voxtek's head of PR

call me vez, they/them, aroace, 18↑ artist, mostly rewrite ideas and snippets, sometimes I share my unfiltered thoughts sometimes critical

[voxtekprteam]

Morningstar doodles

[voxtekprteam]

demisexual vox i love you

[giulia-lo-art]

Fondness

[nightmares-court]

Their expressions... you can just see how much they like and care about each other...

[xyangblog]

V: “Holy Shit! What should I do now?”

[voxtekprteam]

This is chaggie to me

[voxtekprteam]

One thing that makes me die inside a little is when ppl’s evidence for a character either being ace or sex repulsed is when they respond to sexual harassment disgusted or caught off guard rightfulky so.

This is about Alastor specifically but it could really even be about Striker. The fandom, for some reason, thinks it's progressive to label him aroace or ace because he doesn't like it when everyone constantly sexualizes him or the situation, especially when he's working on the clock. And I'm not talking about ace or aroace ppl who just want to claim him I'm talking about ppl who insist he has to be ace because he's uncomfortable being sexually harassed. Which has to be acephobic to some degree because what? There's a fundamental misunderstanding of how asexuality works and an allo person would feel the same way. (COUGH HUSK) Or when ppl go “oh he's just playing hard to get” which is not the hill we want to die on! That’s a scary mentality to develop both for actual asexual people and just people generally establishing boundaries.

Furthermore, doing this with Striker is just outrageous to me because in Harvest Moon he was all up in Blitzo’s space something both seem to be on the same wavelength on. There's also that freaky ass “join me” scene at the end of the episode. This isn't to say he can't be asexual or aroace but it just annoys me when ppl think a normal reaction means they can't be allo because no allo would react to unwanted sexual comments about them like that. Which is just absurd and sets us back as a community.

And don't even get me started on Alastor. I love him and he is canonically meant to be aroace. Maybe even sex repulsed if we open up the doors with his touch aversion. But I personally never understood the whole “he's sex repulsed because he was disgusted by Angel’s advances” when Vaggie had said way back in episode 3 of season 1 that Angel canonically is known to sexually harass the staff. Something the fandom loves to gloss over for some reason.

And I've seen ppl point out he's never around Angel and isn't seen at the club maybe to avoid him which is just silly to me personally. But even with that none of that would even matter. Back to their pilot interaction, Alastor asked him if he had anything to offer the hotel — mind you, they're strangers. Idk about you but if my first introduction to someone is them offering to give me a blow job when we are talking business I will also avoid you.

That's not evidence of Al being sex repulsed more than its Angel being really odd about boundaries. Again I don't like this trend of ppl thinking testing a character's boundaries and then reacting normally suddenly means they're ace or sex repulsed. It just normalizes dangerous thinking. If Alastor was purposefully avoiding Angel it's probably because he's witnessed the overbearing amounts of sexual harassment thrown at Husk. No person would want to be a target of that. Ppl think Alastor is watching that and going “ooooo that evil mustache twirling porn star *shakes fist* how dare he mention the GASP s word.”

And Husk is the same guy the crew had stated would go “any hole is a goal” yet he's also uncomfortable by Angel’s advances because his advances don't have anything to do with his asexuality or their allosexuality. It's about boundaries.

Angel is a character who struggles a lot with boundaries and is in a position where he can't really place them himself due to his contract. Alastor is also in a contract that violates his boundaries a lot too topping that off with the fact that he's touch-averse why would he entertain him let's be serious.

And besides Angel people have also been acting incredibly strange towards Alastor being mean that one time towards Vox. Saying someone deserves to get SA’d is terrible and disgusting but adding the context of his sexuality it almost feels targeted and how some ppl talk when they want to fix us? Alastor shouldn't have hurt a close friend's feelings but Vox is not entitled to his heart or body. Again that scene where Vox was naked in front of him is not showing him being “sex repulsed” he just saw two ppl fuck and that same man is walking up to him naked. That would make anyone cringe in that situation. It doesn't make it any different if an allo or sex positive person was in his position because his sexuality isn’t why he's reacting the way he is.

