I've been watching Hazbin Hotel in prime. Just watched episode 5 and I gotta ask
Why, oh, WHY DON'T I SEE MORE PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT "MORE THAN ANYTHING" WHEN TALKING ABOUT THE HAZBIN HOTEL MUSIC???
Like I get it, the song before it "Hell's Greatest Dad" Is a bop reminiscent of other music from the era its parodying. I loved it.
BUT why are you only putting clips of that song when this MASTERPIECE comes a few minutes after
I honestly don't even know where to begin with this song. The visuals are beautiful, especially when we get moments like this where you can just see the absolute LOVE this man has for her daughter is so sweet and Heartwarming I just-
The voices are fenomenal but what else can you expect from the broadway talents of Erika Henningsen and Jeremy Jordan.
There is also the whole Symbolism with passing the baton to the next generation and stuff. I- I can't even get into the specifics right now Im too emotional.
But above all else THE LYRICS
ESPECIALLY THAT LAST ONE
"I'M GRATEFUL YOU ARE MY DAUGHTER/FATHER MORE THAN ANYTHING"
DO YOU WANT ME TO CRY?? CAUSE I AM. I AM BAWLING MY EYES OUT RIGHT NOW.
It's just so fucking beautiful man. Probably the best song I will hear all year. Obviously my favorite from Hazbin.
I thought the early 2000s "strong yet naked/mostly naked woman kept in her place by stronger, bigger, beast/monster or gang of racist caricatures" trope* was known by basically everyone but I mentioned it as a criticism of this older art book I'd flipped through recently to a friend and it turns out it isn't lol Maybe I've just read too many Heavy Metal issues... It used to be HORRIBLY inescapable in any sort of mature art scene back in the day lmao
*This trope is different from the pre-2000s one because the women usually look like they COULD fight back for at least a little bit whereas the previous trope had them be completely helpless damsels in distress
My Synopsis: Tang Hanqiu has finally managed to free herself from the control of her system after throwing herself off the edge of a building in her first life. On the other side, Yu Rubing has discovered that her system is a little bit more stubborn with her refusal to play along. When the fated "love rivals" meet, they both take it as a chance to finally thwart the beings trying to control their lives, but will they successfully escape the shackles of systems hellbent on charting out their life course?
My Actual Review: As the first and currently only baihe that I have read, finished, and thoroughly enjoyed, I absolutely love this story. Yu Rubing is a character that takes no shit from the moment she wakes up as the protagonist, and her team-up with Tang Hanqiu matches both of their energies so well. Also, the romance is so perfect. I must say I am a sucker for characters who realize their affections early on and get together before the final arc of the story. The surprise (surprise?) villain was honestly kinda terrifying when paired with the rules of the world(s) that the characters were unknowingly living under, and I hope that the author writes another novel set in this very same universe because the drama behind the system was fascinating. Also, loved the extras! I love when the main couple has children! I feel like I should add this as a content warning, but both MCs commit suicide multiple times throughout the story but as ways to escape the control of the system and not as an expression of a wish to die.
The translation is alright. It's a little clunky in places, and I was definitely annoyed by translation notes that just felt like I was being walked through every single metaphor (even ones that are common in English!) but it is by far one of the better-quality translations to read.
Dragon!Merlin being very polite and not at all aggressive towards humans, moving into a very nice abandoned fortress up in the hills there, a little confused by the fact the local villagers are offering him what little bit of treasure they have, but he would hate to be rude by refusing them and he does like shiny things, but why on earth they would give him a girl is beyond him, humans are too skinny for eating and taste funny besides, still, Gwen is very lovely and she reads to him (he can't hold books very well and his claws tear the pages when he tries to turn them, see) and she shows him how to cook so his food doesn't always taste the same, and so he lets her have as many of his Shinies as she likes and brings her flying with him (humans don't have wings, poor things) but here, now, why is there a knight in his den waving a sword about, it's not nice coming into someone's home without being invited, no, of course he hasn't eaten Gwen, whyever would he do that, what is a 'prince' and why should that mean he can't be squashed, Gwen, oh fine, he'll live, even if he is very rude, coming uninvited into someone's home bold as brass and trying to take his treasures away even though they were gifts, oh, well, now, that is some very shiny chainmaille, and the way the light plays on his golden hair is rather fetching, stop squawking, nobody's going to be eaten, come sit down, Gwen is going to read a story about a giant and a witch, put the sword down and be quiet and listen, dinner comes after stories, the boar has been roasting all day, a while longer won't hurt, this 'prince' makes a fine treasure, doesn't he, what a splendid addition to his hoard, of course he's staying, no, he does not know what a 'king' is and does not care what he should think, hush and listen, it's time for stories.
