#tell a white lie

[little-mari-on-a-roof]

being a miraculous fan is great because every time you're like surely they can't inflict more trauma onto my children they get hit with twelve more lifelong altering situations and you're like ah i guess they could 🥲

[nocoastposts]

[scarapanna]

Hey chat y'all remember storybook?/silly

I'm thinking of doing redesigns/a rework mayhaps...one day../silly

[Based on this hilarious post]

[formerlycookierunauprompts]

OOO I have another one that came to me in a dream! Basically the kingdom yn lives in hosts a ball which anyone can attend and yn let's say they're a maid/Butler attends and shadow milk (I'm obsessed with him right now) asks them for a dance and as they're chatting while dancing the yn notices that shadow milk knows a bit more about them than he should and as the dancing goes on he becomes more dominant practically not letting yn step in their own two cookie feet! And as the music stops a dread suddenly dread enters the dance floor and the only thing yn remembers happening after that is shadow milk leaning down to their shoulder and whispering something before they passed out.

bestie you are literally tickling my silly brain right now, also i may have diverged from the prompt a bit and just made the thing a whole little fic instead of a prompt like I'm supposed to be doing.

Request Prompt #8 - 💓

Reader is fem btw, popping this one under a cut because it is LONG

.

" Princess- No, Reader Cookie. Do you even realize how foolish you're being right now?" Your best friend and private advisor warned as they followed you around your room. " You father explicitly forbade you from going to the ball tonight! if he recognizes you there then I fear you may never leave your room again!" " He can't just expect me to miss out on every important social event until he deems me 'worthy enough to be queen'!" You argue back, already grabbing your masquerade mask and dress. " Besides, my mask is enchanted! There's no way he'll know it's me." You said, holding up your supposedly enchanted mask. " I wasn't aware of how far you planned this... to even sneaking out to purchase a dress for the ball beforehand." Your advisor mumbled in an exasperated manner, you simply just nodded along with their words. Truthfully, you'd gotten the dress and mask as a secret gift upon your windowsill one day. you'd originally planned to sneak out as a waiter... but actually partaking in the festivities sounded a lot more fun. " Oh calm down Crab Claw Cookie," You giggled. " It'll all be fine, I'm still a queen-to-be no matter what my father says. I am his only child after all, and it's not like anyone will be marrying him anytime soon." You spoke with a dismissive wave of your hand, you could still feel Crab Claw Cookie's worried eyes upon you, but you'd be fine, right? Plus, there was that odd dream you had a few days ago. A strange, shadowy cookie had appeared in the darkness, offering to give you your freedom in exchange for what you valued most. You had accepted, not thinking much of it at the time, but now that you thought about it... the dress had appeared once you woke up. And then there was the fact he'd said that he'd come to collect the other part of the deal at a later date. You shook your head, you should just continue to get ready. You have a night of freedom to attend to!

-✢-

The ball was in full swing, and yet here you were sitting off to the side. Why weren't you on the dance floor dancing away with the other cookies? Simple, you were completely unprepared for this kind of event! Because of your father and his overbearing nature, he never allowed you to attend any social events when you were younger. You must have gotten so used to your isolation that you had no idea how to actually interact with real people...! Crab Claw Cookie's social interaction simulations paled in comparison to the real thing... And maybe you were scared of your father noticing and recognizing you in the crowd. In short, you were completely lost. " Oh?" You here a voice speak, and looking next to you you can see a Cookie in quite the fancy blue and black suit, his white and blue haired mostly combed back into a sophisticated style while some covered his left eye. The eye that was uncovered was a rather nice shade of blue, like the ocean illuminated by the light of the full moon, or perhaps a blue moon? The mysterious cookie smiled at you, and you took note that it was rather cat-like. " What's a lovely girl like you doing over here on your own? Shouldn't you be having fun and dancing like the rest of the cookies here?" He asked with a tilt of his head, the playful grin never leaving his face for a moment. You hesitated before you let out a sigh, deciding to air your grievances to the stranger. Because isn't everyone a stranger at a masquerade ball? And yet, there was something familiar about him... " It's just that... I've never had the chance to go to a proper ball before. And now that I'm here, I have no idea what to do..." " Is that so?" The cookie mused with a hum, soon extending his hand after a moment. " Well, why not come dance with me? I can show you the ropes if you don't know how~" He offered, his expectant gaze imploring you to take his hand. So, and almost without question, you place your hand in his. Letting him lead you to the dance floor. The waltz was pretty simple, the music changing to signify that the current song was meant to be waltzed to. You knew how to waltz, but you still let him take the lead despite the fact that you( if only slightly) were the taller of your pair. It wouldn't hurt to strike some quiet conversation, right?