And I think besides the clear misunderstanding of celibacy asexuality and setting boundaries I think a lot of ppl need to have that uncomfortable conversation about how half-assed the actual aroace and general ace representation has been. And how much of the rep actually comes from outside of what the show presents us. Aroace ppl deserve better than whatever this is and it makes me sad ppl are fighting about scraps.

[vzpwgawn-deactivated20260411]

(edit: check my blog, i have clarification n stuff on this post!)

i hate hazbin fer MANYMANY reasons, but here’s one i’ll share today because hazbin n my oc universe do share qualities, n by criticising hazbin, it helps me.

mainly, i want to discuss alastor.

alastor is a black/creole? (its never made clear exactly, you’d require yer own historical context to know, which is ridiculous considering his race is a ‘CRUCIAL’ aspect of the story.. its almost as if him being creole was written last minute!! /sarc)

n his backstory of him being human was pure fanservice slop. his racist experiences, having lived under jim crow, n ‘overcoming so much to get his own radio show’ (that rhymed haha).. his life, growing up as a POC…. ITS NEVER *SHOWN!!* AT ALL!! ITS *IMPLIED*!!

the problem IS, is that if its a crucial PART of his development, then it SHOULD BE SHOWN CLEARLY!!! WE SHOULD KNOW 100% THAT HE EXPERIENCED RACISM!! BUT ITS NEVER OUTRIGHT SHOWN OR STATED, BUT WE KNOW HE DID ONLY BECAUSE OF THE TIME ERA HE LIVED UNDER!!

although i am white myself, racism SHOULD be shown…. RIGHT?!

i dont understand why racism, in this instance in hazbin, is almost CENSORED??? why isnt it OUTRIGHT shown?! its PRETTY fuckin important n traumatising! his race in his origin story DIDNT even make it on the podium. fuck, it didnt even ENTER THE COMPETITION!! racism should NEVER be an implication.

another thing, i HATE how all hazbin fans just ALL collectively have to have a ‘GOTCHA!!!’ moment. everytime you bring up a shitty flaw in the writing, a plot hole, a GLARINGLY obvious problem, tehy HAVE to excuse it. theres always SOME FUCKING reason as to why that is.

i might b biased because theres nadda i hate more than ‘gotcha’ moments n every criticism having a reason. it just sounds liek you cant accept criticism, because every piece of criticism has to b explained n just… solved??

[voxtekprteam]

Alastor was mixed Creole during the pilot era as well, so it's definitely not a last-minute addition. I think the issue, besides the runtime, is the crew's clear lack of understanding and willful ignorance towards topics like racism, and how much of that could be fixed by just adding black and brown voices to the writers’ room and letting a sensitivity reader go through their scripts.

Not only that, but there’s a level of carelessness there, too. I mean, the very obvious white ppl in said writers’ room want to represent different cultures and get confused by poc from those cultures who say the way the crew goes about it is disrespectful and plays into negative stereotypes. A clear example is viv taking inspiration from Hollywood voodoo and wanting to use the symbols, but not wanting to listen to black ppl who tell her that those symbols come from a real-life religion that has been demonized by said industry they’re taking inspiration from.

And I don't know about begging to see him be hate-crimed essentially, since you can go about showing racism and how it affects black ppl in many ways, both explicitly and implicitly. I also don't believe it's right to police how a topic like this should be handled if you're not brown or black yourself. I understand the sentiment of how the show censors certain experiences, whilst it uplifts oppressors like heaven, the seven deadly sins, and the goetias feelings, whitewashing their faults to make them appear more sympathetic, whilst villainizing its minority characters. It's how I felt when ppl didn't understand the nuance of Alastor not viewing Lucifer’s jabs and “no Alastor's allowed” sign in a positive light and taking it personally due to his own experiences with blonde white men and how closely connected classism and racism are irl.

Moreover, I don't agree that the backstory itself was meant to be fanservice it was supposed to show the origins of his contract with Rosie which wasn't handled the best. But that problems lies within the episode constraints and the writer's habits of not being able to focus. Although there is plenty of criticism to give on how glossed over it is since it's implied to be a reason he struck the deal to begin with, subtext in mind.

