#Implied Radiodust

[mottsfiddle]

I got around to coloring the bubblegum bitch sketch!

[madamemunny]

I need more jealous Alastor in my life. Like. It's a need.

He's in the middle of talking to Charlie about something to do with advertising for the hotel or some other mundane thing and his eyes drift away to the sound of laughter coming from the bar and he looks to see Angel laughing along with Husk and watching as they both seem to get a little to close to each other as Husk recites another story to Angel Dust and Alastor just hates the way the latter listens to every word Husk says when he knows his stories are so. Much. Better.

Charlie notices he isn't paying attention anymore and asks if he's okay, and like a switch, he flips out of his staring and looks back at her, apologizes like a gentleman for having not listening. But even as he continues to talk to her, he can't shake off the agitated mood he's suddenly slipped into nor why it gets increasingly worse every time he hears Angel laugh.

[eggcats]

A really funny idea would be that practically all main Alastor ships are canon, but Alastor HIMSELF is the only one who doesn't know he's in a polycule. (RadioRose, RadioHusk, RadioDust, RadioApple)

(They don't tell him because he doesn't handle being confronted with caring about others very well, and the last time it was implied, he ghosted and didn't talk to Husk for almost a decade. Alastor is very dedicated to being the untouchable Radio Demon, and if you try to make him come to terms with the idea of being Perceived, he freaks out.)

And so, when Angel and Husk notice Lucifer and Alastor starting to circle each other, they grab Lucifer to tell him the Rules of the Polycule.

H: "Hey, we noticed you giving Al eyes, we wanted to let you know how to go about this since he's dating us too."

L: "Oh shit! I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

H: "Nah, you're welcome in. We just gotta give you the ground rules because the last time I didn't, it didn't end well for anyone."

L: "What."

A: "Smiles isn't big on being seen as soft, so you just gotta avoid letting him know he IS, is all."

H: "Here's our current schedule, let us know the best times for you and we'll adjust it fairly."

L: "You....you have a SCHEDULE???"

And they hand him a sheet that's basically like:

No telling Alastor about the polycule!

No telling Alastor anything that implies he is soft or cares about you or anyone in the polycule! (He WILL disappear for another 7 years, and everyone else in the polycule will be mad at you)

No trying to force Alastor into doing anything with you (Obviously!)

Ask before joining someone else's Alastor Time(tm) (One on one time isn't always required, but it's just rude to hijack it for no reason)

Try to stick to the schedule the best you can (adjustments are allowed with prior notice, other conflicts, or Alastor himself asking you to do something outside your time)

Dating others (in and outside the polycule) is fine, just be respectful

Respect everyone else in the polycule!

VOX IS NOT ALLOWED IN THE POLYCULE

DO NOT LET VOX SEE THE SCHEDULE

L: "What's...what's with numbers 8 and 9? The TV guy???"

H: "Ugh, he's the reason FOR these rules! I tried to let him join me and Rosie a few years back, and instead he tried to make Alastor his own, permanently. Not only did he tell Alastor that they were dating, and tried to force him to join the Vees, he tried to kick me and Rosie out of the picture! Dealing with that mess was a NIGHTMARE. It took Rosie months to get him to talk to her again, and he practically ignored me before he completely disappeared. We JUST got everything back to normal after that mess."

L: "Uh, okay. Got it, no Vox."

And then, without Alastor ever noticing, he just gets another member of his polycule.

[celtrist]

Hazbin & Helluva Vs. Aromanticism

(Aka: I have a problem with the Spindlehorse team about this, not shippers.)

(Also this is mainly about Alastor but can go for Octavia and Mammon too.)

Alright, so I've cleaned up this uh... rant, to make things a little more clear hopefully. But to summarize here, this is about the team's lack of commitment when every other character is allowed full confirmation of their orientations but these (potentially) aromantic characters aren't.

While I have no beef with shippers (I think you can ship whoever with whoever you want, I ship Alastor too on occasion), there is some conversation about how the fandom might be a bit of a reason WHY they "can't" be confirmed as aro. But again, my main problem is more with the showrunners than the fandom at this point about this.

I'll also be getting into why it's "important" and the double standards against characters being aromantic.

This is not an attack, ship however way you wish (again, I do it myself). My intent isn't really to stop the shipping, that would be ridiculous. But more so to give my thoughts on why it's BS characters like Alastor can't be confirmed as aromantic when other characters are allowed confirmed orientations.

I will start off by saying I don't mind the shipping of Alastor. While it's NOBODY'S business but mine, I suppose it's important to clarify that I'm someone who does currently identify as aroace. I might be wrong but who cares, it's how I think of myself now at least to some degree (I do after all still have fictional crushes. Real-life romance is not an interest for me though, don't like 'em).

I'm gonna get what I don't think people talk about enough on both sides of being for and against shipping Alastor, and then I'll talk about the shippers as they're (I realized) not my main issue at this point.

A little history: So Alastor has been long time confirmed as an ace character. He hasn't been confirmed as being sex-repulsed or anything, but I can personally say I don't mind either flavor of him being repulsed or favorable (though I imagine the series will lean towards the former to counter everyone else's sex-favorable attitude and for jokes). This statement was initially taken VERY poorly by fans who, at the time, were shipping radiodust and radiobelle/charlastor, one more than the other. Care to take a guess which? The answer will not surprise you.

But then people realized "Oh, asexual doesn't mean he COULDN'T get with someone" and people even went further to "Being asexual doesn't mean he CAN'T have sex", both very true statements. So shipping was back on the menus boys! And his asexual was certainly blurred a bit (to the point where it wasn't even him being sex-favorable asexual as much as just not asexual, something that still happens but certainly not as bad). But overall, people were taking his canonicity as asexual with as much grace as a duck.

So here's where MY problem comes in. While I have some gripes with shippers, I had an epiphany that "Oh. It's not really the shippers I have a problem with. It's the people WRITING THE DAMN CHARACTER". Which, might I just say, is so much worst.

The shippers, while they got annoying at some points and certainly can be still, are just having fun. Because shipping just happens to be the way most people like to interact with characters in the media they're into. Hell, I am no different. I just have the misfortune of only really getting into rarepairs most of the time (curse you my bizarre tastes). I've even shipped with Alastor, I like AngelicSmile/radiojoy quite a bit.

Back on track. Now, what do I mean by my main problem being with the writers more than the fans with this? Well, queue this darling of a clip about the topic (this is the only clip I've found of the live stream, feel free to watch the whole video but just wanted the clip here).

This. Single. Clip. Infuriates me.

Vivzi, while I'm sure not meant to, pretty much implied "Alastor being aromantic and 'non-shippable' would ruin people's fun". I'm sure she meant it as a way to keep others from policing shippers (which didn't work, it still happens), it really just reads as "a character being aromantic is not a fun character". Like there's something wrong with being aro.

Not to mention some other things that would contradict this statement:

Viv in the past said "fans are allowed to ship outside character orientations", so... what makes that so different here with confirming Alastor as aromantic?

It being confirmed is not relevant to the plot. Great, so is every other orientation not relevant. Why can't Alastor be confirmed as aromantic but Vaggie can be confirmed as a lesbian or Vox bi? What does Vox being bisexual have to do with the plot? Neither is relevant to the plot, but one can be confirmed but not the other?

People were gonna ship him ANYWAY. Like, there's really no point in pretending. They were going to anyway because of the first point I already mentioned, but also people ship against canon orientations ALL THE TIME. It's just gonna happen and there's nothing wrong with that in of itself.

You've kind of just implied it's canon by not wanting to say specifically him being aromantic is canon or not. If Viv had just said "I don't wanna confirm his romantic orientation because...", then this statement would be fine and fair I suppose. But she had to call out him being aromantic specifically. And I mean, he COULD be something else (he was slated to be a couple with Mimzy originally after all), but the context doesn't seem like that would be the case. Plus, would she really feel the need to hold back from saying "Alastor is homoromantic" or biromantic or heteroroman- actually yes for that last one probably.

So riddle me this, with these points, why the FUCK would it be so wrong to confirm Alastor as a canonically aromantic icon and help get MORE REP for this very very very VERY underrepresented orientation? And I've thought of a few reasons to this, one of which being to avoid the same backlash that they got for Alastor being ace. Which, DID HAPPEN WHEN THE VOICE ACTOR AND SOMEONE ELSE ON THE SHOW CONFIRMED ALASTOR AS AROMANTIC BUT BACKTRACKED ON THE STATEMENT.

To which, fine. THAT'S on the fans (especially as no one would've complained if he was confirmed as homoromantic, which is a double standard VERY PRESENT in this fandom, but also many others quite honestly). But I can see another reason is to avoid others policing shippers about it.

Which, if that's the case, shit luck it's happening anyway.

To cower away from this orientation because of fans being upset says a lot, both about the fans and the creators. There is a whisper of "Alastor isn't allowed to be aromantic". That "being aro isn't allowed or appreciated".

We live in a world that at this point has a lot more lgbtq+ characters than ever before. At this point, there's just a lot of gay/lesbian and bi characters, and that's wonderful. But, there's barely a handful of aroace characters. And when they are, nobody wants to pay attention to that part of the character. So why can't the deer man be aromantic? I would imagine it would honestly make things a little better ship wise because ship wars wouldn't occur seeing as, well, there's no ship to be fought for. None of them could be canon.

So you might see where I'm leading into this, but I can only really think of one real reason Alastor being aromantic just "can't be confirmed" where as everyone else's orientations can be.

His popularity. Like, that's weird but walk with me here. Alastor is the most popular character in the fandom. There's honestly no denying it, he just is. And what do people do with the most popular character?

THEY SHIP THEM OFF IN A LOVEBOAT.

But wait, if he's aromantic, he can't be on a love boat. THIS IS BS-

And then... the outcry. And we HAVE seen this happen. I mentioned before, he was stated to be aromantic on two occasions by two people who work on the show, one of which is his voice actor (which I'll be fair, I personally don't think VAs always know the characters they play the best, that's the writers). But they had to backpedal because people DID complain. People WERE upset. So it's kind of shown just aromantism isn't really welcomed, at the very least not for a character like Alastor.

And that's the key: "Not for a character like Alastor". But if it were say, Niffty or Mimzy who are either overlooked or just not very popular, THEN it's probably more than okay for a character to be aromantic. Because no one wants to ship with them much, so they can be aromantic all they want.

AKA. The aro community is allowed the scraps but not the dinner.

At this point, you've probably noticed I switched gears from the creators to the fans because I DO think they could be a reason why Alastor "can't" be confirmed as Aromantic. I'll give credit, I'm pretty sure it's mainly on twitter and wouldn't be surprised if it was a "loud minority" thing going on, but the people have spoken. They vehemently cannot STAND the idea of Alastor being aromantic.

But I don't have a problem with these people quite honestly- I mean I kinda do, but my main issue is the lack of commitment when the other characters are allowed confirmed orientations. Why can't aromantic people get confirmed rep? Because "it'll ruin people's fun?" That's such a crappy reason because it's just saying being aro is bad on some level or isn't okay. Why can't the aromantic community get the dinner this ONE TIME? It's one character in a pool of many others that are canonically gay or bi, so why can't the aro community have this ONE popular character?

