Isn’t she lovely?
I cried during the finale .

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@unoriginalityriver
Isn’t she lovely?
I cried during the finale .
from Virginia Woolf's diaries, February 27th, 1926
hey mary take a sick ass photo of us
i hate them
She's in between clients like "oh, my prince will bring me my shoe and we'll get married and be so happy 🥰🥰🥰"
And he's picturing a full on BDSM scene where she ties him to a bed, in church, while the priest talks to him, after meeting her once
The hug shared by two yearners!
The relief and contentment on Malthus' face; the way he looks like he has let out the breath that he's been holding back as he inhales the scent of Hilda—like his body's survival relies on breathing in her presence. And this is also paired with the initial shock on Hilda's end? The way her expression went from pure happiness and surprise that the saint came to her room, before contorting to a cry of relief as she was, yet again, assured that Malthus does indeed love her.
Then not even a few minutes later, Malthus says that he wanted to see her place—expressing his desire to know her more; to see Hilda's room not as a man that lines up to wait their turn, not as a saint of the conservative society that wants to chastise her, and not as a colonel that flashes her with gifts, but someone that wants to see the decorations of Hilda's sanctuary that wholly paints her. It was the moment that he found out about her favorite music box—one that she got when she was 15—and her love for jewelry and perfume
Definitely one of their most intimate scenes when you consider that this was the first time that Malthus willingly chose to be with her, and Hilda's first experience of a man coming inside her room with the purest intentions, even if it was to say good bye; even if it may be their last, he only longed to spend time with her.
What is this to you? This thing we have? Buffy and Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (seasons 5, 6 & 7).
Finally did the rehaul of Val for the AU, because I wasn’t content with his characterisation at all, but two weeks ago the vision finally clicked and now I feel like I have the character I can actually enjoy working with.
Re-introducing VoxPress Valentino: Former mercenary with fondness for art and soft/feminine coded things, who chose power and strength to be able to express it openly. Violence for Valentino is a tool to keep himself unquestioned by others.
Uses his influence to run clubs, art shows, expos that attract a lot of attention due to his well learned ability to aestheticise violence.
For Vox he’s a muscle of the Vees and high-risk/high-reward asset that can open the doors Vox himself cannot always reach, thanks to Val’s street smarts, underground connections and intimate knowledge of crime world.
Still thinking about Valentino's mindset that love has to be earned. It's plainly obvious in his relationship with Angel where he treats Angel's love as equal to responsive respect and his own "love" for Angel as acts of service. No matter how warped Valentino's feelings for Angel are by that thread of possession interwoven through them, that possession is inextricable from the intensity with which he feels. Perhaps subconsciously, he allows himself to sink his teeth so deep into Angel to the point of co-dependency because he knows Angel can't leave, hence he knows he's in control, hence he knows he can't get HURT. With Angel, he takes the role of provider, a more dominant based role, and he thinks as long as he fulfils his end then Angel has to fulfil his by giving Val his utmost devotion. He doesn't consider what he does to Angel as particularly abusive because to him that love is a game, and Angel isn't playing fairly, he isn't fulfilling his part therefore Val has "the right" to take his feelings out on him.
Meanwhile with Vox, Valentino is the one being provided. He recognizes that Vox is higher on the societal hierarchy. He has more money, more connections, more prestige and more recognition than Valentino could get in his line of business. Not to mention that Val depends on Vox to film and distribute his movies.
There is a REASON Valentino is drawn to people who fall on that provider/taken-care-of pyramid. And he pitches in his contribution to the relationship with Vox through his looks. He knows he's one of the hottest and most charming catches in hell, therefore he's fulfilling his end. Vox SHOULD want him and stay with him then. Valentino's indifference to contribute anything more to the relationships derives from his belief that he's ALREADY investing. Therefore he can use Vox's credit cards, he can be whiny, he can be princessy, he can be bratty, he can be petulant, he can throw glasses at Vox's face etc. etc. That's why sex is so focal in their relationship, because it makes Valentino feel important, needed, acknowledged because he thinks that only through sex could Vox be convinced to stay with him. That's what Valentino is good for, right? Why else would anyone want him? They communicate their love through sex instead of words. They solve their arguments through it. They never apologize. They use it to manipulate each other. They use it to comfort each other. And it works for Vox because Valentino is only a business partner right? There's no need to make things messy by bringing feelings and open confessions into the mix. Again.
