Shadow Trails ~~~~~~~~~~
Shadow Trails ~~~~~~~~~~
Charlie looks up at the demon. He's taller than her, with card symbols all over his wings and outfit. He wears a black bowler hat and a white dress shirt with a red and black blazer, one that has the sleeves rolled up and two white J's standing back to back on the left chest pocket.
His gray pants are baggy, but dont bunch around his ankles while having diamonds, spades, hearts, and clubs going down in lines. He looks down at her with almost glowing yellow eyes.
Charlie rubs her eyes, blinks twice, and then gives a big smile. "Hello there! How can I help you? Are you here to stay at the Happy Hotel?"
The sinner tips his hat to her politely. "Heya. And, ah, no, I'm not exactly looking to stay here." The cat sinner ruffles his wings. "The name's Husk, gambling overlord, y'know. I own the casino "Chips and Trades" down on Betters Way. I was wondering if..." Husk had started.
But Charlie stopped listening when he said the casino name. This is the King of Cards. The King of Cards. Outside her door. Seemingly looking for her specifically for whatever reason. She should've noticed sooner with his souls being heavier than a normal sinners. Oh shit.
Husk coughs into his clawed hand before speaking again. "What do ya-" She closes the door in his face. Oh crap she closed the door in his face!
She quickly opens it again. Husk stares back, confused. "Uh, hello-" he tries to speak, but she closes it again. Aw crap. Crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap-
"Uh, Vaggie?" Charlie yells into the lobby, voice a bit wobbly.
"What is it?"
"The King of Cards is at the door..."
"Wait, what!?!" Vaggie yells, sitting up from the couch.
"What should I do!?" Charlie pulls on her hair, pacing in front of the doorway.
"Well, don't talk to him!"
"Who?" Angel pipes up, seemingly done with his popsicle as he waves the stick around for emphasis.
Charlie bites her nail before looking back at the door. Maybe he wasn't here for any bad reasons? He did seem like he was trying to talk to her civilly. But what if hes trying to ruin or take the hotel? Ugh! This is going nowhere!
'Y'know what? Im gonna do it. This hotel can't have it that much worse anyway.'
She finally takes a deep breath before opening the door again, looking Husk straight in the eyes. Sorry, Vaggie.
He looked down unimpressed. "Can I continue?" He asked in a bored tone. "You can." Charlie responds, trying to remain a bit confident.
Husk just shrugs in response before ducking through the door, almost knocking Charlie over with his wings. "The name's Husk, but I already told you that. I'm here to make a proposal for you and your... lively hotel." He looks around the battered entrance and cringes. "To give a good fix-up in return for something I suddenly need."
"Wait, really!?!" Charlie stopped herself before continuing. "Uh, *ahem* so, what do you need exactly?" She quickly saves, following him to the lobby.
But before Husk can respond, an angelic spear is aimed straight at his throat. "Stop. Right there." Vaggie suddenly snaps. Husk snarls down at the weapon.
Charlie quickly steps between the two. "Vaggie, stop! We don't need violence right now. He's here to make a proposal for the hotel!"
Vaggie huffed before rebuffing her statement. "What would a gambling overlord have to gain from our hotel? One that's also specifically known for trickery and manipulation?" She gives a harder glare towards the overlord.
Husk swats the tip away from his neck before speaking. "Just so you know, I only do that to lower level assholes I don't like. I can be civil when I have to, and with the right people." He adds the second bit like an afterthought.
"And what business do you have at our hotel? Do you even believe in our hotel's cause?" Vaggie asks skeptically.
Husk suddenly laughs. " Oh! Yeah, no. I don't really think your whole 'redemption' thing is going to work out in what I think you're hoping for. I'm just here to see if this could be something interesting enough to invest in."
If looks could kill, Husk would be dead where he stood as Vaggie glared holes into the back of the overlords head.
However, Charlie suddenly grabs Husk's arm and leads him towards the staircase, trying to deescalate the situation. "Well then, I think a tour is in order for our future investor!" She laughs nervously before shooting a begging look to Vaggie.
Vaggie stands still for a second. Finally, she glares at Husk's back before lowering her weapon, groaning, and shooing them off. Charlie gives a happy squeak and starts dragging Husk off around the top of the staircase.
Vaggie throws herself back onto the couch and sets her spear within arms reach. She starts to rub her temple violently. This isn't going to end well.
"So, what's with whisker?" Angel suddenly asks, sitting down on the arm of the couch and staring at the pair walking all over the hotel. "Y'know, the big fluff-ball ya got Charlie dragging everywhere?"
Vaggie pipes up, exasperated. "Wait, you don't know the King of Cards? Husk? Husker?"
"I've heard the name 'Husker' used around the studio sometimes, usually in passing." Angel stands up and sits in the armchair across from the couch. "Huh, woulda thought he'd be a bit less, y'know, cuddly. Don't know much 'bout him otherwise."
Vaggie looks even more exasperated than before. "You don't know about his deals with The Legends?" Angel shrugs. "His rise up in ranks over a couple of days? The one who tore down all existing systems and pioneered his own on a straight up gamble?"
Angel gives another shrug before crossing his arms. "I don't really follow politics. I might start if he's front and center, though." He gives a smirk in the overlords direction.
"Ugh, Angel Dust..." Vaggie sighs before continuing. "The King of Cards arrived in hell just before the Overlord Slaughter."
Angel Dust sags. "Oh here we go."
