The Art of Pop Culture

Hello there, guess I'm pretty late with this, but whatever. I'm popart-vvv, a writer-in-training and artist-for-fun, as well as an amateur analyst and a music geek. Take a wild guess as to what my passion is. What can you expect from this blog? Various analyses of characters and songs, as well as posts about my custom-made bracelets and plushie pics. My ask box is open for you to inquire about my posts, insights, or just to share trivia with me. No bullying or overly negative stuff! Don't make me regret this. My interests are below.

So I'm pretty fresh to the Deltarune community, and while I haven't gotten into the meat of things, I am pretty captivated by a recent development.

Namely: Susie x Noelle, or Suselle.

These are two pretty cute characters, and as a yuri lover, I can't say no to their budding romance (if that's what's really going on, either way I ship it). There is a lot of potential to this pairing, especially since a future plot point seems to be Susie telling Noelle about the Dark World--heck, there's a post-credits scene featuring a room for Noelle being built in Castle Town preemptively.

I have heard that some people are up in arms about this development--from what I understand, it seems to be in relation to Kris.

Some of the vitriol is dumb ship wars nonsense, but some of it is also people warping their sympathy for Kris into demonizing Susie and Noelle as "bad friends" for leaving them out. It strikes me as an exaggeration, as neither Susie nor Noelle tell Kris to bug off during their Festival date--quite the opposite, actually, as they both needed Kris' help during said date, it seems.

If people are interpreting an "unrequited love" thing from Kris' placement in Suselle, it doesn't strike me as especially insufferable. At least, there are two key factors involved:

It's hardly a "pining lesbian passed over for a het pairing" situation; Suselle is a female/female ship.

This isn't a "sweetheart is rejected in favor of local asshole" scenario either; while Kris is plausibly sympathetic, Susie and Noelle are pretty good-hearted, all things considered.

There is nuance to be explored in the dynamics involving Kris, Susie, and Noelle, but it's still weird how some people treat Suselle as horrible just because it doesn't involve Kris.

This isn't a hate post for Krusie or Kriselle, mind you, I think they're both interesting pairings, especially since a character like Kris is involved. But I do think it's important that both pairings, at least as portrayed in canon, aren't romance-focused so much as they are friendship-focused. Like, there is love to be found in friendship alongside romance, and platonic love is a very valid way to go. So it's entirely possible that both Susie and Noelle love Kris as well, even if not in a romantic way.

Have you ever considered the idea that it would be a huge gamble on the writers' parts?

Let me remind you that Lute is one of the viler characters in the show, partially because of her brand of villainy:

Primarily, she is a major xenophobe. A bigoted maniac who despises Sinners to genocidal levels. Not to mention majorly sadistic about her hatred. A character like that would be very, very hard to properly redeem.

Not to mention, didn't some other IPs catch flack for their own takes on "redeem the fascist/xenophobe"? Example: I heard something about Steven Universe, a show that focuses on forgiveness and redemption, catching fire for redeeming its final antagonists--the Diamonds, which could best be described as "alien fascists". Said redemption is commonly criticized as a low point of the series because of how rushed and sudden it was, part of the problem being that the Diamonds never got to reckon for their crimes.

With that knowledge in mind, it does confuse me as to why some Hazbin viewers still feel that much sympathy for Lute, let alone want her to be redeemed. It would be much more natural for Lute to be deemed "beyond redemption", particularly since she seems content to spiral out of control if it means she gets to slaughter the Hotel crew in the name of Adam.

Even for a show about redemption, I think it would work in Hazbin's favor if it knew when and where to draw the line on the topic of redemption. That's an essay for another time, but point being, Lute being redeemed is a much riskier idea than you all may think, and maybe her story will end with her still as an unrepentant villain. Sounds cynical, I know, but there's nothing to suggest that Lute will get better in the future as of this writing.

It seems more likely that their rivalry will escalate to a drastic degree. I mean, the last time we saw Alastor in canon was this frame and the narration from Charlie:

"It seems [Alastor] has found something else to entertain him here."

It should be easy to infer that Alastor is planning something shady for Lucifer. Somehow, nobody seems to be talking about it.

It's especially baffling because, isn't Lucifer one of the most widely-sympathized characters in the fandom, especially in light of his suffering in S2? As annoying as it is to acknowledge, people already get on Charlie's case for her outburst of anger towards Lucifer in "Silenced". So why is no one suspicious of what Alastor plans to do to Lucifer?

Especially with the reveal that Lucifer is unable to (directly) harm Sinners, Alastor included. What if Alastor found out about that? Knowing him, it would only be natural for Alastor to use that limitation to get one over Lucifer.

Imagine if Alastor did, in fact, do something awful to Lucifer in Season 3. If Lucifer is as popular as it's said, then the fandom is bound to turn against Alastor for hurting the fan-favorite.

...