I'm not even asking for people to stop shipping him, I think that's perfectly FINE. It wouldn't change the canon. I'd appreciate more LOVE given to the aromantic identity (and I'm talking about the far end of it, so absolutely NO interest in romance as many have used aro Alastor but it still comes off as just normal shipping, but that's just me). There's such a double standard to the treatment of aromantic characters to the other characters in these shows (because Octavia and Mammon are in the same boat here), and the reasons given are so crappy that they sound more like off-hand excuses.

Again, I don't MIND people shipping Alastor, or Octavia, or Mammon who is randomly shipped with Adam the most. Let me repeat:

YOU. ARE. ALLOWED. TO. SHIP. THESE. CHARACTER.

But what I have a problem with is that these characters aren't allowed to be OFFICIALLY aromantic. How would it feel if this was a gay character? That they didn't want to confirm it but there's been indications with past statements and even in-universe stuff indicating so? I WANT Viv and her team to STICK with what route they were gonna go with.

And some might argue "what's so bad with nothing being confirmed?" Other than the fact every other character's orientations are allowed confirmation and Viv's crappy way of putting it in not confirming anything. There's, by all technicalities, nothing wrong.

However, if I may pose a counter, why is it fair for people to demand or ask for gay representation or confirmation but not aromantic? Because it's "not ruining anything"? If that's the case, I'm inclined to say that may be a bit aphobic. Because how is it that a character being aromantic can "ruin" the character or something, but a character being gay DOESN'T "ruin" the character. It's a double standard that I don't think most people realize or want to say because you don't want to be dissing on gay stuff.

But WAKE UP SHEEPLE. The gay stuff has PLENTY of things by this point. Whether through fan works or official media, it is growing and it is growing rapidly. And we should be HAPPY about that. But alternatively, Aromantic (and asexual) rep BARELY gets any attention in either fan works or official media. People would be UPSET if a ship like Angel Dust X Vaggie or Stolas X Verosika got into one of the top most popular ships. But Alastor? Nah, it's fine.

Again, while I don't mind the shipping itself, hopefully, you can understand how it might feel to see one of the most popular ships involve a character that goes against their orientation and it's YOUR orientation. It doesn't. Feel. Great.

And not everyone who ships Alastor even would LIKE him to end up with who they ship. Some people just like it staying in fanon. I have met SO MANY nice people who ship Alastor with characters that I personally don't really like him shipped with. But it's clear that I don't think THEY'D mind if he was confirmed aromantic because it doesn't change their life. They'll still keep shipping him because that's fun for them and that's FINE. People explore themselves through characters with confirmed orientations and they don't always line up with canon, and that's FINE. I don't think people should be policed on shipping with the deer man, they're just having fun. Would I appreciate a little more love for the aro identity? Sure (I mean just look at Alastor's ship weeks activeness vs. his aro week activeness), but if that's not how people have fun they shouldn't be forced to do stuff with it.

But Alastor being seemingly "not allowed" to be confirmed as aro has set a precedent that there's something wrong with being aromantic. And personally, it makes me feel a tad unwelcomed sometimes.

It's the precedents. Again, why is every other character's orientation allowed to be confirmed but Alastor's isn't? What is so wrong with him being aromantic? Hell, he might not even BE aromantic. But at least I'd KNOW instead of floundering around hoping upon a star for some aromantic representation.

It's okay to be gay but- WHOA HOLD YOUR HORSES THERE. WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO PUT A PAUSE IN THAT ARO BUSINESS YOU GOT THERE.

A character's worth is in how shippable they are. And if they're aromantic, they're not shippable. And unfortunately, there are just enough people to throw a hissy fit about it that Viv doesn't want to confirm it.

Because apparently being aromantic would "ruin" things.

[jules-9-7-1]

Radiodust/RadioHuskerDust

FOUND FAMILY

UPDATED had another realization

This FUCKING sequence made me scream giggle

Me SCREAMING at my tv: WHO ARE YOU LOOKING AT SIR!?

Update: WAIT, WITNESS...FIND connection!?

That can only mean HUSKERDUST!!!

My reasoning: witness and find imply someone who DIDN'T already have a connection

Charlie/Vaggie were already a couple and while we can see the girls talking to Cherri and Sir Prentious to see if he has a chance with Cherri,

CHERRI BARELY HAS BEEN HERE

THEREFORE

he's looking at Angel and Husk!

LOOK AT HIM! HE'S SO FOND!!!?

SIR WHO ARE YOU LOOKING AT!?

It made me want to use the expression:

SHAKING THE BARS OF MY ENCLOSURE!

This post is me gushing about the shipping part of this scene

However

I also need to rant about the potential plot of this interaction

(Posting that separate)

[fanby-fckry]

What’s the Deal With the Five Foot Rule?

Day 2 of Ace Alastor Week: No Touch Tuesday

Word Count: 1,868

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom: Hazbin Hotel (Cartoon)

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Archive Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Additional Warnings: Threats of Violence, References to Alastor-Typical Cannibalism/Violence, Implied/Referenced Abuse

Relationships: Alastor & Angel Dust & Husk (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor & Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor & Husk (Hazbin Hotel), Angel Dust & Husk (Hazbin Hotel)

Characters: Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel), Husk (Hazbin Hotel), Mentioned Mimzy (Hazbin Hotel), Mentioned Hazbin Hotel Ensemble, Mentioned Valentino (Hazbin Hotel)

Additional Tags: Canon Compliant (mostly), Post-Episode: s01e05 Dad Beat Dad, Humor, Attempt at Humor, Light Angst, Developing Friendships, Asexual Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Aromantic Asexual Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Touch-Averse Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Touch-Starved Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), (both tags are relevant trust me), Alastor is Bad at Feelings (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor Being a Jerk (Hazbin Hotel), Alastor Being Alastor (Hazbin Hotel), Angel Dust Being Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel), Protective Husk (Hazbin Hotel), Husk is So Done (Hazbin Hotel), Drinking, Drinking & Talking, The Five Foot Rule (Hazbin Hotel), Hunicast References, you can pry the hunicast platonic radiodust dynamic from my cold dead hands

Series: Part 2 of Fanby’s Ace Alastor Week 2024 ( <- Prev || Next -> )

Summary:

“So, smiles,” Angel said, leaning against the bar and nursing a drink. “What’s your deal?”

Radio feedback crackled in the air while Husk frantically made ‘cut it out’ gestures from over Alastor’s shoulder.

“My Deal?” Alastor repeated in a tone that made Angel suspect he’d touched a nerve in a way he hadn’t even been trying to.

“Uh yeah, the whole ‘five foot rule’ thing,” Angel clarified, and watched as Alastor and Husk both visibly relaxed. “What’s up with that?”

*

A cat, a deer, and a spider walk into a hotel bar, get drunk, and discuss the finer points of Alastor’s famous ‘five foot rule’.

Better on AO3

“So, smiles,” Angel said, leaning against the bar and nursing a drink. “What’s your deal?”

Radio feedback crackled in the air while Husk frantically made ‘cut it out’ gestures from over Alastor’s shoulder.

“My Deal?” Alastor repeated in a tone that made Angel suspect he’d touched a nerve in a way he hadn’t even been trying to.

“Uh yeah, the whole ‘five foot rule’ thing,” Angel clarified, and watched as Alastor and Husk both visibly relaxed. “What’s up with that?”

“Oh, it’s quite simple, really!” Alastor said, brightly. “Don’t touch me, and you keep your hands!”

“Right, but…” Angel hesitated. For a split second, he wondered if maybe he should just leave well enough alone.

But between the liquid courage and Angel’s already small threshold when it came to regard for his own safety, he decided to just fucking go for it.

“You’re always all up in everyone else’s personal space,” he said.

Alastor tilted his head in that cute, deer-like way of his. “I don’t follow.”

“Well, take Husky, for instance-”

“Uh-uh,” Husk interrupted. “Leave me outta this, legs.”

“Nonsense!��� Alastor said, interrupting Husk’s interruption by physically covering his mouth. “Let the man speak!”

“The five foot rule applies to Husk, right?” Angel asked.

“Why, of course!” Alastor answered. “And dear Husker knows better than to break it!”

Alastor wrapped his arm around a very disgruntled Husk’s shoulders, tugging him half-way over the bar. Husk hissed and squirmed, but Alastor’s grip was evidently a vice.

Which was exactly Angel’s point.

“But you’re all over him right now!” Angel said, gesturing to Alastor’s obvious breach of both his own rule and Husk’s comfort zone.

“Hmm,” Alastor hummed. Alastor pushed Husk down onto the bar and used him as an armrest as he tucked a fist under his chin. “I suppose I am!”

“And it ain’t just Husk, neither!” Angel said. “I mean, Charlie, Vaggie, fuckin’ Lucifer,” he listed. “Me, on occasion…” Although that’d mostly stopped since Angel had a panic attack that one time. Small mercies.

“I’m not countin’ Niffty and Mimzy, ‘cause it kinda seems like they’re exceptions to whatever the fuck this rule actually is, anyway,” Angel continued. “But that’s still a whole lotta people you’re gettin’ handsy with on a regular basis, Al.”

“You do have a point there, my friend,” Alastor mused, while Angel silently noted the upgrade from ‘fellow’ to ‘friend.’ He had no idea whether or not it actually indicated friendship – Alastor called Husk ‘friend’ too – but it was good to keep track of all the same.

Alastor released Husk in favor of polishing off the rest of his rye. Husk’s fur and feathers both stood on end, and he flipped Alastor off on the way to get him a refill. Angel mouthed an apology, which earned him a middle finger as well – but one that had less venom to it than the one Husk had given his boss.

“I suppose the difference lies in who’s doing the touching,” Alastor said, drawing Angel’s attention back to him.

For a moment, the Alastor looked… contemplative. That was the word. Not ‘mischievous’ or ‘vengeful.’ Not like he was plotting the downfall of Lucifer or imagining tearing apart Sinners with his teeth or whatever the fuck Alastor normally thought about that gave his resting face that inherent creep factor.

It reminded Angel of what Mimzy had said. He wouldn’t exactly call Alastor a kitten, but like this, the fucking Radio Demon seemed almost human.

“You were right about Niffty and Mimzy,” Alastor admitted. “They, along with Rosie, are very much exceptions to the rule. But the thought of anyone else touching me makes my skin crawl.”

Angel knew the feeling. It wasn’t one he had 24/7 the way Alastor seemed to, but when it hit, it hit hard.

“It doesn’t affect me if I’m the one doing the touching,” Alastor said, staring into the glass Husk had wordlessly refilled. “In fact, I think it helps… It helps to be in control of things.”

“And you get that control by pushin’ everybody else’s boundaries about touch.” Angel took a drink. “Do you ever think about how that makes them feel?” he asked.

Alastor laughed. And not a showman’s laugh or an awkward chuckle either; full-force, uproarious laughter. Like it was the funniest shit he’d heard in years.