" It's so... odd." You mutter, your soft words having caught the ear of the cookie you were dancing with. " Hm? What is?" He asked, staring up into your masked eyes. Something about his gaze felt as if he were searching your very soul... But that was just a weird feeling, it was nothing. " It's just that..." You look down at your feet, yet a subtle movement from your partner caused you to make eye contact with him once again. " Who are you? I feel like I've seen you somewhere before..." You mumbled to the amusement of the other. " My dear Little Star, are we not at a masquerade ball? We aren't supposed to know who the other attendees are." He said with a chuckle, leading you further into the dance. You felt like you've heard someone call you that before, but where? You aren't sure. Are you even dancing anymore? It feels more like you're being puppeteered. You took a quick glance around, you weren't sure if the people watching you were anything more than shadows. " Princess," your partner begins, and your attention snapped back to him almost instantly like a dog hearing their favorite toy squeak. " You do know that you should keep your eyes on your partner while you're dancing, right~?" He hummed with a light giggle, taking your hands in his own. The music has stopped, in fact, you weren't even sure when it had. The entire ballroom was blanketed in shadows, the people you saw no more than silhouettes painted with glowing blue eyes. You felt like you were dreaming, hell, even your eyelids felt heavy as you continued to sway to the command of your partner. Soon enough, you lost your footing, collapsing into the other cookie's arms as you struggled to stay conscious. You could hear the cookie let out a slow, almost villainous chuckle. " Oh princess~ I've come for your half of the bargain~" He purred into your ear, leaving that as the last thing you heard before passing out.

-✢-

" Sire! Terrible news!" A pair of castle knights hollered, interrupting the king's morning. Reader Cookie hadn't even bothered to come down for dinner the prior night, even though he ended the ball early just to make time for her. If she kept up this pettiness then she would never be fit for the role of queen. " Yes?" He gruffly spoke, " Get on with it. Has another rebel group formed to usurp my throne? Is it an escaped Prisoner? It doesn't matter, we can handle all of those things." He said with a dismissive wave of his hand. " You don't understand sire!" The other knight cut in, stepping in front of the first knight. " It's Reader Cookie, she's gone missing!" It was as if a fuse had gone off inside the king's head. " WHAT!?" He yelled, almost spitting out his coffee. " What are you standing around for? Find her immediately! Her misbehavior will not be tolerated in this kingdom!" He barked out the order, with the knights saluting him and immediately running off to get to work. He slumped back into his throne, Reader Cookie was well above the age to know that her behavior was vastly unfit to be queen. Then, he heard it, that witches forsaken giggle that slowly turned into a cackle. " My my! It seems like your little princess has run off, your majesty!" The voice the laughter belonged to said in a mocking tone, with a certain jester stepping out from the shadows. " What a shame, truly!" " Shadow Milk Cookie." The king hissed, glaring at the jester with searing hatred. " You should know that you, nor any of the other beasts, are not welcome in this or any other kingdom!" He hollered, pointing directly at the beast. " Oh, your coldness wounds my heart..." He sighed dramatically, putting a hand over wherever his heart was supposed to be. " But, if you're going to be so rude, then I might as well just... not tell you what's happened to Reader Cookie." He smiled smugly, knowing that the King was falling right into his trap. " You! What have you done to my daughter?!" The king roared with frustration, which only caused Shadow Milk to laugh even more. " I swear, if you've hurt her then-!" " Then what?" Shadow Milk said with a sickening grin. " What will you do, your majesty? You and I both know that you've cared more about your kingdom than you do her, you just want her back because she's the only blood heir to the throne." He cackled at the revelation, and the horror dawning upon the king's face. " But if you want to prove me wrong... Then give up your kingdom, and I'll make sure she's safely returned." He proposed, eyes glinting with delight as he saw the hesitation in the king's stance. Oh how he loved to watch as cookies tried to decipher whether he was telling them the truth or not, not a single one had managed to catch him in a lie before it was already far too late. Such are the perks of practically embodying deceit, he supposed. He turned on his heel, waving goodbye to the king. " I'll give you a day to think it over. Either give up your kingdom and have your daughter returned to you... Or fail her for the last time, and live with the guilt." He left without another word, fading back into the shadows.