I know I'm getting petty as hell right now, but I truly do not like the fact that Alastor x Lucifer is a popular ship. There's nothing in canon to suggest any positive potential between Alastor and Lucifer, just a petty rivalry that could just as well get worse. And like I said before, it's pretty much Alastor's fault that the two are feuding--he was butthurt because Lucifer, a depressed recluse mind you, didn't know who he was. And even if Lucifer himself isn't without his faults, he's still a much lighter character than Alastor. In theory, it should be easy to be suspicious of Alastor's plans involving Lucifer.

It feels like a redundant, inferior version of RadioStatic. And it primarily has to do with the differences between Vox and Lucifer, as well as Alastor's respective dynamics with both of them.

w/ Vox:

Despite the controversy around this ship, I still think it's pretty great because of the set-up: No matter how you might think of them, either as individuals or next to each other, Alastor and Vox are pretty shitty human beings in different ways. And it's incorporated into their dynamic with each other, all while simultaneously giving each side their own share of sympathy and merit. Alastor definitely shot down Vox in a cruel, over-the-top, way, but considering his past life, there could be a chance that he thinks Vox could've manipulated him. And while Vox was sympathetic when he was rejected by Alastor, he reacted in an equally-poor manner, up to and included some nasty sexual stuff (how exactly could he have known about Alastor's lack of a tail??)

The complicated relationship between Alastor and Vox does have layers to it, especially thanks to the focus in Season 2. Alastor seems to have considerable understanding of Vox's character, which is why his manipulations of the TV man were rather effective. Vox's motivations also stem from craving Alastor's acknowledgement and approval, which is partially why Alastor's aloofness drives him crazy.

In summary, RadioStatic/Silence could count as "peak toxic yaoi"; you're not sure which side is worth rooting for because they're both awful boys, but that's okay, you just want to see them fuck around with each other. And beyond the mutual vitriol and hatred, you can sense a weird sort of respect.

w/ Lucifer:

Compared to the dark appeals of Alastor and Vox, Lucifer is more widely acknowledged as a sympathetic character with relatable moments. Conversely, this dynamic might as well have Alastor's more unflattering traits pushed to the forefront.

The reason the whole feud started is because Alastor got butthurt over Lucifer not recognizing him, despite his infamy. His response? Making himself look like a grandstanding father figure for Charlie when he was previously apathetic and uncaring to her plight, which also hit the insecure Lucifer, Charlie's actual father, right where it hurt. And thus, Lucifer got provoked and a dick-measuring contest ensued in "Hell's Greatest Dad". In short, Alastor was being petty just because Lucifer didn't know who he was.

Although others may criticize Lucifer's disdain for Sinners on the grounds of it being problematic, in Alastor's case, he's not giving the King of Hell much reason to be nice to him. Indeed, as of this writing, every other interaction afterwards is just more petty bickering. Not to mention, the worst Lucifer ever did to Alastor is just verbally jab at him--as the King of Hell, he's restricted from (directly) harming Sinners. It's hard to see his disdain for Alastor in a bad light when Vox outright victimized Alastor. Not to mention, canon invites more concern for Lucifer based on Alastor staying at the hotel with the intention of using him in his plans. Considering how Lucifer's bout of suffering in Season 2 led to major outcries of support and anger in the fandom, I'm surprised that no one is worried about Alastor screwing with Lucifer again, this time on a much worse scale than before.

---

Basically, whatever one has to say about RadioStatic/Silence, it's still a great ship because of the complexities and layers to it, no doubt influenced by how equally-unhinged Alastor and Vox are. RadioApple, by comparison, just doesn't have that same appeal to it because A) Lucifer is a much lighter character by comparison, and B) there's not a lot to it, from what's demonstrated in canon.

So with a teaser for Helluva Boss S3 having come out recently, as well as what it entailed, I feel the need to write about the conflict between Stolas and Striker.

First introduced in "The Harvest Moon Festival", Striker is an assassin hired by Stella, Stolas' vindictive ex-wife, to kill him. Later reappearing in "Western Energy", Striker attempts to kill Stolas again, this time torturing him as well. Why? He loathes royals, the Goetia included, for trampling over lower-class imps like himself. He's foiled once again, but Striker's torture of Stolas seems to have traumatized the poor guy; as shown with the aforementioned teaser showing Stolas having a nightmare based on the events of that episode.

The whole situation was fairly distressing--Stolas was definitely put through the wringer by Striker, who tortured him physically and mentally, and by the end, Stolas was in an incredibly miserable state.

When it comes to fandom reaction to this conflict, there exist some rather... unsettling interpretations that wholly take Striker's side. Stolas might be a divisive character on his own, but some of his haters go another step and are completely uncaring about the pain Striker put him through; I've even heard about people who actively root for Striker in his vendetta.

Disregarding Stolas' own faults, he never did anything bad to Striker. As a matter of fact, in the grand scheme of things, Stolas is much more likeable and sympathetic than the likes of Stella and Andrealphus; he may not be devoid of racially insensitive moments, but they seem more of a product of his prissy upbringing that he needs to unlearn. In fact, Striker is a major hypocrite because he's working for the aforementioned Stella, who wants Stolas dead because he slept with an imp and embarrassed her. Speaking of which, it's rather odd how this aspect of Striker's is barely focused on, while Stolas gets raked over the coals for his own moments of being contradictory.

