āYou should know more than anyone what a soul can do when they take charge of their own fateāāan analysis/accumulation of how Alastor views choice, redemption, and most importantly, Heaven
This quote I feel has goneā¦ surprisingly unnoticed fandom wise. Hell, I havenāt even seen shippers address it. The reason? It destroys any and all ideas that Alastor doesnāt believe in redemption.
Now, why do I say this? We donāt know how Adam got into heaven in the first place, that is true, however we DO HAVE the context of the biblical story of Adam and Eve.
The story never tells us where they go. The Bible never outright says whether they fell because of the ultimate sin of temptation, nor does it say they repented themselves in their living life. However, because in Hazbin we have the context that Adam is both a winner and the leader of the angelic army, PROVES to me that in some way some how, Adam repented for his crime and the ultimate sin.
Adam, the person who literally made the worst sin in all of creation with the biggest impact, is in heaven. Not only that, but heās the leader of the Angelic army, he has control. He has influence. He has power.
Fundamentally, repenting in the afterlife and in the living life work the same. They both take steps in betterment, and you can and should be forgiven for crimes that were committed. Because betterment isnāt just some selfish choice to make yourself happy, itās for everyone. When you improve yourself, the people around you tend to be happier. Regardless of how heaven feels about it, or how YOU feel about it, improvement of any kind helps the world go round.
Alastor isnāt stupid, he isnāt naive, he isnāt even power hungry. Heās intelligent, he can put two and two together. If a winner who made the ultimate sin was somehow able to repent, anyone can. And that is dangerous information.
He sings about how he refuses to be altruistic, how he refuses to care. Not because he never BELIEVED in redemption, oh no, he does. He knows itās possible, everyone can changeācut from the same fabric, a winner can just as much fall as a sinner can rise.
No, the reason Alastor hates this altruistic behavior or genuine care for others, is that it challenges the belief that he is unfeeling, inhuman. That he can rip himself from his very fundamentals.
Alastor is prideful. Aside from the serial killer aspect, itās probably why heās in hell in the first place. Thereās a reason he parallels Lucifer so much, a reason his narrative foil is vox. Both of these men suffer from their abilities to look past their own power and reach, to the point one of them is the ruler of the pride ring.
And this prideful problem is what keeps him from accepting changeāhe has to be special, he has to be different, he has to be the performer, he has to be in control. Why wouldnāt a man so obsessed with control over his status and the people around him NOT BELIEVE in redemption? Thatās so unbelievably far from that concept. Itās the polar opposite even.
Alastor is actively choosing not to redeem himself. Itās honestly the main flaw in Charlieās plan to begin withāthe average sinner is far more likely to choose redemption because they have been put in a place of genuine suffering; however, overlords are unique in the ways that overindulgence actively empowers them. They are choosing to bad things, not because of happenstance or even trauma. Itās why characters like Valentino are so easily dislikable, even though other characters or other sinners have or are actively doing as bad or worse things than him. (I trust the fandom on here understands that liking a character vs liking their actions are different and that it makes sense for people to genuinely like Valentino šš- signed by someone who isnāt necessarily a Val fan just someone who enjoys his interest and what he brings to the table antagonist wise)
Val, Vox, and Vell all choose to do bad things. They are one of the few sinners within hell who HAVE the choice to make others happier/make themself better without Charlieās involvement, which is why they ARE such good antagonists. It challenges Charlieās beliefs in whether every sinner can or should be redeemed, and for that reason alone I find them an interesting concept.
Getting back to Alastor specifically, however, he chooses to carry himself as someone who cares most about the entertainment of himself and the general population. He is untouchable, sadistic, unfeeling, uncaring, and most importantly, he is irredeemable. Charlie cannot and should not touch him with a twelve foot stick of empathy if she wishes to keep her dream alive. <- this is how I think he wants himself to be perceived
This was my thought process of himāat least up until the finaleāhe doesnāt want anyone to know whatās going on underneath that smile; thereās this post that was made on an Alastor ask blog a while ago, Iāll link it here, but I think it speaks to such an important part of Alastor and his character.
"The clothes I wearāto finally loop back to your original question, terribly sorry for the digression!āthey serve two purposes. One, they consistently identify me, like a uniform. Two, they keep your damn eyes off everything but my smile."
Itās an amazing monologue and is apart of a very funny fic based off of the ask blog, which Iāll link here, but I think it articulated something about Alastor that, up until the point where Iād read that fic, had felt unexplainable.