(( human!Lucifer absolutely has a pug named Malcolm that just chills in his office while he works. It is spoiled rotten and is the bane of every intern doomed to take it on a walk because it will look at you with absolute disinterest. The only one it listens to is Leviathan but only because he sometimes takes it in his arms and it's cozy. ))
every time i open jorge lorenzo’s instagram there is some new batshit crazy stuff he posted, it’s a joy every time, the man is a motogp legend, and he decided it wasn’t enough, he needed to defeat every other corny millennial man alive by exclusively following women and posting dude bro advice
this is so funny to me because honestly I have no clue what he posts on instagram beyond what gets reported on motogp news sites or (more commonly) what crosses the pond to reddit, but can't say I'm surprised... I don't use instagram myself so I have no clue what these men actually do on there lol. these days I am getting further updates on their activities via tumblr! quite glad not to be directly experiencing a lot of it!
anyway yeah that does all sound very... him. kinda reminds me of that 2013 controversy where monster energy did this thing where they made a video of him showing off his mansion filled with bikini-clad models. the video ended up being taken down, it was seen as tasteless both given spain's economic situation and... y'know, the gender of it all. and jorge does have an... interesting approach to social media in general. also definitely the most opinionated of the retired aliens these days! casey probably comes in second and he does have a lot of thoughts about many things, but generally speaking it's not QUITE as relentless as it is with jorge. he's really missing a bit of a filter lol, there's an entire career arc here where when he was younger he was all about finding himself and establishing a character and explaining to the world who he really was, before getting burned by the world and being way more closed off for quite a few years, before retiring and relaxing a bit and sharing everything that comes to his head. for better or for worse. he may be cringe but at least he's free
Is Human Steven the type to get jealous or upset about what someone does in a dream of his? Like him not activelly using his dream powers but like having a bad dream like idk... something that's clear as day to him that it was a nightmare and not someones inner most desires.
( He would understand that it's a bad dream so he has no one to blame but himself. But that doesn't mean he wouldn't get upset with himself, and he'd have to double check what happened in his dream didn't happen in real life, so his girlfriend had to come over and comfort him.)
Turns out that my former therapist, with whom I had a contentious and miserable temporary ending a year ago and who planned/promised to contact me when she came back to practice after being on leave, gave a presentation on behalf of *my* organization last month without telling me.
I don't know whether she just thought I wouldn't find out? Or what? But I am so totally fucking enraged.
The thing about it being my Midwestaversary is like.... sometimes I wonder if I really was that unhappy in Colorado?
Yes. The answer is absolutely yes, and I hated it almost from the very first day. Like I look at Facebook memory posts and even within the first few months I was like, "I hate it here, why the fuck did I move here?" And I stayed there EIGHT YEARS. I've lived in 6 different states and even though I have lots of mental health issues so I'm never really happy, and I have mixed feelings about a lot of the places I've lived in, I've never been as miserable as I was in Colorado. And even though I knew it was bad I didn't realize exactly how traumatic it was until I left. I've been back twice and both times ended up crying because I didn't want to be there. That's.... probably not normal lol.
So like, is my life going well? Not at all lol. Would I say I'm happy? Probably not, because my work situation is shit and I'm a little lonely here (and also the aforementioned mental health shit). But I'm a million times happier where I am now than I was there. I fucking love the midwest so much. Special shoutout to @thebrideofcaliban and her husband for getting me the fuck out here.