It has been a bit, but my extended writing session for November really took precedence over a lot of other activities. I apologize for that. But I'm hoping some of you are at least eager to hear about my creative process and thoughts on five more chapters of RJ's adventures. And I'm sure it will answer at least a few of your questions regardless. So, let's get started.
Needy Thingies and Killer Jukeboxes: RJ's dreams can be very vividly screwed up when he lets his imagination get away from him. This done mostly to set up where RJ's headspace is. His friends appear try to reassure him that he shouldn't be so worried. Vaggie appears to symbolize his most direct fear, Charlie his greatest hope, and the Vees present the nightmare scenario. That somehow, someway, RJ will be a danger to the people he cares about. Additionally, Green Eyes was supposed to appear again, but given how we had gotten so much explicitly dark imagery already, as the need to remind folks of what we're in for, the monkey demanding his paw back felt appropriate. Maybe we'll see a Green Eyes hallucination another time.
One person really liked that Niffty keeps an audio log of RJ's screams. While we'll get more into Niffty during chapters 18-19, it's important to note that this was a continued setup for that. Niffty genuinely enjoys being around RJ and stuff like this, in her mind, is endearing. Of course friends record each other's screams for keepsakes. After all, Alastor does it all the time.
He might be a bad influence on her.
Speaking of Alastor, lets get to the meat of this chapter, Alastor's relationship with RJ. How would I describe it? They're not friends, they're not rivals, they're not enemies. RJ hates Alastor and distrusts him. Alastor, however, likes RJ well enough, but only as a potential tool. The best I can call them is Fren-antagonists. As if they're on the same side... for now. But Alastor has his own motives and uses for RJ, whereas our Dragon would very much rather be left alone.
I guess you can say Alastor is a lot like Q to RJ's Picard, (Which would probably annoy him, RJ prefers Kirk or Sisko) with the Radio Demon being a more direct devil on RJ's shoulder. And here it becomes more apparent.
Given how Alastor acted in season 2, with his epic rage baiting play to break his chains and position himself to look like the hero, I suppose its apt that I present Al as having, you know, plans. I'm honestly shocked more people didn't seem to realize that Al was playing Vox the entire season. It was kinda obvious. And here, I did something similar. Al was playing RJ, using him to get Vox off his ass for a bit. Not because he was worried, but because he was annoying him. And at the same time, he tried to corrupt RJ just a little, intent on convincing him that he can be of use even with his curse. Which essentially means he can be of use to Al. Because Alastor just sees everyone as a tool.
And in RJ he at least sees someone he can instill the proper immorality in, eventually, to make him some of a protege. Not really an apprentice, because that's too affectionate a term. He just wants to make RJ a violent little monster he can use when necessary. Which is probably why he's playing demented matchmaker with him and Charlie at times... that and because he finds it funny to fuck with him.
This brings us to "Sinister" my parody song of "Popular", which incidentally came back in vogue late last year around this time when "Wicked" first half released. Crow is owed some credit for this, as he was suggesting I add a parody version of another Wicked song. Frankly it sparked an idea to use "Popular" as Alastor's song... with a ton of changes to make it something else. "Sinister" was the result, as it was the only world that matched what I wanted for the song.
Writing the lyrics proved to be a challenge, Crow found I had to cut some words to actually make it match the lyrical tune and syntax. That line with "Bosom Buddy" was tricky, as I was trying to capture how the song does a clever rhyming bit as it switches to the next line. I was mostly focusing on the visuals to match the lines, as I wanted to make this very easy to follow. That's how I try to make all these musical sequences, as if I'm describing a storyboard so it's easier for the readers to see what is happening in their mind.
The Sinistar joke was something I was pretty proud of honestly, just as a little extra old gamer joke.
I just like the juxtaposition here. In "Popular", a bubbly cheery character is trying to make someone look pretty. Whereas Alastor here is just trying to corrupt RJ's moral outlook and make him into a little henchman. Susceptible to his influence and more willing to make a deal with him. And he's pretty confident he gets RJ there without really forcing it to happen. Which was the real whole point of their outing.
The Curiosity Shop was the heart of this chapter, the main setting I based it around. Since we were talking all about curses, it made the most sense to set this part of the story in a place where we so often run into cured objects in fiction. I played on a few classic tropes and cursed items for them, the main inspiration being the basement in "Cabin in the Woods" but I found references to the very concept of a store that sells cursed items everywhere. I went back to the well for this one particularly, Morris' name is actually a reference to the original "Needful Things" story that basically popularized this sort of concept in fiction. And RJ brought up said story directly by mentioning "Gaunt" by name, the owner of the titular shop itself.
Coming up with items that are cursed in different ways is honestly pretty fun, and explains why there are so many of these kinds of stories out there. Cursed objects just make great story macguffins, but they're so important to the plot that they don't feel nearly as interchangeable or disposable. You could technically have something other than a monkey toy kill people, but it's not as visually striking, nor is it as interesting to have something other than a creepy child's toy murder people. The seemingly innocent nature of the thing is what makes it interesting.
There's probably too many direct effects and objects associated with them to name from the fight sequence at the shop. I borrowed them from all over, from Hellraiser to Cabin in the Woods to Amityville 4, the one with the lamp. (I really wanted to make an allusion to that stupid fucking movie, just acknowledging it exists makes me laugh) That conch shell finale was directly referenced to Cabin. As was the Unicorn. The living doll was actually a little from Ash VS Evil Dead. The Locket was actually from Monster Prom a little. Like I said, I could go on. So let's focus on the one that was very clearly my own creation... the Killer Jukebox.