[dayurno]

this is somewhat of a vent post & something i said i would not do again but has been plaguing me enough that i think getting it out might feel better. so. has anydoggy else been. Baffled and upset by nora sakavic’s refusal to speak on how terribly aftg has treated its characters of color? with the author of the series coming back with a new book and starting up on her online activity again, and questions of what she’d change about aftg bubbling up, it’s particularly glaring to me that we are all playing this very long game of pretend where we ignore how badly the non-white cast has been treated & her lack of thoughts on it

and i understand not wanting to bring up nicky and thea because people pick on her for it. i’m not trying to discredit nora sakavic’s terrible history of getting harrassed online by aftg fans. but i think it is very cynical, and it is very juvenile, and most of all very cruel, that she gets to ignore the very real ways the books have set up these characters to be hated. i think it’s obvious why the characters who get the most hate are the only canonical characters of color, and i think we do not get to treat this like a deliberate decision on the fandom’s part when the books have put these same characters in degrading and embarrassing and terrible positions in the first place. aftg is not a story about nice characters with clean pasts, but there is a very specific nastiness to the only characters of color being a brown man who sexually harasses and later assaults the main character, a black woman whose only scene is her lashing out at her love interest after being ignored for the first two books, and the japanese villain who gets maybe two lines of complexity before he goes back to being a terrible person. the white cast, in comparison, while not at all free from flaws, are never shown to commit mindless evil; all of their actions are ultimately justified. the book goes out of its way to give them concession after concession. we know exactly who to side with, because aftg tells us who these people are. does nicky’s assault ever get addressed in the books? does riko’s reasoning to be the way that he is ever gets more than briefly aluded to? is thea reserved even a shred of humanity or grace in her one scene?

anyway. it’s been years of talking about this and the fandom has been constantly hostile to criticism in this regard, and more recently any criticism at all, and it’s Grating to be on the other side of this discussion. it’s exhausting to know that in ten years we do not get even an acknowledgment besides the author saying she will not answer questions about nicky and thea anymore. it’s upsetting and it’s ugly and i wish no one had to talk about this again, but we do because what i thought was common sense has been washed away by a sudden influx of no-nuance adoration for the trilogy. basically i hope we all explode

[active-mind-15]

So many stereotypes would be erased about Akashi in the KNBverse if the characters simply just saw this guy around animals more often.

[moongothic]

You know. If Crocodad Real. How would Luffy even react if he found out. Like really, how the fuck would he feel about it.

'Cause like how I went over in this post (briefly at the end), we don't even know how Luffy feels about Crocodile as he is right now, so can you imagine how that bombshell would impact things

Like my running theory is that Luffy still hates Crocodile but maybe not quite as much as pre-Impel Down since he kiiinda owes him etc

And Luffy does not seem to give a shit about blood connections, at least not that much. Like don't get me wrong, Luffy's family are the people who were there for him when he was a child, those are the people he cares about and his bio-parents don't really matter. But also, honestly, I think the reason Luffy doesn't give a shit about who his parents are is because he doesn't know them. Luffy cares about people who he knows and likes, and while he doesn't give a shit about Dragon right now, it's arguably because he simply just doesn't know him. If the two actually get to meet and know each other, like if Luffy takes a liking Dragon, he'll probably accept Dragon as his dad and as his family. But on his own terms. It's up to Luffy to decide

And that's why like. How would Luffy react to finding out he has another dad and that one is fucking Crocodile. Because he already hates the man. It would not be happy news for him I'm sure

The other thing is that normally Luffy does not give a flying fuck about people's sad backstories. He didn't care to hear what happened to Nami and her village for example, because what really mattered was that there was a person he cared about who was deeply hurt and in danger and he wanted to help said person. And that's where I'm so torn. Because on one hand, it would be perfectly on-brand for Luffy to not give a shit of Crocodile had a sob story to tell. But also, I could imagine Luffy being so fucking confused over the news that he'd want to hear the truth of like, who what where how why, in detail. So that, you know, he could make his own decision and figure out if he wants to considder Crocodile is other dad or disown him.

