I frankly do not buy the idea Vox never cared about Valentino and Velvette in the slightest and here's why
(Isn't it ironic I've been aruging on Alastor's behalf and now I'm aruging on Vox's, too?)
For one, we have to remember these are a group of people who are all the up there with most evil, narcissistic, and egotistical characters in the entire show. We have to try and keep that fact about them in mind because their relationship is NOT normal compared to regular people.
Let me be clear, this isn't a whole "comparing evil," analysis, this is something we need to remember this when talking about their relationship.
First we need to look into Vox's past, and what we know for absolute certain.
He and Alastor were once very close, and Vox found him very inspiring, meaning Vox already knew of Alastor before getting close to him, and Vox managed to geninuely catch Alastor's attention enough for them to eventually get so close. It's worth noting it is genuinely possible that Vox may have known of Alastor when he was alive because of his radio show, but that's something that we cannot know for sure, what is certain is that Vox absolutely would have learned of Alastor in Hell.
That's all we really know for sure. While I personally think it's obvious Alastor likely also viewed Vox as a close friend, in return, it's by no means 100% certain. And We don't know anything else besides that. We don't know how Vox began rising to power, we just know it was fast enough for Alastor to not only pay attention but respect him for it. We don't know if Alastor or Vox approached each other first, we don't know the extent of the full relationship, we don't know if this was love at first sight or if Vox developed the romantic feelings later on and whatever one it was it's worth noting that it took them being close for years for Vox to finally ask him out. We know Vox had genuine romantic feelings for him back here, and from what we see in this scene, AND it wasn't lustful, at least not what with he saw in this scene.
And it's no secret Alastor's harsh rejection FUCKED Vox up. Like it straight up made him shed tears. This destroyed him, and he hasn't moved on since.
Alastor's words of, "There are no friends in Hell, Vincent." has stuck with Vox ever since. Because you ever notice how he never calls Valentino and Velevette his friends? He calls both of them his associates, and while he does call Valentino his partner, he quickly corrected it to "business partner,".
He doesn't call them his friends, and it all leads back to this. And I don't think it's because he doesn't view them as his friends, it's because he's afraid of using that word ever again.
Skipping forward to the modern era, while Vox is obviously still thinking of himself first, as well as going to the other Vees when he needs something, it would be hypocritical of us to not realize both Valentino and Velvette do the same to him. And it's not like they've NEVER infighted before, because every group of people no matter how good their relationship infight every now and then. It's normal.
This is literally the first interaction we ever seen between the Vee's. Velevette calls Vox and demands him to come to her department to deal with Valentino because he is wrecking her department, and she can't be bothered to deal with Valentino in that moment when it's really a thing between them. Vox wasn't involved until Vel brought him into it.
Then by the time Vox gets there, Valentino already left, he and Vel have a short convo where Vox asks where Val went and what he's upset about, Vel says she doesn't know and is clearly only concerned with how Valentino's action affected her ability to put on a show. Then once Vox says everything is until control, Velevette literally tells him to fuck off and deal with Val.
Vox then has to go calm down Valentino directly after this, and based on his apathetic reaction and overall mild frustration until Valentino says he's going to go and shoot up the Hotel, he probably has to calm Valentino down A LOT.
People have also brought up how Vox seems to ignore his allies with these two screenshots, pointing to the fact he never cared.
That, my friend, I'd like to show you this screenshot in response.
Vel and Val return the favor.
Now, I must clarify that I'm NOT trying to aruge that the Vees never cared about each other or anything like that. I'm bringing these up to prove my point that these arguments I've seen used to prove why Vox DOESN'T care fall apart when the same person argues Val and Vel DO care, because all three are guilty of this.
And this is, again, why I brought up the fact that we have to remember these are the three most evil sinners in Hell. They're going to express their loyalty to each other in ways everyday people wouldn't understand. This is normal for them.
It's just that they've never infighted to such an extreme level that we're seeing now, because Vox is legitimately getitng way, way too overconfident.
They DO care about each other and they are loyal to each other.