"Shut up. Anyways, he had never shown his face before the overlords started to go missing. People say he organized the whole thing to take advantage of the other overlords, who were called The Legends for surviving the massacre. He preyed on their fear of death from whatever being killed the others, and gave them protection in exchange for parts of their domain, their power, and some even gave away their souls to avoid the next slaughter.
"This sudden surge in power gave him the ability to do almost anything he wanted. He started to tear down the previous influences of the other overlords, things like brands, buildings, and even whole districts, as he rebuilt things to his liking.
"This is how Betters Way was created, with Chips and Trades as the star of the alley. You couldn't walk two feet without seeing an ad for whatever the King of Cards had going at the time. And he never stopped growing.
"He'd take sinners and demons alike to his table, letting them think they even had a chance in besting the head of the gambling district. They would all fail, as the house always wins and have everything taken from them. Their possessions, their achievements, and their own souls would be ripped from them to be added to the ever growing mound.
"This is why we can't get involved in something that runs around him. He lies, he cheats, and he always finds some way to have his interests win over all or tear you down to bits until you can't be anything without what the King of Cards holds in his hands." Vaggie takes a deep breath.
Silence is the only thing between them before Angel speaks up again. " Hah! Well, to me, he looks like an oversized build-a-bear accident."
Vaggie grumbles before glaring back at the Overlord, who was with Charlie and starting to walk back down the stairs. "Well, I don't trust his intentions."
Angel Dust raises a brow but says nothing, looking at the pair now standing at the bottom of the stairs.
Vaggie seemingly has enough as she gets up and drags Charlie away, leaving Husk to his own devices in the lobby.
Only when they're far enough away does Vaggie speak again. "You can't seriously be thinking about trusting that guy, right? He literally gambles peoples souls away for a living. He doesn't believe in what we're trying to do here, and he might even try to take one of our souls or tear down all of our work! "
Charlie glances at Husk before grabbing one of Vaggie's shoulders. "I know, Vaggie. He's definitely not here to be redeemed or to help with the idea of redemption in mind,"
Husk is now looking at the paintings on the walls, walking in front of them all with little to no interest for what's depicted on them.
"But this is what our hotel is about. To give sinners a chance and to have faith that they can be better! Turning someone away isn't something I can do. Just trust me this once, ok? Also, I'll give you full reign to do whatever if he tries anything."
Vaggie seems to think it over before answering. "Ok, just be sure not to make any exchanges, deals, or anything like that with him, got it?"
Charlie giggles before letting go of Vaggie. "Don't worry so much, Vaggie. If there's one thing I learned from my dad, it's that you dont take shit from other demons!"
Vaggie watches as Charlie confidently walks back up to Husk. "So, uh, Husk. I know you probably don't believe in what I'm doing and are just here for personal gain, but I do believe in what we're trying to do here." She says with a serious tone.
"This hotel is about taking chances and having the idea that sinners can be better in the first place, so I accept your offer to help out in our hotel. No strings attached or whatever you do with bets in your casino."
Husk squinted down at Charlie. "Hey now, I never made an offer like that. I made a proposal to help fix up this hotel in exchange for getting my name back into the game. I can give you more in exchange if you desire."
Husk suddenly holds out his hand as their surroundings turn a warm orange hue; soft voices echoed throughout the air.
Charlie immediately backs up from Husk. "Yeah, uh, no. No deals, no hand shaking, no exchanges, ok? Uhm, what about this instead."
Husk pulls his hand back and looks at Charlie expectantly. She coughs into her hand, then looks to Vaggie giving her an approving expression before speaking again.
"I, Princess of Hell, hereby declare that Husk, the gambling overlord, is to help out and fix the hotel to his best abilities for however long he desires in exchange for Husk's, uh, publicity." She finishes before looking back up at Husk.
He squinted down at her, seemingly thinking about her choice of words, then nods. "Good enough for me." Charlie let a breath she didn't know she was holding out in relief.
Husk suddenly walked around the lobby, starting to pick apart all the things that needed fixing. "Where is the rest of your staff anyways?"
Charlie tilts ger head to one side. "Staff?"
"Yeah, staff. Y'know, to help keep this hotel running? Things like maids, customer service people, the front desk runners?"
Charlie shrinks slightly before pointing to Vaggie. She in response just glared back into the overlords eyes.
Husk flinches back a bit. "Ho, yeah. You're going to need more than that to keep this hotel from running into disrepair."
He scans the room before finally acknowledging the resident spider sitting on the arm chair.
"And what exactly can you do?"
Angel Dust smirks before answering. "I can suck your dick!"
Silence falls in the lobby with Husk just staring for a second. Then he sighs, and grumbles something akin to "I'm too sober for this."
Angel laughs in his seat as Husk walks back to the center of the room. "Well, this certainly won't do if you're going to keep this project running. I might as well use a couple of tricks up my sleeve to at least give it a chance."
He then takes a jack of hearts from his sleeve and throws it into the parlor fireplace. It suddenly lights up as the entire parlor becomes free of dust and debris, with a little figure blackened by char stuck in the fireplace.
Everyone just stares as Husk goes up, picks the figure up by the scruff, and shakes the ash right off it. A single eye looks back up at them as he drops her back to the ground.
She's smaller than everyone there, about 3 feet tall if someone were to guess. She has a red poodle skirt on, with a poofy white shirt with three red spots on the chest and a white J surrounded by a red heart embroidered on top of where a human heart would be. There's a small red scarf around her neck, and her hair is short with red and orange highlights. She looks around the room erratically with her yellow eye.