Like, both feel like things Luffy would do

So really, would the real deciding factor might be just... the circumstances where Luffy finds out???

God knows, I can not imagine Crocodile himself telling Luffy anything ever. The kid already hates him, he knows it, so he'd probably think it'd be for the best if Luffy never found out

So how else could Luffy find out then?

As far as we know, the only other person who could confirm it would be Dragon himself, and considdering how he probably feels about his ex (see: Alabasta Coup Attempt), I can't imagine him wanting to talk about Crocodile to Luffy in lenght or in a positive light. Like I can't imagine Dragon wanting to tell Luffy at all is the point, not unless he wanted to like apologize to Luffy because it is arguably his fault Luffy and Crocodile fought in Alabasta to near-death to begin with. (Sidenote since we don't know how the break-up happened to begin with, it's totally possible Crocodile could've asked Dragon to never let their kid find out what happened to his "mom")

And now, this is where I'm gonna go completely off the rails, but. As I was wondering if there was any other way Luffy could find out...

S-Croc is made with Crocodile's DNA.

(And actually before I even go into S-Croc, super quick sidenote: If Kuma can extract memories out of people and allow other people to literally see them... Like I can't tell if Kuma's memories got absorbed by Bonney when she looked into them or if Kuma's Memory Bubble is still on Egghead, but if viewing the memories isn't the same as having them inserted into a vessel permanently... Like if Kuma isn't turbo-dead, could there be a scenario where we have Kuma (or S-Bear) yeet out Croc's memories and have Luffy just look into them? Because god knows Crocodile might just refuse to speak about it and that could be the only way to get The Whole Truth if Dragon doesn't want to talk about it either?) (Of course, Crocodile would understand just How Persistent Luffy is so if Luffy just kept on annoying him about it, Crocodile could maybe give up eventually because he knows he can't get Luffy to piss off until he spills the beans)

So currently the Strawhat's plan is for them to go and escort the Vegapunks to Elbaf (if nothing goes funny after the flashback is over, which remains to be seen)

2. There is the mystery of what sex S-Croc is going to be, because there is a possibility that if Crocodile is trans then his Seraphim could be pre-T (though this entirely depends on whether or not Ivankov's HRT changes even the DNA of person. Since it's MAGIC HRT I would prefer it to, not gonna lie, and I would not appreciate any "you may look different but your DNA will tell the truth!" rhetoric in the story but I may be asking too much from Oda)

3. And there's also the mystery of what Devil Fruit ability S-Croc might have, since all the Seraphim have been given Fruit powers, and we know Vegapunk can't replicate Crocodile's Sand Logia.

All things considdered, I think the actual, most likely known ability S-Croc might end up with would be like, Mr 3's wax powers (hilariously), mainly because I could imagine it being flexible enough to work in Crocodile's fighting style, so it'd be the easiest for S-Croc to adapt to (like if you can make anything from wax, then why not sharp blades to fling at people) (Also we know Vegapunk would have access to this power since Mr 3 was in Impel Down, when they also got Daz' powers)

But also I had joked before how it'd be funny if S-Croc was a Crocodile Zoan for no reason. Like it'd be fitting since Crocodile was already the Only Logia of the OG Shichibukai, so making his Seraphim the Only Zoan would be funny as hell (if it's even possible, which we can't say if it will/won't be). Additionally, making him a Crocodile Zoan would be hysterically on-the-nose.