I came up with the concept at the same time I came up with the chapter. That RJ would find a Jukebox that killed anyone who played a song from it, using a method selected from its various records. Which it spells out very clearly with the messed up song titles. It really makes no effort to hide that it just likes to kill people. That's its one goal, to stand around, waiting for someone to play songs on it, and then kill them before the first chorus is out if it can. There's really nothing you can do unless you switch songs, and even then that just changes your death's method. I suppose if you could survive until the song is over it will leave you alone... but how do you survive your neck being snapped from an invisible force?
The idea of RJ using this thing as a shield and it getting every single one of Vox's goons killed whenever they hit the Jukebox instead of him was endlessly hilarious to me. As was the idea of happy, feel good songs being a source of very disturbing death. I really came to love the Killer Jukebox, which is why I was sad I ended up killing it off. I suppose Morris could fix it and I could bring it back some day. But part of me doesn't want to ruin a good dark and morbid joke like that. I do have to wonder what would happen if RJ put different tracks into the jukebox. Would it still be able to kill people? Or does it need those specific records? Who can say?
I'm rather glad that Season 2 of Hazbin basically confirmed that powerful demons, sinner or otherwise, can get in contact with the mortal plain. I know a bunch of people claim that Rosie is probably not a sinner, but I highly doubt that. It feels ridiculous to suggest she's literally someone else in disguise. There's nothing to suggest that Rosie isn't a sinner, just because she can make deals with the living. There hasn't been anything to suggest that they can't. I mean, they can get human TV down in Hell! It's not exactly hard to imagine they can contact the human realm.
But it was good for me because it suggested a place like this curiosity shop could exist in canon. That demons of all stripes would be after cursed artifacts. Either as status symbols, means to increase their power, or just ways to fuck with their enemies. I like to think, also, that hearing about what happened to those mediums with that radio is what got Alastor interested in the idea of using a similar method to contact the other side for his deal with Rosie. So finding that transistor board was really nostalgic for him in a way.
And then of course RJ breaks it, to prove he doesn't need Alastor. And frankly, given how Al reacted to Vox and views friendships in general, I guess his reaction is a lot more appropriate in hindsight. RJ rejecting Alastor's help and offer is a lot more in line with Alastor's expectations for him. So him approving of RJ's decision feels more in canon now than it did even when I wrote it.
Ultimately, I love writing Alastor. It's nice to have a not exactly villain character who mostly just loves to stir shit, but clearly has an agenda of his own. I suppose it's why I keep him close to RJ's orbit, even if the dragon doesn't want him nearby. Because RJ being so insistent he doesn't belong in Hell, and Al trying to prove to him that he's exactly where he deserves to be and should just enjoy it, is a fun little antagonistic relationship between the two. A good way to explore their dynamics and force RJ to question his outlook.
After all, while he doesn't like why Al is trying to teach him these twisted little lessons, he does find some use in them. So, while he's not stupid enough to be instantly corrupted by him, he can't help but find the truth in the middle of the really manipulative lessons are Al attempts to teach. Like I said, it's nice to show Al has plans for RJ, without completely making it all Alastor cares about. It makes for a lot of fun interactions.
Make it Pop!: One thing I really wanted to do by expanding the original first season of the show to portray the full six months it took for the Extermination to go down was to give a lot more arcs some extra time. That included Sir Pentious' relationship with Cherri. While I like what it is well enough, I admit it could've used some episodes dedicated to it beforehand. And this is my first of a few of those. And who better to help Pentious on his quest to woo his rival than RJ?
I'm glad a lot of what I assumed was why Pentious was in love with Cherri was proven accurate. Namely that he fell in love with how she made his life exciting and drove him to more impassioned attempts to be a better inventor. It's cute in my honest opinion, and exceedingly funny. So fine, I'm a CherriSnake shipper. What of it?
I felt RJ needed a song to start us off for this chapter, and taking Wander's "Ask Her a Question" song from "Wander Over Yonder" felt accurate enough to the situation. As that is the problem here, the really bad communication skills Pentious has concerning other people. And hey! Given he was an anti-social hermit for a long time, his lack of social awareness cues is canon. So, yeah, another win for me on a chapter written well before Pentious' storyline was revealed.
I've seen people wonder if Pentious will ever tell RJ the truth about some things, like how he didn't actually create the Egg Bois, he just took them away from Baxter. Or that he knew who Jack the Ripper was. I'm thinking Pentious isn't comfortable with that just yet, fearing RJ will think less of him for it. Plus, if RJ knows, it suddenly becomes a lot clearer from the outset how he got redeemed. We'll see how things shake out.
But let's talk about the big addition to the chapter now, the one that got quite a bit of interest from more than a few reviewers. That being... Ike.
Ikebert Hartlan is another original sinner and quite frankly the most ridiculous one. A United States Marine Veteran of the Korean War and CIA operative who participated in a number of their anti-communist black ops in Central America. Including the ones that involved deliberately subverting democratic elections and launching coups. Only to have him die as a result of his own government essentially bombing him with nukes several times, of which he volunteered to have it happen to him. Now Ike wanders Hell as a heavily armed Turtle intent on keeping Hell safe from Communist aggression, not realizing he's probably here for all the war crimes he committed, because he's an idiot.