"This little thing is Nifty. She'll make this hotel the cleanest it can be and keep everything in order. Just don't get too close: she can and will stab you." Husk warns before stepping back.
"Hi! I'm Nifty! It's been a while since I've seen other sinners in person." She rambles before looking around the lobby. Her face immediately drops.
"Oh my gosh! This place is filthy! It needs a lady's touch, which is weird because all of you are ladies, no offense." She speaks quickly as she takes a duster from... somewhere, and starts to clean every inch of the place, sometimes stabbing roaches with a sewing needle.
Angel scoffs at her comment but says nothing more. After she's apparently done, she skitters back to Husk's side and looks up at him with a begging look.
"So when are you bringing Al?" She asks a bit jittery, but with certainty. Husk rubs his temple. "I just brought you here, Nif. Summoning you guys takes a lot outa' me, believe it or not."
"Who's Al?" Charlie pipes up.
"Ooh, he's the best!" Nifty speaks up before Husk can answer. "He let's me climb all over him and put on roach puppet shows at his poker table without shooing me away!"
Husk speaks up before she can continue rambling. "*ahem* He's my top dealer. Got his soul a couple of years back, and now he works the poker tables and on my schedule. Brings in more souls than the rest per week on floor 13."
Vaggie squinted in suspension. "And what can he do for the hotel?"
Husk shrugs. "You'll see." He grumbles the next part mostly to himself. "I need to get him anyway. He holds all my liquor."
He then takes a deep breath before pulling out an ace of spades card from his left chest pocket. He flicks it onto the open floor as it grows and levitates upright
As if thrown, a figure stumbles from the cards picture, making the card blank for the time being. It shrinks and starts to float down before the figure snatches it and puts it back into his right chest pocket.
A soft hum of static could be heard after his arrival. He's taller than Husk, but not by much. He wears brown dress shoes, black slacks, a long-sleeved white undershirt, a dark red vest, and a black bow tie with a red jewel in the middle. On his right chest is a pocket with an embroidered A on top of a black spade.
He has striking, wavy red hair, with deer ears that stick up on either side of his head and a small tail. The tips of his ears, tail, and hair look like they were dipped in black, with the hair framing yellow eyes with red irises. The only thing blocking them were gold framed glasses that had a beaded chain to hang them around his neck while not in use.
When the figure finally steadied himself, he began to speak to the Overlord. "What fantastical event do you need me for now Husker-" he finally looked to the group as he turned around, eyes widening slightly as he set them on Charlie.
But he quickly took the situation in stride, patting down his uniform and speaking in his radio-like voice. "Why, hello there! My name is Alastor. It is a pleasure to be meeting you." He gives a nod, then a small smile, revealing sharp teeth through the gap.
Vaggie's eyes widen in turn, but she doesn't say anything back. "What exactly am I doing this time?" Alastor asks, now aimed back at Husker.
He huffed before answering. "You're gonna man the front desk at this "Happy Hotel". Making sure people check in, get the right keys and shit. Maybe a card game or two while they're here."
Charlie speaks up. "Wait what-"
Husk is already throwing the cards before she can finish. The cards surround the beaten up front desk, swirling around it and blocking the set up from view before throwing themselves back into Husk's deck, with a brand new poker table in place of the previous desk. The entire thing looks brand new, with fixed key holders to one side and a stock of liquor in the other.
Vaggie seethes. "What is this!? This is a place that discourages sin! We can't have a literal bar as our check-in desk!"
Husk raises a brow. "But it's not a bar. It's a poker table." He gestures to the surprisingly smooth poker table currently displayed as a desk. Angel Dust snorts before adding on. "Yeah, toots. That's obviously a poker table."
"Ugh! I can't with you two." Vaggie walks back over to the couch and flops down. Alastor grins at the scene before heading behind the desk.
Charlie takes this opportunity to go up and lean against the desk to talk to Alastor. "Hi! Welcome to the Happy Hotel! YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE IT HERE!!!!"
Alastor gives a small chuckle in response. "I think I might find this at least a bit entertaining. Haven't been summoned like this since 1997! It does get boring after shuffling so many cards and sitting around the same establishment all day, you know. I'm excited to see where this project will take us, my dear!"
Charlie gives a big smile to him as she turns back to Husk, waiting for him to say something.
He ruffles his wings again before speaking. "So, uh, what do ya' think?" He asks with a lazy tone.
Charlie literally squeals in delight. "This is amazing! Thank you so much, Husk!" Vaggie sits up just to mumble out a quick."I guess I can tolerate it."
"Good, cause I wasn't gonna change nothing anyways." Husk slinks to the front desk and just asks Alastor for the usual thing of alcohol.
Alastor just nods as he wrangles an energetic Nifty from his shoulder and sits her down across from Husk. "Try to stay still for once, Nifty."
Nifty is now bouncing in her seat as Alastor pours out Husk's drink. Setting it in front of him, Alastor exits the desk and picks up a now very jittery Nifty, making sure she doesn't go out on a stabbing rampage again.
Vaggie had already sat up, with Charlie now sitting next her her. They just watch the scene unfold, with Angel surprisingly quiet in the armchair.
The nice silence was suddenly broken as one of the hotels' walls crashed down, causing everything to be covered in a layer of dust, again.
The force caused the pair of girls to fall sideways on the couch, knocked Angel completely off the chair, and hit Husk's drink out of his hands before he could take a second sip. Alastor and Nifty are relatively unphased.
Manic laughter could be heard from outside as the group went and looked out of the crash site.