(Sidenote: If there was a crocodile Zoan Fruit, what sub-category do you think it'd fall into? Like would it be Ryu Ryu like all the dinosaur-themed Zoans are, or maybe even a different model of Uo Uo (same as Kaidou)? Since "wani" could be considdered a different type of serpent-dragon, and if Vegapunk was researching how to recreate Kaidou's fruit, it's plausible he might've accidentally recreated some other related-fruit in the process or afterwards?? (Also since Kaidou's Uo Uo is a specific model (Seiryu) it would make sense if there was another Uo Uo model Fruit, and this could be an excelent opportunity to use it))

The thing about Zoans though is that, as it's been brought up once or twice before, Zoan fruits can kind of have a "mind of their own" and influence the user in unexpected ways.

And as all we Crocodad Truthers know.

Crocodiles are protective of their babies.

ALSO: The Seraphim do have enough personal will-power that they may (slightly) disobey orders they've been given. Case-and-point, S-Snake undoing the Petrification on the Strawhats after Luffy asked her to, since S-Snake is fond of Luffy just like Hancock is

Sidenote, it was kind of made a point how Vegapunk considdered his artificial replica of Kaidou's dragon fruit a compete failure simply because instead of a blue dragon, the user would turn into a pink one instead. So if Vegapunk tried to make a Seraphim of Crocodile, knowing full-well he couldn't even give the Seraphim the same ability as the OG, and then the Seraphim turns out the wrong sex for no reason?? I could see him being confused as hell and considder S-Croc "a failed Seraphim"

So really, all we'd really need to happen would be for the Strawhats to somehow encounter the remaining three Seraphim while escorting the Vegapunks to Elbaf. Mind you, IDK how that could even happen since as far as we know they've been deployed the Emptee Bluffs

And then just have S-Croc either disobey orders to hunt Luffy or even even have him be protective of Luffy (following that Zoan Instinct, one even he can't explain, it's just Instinct). Have Sanji be like "hey why the fuck is this one a girl, isn't it supposed to be Crocodile", followed by Vegapunk explaining this Seraphim was a failure for reasons even he can't understand

Then have Jinbei remember the conversation Crocodile and Ivankov had at Impel Down (suspicious considdering Ivankov's abilities and this "failed Seraphim"), and maybe if Crocodile had any involvement with the Revolutionaries and Robin was suspicious of him she could even bring that up

Along with any other minor details that may be bothering the crew about the whole deal

And so if the Strawhats and Vegapunk just put all their braincells together and rubbed them real hard, they could maybe come to a hypothesis as to why S-Croc is a "failure" and protective of Luffy, and maybe even a potential explanation as to why The Real Crocodile was protective of Luffy in Marineford for no fucking reason

And maybe, just maybe, Vegapunk could confirm that suspicion with a DNA test. All he needs to do is check Luffy's and compare it to Crocodile's.

Not sure Luffy would want to do the DNA test, like knowing Luffy he might prefer to just ask Crocodile in person if they ever ran to each other again

But boy, if he somehow did agree to a DNA test, and there was a match... oh boy

But again. This entire scenario is BEYOND off-the-rails. Technically plausible! But honestly if Luffy is ever gonna find out (assuming Crocodad Real) then it's gonna be from Dragon

I just wanted to get the theoretical scenario out of my system okay, I had to get the brainworms out of my brain

[gonnadosomethingwmylife]

Saw an autistic kate headcannon and it rocked my world,,,people overlooking her lack of social skills because she’s beautiful meanwhile here comes neal who knows ALL the social cues and what to do and knows how to communicate exactly what he means so she’s never confused or has to guess,,,neal seeing her brutal honesty as a breath of fresh air not as a character flaw im losing my mind

[rebouks]

Previous // Next

[Incessant Byrd screaming..] Sidney: Are they usually like this? [Robin nods] Sidney: Not just playing up for our sake then… [Robin shook his head] Sidney: Oh-.. are you off to sleep? It’s still pretty early… [Robin laughed but didn’t answer, seeing as it’s obvious] Sidney: Do you always put yourself to bed? Robin: No.. papa tells me stories, tucks me in, and tells me he loves me lotsies. Sidney: Right, well-.. night, honey. [Robin closed his eyes and ignored Sidney until she left the room with a grumpy Byrd, silently wishing his mama and papa were home]