Ragatha my beloved...

Ever since as far back as the pilot's release, the fandom has interpreted her as sapphic because of her interactions with Pomni giving them major "yuri" vibes. As the show went on, it became increasingly popular to ship her with the other female characters--not just Pomni, but also Gangle, as well as NPCs like Loolilalu and Martha Mildenhall and, as of late, Ribbit (moreso after the latter's she/they pronouns reveal). It's because of all these ships involving Ragatha that she's popularly seen as lesbian.

First of all, I'd like to say that I agree that that ragdoll ain't straight. In fact, I am a major RagaPom supporter, and I acknowledge that Ragatha's interactions give off major sapphic vibes.

However... I don't quite see her as lesbian. Rather, bisexual.

I know what you're all thinking--"ew, you're shipping her with a man?!" But hear me out.

There are two m/f ships involving Ragatha that have tickled my fancy in my tenure as a TADC fan.

BunnyDoll (w/ Jax)

The fandom has had a rather tumultuous relationship with this ship as the show went on. At first, it was incredibly popular because of its familiar tropes, such as "good girl/bad boy", as well as the vibe of Ragatha and Jax's interactions being reminiscent of an old married couple fighting. While the shippers still exist, the pairing itself took a major hit after Ragatha and Jax's feud hit its peak in Eps. 5 and 6, with Jax becoming more and more nasty towards Ragatha and Ragatha being pushed to her breaking point by not only Jax's increased mean streak, but also his growing closeness towards Pomni. From then on, certain fans abandoned BunnyDoll and started shipping FunnyBunny instead because of it being relatively lighter by comparison.

As if this being a straight pairing involving Ragatha wasn't enough, the other half of it involves Jax, the most infamous character in the show. Being a character bound to repulse half the fanbase, even with the depths and layers s/he has, Jax is commonly labeled as an unshippable character because of his/her hostile interactions with everyone else, not just Ragatha. Just in general, it seems as though many people have an aversion to BunnyDoll for varying reasons, as explained here.

I actually like BunnyDoll a lot because of the hostility between Ragatha and Jax. It's interestingly tragic, Ragatha and Jax are pretty good foils that bounce well off of each other, and I do sense there being some "frustrated affection" behind the vitriol. Also they're just hot together sorry not sorry.

I am seeing that BunnyDoll is getting more fans lately, what with recent revelations that Jax was a closeted trans woman all along--with the general idea of transfemme Jax being much nicer than her canon closeted counterpart, as well as how BunnyDoll in that form would line up with the "lesbian Ragatha" idea, it appears as though BunnyDoll is slowly becoming more popular.

BowTie (w/ Caine)

This pairing is more of a "dark horse ship"; it's not quite as prominent in the overall fandom as all the other ships, let alone the Ragatha ones. When it does get acknowledged, however, it's pretty well-liked. The general setup for this ship is that fans have noticed similarities between Ragatha and Caine, most notably how they hide their fears of being alone and disliked with overly-cheerful demeanors. It's a pretty good compare/contrast pairing in that regard, no? And while Ragatha and Caine didn't get many interactions throughout the show, there is a lot of post-canon potential to BowTie because of Caine making a sincere effort to integrate with the players and bonding with them.

I myself like this ship well enough, to the point that in the past, I disputed against accusations of Caine hating Ragatha. And now that the ending shows him to be on better terms with the surviving players, Ragatha included, I think it's worth exploring a potential bond between these two.

---

Admittedly, part of why I wrote this out was because I heard something about Gooseworx fueling the "lesbian Ragatha" ideas in her recent bout of answering asks on her page. Gotta confess, it's hard for me to let go of my headcanon of Ragatha as bisexual, let alone my fondness for BunnyDoll and BowTie, because I've supported all three of these for over a year now.

Now I don't want to start a fight with those who see Ragatha as lesbian--again, I agree that she ain't straight and I'm a RagaPom lover myself! But I'm too into BunnyDoll and BowTie to support that particular headcanon. Let's just respect the fact that we have different interpretations of the dolly and go on with our lives.

Also note that Amanda Hufford, Ragatha's VA, has expressed their support for both BunnyDoll and BowTie alongside Jax and Caine's own respective actors, all while simultaneously feeding the RagaPom-ers.

So... Jax.

A popular character, but also the most divisive in The Amazing Digital Circus. On one hand, Jax is a surprisingly-complex character who balances an unlikeable demeanor with a tragic personal arc, and his actor (Michael Kovach) has become an icon among the animation and voice acting communities of this decade. On the other hand, it's easy to be repulsed by his actions such as bullying Gangle and Ragatha, and a notable section of the fanbase hates how he's overshadowing the other characters--standing next to Pomni as the "mascot" of TADC.

Here's the thing...

Jax is my second-favorite character in the show, behind Ragatha. I like to think that I'm doing it right, though.