It's really interesting how Valentino's idea of love is TAUGHT. It isn't FELT. He behaves accordingly when he wants someone's affection, he dotes, he fawns, he shows affection through physical touch, he buys gifts, he makes himself more appealing. He DOES. He doesn't stop to think that the actions he does outside of his attempts to earn someone's devotion might be damaging his relationships. In his mind, if he's behaving like he should, then so should his partner. It's like math. One plus one equals two. And since he regularly performs his end of things then it MUST be Vox/Angel's fault if Val isn't feeling the love he thinks he's OWED. He's doing everything he should, they're not. And he feels betrayed. That reactive victim complex that rises from a deep-rooted dissatisfaction with life and himself that he takes out on the "villain" in his story. It has also completely warped his view of consent, or rather, lack thereof. Not just for partners but himself as well. He would put up with shitty behaviour just as blindly as he would mete out cruelty. It probably happened early on in his youth because that type of behaviour is so deeply ingrained he isn't even aware of it. Probably by his parents or other adult figures that might have been important in his life that would have taught him that love would be withheld from him if he didn't behave right. There's a straightforward line of thinking in his head that's been learned like a horse being raised on a running track all its life, never being allowed to stop or look sideways.
past! VoxVal save me
...I really wanna know what their dynamic was like 😩🤲
My idea of how Valentino looked like when he was alive.
Here he's young, in his early 20s. Also i'm planning to draw his older version. I believe he was around 35 when he died.
Love this!! I imagined him like this too because in my head he looked a lot like Oliver Mandić (Serbian singer, popular in Yugoslavia during the 80s and 90s) in his prime:
if i had a nickel for every time christian borle played a repressed queer man that valued appearances more than emotion and considers his relationship with his same sex partner “playing house”, id have two nickels
which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice
Could I please add "his lover is more feminine than he is so he tries to force that to look like a m/f relationship because he's profoundly uncomfortable with himself as a queer man and the way that looks and relies on at least visual heteronormativity to ease that", "his partner isn't monogamous and instead of talking about it he gets jealous and fumes and gets into fight after fight but never fixes anything", "the way he chose to treat said partner due to someone else's outside perception/interference/the way he wants to look to a SPECIFIC person cost him everything in the end" to the list of things that have netted me two nickels here?
Because I can't think of a single set of sentences more StaticMoth flavored than Christian's character getting yelled at "WHAT I LOVE I DEVOUR!" by his angry boyfriend and him snarling back "WHAT YOU LOVE YOU DEVOUR?! WHAT I COVET, I'LL KEEP!" AND THAT'S FROM THE OTHER SHOW!
☆ ;; They're literally so fucking GAY for each other.
They make me SICK!!! Valentino genuinely looks so happy here </3
WHEN do we get to see them fuh onscreen?? That'd be bloody well lovely.
A match made in... Hell!! I was gonna quote one of my favourite characters from a different media but heaven is literally a word that CANNOT be used here. LMAOO.
THE LOOK OF LOVE. IM NOT DELIRIOUS PLS CHAT!!!! 🥹🥹
In this specific frame, they look like those INSUFFERABLE TikTok couples who're about to announce their pregnancy. Though, being realistic, who's the one that ends up pregnant?
“Do they even have the lung capacity to be pregnant?” —oomf.... (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞
They should've began making out in such an unprofessional manner ong. Missed opportunity, smh...
Being fr, why was this scene lowkey HOT??? I'm praying OOMF doesn't see this because oh GOD.
Vox you fucking SCUM!!!!! Stop playing with Valentino's feelings. </3
𖤐 . . . I'm going to end this with sexy ol' moth man.
He's so bloody HOT unnghh.... 💦💦💦
Live laugh love Valentino, right?? No?? Okay... ☹️
A Long-Ass Analysis/Discussion of Vox's Internalized Homophobia
(note: I have already made a couple other posts about Vox's sexuality, so my points from those posts will be repeated here)
Firstly, I want to make one thing clear: Vivzie did not DIRECTLY confirm that Vox had/has internalized homophobia. I've seen a lot of people making posts saying/implying that she did when this just isn't true. What actually happened is that Vivzie talked about the flashback between Vox and Alastor in s2e4 in this interview:
And she said at 34:02 - "But in that moment with Alastor, he [Vox] was being vulnerable in a way that, especially for the time period he's from, was not easy. And I think that's the element of it that I don't think people realize, like that was real. His moment there with Alastor was like him letting down a guard that even existed when he was alive and Alastor shit all over it".
That's literally it. And imo all that Vivzie does here is imply that Vox dealt with toxic masculinity when he was alive (hence it not being easy for him to be emotionally vulnerable, especially to/around another man). There isn't anything about internalized homophobia here.