[kaikaykoa]

to all the wife lovers out there

[poeticamethyst]

Had to hop on this trend.. not the lifeguard having a lightbulb moment‼️⁉️😩✋🏼💀

[applecherry108]

Autism do be stored in the turtle 💙

[cowardlychimera]

*raises hand* Me, me, me! I want the elaboration :3

omg hiii!!

okay first off, my memory sucks so if I get any details wrong please do correct me </3

anyway. Omori killing headspace Basil in the Sunny/true route. first I'd like to bring up how in the Omori/neutral route, when Sunny saves headspace Basil, he has to fight Stranger instead, mirroring the fight with the real Basil in the true route. to continue the game he has to force Stranger to give up, and as a result leave the real Basil to suffer on his own, and kill himself.

in the true route, Omori kills headspace Basil instead, giving Sunny the chance to save the real Basil. he doesn't let him have the option to save headspace Basil, and I think it's because he's challenging Sunny to actually take action for once.

Sunny giving up is a very big theme in the game. he gives up in the lake incident, letting someone else save him instead. he gives up and throws his violin down the stairs instead of speaking up. he gives up and lets Basil deal with Mari's body. he gives up and lets Omori take over. he gives up on reality, choosing his dream world instead.

it's safe to say Omori expects him to give up when faced with the option to save the real Basil. after all, Sunny's been faced with the truth multiple times, and gave up each time too. even Mewo asks if Sunny's waiting for something to happen (instead of taking action and taking the first step: leaving the house).

if he managed to build up the courage to open the door for Kel, surely he can build up the courage to open Basil's door and face him. Omori wants to see if he'll give up. he's challenging him to save the real Basil instead.

and when he does? Omori himself challenges Sunny to a fight instead. maybe he still doesn't think Sunny's capable of making things right. he doesn't think he's capable of accepting and telling the truth. he still expects him to give up. so he challenges him one more time.

I remember Misty pointing out Omori's expression in his final phase and how it looks a bit different compared to before. Misty brought up some pretty good and interesting possibilities, but if his expression did really change, and it's not just the distortion, I think he's actually surprised.

because he's expecting Sunny to give up. but he's not. he's still fighting. he's still standing. he's not giving up. after all these years, he's making a choice for himself. he's always let others make choices for him, always let others save him. but this time Sunny's fighting for himself. for his friends, for Mari, for the truth. he made the choice to try to make things right again when he opened Basil's door. Omori is testing if he really wants to go through with that, forcing him to face every horrible thing he can throw at him.

but he doesn't expect him to actually stand strong. but he is. Omori can't die, can't be defeated. but Sunny's still fighting anyway. Sunny gets back up and plays. plays the song he couldn't before. he does what he had given up on years ago.

and so Omori realizes Sunny isn't going to give up this time. so he steps aside and gives Sunny one last chance to carry on with his choice. he lets him choose between two leaps of faith: one from the roof, and one from Basil's hospital room. Sunny gets to choose which door he opens. and in the true ending?

Sunny chooses the real Basil over the imaginary one. Sunny opens Basil's door.

[starryvomit]

if this was the 18th century they’d call it female hysteria

nowadays we call it loving a liar.

[averagecygnet-blog]

I looked on ao3 and there is only ONE tanya/sami fic and it's so short. you guys DON'T understand how close I am to doing something DRASTIC

[symbioticsimplicity]

I have a theory that someone else has probably already put out but I haven't seen it so here we go.

I don't think Alastor is actually all that powerful.

Propaganda under the cut.

There are a lot of things that make me think this but we'll start with the first and frankly most obvious to me.

His methodology. Alastor's main thing is making contracts and deals. When we're first introduced to him in the pilot, its with a warning to never make a deal with him. While plenty of other Overlords obviously wheel and deal, I think Alastor's are different. They're more binding and more dangerous because they're his modus operandi.