"It isss I! Sir Pentiousss! I know you're in there, Angel Dussst! Prepare for a rematch and to face my wrath!" The snake sinner declared as he shot up the surrounding area.
Husk stepped outside first, observing the threat level, and then deeply groaned. Alastor came right up to his side. "Want me to take care of it?"
Husk shook his head and started to ready his wings. "Nah, he spilled my drink. Also, I should show these guys what I'm actually made of."
With that, he took off right in front of the blimp. He punched the front, causing glass to shatter everywhere outside and inside the blimp.
Charlie, Vaggie, and Angel just stared as Husk went ham on the poor sinner. He threw cards that cut through the steel like butter, never-ending ribbons that restricted all of the blimps movement, and the bomb that was about to release got poofed into pigeons with a single touch after being completely covered up by the ribbon.
One card finally hit the engine, causing the entire thing to explode, sending the snake flying in the opposite direction.
Husk landed right in front of the group, all of them just staring at the explosion site. "Ugh... I need another drink." Husk finally spoke as he started to head back to the hotel through the smashed wall.
Charlie guided Vaggie back to the hole with a hand on her shoulder. Angel followed right after them, with Nifty skipping close behind. Then finally, Alastor came from the back.
He stopped right inside of the hole, snapped, and watched as the entire wall started to piece itself together again out of everyone else's view.
Once the wall looked good as new, Alastor went back to the front desk/poker table. He huffed to himself as he saw everyone crowded around Husk. The dust was still layered on everything, though. But that could be left to Nifty.
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Vetted by 90-ghost
This is so good!!!! I especially love the staff!
I was at another con today and took more pics in my Tang cosplay, so might as well post them :)
Just some Tang doodles for my au from class today.
Btw, there's some blood and dead bodies and spoilers for a future scene after the cut.
These are just some practice expressions for Tang to get the eye shape with the glasses right.
This is what's underneath the jacket he usually wears out in New Town TM.
This is when Tang snaps on the battlefield after the Medic Tent gets attacked a 3rd time with no reinforcements to help.
Random Rambles And Theories About Alastor Go!
Ok, so right now I am on a high with all the recent Alastor lore we've been blessed with in Hazbin Hotel, and this little murderer has been occupying my mind 24/7. I really need to get all my theories and rambles out that I don't see a lot of people talking about.
(BTW, before my ramble, I have seen many places say he was mixed race as a human, but if I am wrong, please let me know, because this delves deep into that with his human life.)
(Also be warned for a bit of gore/violence and that this thing is kind of long)
Now let's begin!
I'll start with the most talked about theory with Alastor: his connections with Lilith and why he reacted the way he did with Lucifer
The show has given us what many people think are hints to this with both of them gone for 7 years, the slight eye twitch in the pilot when he looked at liliths portrait, Alastor showing up right after Charlie finished voicmailing her mom also in the pilot, how he knew about Charlie's Daddy Issues before she seemed to have told anyone, the leash comment from Husker, and how Alastor reacted to Lucifer.
Now, all of these could be chalked up to Alastor having some sort of nice relations to Lilith, but some of these are a bit too far stretched to just be because he has interacted nicely with Lilith in my eyes.
I have seen many people talk about how Alastor must have gotten a bad impression of Lucifer because either him and Lilith are besties and talk crap about him after the split, or he listened to her complaints about him and got an impression off of that to dislike him this much right off the bat in episode 5.
But I don't think that's it. We see how badly Alastor reacted to the leash comment by Husker, which definitely isn't a good sign that he would even trust the words of whoever is holding that 'leash' against him. He seemed pushed over the edge, vulnerable enough to lash out, which is unlike himself. Whatever deal he made for his soul, was most likely under threat, a life or death choice.
This is why I think he despises (most likely) Lilith or whoever has that 'leash' on him. He lashes out, sensitive about the subject. After gaining so much power over the overlords, he suddenly gets toppled over again by someone of (most likely) higher status, being forced into an unwilling contract, now just another pawn that this demon(?) can use for their own desires, and he doesn't want to be that, he needs to make his own decisions. But he doesn't have any say in the matter.
So I think why he was mocking and teasing Lucifer so much was because of his connection with Lilith. Everyone knew how deeply in love they were (before they split) and how they are both the most powerful demons in hell. I think Alastor took a chance to use his pent up anger on Lucifer, trying to get him to hurt as much as he can because of what Lilith did, all the while Lucifer cant do anything too serious leat he upset Charlie. We know he is extremely petty, after all. (we can also see him (most likely) letting off some steam when devouring the loan sharks, with him getting unnecessarily big and just letting loose on a couple of low-tier goons)
I saw another person talk about how Alastor has no power over Lucifer/Lilith, no political power, and he can't beat them in games of wits either. But the one thing that he does have the upper hand on, is their daughter, and I completely agree with that.
Alastor has been there since the beginning, has helped Charlie out and talked with her more than her own Parents had in the last couple of years probably. He's seen how attached the parents are to Charlie, and decided to use that info in full force. Just look at the Lucifer/Alastor duet.
Now that we have my theories of the life and death contract with Lilith, let's go deep into what I think is Alastors character right now:
Alastor, a mixed child in the early 1900's most likely had it really rough. With being treated as less than from both sides for being to dark/light to the violence that he most likely had to endure during his childhood.
This could have been where his anger/obsessive resentment started to simmer up in sporadic bursts over the years and years of belittlement, abuse, and racism.
Like I said before, he was probably treated as less than human for his mixed skin, and Alastor most likely started to hate it. His skin, the people, everything seemed so wrong. Why should the people who beat him and his mother see them so vulnerable and weak. He decided he didn't like that anymore.
