#him with stayed gone AND hell’s greatest dad

[lvrvenxs]

Alastor: oh you’re singing

Also Alastor: fuck you this is my song now

[starryeyeddreamer21]

The girls (the personification of radio and television) are fighting (releasing a diss track)

Vs

The girls (the radio demon and the literal devil from the Bible) are fighting (for sole parental custody over an adult woman)

[scoutswritingcorner]

Let The Game Begin

Alastor x GN! Reader

The 4 times Alastor bites you and the one time you bite back.

TW: Mentions that Alastor owns Reader’s soul. Biting and blood.

1st Time

The first time it had happened it honestly surprised the hell out of you, you were looking over some paperwork for Charlie regarding the new renovations that her dad had wanted to put in saying it was to bring in new guests. But looking at the duck themed statue has you confused but you didn’t bring it up yet. Taking your pen you wrote down what would seem best and not cost so much to get done, despite having magic abilities- you forbid the King (by bribing him with ducks) to use his magic to build anything more. You’d practically be out of a job then..and you don’t want Alastor to yank on your chain. Literally..you’d be no use for him here and you’d rather not be stuck behind the desk. You’d drive yourself to madness once more, but your husband would find a way for you to stay. You were his greatest treasure after all.

You were seemingly so focused on what was in front of you and what you were thinking that you failed to notice the red haired demon behind you, watching you and calling your name. How dare you ignore him? The man who brought you here. The man who has your soul in his clawed hands. But he couldn’t bring himself to summon your chain..as his eyes landed on your shoulder, a devious smile was on his lips and in a flash. One hand wrapped around your neck as he *bit* down causing you to let out a loud yelp. You couldn’t move away from him as he leaned back your crimson blood staining his teeth and lips. Oh..He adored that sound. He wanted more.

2nd Time

The second time was when you were sitting down next to him in the foyer as Charlie was talking about a new exercise. You were more or less paying attention, leaning against your hand as Alastor stood next to your seat. He was never the man to sit around for a long period of time especially when he had something important on his mind. You watched him tap the bottom of his cane to the tip of his shoe, making sure Charlie was focusing on something else you waved your hand to get his attention. Thankfully he had looked over the second you raised your hand but his tense shoulders slumped when he noticed you weren’t going to touch him. The golden band on your finger prominent in the light as you waved him down, he backed up bending by the waist to listen to you. “Go, Dear..I’ll cover for you..you got that distant look in your eyes.” You whispered out causing his smile to widen. Oh how he loved your keen eyes but he nodded and gently grabbed your hand to press a kiss to your palm. Your thumb brushing against his cheek, a discreet sentiment he always seemed to enjoy. You looked away for a split second feeling someone watching you (other than your husband) but then flinched feeling his sharp fangs dig into your palm before he smoothed it out with a lick from his tongue and a kiss to your knuckles. You turned to curse him but he was already gone, left with a red bite mark on your palm.

3rd Time

The third time was as surprising as the first one. Alastor was known for his cruelty, the way his anger had no bounds or limits. But walking with him to Cannibal Town to see Rosie, you missed sitting with her listening to the latest news and gossiping about people (..Susan..), had him on edge. You kept your distance from your husband upon his request as much as he adored your attention and touch, he didn’t want you to become an even bigger target than you already were from being so close to him. But the way random sinners who had the nerve to catcall you from across the street made him angrier by the second. You watched as your husband’s eye twitched but didn’t point it out, only walked faster to catch up with him.

What really hammered the nail into the coffin was when he had taken your arm to help you across the road, ever the suave gentlemen your husband was, and someone had the gall- no the nerve to flirt with you infront of his face before grabbing onto you like a rabid dog looking for a meal. Sharp static rang out as his horns grew bigger- his smile wider causing the sinner to tremble and fall back onto their own ass before a tendril shot out grabbing the sinner by their throat and slamming them into the wall. You watched him from the corner of your eye as you both continued to make your way to Cannibal Town..well Alastor had made the decision to make a quick detour. Pulling you away from prying eyes, he had you pinned against a wall as he bit down on your neck. Not hard enough to bite a chunk out of you, no..he couldn’t hurt his darling spouse. But he made sure you couldn’t hide the bite he was licking the blood off of…Rosie was going to have field day when she saw you.

4th Time

Now this was getting confused and annoying cause you don’t exactly know when your darling Husband would strike and bite down on you like some chew toy (..not that you aren’t happy about that), but it’s causing you to be paranoid as much as you love your husband, you’d rather not have to keep watching over your shoulder every second just to make sure your husband isn’t going to bite you. But you had let your guard down when cooking with him, well..you were in the kitchen reading as Alastor was cooking dinner. He had forbidden you from cooking after you had accidentally set the stove on fire. You don’t even know how it happened but allowed him to take control of the flames. 

Looking up, you notice as he was standing beside you a lovestruck look on his face. It wasn’t long until you were swept away into a dance with him singing along to a tune in his own head, you let out a soft laugh allowing him to spin you away before pulling you back into him. The dance had ended with a gentle kiss as he realized that his focus was needed back on the food that was still cooking. But before you could pull away from his hold completely you once again felt his sharp teeth dig into your cheek. Letting out a soft grumble from his antics only to be met with a deep chuckle and the feeling of his tongue smoothing out where had bitten, likely wiping away any blood from your cheek before his attention was once again enraptured by cooking.

Biting Back

Alastor watched you as you talked with Charlie but your gaze kept falling onto him causing his smile to grow into a wicked one. Oh he was getting to you and he was enjoying it. How much longer can you keep that facade going? Could he finally break that little perfect facade you had or would you keep it up? Only time would tell. He tilted his head watching as you quickly excused yourself to walk towards him, “Is there a reason you are staring me down, Alastor?” You asked and he chuckled, “You’re losing yourself, Dear.” You sent a glare towards him before walking off. You knew he was right, you knew he could see right through your facade. You were his spouse after all, his confidant. But what he didn’t know is that you had a trick up your sleeve. Something he won't see coming.

You were going to wait until a private time to surprise your lovely husband but then he had to leave for an abrupt meeting with the overlords about new territory. You stood at the front doors with him, fixing his precious suit jacket as he watched you, a soft look in his crimson eyes. “There we go,” you hummed, wiping his jacket lapels down and motioning him down. He playfully rolled his eyes but bent down towards you, gently kissing his cheek, before biting down on his cheek and walking off. Not noticing how he jumped and stood straight up before letting out a loud laugh, “Is that all you have, Darling? Look at those teeth! Can’t rip flesh from bone!” He called out at your disappearing figure, oh you just started a game that you wouldn’t win.

Extra

Angel looked over at Husk who was busy shuffling Uno cards while the others sat around, “So….anybody else think their fuckin’?” He asked, causing Charlie to choke on her drink and the cards to fall out of Husk’s paws. Vaggie sent him a glare as Nifty laughed and Pentious blushed. “Watch it, Angel.” Husk growled out sending him a glare before glancing over to where you were fixing one of the beer taps on the bar, currently in your own world. “What? C’mon Whiskers, you have to know something about them.” Husk rolled his eyes collecting the cards up again as Nifty chimed in, “Oh they are married!” Husk coughed and glared at her causing everyone around to look surprised. “What? They…They married Smiles? Like…they wanted to?” Angel asked as Husk sighed nodding.

“They’ve been married for a few decades now.” He whispered out as Nifty nodded watching as he started to deal out the deck of cards. “But they are so sweet..very helpful too.” Charlie whispered out holding onto Vaggie’s hand and Husk sighed. “Listen..they are as bad as him but they tend to hide it more. They tend to like the game of cat and mouse more than him. But none of us pose a threat to them so they back off. But enough..focus on the game.”  Husk grumbled as Angel rolled his eyes grabbing his cards.

[remarkablebookbean]

I just realized that in the entire Hazbin Hotel season one Alastor is only seen singing in duets (Stayed Gone, Hell’s Greatest Dad) and group numbers (Ready for this). The only exception to this is the Finale. During his small section after he fled from the battle, he sings. He is truly alone in the moment and it is the only time we see him vulnerable so far.