Part 1: Jax's whole character

We start Jax's journey with the pilot showing him as a Bugs Bunny send-up, except considerably meaner. Comedic and charming on the surface, but he's also a bully. However, considering that he's trapped in the Circus like everyone else, including his favorite victim Gangle, there were hints that his asshole personality is an unhealthy coping mechanism. He instantly became a fan-favorite, with fan songs and theories as to his more positive and sympathetic side circulating in the fandom's first year of life.

Episodes 5 and 6 then started chipping away at his character; the former by having his feud with Ragatha reach its peak as he struck up a friendship with Pomni, the latter by building that friendship up then smashing it with the force of a sledgehammer. We learn a couple of important things about Jax: He's rather cynical and distrustful when it comes to the idea of genuine happiness, his belief system in the Circus hinges on nihilism and dehumanization, and he has considerable attachment issues. The last one was implied by Jax's noticeable stare at the door of a frog character named Ribbit, who's shown to have Abstracted. While his dickery never goes away, in fact only growing worse, Jax does become a more tragic character from Ep. 6 onwards, with how his bad actions stem from fear.

Ironically, right as the layers to his character were getting revealed, a backlash ensued and half of the fandom started treated Jax as if he was only an abusive bully. Admittedly, it wasn't helped by how Ep. 6 also delved into how his bullying affected Gangle's already-poor self-esteem, but it's still questionable to not pick up what the story's putting down. Especially since that very same episode took great pains to break apart Jax's dehumanization of the players, himself included, by showing them act in ways that are the complete opposite of what he thinks of them; i.e. Ragatha, "the cheerful one", is implied to struggle with self-hatred and is afraid of people hating her. As a matter of fact, the writing gives layers and dimensions to every major character, Jax included. Yet the one-dimensional readings of Jax as solely "scum of the earth" got so bad that Gangle's VA fought back against it:

"Bro, if you think that Jax is a sadist, you're falling for his mask." -Marissa Lenti/VixenVTuber

Let me say this: If Jax really was "just an abuser", then he wouldn't be a popular character at all. You can hate him for what he's done, no doubt, but at the very least, you should appreciate that there's more to him than that. I've seen plenty of people relate to his attachment avoidance, his fear of vulnerability, and how his cowardice seems to rule him. Especially so with the finale and its own revelations for Jax...

The worst thing a character can be is boring and flat. Jax thankfully avoids that.

Part 2: Jax Abstracted

Abstraction is a recurring element in the series, being the in-universe equivalent to death; it happens when the victim completely goes off the deep end, and there are major suicidal undertones to how it's presented. It happened with Queenie, Kinger's wife, as well as Ribbit and Kaufmo, Jax's old friends. And then it happened to Jax himself after the reveal that everyone is just a digital copy of their human selves, so it's easy to infer that that bombshell completely broke whatever was left of Jax's spirit.

Considering how Jax has attracted a lot of bile as the series went on, I have seen some people spitefully wish that he would Abstract. I have to say, even knowing that Jax is an awful person... Not cool. Again, Abstraction holds some major suicide parallels, and we all know just how tragic it can get in real life. Not to mention Jax himself is implied to have had a suicidal episode just this past December, what with him being on the verge of Abstracting.

As for my thoughts on the Abstraction itself, like I said before, it did hit hard for me, but in a weirdly good way. It was an expected climax to Jax's downward spiral and repeated self-isolation, both physically and emotionally, not to mention with how it's been indicated by showrunner Gooseworx that Jax would get worse throughout the show, I couldn't really envision Jax getting a happy ending. It was nice of Pomni to give him closure, and Jax's final words really hit where it hurt.

"I don't want to go..."

At least now, Jax post-Abstraction seems to have found peace.

The middle one, I like to imagine that Jax has been reunited with Ribbit and Kaufmo in their new Abstracted states.

Part 3: Trans Jax is real???

A pretty popular theory related to Jax since last year was the idea that he's transgender--more particularly, that "he" is actually a "she", and heavily closeted. There were moments in canon that built up this particular idea, mostly from Ep. 5 onwards:

Jax heavily pushing a toxic-yet-fragile sense of masculinity; a retroactive sign of her being closeted.

Jax's suspiciously-infuriated reaction to being put in the maid dress.

A comment derisively describing herself as "a chicken fetus in an egg waiting to be cracked open"--"egg" being slang for a trans person who has yet to realize that about themselves.

Her room, contrary to claiming herself to be "the pinnacle of masculinity, is very girly, which she's shy about.

When thrown into her personal fears, Jax was faced with shadow versions of her friends that forcefully peeled her skin off. She reacted by instinctively covering her chest and crotch.

Much more blatantly, a moment wherein Jax opened up to Ribbit about the events leading up to her arrival in the Circus involving her mom laughing after she revealed a personal secret. Ribbit, who goes by she/they pronouns (thus implying that she's non-cis herself), responds by putting her bow on Jax's head and promising "your secret's safe with me."

Then, the day after the finale aired on YouTube, Gooseworx shared some art entertaining an alternate universe depicting Jax as a woman.

So, I guess... Transfemme Jax is canon???

