#they all have flaws and they've all made mistakes thats the POINT

[loaffofbred]

Hazbin Hotel: A rambled review

disclaimer: all of this is just a ramble or list of my opinions on the show! specifically the flaws and opportunities that are missed and such, this is not to say the show is good or bad. this is not for convincing anyone to change their mind on any of their personal opinions, but to air out my general thoughts on the show!

now lets dive in >:)

Pacing

- i'm sure this is said about a thousand times already, but its not exactly a bad point. the pacing of the show is evidently rushed just basing off of the finale itself, especially the lack of fleshing out the core concept of the show which is redemption. despite the show giving big emphasis on redemption, the lack of deeper conversations, in-depth look on the character's past life, and reflection of the bad things that they've done in general whether in hell or on earth shows how much time the character needs in order to truly earn respect for themselves and enough to be considered 'redeemed'. the pacing unfortunately loses a lot of its opportunity to give further focus on the characters due to the episodes being focused on OTHER characters outside the cast itself. take for instance, the vees. in my opinion, i think the vees were pointless to be in the show on its first season, the only reason why they were introduced is for sir pentious to be a spy, even though they didn't technically have to show up in order for that to happen. the vees could've been more mysterious, intimidating, or even just ominous despite their clear cover and control over other sinners. their presence while popular, couldve been hidden by the show to excite or tease them on the next season. the season overall couldve been cut, the finale being the entrance to heaven so that the other episodes are there to truly flesh out the characters and redemption that charlie wants to happen. to be honest in my view, the redemption that charlie seems to go on about is rather vague, especially with her tactics. we never truly know HOW else does she reinforce redemption, how exactly does she make sinners reflect upon their own actions? trust falls? little activities? not any that regards vulnerability or talk of the past or even just a reflection of themselves? ill talk further about this in its own section, but overall, i think the pacing and the jampacked amount of characters being pushed into one episode, and the unnecessary introductions really makes it hard to further appreciate the show. it lacks time, and feels like the characters are racing for redemption rather than taking the time to truly know how redemption works or is applied to them. while i understand the certain rush due to the introduction of adam and him pushing the date of the extermination, that doesn't mean that redemption itself should be rushed, in regards to sir pentious.

Charlie: Concept of Redemption

- while i continue to love charlie as a character, there are clear flaws with her logic of redemption that were never challenged. such as the small activities that shes doing that are evidently not working for all of them (angel dust), and the clear lack of control she has with how she reinforces redemption based on the lucifer episode. she has no clear direction to what is considered redeemed, but she forces her way through it despite it clearly not working in her favor (ie. going to heaven). no one questions her way of trying to redeem sinners despite its clear flaws, while the collective connection of others are one component to that, that doesn't necessarily change the way the characters look at themselves. they can have relationships and connections to people, but that isn't facing their flaws, facing the mistakes that they've made. the only part i saw seeing a character truly reflect on themselves are angel dust and husk, where in charlie only was slightly the cause of, and thats being generous. charlie as a character should have been more challenged in order for her to develop a deeper understanding of redemption, so that by the time shes proving it to heaven, it doesn't feel like a losing battle or reckless choice, but a clear conviction that we, as the viewer, know is possible. it makes us the viewer, know that charlie isnt simply saying it, that charlie is willing to change on her own and for others like the virtues and values she believes in. while her naivety is one of her character traits, her staying that way only makes her to be a flat character, one that never changes as the plot moves forward. as (one of) the main character, thats even more disappointing. i honestly expected for the lucifer episode to be the reality check that charlie needed, the evidence of heaven clearly being flawed themselves, and how directionless she is with her plan to redeem sinners. but sadly, that wasn't the case. all in all, redemption itself and charlie should've been more fleshed out, it was vague, lack any deeper meaning, and felt forced in the narrative despite it being the very concept of the show.

Sir Pentious: Redeemed or Not Redeemed? (that is the question)

- before i start i just wanna say, i love sir pentious, by far one of my favorite characters from the jump. BUT, the way they handled him was sadly, exciting yet not quite satisfying. his character was interesting and fun, quite different compared to the cruelness that we see frequently in hell. his redemption felt unearned despite his sacrifice for others, this makes the question of how redemption works in the first place. if he is redeemed, does that mean that only actions in hell is the basis of going to heaven? besides the point, the redemption of sir pentious while exciting, didnt feel satisfying due to the fact that we never truly got a clear understanding of HOW was he redeemed, or how exactly did he led himself to reflect on his own actions. it felt rushed to me, is more or less my take, his lack of screen time points to that even more.