He is terrified at the fact that he was almost killed. This is the closest we got to the smile dropping and it shows how scared he is, how weak he feels. We learn so much about Alastor yet still we no next to nothing really about him. The only time he sings alone is at his lowest point in the series so far

idk just something I noticed

[theamberfist]

Despite Everything | Vox + Reader + Alastor

Familial! Alastor is reader's dad, Vox is the dad that stepped up

Description: Tension is still high now that Alastor and Vox are fighting over you; can you and your father(s) come to an understanding despite all that has happened?

(Notes: CW Alastor, angst) (gender neutral reader) (Reader Alastor's kid from life) (Could be biological or adopted) (Teen Reader)

❀ This is part 2 of Hell's Second Greatest Dad! ❀

❀ This one will have a song! It's a rewrite of More than Anything, but with Alastor and reader instead of Lucifer and Charlie ❀

Words: 3,180

You weren't sure how long you'd been asleep for, but you woke up completely disoriented and tangled in your blankets. Since you had light-blocking curtains on your windows, you couldn't even tell what time it was as you sat up, rubbed your eyes, and looked around. A now-empty box of tissues rested on your bedside table, and one glance at your full trash can told you that was probably where they'd all gone.

Your eyes still stung like you'd been crying recently too, but at the moment, you couldn't remember what had caused you to do so. Finally untangling yourself from the blankets entrapping you, you rolled over and grabbed your phone. There were several missed calls and texts from Vox, which startled you. had you done something to upset or worry him? You were too sleepy to recall right now. 

Your most recent message, though, was a text from Velvette promising she would keep your dads from killing each other until you were ready to come out of your room. 

Wait, dads? Plural?

Now it all came crashing back to you. How you'd been about to go book shopping with Vox, how your father had shown up, how they'd fought over you, and how you'd eventually had enough; storming off to your room to cry until you fell asleep. 

You weren't sure you ever wanted to leave this room now that you recalled the full extent of what had happened, but you also knew Vox would never allow you to rot away over this. 

With a sigh, you pushed yourself out of bed and went into the bathroom that was connected to your room to clean yourself up. When you'd checked the time, you'd found that there was only an hour before your reader's segment was scheduled, meaning you had to pull yourself together anyway. Another text came from Velvette now, saying Valentino was coming up to check on you since you hadn't answered her all day. Great. 

After washing your face and changing your clothes, you exited the bathroom. The second you opened your bedroom door, you were met with the sight of Valentino, holding a fist up as if he'd been about to knock. He retracted his hand now, a smile spreading across his face. 

"There you are, little one!" He exclaimed, stepping out of the way as you closed the door to your room behind you. "I brought tissues." He held up a box of tissues, but it did little to comfort you.

"Thanks, Val." You sighed, running a hand through your hair. You'd never been particularly close with the moth sinner, even after living in the V's tower for the last seven years. With his line of work and reputation, you tended to stay clear of him, and Vox had never pushed you to do otherwise. In fact, you suspected he was secretly glad for it after he'd become so protective of you over time. 

"Where are Vox and my dad?" You asked, though, calling Alastor your dad felt like a bit of a stretch at this point. He was closer to an estranged relative you hadn't seen in years than anything. 

"Velvette has them waiting downstairs." Valentino replied with a shrug, letting out a puff from his cigarette. Nevermind that he wasn't supposed to smoke on this floor. 

"And they haven't killed each other yet? That's impressive." You said with a sigh, heading for the elevator now, rather than putting the confrontation off any longer. 

"She has a way with these things." Val shrugged, stepping into the space with you. You suspected Velvette's 'way' came from lots of practice she'd gotten handling his and Vox's disagreements, but you didn't bring that up. Instead, you awkwardly and nervously waited for the elevator to reach your desired floor, rocking back and forth on your feet. What would happen when you arrived? Would Vox and Alastor start fighting again? You were sure Velvette would get between them if they did, but it wouldn't make things any easier for you in the long run.

They were going to want you to choose.

The doors opened now and you took a deep breath before stepping out. "Good luck~" Valentino sang before pressing the button to close them behind you. No going back now.

You turned, seeing a familiar lounge area to your right. After all, this was the floor where your studio was located, so you'd been here plenty of times before. You never used this area, though; reserving it for whoever might need to wait outside as you did your segment. 

There were two couches set up so that they made a sort of 'L' shape. Alastor sat on the one that faced in your direction; his legs crossed and a teacup in his hand as if he had not a care in the world. Music faintly played from his microphone, which rested against the couch next to him. Meanwhile, Vox sat hunched over on the other couch, as far away from the Radio Demon as possible as he attempted to avoid contact with him. 

And finally, Velvette was in a chair facing them both like a teacher supervising detention. She had her phone in hand but looked up when she heard you approaching. 

"There you are," she exclaimed, setting her phone down. Vox shot up from his seat and Alastor's teacup disappeared into thin air as he calmly stood too. You could tell they both wanted to come over to you but Velvette shot them a warning look. You weren't sure how she'd managed to get both Vox and Alastor to listen to her like this, but you were grateful for it. 

"Hey..." You said awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Vox was the first to reply. 

"How are you feeling, kid?" He asked, seeming genuinely concerned. You shrugged. 

"I don't know." It was all you could say, "But it's almost time for my segment, isn't it?" At this, the tech demon stiffened. 

"You don't have to do it today, you know." He told you, "We could just rerun an old one; no one would mind." You could tell Alastor preferred the idea too, considering he likely didn't approve of you being on TV in the first place, but you shook your head. 

"I think it would be good for me." You admitted, "Help me calm down." Vox nodded at that. 

"Alright." He sighed, "but if you're not feeling up for it, we can cancel any time. Just signal me." You nodded, feeling a small smile appear on your face. 

"Okay." 

"In that case, would you mind if I tag along?" Alastor asked, looking to you and no one else for permission, "I'd love to see what my little one has been up lately." You tensed.

Technically, the reader segment wasn't all that different from what you'd done before. When you both were alive, he would sometimes have you on his radio show in the evenings, where you would do exactly that; read your favorite books to the listeners at home. Everyone thought it was adorable, even if your features weren't very consistent at the time.

After you'd both ended up in hell, that had continued. You and Alastor were always close; after all, he'd been the only family you had for most of your life and afterlife. So when he kept up his radio show, you kept appearing on it to read your stories as a way of bonding more with your father. Plus, you could tell he reveled in the confusion your appearances brought; one moment he would be broadcasting the screams of those he tortured for all to hear, and then the next his child would be reading bedtime stories. It kept everyone on their toes, just the way he liked it. 

You weren't sure how Alastor would react to finding out you'd continued that same tradition on TV; the very thing he hated. Though, considering who your father was, he likely already knew. He had a way of finding out things like that. 

"I guess that's okay..." You decided after a moment, making Alastor's smile widen even more, "We have a lot of lost time to catch up on, anyway." The comment was meant to make him feel guilty but it seemed to bounce right off him instead.

"I couldn't agree more, darling!" He exclaimed, "Then, lead the way! I'd love to see your studio." You couldn't help feeling a little more nervous now but motioned for him to follow you towards the door anyway. Vox, however, wasn't giving up just yet. 

"I'll come too." He decided, crossing his arms over his chest. "In case we need to cancel the segment suddenly." He knew you weren't going to back out at the last minute like that but it didn't matter; the excuse gave him a reason to follow both you and Alastor to your recording studio.

There you gave the Radio Demon a brief tour before taking your place on the plush pink couch and letting Vox's makeup team give you a final check-over.

Another couch was brought in for Vox and Alastor to sit on as they watched you record your segment; each of them sitting as far away from the other on the thing as they possibly could. Finally, the cameraman cued you in, and you bit back your nervousness as you began reading; picking up where you'd left off in the book. 

The whole time you did your segment, you were extremely aware of the two extra pairs of eyes watching you. Vox, while still being extremely cautious of Alastor and glancing at him every so often, practically beamed with pride as he listened to you read. Alastor's eye kept twitching, likely in annoyance that you'd replaced yet another thing you used to do with him with Vox, but his smile still had genuine elements to it as he watched you.

Finally, you finished off the reader segment and the cameraman signaled to you that you were good to go. Once again feeling tired from the segment, but not as much so as you'd been the night before, you wrapped the lilac blanket around yourself and went over to where Vox and Alastor were sitting.

"Well done as always, kid." Vox grinned, patting your head. The Radio Demon's eyes narrowed at the sight and he cleared his throat.