Another thing is his seeming lack of territory. Every Overlord has actual terf that we see them in, except for Alastor. This could be from lack of interest, or due to having been gone so long, or what have you but it seemed like a strange thing to have not mentioned. In addition, Carmilla, who was leading a meeting on the property and interests of all the represented Overlords and how to protect it, was utterly dismissive of his sudden return. Which to me implies that whatever he controls is likely minimal at best. Meaning him being there is pretty inconsequential to the larger picture. Dude was able to disappear for seven years and it was mostly fine? So what does he actually have?? (My only thought honestly is that maybe the air is his space since radio waves and all. That would honestly be broke as hell but there's no real evidence for this, is would just be really cool.) As much as Vox as making a dig at him, he did have a good point that the reach of radio has certainly died down over the years. While that alone doesn't mean Alastor's power has waned, its not really a *good* sign for him. He still has speakers all over but that and one really rundown store front with a single radio are really the only traces we see of him outside of the hotel.

This bit is conjecture, but when talking about his past, not only does no one ever mention HOW he killed so many powerful Overlords, they don't go into detail about much at all. There's every chance that he could have contracted them the same way he did with Husk and either forced or waited for them to break their end of their deals and THEN used them as fodder to terrorize the masses. Most of his power comes from fear and word of mouth. Most people don't even bother fucking with him because they've heard the stories, or the broadcast.

Which brings me to my next point: The Broadcasts. There are a LOT of ways that Alastor and Vox parallel each other and I can't help but wonder if using their medium to deceive people isn't one of them. So far a lot of the magic we see Alastor use is largely illusionary. Phantoms and shadows and temporary changes of environment. So what if his broadcasts are the same? What if he DOESN'T kill the Overlords he claims to have and instead used his broadcast to simulate it instead. Like War of the Worlds, but on purpose. Honestly it would be smart of him, especially if he's NOT as strong as he seems. This is also conjecture but if he made deals with those Overlords instead, he could still have them stashed away somewhere and just be calling on them and their power as needed. (Also: Husk. This man is a constant pain in the ass and usually disrespectful at best. The only time he pops off on him about it though is when Husk mentions his deal which is really just a big No-No. But he still only *threatens him* which to me implies that he actually does need him. If not for his services, even if only for the power granted by his contract. In the same way that Val doesn't actually kill Angel or anything because he can't REALLY afford to, so he controls him in other ways. If Al isn't this super strong demon, he can't really afford to just go wasting the contracts hes got due to momentary irritation when he can bring them back to heel with some light terror.)

The next thing that makes me think he's probably not super powerful is his fight with Adam. Not because he lost (I firmly believe he only actually lost because he was fucking around most of the time/ wasn't fighting for loved ones) but because of the form he took to do it. He was in a life or death fight with an ostensibly high ranking angel, and yet he didn't pull out anything more than he would have used to fight other sinners. Sure, that could be him being prideful, but I just don't think so. Home boy was being recorded and presumably knew that, if he was being prideful shouldn't he have gone balls to the wall??

In relation to that, he also made a deal himself. Not that we know what it was for or who its with, but would someone as control oriented as Alastor really make a deal if he didn't HAVE to? Overlords don't just DO that, there had to have been a compelling reason and honestly assuming Alastor isn't as strong as he makes himself out to be gives a very good opening for it.

Smaller detail, but it still matters, the smiling. He very clearly uses it as both a shield and a tool to help him maintain control of a situation. Thats not really the kind of thing you think of and commit to if you're the strongest person in the room. Covering up weaknesses obsessively is the sort of thing someone who's fronting does so their secret stays exactly that.

In the same vein, the way he reacted to Lucifer. He was threatened, which is understandable given that Luci is leagues above even the strongest Overlords, but I think it was slightly more than that. Having Lucifer around would make it drastically obvious very quickly that Al isn't as strong as he claims. So of course he tries to unbalance the situation and put focus somewhere else, the same as he always does. (Its actually the same thing he does in his duet with Vox. I'm almost certain Vox IS actually stronger than Alastor but hes so wrapped up in Al's head games he might never notice.)

It's honestly unclear if this has always been the case with him, or if its a result of his deal or his time away or something else entirely, but to me it seems incredibly likely. Alastor mostly keeps order and power through fear, not through enormous shows of power. And even those when he does them are strategic and mostly against opponents he knows are weaker than him. He's clever as all fuck, and still very dangerous for it but I don't think hes actually all that physically powerful.