Alastor placed a hand on Angel’s shoulder. “My dear, empathy is not an affliction I suffer from.”

“So you’re a hypocrite,” Angel said without thinking.

Three things happened in such quick succession that it took Angel getting sobered up the next morning to finally puzzle out the order of events.

One: Alastor let his hand drop from Angel’s shoulder.

Two: Husk vaulted over the bar with speed Angel hadn’t known he was capable of and wedged himself in between Alastor and Angel, wings flared in a protective stance.

Three: Alastor started laughing again.

That third thing threw both Husk and Angel for a loop.

“Calm down, Husker!” Alastor said, half breathless with laughter. “He’s right!”

“I’m right?” Angel echoed. Because, yeah, he was. But insulting an Overlord to his face was a stupid thing to do regardless of how accurate said insult was. If he’d said that to Valentino…

“Oh, don’t give in, now!” Alastor said. His radio tinned voice was a welcome interruption to a train of thought Angel really didn’t want to go down tonight. “You were onto something there!”

“Rules for thee, not for me, as they say!” Alastor threw his head back with enough force to break his own neck and fell into a fit of laughter once again.

Angel froze, barely breathing as his mind went a mile a minute trying to make sense of the absolute madness in front of him.

“Oh, stop looking at me like I’m going to bite your head off!” said Alastor, the Overlord famous for eating demons alive.

“You too, Husker.” Alastor punched Husk in the arm in a way that would probably register as playful under different circumstances. “Your attempt at playing white knight is very amusing, but we all know that if I truly wanted to harm Angel, there would be nothing you could do to stop me.”

“I’d die trying,” Husk said so softly that Angel thought he might’ve imagined it until Alastor responded.

“And you would!” Alastor agreed, far too enthusiastically. “You’d make for a delightfully tragic martyr, but there’s no need because this whole thing is hilarious!”

“It is?” Angel asked. Honestly, he didn’t feel like he was in on the joke.

“Of course it is!” Alastor insisted. “Reality has an entertainment value like no other medium! And this” – Alastor gestured to Angel and Husk – “is reality in its purest form!”

“In a drunken bout of honesty and complete disregard for the risk of a painful second death, you’ve given me insight that I never would’ve bothered to seek on my own – and you’ve done it in the funniest way imaginable!”

Angel forced a laugh. “Ya know, I gotta say, smiles, you’re givin’ off some real mixed messages on the whole ‘bitin’ my head off’ front.”

Husk huffed out what appeared to be a genuine laugh. His stance had also gotten more relaxed, and his fur and feathers were no longer puffed up.

“Yeah,” Husk said. “He does that.”

“I do!” Alastor chipped in. “And that bit is on purpose!”

Alastor downed his drink. “It’s been great chatting with you, pals!” he announced, and wrapped Angel and Husk in a disproportionate group hug.

For the first time since meeting Alastor, Angel noticed the way he pinned their arms in place so that neither of them could hug him back.

Alastor released Angel and Husk from his iron grip and immediately darted out of reach – something Angel also hadn’t taken note of before now.

“If either of you foolishly attempt to use this information against me, I’ll flay the skin from your hands, cut out your tongues, and eat your livers!” Alastor said in the same cheery tone you might use to tell a friend to enjoy their weekend plans.

And then he was gone.

“What.” Angel paused for dramatic effect. “The fuck.”

Husk – who hadn’t moved from his spot as the barrier between Angel and Alastor – took a seat in the next barstool over.

Husk shook his head. “Forty-odd years of that crazy bastard holding my leash and I still don’t know what the fuck he’s talkin’ about half the damn time.”

Husk leaned over the bar and reached blindly underneath it. He came back out with a bottle of something strong, so either he found what he was looking for from memory and touch alone, or he got stupidly lucky. Knowing Husk, either seemed likely.

“So,” Angel said, fidgeting with his lower set of hands and talking with his upper ones. “Should I be worried about him changin’ his tune about this little heart-to-heart once he sobers up tomorrow?”

Husk took a swig from the bottle he’d found. “Nah,” he said. “Just stick to his hypocritical five foot rule and act like tonight never happened.”

“Ya know, I meant to ask about that too,” Angel said. “Why does he call it the ‘five foot rule’ if he barely ever enforces the distance part? Why not the ‘hands off rule’ or the ‘no touch rule’?”

“Legs, I just told you I don’t always know what’s goin’ on in that fucked up head of his.”

“Aww,” Angel cooed. “Has the wise old bartender finally met his match?”

Husk scoffed. “I know more about Alastor than I ever wanted to. And it’s still just the tip” – Angel snickered at the phrasing. Husk rolled his eyes before reiterating – “the tip of the iceberg.”

“Honestly, I don’t know if he even knows what’s goin’ on in his own head sometimes,” Husk said quietly. “Until tonight, I thought he liked it better that way.”

Alastor made his way back to his room the old fashioned way – by physically walking there – humming along to a jaunty tune he’d plucked from the airwaves.

He’d learned something about himself! What an interesting turn of events!

You learn something new every day, but after over a century of combined life and Afterlife, Alastor had begun to believe he knew all there was to know about himself.

And this particular insight came with the added benefit of a rather dramatic reveal! Husker – the old has-been – could still put on a show when given the right motivation, and Angel Dust had been a wonderful wildcard to add into the mix!

Alastor wondered if he should examine the information they’d brought to light any further. If he should be asking questions about why he felt so comfortable in his hypocrisy. Why he both craved and despised touch. Why he was more than willing to put others’ comfort aside in order to maintain his own.

But the very existence of those questions brought an itch under his skin. That same crawling feeling that struck him when he felt someone else’s hands on him, like maggots wriggling inside a corpse.

Alastor melted into the shadows, the lack of physical form easing the feeling somewhat.

No, he decided. I think that’s quite enough self-discovery for one day.

[darcydarlingdabbles]

Fit to be Tied ~ Part 1

⊹ Hazbin Hotel ⊹ RadioDust ⊹ Explicit ⊹ 3.2k

After a rough night on set, Angel Dust falls at the feet of the one resident of the hotel he knows will take care—and control of him. CW: Rough treatment of Angel prior to story, and the implied consent issues of working with Valentino. //This is a thanks for 100 Followers~//

✧✦✧✦⚜️✧✦✧✦

Alastor savored the bitter notes of coffee as the old grandfather clock chimed midnight. 

He was comfortably reclined in one of the plush armchairs near his crackling green fireplace as he lazily skimmed over the pages of his book. Enjoying a quiet night at Hazbin Hotel, for once. 

Until a prickle at the back of his neck made Alastor’s ears twitch. 

Barely a moment later, the door to the Radio Demon’s room burst open and knocked a few tomes off his shelf. 

Alastor’s head snapped up in time to see a blur of pink and white, before a pile of silk and flailing limbs tumbled towards him. 

The red-clad demon vanished from his seat, reappearing behind the intruder as he face-planted into the recently vacated chair. 

“My, my, Angel Dust.” Alastor drawled, his ever-present smile constricting. He flicked his staff and the door of his room shut. “It appears our resident libertine has been through quite the wringer this evening.” 

His words dripped with facade, but a gleam of genuine concern ghosted across his features as he took in the state of the spider demon.

Angel’s pink robe hung precariously off of one shoulder and his makeup had run and long since dried. He was panting furiously, Alastor could tell even as he leaned over Angel’s back, his own hands clasped neatly behind his back as he examined Angel’s crumpled form. 

“Care to enlighten me as to the nature of your…predicament?”

“Val…Valentino.” Angel managed to choke out, his voice gone horse and raw.

Alastor’s curiosity deepened at the utter lack of bravado and flirtation in the spider demon’s words. 

Angel lay sprawled across the red chair, one set of limbs hanging over the arms of it, the second set barely keeping him off of the floor. His chest heaved for every breath, and his mismatched eyes were unfocused. 

“He had me trussed up and gagged all damn night.” He whined breathlessly. 

A shudder ran down his arched spine, and Alastor could see the residual arousal and overt desperation in every quivering muscle. 

“Oh?” Alastor’s eyebrows lifted above his perpetual grin. “Correct me if I am mistaken, but isn’t that sort of treatment typically right up your ally?” Though he had never seen the effeminate fellow looking so horridly undone.

With a whimper, Angel pulled himself to turn over, sprawling across the chair in a way that might have been enticing—if not for the anguish radiating from him.

“Listen Al, ya ain’t gettin’ it.” he grumbled as he shifted restlessly and his silk robe bunched around his middle. “The bastard slapped a chastity belt on me—I’m wound so fuckin’ tight, it’s killin’ me!” 

Something dark passed over Alastor’s features. 

“I see,” he murmured, with the edge of sizzling static. “The vermin Valentino decided to be particularly cruel.” Alastor shifted closer to Angel. “And sending you home in this state is a slight that I take rather personally.” 

Angel lifted his head, his mouth opening like he was going to ask, when the air shimmered around the Radio Demon. Inky black tentacles rose from the back of his perfecftly pressed suit, swaying menacingly towards the spider, before they tenderly parted the thin robe around his slender frame. 

The chastity belt was an atrocious looking thing. Heavy and with an ugly heart-shaped lock. 

“Stay still.” Alastor ordered the distressed demon. 

Without a further word, his shadow powers slipped under the device and then surged—deftly breaking it apart without harming Angel. 

“There now.” Alastor said, standing and brushing off his hands though he hadn’t touched the other. “Is that bett—”

Before he could finish the question, Angel launched himself at Alastor with a distraught sob. They both tumbled back into the other armchair, Angel clinging to Alastor like he’d just offered him his soul back. Tears streamed down the spider demon’s face as his entire body shook. 

And Alastor didn’t push Angel away. 

He lifted a clawed hand, flexing his fingers, before dropping his hand to the other’s hair. Stroking over it in a comforting gesture. 

It wasn’t his forte, certainly, but Angel leaned into his palm like he craved every meager scrap given. 

⊹♡⋆♡⋆💖⋆♡⋆♡⊹ 

“Al…please…” Angel still felt like he couldn’t take a full breath. His voice was ragged, and he was trying to cling to Alastor with every limb. “I need…I can’t.” 

A hand slipped under Angel’s head, grasping his chin firmly and tilting his face upward. He tried to focus on Alastor’s face—wondering if he’d have pity, or if the spider demon was about to get tossed out on his ass. 

“Now, now, my dear,” Alastor steady crimson gaze met Angel’s mismatched eyes with a smoldering intensity as his voice was perfectly controlled. “Tell me what you need. And do try to articulate it clearly.”

Angel gripped at the arms of the chairs to lift himself and clutch at Alastor’s jacket. 

“Need ya Al…please.” He pleaded, and he didn’t need to act to hitch his voice. 

 “You need me?” Alastor's smile softened, almost imperceptibly, before he gave a jut of his chin. His clawed fingers caressed the fuzz of Angel’s cheek. “Do elaborate, won’t you?”

 “Come the fuck on, Smiles! Ya want me to paint ya a picture?” The spider demon let out a rattling growl, burrowing his head into Alastor’s lap in frustration. 

