liulith

[liulith]

A while ago, I recommended a neat animatic that uses a song that is simply perfect for Vox: "Channel 5 News: The Musical, by Bo Burnham" -> Voxtek News The Musical, by Quack Feather

(For more recs, check #liu's recs)

Today, I'm presenting my own video edit inspired by this animatic & song! Hope you'll enjoy it!

[liulith]

Hi there!

Has it really been nine months?

I took a break from fandom activities to focus on other hobbies and personal stuff, but my hyperfixations come in cycles and it's time to dive back into the Hellaverse! And now, I have months worth of fics, fanarts, metas and edits to discover 🥳

I also have something of my own to share!

Soon...

[liulith]

reminder that in a deleted scene, Ford SPITS in Bill's eye and Bill licks it off like the little freak he is <3

then he turns him into a statue, uses him as a back scratcher and starts shipping him with a deer (projecting much?)

[liulith]

We as a fandom need to open our hearts to the insane comedic potential of Sir Pentious being included as a background character in stories taking place in the "old days" before Vox and Alastor's falling out. AND the comedic potential of one-sided Sir Pentious -> Vox.

Why?

Canon!Sir Pentious is attached to his era's aesthetics but he also wants to be "hip and cool" (see pilot episode; Sir Pentious as the how do you do fellow kids meme) and join the "Almighty Vees". When did he start wanting that? He's not a media demon trying to keep up with his audience and be a likeable public figure. He's a mechanic trying to conquer Hell by force thanks to his machines and obviously relishes in acting like a villain (fear me! I'm so evil! I'm the architect of destruction! etc. etc).

This is very different from the Vees' approach - maintaining a perfect public image, insidious manipulation tactics... Vox threatens Alastor in the show, but the Vees clearly haven't built their power through turf wars, which is and has always been Pentious' one and only strategy. All the machines we've seen him make are war weapons (+ the Egg Boyz who do his bidding, and help him operate those very weapons). Voxtek probably sells weaponry too but that is more Camilla's domain, so it would be more logical for Pentious to try and join her.

Pentious' and the Vees agenda and interests aren't aligned, so why is Pentious so desperate to join the Vees?

there are many reasons why Pentious could want to be part of the Vees besides the one I'm gonna talk about but you know what MY agenda is:

Vox is Pentious' idol. Pentious is an inventor, an innovator. He would have loved waking up in Hell with a mechanical body he can upgrade however he wants and finds the whole concept fascinating.

He's not against new technology, as his creations clearly go beyond what people could have had invented in his time despite their "steampunk" aesthetic (see: the effing death ray). So I think his current "limitations" are more a matter of him having to stick with what he knows best because it's hard to keep up with the constant stream of new tech. This is why he's more than impressed with Vox's extraordinary ability to adapt to change and master new technologies again and again. He's a fellow innovator! That's one reason for Pentious to be obsessed with the guy.

And if you think obsessed isn't the right word, think about this: Sir Pentious repeatedly challenges Alastor to fights even though he's clearly outmatched and it's an incredible risk to take considering what Alastor does. Pentious is OLDER than Alastor, he was there when he broadcast the most powerful Overlords' scream all over Hell. Plus, losing always leaves him in a very vulnerable position (without his best weapons). Is it madness? Hubris? An obsession for Alastor? No!

Sir Pentious to Alastor: Silence! Now Cower! For when I've slain you, the Almighty Vees will finally acknowledge me!

Sir Pentious thinks defeating Alastor is the only way the Vees will finally acknowledge him. No matter how dangerous it is, he has to try, for the Vees (Vox). Just like he took the risk of angering the Princess of Hell to get in Vox's good graces. This says a lot, for someone as paranoid as him, who doesn't trust anyone who is "too nice" to him.

If Hazbin had more episodes there should have been one about Pentious struggling with the fact he disappointed his idol and told to KHS 👀

(btw this is old news but we know that one of the Hazbin episodes that Viv originally pitched was about a science contest organized by Voxtek in which Pentious and Baxter competed against each other! Pentious could have done that after ep2!)