If we want to consider Valentino's Drawing Stream some form of cannon, then it shows just how close they are. It's implied Valentino (and maybe Velvette, too) may suffer from EDs, and Vox is clearly genuinely concerned about Valentino when he doesn't eat. Saying things like "Val, you HAVE to eat. You didn't eat breakfast this morning." Vox even gets Valentino something else, referring it to it as a "backup,". Plus, not only did he ask Valentino if he wanted anything when he didn't have to, especially since he said the place closed at 5, implying it was closing soon, but Vox kept pushing Valentino about it because he's clearly concerned about Valentino's eating habits. It's even more interesting when you consider that sinners cannot die from starvation, it's just obviously a horrible feeling. So the fact Vox cares that much means something. Vox doesn't know how to help, but he's trying. And it's obvious both Valentino and Velvette care about each other and care about Vox too in that stream.
Even if you don't want to consider that a vaild arugement because it isn't in the show, there's plenty of cannon moments.
During the Vee's entire verse, these are the pronouns they use when referring to themselves, (sung by Vox and Valentino)
It leaves room for you and me
Note how the first pronoun was "we'll" and the second was "you," before they said "me,"
The Future of Hell Belongs to The Vees
The only time they used a 1st person pronoun was in the context of talking about all of them at the same time. This wording they used is on purpose.
Also basically the entirety of Velvette and Vox's time together on screen in ep 3 is way more then enough for me believe just how close they are.
Obviously, Vox puts himself up higher, but all of them do that. It's just that none of them like being reminded that they do that to each other. They're all hypocrites in this reguard.
That's what we know for sure at this point. Everything else is up to speculation based on what we do know.
For one, we don't know anything about Vox's human life outside the fact he was a cult leader and he died in the 1950s aged in his 50s. BUT the odds are his obsessive and pocessive traits over people, and his constant chase for perfection, his unhealthy need for others validation to the point of complete self destruction and his extreme need for control over everything and everyone wouldn't have started in Hell.
These traits had to have been present and developed when he was alive, especially considering he was already in his 50s when he did die. You aren't born with these these traits, these come from places of deep trauma and pain and are rooted in deep insecurity. If I had to guess, Vox likely had insane amounts of pressure put on him growing up in some form or another and was never able to meet impossible expectations placed on him by other people, most likely by his family. Especially if he was born into a wealthier family.
Considering the glimpses we see of the real him. He seems to be really dorky, silly, awkward, and generally just very quirky, and very effeminate. He was likely shamed for these traits, especially as he grew older into an adult man. Back then, that shit was not tolerated for men, far less so then even today.
Not to mention he very likely was in the closest while he was alive, and would have died in the closet. He even seems to still be in the closest to the public of Hell, because he still cannot help but be ashamed of himself for being attracted to men, even if he is attracted to women, too. (Although I doubt anyone buys he's not queer lol)
Considering you need a foot in the door to start a cult, since you need a legitimate reason to take advantage of people's pain and suffering for them to look to you for guidance and hope. There also was likely some sort of disaster that struck his home area. In Hell there was Heaven's genocide, so back home there had to be some reason, as well. Considering we see he has a fear of lightening, it's possible a natural disaster struck in his lifetime.
But, that's all speculation and theorizing. The most clear thing about Vox still stands. Vox clearly has SEREVE attachment issues to other people, which points to him not having an easy life or at least not having a easy childhood. He desperately wants people to acknowledge him and to notice him. He wants genuine companionship and will do anything to get it.
This behavior can develop regardless if someone you loved was killed or if they betray you, it can develop from being an abuse victim, as well. It develops either from the sudden loss of someone in death, or a massive betrayal of trust. Or some other form of loss when it comes to relationships.
There's no way to know for sure what exactly caused Vox to develop such extreme attachment issues, but the outcome is the same. Whatever happened in Vox's life must have been sereve enough for him to get to this level where he started and ran a cult, and Alastor only made it even worse after Vox was dammned to Hell.
But just because Vox suffers from these extreme attachment issues doesn't mean he doesn't care about people or love people, because this behavior literally boils down to that sole desire. He wants to be cared about and loved by people, and he is able to return those emotions just as much.
Two, we, don't have the timeline between Vox and Alastor's split and when Vox met Valentino, either.
We know Alastor and Vox split off 70 years, ago, which goes back to the 50s when Vox first arrived. This happened not long after he was damned to Hell, and was probably a wake up call for him.