No complaints if it is--I myself headcanoned Jax as trans since last year, but a) I thought it could go either way, because there were people who thought Jax was a trans man, and b) I didn't think the show would touch on that sort of topic because of what Goose said in the past. I guess I'm just confused.

There has been backlash from this reveal, however, particularly because it has to do with Jax. Most of it comes from people disliking the idea of a trans woman being an asshole, thinking that it would "give the community a bad name". Here's the thing:

Gooseworx, the one who created Jax and made her a closeted trans woman in the first place, is transgender herself. And it's said that she wrote Jax based off of the darker aspects of herself and her past. Not only that, at least one other trans woman likes transfemme Jax: Morgana Ignis, aka Sallie May from Helluva Boss and one of Glitch's brand managers. She even made art of her!

Let me preface the rest of my disputes by saying that I am nonbinary, thus under the trans umbrella. And I myself think of transfemme Jax as very interesting. Anyway:

Jax remaining in the closet and putting on a "tough dude" front correlates with her turning into the guarded asshole we see in canon, while Goose's art teases that Jax accepting her transfemininity would prevent her downward spiral into dickery. It lines up pretty well with Jax refusing to be vulnerable and open and ultimately paying the price for it.

The laser-focus on Jax being "bad trans rep" leaves out Zooble, who's (indirectly) nonbinary and goes by they/them. We knew they were enby from the start, and they're implied to suffer from dysmorphia throughout the series. Unlike Jax, Zooble firmly fits into the "jerk with a heart of gold" category, in that while they do have their irritable moments, they do make an effort to be nice towards others and are brave and mature enough to navigate their issues in a healthy way, unlike with Jax. So in retrospect, that does make Jax and Zooble foils for each other. Alex Rochon, Caine's VA, put it best:

Probably the biggest point of all: Trans people should be allowed to be assholes. At the end of the day, they're only human, with their own flaws and qualities and whatnot, and they are just as capable of being shitty as you and me. For example, some weeks ago, a Discord friend talked about an incident in which a transfemme actress was dismissive towards others' weight woes. Also Caitlyn Jenner, 'nuff said.

There's more nuance to be found in the existence of Lee(roy), Jax's human counterpart--unlike Jax, Lee(roy) was able to bounce back and find happiness later down the road, thus being closer to accepting her transfemininity than Jax ever was in canon.

The signs continue to show--here, we see Lee(roy) presents in an androgynous manner, and she hides her face in pictures.

Basically, if "transfemme Jax" is canon after all, then I don't really see it as a problem. There's a lot of layers to be found in it, mostly in how it's incoporated into Jax's personal arc, not to mention the idea of there being a universe wherein she transitioned and comes out a much better person from it. But also, it casts the interactions between Jax and Zooble in a whole new light, perhaps fuelling Abstrabbit by a mile wide? maybe Jax and Zooble would've gotten along much better in a different timeline.

---

The whole point of this essay is, Jax isn't a bad character in and of herself. It does suck how she's flattened by her haters just because they can't forgive her assholery or get past her overall popularity. Again, it's valid to hate her for what she's done--I'm sure her treatment of Gangle hit especially close to home--but that's not all there is to her. I don't condone her bad actions either, least of all think of them as okay, but the reason I still like Jax so much is because she's interesting overall. There is a lesson to take away from her personal arc and how it ended:

Don't be afraid to be vulnerable and open about your feelings. If you keep running from them, you'll hurt yourself and the people closest to you.

I do like that Goose encouraged the fandom to explore an alternate world wherein Jax fully transitioned, thus becoming a much nicer person and not kickstarting Ribbit and Kaufmo's respective Abstractions.

A thought I had recently, in light of the TADC finale:

What if this song, sung by Caine and the Moon?

Now this show, Bear in the Big Blue House, is something that I watched when I was but a wee little bab, not even in kindergarten yet! And this song, a duet between Bear and Luna the moon that plays at the end of every episode, is the strongest memory I have of this series. Despite only being a minute long, the "Goodbye Song" is so incredibly powerful. With bittersweet lyrics about a day ending, but another one being just around the corner, it can touch the hearts of anyone.

And in light of the BlueTooth moment from the finale...

I started envisioning Caine and the Moon covering the song together as a send-off to the fandom, promising that though the show may be over, the beloved characters will still be around.

I can genuinely see Caine's voice actor, Alex Rochon, singing this. Maybe Goose, who voices the Moon, wouldn't join in, but what if Charlie, Alex's s/o, took over for her and sang Luna's parts? And like in Bear in the Big Blue House, the cover would instill the memories of the fun times we all had with the show.

...

So I watched "Remember", the final episode of TADC, which has become one of my favorite shows of the decade. Thoughts below (SPOILER WARNING!)

[Prefacing this with a warning: I have not seen the finale in theaters, I'm waiting for the YouTube release. Try to spoil in the notes and you get the boot! >:(]

So last year, when pride rolled around, I shared my LGBTQ+ headcanons of the Digital Circus players, one of them being that Pomni is bisexual. I still stand by that headcanon because of my support for RagaPom and FunnyBunny, and other ships involving the jester girl.