I freakin' love Ike. And I'm glad others do too. He is basically the combination of various passions of mine, that being Cold War military history, guns of all flavors, and Communist Red Scare Paranoia. He is probably the closest I'll ever come to writing a Call of Duty character, as he is essentially a mashup of several from the Black Ops line of games from that franchise. He is an endless font of absolutely ridiculous statements, born purely out of the fact he's a complete deluded moron who sees anyone he doesn't like as a Communist. Even when they very clearly aren't one.
I guess he's the reverse GI Robot in that sense. Although, let's be fair here, he probably hates Nazis too. If only because they call themselves National Socialists. So clearly they're just like Communists, but on the Right!
I was trying to find a good place to introduce Ike, and decided this chapter was the best way to do so because, well, RJ and Pentious are building a weapon for Cherri. It's only makes sense to include him. Weapons are Ike's thing. Too much of Ike's thing. It made sense to include him and make him the catalyst that sets things in motion for the rest of the chapter. By having him be the guy who convinced RJ and Pentious to raid the Carmine reject vault.
Although Ike has many opinions which are very much wrong though, he isn't a complete monster. I had to make it clear that, while he's obviously done horrible things that basically make him deserve to be down in Hell, he's not completely awful. Nor do all his views match up with the standard of his time period. He doesn't hate gays or other ethnic minorities, and this is despite him being from Kentucky. He truly does believe in the promise of democracy, but he will just bend over backwards to explain this his version of it is what needs to be defended at all costs. He is irrationally hateful of anyone too far left of center, but he will make friends with people like RJ, who is clearly a progressive liberal at the very least, if they can find common ground.
That commonality being, RJ isn't exactly big on communism either, but mostly because they're usually dictators and oppressive states, not because of anything they actually try to advance policy wise.
Ike's design is also fairly unique, although he's basically a greener, smaller version of Blastoise, who wears a helmet and fires tank shells out of his guns, not water. I've actually drawn an image of Ikebert himself to give you all a better idea of what he looks like.
The fun thing about Ike is, because he's a Sinner, he doesn't have to obey the same strict logic Turtles do. So I can have multiple guns stored in his shell, as well as a series of tank treads. The shell essentially acts like a mix between Hammer Space and the TARDIS of Doctor Who fame. It's bigger on the inside, and Ike can find anything he wants fairly quickly. I know this is not how turtles actually function in the world, but RJ is a cartoon, and a demon, so he can get away with being ridiculous.
I was hopeful he would be received well, especially since he'll be showing up again soon and more frequently, as will all the original sinners RJ has collected into his orbit.
This chapter also marked the return of the Heavenly Eye, giving more backstory to what exactly they are. We know they're a cult, but now we know they're a twisted Christian-esque cult that adopts their imagery, but has a strange pagan-like twist to it all. It feels contradictory in some respects, but that's sorta the point, a fact that will be made more clear... hmmm, around New Years, give or take.
Stickly is indeed a little inspired from the character of a similar name from Cuphead. But his voice isn't nearly so annoying and he isn't nearly so much of an obstacle. He's just a paper pusher who plays by the rules. I wanted to better showcase who the Heavenly Eye are, and better present WHY they're a problem. They claim to be revolutionaries, but they are not standing up for the parts of Hell's caste system that need liberation the most. The imps are basically worthless to them, at least in terms of their actual value as living beings. It gets worse of course.
The fight scene in the vault was also fun to write, both because it enabled all three of my characters to work together, and for Ike to reveal he actually has a degree of PTSD that is probably driving his delusions to an extent. That and I got to include more robots to smash. It's really useful to have robots established in universe, fully autonomous actual robots. Because that means I can just have those show up whenever I want to switch up the fights. And not feel so guilty about having them get murdered by RJ because they're fucking robots, who cares?
But the real show stopping fight was Cherri's against the Heavenly Eye, set to DJ Paranoid's "Pop!" the only song that I felt really fit the scene. I wanted a song that felt like Cherri, and after attempting so many other candidates, I just decided "Pop!" made the most sense. I'm glad Cherri actually has a song of her own now, but I wrote this before that and I don't think it would've fit here anyway. It was also nice to have someone else actually go to town on the bad guys and not have to rely on RJ's dragon skills to save the day. I never want to make it seem like RJ can do it all on his own, because that would be boring. I want to see the other characters get their share of the spotlight too. And that includes ones like Cherri who probably deserved more of it in season one but couldn't have it due to time constraints.
Also, it was a nice way to properly show RJ that his expectations for how to make things work for Pentious need some adjusting. Mainly in that his priorities were somewhat skewed. He wanted to have this work out for Pentious, yes, but mainly as a way to boost his own confidence that things could out between him and Charlie. And whole that's not a terrible outlook or even that selfish, it wasn't the best mindset to go into this adventure with because it skewed RJ's expectations. Luckily, it worked out and RJ did apologize to Pentious over it, even it was a small thing. But understanding that part of his insecurity and confronting it is what helped him finally open his profile page. Finally completing the last tab from his menu that was still blocked off.
I am considering writing out a full chapter that just serves as a list of RJ's various powers, perks and skills up until the current point in the story. Something like an interlude if you will that will better showcase RJ's overall progress and be a good means of referencing back to things every time something changes. But I've been so busy with actual chapters to write I've kept putting it off. Maybe some time in the future though. Never know.
All Aboard!: Niffty Adventure! This was one story I REALLY wanted to get to. Mainly because it would enable me to have RJ play the ultimate straight man to Hell's craziest maid. I've alluded to a lot of what Niffty and RJ's full dynamic would be... and this was my way of finally exploring it. Sticking them into a situation where they need to rely on one another. Which is hard to do since... well Niffty is insane and RJ is a nervous wreck who is terrible at socializing, so placing them into any situation is bound to end badly in some respects.