So the radio show started. I got this idea from when he said his face was only made for radio. Over the radio, no one ever knew what you looked like. Just your voice would be broadcasted, and no one would ever see who was really behind the microphone unless they stepped out. This seemed like a barrier to Alastor. Letting himself go with no worries about letting people see him vulnerable behind his broadcast. (Maybe that's why he hates TV and modern tech so much; people can see everything about you)
And when his radio show became a hit and people wanted pictures and news? What would protect him then? Simple: his unwavering smile. Reactions are what people want when they crush others. They want to see them wallow and beg cry from what they have done. But Alastor won't let anyone do that to him ever again.
He stands his guard, not letting any comments get to him, keeping charming smile and unwavering voice all throughout his career as a radio host. Keep the smile up, dont have your voice crack, never show weakness. If you stop, those that wait will sink their teeth in and never let go of you. That's what I think a part of his mentality is and is maybe a part of why his smile is stitched on in his demonic form.
Now onto why I think he's a serial killer/cannibal. Remember when I said he had lots of unchecked anger and obsessive resentment? All this now simmering even more while being pushed down by his persona?
This is when he'll break loose.
He usually goes for the ones with the least amount of defense: drunkards/ bar frequenters. I though of this when Mimzy said he used to always come to the bar she was performing at and how he could drink like a sailor.
He might've drank with people to let their guard down in addition to his non-threatening charm, and he probably built a tolerance to be at least a bit sober when the others are full out drunk so he can easily transport and kill them.
He probably enjoys killing/eating his victims because a) it shows how he has power now. How he isn't a helpless victim anymore and he's finally in control of his life or b) where he likes seeing privileged people beaten and bruised for once, the gratification of seeing someone taste their own medicine by his own hand, like revenge, even if that person hadn't been necessarily bad towards him.
His death ro me is the same that everyone else thinks, where he's burying some victims body and gets mistaken for a deer, then shot straight between the eyes. What I do think a bit differently is that he was chased by hunting dogs first, which alerted the hunter for him to get shot, which then led to his fear of dogs.
Then he was finally free to do anything. Hell had no limits, he didn't have to hide his carnage anymore. But now that smile he wore was engraved into his face, almost making it impossible to frown. But that didn't matter. Not right now. Alastor has so many emotions bubbling up that he just wanted blood to be on his hands.
And then he slaughtered the overlords and took their souls within weeks ( maybe months, idk how quick he killed them, but ima go with weeks), broadcasting it over the radio to show everyone what he's been up to.
Alastor had kept this routine for a couple of decades, occasionally getting a guest star on his broadcast by those who he seems fit.
But maybe he had become too cocky with this power high, as he had been attacked by holy weaponry right before the extermination he dealth with most of them, but a shot did make it into his shoulder, causing him to collapse in pain, unable to move. (a bit simple, but I imagine him getting badly hurt by angels/angelic weaponry to lethal levels and Lilith decides to save him)
He fought hard when the angels arrived, of course, but he could only go so far in being this injured. So when he was about to get stabbed in the chest by a holy spear, he was already tired and almost accepted his fate, before being pulled somewhere by Lilith herself.
This is where Lilith offers a beat and broken Alastor a one time deal: become her servant or she'll throw him back to the exterminators herself. And in a situation like this, there's usually only one option you can really take.
And so he was a ghost, leaving everything he had behind. His power, his respect, his freedom...
Now Alastor had become a pawn again. A tool useful for the right situations, and just a toy to be played with by Lilith. This is exactly what he didn't want from his human life. The humility, the disregard, treating him as some sort of street animal, no matter what he did.
And now she orders him to guard her daughters hotel, giving him back a piece of his power to protect the hotel.
Alastor had hated Charlie for how she misused her amazing power for something like redemption.
Alastor hated Lucifer, for having all that power, being the strongest demon in hell, yet taking it for granted while mocking him about his choices.
And Alastor hated Lilith, for trapping him again, and renewing his endless cycle of suffering.
So those are my thoughts about Alastor. I think you can tell he's my favorite. I just love his powers and lore.
My friends,
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I am doing what I can to provide a decent and safe life for my children and to provide for their basic needs in light of the poor living conditions we are living in due to the war of extermination, and I hope that you will continue to support me, whether by donating if possible, or by participating and urging friends to donate, as we are very close to half the goal, and there is less than 350€ left to reach it.
I hope to reach it today
A World Without Him
Chapter 7
(TW some violence, a collapsing building, and someone having a panic attack)
Tang was back there. Again. The void with the voices, the hands, the dragging, the scraping, the orange.
He was tired at this point. Of every night he spent getting dragged over and over just for someone sick amusement if he had to guess.
Maybe this was his punishment for something in his past life. To take his sanity and break it bit by bit until he couldn't take the sight of this place anymore.
But this time was also different.
Only silence met his ears as he floated. Nothing grabbing, glowing, or whispering in his ears. A sense of foreboding welled up in his chest.
Then he heard sounds. It wasn't anything like the previous encounters he had with this place. Only continuous buzzing reached his ears instead of the usual incomprehensible whispers.
Tang closed his eyes, hoping someone would let him stay away from whatever was making that noise. And as he said previously, he's never been that lucky.
The buzzing suddenly became violent as Tang was pushed upwards by a strong force. He could barely breathe as he clawed at whatever was dragging him up before realizing... they were cicadas. Bright orange cicadas.
