Hey! I just wanted to say your Baxter & Nifty comic is insanely good. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I was wondering… would you ever be open to letting me do a dub for it? 💛 I’d love to bring your work to life with full respect to your art and your terms. No pressure at all and I just really love what you made!
hello!! aaaaaaa thank you so much :D i would love it if you did a dub for it !!! as long as credit is given i’m definitely alright with that! please send it to me once it’s done, i’d love to see it :)!
Can’t get over how obvious it is that Alastor has a strong favoritism for Vox
He kills overlords without rhyme or reason, but he leaves alive the one who is actually a thorn in his side. Vox does a whole shibari musical number on him and Alastor calls him a creep… for putting his hands on people’s shoulders. He doesn’t remember the name nor the face of a guy he supposedly fought twenty times, but he remembers Vox’s compliments from 70-ish years ago word for word. He wipes his hands after touching other people but he grabs Vox and even pulls him close. He can’t stand physical touch but he, the big bad Radio Demon, used to bear it for him when they were friends. He claims Vox is the one who needs him, the only one who was impacted by their falling out, then he creates a whole plan that verges on him knowing Vox down to his mannerisms. He calls Vox obsessed, but he poses for Voxtech cameras, finds any occasion to piss off Vox. He calls Vox every name in the book, but he puts no real conditions on his deal with him, because apparently he still trusts him to not take things too far even after 70 years of fighting.
Like don’t get me wrong, Vox is a creep! But he’s definitely Alastor’s favorite creep. I think that the only one who really saw this was Valentino.
And the funniest part is that Vox could see it too so easily if only he wasn’t so self absorbed and stuck in his own pain
I've been thinking a lot about the expression that Alastor is making while Vox is talking about wiping the smile off of his face. There's an unusual emphasis put on how wide it is in comparison to how small his eyes are. Normally when his smile is stretched out like that, you can tell what he's feeling using his eyes (which are still larger.)
After poking around a bit, I think it's as simple as that Alastor miscalculated. There are plenty of other emotions you could mix in, but the main one is fear, or at least an emotion that's in that neighborhood.
I was wondering if this bit from the reprise was adding up to something, because the way his eyes widen suggest that he senses something off:
Up until then he'd seemed perfectly at ease, and it passes quickly. We just have this brief moment where Vox is reflected, faceless, in the most eerie way. He looks like a monster.
But Alastor goes right back to normal after, because I mean, he knows Vox. Vox is all horse and no cattle. Vox is the person that he's been playing this stupid game with for decades. However much Alastor threatens him, he's not going to do anything; if he wanted to, he would've by now, but instead he lets Vox get away with things no one else would. And in return, Vox postures and threatens and talks about killing him, but there's no actual fear of it because they both know it's bullshit.
I mean, look at these clowns at the end of episode 7:
These are deeply unserious people.
Even in Episode 8, Alastor just keeps taunting him and snaps at him the way that everyone else in his life has. And Vox throws this little baby tantrum, the same way that he did at some point in the past, and there's just no gravity to their fight. They're saying the same shit as always, and one is just going to slink off:
For fuck's sake, he gets smacked by his shark, and that's when he pulls out his holy weapon. But even so, he's not really... trying that hard. He's just losing his shit.
Except then -
Oh no -
Oh no -
You can see exactly when the switch flips, because he realizes that he is a failure. Alastor was right. Everyone was right. But specifically, Alastor, who is the car that he's been chasing for so long - who he wants the approval of more than anything, and who he still wants it from.
So he gets serious and makes sure he's going to hit.
And look at this:
This is the first time he makes this face. Compare it to how he looked with Adam when he was about to die:
His ears tilt back but still stay up, where they go fully down here, and after the initial startled expression he still looks in control. In pain, probably pissed off, but he's still projecting confidence.
This is the first time we see him looking so openly terrified - the closest we get, I believe, is the season 1 finale where it's more of a meltdown. But that initial look is blind terror and confusion, and he stretches out his grin as he starts to look back. And that's not really surprising, since Adam is an angel and within what he understands.
But Vox?
Vox was never supposed to seriously try to kill him. Vox was never supposed to be a real threat because that's who they are. Except Vox and Alastor are mirrors. Alastor had his breakdown at the end of Season 1 where he decided to fuck up everything, and here, Vox has his moment where he has a breakdown because of how hopeless it all is and decides to destroy everything.
Again: These are deeply unserious people. They're absolute clowns. They play games and posture and it's practically flirting. Except they're not anymore, and you see how Alastor's smile stretches out.
Now, let's consider that in conjunction with his comment to Charlie:
“Just because you see a smile, don’t think you know what’s going on underneath. A smile is a valuable tool, my dear! It inspires your friends, keeps your enemies guessing, and ensures that no matter what comes your way, you’re the one in control.”
So he's trying to regain/maintain control of his situation with the toothy smile, and he likely stretches it out in response reflexively to maintain that. But I think he's got a lot of emotions going on there, and fear is at the front because the one person that he trusted not to kill him and to say the same (because they're both clowns, and you can't tell me that power hungry, paranoid control freak Alastor would give Alastor would give Vox complete control if he thought there was even the slightest chance he would really harm him, especially after getting his ass kicked by Adam,) is now about to do so.
