#quantum's stuff

The boycott is working, y'all. YouTube is panicking, trying to get people to buy Premium. They're advertising themselves on other platorms, when YT used to be the place to advertise. They're trying to bribe people with discount codes.

IT IS WORKING

Keep fighting the good fight

So, the scene where Alastor gets free of his Deals with Rosie and Vox has been bothering me since I first watched "Curtain Call" at 4 am this morning.

For one, why did Charlie saying Vox is the most powerful break his Deal with Rosie?

What does her words change in this situation? Like, if Vox is more powerful, then he's more powerful, regardless of what Charlie says, right? It's not like there seems to be any magic involved other than Alastor using the Favor she gave him. Vox himself has been saying he's more powerful than Alastor for a while, so it's not like they just needed someone's verbal confirmation. And there's a significant delay between Charlie's words and the leash around Alastor's neck vanishing.

I was trying to figure this out all day. Maybe he needed the ego boost to transform into demon mode, and that was what tipped him over the edge to being the strongest sinner? But even then, there's this still a delay between Vox transforming and the collar vanishing.

Additionally, if Alastor's Deal with Rosie was broken, then how did he still have his power? My understanding of Deal Magic is that if the Deal is broken, it's broken. Neither side seems to keep what they got. Why would Alastor get to keep his power for free?

But what if Charlie didn't break Alastor's Deal with Rosie? What if she completed it?

Let's go through the scene again.

Charlie says: "Vox is the strongest sinner in Hell"

Then, we cut to three separate reaction shots where the people of Hell cheer.

The delay for those three reaction shots can be explained by them occurring simultaneously, and if the next shot was Alastor's leash vanishing, then I wouldn't have thought this much about it.

But the next shot is actually Vox and Charlie. Vox laughs maniacally, then transforms, screaming "Oh, yeah!"

Then Vox delivers another line of dialogue: "Look, Princess! Hell's finally listening to you!"

Only THEN do we cut to Alastor, with the collar breaking.

And not just Alastor, but Rosie, too.

Why include Rosie here? Specifically like this? The collar around Alastor's throat broke, but we don't actually see anything on Rosie's end that looks broken. And the sound effect at this bit isn't the sound of something shattering or breaking. Listen.

There's a sort of magical "ting!" as the collar breaks, and a dramatic "thrum!" when Rosie's eyes flash.

The time delay between Charlie's line and Alastor's collar breaking is 18 seconds.

The delay between Vox saying that Hell is listening to Charlie and the collar breaking is less than a second.

What if the task Alastor was supposed to complete for Rosie was making Hell listen to Charlie? At least three separate times in this episode, we are reminded about Alastor's cunning specifically when it comes to words and Deals.

Right after this when Alastor escapes Vox's captivity is the first reminder.

Vox: "Fucking wordplay?! You tricked me with a fucking technicality?! Seriously?!" Alastor: "Mmm... it worked, didn't it? Baby, I'm a demon in Hell! It's kind of our thing!"

Then, Rosie reminds us twice in her and Alastor's part of "Hear My Hope." "Why don't you help them, you double-dealing manipulator?" and "I will not reward a snake like you."

On that note, Rosie seems angry with him here. Like she didn't get what she wanted.Like, perhaps, she wanted him to help Charlie, but he used her phrasing to his advantage to free himself without actually having to help that much.

Even when he came to the Emporium to tell him he had quite the hotel and basically threatened her, she didn't get angry.

And apparently, Rosie cares about "them" (unclear whether that's just Charlie and those closest to her, the entire hotel, or more. Alastor's shadows showed Emily, Charlie, Vaggie, Husk, Angel Dust, and Niffty dying when he said that).

Remember Alastor's lines in "Finale." "The constraints of my Deal surely have a back door." I think this was the back door. A way to technically fulfill his end of the bargain and free himself now.

Even if this is your first time hearing about it, you can still show your disapproval of the new policy by joining the blockout/boycott.

How?

Stop using YouTube. The best way to show our disapproval is by completely ignoring YouTube until they roll back this decision. There are lots of alternatives, and we are working on a masterlist. If you absolutely have to use YouTube in some capacity, I highly recommend using a front-end client like FreeTube. It gives you more privacy and doesn't have ads, but the best option is still to boycott YT entirely.

Use Google products as little as possible. I have switched over to Firefox, and there are lots of alternatives for lots of Google products. If anyone's interested in a specific list, I'll share what I find.

Sign this petition:

If you're interested, there's a Discord server for this, too, started by @gentleman-velvet. Look at their blog for more info about that.

But why are we doing this? Why should you care?

I'll let YouTube themselves explain it for me.