One aspect of the chapter though was also explaining why the Deadly Sins aren't stepping in to help Charlie, and my reasoning is that they wanted to influence her vision too much. So she explained she wanted to stand on her own with her dream and prove that she could do this. And prove to her dad that she was not a failure and was worth believing in. So if you're wondering why none of the Sins showed up at any time in season one, there it is.
And I still believe that Charlie thinks of Bee as her favorite aunt due to the fact they are both highly generous and adore their respective people. I also cannot believe, for a second, given how similar they are in terms of their empathy and compassion, that Charlie would EVER consider Imps and Hellhounds as beneath her. If Bee doesn't, why would Charlie? If her father hates Sinners but Charlie wants to save them, why would see agree with the rest of the caste system her likely set up? This is something I'll get into another time, but the idea of Charlie being racist against Imps and Hellhounds is such an obvious load of bullshit that is so out of character for her, I feel the headcannon borders on character assassination, if not is that outright. It makes no sense for Charlie, princess and sheltered as she is, to see Hellhounds and Imps as beneath her if she completely disagrees with her father about the value of sinners. That's frickin stupid.
Back to my main point, Charlie's relationship with the other members of her extended family, IE the Deadly Sins, is something I'm most looking forward to seeing in future seasons of both Hellaverse shows. Now that season 2 is done, the last season animated before the Hellaverse copyright issues were sorted, that wall is completely broken. And even then, they still shoved in plenty of background cameos to the Sins in one form or another. I fully believe Bee is going to show up at some point at the hotel and her interaction with Charlie is the one I'm excited most for. But more on Bee later, this is all just to say I wanted to set up what I really hoped to see between Charlie and her aunts and uncles when we get around to them.
Speaking of relationship, this chapter enabled me to let RJ and Niffty have an actual conversation. One that gave more insight into Niffty as a character and why she seems to hang around RJ so much despite not being attracted to him. Essentially, she knows RJ gets into fun crazy stuff, messes, which she gets to be involved in and clean up. Niffty seeks out excitement, she searches for chaos and inserts herself into it. This is probably why she is with Alastor, even if, as the final episode of the second season suggested, she is actually an overlord herself. She is perfectly finally being subservient to him, even clearly considering him a friend, so long as it allows her to get into insane situations. Where she'll have messes to clean, bugs to kill and bad boys to punish. RJ is like that, but she gets a bit more control because RJ isn't exactly a domineering personality.
Another thing this chapter enabled me to do was offer an explanation as to WHY Sinners don't try to go to other rings. There's never been a specific reason stated in the franchise. Both series just blanket state Sinner's can't leave Pride. My reasoning for this is its a rule set down by Lucifer to keep them from harming and infecting the rest of Hell with their bullshit. Honestly, probably his smartest decision. But given Sinners are what they are, I doubt they would listen unless they were basically forced to. Now, Lucifer might not be able to do anything to Sinners himself... but the Deadly Sins and their court are not bound by the same rules. So my theory is this, along with some magical protections and security methods, the big reason sinners don't attempt to escape Pride is simple: If they leave, if they break the one rule that matters, they will be dragged in front of the Court of Sins... and essentially tried for the crime, receiving a punishment that could be worse than death. If not death itself. And sinners are many things, but they aren't crazy enough to risk final death just to see what else Hell has to offer.
So yeah, that's my theory for how sinners are kept in Pride. Satan has to use those reaper dudes for something, right? It can't just be to terrorize the imps.
I think people forget, honestly, that sinners aren't very high up on the totem pole themselves down in Hell. Lucifer sees them as "garbage" he admitted it himself. So I doubt they're very well respected by a certain group of Hellborn that we know he at least cares about, the Ars Goetia. Whom this chapter also introduced. Writing this group of ridiculous self-important and hilariously unhinged rich people is honestly fun to do, but it takes a whole new meaning when it involves nobody's favorite scorned wife and everybody's favorite little emo bird.
Stella's introduction was long hinted at from beyond just being a one off Cameo in chapter 9. That plot point comes full circle, fitting the chapter's theme of RJ's actions having consequences that he can rarely predict. Stella is perfectly terrible in my eyes. By that I mean she is just plain awful in the best way for a writer's standpoint. I can have so much fun with this absolutely pompous impulsive idiot. Even her voice is perfect, because she's just so horrible!
In all honestly, I feel like I'm in the middle on Stella. I don't believe she hates Octavia, for one, I do think she is using her to an extent to hurt Stolas, but I doubt she hates her. Moreover, I do feel that there is more to her story than just being a spiteful harpy, but at the same time she is who she is. The Hellaverse has made it very clear that even terrible people (Like Vox) have motives for their actions that can be understandable, even if you can't sympathize with them. My depiction of Stella follows along this line, she has every right to be angry at Stolas, but let's be clear... she's not angry because she's hurt, she's angry because Stolas fucked an imp and embarrassed her as a result. If he fucked another Ars Goetia, she probably wouldn't care. She's not the one suffering here as a result of Stolas' actions and RJ's interaction with her makes that even more obvious. She's getting a nice train ride for something that isn't even Stolas' fault and she still complains about it while belittling anyone she sees as inferior.
She's not a nice person. But she's not outright monstrous, just generally awful.