Valentino wasn't damned to Hell until the 1970s, and we have absolutely no idea what he was doing when he first arrived in Hell. We have no clue if Valentino was just doing his own thing or if he was on the path to becoming an Overlord.
However, Valentino is unique in one major way compared to Alastor and even Velvette in relationship with Vox. If Valentino wanted to distribute his pornographic flims... he needed Vox from the very beginning. Alastor never needed Vox to distribute his medium (no shit lol) and while video does rely on radiowaves to work, Vox does not need Alastor's help to obtain radiowaves because radiowaves are a naturally occuring thing, and Vox, by default, already has natural control over radiowaves if he has control over video. Alastor, Vox, and in the modern day, Velevette, are the only sinners we know of who have the ability to manipulate radiowaves.
Valentino does not have this ability, so he is forced to rely on others to get his flims distributed.
Mind you, at this point, Vox had been on his own for two decades, had absolutely hardened up his walls and was far less trustful then before, and he had been likely chasing Alastor around all that time, too. If anything, his public bickering with Alastor was what was keeping him going. Shutting Vox down was meant to be Alastor's wake up call to Vox, Vox listened.
So isn't it sort of odd how when Valentino eventually caught Vox's attention Vox didn't treat him as another soul to add to his collection? Nor did Vox see Valentino as a threat? Especially after what happened with him and Alastor?
Something about Valentino stood out of Vox, and who knows what that was. The first thing I can think of is that Vox found Valentino very fascinating because of how sexually open he was and how he wasn't ashamed of it at all, plus the fact people wanted pornographic stuff so openly and it was marketable. But that doesn't explain why Vox saw him as more then a pawn and a soul to own. Somehow Vox and Valentino managed to get close, and I wouldn't be shocked if Vox quickly developed romantic feelings that Valentino encouraged to turn lustful. Valentino was likely the first man that not only accepted Vox being bisexual, but also encouraged him to explore it. I wouldn't be shocked if Valentino was the first man Vox had sex with, which is something Vox likely only dreamt of before.
With the confirmation that Valentino is immune Vox's hypnotic eye, and the implication that Vox is immune to Valentino's sexually seducing smoke, there was probably a moment where they both realized that their powers didn't work on each other and they were actually geninuely sleeping together and working together and not manipulating each other into it. That was probably the moment when they went on to permanently work together and formed the duo of the Vees, because of just how close they were and it was actually genuine.
We don't have a death date for Velevette, just that she was in her 30s, but considering she's the youngest Overlord and she brought Social Media into Hell, she probably died in the early 2010s when social media became mainstream.
I wouldn't be surprised if Velvette joined the Vees after the exterminations began and after Alastor went underground considering she has by far the least personal beef with Alastor, and started getting along with him quick once he was captured.
Vox and Valentino both would have had to seen Velevette rising in the ranks of Hell, and both would have had to take an interest in her. Neither of them saw her as a threat, nor someone to be apathetic to, but they also both had to see her as someone worth being the 3rd member of the Vees instead of just another soul to add to their belt.
Now if I had little guess as to why Vox saw anything in Val, I can harldy think of anything for why both saw anything in Vel. My only guess is they saw that she was bringing a new medium and saw mutual benefit for all three of them instead of having Vel being another lackee, but I can't think of the deeper reason, because there IS a deeper personal reason then just she's useful. Because that was the case for Vox and Alastor, and especially Vox and Valentino. There had to be something personal both Vox, Valentino, and Velevette all saw in each other for them to welcome Velevette as the 3rd Vee.
So now we're back to the present, where Vox and the Vees are leading a revolt against Heaven together, where all the behavior we saw between them lined up just fine with season 1, the tension is only coming from Vox getting too caught up in his own head, and he is falling victim to Alastor's manipulation pulling out his raw insecurities.
That doesn't mean Vox never cared, Vox is just getting way, way too caught up in a really bad idea neither he nor his Vees really thought about until they were in to deep, and Vox is the one who keeps pushing it more and more into the deep end.
And even if somehow none of that is enough for people to be convinced why I'm fully positive that Vox does care, then these two last examples I'll bring up are the hills I will DIE on.
