rally, and Alastor would've only got ahead of the curve after becoming hostage. So how could his plan rely on Vox and Charlie linking up again? There would've been no rushing Heaven party/big showdown that would call for them to be in the same place, where Vox would be considered the most powerful demon in Hell, and then patronisingly 'lay a hand' on Charlie.

Is Alastor just handing himself over because he quit the hotel, wants out of Cannibal Town, and needs a roof over his head? No shot. Obviously, he does not plan to be anyone's prisoner much longer, as he states his hunger for freedom in the finale song of season 1.

What I'm suggesting here is that he asks for the Vees to lay off Husk and Niffty because Alastor needs them as his jack and his queen. (Sinners respawn, right? So for whatever reason, he thinks he'll need them intact presently). And he's asking Vox to lay off Charlie because of his deal with Rosie: his power and/or agency are in jeopardy if something happens to her.

I think Vox's (unanswered) interrogation is meant to bring the question of his motivation up in the audience's heads, too: how did Alastor get his power, and why is he sticking it out with Charlie? We know the answer is Rosie. But what exactly is this "thing" he "needs to do" that makes staying at the hotel, depowered, so unbearable? Ultimately, what is Alastor's goal? Why does it involve being captive at V Tower?

We know he would not volunteer to be caged lightly; 'Don't You Forget' even has a reprise here to make it so fucking crystal clear that he has gone from fry pan straight into fire.

Yet, Alastor has actively signed up for this.

And when Vox tries to rile him up by calling him a brat and whatnot, Alastor randomly starts talking about Vox's reliance on the other Vees... Good for him that it's a sore spot for Vox, but what the fuck has that got to do with how ALASTOR got his powers? Why would his mind go there?

Well, because it's projection, of course: Vox's power really did not all come from Valentino and Velvette. He predates them, and they mutually empower each other as a team. Alastor cannot say the same about Rosie, so he emotionally drags Vox down with him. And, per this theory, relying on the Vees, specifically Velvette, is on Alastor's brain.

The breakup between Vox and Alastor had the pretence of Vox wanting to team up power-wise with him, but it very obviously was an unrequited love playing out. Alastor says Vox 'ruined it'; he was clearly hurt by the confession that night, likely on account of his aroace identity. And Alastor knows that his violent, defensive response struck a nerve in Vox and is reusing that line whenever he gets the chance.

Quite possibly, he doesn't even look down on Vox for 'needing' others, but recognises it as an ugly trait in himself, and is just projecting that self-loathing to push Vox to alienate himself from the Vees.

Alastor relied on Rosie for his power, on Velvette's information and audacity for his big lead on the angels, on Pentious' Eggboy acting as a wire to strike his deal with Charlie, got all pretty and pink to BEG Rosie to heal him and fix his staff, and ultimately depended on Charlie's favour to unshackle him. He has no qualms about appropriating Husk's casino-bar thing, nor Niffty's budget movie set thing (if she's the B-Movie overlord), and goes as far as to bite off Vox himself in 'Hell's Greatest Dad'.

If it gets him where he needs to go, Alastor does not give a shit about relying on others' strengths. With Rosie, it bit him in the ass and causes self-resentment, which he regifts Vox, letting him deal with it in his stead hahahaha.

In dividing the Vees, I think Alastor's plan is to pry Velvette from Vox's team. Valentino comes as part of the set; he doesn't need a movie bug, because he's already got Niffty. Sure, he has Husk, his jack, but his magic is Vegas trickery – nothing to do with the occult.

The wedge-driving is as purposeful as it is successful: Alastor waits until Val is backstage to start questioning Vox's merits by comparing him to the other Vees, which causes Vox to actively belittle Valentino, and he is just so smug while doing it. Vox is too emotional to read the room, but Alastor is fucking with them.

He uses the same trick in the scene that kicked this thing off, where he accuses Vox of begging, knowing how much Vox cares about his opinion. His attempt to seem in charge inevitably creates a friction that is approaching irreconcilable intensity between him and the Vees, which likely could've been mellowed if not for Alastor's instigating.