If anyone is paying the price for this very messy divorce, it's the other HB characters guest star, Octavia. Poor little Via. Stuck in the middle of a loveless marriage and very confused and angry at it all. I wanted to show her trying to defend Stolas a little here though, because I think people are being unfair to her at times. Octavia doesn't hate her dad, she just doesn't know what to think about him now. When you're the product of a marriage your father never wanted, what does that mean for you? Are you actually loved, or do they see as something they're obligated to love?
I think that's why Octavia is so surprised by RJ's actions in this chapter. A sinner, considered some of the lowest of demon kind down in Hell, only slightly above the imps and hounds, came back to save her. To save a bunch of Ars Goetia that, frankly, did not treat him or Niffty all that well. RJ was there for Octavia in a way I think she wishes her dad was. Although to be fair, I'm sure if Stolas heard that his daughter was being held hostage he'd have gone full psycho bird on anyone and everyone to get her back. But RJ just got there first, mainly because he was closer and because he felt responsible. And Octavia picked up on that. Hell shouldn't breed that sort of empathy and good Samaritanship. And RJ is a Sinner, as far as Octavia knows, they're supposed to be horrible people.
I think it's safe to say that, for Via, it's nice to know someone else out there cared enough to help her.
But of course, that brings us to why she needed help to begin with, Striker! Finally living up to what everyone expected him to be. Although still keeping him within his actual characterization. As he admits, RJ's stunt with Vaggie convinced him he needed to think bigger if he was ever going to prove he mattered. That he was stronger and superior to his kind and even the sinners and overlords of Pride. So as a result of their meeting, he takes on a job of his own that's considerably bigger than he'd probably be willing to do normally.
And that required him getting a gang of fellow lowlifes quickly so... eh, I guess you can chalk this loss up to him being on a crap schedule.
It was nice to finally bring Striker back after such a long absence. I never want to overdo it with one specific villain, so it's nice to have a diverse lineup. While it's obvious that some are going to be a bigger problem than others, it's good to give them different forms. For Striker, it's important to not have him pop every single time RJ is out and about. He wants revenge, but he's not going to rush straight into it. Striker can be patient because he has bigger fish to fry. He wasn't even expecting RJ to show up on this one, and is mostly annoyed he does. So, if he wasn't on the shit list before, RJ probably just earned it by making a mess of things here.
By the way, I liked doing the Looney Tunes-esque jokes for this chapter. Given one of the visual inspirations for RJ is Wille E. Coyote to an extent, specifically how his snout and expressions work somewhat, it feels appropriate to reference that when permitted in these chapters. The most egregious one being RJ and Niffty in the explosives car, where there's an explanation for why RJ's eyes light up, but none for Niffty. Because it's funnier that way. As was the imp accidentally blowing them up.
At least that gave me an excuse for RJ to get hit in the wing and taken out of action for a while. I just couldn't have him flying to get back to the train so soon, not until he had that talk with Niffty that re-affirmed his personal values and why he feels so responsible.
A small unfortunate cut takes place here. I originally intended for this barn to be owned by Millie's family, allowing RJ to meet them, Sallie Mae included. However, due the chapter running long and the simple fact that was piling up the coincidences to enable this many guest stars, I decided to cut it. Sorry Sallie Mae fans, maybe some other time. Sometimes, you just have to kill your darlings to make a story work.
The Imp literally walking out of the car on a dare was also another great joke, best illustrating how stupid Striker's gang was and why he prefers to work alone. It also effectively set up how RJ was going to take out the rest of the imps, by basically not playing by their rules and overwhelming them. They already don't think it's a smart move to go outside the train. (That was a gag from Archer by the way, but I felt Niffty finding RJ's pain hilarious and wanting to experience it herself helped to separate it from it a little) So RJ is able to use their less than imaginative thinking and his own draconic talents to out maneuver them. They're not smart enough to adapt to a sinner fighting back the way Niffty and RJ fight.
This was a crazy fight sequence by the way, depicting RJ scuttling along the train cars, in and out of them, in a fairly animalistic manner as he's doing a lot of this on all fours. That's the thing about RJ's fighting style, he's more effective when he just embraces the animal a little. Although it helps Vaggie has been teaching him combat moves for a while by this point. I actually view this scene as one long tracking shot up until Striker arrives. If only because it's more visually appealing to me that way.
I guess picking Crazy Train was a bit obvious given the circumstances, but the lyrics oddly match, given they sound a bit like an answer to Striker's personal worldview. So, it worked out. And again, it was written well before Ozzy Osbourne's sudden and tragic death, so I don't feel comfortable making a dedication to it. But as a consolation, I'm glad that, in some way, my chapter got to be a tribute to him. Unintentional as it was.
Then of course there was the fact this chapter was actually secretly a two parter. Where we ended off with our pair of sinners stuck in Gluttony. For some reason this weirded a few people out, despite me explaining how my depiction of how this sort of thing works. I very clearly stated that sinners could leave Pride if they wanted to, but if they did they'd be in serious trouble if they were ever caught. Everyone seemed to think that the second they left Pride everyone should've known what they were doing. But I don't think that makes sense because if that was the case... wouldn't they have just known that IMP weren't authorized to be visiting Earth?
Point is, this and the next chapter are a very simple literary device. We are given a rule about the universe setting, then we ask, what if we broke that rule. Sinners aren't allowed outside of Pride, what would happen if some sinners left Pride by accident and had to find a way back? This was my attempt to answer that.
Which leads us into...