Visuals

- these are purely off of my own opinions and preferences, take this mostly with a grain of salt.

- backgrounds: too much red and black, please put tiny bit more contrast to bring out the characters more, the lack of variety makes it harder for characters and the background to be unique and stand out to someone or a viewer. theres a reason why i can barely picture any of the backgrounds in any of the scenes in the show. (or maybe its just me, idk)

- characters: purely my own opinion, character designs could've been more pushed into the animals/elements that they are, like alastor, vaggie, and nifty. (tbh i didnt knew alastor was a deer until someone told me the first time i saw him). less red, experiment with contrast, complimentary colors despite them being in the pride part of hell.

Alastor: Unnecessary or Just Right?

- i see a few people think alastor overall is pointless in the season or isn't needed in the show, but, i somewhat disagree with that. a part of alastor's character is him being in control, he yearns for control over the situation and is mostly there to pick the right moment to manipulate it all in his favor. i personally like the subtle (yet not so subtle) of displaying alastor as threatening and cunning, his whole character is about subverting or sometimes satisfying the expectations and judgements of others to his favor. his role isnt to just be a mastermind, but to be a character that shows repression, lack of empathy, lack of trust in anyone, and controlling behavior be a contrast to the very concept and ideas that charlie wants to avoid and change. hes a direct opposite and challenge to what charlie calls 'redeemable'. by that point, alastor's role isnt simply to be smart and to control, but to be a challenger to charlie's whole idea despite being in her side. while heaven somewhat plays that role, alastor challenges it far more from his general demeanor and the actions that he's rumoured to have done. this pushes a question in the future that charlie has to face, would you protect and support a co-worker that directly opposes the very idea that the hotel faces? it makes the creation of the hotel far more interesting, and makes an intriguing question of morality that charlie has to face. hes a ticking time bomb, i do hope that they also look to alastor's clear weaknesses and vulnerabilities, ones he cant avoid and have to face.

anyways, these are only the few general opinions i have of the show, if ya want more positive things of the overall show, i might just do it if i have the time :)), its 2am now bye byeeeeee

[kaseyskat]

MIGHT be cancelled for saying this but ive been thinking so hard about how little s1 and the beginning of s2 focuses on marcy. like, obviously we know that was intentional on matt’s part, he wanted her to be the focus of the latter half of s2, and i get that! but marcy being an afterthought... it hurts so much, watching the way anne defends sasha to the plantars immediately and clearly thinks so highly of her, only to turn around and have nothing to say about marcy except that she’s smart but clumsy. 

a big theme of the show is how all three of the girls are messed up in their own ways, and honestly to say that marcy is a bad friend towards anne without acknowledging that anne was also bad towards marcy is... well. it rubs me a bit the wrong way, because this is a show about ALL of them. anne’s the main character so of course it portrays her in the most sympathetic light, but she also landed in the safest(emotionally speaking) environment and had the catalyst for the most change. she’s grown as a person, and we got to watch her morph from the selfish pushover she was in the beginning to who she is now... but we don’t see that with marcy and sasha. it makes sense that in our eyes, anne hasn’t done anything wrong, because we get to see her change and become better. 

what do we know about marcy? we know that on anne’s birthday, instead of getting out of class and hanging with the girls, she’s alone in the library, studying for a test she won’t need to take for another three years. we know that she does all the work on group projects, and probably certain homework assignments as well. we know(thanks to the interview with matt) that sasha doesn’t have to try to manipulate her, because marcy is so desperate to be useful she’ll go along with just about anything she says. and we know that when she’s acting strange from the first temple onwards, nobody else notices. why would they? marcy’s always been just... marcy. 

and we never see what she wants either, not until true colors. she never once puts herself first when it comes to her friends, she’s always catering to THEM. when the three are together again, she doesn’t offer any of her own opinions or suggestions, and instead just bounces the ideas the other two have off of each other, and is there to mediate when things go wrong. this isn’t much of an indication of how things were back home, since anne was more of a pushover then, but it’s still telling how marcy is NOT the one acting strange in the situation. 

this has been very long and rambly but the gist of it is this; i don’t think anne is entirely blameless in the friendship, and i don’t think marcy deserves to be completely villainized for the one selfish choice she’s made in a very long time, especially when she was clearly regretting it and already growing from it and prepared to do anything to make things right again. 