“Angel…” Alastor purred, his voice lowered, and he felt it. The way the Overlord’s demeanor shifted into a dominance that was almost gentle. 

 Angel felt the tension in his neck ease under the weight of a hand.

 “You know I will take care you…but first, you must ask me nicely.” 

The spider whimpered in response, blinking against the unshed tears in his eyes. “Y-yes, Alastor.” He panted against the Radio Demon’s palm. “Please…I need you to—” 

It was taking every last dreg of his willpower to pull himself out of his fuzzy headspace. He’d been begging all night…but he had to play Alastor’s game. 

“You need me to what, Angel? Tell me.” 

Angel’s voice was barely above a whisper when he finally managed to speak, “I-I need you to... to make me come, Alastor.”

“Well, well. Coming to me in your hour of need.” His lips curved into a devilish grin. “Since you asked so very sweetly…I might just consider it.”

“Please, Alastor.” Angel was weeping with need now, on the very edge of his sanity. “I-I cain’t take it anymore!” 

“You would do well to remember how our game is played,” Alastor’s hand wrapped around Angel’s throat. “When you come here, In your moment of weakness.” He forced Angel back onto his knees, while the spider’s many fingers grasped at his sleeve. “You belong to me.” 

Angel’s whimper in response was a tone of broken relief. 

His body responded eagerly to Alastor’s domination, eager to throw himself down at the Radio Demon’s mercy. He needed it. Needed Alastor to take control and make him forget, for as long as he could. 

Angel trembled on his knees before Alastor. His legs parted at a nudge of the red-toed boots, his four arms dropping to his side as more shadowy tentacles sprung from the demon’s back and up from the floor. 

They slid over the spider’s body, soothing despite their raw power, slithering into the pink silk clinging to Angel’s frame. Delicate touches coiled over him—until the tendrils turned and shred Valentino’s robe.

It fell in tatters around them. 

Angel’s eyes squeezed shut as he tried to calm his breathing and focus on the feeling of the thrilling and terrifying power coiling around him. 

He was already overwhelmed, his nerves fried from the constant barrage of sensations all night, never reaching the peak, never giving him relief. One of the tentacles brushed up against his throbbing cock, and Angel gave a pained cry as he tried to recoil. 

“There, there, relax, ” Alastor’s soft recognition was almost pacifying, and he withdrew the touch from Angel’s oversensitive prick at once. Claws were back in the spider demon’s hair, forcing his head down, his cheek pressed to Alastor’s slacks even as the man whispered. “You don’t have to come like that. Let me take care of you.” 

Angel let out a shaky breath, the tension slipping away under the vice-tight hold. 

He felt another tentacle, small, slick, and pleasant, sliding inside him. The spider let out a sigh as the tendril adjusted to him before it slowly and deliberately began to move. 

“That’s it, Angel.” Alastor purred, his voice a low rumble in his chest as Angel gave a subdued moan. 

He didn’t have it in him to put on a show—no teasing words or dirty talk came to his mind as he surrendered to what he was given. It was easy to slip into the sensation. 

Until his body shuddered as he came dry with a weak cry against Alastor’s slacks. Angel felt boneless, his limbs heavy as lead as he slumped onto the other demon’s lap. 

“You did so well.” Alastor said, his voice gentle as he stroked through Angel’s mussed hair. “Good boy.” 

There was no afterglow, not with how tightly coiled he’d been.

But in that moment, Angel couldn’t bring himself to care. All that mattered was the warmth of this little bubble, this space that existed only between the two of them. 

Where Angel was safe from any other touch. 

⊹♡⋆♡⋆💖⋆♡⋆♡⊹ 

The spider demon knew it wasn’t long—but he wanted more. He needed more. 

“Al,” he started his plea, turning his head to try to catch the demon’s scarlet eyes. “Do it again?”

Alastor’s claws tightened in his hair, holding the spider in place with a vice-like grip. “Begging so soon, my dear?”

Angel bit into his lip, his golden fang glinting in the low light.  

“I thought you might need a moment, to recover.” 

The words were firm but gentle, a suggestion, not an order. Not yet. Angel shook his head vehemently. 

“I cain’t…I’m gonna…pretty please.” He wriggled under the Radio Demon’s hold, prying his fingers loose from chair and clothes, just to fold all four hands behind his back. Crossing his wrists in submission to Alastor. 

The demon’s smirk widened. 

“Very well,” he purred, his voice dropping low, out of his usual register as he leaned forward. The very sound raising the white hairs along Angel’s body. “But this time, I want you to beg for it properly.” 

“Yes, Al. I’ll do anything ya want.” Angel nodded eagerly. 

With a flick of his fingers, Alastor’s tentacles wrapped around Angel’s wrists and ankles, lifting him effortlessly from the ground. 

Angel gasped as he was held suspended in mid-air, bearing all of him for the Radio Demon. And leaving him completely at Alastor’s mercy. 

“Good boy,” Alastor said, his voice dripping with approval. “Now, let’s see how well you can beg.”

 Angel’s heart raced as he felt Alastor’s tentacles begin to explore his body, teasing and caressing every exposed inch. 

He wanted to sob, to cry out, but he knew Alastor wanted to hear his pleas. “Please, Al,” he gasped, his voice trembling with need. “I need you...I need you inside me.” 

“Is that so?” A tendril of shadow wrapped around his neck, pulling Angel’s head forward. Alastor chuckled, his breath hot against Angel’s ear. “And, what will you give me in return, darling?”

Angel’s mind raced as he tried to think of something; anything that would satisfy Alastor’s desires. What did he have that he could give the Radio Demon? Not power or wealth. He didn’t even own his own soul. 

“Anything,” Angel mewled, desperate to be owned completely. “I’ll do anything ya want.” 

Alastor’s tentacles tightened around him, holding him in place as he leaned in closer, so Angel was barely a breath from those razor-sharp teeth. “I want you to surrender yourself to me completely,” he intoned, like it was a threat, somehow. “I want your body, your mind, and your soul.”

A pained gasp of shock escaped the spider demon, ducking his head from the burning gaze in front of him. Hating the…shame he felt as the tentacles stopped their possessive slither over his chest and between his legs. 

He wanted to give Alastor everything—but he couldn’t. 

Valentino had already taken it. The deal for his soul, the studio where he used Angel’s body however he pleased…the drugs and that damn pink smoke he breathed and stole Angel’s mind from him. 

“Al, I—” his breath hitched with a sob and the red and cursed green of the room swam before his eyes. “I can’t.” 

Angel Dust prided himself on telling people exactly what they wanted to hear, couldn’t make himself say the words to Alastor—not knowing that it was a lie. 

The other demon just gave a simple, knowing smile. “Yes, you can, Angel.” He assured the frantic spider demon, each word resonating with certainty. “When you are free of that insect’s clutches, you shall willingly surrender to me.” The undeniable command was smooth as silk. 

Angel’s eyes went wide. 

This was their little dance, what some might call a twisted game of power and submission. 

Still, a shiver made the fur along the back of his spine raise at the thought. The shame didn’t vanish entirely, but it shriveled to nothing when Alastor dropped the tentacle around Angel’s throat, and replaced it with his clawed hand. 

“Yes,” Angel was still crying, but his voice was stronger now. His eyes were able to meet Alastor’s again. “I’d give ya, all’a me, Al. Everything I got.” 

“That’s it, darling.” 

Alastor’s tentacles moved again, stretching Angel and thrilling him with their raw force. Probing and teasing every inch. Working his hole until his heart was beating in his ears. 

“Let go, of anything else. There’s just you and I.” Alastor’s voice was nothing more than a low rumble in his chest, but Angel fell limp in the grasp of his darkness. 

Surrendering himself to the Radio Demon until there was nothing left, but the pleasure that threatened to consume him. Letting there be nothing else, for just one blissful moment. 

The tentacles moved within Angel, curling into his sweet spot, filling him until the pleasure bordered on pain. The spider writhed in the web of dark tendrils, but never asked to be released from it. He didn’t want to. 

Even as his head dropped and his eyes squeezed shut with a shuddering breath. 

But Alastor wouldn’t let him hide. 

The point of the Radio Demon’s thumb pushed Angel’s chin up, eyes wide as he saw the way the crimson eyes had dilated to dial-like slits. 

“Look at me,” Alastor growled the order. “You look at me…while I take you apart, piece by piece.” 

Angel whined as the claw kept him in place and the tentacles writhed, wringing every last bit of pleasure from his quivering body.  He could feel himself getting closer and closer to the edge, and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer.

“Until you can’t remember anything else.” 

Alastor wasn’t finished with him .

“Then, I’ll put you back together.” Alastor’s voice was a harsh, unfiltered whisper, rough with the same need coursing through Angel. “Because you belong to me.” 

Angel panted against Alastor’s lips as he sealed that promise with a breath-stealing kiss. 

With a final thrust of the tentacles buried inside him, Alastor sent Angel over the edge. The spider demon cried out his name, his body shaking, before falling limp in the shadows’ hold, every ounce of tension wrung from him. 

At last. 

⊹♡⋆♡⋆💖⋆♡⋆♡⊹ 

When Angel surfaced from the pleasant pink fog that had filled his head, he was lying on his back in Alastor’s bed. 

With the Radio Demon himself sprawled out above him. 

Reclining with one knee bent, Alastor casually flipped through a book with a flick of his thumb. His other hand splayed over the fluff of Angel’s chest. 

The damn guy hardly looked disheveled—other than his missing red coat. Angel was vaguely aware of making a mess of it with his come, and a rush of heat came to the spider demon’s face. 

He tried not to jostle Alastor as he looked around for clothing, already going to offer to clean it. 

The claws tightened reflexively on Angel’s chest. 

He knew he was busted when Alastor set his book aside.

Angel was already flinching—his instincts telling him to expect the sting of a slap or harsh words now that they were done with him. 

But, Alastor was never like anyone who’d had him. The Radio Demon smiled down at him with a tenderness he’d never seen on the man’s face before. That felt like it was reserved just for Angel. 

The spider turned in his hold, his many limbs feeling like jelly as he fumbled to get himself up into Alastor’s lap and wrap his arms around the slender frame, tucking his head under the perpetual smile. 

“There, there.” The Radio Demon hummed ever so charmingly, idly petting down Angel’s back. 

The warmth of his rare affection was everything Angel craved as he came down. He buried his face in the crook of Alastor’s neck, finding the red shirt unbuttoned just enough so he could take deep lungfuls of his smoke and sulfur scent. 

More comforting than the sweetest concoctions. 

Alastor’s arms wrapped around him, holding him close. Angel felt safe in his embrace, like nothing could harm him as long as he was in these arms.

They lay there in silence for a few moments, the spider’s breath slowing to fall in line with the Radio Demon’s. Then, Alastor pressed a soft kiss to Angel’s forehead, making him sigh contentedly.

“Al…?” Angel tilted his head back, mismatched eyes pleading.

“Drink,” Alastor ordered, summoning a glass of water and holding the straw to Angel’s lips.

Angel took a few sips, feeling the cool liquid soothe his parched throat. When he opened his mouth again— 

“Are you hungry?”

