dracula teeth

As Season Two began it seemed a simple matter of viewing Vox's determination to tank the hotel's already meagre reputation as an extension of his feelings towards Alastor. He only begins paying attention to the hotel in the first place because he knows Alastor is living there. When visiting in person the very first thing he does is ask after Alastor. The hotel and it's reputation are important to Vox but only because he thinks they are important to Alastor. It is useful to him only as much as it can be used as a tool to gain Alastor's attention/approval. But then we consider the flashback, and most importantly, the offer of partnership that was the catalyst for the downfall of their relationship.

All of Vox's motives have to be reconsidered in light of the confirmation that this is more than hatred or lust or a mix of both. Vox, quite possibly for the first time in his life, felt a genuine connection with someone. Not only were there romantic feelings involved but also a very real desire for an equal partnership, a willingness to share the pedestal with someone instead of killing them off to gain power for himself. For the first time in his life Vox had found someone who he perceived as an equal to himself instead of as a threat to the spotlight, and he had that newfound vulnerability thrown back in his face immediately, rebuffed in the most degrading, embarrassing way it possibly could have been in that moment.

70 years later and Vox is watching as Alastor - the guy who told him "there are no friends in Hell", the person who taught him that partnership is vulnerability, that everyone's a predator if you're stupid enough to bare your throat for them - is seemingly perfectly happy working with Charlie Morningstar on a project as ridiculous as redemption. Vox offered him all of Hell in exchange for his partnership and got aggressively turned down, only for Al to show up for a tacky hotel on the brink of collapse for the sake of a woman he doesn't even believe in.

The hotel means more to Vox than a simple object of Alastor's desires. It's a slap in the face to his offer in that bar 70 years ago. It's a betrayal of everything Alastor told him, everything that shattered their bond. It's a gaping insecurity lit up in flashing neon signs, 'If I wasn't good enough for you, then why is she? If all of Hell wasn't enough for you, then what's so good about that place?'

Something something I did before my previous art of this man