#staticbug

so, obviously this is all Alastor's fault xD we've known about there being beef between him & Vox since basically the beginning of the show so that's a no-brainer; Vox would very obviously love to actually turn that line green, but I don't think Al will ever allow that tbh so they're perpetually stuck in the red zone of antagonism. god i CANNOT stress enough how much we've been robbed of getting to see Al's time at the tower and his budding relationship with Velvette TwT that's so???? ugh, i love it. Al's still gonna be Al of course so it'd surely not be anything too deep or meaningful, but i can totally see them gossiping up a storm and bullying Husk together and sniping each other with fashion insults and just. *mwuah* chef's kiss, excellent choice in favourite Vee, Alastor~ x3c which leaves Valentino as his neutral pick which i also feel like makes sense??? the aggressively hypersexual & aggressively sex-averse energies clash at Just the right frequency to completely null each other out, and outside of that Val's a bit too vapid in a general sense for Alastor to decide to spend energy on so they just kind of neutrally ignore each other like we saw in S2E6. there's a bit of tension that'll crop up every now & again about Val's jealousy over Vox, but even his blind ass can see that that is allllll on Vox's end so if anything Al & Val will have the occasional bitching session about why can't Vox just get over him already xD get his ass, boys

the other two tines of the RadioTrio are where it gets kinda weird/interesting because we just. don't have a lot of data to go off of for how their interactions would work, i think. but i can throw some spaghetti at the wall! :3

because with all of the Angel Dust business going on, the first instinct would probably be to match up Valentino vs. Husk—but Niffty took one look at that moth man in S1E5 and went "m i n e 🔪" immediately so xD it's nice to see that calling dibs still gets respected in hell~ <3 but anyways, who's surprised that the bug-annihilating woman wants to annihilate the giant bug man? good for her 🫶 and Val's immediately put off by her at the club and then especially after Niffty ripped out a fistful of his fuzz, so i don't think he's in the business of trying to forgive her anytime soon lol. he's a freaky sadistic bitch but he can't handle Niff's brand of genuine freakiness; skill issue, get well soon etc. 💅 since Alastor already claimed Velvette as his bestie and i already made the Respect The Dibs joke before, that leaves Niffty's only choice of bestie as Vox which is??? very funny to me but also i'm having a hard time conceptualizing it in my head 😂😆 because surely she wouldn't like him too much because Alastor dislikes him so thoroughly and she also has her whole issue with being filmed, which is what Vox is kinda all about (i saw a post a while back theorizing that Niff's whole lens-stare thing is something Alastor like "gave" her as part of their deal because of Vox specifically, which would be really funny if true lol)—but then she does still have her whole Bad Boy inclination going on, so who knows how she processes these things in her mind xD Niffty just feels comparably so much more high energy than Vox on the scope of a regular/daily basis, so i feel like it's more of a relationship where he'd use her to chase Val away on days he's being extra insufferable, and in the way that Alastor & Vel/Val talk shit about Vox together i feel like Vox would try to get important information about Al out of Niffty but they'd end up just making their own super-secret Alastor fanclub where they just gush about how much they like him ghjhsdjgksdg which leaves the two ladies to be neutral to each other which amuses me and does kind of make sense? Niff's a weird little gremlin who's running around constantly covered in various vermin bloods and busy with her two Bad Boys, so Velvette can't be bothered to care about her because any critiques & insults just bounce right off of her little noggin. boooo, that's no fun, insults are supposed to hurt! so pretty much as long as Niff stays out of her way, Velvette will do the same, tho i wouldn't put it past Vel to still bully her on occasion for a quick clip or something, like the emoji stomp for no reason in S2E3 lol, but pain-loving little Niff wouldn't hold that against her & maybe even like it so xD they remain nice and neutral to each other bc they both have things that they just find far more engaging than each other at every turn lol

and now we finally get to Husk, my darling dearest Husker getting stuck with the leftover scraps that make things VERY confusing/interesting imo 😂 so, obvi Velvette is the only one left to be his nemesis/rival/etc., which makes sense wrt the whole bartender-magician vs. potionmaster-witch aesthetics thing and now post S2E4 where he ruined her hair & outfit, i feel like Velvette's definitely one to hold a grudge, so that animosity won't be fading any time soon xD i'm trying to think of things that would piss Husk off about her that don't get solely filtered through the Angel Dust lens, so like... i think it would be funny if it was literally just the ruined outfit thing for the most part? 😂 like, Velvette just REFUSES to let this go, probably doing a whole social media smear campaign against him over it, and Husk doesn't even use social media so the only reason he knows about it would be because someone else (prolly Angel) would show it to him & he's just like "????? the fuck is this petty bullshit??? she's STILL mad about that???" and so he'd be lowkey pissed at her for being pissed off with him & it'd just create an eternal echochamber of needless antagonism & catfights because Husk isn't the type to start something but if Velvette's gonna throw hands metaphorical or otherwise then he's not just gonna sit there and take it, yanno?