“Alastor.” 

A bemused smile came to the demon’s lips. “Yes, dear?”

“Is there anything I can do for you?” he asked, his voice soft.

The scarlet eyes lightened at the question, and he brushed a stray hair out of Angel’s face. “Not tonight, darling,” he said, his voice low and soothing. “Tonight, you are in my care. And that’s all that matters.”

Angel smiled and snuggled closer to Alastor, know that the man meant what he said when he said it. 

The spider had this, sense of peace wash over him. He knew that he was safe in Alastor’s care, and that was all that mattered right now.

Alastor simply smiled and wrapped him in a soft pink blanket, pulling him even closer. 

They lay there for a while longer, exchanging unhurried kisses that were sweet and mild.

Before Angel decided he was fucking starving and he would eat whatever the hell Alastor made for him.

Part 2

[angelduffhazbin]

AlAsToR cAn´T bE sHiPpEd, He Is AcE~

Because I came across a video that declares Alastor unshippable, because of his sexuality again... I thought I dedicate a post to the topic. And a longer one this time. So grab a Duff-beer and enjoy the text. ~♥~ The first question is, what is Alastor's sexuality? Ace or aroace? Asexual people, including myself, are capable of romantic relationships but have little to no sexual desire. So to cut a long story short... Love, yes. Sex, no. Aromantic people, on the other hand, can have sexual desires, but not develop romantic feelings. Love, no. Sex, yes. It also happens that aromantic people are also asexual too.

Rosie: Who´s this you brought with you? Rosie: Come now, Alastor. She´s much too young four you. Rosie: Oh! I´m just kidding. Rosie: I know you´re an ace in the hole. Alastor: A what now?

“Ace in a hole” is defined as having an advantage over your opponent. It may be that Rosie is saying that he is asexual (ace). However, she could also be implying that Alastor wants to use Charlie to gain an advantage. Especially since Rosi talks about ace and not aroace. Important to mention. ~♥~ Let's assume that Alastor is a no-go when it comes to love and sex. But why are there aromantic people who say about themselves, that they have a partner or even children?

The triangle theory of love states that there are eight forms of love. Not-love, liking, infatuation, empty love, romantic love, companionate love, simple-minded love and perfect love.

So love is not exactly love. There are many forms of it. If we delete romantic love, there would still be 7 more shapes left. Even if we eliminate all forms of love that have to do with passion, there are still forms of love left. ~♥~ Aromantic people can form relationships. And even Alator is confused about what Rosie is talking about. So let shippers have fun and let Alastor be shipped with whoever they want. Even Vivziepop is in favor of non-canon ships. And anyone who followed the Hunicasts knows that clean-up artist Ashley shipped Radiodust.

So please stop making posts or videos bashing shippers because they ship Alastor. THANK YOU! ♥

[chaifootsteps]

Wanted to add on to what I said before about end game ships. Viv clearly also has ships she does not like, and seems to go out of her way in order for those ships to be "disproven". For someone who was praised for pretty much saying "ship and let ship" Viv is pretty obvious with her biases. Especially if it goes against her end game ships. Two big examples of this are Clarlastor and Radiodust which were 2 of the most popular ships.

She has shown before that she does not like Chalastor. So of course when the show comes out we have Alastor refering to himself as a father figure to Charlie. So then people began to accuse Charlostor shippers to be incest shippers.

Then there's RadioDust. Viv has been very vocal about HuskerDust and that it pretty much confirmed to be end game, but RadioDust was what so many people shipped in the beginning. So what did Viv do in order to try and make people not ship RadioDust anymore? She made it so Alastor and Angel Dust, 2 characters of the main cast, have little to no interaction together. As well as imply that Alastor is as bad of an abuser to Husk as Valentino is to Angel.

Viv knows what she's doing when she does things like this. She knows that the fanbase of Hazbin Hotel (and Helluva Boss) is primarily made of people who enjoy shipping, I am one of them, and if she took that away I think many of the community would riot. She clearly wants the cannon ships to be what the community ships too, but she can't outright say that.

Said it before and will likely say it again, but Viv acts like she's a member of her own fandom, not the creator of her shows. Literally every other indie creator right now is attempting to curb the harassment and reminding everyone that it's all in good fun, that anyone can ship whatever they want, but Viv's right out there with her fans, piling on people who don't like Chaggie or do like Stella.

It's irresponsible at best and evil at worst, especially after what just happened with Shay.

[zaebeecee]

To Sever a Loveless Bond

••RadioDust Soulmate AU••

Part 20/?

First chapter | Previous chapter | Next chapter

Read on AO3

•••

Well, this took longer than intended. Y’all have no idea how much I love all of you and how grateful I am for your patience.

CW: implied cannibalism, electrocution, more Valentino-typical physical abuse, Stolas talking legal talk

•••

“The fuck you mean, he’s gone?”

“I mean he’s gone.” Niffty shrugged at Cherri, not sure exactly how else she should have phrased it. Cherri and Husk were both staring down at her, clearly riding the emotional high that had been building during their (inevitable) fight, and Niffty thought they both looked like they’d had a rug pulled out from underneath them. It would have been pretty funny if Niffty wasn’t feeling so concerned about Alastor. “I went to his room and he isn’t there.”

“Who’s gone?” a man’s voice called from above them. Niffty looked up to the balcony, where those two married imps were looking down at them with concern.

“Alastor, apparently,” Cherri called back.

“Alastor’s gone?” Arackniss called, from the other side of the lobby.

“For fuck’s sake, yes, Alastor is not in the building!” Husk said in a loud voice that was as close as he ever got to yelling. Niffty watched both Millie and Moxxie look back behind them as Charlie, way down the second floor hallway, yelled something muffled that Niffty couldn’t understand (but was probably a question asking if Alastor was gone).

Everyone gathered in the bar area, Charlie descending the stairs two at a time in a little leaping run that was one of the few goat-like quirks she ever showed. Once she reached the bar, Charlie held her hands out, palms down, and looked around at all of them. “What happened?”

Immediately, Cherri and Husk looked at Niffty, and everyone followed their lead. She blinked a couple of times, not used to having this level of undivided attention from people. “…uhm. Well, I— Cherri said I should keep an eye on Alastor,” she said, pointing at the other sinner.

“Yeah, to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid!” Cherri said, before turning to the princess. “Blitzø and Vaggie went to take Angie’s contract to that prince. I thought it would be a good idea to make sure Alastor didn’t fuck anything up.”

“He wouldn’t—” Charlie began, almost like a reflex, before she amended, “We don’t know he’s… doing anything he shouldn’t be doing. He could be… y’know…” She trailed off under the weight of Husk’s withering stare, clearing her throat instead. “Niffty, how do you know he’s gone? Did you see him leave?”

“No,” Niffty said. “But I know he isn’t here.” She looked pointedly at Husk, who abruptly glanced away from her. “Right?”

“…” Husk closed his eyes, sighing. “…she’s right.”

Charlie looked between the two of them, her expression torn. “…okay. Okay, I’ll trust the two of you. So… if he isn’t here, where is he?”

“He’s probably goin’ to VoxTek,” Arackniss said from his perch on the corner of the bar.

Almost immediately, Charlie did a double-take, like she hadn’t even realized he was there. “…what?”

Arackniss frowned at her, folding two of his arms on his bent knees (how he was able to make crouching in a suit look badass, Niffty couldn’t understand). “When I was gettin’ Tony’s contract outta Valentino’s office, Valentino came in, mutterin’ some shit about Alastor. I dunno what he was doin’, but he got somethin’ outta his desk and made some kinda remark about darin’ the Radio Demon to ignore him now. I figure he did somethin’ to bait the guy into goin’ out there.”

Cherri looked at him. “So the fuck do we do?”

“I don’t think none of us are in a position to stop an angry overlord from pickin’ a fight with three other overlords, exceptin’ the princess here,” Arackniss allowed, nodding towards Charlie.

“That would… not be a good idea,” Charlie said, twisting her fingers together nervously. “Plus, I’m not actually allowed to interfere with overlord disputes until they start getting out of hand. Alastor has every right to fight the Vees if that’s what he wants to do, it’s how the overlord system works.”

“So we can’t do anything?” Niffty asked, staring up at Charlie and feeling the distress mounting inside her at the idea of not being able to help Alastor.

Almost immediately, Charlie knelt down and placed her hands on Niffty’s shoulders. “Hey hey hey,” she said in a soothing voice. “It’s okay, Niffty, I promise we’ll think of something.”

“We need t’ wait for Blitzø t’ get back,” Millie said, looking at Moxxie. “It… it won’t take that long for Prince Stolas t’ find a loophole, will it?”

“If there is a loophole,” Moxxie said, a little pessimistically, before he added, “Of course, if Valentino wrote it himself, I don’t think that will be a problem. He seems pretty…”

“Stupid?” Arackniss supplied dryly.

“Yeah, basically.”

“If he got one of the other two to write it for him, it’ll be a bigger problem,” Husk said. “But Valentino’s vain and an idiot, I wouldn’t be surprised if his pride didn’t let him.”

Niffty sniffled, rubbing her hand underneath her nose. Read the room, Noriko. “What do we do if Prince Stolas doesn’t find anything?”

“Then we’ll figure something else out,” Charlie promised. “We aren’t just going to leave Alastor and Angel on their own. Okay?”

Niffty didn’t feel any better, but she nodded anyway. “…okay.”

As they all split off to discuss whatever their next moves were, Husk looked down at her, his frown softer than it had been. “…hey, Niff. Wanna reorganize the bar supplies?”

Niffty stared up at him, blinking. “…you never let me behind the bar.”

“Yeah, for good reason.” When he stopped there and didn’t withdraw the question, Niffty nodded hesitantly, and he waved her back. “Okay. Come on, before I change my mind.”

Niffty almost smiled as she scampered back behind the bar, ready to take Husk’s absolutely nonsensical organizational system and make it reasonable. It wasn’t a perfect distraction, but it was something, at least. And at this point, she was grateful for anything.

•••

Hell had an extremely complicated caste system, when you tried to figure out how power was distributed and what territories and domains in this place actually were. Back when Vaggie had been an exorcist, learning the intricacies of Hell’s hierarchy, she had it emphasized to her time and again that no one besides sinners were to be harmed. Because of this, she had been given only cursory information on the Hellborn that dwelt outside of the Pride ring; she knew the names of the Princes and their domains, of course, as well as what the Goetia were and the names of a few key members of their nobility. Outside of that, she had been taught very little, and as her time in Hell had been mostly devoted to doing what she could to keep Charlie out of trouble, she felt no more prepared for meeting a Goetian prince than she would have when she first arrived in this place.

Prince Stolas, Vaggie knew, was the only notable child of King Paimon and kept watch over the movements of stars and planets as his domain. It was a prophetic position, some said, or at least as close to prophetic as anything could possibly be; that kind of power made Vaggie nervous.

Blitzø didn’t seem to have that same problem.

“How do you know a Goetian prince again?”

“It’s a long fucking story,” Blitzø said unhelpfully, his eyes on the high stone wall that surrounded the property of the manor house that sat a short distance outside of Pentagram City.

“But he’s a friend of yours,” Vaggie guessed, one eyebrow raised as she watched the imp begin scaling the wall.

Blitzø made a noise that was somewhere between a scoff and a grunt of effort. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Uh-huh. Why aren’t we going through the gate?”

“Because,” Blitzø said, grabbing onto the top of the wall, “I am an imp, you are a nobody, and we are not supposed to be trespassing on Goetian royal grounds in the middle of the night. Besides, he’s in the middle of a divorce and his harpy of a wife might be keeping tabs on the building and I don’t wanna deal with the bullshit drama that’d follow if that’s the case.” He hauled himself up, crouching on the stone. “It’s fine, this is how I alw—shit…!” The last word came out as a squeak as he lost his balance, toppled over the wall, and landed in what sounded like some plants.

Vaggie sighed, then crouched and leaped up, landing on the top of the wall. She looked down at where Blitzø was gracelessly detangling himself from a plant that looked suspiciously like it was either trying to cuddle him or eat him. “Need help?”

“I am a very capable young woman.”

“Wonderful.” She jumped down, landing silently on the grass and waiting for him to roll out of the foliage. While he uttered a long string of curses, most of which Vaggie had never heard before, she examined the house. It was so… weird, how much even Hellborn architecture looked like shit that she could have easily seen in life. Demon or not, even she could tell this guy was absolutely loaded.

But I guess it wouldn’t be Hell if it didn’t have rich people.

Blitzø stumbled up next to her, brushing soil off of his coat. “Okay, all good. See that balcony?” he asked, pointing up and drawing her eye to a large stone platform jutting out of the wall, beyond which she could see two open doors that led into a dark room.

“…we’re not breaking into his bedroom, are we?” Vaggie asked as they darted across the lawn as quietly as they could.

“No, of course not,” Blitzø said, taking hold of the trellis and grinning at her. “The door’s open, we’re just walking in.”

Vaggie resisted the urge to groan as the imp began scaling the trellis with impressive speed. “I see why your employees always seem so pissed at you,” she hissed before she began following him up.

The bedroom beyond the balcony, while dark, looked… grand, but kind of gloomy. Vaggie thought it looked like a place you’d hole yourself up in during a bout of depression, naturally just making the depression worse. Blitzø crossed the balcony to the open doors, leaning in and knocking on the wood door frame a couple of times. “Stolas,” he hissed, knocking again. “Hey. Stols. Are you awake?”

Stols? Vaggie thought with a frown. He’s given a Goetian prince a nickname but claims they’re not friends?

From the bed, she heard a quiet groan, followed by a soft muttering, and finally a shriek as four glowing red eyes opened. “Oh my stars!!”

“Whoa!” Blitzø came a couple of steps into the room, holding his hands out. “Whoa, whoa, chill, Stolas, it’s just me!”

“Bl… Blitzy…?” a smooth and somewhat foppish tenor asked curiously, almost disbelievingly. Blitzy?? The lamps flared to life at once, and Vaggie winced, shielding her eye from the sudden light. When she opened it again, she saw an extremely tall, owl-like demon tying a silk robe closed and smoothing down the feathers on top of his head. “Whatever are you doing here? It… it isn’t—”

“It isn’t about that,” Blitzø said before Vaggie learned whatever ‘it’ was. “…oh, right. Stolas, this is Vaggie, Princess Charlie’s girlfriend or whatever.”

“Oh!” Stolas was now staring at her, his eyes wide. “I— I see— hello,” he said, brimming with awkwardness. Vaggie just nodded, feeling that awkwardness herself. “So… um… if it— if it isn’t…” He cleared his throat, then straightened himself into what seemed an attempt at a more dignified posture, the effect somewhat ruined by his robe and still-ruffled feathers. “What is it, then? It must be important, if you would come out here in the middle of the night.”

There was a lot hiding in that sentence, but Vaggie could only feel the weight of the implications; she didn’t understand the tension in the room, or why Blitzø was showing the first signs of caution that she had seen from him. His head was tilted down just slightly, though he maintained eye contact, and his tail sharply lashed behind him in quick and agitated, but brief, movements. “I need to ask you to… do something for me,” Blitzø said, after what sounded like a lot of thought.

“Of course,” Stolas said, surprise flickering across his face for a moment.

“You’re good with contracts, right?” Blitzø asked. “Fizz told me you helped Ozzie out when he had that kidnapping incident.”

Stolas stared at him for a long moment, and Vaggie thought he looked surprised… or, perhaps, like he was processing something. “…I… did provide assistance to Lord Asmodeus, yes. You require help with a contract?”

Blitzø didn’t address the obvious question—namely, why are you referring to the Prince of Lust so casually—and instead pulled out Angel’s contract from inside his coat. “I need to know if there’s a loophole in this.”

Stolas took it carefully, but he didn’t open it right away. Instead, he said, “…both of you, come with me.” He then turned, walking to the door and out of the room without bothering to make sure they were following.

Vaggie caught the way Blitzø rolled his eyes, a movement so quick she wasn’t even sure he was aware of doing it, as they both followed the Goetian prince out the door and down the hallway. The whole place felt so hollow and cold, lacking a sense of warmth that Vaggie believed was the most important thing to making a place a home. It didn’t help that all of the portraits had been covered with white cloths, as well as what looked like statuary and other decor.

Blitzø seemed to notice that, as well, and it appeared to be unusual enough for him to comment on it. “…what’s up with the fabric?”

“Hm? Oh,” Stolas said, his voice flippant and disinterested. “The household is relocating to another building.”

“…you’re moving?” Blitzø asked, surprised.

“I suppose you could call it that,” Stolas said. “This place is, after all, still technically the property of my father. With Stella gone, there is no one to object, and since Via has reached her own age of majority, it shouldn’t interfere with her affairs either.”

“…ah,” Blitzø said, like he wasn’t sure what else to say. He did, however, whisper to Vaggie, “I don’t blame him, Paimon’s a dick.” Vaggie bit down on her tongue to stifle a surprised snort of amusement, but Stolas didn’t appear to be listening anyway.

They followed him through a set of double doors and into something like a library with a planetarium model set into a recess in the ceiling, hanging low enough to dominate the upper half of the room’s visual real estate. Stolas went to the desk and sat, opening up the contract and beginning to give it a cursory once-over. It wasn’t long before he spoke again. “…ah, Blitzy, darling?”

“Mm,” Blitzø answered, his back to them as he looked around the room.

“Would you care to tell me why, precisely, it is that you are in possession of Angel Dust’s soul contract with the Vees?”

“Long story,” Blitzø said. “And I’ll explain when I have more time, but long story short, I promised the Radio Demon that I’d get you to look at it for some kind of loophole in exchange for him not eating my entrails while alive.”

Stolas opened his mouth, but no sound came out, and he just stared at Blitzø’s back. When the imp didn’t continue, Vaggie spoke, drawing the prince’s attention. “Angel’s been… kidnapped isn’t really the right word,” she said. “But he’s being held at VoxTek, and that’s a really big problem for Alastor for reasons I don’t feel prepared to go into. Plus, he’s… y’know. He’s our friend. We were hoping that you might be able to find a way to get his contract… broken, or invalidated, or something so that Valentino can’t force him to stay there anymore.”

Stolas’s expression softened a little. “…I see.” He turned to the contract again, frowning faintly. “This contract is quite old. Decades. That’s… highly unusual, for a sinner soul contract.”

Vaggie raised an eyebrow. “…is it?” she asked. “I thought making a contract for your soul was usually permanent.”

“If a living human makes a deal with one of the less scrupled Hellborn, that isn’t uncommon,” Stolas said. “But all overlords in Pentagram City hold soul contracts. Typically, they’re comparable to indentured service; a sinner contracts their soul to an overlord in exchange for a benefit for the duration of the contract, and in exchange, the overlord becomes the sinner’s… employer, you could say. Normally, the overlord will either set a length of time or a monetary value, and the contract will be over when either the allotted time has passed or the sinner has repaid the set value.”

Vaggie frowned. “…what does Angel’s contract say?”

“Well… according to this, the value of his soul is… open for reevaluation,” Stolas said. “Which suggests that the price could be modified an indefinite number of times to prevent the contract from ending.”

Vaggie’s frown deepened. “…that doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s quite an unfair contingency,” Stolas agreed. He then sighed. “You two should make yourselves comfortable. You may look at any of the books I have if you would like, but it might take me a while to locate a weak point in this text.”

“Thank you,” Vaggie said, turning away and pulling out her phone. She fired off a quick text to Charlie, letting her know that Stolas was looking for a loophole, and then wandered over to the bookshelf for want of something else to do.

It had already been a long night, and it didn’t look like it would be over any time soon.

•••

When the alarm first flared to life, Angel was asleep.

It wasn’t a sound sleep by any means. It wasn’t restful, and it certainly wasn’t peaceful. How he had managed to drift off, he wasn’t precisely sure, but his dreams were strange and obtuse and filled with odd symbolism that left him with no specific memories, only an aching sense of cold dread as he was jarred into wakefulness. For a long moment, he had no idea where he was; his first thought was his own bed, with some bizarre siren going off somewhere in the hotel, and his second thought was that he was in— someone else’s.

But the first one didn’t feel right, and even in his hazy state, he knew the second was no longer possible.

The vague scent of smoke and static burn in the air, coupled with the electric blue accent lighting cutting through the darkness, immediately set Angel right. I’m in VoxTek. But he had known that, of course, because that was where he was always going to be now. At least he had been left to his slumber on the couch, a small mercy that he was more than willing to embrace at this point.

The alarm blared again, and Angel looked up, finally fully registering what it meant; something was attacking the building. “What the fuck…?” Far below, he heard the sounds of breaking glass and screaming, and it was getting steadily closer, like whatever was happening was climbing throughout the station.

Angel didn’t hesitate. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t stay put or go seek somewhere safe, but he vaulted off the couch and bolted from the room in nothing but the sweater he had been allowed to stave off the chill. The sounds were still below him, so he headed for the stairwell, jumping down a flight at a time until it sounded close enough that he headed through the doors into the hall and down towards one of the filming studios. Angel shoved his way inside and into the huge, darkened room, dodging equipment until he reached the center and looking around quickly.

Apparently, he had come into the main newsroom, Katie Killjoy’s very particular set preferences still in place from the filming likely done earlier that evening. There was no one there now, of course, but the room was set up for the next morning, cameras still in place and sound equipment ready to be fired up. But there was nothing else, no sign of anything that was causing that much noise and panic throughout the building. It was so close, though, so Angel knew it couldn’t be far. He saw the doors on the other side of the studio, and had just started moving when he heard a loud and heavy thud against the wall.

Angel gasped, staggering backwards as whatever it was crashed against the wall again, then again, cracks appearing and plaster raining down until the entire thing broke. Angel watched a large, spindly hand reach out and grab the broken edge of the wall, sharp claws digging gouges as the hand tightened its grip and leveraged the rest of the body inside.