Thousands, no, hundreds of thousands of cicadas were swarmed together. They were buzzing and flying around him like a barrier as that thing kept pulling him up.
Tang could hear small whispers coming from them, and he wasn't sure if he was even alive right now as the cicadas landed on his scarf. The whispers loud and clear.
'Stay' 'Don't leave' 'You have to stay here' 'Danger' 'You can't go' 'Danger' 'Somethings coming' 'You won't be able to handle it' 'Stop struggling' 'Danger' 'DANger' 'DANGER'-
'JUST. STAY. HERE.'
The cicadas started to glow, almost radioactive before blinding Tang until everything was just a nice, bright, neon orange.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Waking up in a cold sweat had become a reoccurring thing for Tang as he sat up violently, taking in harbored breaths.
He smacked a palm to his head, rubbing his temple before throwing himself back onto the bed. He had woken up before his alarm again.
So, he had decided to pull himself together and start getting ready. It would give him more time to pack extra snacks for him and Allan, which was a good bonus in Tang's opinion.
When he finally had a plan in motion, he pulled himself up and out of bed. He lazily walked through his small apartment, taking his brush from the bedside table to the bathroom.
And then he sat on the toilet seat while he brushed his hair, not styling it in any way before putting the brush down and taking up a toothbrush.
Now, with his mouth tingling from the toothpaste, Tang went to his fridge to look for something good for today.
He settled for some apple slices, watermelon, and some jumbo blueberrie boxes he had found for 40% off. He threw them into some plastic containers before fixing up a small bagel with green tea to drink later for lunch.
It's about 6:08 AM now, and he's fully ready for work. Which he needs to be at in a couple of hours. And the walk is only 15 minutes...
So he decided to busy himself with menial tasks he never got around to doing, like piling his books by genre and author or rearranging his closet of knick knacks from over the years. Anything to keep his mind and hands busy.
He was waist deep in the closet when his alarm suddenly went off next to his ear, making him jump and smack his phone with a good amount of force. "Owwwww," Tang whined as he picked up his newly cracked and dead phone.
He cursed as he tried all the buttons, nothing turned on, then walked to his couch, and threw it on the cushions. He sat himself right next to it as he stared up to the ceiling again.
He laid there only seconds before sighing heavily and popping himself back up, grabbing his messanger bag and walking out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The walk to the library was uneventful; it was plain, even. Nothing caught his attention, and everything seemed eerily calm with only one or two people out and about like him.
It was probably because he left earlier than usual, but Tang still had a bad feeling.
Maybe it was because of the lack of commentary his thoughts usually made. No snark comments or observations popped into his brain like they usually did for the past weeks.
He's glad they're gone, to be honest. He thought he was going insane for the first few round of them, and this probably means he's getting over whatever he was stuck with.
The library slowly came into sight as he continued to walk. He was almost right on time as he unlocked the doors, letting himself in with his badge.
He walked steadily to his desk, throwing his messanger bag to the side and plopping himself in his chair, mentally readying himself to start opening up the library.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Allan came about 10 minutes later, surprised at Tang arriving before him and even starting to power up the library's computers.
"Hah! Nice to see you up and early!" Allan greeted him as he went towards the back to put away his backpack and jacket.
Tang snorted before answering. "Heh, not by choice for your information." He jested, followed by a quick laugh from Allan.
Allan came back fairly quickly, walking up to the front of Tang's desk. "So, what are we doing today?" He asked.
"It's about the same, just without the overwhelming decor and crowds of children like yesterday," Tang replied, getting up from his spot to start looking for the carts.
Which... he forgot where they were located. He internally sighed before looking back to Allan. "Do you remember where the carts are?" He asked in a grated tone.
Allan just laughed at Tang's crappy memory and gestured to follow him through the shelves.
After they got the carts and put up the assigned books, not much else was left for them to do. Nothing was missing, broken, or in need of reorganizing.
Tang was fine with this as he just pulled out some books from his messanger bag to read, but Allan became restless. He kept pacing through the library, seemingly in need of something to do.
When he finally sat down next to Tang after wearing himself out, Tang thought of a way to help. "Hey, Allan?" He asked.
"Yeah?" Allan answered, a bit absent-mindedly. "Do you like Monkey King?" "Monkey King? Well, uh, yeah, I like to read a bit of fiction based around him." Allan said quickly, seemingly not ready for the question.
Tang smirked before pulling another book out of his bag. "I have an extra book here called Monkey Cop: the Scarlet Tape. It's a mystery/action comic based on Monkey King as a cop, solving crime. It is a bit bloody, but it has amazing art and a good storyline. This is the first from the series, and I can bring the next editions if you like it."
Allan seemed a bit hesitant, staring at the comic for a hood second. Tang huffed, amused, before speaking again. "It's not like we have anything else to do, kid. And besides, I've been waiting for someone else to get into this series for a while so I can rant about theories with them."
Allan sighed before taking the book out of Tang's hand and opening up to the first page. "Okay, okay. I'll read this. It does seem interesting, but if it turns out trash, never recommend me a book again." Allan half joked.
Tang laughed at his declaration, turning back to his own book. "Sure, but I promise it's good."
Time passed by as the duo just read in each other's company, Tang having to pause and bookmark a couple of times to answer questions or check out books.
Allan started reading out of boredom but eventually seemed really invested, mu.bling theories and audibly gasping at some scenes. Tang took it as a win before reading a passage from his own book again.
About an hour and a half had passed before Allan closed the comic dramatically, slamming it on the desk and leaned back in his chair.