"Yes, it was a wonderful performance, indeed." He added, "Though, I must admit a show of such format may have been better over radio." He'd considered corrupting the footage so Vox wouldn't be able to use it, but since this seemed to mean so much to you for whatever reason, decided to inconvenience him some other way later. 

You couldn't argue with the comment. After all, the idea had initially started in a radio format. You could, however, try again to make him feel guilty for leaving you.

"Yeah, well, I didn't really have access to a radio broadcast for the last seven years," you replied, "So Vox offered to give me a TV show instead." The tech demon beamed as Alastor came close to a scowl, or what would have been a scowl, if not for his permanent smile. 

There was nothing but silence after that. If not for the shuffling of your cameraman packing things up, you could have heard a pin drop. Feeling uncomfortable, you tugged the purple blanket more tightly around your shoulders. You knew the three of you needed to talk about things, but you still weren't sure where you even stood in the situation to be able to do so. 

"Are you tired?" Vox finally asked, "You can go up to your room and sleep if you want. We can always go shopping another day."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Alastor cut in, standing from the couch now, "They're still my child, so there's no need for them to live here anymore." He wrapped an arm around your shoulders, "I appreciate you looking out for them in my absence, but now that I've returned, there's no need for you to be involved in their life any longer." Something seemed to snap in Vox at that and he shot up.

"Oh, no you don't!" He exclaimed, walking over and pointing a finger at the Radio Demon, "You're not taking them. You may have been their father, but you've been gone seven years. You have no claim to them anymore." 

You were afraid to speak up, unsure of what you would say. You didn't even know what you wanted anymore. 

"You've no more right to them than I do," Alastor shot back, glaring at Vox through his smile, "Who are you to tell me where I can or cannot take my child? Even if you think you've adopted them, I see no legal documents to prove it."

"Am I even your child anymore?" You asked suddenly, before you could stop yourself. Both overlords froze as you pushed Alastor's hand off your shoulders and took a step back. 

"Of course, my dear." Your father replied, taking a step towards you, only for you to back away more, "Nothing so fleeting as time could ever change that." Something in you told you he really believed that, and that was the worst part.

"Can't it?" You asked, feeling tears begin to well up in your eyes. You weren't ready to have this conversation, even after so long. "I thought you'd abandoned me. I thought you didn't want me anymore." Before he could reply, you turned and started walking away, pushing open the door to your studio as you wiped at your eyes. Alastor, however, went after you. 

You paused when he called out your name; already halfway to the elevator. "You didn't know that when I left you on your own, I made a deal I wouldn't condone." You were frozen in shock. Alastor make a deal? "And in the end, I had to leave you all alone," this time you didn't flinch as he came forward, placing a hand on your head, "Now you're the only thing worth fighting for." 

Your mouth went dry. For years, all you'd wanted was to know your dad really did care, but somehow, it didn't bring you as much comfort as you'd expected. 

"Despite everything," he went on, taking one of your hands from under the blanket you still had pulled around you, "Despite everything, I want to be there for you despite everything!" 

"But you didn't even tell me where you'd gone," You said softly.

"If I could have, I would," Alastor replied, "It was the only way to keep you out of it." You frowned, pulling your hand out of his. 

"Papa," you began, feeling a bit of comfort from the reassuring nod Vox gave you behind him, "When I was young, I always thought you stood so tall." You looked down, recalling the days when he'd let you sit on his lap as a child while he recorded his radio broadcasts, "It made me feel so small," you went on, "But you assured me that I was worth it all." You could recall countless nights in life when your father had made that very promise, but it felt as if it meant nothing now. 

"You said you would never leave me," you recalled, "That we were family." A tear slid down your face but you pushed it away, "And yet you left with no warning!" Vox placed a hand on your shoulder, which only seemed to make Alastor more irritated, but he listened as you went on. "So in the end, when I thought I had lost you," you took a deep breath, "They showed me I could have a family once more!" 

Vox smiled softly at you, encouraging you to go on. "Despite everything," you sang, echoing Alastor, "Despite everything, I wish I could believe you despite everything!" 

You turned to walk away, ready to be escorted by the tech demon, only for Alastor to speak up once again. "I've never forgot you all this time."

"Neither could I," you replied, not liking what he was insinuating, "How ever would I?"

"Seems I'll have to make up for this crime," he decided, finally giving up on trying to explain what he'd done. Nothing would ever excuse his leaving you; he knew that. 

"It'll take a while," you admitted, though a tiny grin tugged at your lips that didn't go unnoticed by the Radio Demon.

"I've missed that smile!" He said, taking your hands. You just wanted to feel like a family again; the way you had before his disappearance. And though it would take time, that might be able to come true if he could prove he'd never leave again. 

"All that I'm hopin' now that my eyes are open," The two of your chorused, "Is that we can start again; not be pulled apart again!" 

Vox wasn't sure who'd given you both the lyrics to this impromptu song and not told him, but even he had to admit the scene in front of him was quite sweet as he watched you and Alastor finally hug.

"Cause in the end, you are part of who I am!" You both sang.

"I'll be there for you even if he must too!" Alastor told you, pointing microphone towards Vox with only a slightly disgusted expression on his face. 

"Though, this is overdue," you added before letting your dad join back in.

"Despite everything!" He waved his cane, changing the lighting of the room so that it felt warmer.

"Despite everything!" You repeated, now watching as some of the furniture shifted so that it resembled the living room of your house when you were alive. it seemed Alastor was already adding a personal touch to this place if he was going to be around more because of you.

"Despite everything!"

"Despite everything!" You sang, "You're meant to be my father, despite everything!" You glanced at Vox, who only nodded at you with both pride and pain in his eyes. 

"Despite everything..." Both you and Alastor finished as you hugged him again, wishing he'd never disappeared in the first place but so glad he'd returned anyway. 

Finally, you pulled away from the embrace and looked up at the Radio Demon. "Alright," you said, "...We can try to fix things, but it's going to take time." You glanced back at the tech demon, who quickly came over to support you. "And for now, I want to keep staying here with the V's. While you were gone, Vox was the only father figure I had." 

Alastor's eye twitched at that but he slowly nodded, ignoring the look of victory his old friend was wearing. "I suppose I can agree to that." He decided at last, "Though, I hope eventually there will come a day when you only need the one father." He was referring to himself, making Vox's eyes narrow. 

"And I hope one day I won't have to be afraid of you leaving out of nowhere." You replied carefully before sighing, "But it's a start."

Right, Alastor nodded, a start. It would hardly be enough for him in the long run, but for now, he supposed he could tolerate the tech demon's presence around you. 

……….

Tags for those who requested them: @avitute

[mayashesfly]

An interesting part of Stayed Gone and Hell's Greatest Dad is how these two duets visualize the different dynamics Alastor has between his two "rivals"

In this analysis I'm mostly going to focus on RadioStatic since they're the ones I'm brainrotting over, though there are a few things I've noticed about HGD that I wanted to point out in this post.

So if you're looking for a more RadioApple focused analysis, I'm afraid this isn't it due to my inherent bias. If you have any thoughts about Alastor, Lucifer, and their dynamic or anything in general about this post feel free to share your own thoughts and ideas! ^w^

First let's get to the starting portions of the song when Alastor is in the picture.

In Stayed Gone, we're first presented with the background of Vox's store front having an empty neighbor by its side. Until Alastor enters the picture.

Visually this already tells us that there's always been an empty spot by Vox's side that Alastor fills.

Interestingly enough, we also see them being visualized as cleanly slotting together in the song even if there's a definite line between the two of them that keeps them separated. (Which is also present with how their store fronts are also separated by a wall)

Meanwhile, in Hell's Greatest Dad, we're shown that Lucifer and Alastor starts off in the song by being physically beside each other.

Which Lucifer swiftly leaves behind to have his solo portions.

In Stayed Gone, when Alastor first entered the picture, Vox tried to push Alastor out. But kept failing as Alastor continues to keep himself in the picture.

Interestingly enough, regardless of how much Vox pushes and how much Alastor keeps himself in the picture, they're always shown together visually even when they're singing by themselves.

And the moments when they're are on the screen alone instead of together is shown to be very brief before Alastor enters the picture yet again.

Contrasting that to Hell's Greatest Dad, they spend alot of their singing portions being solo and alone on the screen. Making a point to push the other away before making their point with Charlie.