It was something Angel had only seen once, when Mimzy had led her loan sharks to the hotel; but back then, Alastor had only grown as large as he felt he needed to, and he had been somewhat jubilant in his violence. But the figure that clawed its way into the studio was much larger, and so, so very angry.

“…Alastor…” Angel whispered, watching as the monstrous and savage form of the Radio Demon dragged itself out of the wall and swept a camera out of its way with an impatient hand. If he stood up to his full height, his antlers would have dug into the studio’s ceiling, said antlers grown sharp and tangled like an angry bramble plant. Blood dripped from his teeth and down his chin, staining his claws and spattered all over his face and coat. His eyes looked at once sharp and completely unfocused, radio dials twitching and flicking madly against the deep black of his sclera. Angel knew that Alastor could have killed him without a thought, but that wasn’t on his mind as he ran forward. “Alastor!!”

Instantly, that giant and terrifying face swiveled on a too-flexible neck to stare at him, eyes unblinking and furious grin stretched wide enough to show rows of brilliant green stitching at the corners. He didn’t immediately strike, however, dropping onto his hands and knees as Angel approached. An animalistic noise, something between a growl and a hiss, was the only sound he made as he lowered his head to stare at the spider demon.

If Angel was sane, he would have run. Alastor was one of the most dangerous entities in the entire Pride ring, an overlord infamous for the simple rumor of devouring other overlords. But Angel knew he couldn’t have possibly been sane, because he didn’t stop until he collapsed onto his own knees right in front of the Radio Demon, breathing hard from exertion and the still-present panic waking up to the blaring alarm had caused. Alastor’s growl was a low rumble deep in his chest that felt like it shook the studio floor, and Angel slowly looked up, staring into those terrifying eyes as their dials shivered in preparation to start spinning again.

Angel was good at not letting himself think, and that was what he did as he raised two of his hands and cupped Alastor’s monstrous face as best he could. “Alastor,” he whispered, his eyes filling with tears. The Radio Demon’s skin felt oddly cold to the touch. “You weren’t supposed to come here.”

Alastor didn’t speak. Angel wasn’t positive he even could in his current state. His only answer was another growl, but even as the sound rumbled through the studio… slowly, gently, he leaned his head into Angel’s hand. His breath was labored and smelled like he might have eaten half of the employees downstairs, but Angel couldn’t make himself care. Tears fell freely as he stroked Alastor’s cheek, the growl turning into something closer to a purr.

Angel wanted to ask Alastor what the fuck he was doing there, what he was planning, what he was thinking, but he didn’t get the chance. Before he could open his mouth, he felt something familiar and hot and sharp around his throat just before his body was violently yanked backwards with a jerk hard enough to lift him entirely off the ground before he hit the concrete and began sliding across it as he was dragged. Immediately, the very little calm Alastor had found was gone, and he screamed, rearing up onto his feet again and flexing his claws.

Angel smelled Valentino before he felt him, the overlord seizing his hair and yanking him upwards without releasing his chain. “That worked better than I could have hoped,” Valentino said quietly, and he sounded much too smug and way too calm for someone who had the full attention of a furious Radio Demon. But Valentino didn’t run. He wasn’t even trying to defend himself.

Alastor began charging across the studio, knocking cameras and lights out of his way, sparks flying through the dark and casting brief, deep shadows across his face. Angel gasped sharply as Alastor reached out towards them, but he stopped, another scream escaping him… but this one was a shriek of pain. Beneath it, Angel heard the loud buzz of electricity and the hiss of burning flesh, and he saw flashes of electric blue light backlighting the Radio Demon in enormous flickering bursts. So strong was the surge that the sounds of electric thrumming throughout the building, always present at VoxTek, cut out with a dying whir as the entire building lost power. Angel screamed as best he could with the shackle still limiting his air intake, but he couldn’t do more than struggle against Valentino’s hold as Alastor collapsed to the floor with a heavy thud and the occasional bright spark of lingering static. Slowly, he began shrinking again, his body resuming its usual size and shape without his consciousness to maintain his shift. The emergency lights along the floors flickered and then came to life, casting their eerie blue glow across the scattered and ruined film equipment.

“Well,” Valentino said into the sudden empty silence, one that felt heavy and oppressive with the lack of any electronic noises at all around them. “That was certainly exciting.”

Footsteps echoed off the studio walls, and Angel tore his eyes from Alastor’s unresponsive form to the only source of illumination in the entire room besides the emergency lights. Vox’s face looked… passive, but annoyed, a sure sign that he was containing unbridled rage while in a public part of the building out of sheer force of habit. Behind him, Angel heard a soft and irritated murmur before a cell phone flashlight came on, Velvette following along behind him and casting around to examine the damage. “Good job on that, boys,” she observed. “So chuffed you decided to piss off the Radio Demon, we had far too much of the building intact for my liking.”

Vox didn’t look at her; his focus seemed split entirely between Alastor and Valentino. Between the glow from his face and from the floor lights, Angel could make out his arm as he reached up and flexed his hand, thick and heavy electrical cables pulling free from Alastor’s body with a sharp jerk that sent blood arcing through the air in their wake. Angel realized that must have been how Vox knocked him out; Alastor had been so enraged he hadn’t even noticed that Vox was there until the massive black cords had buried themselves into his flesh to deliver VoxTek’s entire electrical supply straight into him.

“Val,” Vox said, his voice clearly struggling to maintain its control. “What. The fuck. Did you do?”

Valentino didn’t seem bothered by Vox’s obvious rage. He released Angel’s hair, but not his chain, and the spider collapsed to the floor at Valentino’s feet as that chain kept him anchored in place. “Exactly what you wouldn’t,” he said easily. “And it worked, didn’t it? Something finally encouraged Alastor to enter VoxTek.”

Vox’s facial graphics glitched briefly as his lip curled. “We wanted him to come here,” he said, before he gestured around sharply with one thrown out hand. “We didn’t want him fucking destroying everything! We’re lucky the goddamn building didn’t collapse on top of us, Val!”

“You got what you wanted,” Valentino said with an odd air of coldness that Angel wasn’t used to hearing him use with Vox. “And look, he’s incapacitated and my pet is in one piece. Looks like we both win, doesn’t it?”

Vox looked at him, his left eye twitching a couple of times. “…you cannot comprehend how badly I want to kill you right now.”

“But you won’t,” Valentino said, yanking Angel back to his feet. “You never do.”

“Wait,” Angel pleaded, as Valentino grabbed him by the upper arm. “What are you going to do to him?!”

Vox looked at Angel as though only just registering his presence. “That isn’t your concern.”

“Fuck you!” Angel yelled, yanking against Valentino’s grip ineffectually. “I won’t let you hurt him!!”

Vox actually smirked. “I don’t think either of you are in any condition to dictate anything.”

“Alastor!!”

Valentino’s grip tightened and he pulled, throwing Angel across the room away from Alastor. He landed on his back with a sharp cry, cracking one eye open and shoving himself backwards as Valentino advanced on him. “I have been so incredibly lenient with you, amorcito,” he snarled. “But it seems you didn’t learn anything from your last punishment. I think it’s time to rectify that.”

Valentino struck him across the face so hard his lip split and his vision blurred, Angel hitting the concrete floor again. He could just see Vox using cables to lift Alastor’s body from the floor before Valentino filled his vision again, grabbing him and hauling him up, and Angel wondered if he was ever going to see Alastor again.

He wondered if he was going to see anything at all after Valentino was done with him.

•••

Vaggie had a very bad feeling.

When she had been alive, she’d tried to chalk up those bad feelings to simple Catholicism-induced superstition, always treating them like nothing even when she was well aware that ignoring those feelings always led to something terrible happening. Since dying, however, she had learned that those feelings… they weren’t something to ignore.

She had them in Hell not infrequently, of course, since… well. It was Hell. But she still knew that, even in a place like this, she couldn’t just ignore it.

Concentrating on Stolas’s book collection, fascinating as it was, proved more and more impossible as time crawled on. Vaggie turned to pacing and checking her phone at a rate of roughly twice per minute, knowing that wouldn’t help anything or make things go faster but unable to stop herself. She felt like she was about to go insane when Stolas’s voice finally broke the silence. “Miss Vaggie, was it?”

Vaggie’s head shot up and she pivoted on her heel, approaching the desk. “Yeah. Yes,” she corrected, reminding herself that she needed to be polite here no matter how impatient she was feeling.

Stolas didn’t look at her, his eyes still on the contract. “You said Angel Dust is a friend of yours, so I trust you know him quite well. You are a resident at the Hazbin Hotel, correct?” Vaggie made an affirmative noise. “And I remember hearing that Angel Dust, too, moved into that place. Your… resident celebrity.”

“Yeah,” Vaggie said with a frown. “Why?”

“How long has he lived there?”

“I… guess about… nine months, now?” Vaggie guessed. The change in the extermination schedule had thrown off everyone’s perception of time.

“And how long has it been since he was taken back to VoxTek?” Stolas asked.

“Less than two days.”

Stolas nodded, then turned the contract, pointing to part of it… particularly a word that Vaggie didn’t know. “Much of this contract contains some extremely archaic language,” Stolas said. “It seems as though, in a bid to make it as iron-clad as possible, Valentino pulled from old Goetian tradition rather than simply relying on sinner terminology.”

“What does that mean?” Vaggie asked, wishing (not for the first time) that she hadn’t dropped out of high school to work when she was a teenager.

“It means that this contract is non-standard, but this clause here is the relevant portion,” Stolas said. “The intention of this clause is that the one who holds Angel Dust’s soul contract, or Valentino himself, is the only one who can set the value of his soul. It also grants him sole right to change that value whenever he wishes. But the phrasing…” Stolas tapped the word Vaggie didn’t recognize. “This word here, aheydrun, doesn’t have a modern Hellish direct translation, but the closest approximation is ‘keeper’. However, an aheydrun is one who holds and controls a residence; its use in contracts is that it granted power, ultimately, to the master of the house in question. During the time Angel Dust lived at VoxTek, provided he resided within Valentino’s quarters, that would make Valentino the aheydrun as specified by the contract.”

Vaggie stared at him. “…but Angel is at VoxTek again.”

Stolas shook his head. “Irrelevant,” he said. “According to Goetian legal tradition, once the contracted soul has lived under a different master of the house for a period of seven black moons, the contracted power of aheydrun passes to them.”

Blitzø, who apparently had snuck up when Vaggie wasn’t looking, put his chin on Stolas’s desk. “What’s that mean in one dollar words, Stolas?”

“A black moon is another phrase for a new moon, which happens once per lunar cycle,” Stolas said. “It means that, per Angel Dust’s contract, if he has lived in the Hazbin Hotel for seven months or more, the power to determine the value of his soul has already passed from Valentino to Charlotte Morningstar. The fact that he’s no longer at the hotel won’t affect this for another seven months.”

Vaggie stared at him. “…but… but if that were true, wouldn’t… wouldn’t it already be broken? The contract, I mean.”

“If Princess Charlotte has not reevaluated his soul, no, it will have remained at whatever Valentino’s last determination was.”