Party with the Queen: This was the whole point of getting us down to Gluttony, to give RJ, and Niffty, a different view of Hell. One that is very different from the Hell they know. Gluttony, from what we've seen, is not nearly as desolate and harsh looking as the rest of the place. It actually kinda looks nice. Maybe not Heaven nice, but certainly better than Pride. And when you think about how Sinners aren't allowed to leave Pride, it does raise the question: Even if they are considered lower on the totem pole... are Hellhounds and Imps really so bad off if they have other options? Well, that's a question to discuss further another time, but for the moment, it does represent a certain conflicting interest for our heroes. An honest question of how unfair the current system of Hell really is.
Mostly though this chapter is RJ panicking and Niffty not being able to take anything seriously until she spies a potential hygienic problem that sets her OCD off. So it made for some great back and forth. It was honestly here where the chemistry between the two of them seriously took off and I realized just how absolutely gold the gremlin and the dragon were together. Niffty is too much for any one person to handle and RJ is very desperate to wrangle her out of fear for their collective lives. So he's trying really hard to work with someone he doesn't see as reliable, while Niffty is... being herself. Which can be, as established, a lot.
All the same they can and do work together, which RJ was honestly hoping they could manage as they do have to live with one another. The bush disguise was one of those situations where they had too cooperate. Partially inspired by in American Werewolf in London having a hellpup confront Niffty and RJ while in disguise was some good fun. Especially with how ridiculous it got as the conversation kept going on. Just a solid gag for me, especially with the punchline at the end with the mother.
Before you ask, yes RJ dressing up like a Australian Cattle Dog was a bit of a Bluey Reference. Generally because I just needed a dog that looked like something a dragon could disguise themselves as and I didn't want to do a German Shepard. That's way too easy. I sorta wish I had RJ in his hellhound disguise, if only because I think it looks funny in my head and I wish more people got to see it like I did.
The Party Patrol dog blocking the way for RJ and Niffty's entry was a good chance to show the two of them working together, even if only in a minor imperfect way. Niffty managing to keep up with RJ's backstory lie was a good indicator that she's not always so scatterbrained. And it gave us an opportunity for Vortex to step in and help. Cause he's a cool guy like that. It was also a small step towards RJ getting his meeting with Queen Bee herself.
This leads us into the party, and more specifically... the Party Pack, the Hellhounds that befriend RJ and Niffty during their party crashing mission. They're almost like they're from an entirely different story, a slice of life fanfic about a group of Hellhounds who just want to have fun and let loose. They don't do anything super serious or get into the usual trouble, they're just party dudes. I almost wish someone would write this chapter from their perspective and how some random sinner showed up out of nowhere to upend their night.
Avery was the one I gave the most attention too, mainly to accomplish a few things. It added an extra obstacle for RJ to navigate, that being a girl being into him at the worst time. It gave him a bit of a taste of his own medicine, what with him being a lovesick simp for Charlie so often. And it better showcased that RJ is not some perverted sleazebag. That he won't take advantage of a woman who is clearly dealing with a lot of other shit, especially under false pretenses. Given what happened with CharAI, I think it was important to show RJ's personal values and growth here. That he's not going to be some horny protagonist from every other story of this type who will instantly seek gratification wherever it comes from.
Plus, it gives him a genuine connection to some hellborn without making it a sex thing, as well as allows him to see a bit of himself in someone like A very, who is clearly lonely and seeking companionship. Which justifies his position of not standing by when they threatened just a bit more, because he's gotten to know these hounds a little and is not a complete stranger to them.
It was nice to build out Bee's party scene a little more. We certainly saw a lot of it in her debut episode, but I imagined there was likely way more to it. This is gluttony, it's about indulgence, so I went with that theme when I laid out all the food at that buffet. Basically just packing it with every ridiculous junk food combination I could think of. Though I avoided anything with chocolate, because you know... dogs. They're a bunch of dogs, I don't think Bee wants to accidentally kill her guests.
Sometimes I'm given weird opportunities for hallucinations and I just take them. RJ doing a kegger and being struck with a vision of Charlie crossed with her aunt was an image I couldn't get out of my head. Setting it to "Sugar" was only a slight reference to the similar hallucinatory gag on the Simpsons. But only slightly.
Another reference though was the bomber, although he's a twofer! He's a combination of two characters actually, Mad Stan and the Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight, from Batman Beyond and Tick respectively. A lot of what the Bomber says is basically a combination of Stan's and Midnight Bomber's rantings. I also made him a beetle, similar in look and style to Midnight Bomber's appearance. If you're wondering how in the Hell Striker found this guy, he needed someone to blow the tracks to get the Carmine vault car diverted. And of course someone one to sabotage the additional security that would enable the train to be tracked into Wrath. It's not that hard to find someone with some explosives knowledge down in Hell I imagine, probably even easier to find someone crazy enough to want to head down into Gluttony to blow shit up.
Of course, this leads to Niffty revealing she's not trying to stop the bomber, she's trying to kill off the Hellhound flea infestation, prompting RJ to lose his cool and call her a mess. As a call forward to when Angel does it. And it's a major mistake on RJ's part, an unfortunate one that makes things even more difficult going forward and he'll very soon feel incredibly guilty over come by the chapter's resolution. But other than a funny call forward to a later episode, this was in keeping with my mission statement. For RJ to make mistakes and be in the wrong, even if it's understandable why he is. If RJ doesn't make a mistake, like getting short with a friend and not working with her neurodivergent behavior like he should, he won't learn anything.
This is what he did with Avery, she had a problem she was compensating for by flirting with him and he helped her see what she was doing wrong. But he didn't extend the same courtesy to Niffty and it caused him problems, whereas his kindness to Avery actually helped him in the end. So it better illustrated to RJ what he should've been trying to do with Niffty all along, which he thankfully does get before the fight with the bomber ends of course.