[captainbobbin]

Ask game, TerraIsa or XemSai/XemIsa?

Thats a tough question. 

(long answer under the readmore :p)

The way I see it, they're both very similar - its a venn diagram of sorts, not just because Isa/Saix is in the centre. And I don't think I can pick just one over the other, because they're kind of rooted into one another.

For me, if you're doing moonrocks (Terra x Isa) stuff and doing it with some attachment to canon (as in, it isn't an au that's really out there) realistically there should be some element of XemSai in there somewhere. For Terra and Isa to connect in a (semi)canon way, I think there's gotta be some form of acknowledgement of 'oh yeah, Terra and Xemnas overlap one another in some ways, and Saix was connected to one and now potentially the other'.

I've shipped XemSai since KH2 came out;;; I was always super super into it. But then DDD happened, and there was the big Xehanort/possession reveal, and it kind of made me look at the whole relationship like 'Oh, this is for sure onesided. Like there is a powerplay going on here that is way deeper than a simple boss/employee' kind of thing.

I still love XemSai - as I hope you can all tell by the things I draw and write ahahah but I see it as a pairing as something kind of indulgent, physical and ultimately somewhat unhealthy. Neither of them are people, neither of them canonically get an eventual happy ending with the other, neither of them have real emotions. So as a relationship it's kind of parasocial - there's a sense of use, of gain, of just getting by and having the other near as a means of temporary comfort. Sure, in time they could have grown hearts and learned to love, but a large aspect of both characters is tragedy. Saix has been screwed over time and time again and is continuously at a loss, always letting aspects of himself go to waste and be ruined by others. Xemnas wants to be many things, wants to understand the heart, wants to figure things out and remember what love is like - but he can't. The two of them together don't make a whole - its all just a temporary fix that helps them forget the worst of it. Thats not even getting into the fact that Saix was actively trying to take the Org down from within.

I'm currently writing a piece which kind of looks at the relationship under the lens of 'what is real and what is fake anymore? How much of this is an act, and at what point did I just begin to go along with things? Why does it not bother me that my plans have changed, and now I see myself reluctant to let this person go?' and I think that is something I really like about XemSai. The basis of it all is just. Surviving. Doing what you have to. Seeking out what you can when you have (and are) nothing. It isn't something that starts off nor ends nicely, in a way. Neither of them are people. Neither of them are good.

(In general, I just love writing XemSai stuff where there is an undertone of ‘oh this will not end well, but they just can’t help themselves. They are all they've got.’)

Terra and Isa, meanwhile, have room to grow. After so long of being separated into parts of themselves they're people again, able to reflect on mistakes and learn, form bonds that are actually real. They have flaws and may slip up from time to time, may need to reassess who they are as people, but now it is something genuine and without a sense of dread and distrust hanging over them. They both share a lot of attributes and can see themselves in the other - and the bond they have can be one that is realistic, organic, and healthy. Not just healthy - but healing. They can lean on one another without fear, face aspects of themselves they were unsure about, look at internal self-issues knowing that there is someone nearby that gets it. Amongst all the pain and darkness and past cruelty and possession between them, there is more of a sense of innocence to it all - they're both picking up pieces of themselves and trying to find how it all fits together, working out how to go forward, figuring out how their hearts have brushed against each other in the past.

That, and its post 3 - after reconsiling, after moving on a little, after having others nearby. They have people around them that want the best for them. The situation has changed and so have they. All around, things have improved and now they can improve themselves. Together, hopefully.

I think moonrocks has a more sweet sentimentality and an aspect of continuous improvement and gentleness where XemSai's flavor is darker, richer, and laced with an undertone of regret. I've joked before that Moonrocks is just XemSai with extra steps but there is far more to it than that. Terra is such a wonderful character that has so much more to him than is on the surface, and the separation of Saix and Isa is something I really enjoy delving into.

I love both and am gonna be continuing to make content about both :)

lmao sorry for the essay. tl;dr - both very very good for similar but different reasons and my life revolves around them both hahahha

(Obligatory link to my written work where I channel these kind of vibes teehee :p)