Vaggie looked from Stolas to the contract. “…you mean… if Charlie says that the worth of Angel’s soul is lower than the amount of money he’s made for VoxTek through his movies…”

“The contract will end immediately.”

“…I have to go,” Vaggie said. “Can I—”

“Of course,” Stolas said, offering the contract out to her.

Vaggie reached out, but didn’t take it immediately, instead clasping Stolas’s hand in both of hers the way she had seen Charlie do to other people before. “Thank you so much,” she said to the surprised Goetia. “I have no idea how Charlie’s going to want to repay you for this, but she will. Thank you.”

“Oh, she doesn’t…!” Stolas began, but Vaggie wasn’t listening, taking the contract and bolting out of the room. She heard Blitzø yell something after her, but didn’t slow down, taking the same path back the way they had come.

She ran out onto the balcony just as Blitzø caught up with her. “Fuck, you are fast!” he complained.

“That’s nothing compared to what you’re about to see.” She looked at him. “I have to move quickly. You coming?”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Then get on my back.”

“What—”

“Now, Blitzø, I don’t have time!”

The imp scrambled up onto her back; he wasn’t all that much shorter than her, being as tall as he was, but he was so light she barely felt it. “Okay, now what?”

“Now, we move,” Vaggie said. She crouched, and she barely registered Blitzø’s cry of surprise as her wings unfurled from her back and she ran for the balcony railing. She jumped, landed briefly on the stone, and launched herself up into the air.

Don’t do anything else stupid, Alastor, she thought. It isn’t just Angel. I’m doing this for you, too.

Not that she would ever say any of that to either, of course. Some lines just didn’t need crossing.

•••

[eiirisworkshop]

Behold! For the first time ever, I have posted smut!

HuskerDust fic with a small side of RadioDust, as a treat—featuring snarky and emotionsally vulnerable Angel Dust, grumpy good bro Husk, a little bit of kinky aroace Alastor, and frankly less bondage than the cover art implies.

Title: A Gentlemen's Agreement for the Small Hours Rated: E Summary: Following a kink session of debatable wisdom with Alastor, Angel Dust has a late-night, vodka-fueled heart to heart with Husk that leads to, not a deal, but an agreement. An agreement that leads to more encounters with each other in the small hours of the night.

[luciferfemme]

probably kicking a hornet's nest but oh whale H***dust isn't actually canon. They have a duet together but so do Vox and Alastor, and Charlie and Alastor and Lucifer and Alastor (he has a lot of duets) That doesn't MAKE any of them canon. But because the show went out of its way to IMPLY H***dust is more canon and went out of it's way to keep Angel and Alastor apart as much as possible people take H***dust more seriously--

Even the voice actor for Angel has a soft spot for RadioDust.

[beevean]

I see a lot of fan art for Charlie x Alastor

I see a lot of fan art for Lucifer x Alastor

But I rarely see any fan art of Charlie X Vaggie lmao

(I know it's because Charlie and Vaggie's dynamic is bland compared to the other ones but I still find it funny)

What's with stories always making the main couple so boring and formulaic?

Multiple factors, I'd wager.

in HH's case in particular, Alastor is the most popular character in the show, and therefore the most shipped. This goes way back to the days of the pilot, where Radiodust gained a lot of traction despite Alastor and Angel only having one interaction, and it was Angel jokingly proposing to suck Alastor's dick lmao. Anyway, dude is nowadays shipped with... pretty much the entirety of the main cast except Velvette and Valentino lmao.

With very few exceptions, M/M and M/F ships tend to be more popular than F/F ships. There has been infinite discourse about this disparity, and I can't tell you exactly why, you draw your own conclusions.

Charlie and Vaggie are an already established couple, and have a very healthy, stable relationship with only a few hiccups, including the very big reveal that Vaggie hid her nature from Charlie, but the rushed pace of the season made them get over it quickly. From a representation standpoint, this is pretty good, it's nice to have a very normal lesbian couple not treated any differently. From a shipping standpoint, it's boring lmao. There's no conflict nor a journey to follow like in the case of Huskerdust.

Vaggie was also toned down from the pilot, possibly because some people criticized her as a stereotypical angry Latina - now she's just grumpy, as well as out of focus, and no one song shared with Carmilla is not enough. Not a good way to endear your character.

However, in theory, one could elaborate on those hiccups. Vaggie is basically Charlie's guard dog, and she admits in one episode that she ties her selfworth around being able to make her happy, but when you look at their interactions, Vaggie doesn't seem to ever be on board with Charlie, creating fiction. You can even see the hint of a power imbalance, which is always appealing for shipping. Then there is, of course, the reveal, that could shake their relationship even further and make them go on a journey to learn how to trust each other. Now, why won't many fans think of this? Well...

I don't go there so I don't have personal experience myself, but stereotypically, F/F shippers tend to favor sugary scenarios. I hear all the time how female characters are only allowed to be cute and hold hands, and never be as twisted and edgy as many, many M/M ships :P so the potential of making Chaggie a bit "spicier" to fix the shortcomings of the show is hardly explored. And even if it is...

... Charlastor is right there. Charlastor, with Alastor happily helping Charlie but hiding his own nefarious agenda. Charlastor, with Alastor teasing Charlie in a much more playful way, even touching her. Charlastor, with the two genuinely, openly trusting each other, Charlie with her feelings in general and Alastor with his ultra powerful mic and believing in her potential. Charlastor, that ended with Alastor breaking down about a deal that constrains him and is implied to be the very reason he's serving Charlie in the first place. Even if Alastor wasn't the fandom blorbo, no shit Charlie is much more shipped with this guy! The dynamic is much more unique and is bound to go somewhere!

Main couples don't have to be boring. For example, no one ever dared to break Rupphire apart because they were just that lovable together, both in Garnet form and separated: they had chemistry, we saw how we got closer, we saw them argue for a whole episode, we saw them being openly affectionate towards each other. Chaggie in my opinion is just another victim of HH's rushed, unfocused pace, that left poor Vaggie in the dust and reduced her to Charlie's grumpy but loyal gf.

(now don't ask me why Radioapple got so popular lmao. I don't get it. I guess Hell's Greatest Dad slaps that much)

[ladybugfanfics23]

To all the RadioDust fans out there, check this out!

To all the RadioDust fans out there, check out my RadioDust oneshots!

[furby-organist]

// spoilers, some thots, differences between canon and my worldbuilding. adhd style rambling.

- Contrary to like, the pilot and Alastor comic, there was a lot less of Alastor terrifying the shit out of everyone with his presence. I wonder if this is because the people he's seen interacting with are a) The hotel peeps, who are largely a self-selecting group of people who are okay interacting with him, and b) other overlords. Anyway, "almost everyone is terrified of Alastor and he is deeply lonely" is still a very important part of this blog and his development and I'm not changing it.

- Alexa is not an overlord. I'm pretty sure that the team (or Viv?) had said that Alastor wasn't a proper Overlord because he doesn't hold territory, but he's very powerful. Not sure if the series will clarify further or if they've decided he's an overlord. Alexa will continue to not be an Overlord. He controls radio as a mechanism and has the only radio tower in the area but he doesn't control actual territory.

- I was expecting Vaggie and Alastor to butt heads way more haha! Vaggie was not malding as much as I expected!

- I had really hoped to see more Alastor/Angel chaos interaction, especially because we got some fun stuff out of the Hunicast. They seem to get along okay. Though it looks like Angel + Husk are getting pretty chummy and Husk has beef with Alastor

(and they like... paralleled Alastor to Valentino? Which is INSANE to me... listen Alastor sucks as a person, and having his freak ass own your soul can't be fun, but there is a MASSIVE difference between the circumstances that had Husk sign over his soul and Angel sign over his soul. Like one is overlord-on-overlord violence and the other is, like, exploitation of structural violence at minimum. "I'll make you a star, I'll make you rich" etc etc. And there's a MASSIVE difference between the abuse & control that Val does and Alastor doing Diet Labor Trafficking by voluntelling Husk as a bartender.)

so I do wonder in canon how Angel and Alastor COULD be friends if the implied parallel is Husk (or anyone) befriending Valentino. Girl that is insane.

Whatever, I am on the radiodust train until I mf die, Alastor/Angel besties train, chaos friends, I think the funniest possible development on this blog is that (after canonically pulling up to the hotel and being like "girl you are delulu. This is a dumpster fire. and I want front row seats" and Vaggie was like "this freak is going to ruin this project") that he clown tax evasion married the ONE RESIDENT. They went "we could make each other worse. we could make all of this worse" (they did not make each other worse but hell certainly suffers when they open their mouths)

- I've talked extensively in the past on this blog about abuse and how Local Alastor thinks a situation like Angel's should be handled and it's not like how Charlie does Lmao bless her.

- I thought it was so funny that Alastor was like "now I have to go to the tailor" bitch your coat was already raggedy and you came back with a raggedy ass coat.

- Also... Alastor behaved a lot more than I thought he would? He was pretty down to do the job of disposing of the egg bois, even humanely, like he didn't really put up too many fights! Idk he was a behaved manager. I think he is having a good time at the hotel. I love that for his freak ass

- I love how him doing freaky ass facial expressions/lighting is mostly like, Something He Does and most of everyone just kind of accepts it. He really is out here saying wild shit too. "I pulled some limbs too. Hahaha!" lmao yesss Alexa randomly saying morbid ass shit bc he didn't think it through how it comes off was definitely a Thing that's happened and will continue to happen.

[trashogram]

Wish CharlieDust was at least same popular as Spidermoth. Which Spidermoth is only popular because it was original cannon but CharliexAlastor shippers. iF you see Spidermoth 8 out 10 it CharliexAlastor story. Which I wonder how the exorcist plot would play out if Vaggie was with Angel Dust. Exorcist plot was something to give Vaggie something but her backstory is just 1 minute and is resolve quick.

I’ve noticed that. At one point I think it was somewhat similar to “pair the spares” because Radiodust was so popular after the pilot, as was Charlastor. People are too afraid to pair Charliedust bc some feel it’s disrespectful to Angel Dust’s sexuality (which I respect, but I don’t feel the same way on and I’m fine with having a different perspective than others as long as we can be civil about it). I think people rely on Spidermoth being an okay choice because it somewhat circumvents this issue as Angel/Vaggie was once canon, so it has some legs to stand on in this convoluted and arbitrary discourse.

I hope to god it didn’t take them 5 years to workshop Vaggie’s exorcist backstory bc anyone with working eyes could see the similarities between her and them in the pilot. Even when Viv’s designs clash like a motherfucker, Vaggie stood out for that. You’re right that it added nothing. Her regaining her wings was like “… okay” to me, it was so blah. It might actually have gone better if Vaggie and Angel were a couple, because Angel has gone through so much shit that the reveal might’ve made him spiral because he felt like he could trust her intimately only to find out her primary objective was to hunt sinners like him down — he might’ve compared it to Valentino, whose implied to have sweet-talked and manipulated Angel Dust into his soul-binding contract, then did a 180 and revealed how awful he truly was.

That could’ve been really interesting to see, but 🤷‍♀️ I’m not involved in the making of this show.