They don't really stay in the same screen together and beside each other for long.

If Stayed Gone started with Vox trying to push Alastor away before begrudgingly letting him stay on the screen with him.

Then in Hell's Greatest Dad, they started off as staying and singing their parts separately away from each other as much as possible.

Before they stayed with each other for a longer period of time and making them have their more heated instrument duet and the arguing at the end.

You could argue that the two songs are an inverse of each other in a weird sense.

Another thing I've noticed is how Vox and Lucifer were presented differently when it comes to being "below" Alastor.

For Vox, there's a very clear line that makes this sense of being below Alastor very apparent.

Meanwhile Alastor's attempt at making Lucifer seem below him isn't as apparent and clear cut as Vox's

(I find it so fucking funny and hilarious how Alastor gave Lucifer a thumbs down. He didn't even pull anything like I thought he did at first!)

That's all the things I can compare and contrast between Stayed Gone and Hell's Greatest Dad for now.

I have more thoughts about how Alastor and Vox's relationship is presented, but they're not as closely tied/limited to these two songs so I'll talk about that in another post :P

This post isn't meant to say that either RadioStatic or RadioApple is better than the other as that's not my intention at all with this post. I just wanted to give my personal observations about these two songs and their differences and similarities.

So if I accidently offended anyone, I sincerely apologize.

Since I'm a RadioStatic fan, I naturally talk about them more in a positive light, though I did try to keep my observations about RadioApple as neutral as possible since I'm not as confident with my observations about them.

I hope this was a good read regardless!

[velvette-hussle]

Why are so many of Vivziepop’s male villains so….tantrum-y? Like, they are all so prone to throwing a big ass tantrum, and for what? The first time we meet Valentino he’s throwing one, the entirety of Vox’s part in “Stayed Gone” is the buildup and then climax of him throwing a tantrum until he breaks down/physically can’t throw a tantrum anymore, and what is “Hell’s Greatest Dad” if not Alastor throwing a mild tantrum and then Lucifer fully matching his energy? Even Adam throws a tantrum about his fucking balls right before he dies!

They’re all public tantrums too, and that’s so embarrassing for them. Honestly, why do they all have offsets of the same personality traits? They’re not monologuing (at least not well) either; not a single one of the instances I mentioned is that put together, they’re all reactionary and impulsive bursts of anger that come when the characters feel like they’re losing. Except it’s giving much less “King Kong ain’t got shit on me” (or even Deucalion’s “Gather Your Herbs” speech in S3 of Teen Wolf) and more Loki at the end of “Avengers 2012” before he got pummeled into the floor by Hulk.

The shit makes me feel like Niftty fr. Just kicking all of them in the shins while complaining about why they’re so lame.

Stella also throws tantrums but I don’t think we’re supposed to think she’s still cool after she does it so her case isn’t the same. Plus Stella’s at least got some fucking decorum because I think every tantrum she’s had happened in private with only maybe one or two other people in the room to bear witness at all.

[purrpleowl]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned something like this already, but this thought has been on my mind for quite some time;

You know who I wanted to see having a duet with Alastor (song battle style)? Velvette.

Hear me out.

There's something similar between the two songs Alastor interrupts, Stayed Gone and Hell's Greatest Dad, especially when it comes to the duality between Alastor's part and the other person's part. Something that I admit I didn't notice at first, but I saw some people commenting on.

Let's talk about Stayed Gone first: all Vox has to say is that Alastor is old and Vox is new. He uses different words every time (fossil, barely audible, his medium is getting rare...), but that's his only argument. While Alastor attacks right into Vox's insecurities. He says that Vox's content is low quality and inconsistent, he belittles Vox's power, and pokes at the wound that was Alastor refusing to "join Vox's team" (whatever that means, not important for my point here).

In Hell's Greatest Dad, Lucifer talks about how he can be useful to Charlie. How he can give her Champagne fountains & caviar mountains without charging her. Alastor focuses on how his relationship to Charlie is (supposedly) very close. He says he's faithful to her, that he makes her laugh, that they have a special bond... Which is what Charlie values most.

ALL THAT TO SAY that Alastor is very good at reading the room, figuring out what people are on about. Now, what other demon we see that has showed to have those same skills and has used them to her advantage in the show? That's right, Velvette.

With a SINGLE glance, she was able to identify that Carmilla was the one that killed the exorcist because of her facial expressions and body language. And then she proceeded to poke Carmilla and Zestial until one of them snapped.

Also, just like I bet Alastor definitely doesn't believe a single word he's saying to Charlie in Hell's Greatest Dad, he just wanted to get under Lucifer's skin while manipulating Charlie, I highly doubt Velvette was serious about starting an actual war with the angels. She (and the Voys too, probably) had a suspicion that it had been an overlord who did it, and she went and tested the theory.

I just think it would be great to finally see someone publicly call Alastor out on all of his bullshit, and Velvette is (in my opinion, of course) a very good character for the role. Besides being very perceptive and good at reading into people's bullshit (she also does that with Vox when she is introduced btw).

She likes to annoy old people, she probably has some background on Al that Vox possibly provided her while lacking the insecurities that Vox has when it comes to Alastor.

It would be very satisfying (to me at least) to see her call him a coward in his face (because he fled Adam's fight when he got injured), or that he might hate Vox but he definitely loooves the attention because he's an attention whore (bonus points if she uses this specific term just to make him uncomfortable). Or even that he's trying so hard to keep this "ominous mysterious dangerous" persona while he's 1- not that powerful, 2- starting to get emotionally attached to the "good guys".

ALSO "you'd be powerless without the Vees" sir you can't convince me that 3 very powerful overlords can't beat 1 up. The Vees are powerful on their own but they're more powerful together and Vox's insecurities aside, they all know it. Alastor is alone, he might be friends with Rosie or the Hotel crew, but his pride wouldn't allow him to seek help in battle, or even emotional help.

Also 2.0 there's the fact that he's been gone for 7 years and while Velvette (and us) might have no idea what he's been up to, I bet the Vees have been growing and expanding their power while Alastor is the same since he left.

So yeah, I think she'd be so great on roasting Alastor. I don't know if I'll ever have a song battle between them but I sure think it would be interesting.

[eternalera]

i like that we finally get to see what pushes alastors buttons in episode five.

we actually see him mad. you can argue that with vox hes also mad at the end of their song in 'stayed gone' but it doesnt really seem like that. its him threatening vox yes but in the end hes not mad. he isnt really losing his cool. its him basically just saying that hes still in charge

also throughout their whole song alastor doesnt really provoke vox, hes passive aggressive. never interrupting him and when their screens are split and he only pokes him once yet that one time was enough to send vox and black out the entirety of hell (although this mightve been alastor)

throughout the entiry of their song vox is constantly trying to block alastor to say 'he isnt a threat hes a nobody' but as we can see he's clearly failing. and as with each passing second vox gets more annoyed and as i said. he ends up causing a MASSIVE blackout one that takes over all of hell

throughout this entire time though alastor doesnt flinch. he doesnt fight for the spotlight because he doesnt need it. vox is making a fool of himself like alastor probably expects him to based on past encounters that we dont see.

yet with lucifer they probably have some sort of history.

alastor actually feels somewhat threatened/doesnt want lucifer there (whether if lilith told him not to assuming that he owes his soul to lilith but you get the point). he wants lucifer gone. not only that but hes pushing him saying that hes basically like a father to charlie already.

alastor is trying to replace lucifer but remember that lucifer not only the king of the pride ring (i forgot the terminology alr-) but hes also the king of hell.

despite lucifer acting like a joke in the singular episode that we see him in he is the most powerful being in hell. hes more powerful than lilith or charlie (and once again assuming that lilith owns alastor a pretty damn powerful being shes really fucking powerful).

if lucifer wants he could probably obliterate alastor in less than a damn second, yet he doesnt for a few reasons

hes important to charlie

hes important to what charlies doing

this basically gives alastor invincibility against lucifer going bonkers on him and killing him. then again why doesnt lucifer just help charlie? well hes probably got more important things to do (despite what we saw of him) and hes given up on the sinners.

he gave them freewill and never got to see the good done with it. he most likely never saw the people who went to heaven so for all he knows everyone ended up down in hell and are doing shit things with what he gave them.

