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[chaggieslovechild]

so i rewatched dad beat dad today and i have a new "theory"

i think it's safe to say that alastor gets pissed off by lucifer (hate might be too much of a strong word) but why is that? I've seen some people theorize that has something to do with (if we assume correctly) lilith being the one who has him on a leash, but i actually thought... maybe he has that reaction because lucifer, or his relationship with charlie (or both) reminds him of his own dad

like we know that alastor notoriously gets along better with women rather then men, and viv said he is a momma's boy. she also said in a recent q&a with the cast that he gets pissed off by lucifer bc he's more powerful than him and that kinda makes sense but..... i wanna read more into it so I'm ignoring her saying

when lucifer gets to the hotel he immediately aggressively hugs charlie and alastor's eye twitches a little bit, i can't help but think that maybe it reminded him of being in charlie's place one day, having a relationship with a stranged father (to say the least). maybe he puts that frustrating feeling together with the fact that not only this is charlie's father, but also LUCIFER, king of hell, most powerful creature in all the realm. he could end alastor's ass with a snap of his fingers if he truly wanted but luckily for him, he is mostly chill just like charlie

so, alastor finds himself in a too familiar position that he doesn't like: having to be "inferior" to a man who is a father and a higher authority in one way or another. when lucifer asks about the bar they get into a bit of banter which ends by alastor literally saying "fuck you" to lucifer and charlie stepping in. which surprised a lot of fans for a good reason, 'cus so far we've only seen alastor as he presents himself mostly: a well-mannered gentleman. but it was so easy for lucifer to get under his skin in so little time, that perhaps he got taken over by anger - not a "I'm gonna slaughter everyone" anger, but a human anger of "I'm in a shit position and I can't do anything about it but I'm really angry about it". so that's why he just outright says fuck you to lucifer, it's not a "I don't care if you're the king of hell I'm not afraid of you fuck you", it's a "i know the type of father you are (because i had one similar) and it's a shit behavior so fuck you"

but lucifer doesn't get shaken by it, he pretty much has no reaction to it and that keeps alastor angry. he realizes that charlie and lucifer have a distant and complicated relationship, so he tries a different tactic: hey btw I'm closer to a father figure to your daughter then you actually are, and THAT gets under lucy's skin. when he gets into song, alastor just takes the opportunities to hijack it and keep pissing him off

there's also something else, that when lucy and charlie sings more then anything, everyone at the hotel is looking at them, including alastor and he looks... satisfied, to say the least. maybe not happy, but he definitely isn't angry or frustrated by the situation of charlie and lucifer making up. dare i say he almost looks proud, as in "yep my job here is done"

maybe he just wanted to piss lucifer off bc it reminded him of his own father, but he accidentally made him and charlie get on better terms and making up, and he's not entirely bothered by it. he accidentally made a good thing, but either he (1) doesn't realize it at the moment or (2) he just doesn't see it that way (maybe he thinks that lucy and charlie won't be in good terms for long or whatever)

and as of later in the episode, even in the series there isn't a lot more of this alastor and lucifer's relationship. in the last episode, when alastor shows up lastly to the group hug, we see two characters annoyed by his presence: husk and lucifer. so i think that alastor pulling the "I'm more of a father figure to charlie then you will ever be" card REALLY affected lucifer, he just isn't showing it off. yet at least.

the bit in the finale before the final fight, alastor says to niffty that "maybe he could get used to other's presence", or he gets entertained by it, something among these lines. i think maybe this is the first time that he verbally, consciously admits that maybe he likes the people in the hotel, but that little moment - at the beginning of more than anything, where he watches lucifer and charlie singing, that was actually the first time that he cared about someone in the hotel, it's just that neither him or anyone else realized it.

tl; dr: alastor "hates" lucifer bc it reminds him of his own dad and while trying to piss lucifer off he accidentally makes him and charlie make up and he's satisfied by that outcome but he doesn't realize it