i also feel like the age/generational gap between them would play a significant part of their friction, like the whole Husk doesn't even use social media while that is like Velvette's ENTIRE thing, they just Do Not get each other and neither want to spend the energy to even Try, yanno? xD which is EXTRA hilarious considering Velvette & Alastor's bestieship??? the power of their combined pettiness is genuinely unmatched, i cannot stand them (compliment) x'D i guess the whole radio & social media things do have a bit of overlap whereas Husk is just fully out to dry when it comes to this kind of stuff? god that's so funny to me 😆 also-also i enjoy Vel & Husk having matching grumpy faces as their official art shots, and we're not gonna think too deeply about why that is, okay cool thanks 🫶

now........ this one is a very, very hard sell, i know, but HEAR ME OUT OKAY!!!!!!;;; i know that most of y'all are gonna see the green line between Husk & Valentino and immediately go:

but!!! i don't think it's impossible. improbable, sure, and going to take a lot, a lot, A LOT of work & growth to get there, but when you get down to the brass tacks of it, i think Valentino & Angel are actually very similar, and considering that Val & Husk both have deep(ening) connections with Angel, then that currently has Husk & Valentino essentially on a collision course—hence the aforementioned assumption of them being in the red zone if not for Niffty stealing it first. and like. Husk vs. Valentino is literally so deserved, like i still can't wait for the day when we get to see Angel & Husk (& Cherri if she wants to join in~ 💖) team up & absolutely kick Val's ass 🤣 like it's gonna be soooo cathartic, i'm so ready for this asshole to finally face some consequences for all his shit, omnomnomnom~~ ✨

...although, if i'm being fully transparent here, i don't know if they actually will ever get to go full ham on him, yanno? because despite it all, Angel does still love Valentino deep down, so for a guy staying at a place & operating within a Narrative that's all about Redemption and forgiveness and changing for the better, no matter what someone has done... that means everyone, even the abusive, manipulative, lowest-of-the-low rapist scumbags. i dunno, again, like i said, Husk & Val having any kind of positive relationship is something that would definitely have to happen way in the future, but if Angel decides to "forgive" Valentino in whatever capacity then that's their score to settle, not Husk's, so i feel like he'll go along with Angel's choice. he'll still have his own feelings about it of course, but if for some miraculous, currently-unforeseen reason Val ever does decide to Genuinely try to grow & improve, then i think Husk would at least attempt to lend him a little grace in turn. Husk was an overlord himself at one point after all, and i refuse to believe that he was an uwu softie actually-a-good-guy about it, so even though his own self-loathing won't allow him to believe that he personally deserves better, i don't think Husk would condemn someone else for striving to become better—even if that someone is certified piece of shit Valentino.

and if Husk and Val are both going to be spending time with Angel, then through whatever plot means that make Val decide to stop being such an absolute tar pit of a human being and mellow out a bit, yadda yadda kumbaya and shit... i dunno, i feel like it could be like an Angel 2.0 situation, which i do personally find very entertaining xD Husk only just gets fully comfortable with Angel's whole vibe and now he's got Another One to deal with??? but at least he's got that Angel experience under his belt to better know how to handle Val now 🤭 Porn Critic HuskTM attempting to push better script ideas (and subliminally some better working conditions for Val's workers, maybe?), Val bitching up a storm at the bar about whatever & Husk chiming in with his definitely-not-questionable therapy skills—oh my god, the way Husk & Velvette would brawl in the streets with genuine malice, but Husk & Valentino brawling for like, enrichment?? 😂 like Husk is NOT going to let Val fuck him, no way, but if they can get that energy out in other ways And let off some of Val's violent tendencies in a controlled way so he's got less to lash out at his employees/etc. with? not to call a spotlight upon the Homestuck trash bleeding out of me at every bursting seam again but. christ 🙈 and Angel getting to have his two favourite boys getting along instead of being at each other's throats...? 🥺🥺

...ugh, don't look at me, i know i'm delulu but just let me dream okay??? 😂🤣 full disclosure, i'm currently still reeling from getting to see Val's uwu casual side in his drawing video okay, i am so incredibly mentally & emotionally unsound about the moth man atm TwT;;; i'm definitely Not blaring in the middle by dodie & chugging valangelhusk copium straight from the bottle—this entire post definitely doesn't solely exist an excuse to wax about the valangelhusk agenda because i realized what color their connecting line was within this silly shipping circle, whaaaaat, noooooooo, that'd just be ridiculous— x'3c ;;;;;;;;