he most likely wants them gone and wants the extermination to happen because he thinks that they dont deserve a second chance unlike his daughter. but remember that he also loves charlie, thats his fucking daughter and when she calls him he gets excited he wants charlie to like him. but that being said he doesnt think the sinners deserve his kindness anymore after they took his gift and basically made a fool of him.

so lucifer wont help charlie so he just has alastor help her instead to keep her happy.

not only this but in the song 'hells greatest dad' (i think its called that) unlike in 'stayed gone' theyre both fighting for attention. charlies attention.

once again we dont know what beef theyve got with each other but its most likely because of either the past or whether or not that lilith owns alastor and told him to fuck with lucifer.

in this scene we see the color constantly change and them constantly kicking each other out with them both losing their cool and making a fool of themselves. theyre an actual match for each other

lucifer is an actual threat and so is alastor for reasons that we dont know yet. this makes them have to prove their worth to charlie over whos more powerful and who can help her more because even though lucifer doesnt want to help the sinners (and most likely wont) he wants to make her happy.

and even though we dont know why alastor hates lucifer its probably most likely to do with whoever owns his soul and whatnot along with he needs lucifer just out of the picture and that isnt as easy to do as he'd like.

also damn did this become a rant and get off topic-

[correlance]

Remember that one fan theory I wrote about Alastor having a rivalry with Thomas Edison in the 1920s? Well, I decided to do a bit more research; it turns out that, not only was I right, but Edison really hated radio. He loathed it so much that he wrote not one, but several articles railing against the "radio fad" in 1926, to the point where an anonymous person wrote "letters to the editor" to argue with Edison.

Gee, I wonder who it could be doing that in the Hazbin-verse? /s

GIF and art originally by karumkin on Twitter/X (2019).

There was also a slew of increasingly aggressive telegrams sent back-and-forth between Edison and radio proponents, with Edison penning thinly-veiled insults that offended even mild critics of the "Wizard":

"The radio is a commercial failure, and its popularity with the public is waning. Radio is impractical commercially, and ethically distorted, and is is losing its grip rapidly in the market and in the home. There is not 10% of the interest in the radio that there was last year.

Radio is a highly-complicated machine in the hands of people who know nothing about it. No dealers have made any money out of it. It is not a commercial machine, because it is too complicated. Reports from 4,000 Edison dealers who have handled radio sets show that they are rapidly abandoning it; and, as for its music, it is awful.

I don't see how they can listen to it. Thousands of people have signed a petition asking that sopranos be kept off the air. Of course, most of them don't know that the soprano voice distorts the radio. The phonograph is coming into its own because people want good music. The fact is that the radio never had a high peak of popularity.

In towns where 25 or 30 dealers were handling radio sets, only one or two are now handling them. A farmer 5 miles from town buys a radio, perhaps on the installment plan. A wire becomes loose. The dealer has to arrange to fix it. This happens time and time again. The business becomes unprofitable for the dealer to engage in. He does not make any money out of it. None of them has. They are giving it up as fast as they can. It is not a commercially successful machine, because it is too complicated.

Static is awful, and the difficulties of tuning out--and now, they're stealing each other's wavelengths! It is too bad that the radio has to be too complicated. It was a big and interesting thing, and the people responded to it, but they want good music, and they found it is not to be had on the radio. That is why the phonograph is reclaiming its own."

Quote from "Edison and Radio", Radio News, December 1926, "in which the Editor takes issue with Mr. Edison's claim that radio is a failure; yet it is pointed out that the radio industry owes Edison a great debt; wherein facts are figures are given to show that radio is on a steady increase; granting that neither radio, nor the phonograph, is yet perfect; how the interest in radio is steadily increasing, and radio dealers are now making good money":

"Since the publication of the famous interview with Mr. Edison, the press, and particularly the radio press across the entire country, has been more or less agitated...I do believe that Mr. Edison has not been recently in-touch with radio sufficiently to appreciate fully the tremendous advances that have been made. Mr. Edison is a busy man, and a tremendously busy inventor. It would be well-nigh impossible for him to be in-touch with all of the various commercial phases of radio all over the country; and, like other executives, he obtains his reports from his subordinates, and such reports often as not may be highly colorful, and even wrong...[thus, the radio industry is unwilling to accord Mr. Edison anything]...as to Mr. Edison's remarks, the statements that follow are facts, which can be checked up by anyone who is unbiased."

Imagine Alastor and Vox with "Stayed Gone" in Episode 2, and Alastor and Lucifer with "Hell's Greatest Dad" in Episode 5, but happening entirely over letters and telegrams, because mass media and television didn't exist yet. The closest musical numbers would likely be "Farmer Refuted" and "Your Obedient Servant" from Hamilton.

Per the book The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World by Randall E. Stross:

Page 276: "[Edison's] phonograph business faced a challenge in the 1920s unlike any that had come before: the advent of commercial radio stations, and the wide availability of free music broadcasts and other entertainment. By the end of 1921, an estimated 1 million listeners had access to radios, and listened to programs broadcast from the Eastern seaboard. A single station in Roselle, New Jersey, which offered the voices of operatic stars among its musical programs, had a broadcast range of a thousand miles, covering New England and the mid-Atlantic states, and reaching as far west as Missouri. A contemporary newspaper account explained to readers not yet acquainted with the phenomenon that those who owned radio sets could enjoy entertainment that was 'literally as free as the air'. Charles and Theodore Edison [proposed a combination phonograph-radio]...their father need not feel slighted because the vacuum tube, a key component of the radio set, was a modern descendant of Edison's experimental work on the incandescent lightbulb. Edison did feel slighted, however; such, at least, was the opinion of Thomas Cowan, a former Westinghouse employee...[who conducted experiments in radio broadcasts with the aid of a phonograph Edison was willing to loan him in 1921]. Cowan had several conversations about radio with Edison, who became upset and recalled the loaner when he heard the Westinghouse broadcasts...[Edison's sons were embarrassed, humiliated]."

"Edison calls radio a 'failure for music', thinks phonograph will regain its own": The New York Times, 23 September 1926. Underlining the usefulness of radio for purposes other than musical programs, Edison did tune in to a radio broadcast of the Dempsey-Tunney fight in 1926, which he was too deaf to hear. He had to rely on family members [usually his wife, Mina] to summarize what had transpired at the end of each round.

"Radio satisfactory on bout, Edison says": The New York Times, 24 September 1926. Defending the quality of musical broadcasts, the radio industry offered expert testimony to rebut Edison's claims [in the next week's newspaper]. See: "Broadcasters disagree with electrical wizard", The New York Times, 3 October 1926.

The "radio fad": A few months later, [after much outcry from the radio industry], Edison was willing to grant that radio might not disappear, but he had a new criticism: listeners' aesthetic sense would be damaged. "Undistorted music, in time, will sound strange to those brought up on radio music," he predicted, "and they will not like the real thing." See: "Thomas A. Edison sees a menace for music in the radio", Musician, January 1927.

"Edison's fears [about the Edison Company not succeeding in the radio business] were realized, though it had been Edison's intransigence (refusal to change one's views) that put the company at such a great disadvantage as a late entrant...on 9 October 1929, Charles Edison prepared a report for his father that showed a loss of $1.3 million due to start-up costs for the [Edison] radio...he could not know that, two weeks later, the stock sell-off would begin with Black Thursday, on 24 October, followed by Black Monday and Black Tuesday...a few days later, Thomas A. Edison, Inc., announced that it would cease producing [music] records [altogether], and refit the factory for the production of radios. The announcement was accompanied by a mention of regret, as the phonograph was 'one of Mr. Edison's favorite inventions'."

"An employee reported observing Harvey Firestone tearfully explaining to Edison that the collapse of business due to the stock market crash of 1929, and the Great Depression, meant that he could no longer continue to financially support Edison's laboratory. Edison was heard, sneering, 'He's a Goddamned lightweight.'" ("I saw your fiasco on the picture show, and I just couldn't resist. What a performance! Why, I haven't been that entertained since the stock market crash of 1929, hahaha! ...so many orphans.")