However, IT IS very obvious in the SHOW itself that Vox has internalized homophobia.
As we all know, Vox is in a relationship with Valentino. But Vox seems to be embarrassed when others are present/privy to it:
Vox and Val have a moment at the end of Poison in s1e4 (hell they might've been kissing judging by the drool from Vox's mouth). But Vox immediately leaves once he notices Angel is watching.
Vox and Val flirt in s2e5 before the rally and Vox immediately gets embarrassed once Alastor shows up.
Vox and Val almost have sex in s2e6. But once Velvette reveals herself, Vox pushes Val away and tries to say that they were "just talking". And then once Alastor reveals himself, Vox becomes even more visibly embarrassed.
Vox and Val are surprisingly domestic/wholesome in Valentino's drawing tutorial. But Vox gets embarrassed right at the end once he realizes that Val's been recording their conversation the whole time.
So it seems like Vox is actively trying to keep his relationship with Val a secret. Hell I bet barely anyone outside of the Vees even knows about their relationship. Considering Katie Killjoy is aware that Charlie is queer but seems to be completely unaware that Vox is queer as well (as evidenced by her flirting with him and you know.... Not being a homophobic dick to him).
And you can see that Vox's insecurity about their relationship has been a long time frustration for Val.
In s2e6, Vox calls him and Valentino "partners", causing Valentino to give him this expression:
As if to say "are you going to call us that? because you've never done that before. and if you are, are you really gonna do it now? just to win me over? because it's not gonna work".
Which then prompted Vox to slip into calling them "partners... In-in business!".
So, yeah. Pretty clear that Vox has internalized homophobia. Hell, you can tell that just by looking at the pride merch.
In the first image, Vox looks disinterested, in stark contrast to Velvette and Valentino. Plus, Vel and Val are wearing new outfits meanwhile Vox is just wearing his normal suit but with a rainbow bow tie (I'm guessing that's the only pride thing Vel and Val could convince him to wear). Also, you can see Val is holding up Vox's hand with the bi flag in it. And in the second image, Vox looks even more irritated (probably because Vel and Val managed to force him into wearing that bi-colored outfit).
Overall, it's abundantly clear that Vox still has that 1950s mentality that if you want to be successful and be respected by society you have to present yourself as this ultra-masculine heterosexual man.
And I believe this has contributed to Vox's hatred of Angel Dust. Obviously Vox hates Angel because he's jealous that Val is so obsessed with Angel. But I feel like Vox also hates Angel because of how visibly/openly queer he is.
After all, Angel sort of shatters Vox's worldview. Vox represses his queerness because he believes it's the only way he'll ever succeed and obtain respect. Meanwhile Angel is a celebrity, he's beloved by all of hell essentially because he's openly queer. I bet Vox feels insulted that despite all of his hard work, everyone, even his own partner, is more captivated by this "weak" feminine twink. And obviously, Vox isn't willing to confront his issues and change this worldview he's had for literal decades at this point. So, he reinforces his worldview by making Angel into even more of a victim than he already is. Through his treatment of Angel, Vox is essentially telling himself, "remember, this is what will happen to you if you're openly queer".
Okay. Now let's talk about Brighter. (I will admit what I say here is leaning into more fan theory esque territory but please hear me out).
So, we saw all throughout Brighter that Vox would go through this constant cycle when he was alive of seeing someone getting more attention than him, getting obsessed with that person, killing that person, adopting that person's traits (most notably the suits of his first two victims), soaking up the praise, and then quickly moving on to the next person.
But obviously all of this changed when Vox died because:
1)To put it simply, Overlords aren't exactly easy to kill. So, Vox can't just murder people to get what he wants anymore, he instead has to manipulate people by forming connections.
2)Vox is surrounded by individuals who are just as if not more powerful than he is. So unlike his tv costars, Vox likely views his fellow Overlords as equals and is therefore more willing to form genuine connections with them. Hence his friendship with Alastor.
And oh boy Vox and Alastor.... Okay so we know Vox often copies Alastor, as shown by the similar suits.
We saw Vox pull this same shit with his first two victims when he was alive. And it seems that Alastor is no different.
But guys.... Vox also canonically had/has a crush on Alastor.
So that has me wondering....
Hey Vox, are you sure what you felt for these two guys was JUST jealousy?
Because I know many queer people have confused their romantic feelings for the same gender with feelings of envy. And that could be the case of with Vox. Or hell, maybe it's a genuine mix of both love and envy for him.