Tang calmly closed his own book before looking back to Allan. "Sooo~ what did'ya think?"
"That book is a freaking rollercoaster. Like, the police captain being in cahoots with the criminal undercity was wild." Allan finally answered.
"Haha, yeah. I was so shocked when I first found out. I'm just glad he isn't immeadietly offed in future chapters." Allan twisted his head to Tang. "Wait, he doesn't get killed from being revealed? I thought for sure he would be dead by the next book."
"Heh, nah. He goes through his own character arc, too. I can bring the rest of the current series if you're interested." Tang offers. "Really?! Oh my gosh, thank you!! I just need to find out how Monkey King finds the real culprit behind the Scarlet tape murders!"
He has lots of energy, just like Mk. Tang thought. He chuckled to himself as Allan continued to ramble to him about Monky Cop, adding his theories and opinions about the series here and there.
"And what even happened to the junior officer they lost during the scuffle from chapter 17?! She just disappears, and no one talks about it?!"
Tang replied with the same amount of enthusiasm. "That's what I've been saying! She barely gets referenced in the future books, but she seems to have so many questions and mysteries around her. Apparently, she wasn't even registered at the station-"
BEEEEEP, BEEEEEP, BEEEEP-
An alarm sounded from Allan's phone, shutting down the conversation. Other alarms also sounded throughout the library, echoing through the quiet halls.
Allan quickly checks his phone as his smile drops. "Crap, it's a DA alert." Tang frowns at that. "Another demon attack already?"
"Yeah, apparently." Allan huffed out, shaking slightly as he and Tang stood up together. "Of course now we have to go through the DA protocols." Tang sighed before turning on the library intercom.
"Okay, everyone. A demon attack has been spotted in the city. We advise everyone to follow the yellow arrows stuck everywhere in the library. It'll lead to stairs going down to a reinforced storage-"
The ground suddenly shakes beneath Tang and Allan, causing some books to fall off shelves and the intercom to shut off. "Please go fast!" Yelled Allan as he took Tang's arm and started to quickly maneuver through the books.
Key word tried, as another, more violent shake toppled over the shelves, blocking their way. "Ugh, we need to go the scenic route through the back sections!" Tang shouted, letting Allan drag him again.
They twisted and turned between the layout, trying to get to the room quickly through the enormous building. Small shakes continued, shoving more books to the floor and making the old building creak with every tremor.
"Go left!" Tang yelled out directions as he knew these back sections of the library well. Dust and small debris landed on them from the displacement of the old and unused spaces.
Suddenly, a large tremor came again, knocking even more shelves down with it, some cracking into pieces. Tang and Allan also lost their balance, falling to the floor with a large thud.
"Aw, shit." Tang groaned as he propped himself onto his elbows. Allan was in better shape, just landing onto his back and sitting up right after.
"We have to go now!" Allan yelled, panicking as he grabbed Tang's arm again, ready to sprint off.
But Tang doesn't move from his spot. "Don't. Move." Tang orders Allan, pulling him down to Tang's level. "What are you doing!? We need to run-" "It's almost here. We won't make it time." Tang interrupts, quickly looking over the walls and ceiling.
Allan just stares at him before protesting. "What are you even-"
*BANG*
The loud sound shocked Allan into silence as he looked to the source. A giant hole was suddenly in the library ceiling, with debris falling into the lobby.
Then he noticed what caused the hole. A giant gray demon, at least 8 feet tall, holding a massive sword, fighting against a kid with a red staff.
"Is that...?" Allan trailed off, staring at the standoff between the Monkey kid and that demon. "We need to hide." Tang suddenly whispered as he dragged Allan behind a toppled bookcase.
They can only wait as the fight continued in the library. The gray demon had a knack for dodging Mk's staff, directing sharp slashes afterward when Mk was vulnerable. All those attacks only sliced walls or bookshelves in half, though, luckily missing Allan and Tang.
Then Mk seemed to direct the demons' attacks upwards, probably so they didn't hit any more of the library. However, the ceiling started to crumble from the constant sword strikes, eventually causing one side to start collapsing.
Bigger and bigger pieces of drywall started to surround Tang and Allan. The walls start to crack with the ceiling falling in chunks. "We can't stay here!" Allan shouts, trying to stand up but stopping his efforts after a chunk nearly misses his head.
"Then what are we supposed to do!?" Tang shouts, still in his crouched position behind the acrumbled bookshelf. The rumbling got worse and worse as more pieces started to fall.
"I don't know, but we have to do something!" Allan shouts as he stands up. "We have to go back to the entrance!"
"What!?" Tang shouts, alarmed. "But that's in their fighting path! We might get hit with all those extra ceiling bits crashing down, or worse!"
Allan doesn't say anything in response, just staring at the exit. Tang can't focus, only taking in panicked breaths. But, what can they do? They don't have any protection or powers to get through that. It'll take a miracle to survive!
Tang looks up at the cracked ceiling that's slowly caving in closer and closer. But, if they stay here...
Another sword slash hits the wall above them, having it crack at an alarming degree.
He looks back to Allan. "If we do this, we have to go right now!" Allan's eyes widen before shifting to a look of determination.
Allan grabs Tang's arm again before bolting, trying his best to dodge the falling debris and attacks from the fight in the middle. Him and Tang gained small cuts and bruises from the rocks they couldn't dodge, one certain chunk hitting Tang straight in the shoulder, but they kept running.
They jumped through the splintered frames and piles pieces of wall, ducking under odd stick-outs from the walls or collapsed building. His glasses got cracked from being snagged when ducking under debris, but they still had to keep running. To make it back to the entrance.