Edison's death at the age of 84 on 18 October 1931 was also, ironically, commemorated through radio broadcasts: "[The next] night, two radio networks, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and the Columbia Broadcasting Company (CBC), jointly broadcast an 8-minute tribute that ended on the hour, when listeners were asked to turn out the lights. The White House did so, and much of the nation followed, more or less together, some a minute before the hour, others on the hour. On Broadway, 75% of the electrified signs were turned off briefly. Movie theaters went dark for a moment. Everything seemed connected to Edison: the indoor lights, the traffic lights, the electric advertising, everyone connected via radio, which Edison now received credit for helping to 'perfect'. In the simple narrative that provided inspiration for posterity, one man had done it all..."

Some numbers provided for how much radio was making:

1922: $46.5 million (~$860 million in 2024)

1923: $120 million (~$2.2 billion in 2024) (156% increase)

1924: $350 million (~$6.3 billion in 2024) (186% increase)

1925: $449 million (~$8 billion in 2024) (27% increase)

1926: $520 million (~$9.1 billion in 2024) (14% increase)

Overall, per another source:

1922: $60 million (a little more than the previous statistic)

1929: $842.6 million

From here, we can tell the biggest gain was in 1923-1924. Per another source: "Total cost was about $120.00 to buy a new radio in 1926; in today's money, that is about $1,500 to own a radio." That would mean that 7.6 million radios were sold by 1926; an impressive feat, considering that the United States only had a population of a little over 117 million people at the time.

Percentages of United States households with radios:

1925: 19% (5 million households)

1929: 35-40% (200% increase)

1930: 12 million households

1939: 28 million households

The number of licensed broadcast stations surged from just 5 in 1921 to 500 by 1924, per yet another source. In the early years, household radio ownership was highest in the Northeast and on the West Coast. In large sections of the South, Midwest and Great Plains, stations and radio sets were scarce. However, there were notable exceptions.

There were 732 radio stations total across the country by 1927, and the average radio was on 2 hours and 25 minutes per day. People who couldn't afford radios purchased them on installment loans, through which the full price of a new radio could be paid over time. Radios had even more advertisements for washers, dryers, and refrigerators, causing people to use even more merchant credit and installment loans to purchase these shiny, new technological devices.

However, radio sales also took a hit with the Great Depression, as average income levels fell from $3,270 per year in 1920 ($53,300 in 2024), to $2,300 per year by 1929 ($41,500 in 2024), then to $1,500 per year by 1932 ($35,500 in 2024). However, buying a radio also became cheaper, dropping from a costly $200 ($3,200 in 2024) in the early 1920s, to just $35 ($630 in 2024) by 1929-1930.

By the time Alastor died in 1933, 3.6 million radio sets were sold that year alone. By the mid-1930s, 67% of American households had radio sets, and by 1939, about 80% of Americans—over 100 million people—owned radios. Radios were in almost every house, and some Americans even had radios in their cars. The Golden Age of Radio lasted from the 1930s to the 1940s, before being eclipsed by television in the 1950s. Radio hosts went from being paid $10 per broadcast in 1921 ($180-200, 1-2 hours per night, 3-4 nights a week, for a weekly salary of $720-800; monthly salary, $2,900-$3,200; annual salary, $34,800-$38,400; modern-day annual salary range for a radio show host is $30,000-100,000, depending) to making triple-figure salaries in the later 1930s.

Another source lists the following salary ranges for radio hosts:

$2,500-2,700 a year to be an announcer in 1927* (~$45,000-$48,000 range in 2024)

$2,400 a year to be a dramatic director (~$43,000 in 2024)

$4,000 a year to be a program director (~$72,000 in 2024)

New Orleans' first radio broadcast was on 31 March 1922, with WWL. The station wasn't started as a commercial one; but rather, "more of an experiment, started as an interest in wireless communication picked up nationally". The station did not go commercial until 1929, meaning that Alastor also probably had at least one other side job.

Also see:

"Early Radio Announcers Invented Their Profession in the 1920s"

"The History of the Radio Industry in the United States to 1940"

"'A Godlike Presence': The Impact of Radio on the 1920s and 1930s" by Tom Lewis

American Babel: Rogue Radio Broadcasters of the Jazz Age by Clifford John Doerksen (see excerpt here)

Race and Radio: Pioneering Black Broadcasters in New Orleans by Bala James Baptiste (Note: The earliest Black broadcast in New Orleans was in 1945, meaning Alastor was white-passing.)

"Golden Age of Black Radio - Part 1: The Early Years" (Note: The first Black radio announcer, Jack L. Cooper, hosted in 1929.)

"How African Americans Entered Mainstream Radio" by Bala James Baptiste, the author of Race and Radio: Pioneering...

[fafefae]

on the topic of alastor's hatred for vox vs alastor's hatred for lucifer, there's actually a HUGE difference. one is a hatred based in mutual respect and spite (some may call it rivalry, others, kismesissitude), but the other one is just pure unhealthy toxic hatred.

here's my thoughts on alastor's reasoning behind why he hates lucifer, and also some speculation on why alastor seemed so insistent on calling himself charlie's dad when that's so wildly out of character for him in the context of the theory that lilith is the one holding alastor's leash. his relationship (as in, his interactions) with lucifer are not a personal choice; this has his own soul on the line with lilith involved, and it puts him on edge. he's extremely manipulative in "hell's greatest dad" and for the entire rest of the episode too.

but enough about that, in this post im gonna look at alastor and vox, because unlike alastor and lucifer singing "hell's greatest dad", (in which alastor is genuinely fighting to push lucifer out of charlie's life and to keep him gone for ulterior reasons), alastor makes an effort to meet vox as an equal while singing "stayed gone", pushing and allowing vox to push back. his relationship with vox is a personal choice he continues to make.

because by the time vox realizes alastor's back, alastor has been back for a week, and yet it's only when vox announces it on TV that alastor decides to do his first radio broadcast since his return. the radio demon, waiting to do something he loves that he hasn't done in seven years? but that's what he did, alastor waited for vox to initiate something via TV broadcast before jumping in with a radio broadcast.

"did anybody miss him? did anybody notice?"

vox seems really desperate to dismiss how much alastor's return doesn't bother him, how much he doesn't care about where alastor's been, and how much better he's been doing without alastor,

"while he hid in radio, we've pivoted to video!" ... "hell's been better since he split, where's he been, who gives a shit?!"

which REALLY sounds like someone who's been rejected and is bitter about it. and when alastor sings his verses later in the song, that's actually exactly what he says!

"and here's the sugar on the cream, he asked me to join his team! i said no, and now he's pissy, that's the tea!"

alastor REJECTED vox's offer to be part of the Vees, but then alastor seems to have no trouble meeting vox on his own turf. in fact, he seems to get some enjoyment out of riling vox up, to the point where alastor pretty much admits he kept tabs on vox while he was gone those seven years.

"is vox insecure, pursuing allure? flitting between this fad and that, is nothing working? every day, he's got a new format!"

alastor finds this rivalry with vox enjoyable. one could argue that vox is obsessed with alastor, but i'm gonna argue that the inverse is true as well. alastor is JUST AS OBSESSED with vox as vox is with him, and the proof is in the way alastor speaks.

"instead of a clout-chasing mediocre video podcast" ... "now he's pissy, that's the tea!"

those are MODERN SLANG PHRASES. one of alastor's biggest character traits is that he despises modernity, or really, anything that came after he died. and YET, he updated his slang to not only keep up with vox, but meet him as an equal on vox's turf. "see? i can do it too."

and vox does meet him back! the instrumental of "stayed gone" starts off with some electro technical modern sounds (vox's sounds), but when vox opens up the rest of the song to address alastor in his broadcast, it switches to a big band jazzy sound that's extremely reminiscent of the 1920s-1930s, aka, vox is singing a song that's backed by something that is alastor's theming. this is vox meeting alastor. "see? i can do that too."

because at the end of it all, they're actually both the same kind of demon; they're both focused on entertainment, which truly makes them equals. it's just how they both go about it that makes them different.

vox's domain extends over modern entertainment and two of the biggest entertainment industries (adult entertainment and pop-culture) are already in his pocket. the real leader of the Vees is vox (not velvette, as much as she likes to believe she is). but vox wants all of the entertainment domain under his control; for all that vox makes fun of alastor, he still asked alastor to join his team, because radio and podcasts are entertainment, and more importantly, they're sections of the entertainment domain that alastor will never give up.

vox will never stop chasing after alastor, but alastor enjoys that. he enjoys having something vox will never have, and he enjoys that it makes him equal and relevant to vox. and as much as vox proclaims he'll make alastor wish he'd stayed gone, he knows very well he can't control alastor, and alastor knows this very well too.

and that's what makes him so alluring to vox! vox is used to being able to control people! he easily calms valentino down, he easily hypnotizes the masses, but alastor? vox knows damn well that alastor is his equal. and alastor knows damn well that vox is his equal.