I was honestly extremely lucky here. "Monster's Ball" was the song I had always chosen for this chapter, as I did not want to ruin the uniqueness of "Cotton Candy." Would Bee really sing the same song every time she throws a party? Nah. No way. But Monster's Ball was sadly incomplete during the point I first wrote this chapter. Then, boom, we get the albums for both seasons of Helluva Boss with complete songs and all, "Monster's Ball" especially! So lucky! Because that meant I could actually fill up the entire fight sequence with the song rather than just a few random lyrics I had to craft myself. Honestly, the real lyrics are better, but if you want to know what I originally wrote...
“So So So Tell me what you Want! / Marshmallows in your Rum? / Ecstasy on your Tongue? / Live a Little while You’re Young! / Let Yourself Get Stung / In Queen Bee’s Hive of Fun! / Raise your Glasses High! / Don’t Get All Hamstrung!”
It was literally a single chorus break, like I said, I'm glad they released the whole song. At least I won't have to do this too often now that all the soundtracks are going to have proper releases.
The resolution of the bombs and RJ's fight with the Bomber was overall a fun sequence to pad out, as I rarely get to show RJ fighting another enemy in the air. There's not many enemies that can fly like he does and I sometimes have to find excuses for why RJ cannot fly (He's indoors, he's in a confined space, he's tied down, his wing is injured, etc.) so this was a nice opportunity to try that out. But Niffty being the one to save the day ultimately was my proudest moment. I almost wanted the beat to drop there be "Invaders Must Die", but I settled with alluding to it with Niffty's big speech. The flea bomb shorting out the timers for the bombs was always my idea, as it showed that Niffty's unique way of viewing the world should've been valued from the start. And honestly, RJ should've known better himself, given how he sees things.
But RJ learned his lesson here and gave Niffty the big old bug she wanted to murder. Good for her. And the Party Pack helped out too! Yay them! Only for Bee to show up and, while being grateful for the foam rave and all, very quickly sees through RJ's disguise. She can sense energy after all, she's an empath of sorts. So it didn't take long for her to figure out RJ was a sinner.
Luckily, RJ was right about Bee being a chill person, and she calms down as soon as she finds out Niffty and RJ know Charlie. Which leads into my portrayal of her for this chapter. While there certainly are questions one can ask about Bee's overall character, I do honestly believe she does care for her Hellhounds and the other small fry Hellborn, such as the imps. She wouldn't let them pal around at her Hive if she didn't in some way like them. So I went with her being a little bit of an easily distracted airhead, but not an idiot. I think Bee is pretty in-tuned with her own emotions and that of others, she feeds off them, which can affect her own vibe. Probably why she got mad at Loona after just wanting to help out with Blitz. But she can also let her emotions seemingly run wild a little, so she ends up thinking about other stuff, getting off topic a little. This also makes sense, since she sorta lacks impulse control, she is gluttony after all.
I did my best to replicate Bee's speech patterns along these lines, and it led to what I feel is a pretty accurate portrayal in my eyes. As she's clearly smart, emotionally savvy, but still rather lazy and uninterested in actual work. And she has no filter on her speech either, she says whatever runs into her mind. However, regardless of anything else, she does care about her family. It's clear she's chummy with Ozzie, and it's obvious enough she cares about Lucifer from what we've seen. I have to believe she's worried about how Charlie is dealing with her absent father, especially if even Mammon wants him back! (Probably just too mooch more ideas off of him, but still)
So having RJ and Niffty make friends with Beelzebub presented a great chance to get her involved in the story of Hazbin Hotel, without her completely overtaking it. RJ becomes her silent confident on the inside, making sure to keep her informed about what's going down at the hotel. That way, Bee can respect Charlie's wishes to stay independent, but also still be there for her. Because Queen Bee wouldn't want her favorite and only niece feeling like a failure.
The pneumo tube was mostly just me thinking of how the Sins would keep in contact with the other Rings over the centuries. And that sort of system feels like something Bee would enjoy. Plus it was just funny to think of RJ and Niffty getting sucked through a series of tubes.
Finally, RJ's apology to Niffty, this was really needed after everything because Niffty was the one who really helped RJ out in these chapters and she deserved the kudos for that. Kudos and more. So RJ just laid it out, that he does appreciate Niffty for who she is, doesn't want her to change, and believes that what she offers the world, weird and strange as it can be, is sorely needed. And that he's finally come around to her being his friend, even if she can be scary at times. Because no matter what else she is, Niffty is loyal, steadfast and true. And RJ knows better than most how important those kinds of friends are, and that the strange and weird people of the world have to stick together. Not push each other away.
It was a really nice moment to write, and I'm glad I could resolve at least one slightly less than ideal relationship of RJ's without the two needing to come to blows in some fashion to accomplish it. RJ just needed to accept Niffty for who she was and remember that, he's actually not that different from her.
The Scooby Chapter: I call Chapter 20 the Scooby Chapter because it was just my excuse to do a Scooby chase scene gag. That's really mostly it, I wanted to do an extended Scooby Doo reference.
Okay, there's more to this chapter than that, but it's best to get that out of the way.
So this was when RJ and Charlie finally had an actual "date" as she taught him how to play his guitar and sing. But of course, RJ thinks he's done something wrong and over corrects as he usually does. Honestly, when haven't we all done this. Although it also gave me a moment to have all the Hotel Residents talk it out with RJ and reveal their own preferences and musical tastes a little. That was a nice scene honestly. Especially given all the stuff that has gone down with everybody in the past few chapters.