Like I'm reminded of the film, "The Talented Mr. Ripley", in which the main character Tom Ripley is both in love with and wants to be Dickie Greenleaf. Tom wants to be in a relationship with Dickie but also wants Dickie's lavish heteronormative lifestyle aka a lifestyle that is accepted and respected by larger society.
I'm also getting reminded of queer analyses of American Psycho I've seen, which interpret Patrick Bateman's violent acts as attempts to repress his queerness by asserting himself as a powerful ultra-masculine heterosexual man.
Hell, Vox's second victim kind of looks like the character Luis from American Psycho.
And if you haven't seen this movie, there's a scene where Patrick Bateman plans to strangle Luis in a public bathroom. But his plans are thwarted because Luis ends up thinking that Patrick is flirting with him and Luis is absolutely down bad. And Patrick ends up being so disgusted by this that he just leaves.
Anyway, it seems possible to me that Vox murdered these two guys:
1)As a way to quickly get over his sexual and/or romantic feelings for them and continue to ignore his queerness.
2)Out of jealousy/hatred for the lifestyles they live. Vox might've been envious of his first victim for being more masculine and being desired by women and therefore being able to be accepted and successful in a heteronormative society.
Vox might've resented his second victim similar to how he now resents Angel Dust, considering this guy does look a bit feminine and seems to have been a singer/performer (evidenced by Vox singing into a mic after stealing his job) which could be seen as a more queer/feminine occupation by heteronormative society.
Now going back to that flashback of Vox and Alastor in s2e4?
It seems like Alastor was Vox's queer awakening. Vox can't just easily kill Overlords; he can't just murder his crush and move on anymore. So, Vox was forced to just sit with his feelings and realize that they were feelings of love. And considering it's Hell and nobody really gives a shit, Vox probably came close to accept his queerness, and more specifically his feelings for Alastor. But that of course went to shit when Alastor rejected his friendship and team-up proposal. The one time that Vox was finally being honest and genuine, he was met with humiliation. So, he went back to his old ways. To the imitation and the envy and the displays of violence/power in his seek for validation from larger society.
Ahem. Okay so this might seem a bit random at first, but you know that moment where Vox dances with the corpse of his first victim?
Well, you want to know who else we've seen Vox pull this move with?
Valentino and Alastor... aka the two people that we know Vox is in love with. So yeah, I feel like this further points to my theory that Vox had feelings for this guy.
But also, Vox positioning himself as the leader in this dance aka the role that's usually associated with men and positioning the person he's dancing with as the follower aka the role that's usually associated with women.... I think points to this need for Vox to filter his queerness through this heteronormative lens.
Vox very much reminds me of Marvin from Falsettos. Basically, Falsettos is a musical about a man named Marvin who left his wife and child so he could be with another man named Whizzer. However, Marvin wants to essentially have his cake and eat it too. He wants to be in a relationship with Whizzer but also wants to be accepted by heteronormative society. So, he tries to force Whizzer into this role of a wife. Of course, this is framed as ridiculous, especially since Whizzer is not in any way feminine. Hell, Whizzer is arguably more masculine than Marvin since he's taller and more muscular and interested in sports. In fact, this is part of why Marvin does what he does. Marvin feels insecure about his own masculinity and so he tries to force Whizzer into this feminine role in order to hype himself up.
And I see this in Vox's relationships with Valentino and Alastor.
Vox and Valentino? Val is obviously more feminine than Vox is. And I doubt that Vox would be with Val if Val wasn't feminine. Because then Vox would have a harder time viewing himself and his relationship as "basically heterosexual". Also, from what little content we get of their sex-life, it seems that Vox is always on top as evidenced by:
1)When Vox shows up in s2e4 to fight Alastor, Val shows up soon after an says "Voxxy, you can't get all up in this and then zip out like that".
2)That s2e4 scene showing that Vox and Val just had sex, where you can see that Val's upper arms were tied up.
3)Vox being on top when they're about to hook up in s2e6.
And I'm sure we can all guess why Vox would insist being on top.
Now, Vox and Alastor? Remember, Vox looked up to Alastor because of how powerful he was. Vox could see that Alastor was on another level than him, but Vox was fine with that. Just being in close proximity to that power was enough for him. But that all changed when Alastor rejected him, when Alastor called him "weak" and "pathetic". That moment essentially revitalized all the insecurities that Vox had throughout his life on earth. This is why Vox is obsessed with overpowering Alastor. Vox wants to be the peak of heteronormative masculinity, and he sees Alastor as that peak. Vox wants Alastor to be emasculated just like how Vox felt emasculated in that moment of rejection.