Lately, I've been considering the idea of Pomni being somewhere under the asexual umbrella--it's where one's sexual attraction is either non-existent or atypical/limited/conditional. I decided to make an accommodating bracelet for my Pomni plush.

So biromantic ace there.

I guess my thought process was that I took note of Pomni's development of becoming less jerkish towards the other players, including warming up to Ragatha. That, and the fact that she's normally averse to touch, barring moments like hugging Jax (Ep. 6) or taking Ragatha's hand (Ep. 7). I thought from a certain perspective, those sorts of moments could be interpreted as something demisexual--wherein one only feels attraction towards someone they've formed a bond with.

This new headcanon of mine has also made me think about how that could add nuance to Pomni's ships--RagaPom, FunnyBunny, FunnyGummy, anyone you ship her with. Of course, this is just a headcanon for fun! Please don't come after me for this, I'm just saying that I might interpret Pomni in a certain way.

So Alastor x Vox, aka RadioStatic/Silence, is one of the most popular ships in the Hazbin Hotel fandom, mostly because it features two iconic characters at the forefront, as well as the exploration of the dynamics between them in S2.

While I do support the ship, I find it interesting how it compares to Vox x Valentino, or StaticMoth. In canon, there's fuel for both ships--mostly in how Vox's obsession with Alastor clashes with his bond with Valentino.

First of all, in comparison to Alastor and Vox being pretty well-liked among the fanbase, you'd be hard-pressed to find a fan who doesn't loathe Valentino's guts. Mostly because his brand of villainy hits incredibly close to home, up to and including abuse of Angel Dust, a sympathetic fan-favorite. While the vitriol Valentino gets is fairly reasonable, there is some hypocrisy involved. Mostly in that he's treated as "worse" than Vox, even though the latter has his own moments of vicious bastardry.

To start with, Vox is also guilty of abusing Angel Dust. Remember the reveal from "Scream Rain"?

And two episodes earlier, Vox also got pretty damn uncomfortable with Alastor. How exactly would he have known about Alastor's lack of a tail?

Basically, Vox and Valentino are two vile pieces of shit that just so happen to express it in different ways. And that's the starting point of StaticMoth--"two horrible people in a surprisingly loving relationship together".

And Season 2 also explored StaticMoth in tandem with RadioStatic.

In a surprising turn of events, we get to see Valentino's side as his maybe-crush Vox gets more and more unhinged with his Alastor fixation. Even moreso, it shockingly made him pitiable.

Valentino is 1/3 of the Vees trio, alongside Vox and Velvette. And they seem to be genuine friends, arguments and all. It's surprisingly heartwarming, considering that they're all otherwise selfish villains who are unempathetic towards their enemies and underlings.

In Season 2, as Vox spirals and loses his grip on sanity, Valentino becomes the voice of reason alongside Velvette. Part of it comes from, again, Valentino having feelings for Vox and being crushed about him disregarding their partnership.

Do refer to this essay for a better explanation, but it's interesting to note how Vox's hateful fixation on Alastor has an effect on his partnership with Valentino (and Velvette).

But also, I do find it weird how StaticMoth is more of a "fringe pairing" compared to RadioStatic simply because of the presence of Valentino. He might be one of the vilest characters in the show, but Vox isn't that far behind. And much like Vox, Valentino has layers beyond his villainy, which is explicitly shown in his relationship with Vox.

So... Lute. Written as one of the vilest characters in Hazbin Hotel. Second-in-command to the Exorcists, an army of Sinner killers in Heaven, and as such, is a major xenophobe. It doesn't end there, either; even compared to her dead boss Adam, Lute is unempathetic, incredibly violent, and selfishly hypocritical. Even more so, she has an abusive streak, as evidenced by her involvement with Vaggi in the past.

Lute's one good quality is that she genuinely likes Adam, perhaps something more. And even then, it feeds into her boatload of flaws and causes her to get worse after Adam dies at the end of S1. Not to mention Adam himself isn't that likeable either.

Conclusion: In between her massive bigotry, maniacal assholery, poor treatment of sympathetic characters, and her horrible behavior in general, Lute is written to be one of the most unlikeable characters in the show.

Of course, a good villain always has depth beyond their unlikeability. In Lute's case, her adoration of Adam is oddly sympathetic because of genuinely well they got along before his death. It does also make them an entertaining duo, including with Lute's hallucination of Adam in S2, which in turn spawned the ship "GuitarSpear".

When it comes to fandom reception, it seems that a lot of people enjoy her... Perhaps a bit too much, it seems.

From what I've seen, they only seem to care about the tragic/sympathetic aspects of Lute--real or imagined--and gloss over just how hateful she is. As for the "imagined" part, some of the more ignorant Lute fans try to make her sympathetic in scenarios where she's clearly not.

Calling out Heaven as a whole for not siding with her and passing her over for promotion, even though Lute exhibits a lot of red flags in her personality when interacting with them, even to her higher-ups like the Seraphim and the Speaker.

Claiming that Abel was being "sexist" when he ordered Lute to step down in the S2 finale. More on that here.