"oh, this will be fun."

[bonitanightmxres]

Pinky Promise || JOEL MILLER

PAIRING: Joel Miller x wife!reader (non-outbreak au)

SYNOPSIS: After a long night at work, joel's long-kept secret comes to light.

WARNINGS: mentions of having kids, slight suggestiveness, slight allusions to smut, & that’s it i think

WORD COUNT: 1.3k

The job wasn’t supposed to last all night, but in order to prevent his crew running behind schedule, Joel took the matter into his own hands to ensure that a sufficient job was done. He felt good about it, knowing that at the end of the night, they would be a little ahead if tomorrow’s work went well. But he hadn’t realized the time until he climbed into his truck, ready to go home. You’d been taking care of your neighbor Anna’s daughter for the week while she was gone for work, which meant that both you and Joel were getting to know firsthand what it meant to take care of a little baby. And last night, boy did the baby fever overwhelm him in the greatest way. 

You’d had trouble putting Ellie to sleep, and it was getting late, so Joel stepped in. He carried her, walking around the house. Having a one-sided conversation with a baby who wasn’t even a year old yet turned out to be his favorite part. He whispered to Ellie, telling her how much she made him want to be a dad. He’d thought about having kids with you all the time, how wonderful you’d be as a mother, and how much he ached to be a dad. It was stuff he dreamt about at night, but was too afraid to say anything. Joel made Ellie pinky promise not to tell you, and he wrapped his pinky with her little one.  What Joel didn’t know was that you were right behind the wall of the kitchen, watching him as he prepared another bottle for her, and that you heard every bit of it.

Tonight, Joel selfishly hoped that Ellie had been giving you a hard time and wouldn’t fall asleep, just so he could do it again. Before she left, Anna swore up and down that by the time you both were done taking care of Ellie, you’d never want to have a kid, but Joel wasn’t so convinced. Sure, it was probably just the baby fever talking and there was hell of a lot more to taking care of a baby than he knew, but Joel wanted to find out. He wanted all the ups and downs, the scraped knees, the crying, everything. 

By the time he parked in the driveway, it was well-past one in the morning, even though he sped all the way home, and his heart dropped a little when the house was quiet, except for the quiet chatter of the television coming from your bedroom. When he opened the door to your bedroom, his heart sank even more when there was no sign of Ellie at all–her toys, bottles, and crib were all gone. He figured Anna must have come by, it was the most logical explanation, though he expected to have Ellie for the rest of the week. 

The remote to the TV was still in your hand, and you fell asleep sitting up slightly in a position that was sure to make your neck hurt in the morning. The window was open, letting in cool air, but you still wrapped yourself in a blanket. Joel chuckled at the sight before him as he changed into comfortable clothing–you clearly fought to stay awake and wait for him, but after a long few days with Ellie, Joel imagined that sleeping sounded a lot better than staying up. Joel gently fixed your position so that you laid in the bed properly with your head against the pillow, took the remote, and climbed into bed next to you. There was something so innocent, so peaceful about the way you slept that he almost felt bad when you stirred in your sleep when he leaned over and kissed your forehead to let you know he was home.

The warmth of his lips on your head was like a signal for the rest of your body to respond to his touch. Turning your body to face his side of the bed, you extended your arm out to feel him, your hand landing on his shoulder and slowly sliding it up to his face.

“You’re home.” Your eyes are still closed, but your voice was deep and raspy as your thumb rubbed his growing beard. “Everything okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry, darlin’,” Joel brought your hand to his lips and kissed it, “Sorry for bein’ so late.”

His smile was the first thing you saw when you fluttered your eyes open for the first time that night. Even underneath the dull glow of the television, he still managed to look ruggedly handsome. “You want something to eat? There’s leftovers I can heat up for you if you wa-” 

You don’t even let him answer before you’re trying to get out from under the covers. He pulls you back into bed, wrapping an arm around you so that your head is tucked away on his shoulder. “No, no. I’m fine. I’d rather lay here with you.” 

Joel is holding something back, you can tell. “But?” 

“Nothin’, nothin’,” he reassures you, but you know something is up. “So, uh, w-where’s Ellie?”

“Anna came back early, so she picked up Ellie this afternoon.” 

“Oh.” 

You giggle, turning your head to read his face. “What do you mean ‘oh’? Why do you think the house is all quiet?”

He shrugged. “I-I just, I mean, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if the house wasn’t quiet all the time, would it?”

“You mean like…” 

“Who am I kiddin’?” Joel got up, sighing as he propped himself up with his elbow so that his head was above yours. He looked lovingly onto you, searching for any reason he could think of to not have kids with you, but his mind went blank. “Darlin’, you would make the most amazing mother. Seeing you with Ellie, it just proved to me what I’ve already known for a long time.” 

You giggled, “Aww, the baby fever got to you bad, didn’t it?”

“Wouldn’t it be nice, though?” Joel said with a growing smile as he thought about the idea. “A little one runnin’ around with her mama’s looks–”

“--And her daddy’s damned stubbornness.” You raised an eyebrow at him, and Joel laughed, knowing how much you called him out over his stubborn nature. 

“I know we’ve only talked about it a few times since we got married, but I ain’t gettin’ any younger, and I–”

“Joel, baby,” you grazed your hand over the back of his neck and pulled him down for a sweet kiss. “If you wanted to be a daddy so bad, all you had to do was say so.” 

He chuckled, “C’mon, you can’t tell me you don’t wanna be a parent. I’ve overheard your conversations with Anna, and lemme tell you, the things you talk about with that woman are borderline insane.” 

“Oh really?” Catching Joel off guard, you’re able to knock him onto the bed, flat on his back and hover over him. “Well, I happen to know that you’re dying to be a dad.” 

“Oh yeah? And how would you know that?” Joel pulled your legs so that they were on either side of his waist.

You answer him with another sweet kiss, though your lips linger on his for a lot longer than the first one and Joel can feel the heat spread throughout his body.

“Let’s just say that Ellie isn’t very good at keeping pinky promises.”

A wave of realization rushes over him, and he chuckles, shaking his head, before leaning up and kissing you feverishly, like there’s no tomorrow. And what begins as a passionate and heated love between you and Joel, ends up being a newborn baby girl nine months later.

---

@angelic-dreams13

a/n: ASHJFDKHSNFLK pls i can't😭

[azaharinflames]

I wonder if Lou’s also excited for the backstory that Tommy is going to get from this hurdle/thing from Tommy’s past. The more a character is fleshed out the more they’re here to stay. Also I agree he’s way too excited about the episode to point to anything other than Buck and Tommy strengthening their relationship even more.

Honestly - I think it makes a lot of sense. Like, he's been building Tommy's backstory since he came back for Season 7, and who knows if Tim has listened to some of his ideas. So far, what he said in one cameo lowkey was followed by what we learned later on in canon (his Dad not being the greatest, per se).

To me, Tommy is just a world of possibility. Tim has finally a 'new' character that works really well in-universe, that has established links to nearly all characters, yet someone we know actually little of. I'm sure exploring that is both interesting and fun, for both Tim as a showrunner, and Lou as an actor. We also know he holds a special fondness for Tommy, so I'm sure this is being special for him.

Also, you made a great point. You give a character more background, and more ties to the world, and you feel them feel more rooted down... their chances of staying grow every time we get more attached to them.

And the thing is - and sorry for making this answer so long -, even with Taylor we didn't see an attempt this big. We had a half-assed storyline with her Dad that felt too little too late, and other than her being a reporter and the stuff with her Dad, we had... next to nothing. We didn't know about her life, and we didn't have her connected to other characters. Hell, they've gone as far as to give Tommy a car, when they could've used Buck's Jeep. All of that is world-building, and not for nothing.