I do agree that his relationship with his blackness is something crucial to his identity and experience, even more so since hell is pretty race blind and that would make him very wary about the idea of sinners each having their own forms since there are no longer racial indicators. Every choice or decision he makes will always come back to his experiences and the trauma surrounding his background. Adding to the fact that he himself is an overlord that upholds an oppressive system too, and got that position through his contract which essentially is a reminder that he is still very much black and that trauma he holds close to his chest will always be exploited due to racism. Which further adds nuances to his character, if anything.

Furthermore, a black guy from Jim Crow America will have a wildly different experience than someone like Velvette, who is a black woman from 2010s London, or even Husk, who lived through the Jim Crow era himself, and the civil rights movement, seeing that he was in his 60s-70s in the 1970s. They're all black, but the black experience is not linear.

But I think the reason his experiences with racism are censored or left to subtle implications is the same reason Vox’s racism in S2 and Angel’s racism in the pilot were handled in a comedic way. This show isn't mature enough to handle a topic this complex and nuanced without turning it into a gag, and would rather let its audience do all the heavy lifting. Sam Haft himself said that Rosie's mistreatment of Alastor isn't as bad as Alastor’s mistreatment of Husk and that he's lucky to be under her since she likes him the same way a dog owner loves their pet. I don't think those guys are well-equipped to handle these types of topics.

A shame too, Alastor is a gold mine of possibilities, everything is perfectly in place to create a good backstory for him, but as long as we have 8 episodes per season and the crew keeps misrepresenting the Vodou, the backstories themselves look like they won’t have a lot of substance. Even with the racial implications of certain things.

[vzpwgawn-deactivated20260411]

I completely agree with you! i’m sorry it seemed liek i was asking fer him to b hate crimed, racism CAN easily b shown in a subtle way. I do not want to police this topic at all, n i’m only giving my opinion to see if poc agree or have anything to say on this.

I really do wish tehy did more research on this topic, it would have SUCH a huge impact on the chars, environment n world-building if tehy looked into more oppressive systems. (writing this in the morning im OUT of it……..)

N i didn’t realise he’d been Creole since the pilot, tahts also my bad!

You wrote this really well, i had to reblog xd

afternoon edit:

honestly whenever i see someone liek / reblog the original post or post where i answered an ask i just DEADASS pause because the original post was stupid as hell, i was pointing out something fer the sake of pointing it out n i dont even want to reread it LMAO i dont know why it has so many notes i honestly hate it i genuinely cringe every time im forced to read it but i dont take it down because i love hearing other peoples’ analysis’ssss every so often

but liek i said in the morning, i completely agree with you n you’ve definitely analysed the problem a lot better than i did, n this was a VERY well explained criticism / analysis.

i’ll prolly have a lot more edits to add

[voxtekprteam]

It's all good! A conversation is always a good thing!

I agree, it would make their current world-building a lot stronger because it mirrors a lot of real-life oppressive systems on earth, and exploring how racism and classism intersect would be something fascinating. But that requires a deep understanding of those topics, and they also unfortunately don't have the balls to do it.

I can't really blame you, since his background often confuses people, and it's largely due to people theorizing about why the crew wouldn't let go of the harmful depictions of Vodou. Which is fair, his whole character is a bit of a mess.

And thank you! Discussions are very fun to have and can be really frustrating to have in this community. You don't need to beat yourself up for it. I do agree with the general consensus you're trying to make. And it's good to hear other people's perspectives!