Anyway, back to the comedic potential of it all & Vox's arrival in Hell. Can you imagine his reaction as a newly fallen Sinner, when he's hanging out with Alastor (aka following him like a lost puppy?) and he meets Sir Pentious for the first time? Like sure, Hell is full of insane people but Alastor obviously has a Reputation and no one ever challenges him. And suddenly... Hm... Alastor?? There's an airship with a giant cannon pointed right as us?? Firing a DEATH RAY?!

It's also so funny to imagine Sir Pentious being obsessed with Alastor and considering him his archnemesis back in the day, only to slowly become obsessed with Vox instead and only caring about defeating Alastor because he thinks Vox will like it. It starts with Sir Pentious trying to "gather intel" on Alastor's new "ally", spying on them or sending his Egg Boyz to do so (and we already know great he is at spying so you can guess how that goes lol), and the rest is history.

Alastor loves attention so he probably let Pentious spy on him behind bushes from time to time if only because it's very entertaining to watch him try to be discrete and make his shadow tap on his shoulder. How hilarious would it be if Alastor noticed Sir Pentious' growing crush on Vox but not Vox's crush on him? Also, Vox misunderstanding Pentious and Alastor's relationship and thinking Pentious is a weird obsessive ex... The world is a stage and the stage is a world of entertainment!

[liulith]

[liulith]

We're getting a third and fourth season?? Hello??

[liulith]

We're getting a third and fourth season?? Hello??

[liulith]

Hazbin headcanon: Xenogender Sinners (& Saints)

"A what now?"

Xenogender (xeno - strange, other, foreign) is a type of gender identity that can't be defined in relation to the usual human gender spectrum (masculine feminine, non-binary, agender, demiboy, demigirl...) and instead uses non-human categorizations.

Xenogender identities are said to fill a “lexical gap” or the lack of words in the English language to define one’s particular experience with gender. Xenogenders fill these gaps by comparing their gender identities to certain concepts – pre-existing or imaginary. It should be noted that xenogenders don’t necessarily identify with specific objects, but use these things as metaphors to describe their relationship with gender. - LGBTQ Nation

Examples of real xenogender categorizations:

Identifying with an abstract concept such as freedom, fluidity, more than you would identify with the concepts of "masculinity" or "femininity"

Feeling more comfortable with thinking of yourself as someone "alien" or "robot-like"

Feeling like your gender identity is endless and infinite

Feeling absolutely genderless. Some refer to their gender as a "void" (voidgender)

Identifying your gender as something as fuzzy and indiscernable as TV static (staticgender)

While extremely uncommon in our world, people on the xenogender identity spectrum are definitely more represented in the Hazbin Hotel universe!

After all, most souls are reincarnated in bodies that are no longer human or human-like in appearance and functionality and the gender they were assigned at birth as humans or the one they chose in life might be entirely impossible to guess. It also seems like it's a common practice to reinvent your entire identity in your afterlife, going by a new name and barely mentioning the person you used to be.

Wouldn't it be fitting for non-human Sinners to identify with non-human gender qualifiers? Occasionally, as a way to temporarily cope with their dysmorphia? Or fully embracing them and taking pride in them?

Who says "radio demon" can't be a gender?

machine-like Sinners identifying with the concept of "robotgender"

Sinners with bodies made of fire, water, smoke, wood... finding new ways to express themselves with the limitations but also the new opportunities their bodies provide

Animal-like Sinners who spent more time in their demonic bodies than they spend in their human bodies and forgot what type of human gender presentation they used to like

Vox using it/its pronouns to cope with its feelings/when it needs to give up control/ (I'm a machine today, I don't need to think or feel)

Thoughts?

[liulith]

Yo! If you like my rec lists, check out these Youtube playlists I just made! (+100 videos in each playlist)

Vox, Valentino & Velvette animatics (including staticmoth and poly vees):

Radiostatic animatics (one-sided, requited, platonic, romantic, pre-relationship...):

Alastor-centric animatics:

and more!