Alastorās smile has never been āforcedā upon by anything. And if it is, well I guess Iāll eat my words and complain about how very uncreative it is, but this is his choice and his alone. Just as Alastor is choosing not to redeem himself, he is also choosing to smile, day in and day out, when heās stressed out of his mind or having a good olā meltdown. Itās not that he physically canāt do so, but that a mental key is unable to be pushed into a misshapen lock.
Alastor, is a performer. At heart heās a radio host. Why would a radio host have to smile? Why, you can hear it in his voice of course! It promotes a feeling. Studies upon studies have been done about how acting like an emotion you WANT to have can bring you closer to that emotion. Like, say, smiling while performing a radio broadcast after staying up all night killing people can help you stay chipper and professional!
And, as Alastor explains, a smile to him is a tool. The first thing you notice about someone at any given moment is their face.
But, I made a specific bit of wording earlier. I said my perspective was that he is someone who wants to be perceived as irredeemable.
But, given how he chose to reveal that aspect of himself with Charlie, I almost feel unsure now.
Obviously Alastor was never an angel. Viv is so obvious about it visually with vaggie and possibly carmilla, that atp I think I could point out anyone who came along and looked vaguely angelic and be right. He wasnāt. Unclipping his wings meant something like, trying to take control back. Everyone perceived this āthingā heās describing, as a who.
Who has control over Alastor, who has him on a leash, who makes Alastor feel genuine, unable to hide, overwhelming fear. And this could still be a who.
But it could also be a what. Or a place. Or a noun. Unclipping his wings may even meanā¦ going to heaven.
Do I think he wants to do this the fair and just way? No. No he doesnāt. Heās fucking Alastor. Whenever we think about him being empathetic, I will remind us that he is still Alastor who has killed thousands. He should redeem himself, he should want to, he should try, but heās not doing that. Not yet.
So, to get back to our boy Adam and Alastorās little monologue to him, itās clear to me that Alastor believes anyone can take charge. God, angels, demons, Lucifer, they donāt have power. Not really. Because when it comes down to it, your soul and what you do with it is still yours. Thatās power. Itās why I used that monologue and explained my perspective on his smile, just as much as he chooses his fate, chooses his words, chooses his smileāhaving a choice and control over oneself is power.
āWhat a soul can do when they take charge of their own fate.ā Taking charge of oneās fate is what Alastor perceives to be true power. He tries to enact this through his fight with Adam, yet fails spectacularly when he lacks the true nuance to having control over oneās soulācare. Love. Fighting for something or someone else.
Everyone else in this fight wins a major battle in some wayāAngel saves one of the egg boys/protects the hotel(Iām including husker in this example), Charlie saves her dad, Vaggie saves Charlie, Sir pentious by all accounts still wins in the end against Adam because he becomes a winner after fighting for Cherri, so on and so forthāthe only one fighting for no one or nothing here is Alastor. Funny how, in the one fight in sir pentiousā life where he fights for someone else or something else, he gets his cake and eats it too. He becomes a winner. Adam still dies. He doesnāt win but he does.
Alastor is choosing to not redeem himself, to not care, because he doesnāt have to as an overlordābut if he wants to prove himself, if he wants control, if he wants to take charge of his fateā¦ he has to let himself. He has to choose to care about something outside of himself. Being in denial that your plan may be inherently altruistic and that you only care to the extent that you have to, isnāt fighting for something.
And this is Adamās problem too! Heās long since stopped fighting for any real purpose than getting hard on beating people who canāt fight back, and this is WHY he loses! He isnāt fighting for anyone! He isnāt even fighting to protect the institution of heaven. This is why someone like Sera is dangerous, she cares about something outside of being an authority over a place. She cares about Emily.
And I have to say, Iām rooting for Alastor. Regardless of how selfish his plan may be, Iām still rooting for himābecause for him to do what he wants done, he has to better himself.
I think remembering the context that Hazbin is inherently about choosing to stand back up after being kicked down, is so so important. Itās about choosing to love yourself, choosing to care, choosing to improve. And I love that Viv is making her message about how no one can be better without choosing to do so. You canāt make someone fix themself, you canāt make someone care, you canāt make someone love themself.
And I know this is a thing said often times to put people with mental health issues down, but it does have some merit to it. You canāt get better unless you try. Nothing will make you, that has been and always will be, your choice.
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