[vzpwgawn-deactivated20260411]

(edit: check my blog, i have clarification n stuff on this post!)

i hate hazbin fer MANYMANY reasons, but here’s one i’ll share today because hazbin n my oc universe do share qualities, n by criticising hazbin, it helps me.

mainly, i want to discuss alastor.

alastor is a black/creole? (its never made clear exactly, you’d require yer own historical context to know, which is ridiculous considering his race is a ‘CRUCIAL’ aspect of the story.. its almost as if him being creole was written last minute!! /sarc)

n his backstory of him being human was pure fanservice slop. his racist experiences, having lived under jim crow, n ‘overcoming so much to get his own radio show’ (that rhymed haha).. his life, growing up as a POC…. ITS NEVER *SHOWN!!* AT ALL!! ITS *IMPLIED*!!

the problem IS, is that if its a crucial PART of his development, then it SHOULD BE SHOWN CLEARLY!!! WE SHOULD KNOW 100% THAT HE EXPERIENCED RACISM!! BUT ITS NEVER OUTRIGHT SHOWN OR STATED, BUT WE KNOW HE DID ONLY BECAUSE OF THE TIME ERA HE LIVED UNDER!!

although i am white myself, racism SHOULD be shown…. RIGHT?!

i dont understand why racism, in this instance in hazbin, is almost CENSORED??? why isnt it OUTRIGHT shown?! its PRETTY fuckin important n traumatising! his race in his origin story DIDNT even make it on the podium. fuck, it didnt even ENTER THE COMPETITION!! racism should NEVER be an implication.

another thing, i HATE how all hazbin fans just ALL collectively have to have a ‘GOTCHA!!!’ moment. everytime you bring up a shitty flaw in the writing, a plot hole, a GLARINGLY obvious problem, tehy HAVE to excuse it. theres always SOME FUCKING reason as to why that is.

i might b biased because theres nadda i hate more than ‘gotcha’ moments n every criticism having a reason. it just sounds liek you cant accept criticism, because every piece of criticism has to b explained n just… solved??

[voxtekprteam]

Alastor was mixed Creole during the pilot era as well, so it's definitely not a last-minute addition. I think the issue, besides the runtime, is the crew's clear lack of understanding and willful ignorance towards topics like racism, and how much of that could be fixed by just adding black and brown voices to the writers’ room and letting a sensitivity reader go through their scripts.

Not only that, but there’s a level of carelessness there, too. I mean, the very obvious white ppl in said writers’ room want to represent different cultures and get confused by poc from those cultures who say the way the crew goes about it is disrespectful and plays into negative stereotypes. A clear example is viv taking inspiration from Hollywood voodoo and wanting to use the symbols, but not wanting to listen to black ppl who tell her that those symbols come from a real-life religion that has been demonized by said industry they’re taking inspiration from.

And I don't know about begging to see him be hate-crimed essentially, since you can go about showing racism and how it affects black ppl in many ways, both explicitly and implicitly. I also don't believe it's right to police how a topic like this should be handled if you're not brown or black yourself. I understand the sentiment of how the show censors certain experiences, whilst it uplifts oppressors like heaven, the seven deadly sins, and the goetias feelings, whitewashing their faults to make them appear more sympathetic, whilst villainizing its minority characters. It's how I felt when ppl didn't understand the nuance of Alastor not viewing Lucifer’s jabs and “no Alastor's allowed” sign in a positive light and taking it personally due to his own experiences with blonde white men and how closely connected classism and racism are irl.

Moreover, I don't agree that the backstory itself was meant to be fanservice it was supposed to show the origins of his contract with Rosie which wasn't handled the best. But that problems lies within the episode constraints and the writer's habits of not being able to focus. Although there is plenty of criticism to give on how glossed over it is since it's implied to be a reason he struck the deal to begin with, subtext in mind.

I do agree that his relationship with his blackness is something crucial to his identity and experience, even more so since hell is pretty race blind and that would make him very wary about the idea of sinners each having their own forms since there are no longer racial indicators. Every choice or decision he makes will always come back to his experiences and the trauma surrounding his background. Adding to the fact that he himself is an overlord that upholds an oppressive system too, and got that position through his contract which essentially is a reminder that he is still very much black and that trauma he holds close to his chest will always be exploited due to racism. Which further adds nuances to his character, if anything.

Furthermore, a black guy from Jim Crow America will have a wildly different experience than someone like Velvette, who is a black woman from 2010s London, or even Husk, who lived through the Jim Crow era himself, and the civil rights movement, seeing that he was in his 60s-70s in the 1970s. They're all black, but the black experience is not linear.

