“⎊I am Iron Man⎊”

"ALASTOR AND ROSIE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN FRIENDS"

"THEY MATCH EACH OTHER'S FREAK" "THEY HAVE A LOT IN COMMON""ROSIE'S SO NICE" "(Rosie’s) VERY WARM" "CHARLIE NEEDS SOMEBODY...THAT'S SOFT AND GENTLE" "AS FAR AS 'DEVIL'S' GO, ROSIE IS FAIRLY NICE ESPECIALLY IN COMPARISON TO THE WAY WE'VE SEEN OTHER OVERLORD'S BEHAVE" "ROSIE IS A DIFFERENT SORT OF OVERLORD"

Ok, I have a lot of thoughts on Rosie and Alastor's relationship and tbh I think it's actually much more genuine and honestly sweet than people are claiming.

This will be a longer post but the TLDR before I get into is:

Alastor had it very cushy and essentially had it made with her and went to her all the time for help until he lost his fight with Adam and this season is him feeling like things he could count on and trust (Charlie & the hotel, Rosie, his powers, his reputation, etc...) isn't always going to be there. AKA: How he essentially he went from being a very pampered, spoiled sugar baby who was doing glorified babysitting duty at the hotel to realizing this could actually get him killed and he's now realizing there's real consequences to his actions

1. Their dynamic in season 1

Alastor felt so at ease and comfortable and just simply in his element at cannibal town. We've seen Alastor uncomfortable, agitated, frustrated or just clearly trying to mask his emotions and he gave none of those signs, he seemed to genuinely adore Rosie and being there. Like the idea of them being cute besties didn't come from no where. He was beaming with pride at both Rosie and Charlie. He's very much in his element

He is so comfortable and at ease here and he's so sure Auntie Rosie will fix his/the problem if he just asks. Like Alastor and his vibe in this whole sequence is "You're in good hands Charlie...she's an absolute gem" Like do his expressions and body language here feel like someone uncomfortable or someone who isn't ok being here?

Like him asking her for help here he's so assured and comfortable that she'll pull through for them. This has been a constant for him for almost a 100 years, he has been able to go to her for help and to fix any of his problems in exchange for whatever (seemingly) random things she wants him to do

He looks so proud of himself here...he knows he impresses her and makes her proud. Again there's a reason people thought the cute besties thing.

2. Season two and the Nature of their Deal

As soon as he stepped foot into Cannibal Town, he was so sure Rosie was gonna let him quit at the hotel just because he acted cutely, brought a couple gifts (one he started to pick at and eat btw) and said the right things. He's probably very used to getting his way from her that way if he really doesn't want to do something but the hotel is too important for her to let it slide like she usually does with cases like this

and this makes sense, if he's the favorite, gets away with things because of this fact and does very well by Rosie and she's been easily maintaining things on her end of the deal, what issues would there be between them? It'd be more a sugar mommy & spoiled sugar baby situation or if you want a more platonic example at the very least someone having a bestie technically as their boss at work. It just doesn't come off as someone being used to being told no by her in any substantial way...but she does here

Like this doesn't come off as evil cruel overlord abusing an underling...it comes off more as a bratty kid being told no for the first time by their mom. Hell he's not even being told no just he needs to wait....which likely because he was quitting his job and basically made demands and saying she wasn't holding up her end of the deal. Like if he did the same stuff and just asked her to fix his staff instead of everything else she likely would've.

And now listen to his phrasing of his finale: yes he says he's hungry for freedom but what the rest of the lyric? like never before Like NEVER BEFORE...

LIKE NEVER BEFORE!!

It genuinely seems like he had no issue with the deal (outside of probably some embarrassment if someone found out or an annoying order and stuff) until he realized that it wasn't always gonna be some cushy job and it could actually lead to his death if he's not careful. Their plan basically went from glorified babysitting to him almost dying by Adam's hand. Again imagine going from chilling, having everything could want while doing glorified babysitting duty to almost dying and now you're depowered. Yeah it makes sense he'd freak out and be a wee bit frustrated. It's likely the first real substantial time he had to be faced with actual repercussions of his deal here and when she told him no (not even a no more "just wait")

Now I wanna compare his deal with others in contracts

Then there's so many other small things that imply his deal is actually not nearly as restrictive as we've seen with others. First the chains/"leash" they have. They're literal chains and shackles, Val's being made of the smoke does kinda fit the looser nature of his deal with Angel, where as Alastor's look more...idk, like they have more weight to them and just seem more... solid I guess for lack of a better word

Meanwhile Alastor's? It's a literal leash. No chain/shackle, and it looks very thin, wispy, light and seems to have a lot of give to it in this case compared to the others. Plus in the other two cases, it's actual intimidation meanwhile, while it's still obviously a power move, she's like a little playful with it and it's not even remotely a real threat.

Which fits cause even how the chains look seem to indicated the nature of their deal:

Angel's while the most controlling has the biggest loophole so the chains are big but also seem smokey and not as solid

While husk seems to have a lot of freedom his deal seems the most air tight, regimented and least wiggle room so it's way more detailed and almost heavier looking

Alastor's is a very simple one with seemingly a lot of freedom and a hypothetical end to it so it's light and just kinda barely there but he still has to follow

even with another visual of deals:

Husk and Angel clearly look uncomfortable & miserable yet Alastor in his depiction of this...he's still smiling, maybe slightly confused but still happy. Now you can make the argument of Alastor is always smiling but...this...is his shadow, the shadow isn't bound to that smiling rule. They could've made it where he looks angry or upset or uncomfortable in some way here.

