#bro I love this guy so much

[alastors-antlers]

a brief take on the whole "Alastor's smile is permanent" discussion

hello all!

I've seen a lot of people theorizing lately that Alastor actually smiles all the time because his smile is magically, physically fixed onto his face. All of this seems to come from the fact that he's practically grimacing rather than smiling during the scene where he breaks down in ep8:

As well as this frame of his deal with Charlie: (lower res sorry)

I will say, I do like some of the implications of this theory. The sheer spite of his creditor forcing him to smile as an addition to their deal, almost like a sort of forced silence, is a neat concept. It's fun and dramatic. Plus, of all things, of course Alastor would claim the "smile at all times" policy and make it his own to pretend that it was his decision all along lol.

To be fair, though, I don't think we even need any magical compulsion to explain why he's smiling while he's having a mental breakdown. Actually, if we assume magical compulsion, I think we lose a bit of dimension from Alastor's character. (No judgement to anyone's take though, of course -- I just think this works in the direction of his established characterization, but obviously all personal takes <3)

Hear me out:

Alastor's persona is not just for others to see.

"A smile is a valuable tool, my dear. It inspires your friends; keeps your enemies guessing; and ensures that whatever comes your way, you're the one in control."

That makes sense given what we know about him. If he's always smiling, he seems like he has it together. You can't read him very well, especially not when he's actively trying to keep up appearances.

Now consider that when you think about ep8's fight with Heaven, we see that he's already been through so much in this one day.

He fights an army of angels, presumably not even at his own whim (if we go by his blurb about freedom in the Finale song); he loses to Adam, who he considers sloppy and mediocre; his staff, which we can assume holds some part of his power, is snapped; he comes close to being Angelic-power-killed; and to top it all off, he knows that others watched him get injured and then apparently die or flee, all of which would ruin the public image that he's trying to maintain. It wouldn't even be unreasonable for us to assume that he knows Vox was watching, given that Vox kind of has eyes everywhere.

In a moment like this, in the finale, you could say that Alastor has lost (at least on some level) everything that we know matters to him. He doesn't have access to all of his magic, and it's limiting him. He's reminded that he doesn't have freedom or control over his own destiny. He certainly has taken massive hits to his powerful, composed persona. But he's desperate, and furious, and terrified, and clinging on.

That's why he's smiling.

It's not that he can't stop because he physically can't. It's that he can't stop because to him, the smile is the last thing that is still within his power. When there are so many moving parts that he can't predict what happens to him next, he can control how he responds to it. In these last fragments of autonomy, there is solace.

He needs to keep telling himself that he has it together and that he'll eventually scheme his way free, that there's a solution, that he won't be in chains forever; because letting his pretense slip would be admitting that it's all starting to actually get to him. That maybe this time, he doesn't have an escape plan.

In addition, if you read his interactions throughout the series, we also see something else: Alastor's reputation is of paramount importance to him. At multiple points throughout the series, when others disrespect him by discounting his power or presence, he gets visibly annoyed. And in the battle, we see a glimpse of the part of his personality he seems to be trying to leave behind - a normal Alastor, who's just some guy from Louisiana. No transatlantic accent; no unflappable malice; no sharp wit waiting at the ready. Maybe even unremarkable.

Dropping his smile - arguably the most prominent part of his brand - would be admitting that in reality, he's not the Radio Demon of legend that he aspires to project. And if he doesn't have that... where would he be?

[lotus-pear]

charm stat at debonair ‼️‼️

[ricky-mortis]

“You’re a caveman. And I’ve invented fire.”

Close-ups under the cut :)

[guacanator]

third times a charm

HEAVYYYY STINE AGE HAEVAYYY IM DYING I CANT BREATHE

DESIGN BY → cedariin ← ON TWITTER GO GIVE YOUR LOVE THERE

(if broski has a tumblr please let me know. there’s a linktree on twit but those links literally never work for me)

[kendyroy]

I love how Worst Wolverine becomes insanely attached to Wade almost immediately.

Worstie meets this guy at a bar and his first instinct is to poke him on the head and chug till he passes out, which ultimately leads to him getting kidnapped.

Worstie then never leaves this guy’s side despite repeatedly calling the guy annoying and a liar. Like he really had every opportunity to just abandon him, but didn’t.

Worstie realizes that this guy is literally all he has and that it would actually hurt if anything happened to him.

This guy is the only person who has given a crap about Worstie in probably several years, and the thought of losing him makes Worstie “break down a big heavy door and scream his name” levels of angry.

Worstie’s so insanely attached that, in a Madonna-induced emotional flashback, Worstie’s memories seem to only go as far back as he’s known this dude. This guy really gave Worstie his first sense of purpose in the longest time, and he’s literally all that matters to him. This dude has become Worstie’s entire universe.

[turtleblogatlast]

I think a lot about Leo standing up for his brothers in the things that really matter to them.

Like- Leo is the one who immediately pushes Mikey and Donnie into finding Raph the second it’s clear that their oldest brother is missing because he knows Raph can’t handle being separated like that.

Leo is the one who stands up for Mikey when Mikey wants to go on a solo mission, actively vouching for him and being the one to convince Raph into letting Mikey go, because being independent and proving himself just as capable of standing on his own two feet as everyone else means so much to Mikey.

And Leo defends Donnie’s honor in particular when his brothers’ intelligence is insulted because Leo is well aware of how important Donnie’s smarts are to him - and how important having those smarts valued and acknowledged is as well.

All this goes right into just how well Leo knows his brothers. For as much as he’ll tease or fight with them, he knows them, and he loves them.

[dnncats]

slaying while slaying 🔪🩸

still + alt color:

[azuries]

close call!

[intistone]

Why baby bill so orb

He no triangle he orb

he is orb

[void-creechur]

More Big Bro Bill au fanart bc Quil and Bill have me in a chokehold. I wonder how the twins first reaction to the two Doritos went and so i made this👍

HEADSUP! AU BELONGS TO @intistone IF YOU LIKE THIS YOU’LL LOVE THEM!!

[devxoid]

back on my bullshit (drawing the strider bros)

[lotus-pear]

bsd rewatch w my friend means obligatory art of my fav found family ever

[missholloween]

I love how casually queer Tin Can Bros productions are.

Spies are Forever might be the obvious example, as queerness is at the core of the show's conflict with Curt and Owen's relationship. But then you have productions like Solve It Squad or This Could Be on Broadway that have queer characters and they're not a big deal!

Esther is non binary, but that' doesn't eclipse the rest of their character's just one of their character traits: they're also a drug-addict outstanding investigator. On a similar note, Cole is also a trans character, this time played by a trans actress, but her queerness is not on the focus of the character! She's also one of the romantic leads, having a sweet, heartfelt highschool romance with Bethanne. It's very rare to see trans characters as leads in mainstream media, TCB not only has one in their main cast, but she's in a sapphic relationship with another one of the leads!

And it's not something recent, either: one of their first productions, Ex-vloggers, was explicitely queer in 2015! They've always given voice to queer creatives (as one of them is), and I'm glad to see their productions keep growing and evolving, always learning and getting better. I'm excited to see what the future stores for them (oh Intelligent Life I'm so ready for you)

[ricky-mortis]

Ok but Agent Curt Mega with long hair though?

[danandfuckingjonlmao]

[mblue-art]

someone is having thoughts (he's trying sooo hard to be nonchalant and chill)