Him doing all of that shit in s2e4 like calling Alastor a twink at the start of their fight, calling Alastor his "bottomest bitch" in Don't You Forget (Reprise), and putting Alastor into the fucking cuck chair? It's all a part of Vox's quest to demean Alastor as much as possible.
But Vox doesn't just want revenge, absolutely not. If that was all he wanted, then he could've just killed Alastor or at least lock him away to never be seen again. But no, Alastor is allowed to go basically wherever he wants as long he stays with the Vees and Vox constantly tries to prove his self-worth to him. Vox is so desperate for validation from Alastor and this is because his shit with Alastor goes FAR deeper than any of his other victims.
Again, Vox was going through a constant murder cycle when he was alive. He moved quickly from one victim to the next, never having a moment to breathe. But Alastor? They were friends for years and have been rivals for decades. Vox never had a chance to move on so throughout all that time he developed an ADDICTION to Alastor, one that he definitely can't quit all on his own.
Okay, one final thing I want to discuss about Vox is his violence. The show has made it clear that Vox is a sadist as evidenced by:
1)Valentino saying to Vox, "killing Alastor is your kink", in s1e2.
2)Pretty much all of Vox's scenes in s1e8. We see him getting giddy and drooling at the idea of Alastor getting beaten up. He says "I'm so hard right now!" when the fight with the angels is about to start. And he says "this is better than sex!" when Alastor gets the shit beaten out of him by Adam.
3)Angel Dust saying that Vox "gets off to watching people suffer" in s2e3.
So yeah, Vox takes sexual pleasure out of violence. And I think this might be similar to him filtering his queerness through this heteronormative lens. He feels he can only express his sexuality in a way that demeans someone else and makes him the powerful one in the situation.
In conclusion, Vox has some DEEP issues. But since Viv said he's going to be present all throughout the series, I'm guessing we'll eventually see him working on them. With Vox not having a body and Val taking over as head of VoxTek, it seems like Vox will be more isolated in s3. And because of that it's likely he'll be faced with two choices: get over his need for validation from others or be permanently miserable due to his physical inability to obtain that validation.
The Tumblr Experience
Vox does love and want Valentino, he just won’t allow himself to.
Vox doesn’t take failure well (or being seen as one).
He’s spent his entire life working his way up, eliminating people who made him feel inferior and taking what was theirs. That part was easy because he didn’t care about them (and you know, because he is a murderer)
With Alastor, it was different.
Vox did have feelings for him (admiration, a crush, whatever) and for once he wasn’t trying to replace someone. He wanted to build something with him.
So when Alastor became the one who made him feel inferior, it hurt more than anything else ever had.
Because in Vox’s mind, it’s not fair.
He should be better than that. He is better than that.
So why can’t Alastor see it?
It hurts. And it makes him bitter.
When Alastor isn’t in the picture, Vox can push those insecurities away and focus on loving and caring for the Vees — not just Valentino — in his own way. Even then, he doesn’t fully accept how much he cares, because accepting it would mean giving them the power to hurt him.
He isn’t Valentino’s boyfriend.
Velvette is just his associate.
He’s the CEO of VoxTech entertainment.
He keeps himself “above” them so they can’t hurt him — because closeness equals vulnerability/weakness in his mind.
(And of course, we know he fails at fully keeping that distance.)
But when Alastor is in the picture?
Vox becomes obsessed with proving — to himself and to Alastor — that he’s better, that he’s over him, that he doesn’t need anyone. And in doing so, he completely misses that:
His charisma and the bond he formed with the Vees are strengths in themselves.
Strengths Alastor doesn’t have.
He won’t realize that until he stops measuring himself through other people’s eyes — especially Alastor’s.
Because Vox does care about Valentino (and Velvette).
He brought Valentino into his world. He indulges his whims. He stands by him. Their partnership is real — Shockwave literally sees Val as his mom.
That’s why it hurt Valentino so much when Vox’s attention shifted. When Vox wasn’t standing beside him anymore. It wasn’t what he was used to. It wasn’t what he had come to love.
Valentino thought he was losing him.
And when it came down to it, Valentino chose Vox anyway (even if he teared his head out of his body) because he still loves him, even if he’s angry.
Vox does love and want Valentino.
But accepting that would mean accepting vulnerability.
It would mean needing another person.
And Vox can’t allow himself to fail like that again.
(Also I 100% headcanon that he has internalized homophobia, which only makes all of this worse.)