[Alt: A screenshot of the YouTube policies page that reads: "For all U.S. accounts, YouTube employs a dual approach by using self-declared age as well as the application of an age estimation model that uses machine learning to determine whether a user is over or under 18. Regardless of the birthday in the account, this technology enables us to deliver age-appropriate product experiences and protections, treating teens as teens and adults as adults. How it works: We use AI to interpret a variety of existing signals that help us to determine whether a user is over or under 18. These signals include the types of videos a user is searching for, the categories of videos they have watched, or the longevity of the account. When we identify a teen user, we’ll automatically apply our safeguards, including: -Disabling personalized advertising and restricting age-sensitive ad categories -Turning on digital wellbeing tools -Adding safeguards to recommendations, including limiting repetitive views of some kinds of content. Users have the option to verify that they are 18 or over by using a credit card or a government ID. We only allow users who have been inferred or verified as over 18 to view age-restricted content that may be inappropriate for younger users.]

Read that all the way through. According to YouTube, if their AI thinks you watch childish content, regardless of the birthdate you associated with your account, your account could be restricted until you provide either a government-issued photo ID or a credit card to verify your age. This is what they themselves are saying.

Personally, I don't want a private company to have images of my ID or my credit card. I feel that that is an invasion of my privacy. I fear what might happen in the case of a data breach. And Google has fairly frequent data breaches. Just search (with any other search engine) "google data breach recent" and see for yourself.

And consider adults who don't have either a government-issued photo ID or a credit card. What then? It would appear from the policies described on YouTube's website that they are just out of luck in that instance.

This could very well affect animation on YouTube. It could affect gameplay videos. It could affect anything and everything that their AI might deem "childish."

I know this is quite the argument to get myself involved in, but this is a really important subject to me. I want to be clear that this is not inherently a criticism of shipping Alastor in general. Shipping/not shipping aroace characters is a whole separate discussion, one that I don't care to get involved with right now. To summarize my stance on that: the most realistic answer is to tag your stuff properly, and block the tags you don't want to see.

This is an incredible, compassionate community, and it includes everyone on the spectrum, including

Asexuals who experience little sexual attraction (as per the accepted definition of asexuality)

Asexuals who experience sexual attraction in a non-normative way (as per the accepted definition of asexuality)

Asexuals who experience no sexual attraction (as per the accepted definition of asexuality)

Aromantics who experience little romantic attraction (as per the accepted definition of aromanticism)

Aromantics who experience romantic attraction in a non-normative way (as per the accepted definition of aromanticism)

Aromantics who experience no romantic attractions (as per the accepted definition of aromanticism)

Aegosexuals and Aegoromantics

Apothisexuals and Apothiromantics

Cupiosexuals and Cupioromantics

Demisexuals and Demiromantics

Fraysexuals and Frayromantics

Graysexuals and Grayromantics

And more!!!

You are all welcomed and appreciated in the aspec community. You are not pushing us* out of our spaces, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

I am 1000% on board, for several reasons, including the fact that it's also my birthday. And since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, AND Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week is coming up, what better time for some spiteful aromantic Alastor art?

Also, stay tuned for a silly fic where Alastor tries to wreck all relationships, like the chaotic menace he is!

Visual of how much traffic you give YouTube using different alternatives and platforms

I've seen a lot of interpretations of the flashback at the bar with Alastor and Vox, and it's fascinating to me how many people take Vox's side here.

This scene resonated with me so incredibly deeply. I felt seen and understood, and seeing the wider fandom response to it has been somewhat discouraging. Like, I get that everyone has different experiences, and that will color our interpretations of media, but Vox is really the far less interesting character to focus on in this scene.

Media is so oversaturated with amatonormativity and plots dealing with romantic rejection. It's Alastor's perspective that brings something new and interesting and thought-provoking. It's the aroace perspective, a specific aroace perspective, which I never really see.

So often, allonormative pressures lead aspec narratives towards internal, self-loathing angst: "Am I broken?" "Am I even human?" "Am I worthy of love?" "Am I doomed to eternal loneliness?"

While these sorts of narratives are interesting, and explore real issues that aspecs face as a result of allonormativity, compulsory sexuality, amatonormativity, etc., it can also feel a bit depressing. Sometimes, I just want to feel good about being aroace. I want to see the positives. I want to see aroace struggles that aren't fundamentally rooted in internalized aphobia.

And that is exactly what Alastor offers. That's part of why I'm so drawn to him. It's what makes his and Vox's dynamic so interesting to me. They had a falling out that is connected to Alastor's being aroace, but any regrets that Alastor might have are not a result of internalized aphobia or allonormativity.

And it pains me to see so many people villainize Alastor because of the bar scene, when it was something that I personally related to so much.

Story time:

My sophomore year of college, I knew that I was ace, but not aro. Internalized arophobia and amatonormativity had me convinced that I was alloace (and also that I was just sex-indifferent). I planned to date, get married, and eventually have sex purely to please my partner. Surely I was only uncomfortable with the idea of dating because the one date I went on in high school was with a guy who turned out to be a total creep, right? Surely I was only uncomfortable with sex because no one discussed it, and I just had to get used to it, right? I also assumed at the time that I was a cis woman.

That's the stage of my self-discovery I was at when one of my closest friends asked me out on a date.

I've dealt with pretty severe anxiety for my entire life, but that was my first ever full-blown panic attack.