But I think the reason his experiences with racism are censored or left to subtle implications is the same reason Vox’s racism in S2 and Angel’s racism in the pilot were handled in a comedic way. This show isn't mature enough to handle a topic this complex and nuanced without turning it into a gag, and would rather let its audience do all the heavy lifting. Sam Haft himself said that Rosie's mistreatment of Alastor isn't as bad as Alastor’s mistreatment of Husk and that he's lucky to be under her since she likes him the same way a dog owner loves their pet. I don't think those guys are well-equipped to handle these types of topics.

A shame too, Alastor is a gold mine of possibilities, everything is perfectly in place to create a good backstory for him, but as long as we have 8 episodes per season and the crew keeps misrepresenting the Vodou, the backstories themselves look like they won’t have a lot of substance. Even with the racial implications of certain things.

[voxtekprteam]

calling my rewrite the countdown au for now

[relmint-draws]

I also drew them as lesbians,,,if y'all care....

[voxtekprteam]

I'm so glad I left twitter the fandom on that app was genuinely doing smth evil to my mental health I felt like this all the time

[cloudplay19]

How she wipes her tears and goes in for a hug is adorable

[vina0cookie]

❌️🌈

[lilizart]

Merry Christmas !❄️✨( designs from the official art )

[voxtekprteam]

and for my rewrite I’m more of a abusive voxval lover but don't want to clog up the staticmoth tag so I vote we all call the abusive voxval dynamic smokescreen

kinda like how radiostatic has multiple ship names depending on what dynamic you prefer that way everyone can get what they want. 👭

[voxtekprteam]

TALKS OF: internalized homophobia, acephobia and arophobia

I do wish the show actually explored the characters' sexualities on a deeper level past the labeling sex and dating because it does have a lot of great ideas. I'm mainly talking about radiostatic — the concept of having a guy with internalized homophobia falling in love with a guy who is aroace and probably has internalized acephobia goes so hard it's been like this since day one for them:

Vox laying his heart out for this guy just to get rejected in the meanest way possible and think holy shit maybe he's homophobic (INCORRECT BUZZER) and Alastor seeing Vox get all touchy and ask him to team up he's thinking this is guy is totally using me because he wants smth from me like everyone else (LOUDER INCORRECT BUZZER) turns out they're both fucking stupid!

The mental gymnastics those two must be doing genuinely sounds so fucking funny to me. Like where did you get that from? The river? Alastor in particular always kills me because he clearly has issues and his whole Yap fest about not needing friends and how they're not friends and he's so weak and blah blah blah was a clear cry for help and Vox being Vox was like “oh so he hates me” and I'm oh my GOD VINCENT—

“You need me to join your team!??” And Vincent goes “well I just thought we were friends…” and Alastor is like “FRIENDSSSS???? 🥀🫵😂” personally I would've smacked the shit out of him for that one, A. And B) I don't need you man I WANT YOU. There's a difference. But Vox is too much of a noodle and probably cried himself to sleep after.

And I bring up the internalized homophobia because it could've been interesting to see them show that in his backstory. Him not accepting his current self and constantly needing to change to fit into what other ppl want to see for him. Showing ppl the best parts of himself whilst being in the industry where he had to hide his queerness. The jabs he makes at Charlie and her parental issues seem so personal to me it's like he's projecting his own failures onto her. Or Angel a gay man who lookie lookie is very comfortable in his own sexuality and gender expression.

He probably grew up with a lot of negative male role models adding that to the fact that he is bisexual that is a shit storm waiting to explode. His issues with his masculinity, would be bad as it is since he's from the 1900s-50s but he would've seen his queerness as some sort of disease. Especially being in the entertainment industry and seeing how ppl talk about queer folks. He has to start proving himself to NOT be like that. He has to be masculine if he looks at a man for way too long he's queer. If he walks a certain way he's gay and so forth. A guy with an already fragile sense of identity in his human life killing all these men maybe he's slept with them and is killing them as a metaphor to kill that part of him?