And this makes sense to have these details since his deal is relatively lighter and does a hypothetical end point. Plus, on top of that, Rosie seemingly gives a lot of people in her menagerie a lot of freedom overall, at least if you're a favorite like Alastor, but the fact his deal is something that could be temporary, unlike the others. We don't know what he has to do/give in order to "settle his account" but he's had almost a century with this knowledge and do...seemingly anything with it. So either

what he's expected to do in exchange for his power is seemingly impossible

he didn't care enough and was content enough he didn't bother with it

Alastor's smart and super driven, and if he was that desperate to get out of his deal the whole time, it doesn't feel very Alastor to have not made ANY kind of progress or scheming at all in that time and not just now of all times?

Like from his expressions, his course of his emotions throughout the song is: Kinda annoyed and trying to make his case why she should fix his staff, to "ha! this isn't so bad I guess🥰" to "Oh yeah this sucks and I'm supposed to be mad 😡" Tbh this sequence here of him getting into the song and trusting her only for him to get dropped feels like a good summary of where their arc as a duo is going: He has been able to rely on her and get that support but only just now is it getting pulled away from him

And a friend of mine wanted me to bring up this small detail: he can't even bring himself to insult her. She's not around to hear so he's not gonna get into an issue with her and he clearly has no issue calling a woman a bitch, just look at susan

and for anyone who thinks this is out there...Sam Haft basically has this type of idea too

So I watched Hello Dolly and I know that Rosie was inspired off of that musical and Dolly Levi herself, like her episode is literally named after it, but I'll be honest, I didn't expect just how much it was an inspiration for Rosie. So the basic plot of "Hello Dolly" is:

"The bold & enchanting widow, Dolly Levi is a socialite-turned-matchmaker. Her latest clients are the cantankerous "half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder and a young artist named Ambrose, who's in love with Horace's niece, Ermengarde. Dolly's scheming soon involves Horace's employees, a hat-maker and their assistant, as she tries to cover up her own secret romantic designs. Eventually, of course, all is sorted out, and everyone ends up with the right person."

Like this whole musical/movie feels like just an average Tuesday for Rosie and Cannibal Town (just less bloody & cannibalistic lol) while Alastor's off doing Alastor things. And while obviously this is a different character and they're going to do different stuff with Rosie, I think there's an interesting plot point that I think can give fantastic insight to Rosie as a character.

A huge part of this musical is Dolly struggling with the grief of losing her husband all of it is her way of trying to move on and genuinely live her life again, and not be alone anymore. She even has a whole monologue talking to her late husband:

"Ephraim, let me go! It's been long enough, Ephraim! Every evening for all these years, I've put out the cat, I've locked the door, I've made myself a little rum toddy, and before I went to bed I said a prayer, thanking God that I was independent, that no one else's life was mixed up with mine. Then one night an oak leaf fell out of my Bible. I placed it there when you asked me to marry you, Ephraim. A perfectly good oak leaf but without color and without life. And I suddenly realized that I was like that leaf. For years I had not shed one tear nor had I been filled with the wonderful hope that something or other would turn out well. And so I decided to rejoin the human race, and Ephraim, I want you to give me away"

Then it goes into a song called "Before the parade passes by" and the whole thing is about her wanting to live life, or be part of the parade, before it passes her by. One of the lyrics is flat her saying she wants to feel alive again and feel like she has a purpose/goal to strive for.

Between this song, that monologue and this moment in the show:

Just really cements to me that Rosie is holding onto something really painful from her past and is not nearly as put together as she seems and deals with that by basically meddling in other's lives and helping (for a modest fee of course)

And it's clear Rosie's plotting something, but it might not be what we think. I'm thinking that her ultimate goal is really to help clean up hell and make it more "respectable." Like she's not against blood and violence and everything in hell, but to her I think it's a "there's a time a place for that" and "We're not savages, we need a modicum of decorum" kinda way. Like it's not purely for her benefit, it's also for others and for their benefit, just like another quote from Dolly

It's been said that everyone who knows Rosie is indebted to her in some way or another

Charlie asked a lot from her with having the cannibals be foot soldiers in her battle, plus she got that relationship advice from her too (while Charlie kinda revealed a huge thing, Vaggie being an Angel, to someone she just met like a couple hours ago)

Rosie's not just doing this out of the goodness of her heart, she literally calls Charlie a client

She not only heard Alastor's plan for Charlie but loves it and clearly wants to be part of it:

In honor of international Asexuality Day I present my Radiostatic zine fic: An Ace's Heart

Right after Alastor's falling out with Vox, he decided to go to Rosie's Emporium for a much needed distraction from his feelings. Unfortunately for him, Rosie isn't one to ignore a heart that's hurting. After they close up the Emporium for the night, Rosie helps Alastor untangle the complicated thoughts and feelings he has about Vox & their past friendship