Thankfully, he asked me out via text, so my friend did not see or hear my panic, but I knew then and there that I never wanted to date. Not him, not anyone, not ever.

My friend was wonderful, truly. If there was ever a "the one" for me, I would have expected it to be him. But when he asked me out, that made the idea of dating real in a way it never had been to me before, and it filled me with complete and utter revulsion. I remember sobbing on the phone with my mom, terrified about what this meant. What kind of life would I lead? Was there something wrong with me?

With my mom's help, I politely rejected the friend's advances, and he was very kind and understanding, and we were able to remain good friends.

Happy ending, right?

Well, it could have been, but my friend still had a crush on me. I think he tried to bury his feelings and preserve what we had, but he either couldn't or wouldn't. For two years, we remained friends, classmates, and coworkers, but I grew more and more uncomfortable around him, and the distance between us slowly grew.

He just kept making these little comments that made my skin crawl. Harmless things, really, but as I came to realize that I was a romance-averse aromantic, those comments became a violation of boundaries that I tried to set repeatedly.

I'd tell him things like: "I love hearing about my sister and her boyfriend, I just hate thinking about myself in a relationship like that," or "Romance is great for other people, but when it's connected to me, it just makes me uncomfortable."

But his little comments never stopped, and it began to feel like a violation of my trust. I had opened up to him in a way I had previously only opened up to my best friend since third grade. I had made it clear I didn't like being connected to romantic scenarios, but he didn't stop.

"I hope I marry someone who gets me like you do." "I want my wife to be just as smart and pretty as you." "You know, we're always on the same page with stuff, and I really want it to be like that when I get married."

(I also didn't even realize for years afterwards that being associated with gendered terms like "wife" was even more uncomfortable because I'm not a cis woman).

He kept saying this stuff, even when I made it clear I was uncomfortable. But I was passive, not assertive. And over the course of another year, I quit talking to him. I just couldn't do it anymore.

To this day, I regret how things went, but once he developed that crush on me, we were no longer compatible friends. If he could have kept it to himself, let those feelings fade, maybe we could have still been friends. But it was like he took this amazing friendship we had, and poisoned it with romance, until it withered away and died.

If I had ended our friendship cleanly, instead of letting it drag on for years like that, I could have spared us both years of frustration. Sometimes, it feels like every single step I made was the wrong one. I genuinely mourn the loss of our friendship, but in the end, I don't know what I could have done to try and save it.

The only thing I know would have changed things would be to do what Alastor did. Abandon the sinking ship instead of clinging to it and nearly drowning.

So when I see people sympathize solely with Vox, it makes me feel alienated. When I first saw that scene, I thought: "Finally, something that might make people understand this struggle, at least a little bit. Something that make them see the betrayal and the heartache and the nuance of this sort of thing."

And instead, I see people demonizing Alastor, flattening this complex situation of two flawed, fundamentally incompatible people into one with a pure evil villain and a perfectly innocent victim. And what they imply in doing this is that Vox, the one who is consistently violating boundaries, pushing too hard, asking something the other person doesn't want to or can't give, and betraying the trust place in him, is completely innocent in all this. They act as though all of his actions are totally justified because of love, and that sickens me. Romantic consent should be weighed much more than it is. I don't care what Vox's feelings for Alastor were in the bar scene. He's still responsible for his own actions.

I personally don't take issue with Alastor's handling of the situation, because betrayal and violation of boundaries shouldn't have to be put up with. If someone is being creepy and pushy, you have every right to tell them, in no uncertain terms, to fuck off. If they're going to disrespect you and your boundaries, they forfeit all rights to being respected themselves.

But, even if you want to criticize Alastor's handling of it all, Vox is still in the wrong also.

So, all of that being said, here's how I read the scene: Alastor and Vox are relaxing at the bar, and this seems to be something they do at least somewhat regularly. Alastor seems to see Vox as his drinking buddy, and that's it. Not his friend, not his partner, just his drinking buddy. And he was happy with that. He was content. (Aplatonic Alastor is a whole separate post I have planned. Also genderqueer Alastor and autistic Alastor).

But Vox wanted something else. Something "more"*. Alastor makes it clear repeatedly that he is not okay with being touched, but Vox still does. It's so rude and creepy to touch someone when they make it clear they don't like that.

So Alastor cut Vox off. He realized that Vox wouldn't stop pushing his boundaries, and decided to end things then and there. And knowing how pushy Vox was, he cut him off harshly. You can say what you will about how Alastor was "too mean", but it clearly still didn't work, since Vox is still obsessed with him.

Vox is not owed Alastor's respect or kindness when he himself is being disrespectful and crossing his boundaries. Vox is not owed Alastor's time or attention or affection or anything. Alastor had every right to distance himself from Vox.

The betrayal of someone you thought was your friend pushing rose feelings on you, especially when you've made your boundaries clear, is painful. And so, I will always sympathize with Alastor over Vox in this situation (especially since Vox went on to SA Alastor)...