When the light from the open doors reached their vision, Tang almost cried in relief. It was still a good bit away, but it was in their sights!
They kept running, even when their legs felt like they would fall off at any moment, when they felt like they were going off fumes.
The entrance was almost 20 feet away now. A small rumble from an attack, cracked pieces of the building falling down, the splinyered bookshelf frames blocking their way.
He was almost there. They were almost there! Tang couldn't believe it, but it was right in front of him-
'Stop.'
Tang faltered slightly, tripping over a piece of drywall, but recovered quickly.
'Stop running' 'There's danger!' You have to stop'
Oh great, now they're back and trying to get me killed-
'STOP' 'YOU HAVE TO STOP' 'HE'LL KILL YOU' 'STOP NOW' 'STAY THERE' 'STOP RUNNING' 'STOP STOP STOP STOP-'
Tang jerked his arm away from Allan, stopping in his tracks and reaching to his head. Allan ran a good few feet ahead of him before stopping and turning back to yell. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
Suddenly, the ceiling had been struck a final time, sending most of it to the floors below. Tang stared in horror as he saw it fall near the entrance. "ALLAN-"
But he was too late. Allan started to run again, but he was too far away from the entrance to get out in time. Rubble filled Tang's vision before he could see what happened.
"Allan!" Tang shouted as he tried to run towards the entrance. But the next part of the ceiling suddenly collapsed, sending straight for where he was.
Tang could only try to take refuge in the dark corners of the library, against the wall holding his head in his hands.
He could hear his heartbeat in his ears, pumping erratically as he took uneven breaths. He knew he was shaking as tears rolled down his face.
Tang didn't know how long he was in that position for, only focusing on his breathing and trying to avoid the falling pieces of ceiling...
Wait. His breathing slowly steadied as he came to realize everything was silent. No rumbling, no breaken glass or large thuds from falling debris, no sounds of a fight or falling books.
He slowly raised his head to his surroundings. He was completely encased in broken bookshelves and broken pieces from the walls and ceiling. Slivers of light shine through the holes to his small area of refuge.
He was almost completely unharmed, except for the throbbing pain in his left shoulder and head. All he could hear from outside honking horns and a strong breeze flowing through the wreckage.
Tang just put his head back into his arms, letting tears roll down in this complete silence. He really didn't know what he did to deserve this.
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Tang au Drabbles
This au won the poll, so enjoy this little drabble of the au!
Now, I haven't seen any of season 4, so some things might seem a bit weird.
Tang isn't aware that he can use magic. Any magical event that happens around him he chalks up to being tired, blaming it on something else like "the wind", or think it was a part of Mk's training and ignored it.
These magical "outbursts" have been happening for a while, but just got more frequent after defeating the lady bone demon. Tang tried to tell Pigsy and Mk about it, but they told him not to worry about them and said they were probably just coincidences.
Tang is more self-conscious about himself now than in the actual show. "Benched" got to him more, and he doubts himself, his place in the gang, and his self-worth frequently.
The gang stopped trying to invite tang to events or hangouts a while ago. He's usually the last person people think about or isn't mentioned at all. This is because Mk is usually to busy with Mei or Wukong, Mei is either with Mk or Red son, Pisgy is just in the shop for the most part, Sandy usually stays in his boat, and no one else really cares or wants to interact with him on their own accord.
Because of this, he's had more time to himself and his studies. He mostly reads about myths, about the Great Monk Tripitaka, or about the spells The Monk used. He tries to learn more about his past self but is usually left empty handed. He doesn't go to Wukong because he doesn't really like Tangs presence and Tang knows that. He's also pretty hard to find.
Tang, having less activities and shenanigans happening around him, starts to improve his body. He isn't muscular or anything but he did get better endurance and flexibility over the months after the lady bone demons defeat. This is because of his mindset that he shouldn't be useless anymore and should prepare for anything to happen around him. This also causes him to have better reflexes.
Tang has long hair! He grew it pout mainly because he didn't bother cutting it and no one really commented it had gotten longer because they hadn't really paid attention to him. He usually keeps it in a braid.
Tang has wanted to teach in a university for a while now. He's always had one in mind but stayed because his friends were here and he didn't want to leave them. But now since they don't really pay attention, or listen to him anymore, he doesn't think him leaving will change anything.
Macaque hasn't been seen in forever. Nobody really knows where he went or where he is now. Wukong looks from time to time but it isn't a main priority to him.
Tang has been working in a library all this time to save up lodging near his dream university, plane tickets to get there, and to pay pigsy back for all the noodles he ate. He has an apartment near the library that doesn't really have any decor (except for piles upon piles of borrowed books) because he doesn't plan on staying very long.
This is basically all that's happened before tang tried to get to the airport and crashed into a small city. I hope this was okay and leave any notes if you want to hear more about it!
(Also, I still don't have an ao3 account but I'm hoping to change that soon! I'll try to post the first chapter as soon as I get the account)
I give thee, more Tang doodles!
I put more effort into this as it's more like a character sheet than anything. I also made a weapon design I am happy with! I think it fits Tang well. (also, don't mention how drastically inconsistent my style is. It just morphs whenever I try to draw this guy I guess)
Also, here are some close-ups of the writing. If you can't read my chicken scratch, then it is listed under the images.
Image 1: Wrapped hands
You don't wanna know how long this man(?) spent annotating this thing
Image 2: weapon from dead friend
Oooo, spooky
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