If he's not plotting and was just earnestly criticising, why would his tricky little shadow come out after? I always thought this was a really weird scene, but viewing it this way, it makes sense: this is the plan.

And none of the wedge-driving has anything to do with Vox touching Charlie. If the Vees operation continued to completion without a hitch, Vox (boastful attention-whore) was just as likely to get baited into inviting Charlie. There's not even a party planned until the last minute (lmfao, pls), and that is theee first time Alastor mentions her and starts taunting about the 'most powerful' sinner shit.

And most likely, the goal with that was just to break out of his deal with Rosie by getting Charlie to proclaim Vox as the most powerful sinner.

It's a "stroke of luck" that Vox is so laidback about the terms and conditions, and happened to get handsy. It was possible, hence the loose language, but nothing to bet on: plan B.

Going back to his plan A: I believe he has projected the transactional relationships he had/has with his earthly show producers, Rosie, Mimzy, Charlie, Husk and Niffty onto the Vees. Mimzy implies she has got the same 'don't say we're friends' lecture from Alastor, saying that she would consider them friends, but ought not use that word because of Alastor's say.

We find that, despite his clear fondness for her, Mimzy is comfortable using Alastor. It makes sense for him to be touchy about people claiming to be his 'friend', when so many have selfish intentions, which ultimately neglect his wants and needs.

I think this explains his doting on the hotel homies from a distance before the big battle against the exorcists. We're told he loves drinking and partying, so he should really be down there with them, but he's just enjoying from afar. He does like them, but he's too burned and guarded to truly claim it.

Because of this, he misunderstood the Vees' dynamic and did not predict they would thug it out together after Vox broadcasts to the world that he only cared about getting Alastor, not himself, let alone them.

This is kind of what I was getting at with Velvette and Alastor being foils in their relationship to Vox: where Velvette is unafraid, or even in pursuit of her potential being acknowledged, and understanding of Vox's crashout (which I have a feeling will be because her earthly trauma revolves around being ignored, as opposed to being exceptional, like Alastor, but this is just my hc, so take it or very much leave it), Alastor is terrified of people seeing 'potential' in him. Either he's a superior, or he doesn't want to be perceived, because in his experience, that just attracts users. And as the show goes on, there will either be an unspoken contrast or a direct debate about their outlooks.

While this reading of Velvette and Alastor being foils requires a lot of deep reading between the lines (IF true), as I said earlier, the creators apparently wanted to include more scenes of RadioDoll, but had to cut them. I really am convinced the inclusion of that highly irrelevant background interaction in 'Scream Rain' was kept to tease the link in our heads.

(That shot I used as the gif in the intro also stood out to me on rewatch with this in mind: Velvette is superimposed over Alastor's creepy smile, turns away from Vox and fades into Alastor... Dawg.)

Additionally, he is sitting under a statue of the ROYAL family. And we already know he has a pretty random bone to pick with King Lucifer. If he's going for a royal flush, the invincible, winning move, as the king card, he may be competing with the angel for the throne.

But as I see it, this plan is a solution Alastor came up with while tweaking out on that bench. His ultimate goal, I think, is literally just to be free and have full self-determination. I'm sure there's more to his story, perhaps other relationships that are yet to be revealed, and I think that will fuel his motivations going forward. So I can't really predict any more than this.

...Moving onto some less textual and more real-world contextual analysis here. This interpretation is not at all necessary for the theory to work, but I think it makes it juicier. Walk with me:

I think, given her being Black British, in addition to some tropical associations, there are some implications of Velvette having a Caribbean background.

Obviously, his character is racially insensitive, but is there a reason they so specifically decided to have Vox refer to Spanish as an 'island' language? First, it obviously isn't hahaha, but second, I'd argue that this just isn't a natural train of thought, and not the dialogue you'd go for if the intention was just to get across that Vox is racist here. Not that we really needed more of Vox being racist after the moment with Carmilla in 'Bad With Us' (although media literacy is dead, so... lol). 'Speak English', or something along those lines, is the obvious choice there. And we know that 'I'm from fuckin' Florida' was an improvised addition. So I don't think the goal here was to establish Val's ethnic coding.