He's seen Vox's tantrums before though. We've seen his little baby tantrums where it's like a child stomping their feet, except now it's real anger and it's real hurt and it's someone who has nothing left to lose. He's still looking for some form of acknowledgment too, for something, but I honestly... just kind of don't think Alastor would even know what to do here? The guy who "knows Vox" and who can manipulate and control him is suddenly confronted with this new side of him (and probably, nothing Alastor could have done would have fixed it,) so all he can do is keep the face he has on.
Compare his expression there to this for the most notable example and the only one where he's really hurt.
And then there's plenty of moments when you just see him blowing hot air, but that's part of his daily clown show.
Vox put the fear of God in him in a way that I don't think even Adam did because not only was he a second away from killing him, but Alastor never considered him a threat. And I think it'll be interesting to see where things go because of that - does it snap back to normal? Like, do they pretend nothing ever happened because it's too weird and emotionally charged to acknowledge? Does Alastor hold a blood grudge? Does it get really fucking weird because they're two old men who've been been chasing each other for decades without ever once changing the status quo even a tiny bit only to have it blown to bits?
Who knows. But, I went down this little rabbit hole chasing to see what that face meant since I needed it for something, so I just wound up jotting them down here where I won't lose them. Alastor pushed Vox to his absolute breaking point and then being called a failure by the public pushed him right across the fucking finish line, and Vox sure was about to return the favor. And I sure do love them, your honor.
As a bonus, it's interesting to compare Vox's breakdown to Alastor's in terms of expression, and the only time we see him so distressed:
These drawings have taken YEARSSS off my life, but I needed to draw this idea so so badly!!! I think this was also my first time drawing vox? Or at least actually trying and honestly it was so fun
this is the funniest fucking thread about alastor ever like yeah he really did rely on knowing vox well (ahem. he’s just as obsessed w/ vox as vox is w/ him..)
So I noticed something very interesting about Vox and his victims.
Before killing:
1st victim:
After killing 1st victim:
2nd victim:
After killing 2nd victim:
Final victim:
Everytime Vox killed in his past he completly copied his victims behaviour, talent and even their style. And while he sabotaged some of them, he also manipulated the others to trust him. He pretended to admire them or help them out only to betray and murder them.
And we as the fandom lots of time pointed out how similar Vox behaved and dressed as Alastor:
So my guess is knowing how Vox behaved in life that Alastor might have been his perfect victim type. He already started to take on his style but unlike his other victims Alastor didnt fall for his tricks and saw right through him and he couldnt even hurt him.
Because of these he was never able to get over his obsession and switch to a new person.
I am not saying that in a first time ever Vox didnt genuinely wanted to be partners with Alastor or saw him as his equal but I also think his messed up serial killer brain might also has something to do with wanting to be with Alastor.
And if Alastor knows about Vox past and behaviour it is easy to see why he laughed at him and denied their partnership. He thought he will be Vox next victim. Used and discarded as nothing. He probably couldnt believe that Vox would try to manipulate him too.
Charlie's dreams consist of her guiding sinners into heaven by redeeming them, while she stays down in Hell. Vox's dreams consist of him guiding sinners into heaven by inciting a war, while he plans to rule Heaven as sole Overlord.
Charlie's pride blinds her to the important things in her life and leads her to neglect her friends. Vox's pride blinds him to the important things in his life and leads him to neglect his friends.
Charlie needs everyone to see how successful her hotel is and how right she was the entire time. She needs to impress the people who are her enemies (Voxtek) and ignores her friends who are trying to help her. Vox needs everyone to see how successful his business is and how right he was the entire time. He needs to impress the people who are his enemies (Alastor) and ignores his friends who are trying to help him.
Charlie needs to have control all the time and she explodes when something doesn't go according to her plan or approval (Lucifer's interference). Vox needs to have control all the time and he explodes when something doesn't go according to his plan or approval (Alastor).
Charlie wants her mother to be proud of her even though her mother makes her feel worthless. Vox wants his oldest "friend" to be proud of him even though Alastor makes him feel worthless.
Charlie exploits her friends and doesn't appreciate what they do for her hotel. Vox exploits his friends and doesn't appreciate what they contribute to his plan.
Charlie paints herself as a benevolent saviour. Vox paints himself as a benevolent saviour.
Charlie is a hypocrite, she preaches kindness and redemption but she constantly pushes past her friend's boundaries, uses them as stepping stones for her success, doesn't consider their input or struggles. Vox is a hypocrite, he preaches strength and integrity but he constantly sacrifices his integrity, uses his friends as stepping stones, doesn't consider their input or struggles, so that he can impress Alastor and prove him wrong.
Charlie fantasizes about changing Hell and playing a pivotal role in history. Vox fantasizes about changing Hell and playing a pivotal role in history.
Charlie has a Latino moth girlfriend who she doesn't listen to. Vox has a Latino moth boyfriend who he doesn't listen to.
Charlie is a naive version of Vox and she will end up just like him after being eroded by years of experience and the horrors of humanity's worst if she doesn't realize what her main priorities should be.