Theorizing that Adam "abused" or "groomed" Lute in some manner.

That last point is particularly egregious because, again, there's a mutual fondness between Lute and Adam with no strings attached. The idea that Adam "abused" Lute just seems like a thinly-veiled excuse to make her more sympathetic than necessary. As a matter of fact, there's nothing in canon to suggest that Lute has that much sympathy to her other than losing her only friend. These ideas have no basis to them in canon and are merely headcanons that could easily be disproven in the future.

Indeed, Lute being portrayed unsympathetically shouldn't be held against the show. She's certainly not interested in changing for the better, she's content with spiraling and becoming bitchier and bitchier, and it's indicated that she'll become a major threat in the next season. But also, even if there is some amount of sympathy and tragedy to Lute's character, the show's main priority is not to sweep her vileness under the rug. A common pitfall when writing villain and antagonist characters is that in trying to make them sympathetic, the writing forgets that they've committed some rather serious crimes, and it gets egregious if those crimes consist of extreme fascism or assault. Hazbin Hotel seems to be avoiding that pitfall so far in its writing for Lute.

The show might not be flawless, but it's certainly doing well with Lute. You could criticize how she got sidelined after her big song in S2, but it should be noteworthy that it's not trying to force us to feel sorry for her and forget about her bloodthirsty xenophobia. That last part seems to be more of the fanbase's doing, as it seems to enjoy being contrarian.

As for how I feel about Lute, I think she's an interesting villain who contrasts well with characters like Vaggi and Sera, and her relationship with Adam is engaging. I'm certainly not rooting for her, though, since she's so hostile and abusive to everyone, even her supposed allies.

I've been pretty Lucilith-pilled these past few weeks, and I partially blame this song from my childhood for it. I mean, doesn't it give off "estranged lovers" vibes from the lyrics?

I've heard some people complain about her relationship to Charlie, putting Vaggi's loyalty and protectiveness of her girlfriend in any negative light they could think of.

...I fail to see the problem with all of that.

Charlie might not be a perfect person, but she overall has altruistic intentions of helping Sinners. Vaggi's loyalty to Charlie is certainly better than Lute's fanatical devotion to Adam, in spite of the latter being a gigantic asshole with no good intentions.

There is a reason why Vaggi is that way with Charlie as well--the latter found Vaggi and patched her up right after Lute maimed her and she was left behind during an Extermination. It's easy to infer that Vaggi is grateful to Charlie for that moment, which in turn spawned her loyalty.

And even so, Vaggi does have her limits and disagreements with Charlie. Most notably in S2, when Charlie made some very counterproductive efforts to make herself and the hotel look good, Vaggi outright called her out for hurting the hotel. Again, it's much better than how Lute rarely thinks of Adam as in the wrong.

What I'm trying to say is, Vaggi's loyalty to Charlie shouldn't be seen as problematic. Part of is it that Vaggi does know when and where to draw the line, part of it is that she's the most consistent ally to the hotel, but overall, Vaggi's devotion is one of her most positive traits. I wish people would recognize that.

Okay, in the past, I have expressed frustration with how Alastor's major popularity in the fandom manifests--being a fan of characters like Charlie and Vaggi, who get unfair vitriol by comparison, I hated how some people thought Alastor was "the only good character in the show", which is a pretty disingenuous "criticism" to have with a cast as big as Hazbin's. Not to mention, my gripes against RadioApple and how some people think it's a good idea to have Lucifer break up with his (admittedly estranged) wife and hook up with his loathed nemesis.

Thinking back on it now... Perhaps my hang-ups with Alastor come from how he's made into a better person than he is in reality, mostly to justify shipping him with others. Peeps, peeps, I have this to say... You can ship someone as jerkish as Alastor and have it be an unhealthy relationship. After all, it wouldn't be out-of-character for Alastor to be a bad partner for Lucifer or Charlie or whoever you can think of!

Although, I still dislike Charlastor, RadioDust, and RadioApple for three shared reasons:

Poor behavior from the shippers, including bashing Chaggi, HuskerDust, and Lucilith supporters.

No enjoyable toxicity, not like RadioStatic/Silence or RadioRose.

Charlie, Angel Dust, and Lucifer all deserve better than Alastor.

Speaking which, I feel like the Alastor fans forget just how nasty the guy can be at times. His cruel rejection of Vox/Vincent in the past, his disinterest in genuinely supporting Charlie and the hotel crew, and flaws such as his high cynicism, selfishness, and hypocrisy. For instance, he makes fun of Vox for two things that Alastor himself is guilty of:

Relying on partnerships to achieve power, even though Alastor got his own power in the first place by making a deal with Rosie in his human life.

Invading others' boundaries, even though Alastor was pretty creepy and and invasive himself with the likes of Charlie, Husk, and Vaggi.

I do have to wonder, do Alastor fans like him in spite of what an asshole he is, or is it because of his assholery that people enjoy him in the first place?

...