Or rather, I don't think it was ONLY to establish that about Val, but rather to paint Vox as the odd one out as the only white guy in the room (since Spanish = European/"white", but "island" Spanish = Latino/"poc").

And while I originally read this book thing as fashion-related (because it really does look it), given the environmental context, is it possible that it's a grimoire or book of spells? The scene we're introduced to this room with hams up the witch-factor by having Velvette toiling over the cauldron in a pointy hat and all. Maybe there is some 'language' (i.e. the grimoire) that she speaks that Vox also cannot understand.

And of course, Alastor speaks Louisiana French/Creole. Beyond the witch thing, it's also likely that Velvette understands some kind of Caribbean "Island" Creole (English or otherwise), but it's not in the show, nor is it important to the theory; I just think it's an interesting read of how Vox isolates himself in the scene.

Of course, Velvette's witchcraft is more European-inspired, but I can easily see this being a decision made after the backlash from the pilot for the demonisation of Voodoo in Alastor's design. I'm unsure if Velvette was always intended to be a witch or black, but whatever the case, I don't see this as a spanner. The idea to be put across is that Alastor has an established instinct to call on the occult, particularly as inspired by his black heritage, because he himself is unable to access this power.

If I read his character design and casting choices correctly, I don't think Alastor was ever intended to evoke a strong image of blackness, despite being Creole, inspired by Dr Facilier. While his story is one of racial trauma, his treatment of Husk (and potentially the subliminal of calling him 'Husker', i.e. a corn shucker), it's also very obviously one of a person out of touch with their blackness in the ways that count most.

And when he needs something, Alastor imitates the black spirituality of the diaspora, which is meant to connect us to our ancestors, but instead he gets... Rosie, a white woman who calls him a pet, a fucking animal in her zoo and keeps him on a chain.

And he, cannibal that he is, would hypocritically do the same to his fellow diaspora, which had precedent in Creole-Black relations in Louisiana during slavery. The show and the fandom may be shy about explicitly naming it, but Alastor's treatment of Husk is a glaring example of his internalised anti-blackness.

Velvette, on the other hand, is one of the only characters that is visibly black. She is humanoid (not everyone is so lucky!), has brown skin, and wears black hairstyles. One of which includes dreads, on the day they're supposed to take Heaven.

I have a longer piece on the philosophical attitudes of Radiovees and their relation a particular version of the Tower of Babel, but to keep this focused on Velvette and Alastor as foils, this echoes the Rasta philosophy of wearing dreadlocks to invoke dread/the 'fear of God' in the heart of oppressors/'Babylon' by confidently parading one's blackness via afro hair.

But maybe I'm just having a little too much Jamaican fun there. So okay, forget about Rasta.

If Velvette is a Black spellcaster, descended from the British Caribbean, regardless of what she's actually doing, it would likely have her designated as an obeahwoman from the stigma of black, non-Christian spirituality alone. In his detachment from his blackness, I easily see Alastor perceiving her in that way.

And now that Alastor is free of Rosie, whatever his intentions are, there is nobody for him to leech off.

Though he does have his powers, Alastor is not a magical practitioner. I believe this lack could've been what drew him to Husk. But as previously stated, Vegas magic is trickery and illusions. Alastor still needs a real ace for an invincible royal flush.

I'm not sure what his deal with Rosie will have been, and I don't think I know enough about her to make any predictions, but I doubt Alastor will be leaning on her (or any white people) as magical authorities any time soon.

chopstickerz

Also they put Velvette in a reindeer outfit for the first Christmas merch thing. I forgot to say that in the part about velvet antlers. Like I get it’s Christmas but like… isn’t that interesting. Mind you, nobody else is dressed as a deer (unless u count Angel’s pet, but like. Please.) They could’ve gone elf if StaticMoth are meant to be Santa & Mrs Claus right? Made Kitty or Velvette a snowman? Or just done festive vibes like the other characters? But they chose reindeer. Mmhmmmmmmm