[liulith]

We as a fandom need to open our hearts to the insane comedic potential of Sir Pentious being included as a background character in stories taking place in the "old days" before Vox and Alastor's falling out. AND the comedic potential of one-sided Sir Pentious -> Vox.

Why?

Canon!Sir Pentious is attached to his era's aesthetics but he also wants to be "hip and cool" (see pilot episode; Sir Pentious as the how do you do fellow kids meme) and join the "Almighty Vees". When did he start wanting that? He's not a media demon trying to keep up with his audience and be a likeable public figure. He's a mechanic trying to conquer Hell by force thanks to his machines and obviously relishes in acting like a villain (fear me! I'm so evil! I'm the architect of destruction! etc. etc).

This is very different from the Vees' approach - maintaining a perfect public image, insidious manipulation tactics... Vox threatens Alastor in the show, but the Vees clearly haven't built their power through turf wars, which is and has always been Pentious' one and only strategy. All the machines we've seen him make are war weapons (+ the Egg Boyz who do his bidding, and help him operate those very weapons). Voxtek probably sells weaponry too but that is more Camilla's domain, so it would be more logical for Pentious to try and join her.

Pentious' and the Vees agenda and interests aren't aligned, so why is Pentious so desperate to join the Vees?

there are many reasons why Pentious could want to be part of the Vees besides the one I'm gonna talk about but you know what MY agenda is:

Vox is Pentious' idol. Pentious is an inventor, an innovator. He would have loved waking up in Hell with a mechanical body he can upgrade however he wants and finds the whole concept fascinating.

He's not against new technology, as his creations clearly go beyond what people could have had invented in his time despite their "steampunk" aesthetic (see: the effing death ray). So I think his current "limitations" are more a matter of him having to stick with what he knows best because it's hard to keep up with the constant stream of new tech. This is why he's more than impressed with Vox's extraordinary ability to adapt to change and master new technologies again and again. He's a fellow innovator! That's one reason for Pentious to be obsessed with the guy.

And if you think obsessed isn't the right word, think about this: Sir Pentious repeatedly challenges Alastor to fights even though he's clearly outmatched and it's an incredible risk to take considering what Alastor does. Pentious is OLDER than Alastor, he was there when he broadcast the most powerful Overlords' scream all over Hell. Plus, losing always leaves him in a very vulnerable position (without his best weapons). Is it madness? Hubris? An obsession for Alastor? No!

Sir Pentious to Alastor: Silence! Now Cower! For when I've slain you, the Almighty Vees will finally acknowledge me!

Sir Pentious thinks defeating Alastor is the only way the Vees will finally acknowledge him. No matter how dangerous it is, he has to try, for the Vees (Vox). Just like he took the risk of angering the Princess of Hell to get in Vox's good graces. This says a lot, for someone as paranoid as him, who doesn't trust anyone who is "too nice" to him.

If Hazbin had more episodes there should have been one about Pentious struggling with the fact he disappointed his idol and told to KHS 👀

(btw this is old news but we know that one of the Hazbin episodes that Viv originally pitched was about a science contest organized by Voxtek in which Pentious and Baxter competed against each other! Pentious could have done that after ep2!)

Anyway, back to the comedic potential of it all & Vox's arrival in Hell. Can you imagine his reaction as a newly fallen Sinner, when he's hanging out with Alastor (aka following him like a lost puppy?) and he meets Sir Pentious for the first time? Like sure, Hell is full of insane people but Alastor obviously has a Reputation and no one ever challenges him. And suddenly... Hm... Alastor?? There's an airship with a giant cannon pointed right as us?? Firing a DEATH RAY?!

It's also so funny to imagine Sir Pentious being obsessed with Alastor and considering him his archnemesis back in the day, only to slowly become obsessed with Vox instead and only caring about defeating Alastor because he thinks Vox will like it. It starts with Sir Pentious trying to "gather intel" on Alastor's new "ally", spying on them or sending his Egg Boyz to do so (and we already know great he is at spying so you can guess how that goes lol), and the rest is history.

Alastor loves attention so he probably let Pentious spy on him behind bushes from time to time if only because it's very entertaining to watch him try to be discrete and make his shadow tap on his shoulder. How hilarious would it be if Alastor noticed Sir Pentious' growing crush on Vox but not Vox's crush on him? Also, Vox misunderstanding Pentious and Alastor's relationship and thinking Pentious is a weird obsessive ex... The world is a stage and the stage is a world of entertainment!

[liulith]

We need more Radiostatic AUs where Alastor OWNS Vox's soul. I want Alastor to lay eyes on freshly deceased Sinner!Vox and his freaky picture box head with RADIO antennas attached at the top and broadcast a signal in his direction, smile sharpening when Vox startles as he picks it up and their eyes meet for the first time — He will make the perfect pet.

I want Vox to be so, so grateful to finally meet a well-mannered guy who looks at him with a smile instead of a sneer, and I want him to shake his hand without realizing what is at stake, and what he's done. I want weeks, months to pass as Alastor watches Vox get acquainted with this new, crazy reality, latching onto him for companionship and support, picking up his mannerisms like an imprinting duckling, delightfully hilarious in his attempts to impress him. I want Alastor to keep up the charade of the sarcastic and detached, condescendingly fond, impredictible mentor figure. Endlessly amused and perhaps genuinely fond of this clueless little mouse who want to make the cat purr. Vox turns out to be even more entertaining than he thought — full of ambition, spreading his wings and ascending to power much faster than expected. The higher he climbs, the more delicious the crushing desperation in his eyes will be when he finally realizes.

(That's what he keeps telling himself, but isn't he stalling for time?)

[liulith]

Wavelength

Inspired by this art from @hiemaldesirae, this art from @ectochoir, and this post by @liulith

Might become an AU or a fic but this is such a fun concept

TW for mild blood and gore.

Vox first starts noticing something is wrong when he begins losing chunks of time.

It's little moments at first. A conversation here and there. Then entire meetings, movie nights, dates. A whole afternoon just...gone.

He chalks it up to exhaustion. Velvette is always saying he's overworking himself. That's it. That's all it is. He just needs to take care of himself a bit better and he'll be fine.

Vox really begins to worry when he wakes up on the floor of his bathroom covered in blood.

He can taste it in his mouth, the flesh in his teeth. He doesn't recognize the Sinner's corpse in the bathtub, flayed open and organs gone. He throws up.

The security footage is clear. He watches himself leave the tower, leaping into the power lines from the privacy of his bedroom. Hours pass before he finally returns, dragging the corpse along behind him as he heads towards the bathroom.

He remembers none of it.

It takes him the rest of the night to clean up the mess. He can't risk anyone seeing. This would destroy his image. How can the people trust someone who just plucks Sinners off the street for a midnight snack?

He disposes of the corpse and his ruined clothes. How would he explain this to Val and Vel? He can't. He can't explain any of it.

Things come to a head when he almost kills a Sinner on live television.

It's his usual talk show. He's interviewing an actor about his latest movie (produced by VoxTek, of course) when he hears it, like static in his mind.

Kill him

He shakes it off and continues the interview, ignoring the way his heart beat kicks up a notch.

Kill him

The stage lights seem so bright, so hot. They're blinding.

Kill him

He can hear the rush of blood through the actor's veins, see the pulse of his jugular. His claws twitch. He wants to rip it out.

KILL HIM

The actor is still speaking, but Vox can't make out what he's saying anymore. His head is filled with static and the sound of rushing blood-

Ǩ̶̨̮̾͠I̷̧̩̋̂͋Ḽ̴̀L̵͎͇̟̔͝ ̷͙̯͝H̶̫̤̿͂I̷̭͚̎͌̕Ḿ̶̤̑

Vox runs off the set without explanation. He cuts the broadcast remotely and does not stop moving until he reaches him dressing room. He slams the door. His heart is pounding. He is shaking. Sparks crackle around him wildly and he struggles to reign them in. Someone is pounding on the door. Velvette is shouting his name. He presses his hands over his receivers.

"Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!"

And everything goes silent.

When Vox opens his eyes again, darkness has descended upon his dressing room, the LEDs around the mirror flickering. And from the darkest corner of the room, a figure emerges. Vox glares.

"You."

"Good evening, darling!" Alastor cackles. "How is your broadcast going?"

Vox staggers to his feet. "What the fuck do you want?! How did you even get in here?"

Alastor's answering grin sends an icy chill down Vox's spine. "Why, you let me in."

"Bullshit! Why the fuck would I do that?"

"Look for yourself."

Vox does, mentally searching out every camera feed for what the Radio Demon might be talking about...and he finds it. Wide-eyed, he watches his own image enter the security office, slitting the guard's throat and tapping a few keys on the blood-splattered keyboard. He recognizes the motion enough to know it's the access code and within seconds, the V Tower is completely exposed. Vox kills the feed and looks at Alastor is shock.

"I told you," the deer says.

Vox shakes his head. "How, I...I don't remember doing that! Why would I do that?!"

"Because I wanted you to. Just like I wanted you to kill that Sinner you found in your bathtub. The actor...while annoying, I didn't truly want you to kill him. No. What I really wanted was to get you alone."

There a rush of static again and Vox's jaw snaps shut, body rigid. He can't move. He can't speak. Panic floods him. Alastor steps closer.

"I've been controlling you for weeks now. It's a splendid little trick, don't you think?" He points to the floor with his cane and Vox kneels. The microphone tips up his screen. "Imagine what I can make you do. Though you don't really have to, do you? I think I made the...possibilities very clear tonight. Of course, we could always make a deal."

Vox feels his jaw come free and he stares up at Alastor's Cheshire smile.

"You want my soul."

"Ah, so there is a brain in that flat head of yours! Marvelous! That will make this all so much easier." Alastor twirls his cane, grinning down at Vox. "So here's the deal: you can either sign your soul over to me or watch as I slowly drive your empire into ruin. I'll even leave you the souls you've collected. You can maintain your Overlord status. No one needs to know about any of this. You come when I call you. You leave when I dismiss you. You follow my commands. So..." Vox feels the control lift completely. "D̴̪͈̃o̷̹̜̎̓͘ ̸͇͙̒̌w̸͕̹̐͘e̵͈͙͆͌͝ ̸̪̜͆h̵͎̫͒á̷̠̂͆v̷͍͒̀e̴̋ͅ ̶̬́ā̸͔̻̉̈́ ̷̤̾͛̓d̴͈͖̈́̈́͝ê̵̕��̗a̸͈͚͉̋l̷̜͈̭̈?̶̝́̄"

[liulith]

Sooo about Vox and Alastor...

The Radio Demon controls radio waves. Guess what?

Over-the-air television: Television broadcasting through radio waves, from a transmitter (TV station) to a receiver (TV antennae)

Satellite television: A TV signal transmitted by radio waves from a satellite.

Cable television: Radio frequency signals transmitted via cables

Until the early 2000s, TV signals were entirely transmitted through analogue signals: for decades, the original television technology only worked thanks to RADIO technology.

Those antennae on Vox's head? They're 'rabbit ears'!! Dipole receivers, meant to intercept radio waves broadcasted by TV stations, convert them to radio frequency electric currents, and send those to the TV via a radio currents transmission line, to be converted and processed to produce pictures and sounds.

It makes perfect sense for Vox and Alastor to have been "pals". Alastor calls him an " old pal" mockingly, but there's no way Vox would have been able to implement any kind of TV technology in Hell without the help of radio technology - technology that Alastor had control over. For decades, TV was literally radio with pictures. Alastor used to tolerate him (despite Vox encroaching on his territory) at worst, but might have supported him at best!

In my opinion, the beef between them comes from Vox's transition from Analogue to Digital, aka the digital switchover.