I'm doing my best to cool down about Alastor, but the reason I can't get into him like everyone else is that he's just so confusing a character. Like, what am I supposed to get out of him? I guess as per rule of thumb, one's favorites or unfavorites spawn from what someone understands of them, even if it's rather poor and off the mark. Like, the reason I enjoy Charlie and Vaggi is that I get that they're both flawed-but-sympathetic characters and genuinely good, both as individuals and as a couple. Alastor, however, might be a tad too complex for me to grasp. I don't know what to think of him.

Like, why is he a popular character? Is he entertaining, is he interesting, is he strangely-likeable, is he somehow sympathetic, is he tragic, is he oddly relatable? I don't know, I struggle to get a clear impression of him.

What I do know, however, is that after Season 1 of Hazbin, people were up in arms over how "unimpressive" Alastor was in the fight with the Exorcists, specifically Adam. I guess people were too hung up on the initial exposition of Alastor being an infamous serial killer and thought that the show was "betraying" that backstory. However, in the bigger picture of things, that might be the point. Alastor does have a legitimate reputation and the power to back it up, but he's not that high up on Hell's power hierarchy. He's certainly nowhere near the level of Lucifer (the King of Hell himself!) or Adam (leader of the Exorcists that could've easily killed him off). Season 2 elaborated on that point by showing how badly Alastor's ego was after his near-death experience, which in turn caused him to willingly double down on his more unsavory traits and trying to quit the hotel.

This leads into the reveal of Alastor's deal with Rosie--how she'd make him "the strongest Sinner in Hell" in exchange for his soul. If I was supposed to be unsettled by this reveal, well, mission failed. Not on the show's part, but a couple of fans did seem to think that the Rosie/Alastor deal was "abusive" like what's happening with Valentino and Angel Dust. Like I said before, though, Rosie is much nicer to Alastor than Valentino is to Angel Dust, and Alastor himself to Husk. The worst Rosie does is act condescending and treat Alastor like a pet, which is small fry by comparison. Besides, it does knock Alastor down a peg after he got petulant and acted entitled about his power to Rosie's face, so the dynamics here can't really be compared to those of Valentino/Angel Dust or Alastor/Husk.

Of course, Alastor decides to rebel with a domino-effect gambit. Getting himself captured by Vox, sowing discord among the Vees, getting Charlie to acknowledge Vox's power with her "favor" from Season 1, which ultimately feeds into Vox's ego and boosts his power to the point of surpassing Alastor's--which makes the contract with Rosie null and void. As a cataclysmic explosion threatens to kill everyone within the vicinity, Alastor blackmails Rosie into giving him another power boost, lest he leave everyone there to die.

Alastor then ends Season 2 free of Rosie, more powerful and free than ever, but he decides to stay at the hotel. Not out of altruism, mind you, but to continue messing with Lucifer, with the implication that he knows about the latter's limitations and vulnerabilities.

What I might be getting from Alastor is that he's meant to be a "love to hate" kind of character; selfish and uncaring, only being a hotel member out of his own amusement, but still intriguing the audience with his determination and cunning.

...

Now what I don't get is how people try to find sympathy or merit to Alastor's character, even though he's not supposed to be an agreeable character. For starters, his whole "no friends in Hell" speech is a load of crap, and he shows no sincere care for a majority of the hotel staff. Yet some people agree with his cynicism, apparently upset that no one tried to rescue him until the very last episode of Season 2. One, it was a deliberate gambit on Alastor's part, and he could withstand Vox's nonsense, plus Niffty and Husk were there to see it happen. It's not unreasonable to assume that they told everyone else back at the hotel, and Vaggi does show faith that Alastor has a planned involved. Second of all, it's not like Alastor is that nice to the hotel crew either, especially not where Husk is involved, why are the likes of Charlie, Vaggi, and Husk getting crap by comparison?

Another thing is that some people seem to be too focused on the "what-if factor" for Alastor; as in, they care more about what he could be in the future, rather than what he is now. They think he could become a better person, have his own redemption and whatnot... tbh, some of it just seems like thinly-veiled excuses to pair him up with someone. Listen, not every character in the show is primed for redemption. I know it's a primary theme of Hazbin, but Alastor shows no interest in actually changing for the better, in fact delighting in his current station in life. That doesn't mean he can't be tragic or have his good moments, but don't expect Alastor to end the show outright redeemed. It certainly shouldn't be a mark against the show, should it decide to keep Alastor as a straightforward villain/antagonist--Hell, perhaps he could outright turn against the hotel. It would be pretty in-character for Alastor.

...

I guess in conclusion, if I do develop a fondness of Alastor, it would be more in a "love to hate" manner. He'd still be a disagreeable character whose delightful assholery would be hard to get by, but at the very least, I appreciate how the show doesn't try to present him as "likeable" or "sympathetic" to the viewers, instead exploring the layers and complexities to his vices and villainy.

Also, consider this: what if the show did try to present Alastor in a positive light? I'd imagine viewers disapproving of it, mostly because they genuinely like Alastor as a villain. Indeed, consider this: some villains are better off staying villains, and trying to redeem them can be a huge gamble that can backfire, especially if they commit some rather unforgivable acts.

Ending question for people to answer: