๐ฏ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐ต๐ณ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐! ๐ she/her * 24 ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ด โช๏ธ ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ / ๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ (occasionally other HH characters)
234 posts
Alright, so I've cleaned up this uh... rant, to make things a little more clear hopefully. But to summarize here, this is about the team's lack of commitment when every other character is allowed full confirmation of their orientations but these (potentially) aromantic characters aren't.
While I have no beef with shippers (I think you can ship whoever with whoever you want, I ship Alastor too on occasion), there is some conversation about how the fandom might be a bit of a reason WHY they "can't" be confirmed as aro. But again, my main problem is more with the showrunners than the fandom at this point about this.
I'll also be getting into why it's "important" and the double standards against characters being aromantic.
I will start off by saying I don't mind the shipping of Alastor. While it's NOBODY'S business but mine, I suppose it's important to clarify that I'm someone who does currently identify as aroace. I might be wrong but who cares, it's how I think of myself now at least to some degree (I do after all still have fictional crushes. Real-life romance is not an interest for me though, don't like 'em).
I'm gonna get what I don't think people talk about enough on both sides of being for and against shipping Alastor, and then I'll talk about the shippers as they're (I realized) not my main issue at this point.
A little history: So Alastor has been long time confirmed as an ace character. He hasn't been confirmed as being sex-repulsed or anything, but I can personally say I don't mind either flavor of him being repulsed or favorable (though I imagine the series will lean towards the former to counter everyone else's sex-favorable attitude and for jokes). This statement was initially taken VERY poorly by fans who, at the time, were shipping radiodust and radiobelle/charlastor, one more than the other. Care to take a guess which? The answer will not surprise you.
But then people realized "Oh, asexual doesn't mean he COULDN'T get with someone" and people even went further to "Being asexual doesn't mean he CAN'T have sex", both very true statements. So shipping was back on the menus boys! And his asexual was certainly blurred a bit (to the point where it wasn't even him being sex-favorable asexual as much as just not asexual, something that still happens but certainly not as bad). But overall, people were taking his canonicity as asexual with as much grace as a duck.
So here's where MY problem comes in. While I have some gripes with shippers, I had an epiphany that "Oh. It's not really the shippers I have a problem with. It's the people WRITING THE DAMN CHARACTER". Which, might I just say, is so much worst.
The shippers, while they got annoying at some points and certainly can be still, are just having fun. Because shipping just happens to be the way most people like to interact with characters in the media they're into. Hell, I am no different. I just have the misfortune of only really getting into rarepairs most of the time (curse you my bizarre tastes). I've even shipped with Alastor, I like AngelicSmile/radiojoy quite a bit.
Back on track. Now, what do I mean by my main problem being with the writers more than the fans with this? Well, queue this darling of a clip about the topic (this is the only clip I've found of the live stream, feel free to watch the whole video but just wanted the clip here).
This. Single. Clip. Infuriates me.
Vivzi, while I'm sure not meant to, pretty much implied "Alastor being aromantic and 'non-shippable' would ruin people's fun". I'm sure she meant it as a way to keep others from policing shippers (which didn't work, it still happens), it really just reads as "a character being aromantic is not a fun character". Like there's something wrong with being aro.
Not to mention some other things that would contradict this statement:
Viv in the past said "fans are allowed to ship outside character orientations", so... what makes that so different here with confirming Alastor as aromantic?
It being confirmed is not relevant to the plot. Great, so is every other orientation not relevant. Why can't Alastor be confirmed as aromantic but Vaggie can be confirmed as a lesbian or Vox bi? What does Vox being bisexual have to do with the plot? Neither is relevant to the plot, but one can be confirmed but not the other?
People were gonna ship him ANYWAY. Like, there's really no point in pretending. They were going to anyway because of the first point I already mentioned, but also people ship against canon orientations ALL THE TIME. It's just gonna happen and there's nothing wrong with that in of itself.
You've kind of just implied it's canon by not wanting to say specifically him being aromantic is canon or not. If Viv had just said "I don't wanna confirm his romantic orientation because...", then this statement would be fine and fair I suppose. But she had to call out him being aromantic specifically. And I mean, he COULD be something else (he was slated to be a couple with Mimzy originally after all), but the context doesn't seem like that would be the case. Plus, would she really feel the need to hold back from saying "Alastor is homoromantic" or biromantic or heteroroman- actually yes for that last one probably.
So riddle me this, with these points, why the FUCK would it be so wrong to confirm Alastor as a canonically aromantic icon and help get MORE REP for this very very very VERY underrepresented orientation? And I've thought of a few reasons to this, one of which being to avoid the same backlash that they got for Alastor being ace. Which, DID HAPPEN WHEN THE VOICE ACTOR AND SOMEONE ELSE ON THE SHOW CONFIRMED ALASTOR AS AROMANTIC BUT BACKTRACKED ON THE STATEMENT.
To which, fine. THAT'S on the fans (especially as no one would've complained if he was confirmed as homoromantic, which is a double standard VERY PRESENT in this fandom, but also many others quite honestly). But I can see another reason is to avoid others policing shippers about it.
Which, if that's the case, shit luck it's happening anyway.
To cower away from this orientation because of fans being upset says a lot, both about the fans and the creators. There is a whisper of "Alastor isn't allowed to be aromantic". That "being aro isn't allowed or appreciated".
We live in a world that at this point has a lot more lgbtq+ characters than ever before. At this point, there's just a lot of gay/lesbian and bi characters, and that's wonderful. But, there's barely a handful of aroace characters. And when they are, nobody wants to pay attention to that part of the character. So why can't the deer man be aromantic? I would imagine it would honestly make things a little better ship wise because ship wars wouldn't occur seeing as, well, there's no ship to be fought for. None of them could be canon.
So you might see where I'm leading into this, but I can only really think of one real reason Alastor being aromantic just "can't be confirmed" where as everyone else's orientations can be.
His popularity. Like, that's weird but walk with me here. Alastor is the most popular character in the fandom. There's honestly no denying it, he just is. And what do people do with the most popular character?
THEY SHIP THEM OFF IN A LOVEBOAT.
But wait, if he's aromantic, he can't be on a love boat. THIS IS BS-
And then... the outcry. And we HAVE seen this happen. I mentioned before, he was stated to be aromantic on two occasions by two people who work on the show, one of which is his voice actor (which I'll be fair, I personally don't think VAs always know the characters they play the best, that's the writers). But they had to backpedal because people DID complain. People WERE upset. So it's kind of shown just aromantism isn't really welcomed, at the very least not for a character like Alastor.
And that's the key: "Not for a character like Alastor". But if it were say, Niffty or Mimzy who are either overlooked or just not very popular, THEN it's probably more than okay for a character to be aromantic. Because no one wants to ship with them much, so they can be aromantic all they want.
AKA. The aro community is allowed the scraps but not the dinner.
At this point, you've probably noticed I switched gears from the creators to the fans because I DO think they could be a reason why Alastor "can't" be confirmed as Aromantic. I'll give credit, I'm pretty sure it's mainly on twitter and wouldn't be surprised if it was a "loud minority" thing going on, but the people have spoken. They vehemently cannot STAND the idea of Alastor being aromantic.
But I don't have a problem with these people quite honestly- I mean I kinda do, but my main issue is the lack of commitment when the other characters are allowed confirmed orientations. Why can't aromantic people get confirmed rep? Because "it'll ruin people's fun?" That's such a crappy reason because it's just saying being aro is bad on some level or isn't okay. Why can't the aromantic community get the dinner this ONE TIME? It's one character in a pool of many others that are canonically gay or bi, so why can't the aro community have this ONE popular character?
I'm not even asking for people to stop shipping him, I think that's perfectly FINE. It wouldn't change the canon. I'd appreciate more LOVE given to the aromantic identity (and I'm talking about the far end of it, so absolutely NO interest in romance as many have used aro Alastor but it still comes off as just normal shipping, but that's just me). There's such a double standard to the treatment of aromantic characters to the other characters in these shows (because Octavia and Mammon are in the same boat here), and the reasons given are so crappy that they sound more like off-hand excuses.
Again, I don't MIND people shipping Alastor, or Octavia, or Mammon who is randomly shipped with Adam the most. Let me repeat:
YOU. ARE. ALLOWED. TO. SHIP. THESE. CHARACTER.
But what I have a problem with is that these characters aren't allowed to be OFFICIALLY aromantic. How would it feel if this was a gay character? That they didn't want to confirm it but there's been indications with past statements and even in-universe stuff indicating so? I WANT Viv and her team to STICK with what route they were gonna go with.
And some might argue "what's so bad with nothing being confirmed?" Other than the fact every other character's orientations are allowed confirmation and Viv's crappy way of putting it in not confirming anything. There's, by all technicalities, nothing wrong.
However, if I may pose a counter, why is it fair for people to demand or ask for gay representation or confirmation but not aromantic? Because it's "not ruining anything"? If that's the case, I'm inclined to say that may be a bit aphobic. Because how is it that a character being aromantic can "ruin" the character or something, but a character being gay DOESN'T "ruin" the character. It's a double standard that I don't think most people realize or want to say because you don't want to be dissing on gay stuff.
But WAKE UP SHEEPLE. The gay stuff has PLENTY of things by this point. Whether through fan works or official media, it is growing and it is growing rapidly. And we should be HAPPY about that. But alternatively, Aromantic (and asexual) rep BARELY gets any attention in either fan works or official media. People would be UPSET if a ship like Angel Dust X Vaggie or Stolas X Verosika got into one of the top most popular ships. But Alastor? Nah, it's fine.
Again, while I don't mind the shipping itself, hopefully, you can understand how it might feel to see one of the most popular ships involve a character that goes against their orientation and it's YOUR orientation. It doesn't. Feel. Great.
And not everyone who ships Alastor even would LIKE him to end up with who they ship. Some people just like it staying in fanon. I have met SO MANY nice people who ship Alastor with characters that I personally don't really like him shipped with. But it's clear that I don't think THEY'D mind if he was confirmed aromantic because it doesn't change their life. They'll still keep shipping him because that's fun for them and that's FINE. People explore themselves through characters with confirmed orientations and they don't always line up with canon, and that's FINE. I don't think people should be policed on shipping with the deer man, they're just having fun. Would I appreciate a little more love for the aro identity? Sure (I mean just look at Alastor's ship weeks activeness vs. his aro week activeness), but if that's not how people have fun they shouldn't be forced to do stuff with it.
But Alastor being seemingly "not allowed" to be confirmed as aro has set a precedent that there's something wrong with being aromantic. And personally, it makes me feel a tad unwelcomed sometimes.
It's the precedents. Again, why is every other character's orientation allowed to be confirmed but Alastor's isn't? What is so wrong with him being aromantic? Hell, he might not even BE aromantic. But at least I'd KNOW instead of floundering around hoping upon a star for some aromantic representation.
It's okay to be gay but- WHOA HOLD YOUR HORSES THERE. WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO PUT A PAUSE IN THAT ARO BUSINESS YOU GOT THERE.
A character's worth is in how shippable they are. And if they're aromantic, they're not shippable. And unfortunately, there are just enough people to throw a hissy fit about it that Viv doesn't want to confirm it.
Because apparently being aromantic would "ruin" things.
poke him with sticks
The facility manager returns to the hotel ๐จ
It's like when the sidekick character trips on a rock, falls on their face but immediately gets up again and says "I'm okay- I'm okay."
Love how he's trying so hard to show he's okay in this scene
really bad aroace alastor (hazbin hotel) pride icons for a headmate! ๐ฆ๐๏ธ free to use with or without credit :]
Candies!! ๐ญโจ
Building a new hotel must be tiring, rest here my dear.
Mask down _ wip Rough animation/fan animation: Alastor the Radio Demon (Pilot Alastor/ Hazbin Hotel) I'm practicing! I was wondering if sometimes when he's alone in his room he stops smiling.
Reader: *trying to reach something on the top shelf* Alastor: *head tilt* "Do you need some help, my dear?" Reader: "Oh! Yes, please. I can't reach it-" Alastor: *moves desired object further away* "Does this help?" Reader: "uh- NO!?" Alastor: *moves it higher* "How about this?" Reader: "Alastor I am going to eat your kidneys give me the thing!" Alastor: "Hmmm.... How about-" Reader: *scuttles up onto his shoulders like a squirrel, takes the thing out of his hand and hops back onto the floor* "Thank, Mr. Step stool." *cheerfully trots off* Alastor: *eyes narrow* ".....Well played."
Okay, normally, I don't do this kind of thing, but I can not get it out of my head.
Carmilla said the best thing to kill an angel with is to fight for what you love. To fight for something you believe in. And that's what the whole gang does.
Charlie fights for her dream
Vaggie fights for Charlie
Angel and Husk fight for their friends
Lucifer fights for his daughter
Sir Pentious DIED for love and friendship
Guess who doesn't win in their fight?
Alastor can not comprehend dying for friends of all things. He was fighting for power he was fighting for freedom, and he lost his fight.
forget being afraid of being judged as a sinner or winner, I am afraid to be judged by THEM.
Gossip Girls
I canโt get him out of my head
Got about 16 hours left to decide if I'm gonna splurge for CSP ex ver. 2.0, and I wanted to do something quick and easy to see if I would indeed use the animation feature.
We'll see in a few hours I suppose. For now, I continue to work while thinking hard.
glasses
It has come to my attention that some of my fellow aroace fans of Alastor feel isolated in the fandom. For fans of Alastor who do not like shipping the advice is usually to block the ship tags and block people who post ships without proper tagging. However, this has led to Tumblr's blocking system apparently working against them as the tag tends to be almost empty for them. This blog aims to fix that by creating a way for sex/romance-repulsed fans of Alastor to enjoy the Alastor tag without having to worry.
Everything from the #alastor tag will be reblogged to this blog except for the following:
Sex/romance ship posts: the main purpose of the blog is to remove this from the equation, allowing repulsed aroace fans to view platonic versions of the ships without worry.
RP posts: No one can predict in what direction a role-playing blog might go as it depends on the interactions between the blog and those who send in messages. I don't want to create the idea that the RP blog is sex/romance-free only for it to go in that direction in the future
Anti-Hazbin content: I do not repost such content on my main blog and I will not post that here. The idea of this blog is for people to have fun so I will not bring that negativity into this space.
Even if you have a ship tag blocked, you can click on it on this blog with the knowledge that it will be platonic. In addition to using the original tags by the creators of the posts, all posts are tagged with #filtered aroace alastor. Hopefully, this will be fun.
Started on 11th December, 2024 and is dedicated to @undead-discourse who inspired this blog.
Alastor being a petty ass btch to the two people who did not want his ass back for the 3 seconds he's been back, icon
Charlie went to college
Charlie won multiple musical theater awards in college
Alastor broadcasts every day at noon (or whenever he feels like it)
Angel Dust is a singer
Angel Dust made his first onscreen appearance in one of Valentinoโs films (so in or after the 1970s)
Vaggie is trained in sychronized dance
Sir Pentious has made weapons for Carmine Industries and Voxtek
Sir Pentious created the Egg Bois with the help of someone (probably Baxter)
Lucifer performs alongside the other Deadly Sins (โperformโ might be metaphorical though)
Carmilla discovered new ways to use Angelic technology to improve Hellโs weaponry
Carmilla is the host of the board of Pentagram City Overlords
Rosie does favors in exchange for peopleโs souls
Sera works directly under the Speaker of God
Sera is in charge of Heavenโs hierachy and laws
Emily is in charge of ensuring all citizens of Heaven are entertained and comfortableย
Mimzy owns a club called โRagtimeโ
Mimzy once appeared in a radio special with Alastor called โSinga for ya Dinna!โ
Vox acts in and directs his media projects
Valentino frequently goes on shooting sprees in the Entertainment District
Valentino describes the Entertainment District as ruled by himself, โVelvette, and I guess Voxโ
Velvette has over 100 million subscribers
Velvette is the head of development for Love Potion (in collaboration with Valentino)
Velvette can do spells/magic
Saint Peter is the head singer in Heavenโs royal choir and founded the Angelic drama club
Saint Peter can play the harp and French horn
Zestial is the oldest living Overlord in power
Zestial is effectively retired
Zestial helps Carmilla with her business due to their friendship
Radio Man
The hunting lodge
facial expression practice
God, I love their interactions so much! (I think I flew into the fandom)
โHave Yourself A Merry Little Christmasโ ๐ฆ๐๐ปโจ
SMILE, my dear!! ๐ป
commission for libert1e ! !