All in all, we agree. For someone who loves Tommy this much, it just wouldn't make sense for him to be so excited if this is the episode he leaves, or the episode the couple he genuinely enjoys breaks up. And again, it would be downright mean for him and Oliver to describe the ep as fun, or to be this excited for it if his fans would be either disappointed or heartbroken by the end.

(there is also the fact that Eddie has the A plot, and the more dramatic one at that. Either the ep is full of drama, or Bucktommy has a more comedic SL that is not as big or as bad as we're fearing/thinking)

[dr-brainrot]

Stayed Gone and Hell's Greatest Dad Color Theory

You know what I love about the difference between Stayed Gone and Hell’s Greatest Dad? It’s very clear that the rivalry is one-sided and Alastor has the upper hand throughout the song in Stayed Gone (SG), but in Hell's Greatest Dad (HGD) Alastor and Lucifer are basically going head to head with one another and both of them are keeping up with the other’s powers and showmanship; no one is backing down.

I noticed that in SG Vox is seen with a red bg 90% of the time which could just be good color contrast, but when vox is in his element he’s usually around blue tones

Until Alastor starts getting to his head

And when Alastor and Vox are doing their back and forth it’s clear Alastor is the one in control, even when Vox’s colors become Alastor’s bg

Alastor does not see Vox as a threat or equal in regards to power and status. Notice how Vox has all those tvs, but with just one radio Alastor is able to take Vox down. And Alastor probably just doesn’t like him lol.

But then you have HGD where, right off the bat, their colors are fighting within the realm Lucifer creates. They're both fighting in the big top tent meaning Alastor is not in his element, but even then he wants to take away whatever control Lucifer could have in the situation

They’re both trying to hog the stage and outdo the other for their own reasons. Alastor, who wants to assert dominance and Lucifer who was triggered by Alastor’s taunting, lashes out at Alastor out of insecurity

and unlike the break down with Vox and Alastor, they’re both on relatively even footing, keeping up with one another and getting on each others nerves

But their colors eventually mesh together in the end, possibly showing how there’s a mutual hate between the two

… Anyways I thought that was cool color choice or whatever 🤪

(also I’m going to tag radioapple & radiostatic STRICTLY for character dynamic nothing shippy please put your gun down thanks 🥰)

[snowyh2o]

Was listening back through the Hazbin Hotel songs again and I noticed a really cool detail in how each of the characters sing. As some of you might’ve noticed, during Hell’s Greatest Dad Lucifer is very audibly taking in many deep breaths before each lyric, while in contrast you can’t hear Alastor breathing at all. And I wondered if this was a trend with Alastor’s character (intentional) or if it was just due to different singing styles (unintentional). And I have come to the conclusion that the lack of audible breathing on Alastor’s part is very intentional.

Of all the songs and characters that sing, the majority of them do have audible breathing, which is particularly loud when they’re visibly out of breath, panicked, emotional, excited, etc. the big exceptions are Husk, Alastor, Carmilla, and Angel Dust.

With Husk we never hear him audibly breathing. This might be due to the nature of the songs he features in, where Loser Baby’s slower duet gives more room to breath silently than a fast paced one like Hell is Forever. But I think it’s a good hint of Husk’s control over his breathing/singing. He’s a gambler, he likely has one hell of a poker face and knows how to present himself as calm and in control regardless of what he’s feeling, and that’s showcased in how he sings.

It’s the same situation with Alastor. Regardless of how he was feeling during Stayed Gone or Hell’s Greatest Dad, we never hear him breathing. He’s presenting himself as calm and in control of the situation, even as the song devolves into a yelling match in Hell’s Greatest Dad. He keeps up his no audible breathing during his part in Ready for This, though it’s a little hard to tell if Rosie’s breathing is covering up any audible breathing he’s doing. The only time we hear Alastor audibly breathe is during his solo in Finale/The Show Must Go On. Where every single line is followed by a deep and harsh breath. It’s also the only time we see him drop his mask and visibly have a mental breakdown. I’m what little he sings with the group, you can’t hear him breathing anymore, but that might just be because he gets like, one line before the finale of the song.

Carmilla is an interesting one. During Respectless, you can’t hear her breath at all, but you can hear Velvette taking multiple audible breaths. If we equate no breathing to controlling themselves in the situation, then we can interpret that as Carmilla trying to keep her cool about Velvette showing off the angel head she brought to the meeting, and not let anything slip. In Whatever it Takes, Carmilla starts the song by taking many audible breaths before each line, implying she’s letting her guard and control down for Zestial. Out for Love has her breathing silently again. I’m not too sure what it could mean character wise aside from her being calm and in control of the training session.

Angel Dust is also super interesting. During the start of his solo song Poison, you can’t hear any audible breathing from him. And it makes sense, coupled with the visuals onscreen, Angel Dust is trying to make himself feel like he’s in control of his situation and what’s happening to him. It’s not until the very end of the song, where his voice starts breaking that we hear him audibly breathe, because he’s not in control of his situation and he couldn’t keep pretending that he was.

Tl;dr: within the songs of Hazbin Hotel, how a character breathes between lyrics, silently or loudly, is being used to further build their character and give the audience a sense of their emotional state. Also, the breathing makes it feel more like the characters are actually singing and it’s not just a cool polished sound track for the show.

[onesidedradiostatic]

regarding the drool thing i highly doubt its a death mark or something like that given that a lot of characters do it and it isnt like. a permanent affect on his screen

also the insistence that its vals saliva therefore every seen hes salivating must have kissed val before. obviously that isnt true but i think its infinitely more telling that hes constantly SALIVATING. like do you have sialorrhea or are you just happy to see me?

even lucifer does it in hells greatest dad! though his is yellow like his blood..

so some homestuck troll shit-

my actual belief is that it isnt really saliva (atleast in the case of vox. lucifer. alastor.. we know vals is saliva) but instead blood and its supposed to indicate that the character is being "bloodthirsty" / violent.

it would make sense given all the scenes we see it used.

vox telling pentious to kill himself. the beginning of stayed gone. vox's finale hate boner. alastor doing creepy radio demon shit.

lucifer is even SAYING the word Blood during his scene. though its in the context of the family line, given the timing i can only imagine its deliberate.

the only exception id say would be at the end of poison (unless they're concocting a really devious plan). though id wager to say that in that scene specifically it actually is valentinos saliva

in this scene and this scene alone vox red droplets were on the left side of the screen (theres technically another time, buts its really on both sides of his screen there so).

this is right after we see angel with driplets on his left side, and you can see that val has his on the right side, (which is weird cause he mostly has it on his left side too?) which would be the sides to link up during a kiss

or maybe they're just sprite flipped idk

(follow-up to this ask)

tbf like

the cross on alastor's forehead isn't a permanent effect for him either (and it's been stated by ex-staff that alastor was shot in the head by a hunter so we basically know that's a death mark for him)

for lucifer's case I just thought he bit his lip while saying the line cause he was that pissed LMAO, funny how his blood is like an ugly yellow in that scene compared to the usual glowing yellow or gold we see from other angels. (also not the fucking homestuck troll comparison ksdkfflhl SOLLUX CAPTOR??)

my actual belief is that it isnt really saliva (atleast in the case of vox. lucifer. alastor.. we know vals is saliva) but instead blood and its supposed to indicate that the character is being "bloodthirsty" / violent.

I mean yeah I believe that, I've mentioned it before it appears when vox shows strong emotion. the reason I subscribed to that one anon's death mark theory is cause alastor's red "x" appears whenever he semi brings out his demon form (the example we see of alastor bleeding from the mouth too also has that "x")

and yeah, I think poison is like the SOLE outlier to this, all other times he has the red lines he's showing some kind of strong/violent/feral emotion. I originally just held the idea vox produced it himself and the strong emotions were actually from making out with val (yes I do actually think they made out in this scene I just didn't buy into the val saliva theory) but you bringing up the different side of the lines from usual and the mirroring is a good point actually, I didn't realise that, honestly changed my mind and convinced me that yeah this specific case it is val's saliva

see the thing is, I do think it CAN mean he was making out with val I just don't think it NECESSARILY does cause of all the times it happens outside of val like I said. in this case, yeah they were probably making out LMAO.

in other cases, nope.

my thing isn't that I'm against the idea of it coming from val, it's more like some people act like it's a definite indicator that they were making out whenever vox has it, but I don't think that's the case at all, the red lines are definitely something vox can form by himself