When Alastor attacked Valentino and Velvette, THIS was how strong Vox's reaction was. Without a second thought, Vox jumped between his friends and his ARCH RIVAL and put himself in harm's way to ensure their safety. And then after that was he chose to go fucking APESHIT on Alastor.
Vox didn't have to go that hard, he didn't even have to attack Alastor in response to this. Vox actively chose to protect his allies, putting himself in direct danger to do so, and after that went absolutely berserk. Can you imagine anyone else on the planet that Vox would do this for? Vox could've easily let Alastor finish his attack on Val and Vel and then Alastor in attacked in response, but no, Vox put himself in harm's way to protect Val and Vel, and remember, Alastor has canonically wrecked Vox's shit before, and is far more then capable of bringing significant physical harm to Vox, yet Vox did it anyway, knowing that this could lead to him experiencing sereve bodily harm.
In fact, their entire convo was weirdly calm in terms of violence until Alastor not only fired the first shot, but also fired said shot at Val and Vel. It seemed like Vox did just want to talk at first, but that didn't go down that way.
Now, you could say that he only protected his allies here because he wanted to prove himself to Alastor, and he only bothered protecting them because Alastor was the threat, and he wouldn't do much of anything if it was anyone else posing a threat-
To that I say NOPE, and bring this scene up in response. In fact, this scene is an even STRONGER example of how far Vox will go to protect the ones he considers close.
Vox fucking put himself between Velvette an ANGELIC WEAPON to protect her. This whole scene is worth breaking down just to really put across my point here.
First, Vaggie points her spear at Vox, and Vox has no reason to believe Vaggie wouldn't do anything to harm him, but he won't back down, regardless. It's why he stands up with his chest proudly out, showing to her he is not threatened and will stand his ground even with a weapon that can kill him pointed at his throat. Bascially making her look as bad as possible even if there is reason to believe Vaggie would harm him.
But Vaggie realizes this, and switches her target to Velvettee, likely assuming she'd react the same way and Vox wouldn't do anything. BUT, the moment the spear's target goes from Vox to Vel, Vox IMMIDIATELY goes on the defensive, he rushes over and physically pushes the spear away from Velvette with his metal finger, while wrapping his free arm around her shoulder in case he needs to shove her out of there if things get ugly. Then he places himself between Vel and Vaggie, putting himself in the most direct danger he could possibly be in in this sort of situation.
And after that, he still keeps up the buff that he's not afraid of Vaggie by acting so casual, but he is using this to make sure Velevette can get out of there and to safety, even pushing her to make her exit faster even though she was already walking away, but he still keeps the spear held away from Vel, he even keeps pushing it further from her as she walks out, and he keeps the spear between him and Vel as long as he possibly can. Vox did everything in that situation to make sure Vel had as much time as she could to get out of there, which meant he had to put himself in danger as long as he could to ensure he bought Vel as much time as possible.
Vox put himself in-between Vel and the one weapon that can literally KILL the both of them without a second thought. Seriously, you wanna know how much of NOT a second thought Vox gave before we went to protect Velvette?
Vaggie's spear is only in frame for THREE FRAMES, and then we can see Vox's hand show up to to take action ON THE 4TH FRAME. Vox's reaction was INSTANT, and he did not hesitate AT ALL.
You can also see in his eyes that he was not nearly as confident after the spear's target went from himself to Velvette. He can't know if Vaggie will do actually do anything or not, and he can't know if Velvette would actually be the one Vaggie would rather target, or if Vel react in a way that could escalate things where Vaggie WOULD end up attacking. This clearly frightened him, far more then when he was the one at Vaggie's mercy, even if it was brief.
Not to mention, this was the reason why Vox decided it was time for them to get out of there, and for a good while after that threat, Vox clearly places himself ahead of Velvette and between Charlie and Vaggie until the very end where he has no more reason to believe Velvette would be in danger.
I cannot fucking imagine a world where someone like Vox would go out of his way to protect Velvette in what could be a life or death situation if HE DIDN'T FUCKING GENINUELY CARE ABOUT HER??
And that's on top of the previous fact of how apeshit he went on Alastor for attacking Valentino and Velvette.
You cannot fucking tell me Vox does not care. You just can't. And that's why.
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