#I got a bunch of Hazbin/ helluva merch

[littlemissheavenonearth]

What did yall get for Christmas?

[walnut-thecat]

Aroace rep in the Hellaverse

I saw someone say recently that Alastor’s aroace-ness is queer baiting and it made me want to talk about ace rep in the Hellaverse as a whole.

There are 3 confirmed asexual characters across the two series, 1 in Hazbin: Alastor (who I’m pretty sure is aroace), and 2 in Helluva: Mammon and Octavia (both were confirmed via a pride month post).

First, let’s talk about Alastor: l hate to be an Alastor defender, but I don’t think he’s queer bait. In the show he’s never depicted as being interested in any type of romantic/sexual relationship ( only business relationships). He’s also the only one out of the three who’s identity is explicitly referenced in the actual show so far (even if it is a throwaway line). And the “radioapple merch” stuff is just isn’t true, people say that Alastor and Lucifer have “matching keychains” in the valentines merch which is false. They both got stand alone keychains, with Lucifer’s referencing Lilith and Alastor’s referencing himself. I feel like if you see too single people depicted next to a bunch of couples on Valentine’s Day and your first thought is that they must be involved with each other then that’s a you thing. And about that jacket or whatever it was, it was referencing a popular scene from a popular episode, it’s not teasing radioapple any more than the episode is. You know, the episode about them hating each other? Anyways as an aroace I think it would be nice to see more merch of Alastor with his actual friends (Rosie, Mimzy, Niffty, and maybe Husk), and some more explicitly aroace merch though the keychain is pretty neat (if you like Alastor). Now about shipping: in the pilot era, which is when Alastor’s aroace-ness began (before that he was depicted as infatuated with Mimzy), Viv said she doesn’t mind him getting shipped, which I’m pretty sure she said to keep her name out of shipping arguments, because there’s nothing anyone can do to stop shipping anyone with everyone. But I’m not trying to defend Vivzie here, there are still things wrong here. 1. Her most relevant asexual character is a heartless murderer and cannibal 2. (This one’s personal) I really hate Alastor and I don’t want to be associated with him just because I’m aroace, and I’m sure I’m not alone

Now let’s talk about Helluva boss’s asexual characters. Like I said both of these characters’ identities got revealed by a pride month post on social media and neither’s identities got referenced in the show (yet). Which is disappointing. But what’s more disappointing is that one of these characters is another heartless irredeemable villain in the form of Mammon sin of greed, and I wouldn’t have a problem with that if aro/ace identities weren’t given to heartless villains so much (both in canon and fanon stuff), 2/3 ace characters being horrible villains (even if they are loved by fans) isn’t a good look. Now, Mammon makes multiple references to sex and seems to be interested in Leviathan which is great to see, a lot of asexuals can relate to that (I might not one of them, but it’s still important and I’m happy to see it). It’s a shame that his asexuality is never actually mentioned. And finally Octavia. I have a lot of hope for this girl. Her sexuality is also never mentioned in the show, she is surrounded by purple a lot but she does have a galaxy theme. Unfortunately she does fall into a common stereotype for both aros and aces, which is that she is “broken”. But out of the three I have the most hope for her to be the best ace rep in the hellaverse (AKA she’s the only one out of the three who I wouldn’t be embarrassed to be associated with based on sexuality alone)

Edit: I did not know today was international asexuality day, but I guess this came out at the perfect time

[bathsaltsmcgee]

Lore in the Merch

Okay, so as I'm sure everyone has probably already heard, the latest line of merch from Vivziepop just dropped this morning on Shark Robot, and as I was perusing the list, figuring out exactly what it was that I was going to snag for myself, I found something that I thought was just a hair interesting.

Okay, so in the t-shirt line, there are a bunch of glow in the dark tees featuring various hazbin and helluva characters in the style of tarot cards, which were, to be fair, exceptionally neat.

And yes, I've already ordered one.

However, as I was admiring the designs later in the evening to make sure I got the one I wanted, just in case I missed any, I noticed that there were little numbers on each of the designs.

Numbers for tarot cards.

One quick trip to google later, I realized they were all for corresponding tarot cards from the major arcana, which, admittedly, does make a great deal of sense, all things considered.