For a guy who boasts about being the best and at the top, it's funny how he got there, because he'd rather sacrifice that part of him than actually look in the mirror for once. He's at the top of the top yet he's standing on a delicate glass. And for the first time in his life, he wants to share that spot with Alastor. Back then, he felt at home with a man, considered him his best friend, and went to confess, thinking he could finally rip the band-aid off and be himself truly, but no! The guy he happens to like has the emotional maturity of a whiteboard. That part he was slowly starting to accept has now been covered up completely and is behind a brick wall. And the worst part is the fact that he can't even kill him this time. Hell is forever or smth.

Which brings me to Alastor! There's so much I could say about his asexuality. The fact that he's probably grown up hearing he has to find someone get married have a kid and start a life like that and never finding that in his human life. He's probably thought there was something wrong with him for so long. He's fooled around with ppl before and he didn't hate it but he also doesn't really have much of an opinion on it. Like cool, it happened? He feels disappointed that this is what's waiting for him on the other side. Even with his aromanticism he used to watch couples wishing he could be in that position and even picked girls who he thought were aesthetically pleasing to look at but the results were always the same for him.

His mother used to tell him it was a magical experience, and she used to retell the story of how she and his father met back then. But living the life he has he starts to think maybe he's the problem. Add that with the fact that he lived in a very racist era where he had to kiss a bunch of white ppl’s feet to do anything so a lot of his relationships would've been transactional and we have a mess of a man.

Meeting Vox gave him that spark he was so desperately wishing he could get. They developed their own thing, they get drinks, they do evil and Vox even shares some of his lore from his human life for the longest time Alastor thinks this is it. They don't need to put a label on whatever they have, they don't have to fuck to show each other they care and Vox seems to genuinely like him without any of that stuff which slowly makes Alastor drop some of his walls he had up.

That was until Vox asked him to be his partner. And Alastor has never felt more hurt and betrayed. Vox who was his friend, someone who helped him accept a part of himself he didn't think he'd ever accept now wants something from him like everyone else. Did he always want something from him or is this a recent thing? Did any of it mean anything to him?

Which circles back to the present day.

[voxtekprteam]

One headcanon I always eat up is the jealous Alastor!! Specifically of Valentino! Seeing Vox years later get along and eventually partner up with a new guy would set him off so badly, like sure, he might've been a bit mean that one time at the bar, but there's no way he's already being replaced by that off-brand butterfly.

And I love bringing Alastor's aroace identity into this because I'm aroace, and I love projecting! He knows he will never love Vox the way Vox wants him to love him. He knows he will never be able to give him what he truly wants, and the worst thing is that he can't even bring himself to tell him that much because that would require him to be vulnerable, and he can't do that. Not only that, but he laughed at Vox for doing that exact same thing.

So now he's in this weird limbo of being angry at himself and taking all his frustrations out on Vox's new partner. Because ofc Valentino is the most sexual person ever. He can make out with Vox, he can have sex with Vox, and not be disgusted. He thrives in it, and that notion is tearing him apart. Valentino is expressive, he's blunt, and someone Vox would love way more than him.

And this shouldn't bother him. Why is he annoyed when he sees them genuinely getting along?? He's not jealous, obviously!! Why would he be??? Is he a horrible friend for disliking how much attention Vox is giving the new guy?? NOOOOOOOO??? Who even is that guy anyway??? He's totally not hung up about their relationship and how much Vox seems to distance himself from him. PFFFFFTTT

He doesn't even love him in a traditional sense. Which is the funny part. He has all these intense feelings over this one dude and yet he can't tell him any of them… he's getting jealous like he's some housewife watching her husband with a pair of binoculars in the bushes as he cheats on her with his secretary. And all he can do is blame himself for that.

Basically, he likes it when Vox gives him attention he might not love him in the way society has brainwashed him into thinking this is the only way to love but the idea of Vox sharing their bond with some dude pisses him off more he's doing long division in his head and Valentino ends up making it all negative.