Crow suggested the violin player for hallucination, but I made him catch on fire. I always have to go a little extra overboard.
I think the idea of Hell having the absolute worst sort of music tastes inspired that names of those bands that were using the studio Charlie rented out. When a major song on the radio is "Mustang Dong" I feel like there has to be someone who went WAY worse with their title tracks.
Picking the less violent songs was a little harder honestly, as it needed to be stuff I felt like Charlie would listen to or enjoy. The idea was that RJ was purposely picking songs he wouldn't listen to regularly, things that Charlie would like or he'd at least think she'd like. That wasn't easy, given that my own musical tastes don't usually skew towards, well, super happy and chill. But I did find some good songs, especially some that seemed to capture the theme of the chapter itself.
But I'm guessing you want me to talk about the return of that one character no one expected. Zygo, the jerk skull lizard thing from the opium den that got busted up. Yep, he came back, finally paid off that whole thing. I was hoping that pretty much everyone else forgot it was a thing, because if they did then it would sell the joke better of RJ not remembering this guy at all. And then Zygo being so obsessed with getting revenge that he's insulted that RJ forgot about him! I mean, come on, that's kinda annoying to deal with. Maybe he had a right to be angry.
His little holy charm might seem... somewhat cheesy. But given that one was used to keep Emberlynn safe from Blitzo until she rather stupidly removed it because of her monster fucker obsession, I felt like it wasn't too much of a stretch. Finding way to keep RJ from using his regular powers or even his weapons is sometimes kinda difficult, but at least I'm trying to go the extra mile there. Most Television shows will introduce a concept that suddenly makes everything super easy for their heroes... and then never mention or use it again because they don't want to be bothered with it anymore.
See The Flash... my God... just... holy crap did they forget things existed too often. You know establishing what you CAN'T do is more important than what you CAN do when it comes to powers and such. For example, I established that RJ's inventory is only accessible as long as he has his backpack with him. If he removes it, he loses access to it. I established that very specifically early on for just such an occasion when RJ would leave it behind thinking he didn't need it.
Don't create power cancelling cuffs and then not use them is what I'm saying. X-Men, a cartoon, made power cancelling slave collars in the 90s... they didn't forget them.
Right, anyway, selecting a song for that Scooby Doo chase sequence wasn't easy. I needed to figure out the exact sound I needed. I landed on the Monkees... because... that's the aesthetic. Monkees is basically Scooby Doo music honestly. That song felt the most appropriate to the chapter which is why it got picked. Honestly, I probably didn't even need to do that. Scooby Doo's chase sequences rarely had music that matched what was going on.
What did have to match was the gags, luckily there were quite a few to choose from. I hit upon all the classics, toppling stuff, hiding in containers, riding on something with wheels, dressing up and pretending to be inanimate object... and of course... doors. Oh those doors. No one can resist doing the doors. I just decided to put my own spin on it by having them be connected to a spell gone wrong to explain why they were doing what they were doing.
Hey, in a world where magic is real, it solves a lot of problems that don't make sense otherwise.
I hit upon the idea of why RJ was so adamant about not performing Rock N Roll in front of Charlie earlier on. Once he realized what he had been doing, it became clear to him why he suddenly felt so awful and stopped wanting to play his metal tracks. The simple fact was that since Adam was such an obvious hard rocker douchebag, that looking like him in anyway would be an instant turn off for Charlie. And the last thing RJ wanted to remind Charlie of when she looked at him would be Adam.
But of course, Charlie would never think of RJ is like Adam just because he plays rock music. Charlie clearly would want RJ to play the music he wants to play. It's why she selected "Put Your Record On" for her song, she was literally trying to tell him to just relax and be himself, because by now, Charlie knows RJ pretty well and is fine with him as is.
This revelation, that Charlie does like RJ's taste in music and in fact was excited to see him play some rock tunes, is the last bit of encouragement our dragon needs to actually put on some proper rock star threads and live his dream, if only for a little bit... and to save their skins. Dressing the two of them in rock outfits was certainly fun to write, as was their duet. I really struggled to find a good song that both fit the tone of the chapter and felt like something they would both sing together. But hey, can't go wrong with Lemmy, right?
Now Zygo pretty badly humiliated again when the rock show knocked him on his ass, and RJ's attempt to pull off his face backfired considerably, but honestly the worst thing he could've suffered was being forced to confront his bad attitude. Charlie going full aggressively kind therapist was inspired by a joke I read involving her being the final boss of therapy for a certain Radio Demon. I translated that here, just to give Charlie a proper win and show where her strength really lies. Not in punching bag guys or setting them on fire, but by making them talk about their feelings.
Zygo got so psychoanalyzed in that room that he basically came out deciding to follow Steve Martin's career path in "Little Shop of Horrors." THAT is a Charlie Morningstar victory if I've ever seen one. Mark my words, that's how it's gonna be at some point in one of these seasons. That's how she stops the big bad guy, with mother fuckign empathy... maybe after throwing down for a spell, but eventually empathy. That's why I had no problem with the Care Bear Stare, that was literally on point and one brand for Charlie. That's the leader she wants to be.
Well, that took me a while to set straight, but I got it all down. I hope when you see these notes, you'll enjoy the insight they had to share about my process and my thoughts on a few things narrative and show wise. Thank you all for reading and in the meantime stay tuned for more chapters of Dragon Me to Hell well into the new year! We got some exciting things coming up! Rest assured!
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