OKAY ENOUGH OF THAT 😂😆 onto the final matchup, finally!! so, Husk and Vox being neutral is another interesting concept to me, especially considering how openly antagonistic Vox was to Husk specifically in S2E3 and how absolutely pissed you know Husk is going to be once he learns about Vox's whole hypnotizing-Angel plot. i, uh, really don't quite know how the relationship could go back to neutral after something like that?? 😅 like, again, i really don't want to analyze this relationship solely through an Angel-centric lens, but it's kind of difficult considering how much the Husk/Angel/Vees storylines are becoming interwoven TwT this IS hell though, and once again Husk himself used to be an overlord so on some level at least he has to relate to Vox's ambition & willingness to use his underlings as nothing but pawns to prop up his own power. if it was anyone other than Angel, would Husk care so much about the brainwashing? he's only working at the hotel because of Alastor, and while Husk does care about the other main hotel cast members, he's never personally cared about the whole redemption thing or the hotel being "successful" necessarily.

before the most recent episodes & revelations, i would assume Husk would actually kind of begrudgingly appreciate Vox solely for the times when he keeps Alastor's attention too busy to keep Husk's leash so tightly wound, a la S2E6 when he walked out on the hotel completely; he wouldn't have had that freedom if not for Vox's psychosexual Alastor obsession keeping the Radio Demon busy with whatever tf he's planning. so the bond Husk has built with Angel is probably the only thing that would really get Husk heated about Vox, because similar to Velvette i think Husk just doesn't want to get involved in other people's shit if he doesn't need to, and i think Vox's whole cult leader charisma would definitely fall flat on Husk the same way Angel's over-the-top acting never worked on him.

if we're still working under the same assumption that Angel can "forgive" Val for all the shit he's put him through over the years, then i feel like he could eventually learn to "forgive" Vox for brainwashing him as well? though i do feel like the difference in circumstance is important for how Angel himself processes & understands the difference between what Valentino and Vox have done to/with him, which in turn would color Husk's ultimate reckoning with the situation the same way as with Val. Angel was the one who chose to make his deal with Val, so in his psyche that's His own responsibility/fault for whatever Val does to him—and, most importantly imo, what Val does to Angel is only being done to Angel. The one thing that made Angel finally stand up to Valentino in the club in S1E6 was when Val started messing with Niffty: "I may have to put up with your bullshit, but you ain't fucking with any of my friends." the Vees are a known trio powerhouse of overlords, sure, but Angel isn't under Vox's contract—and Vox's spying is something that is specifically targeting Angel's friends and their shared dream of making the hotel a success. Vox's treatment is technically Less being done to Angel on a physical/time scale level compared to Valentino's decades of continual abuse, but for Angel's above mentioned internal reasonings, i wouldn't be surprised if he personally could never forgive Vox for doing that to him (aka, doing that to his friends, through Angel), and yet turn around and "forgive" Valentino.

god it's so fascinating bc i've seen a few posts etc. going around discussing about whether Vox or Valentino are "aCtUaLlY wOrSe" to Angel now and i was rolling my eyes SO hard & wailing aloud to myself about Recency Bias as i saw so many people diminishing everything awful we know Val has put Angel through just because we finally get to see Vox treating him with such brazen & gleeful physical & psychological cruelty—but then in the process of writing what was supposed to be this silly ship analysis post, i realized that that's probably how Angel himself would interpret/internalize it, too. and that is SO FASCINATING to me, to think about the complicated layers & machinations of these characters different psyches, OMNOMNOM my brain is SO enriched right now—!!!

BUT! to circle back to the original point of Husk & Vox somehow achieving neutrality in their interactions. i feel like it would have to be something of like, Husk digging as absolutely deep into his well of apathy as he possibly can whenever Vox is around and simply straight-up avoiding him whenever he can—kind of like how Husk is with Mimzy, but obviously even more strained and simmering with so more repressed hostility on Husk's part. and I don't think Vox would particularly care to try and cultivate anything with him either, whether that be positive or negative, except for the occasional patronizing little jab like he did in S2E3. i am curious about how the dynamics would shift if Vox for whatever reason would decide to want to genuinely change for the better somewhere down the line as well—but unlike Val where they have at least Angel in common if literally nothing else, i'm not sure what would bring Husk & Vox together, outside of the previously-mentioned Alastor-bitching? (*snorts* Vox fights with & obsesses over Alastor, gushes adoration about Alastor with Niffty, and bitches about Alastor with Husk xD bro you are so whipped by a man who doesn't even want you, GET UP—!!) so then yeah, i feel like at the end of the day the two of them would just kinda. not want to bother with each other because they've already got so many other things to deal with that don't really need to involve each other any deeper than a, like, "cordial"(?), surface-level amount of interest & interactions, just like the other neutral lines? fascinating~

*rotating them all in my mind* ....i just think they're Neat, your honor,, TTwTT;;;;