When Vox asked Alastor to join his team, it's possible he suggested Alastor switches to digital radio broadcasting (better sound quality, less transmission power required, a compressed digitized signal that allows for more radio programs in the same radio spectrum...). Of course, Alastor didn't care for that.

Was Vox's transition (partly) motivated by a desire to be more independent from Alastor? In any case, he's certainly not that much more independent now: streaming television and the streaming platforms & other services available on digital TVs depend on internet connectivity. And Wi-Fi uses radio waves.

In other words: Alastor's radio waves still live in Vox's TV head rent free, in the most literal way possible :3

[liulith]

Yo! If you like my rec lists, check out these Youtube playlists I just made! (+100 videos in each playlist)

Vox, Valentino & Velvette animatics (including staticmoth and poly vees):

Radiostatic animatics (one-sided, requited, platonic, romantic, pre-relationship...):

Alastor-centric animatics:

and more!

[liulith]

let him be delusional

[liulith]

Cis man Vox is great, trans man Vox is great, trans woman Vox is great... But hear me out: bigender Vox.

As a human, Vee sees herself as an ambitious cis woman in a rich men's world and weaponizes femininity to her advantage while cursing the glass ceiling. She loves being a woman as much as she hates it and often wishes she was born male, fantasizes about how her life would be if she was a man, stares at men's clothes with longing... (🥚)

As a demon, he is reborn in a body that makes it easy to pass as a man: he can use a binder and change a few settings to make his voice deeper. He tells himself that "playing pretend" is simply the logical thing to do to protect himself and ascend to power (nevermind that there are several female Overlords. Yep, he's in denial)

Over the years, he slowly comes to terms with the fact that he enjoys being perceived as masculine in a way that has nothing to do with social status. Vox the businessman isn't just a persona, a performance, it's a real identity that brings him joy and makes him feel good about himself.

He finally figured it out! He was a trans man all along! He decides to fully transition, and it feels great, for a while. Gender euphoria, baby.

And yet... As much as he loves being a man, some days, he misses being called a lady and wearing dresses. Isn't that just ironic? Suddenly, the longing is back. He feels just like he used to when he was human, only this time the genders are reversed.

He starts second-guessing himself, frustrated and anxious, and his internalized misogyny and old-timey perception of gender roles are NOT helping him process the situation at all. He starts overperforming masculinity to try and compensate for his doubts. Was he just faking masculinity so well that he fell for his own lie?? That can't be true. He loves being a man. He just... she, she just wishes she could sometimes be perceived as a woman, too. (and no, he can't settle for something in the middle or outside of the binary: it has to be one extreme or the other, like a binary signal of 0 or 1)

Thankfully for Vee, she's got an incredible adaptable biomechanical body. Once she finally figures out that she can be a woman one day and a man the next (because she can do whatever she wants, forever), and that her fem gender expression doesn't invalidate his masculinity in any way, she gets SO MANY upgrades <3

tl;dr: "cis" woman with strong gender envy and internalized misogyny -> "cis" demon "pretending" to be a man -> gender crisis -> transgender man?? -> wait a second -> gender crisis #2 -> bigender Vox <3

Also I think it's a fun parallel with Alastor, who is agender in my heart

It also works pretty well, thematically speaking: Vox as a symbol of change, constantly switching performances (+ binary signal jokes)

[liulith]

Alastor and Mimzy are the type of besties who'd make a pact to marry each other platonically, for the tax benefits

Mimzy died before they could go through with it, can you imagine the hilarity if they HAD gotten married when they were alive, and randomly dropped the "husband" and "wife" titles at the funniest moments??

"Alastor who the hell was that woman who just left the hotel?" "Oh that was my wife" (refuses to elaborate)

both joking about divorcing the other / Mimzy dramatically yelling "I'm divorcing you!"

Vox: has been (s̶t̶a̶l̶k̶i̶n̶g̶) following Alastor around like a lost puppy for YEARS "you have a WHAT"

to Lucifer "well at least I still have a wife!"

(happily aroace) "my marriage is a sham"