It would be a little weird if they were supposed to be tarot cards and didn't have the numbers in the design.

That, I will assent.

In any case, I did a little digging and I found that Beelzebub was the sun, Blitz was the moon, Charlie and Vaggie were the strength card, Human Loona was the chariot, and Alastor was the devil.

And while my first response was 'yeah, that tracks', when I started to think about it, to really think about it, I realized that perhaps there was more here than just a funny little reference to a tarot card deck.

For example, Stolas got the star card for his tarot card number, and if one digs into the deeper meaning of what the star represents in the arcana, there are a number of parallels with his story and character that tie in with the star card. Finding new meaning, holding a new sense of self, discovering a new sense of purpose, getting away from your crazy ass ex-wife, just to name a few.

So, it makes sense that he'd get the star card.

Furthermore, Angel Dust got the hanged man card for his number, which also makes sense because, from my understanding, it's all about taking pause to reevaluate your strategy on life and consider whether or not this is the right way to go before taking the next step. 'The thinking that got into this mess won't get you out of it and it's time for a change' sort of card. So, considering his horrible life as a pornstar/ prostitute/ stripper and wanting to get away from it all by making a split second decision and submitting to the Happy Hotel for redemption treatment instead of just continuing on the way he's been would be more than enough to qualify him for the Hanged Man.

So, what does the card for Alastor mean?

Sure, it's easy to write it off with a 'well, he's the Devil of the show' sort of thing, but I suspect it has far more to do with his own way of thinking than it does anything else. I'm not an expert on tarot, but from what I can glean, the devil card has something to do with being trapped or restricted or held back by something that keeps you from being your best self; self-imposed limitations, or a lack of power, or feeling like you're not in control, or there's some external force that making someone feel like they're powerless to affect their situation, so they might as well not even try to change it, which, honestly, doesn't sound like Alastor at all, given what little we know about him thus far.

it sounds like something he might inflict, sure, but not something he'd be going through himself personally.

However, given the nature of the other cards and how those arcanas are linked to the individual character's arcs, logic dictates that the symbolism of the arcana are directly tied to the characters and their struggles.

So, what gives here?

Is Alastor really trapped a prison of his own making?

Does he actually feel powerless about his situation, which is why he outrightly dismissed Charlie's redemption scheme because, in his mind, it's far too late to change and there's no undoing what's been done?

Is that what's really going on here?

Or am I overthinking things again?

Well, either way, they hid lore in the merch.

I just wanted to point that out.

Furthermore, if they actually did foreshadow future character developments within the tarot card shirts for a show that has yet to premiere, I will officially be impressed.

That was clever.

[petitprincess1]

Well... Villainous is four years old today.

Anything you wanna say what you expected to happen by this point?

Well, actually, it's five years old. It started all the way back in 2017. You know, when it got greenlit because of the first set of shorts that existed that acted as the pilot.

As for what I expected....to be on the second season by now. Maybe having a bunch of merchandise released (still refuse to believe CN won't allow any merch, we all know how much they love to make money) and maybe a new set of shorts. Man, I expected a lot of things, even having thought of all sorts of twists that could happen.

Man, I had all sorts of hopes for Villainous way back in 2017 and I still have a glimmer of hope. Maybe it'll turn around, but I don't know if that'll be enough. I'm just happy to have gotten into other shows like Harley Quinn, Owl House, or Hazbin/Helluva instead of thinking that I would never find another show like Villainous.

Hey, I'll definitely thank the show for making me more confident to be in certain fandoms, getting me interested in writing again, helping me start drawing, and many other things. It would be dumb of me to ignore that this show didn't help me in anyway, but that doesn't stop the disappointment.

They could drop the five eps today and I wouldn't feel much, especially knowing that those instas were just spin-offs.

[weaselbeaselpants]

Hazbin/Helluva are hated for the exact same reason they’re loved:

Before I begin I need to repeat something and that’s that you please, kindly, DO NOT BOTHER ANYONE WORKING ON THE SHOW WITH THIS POST. I don’t care if you’re a fan looking for their opinion or a “critic” looking for their response. THESE PEOPLE ARE WORKING HARD, THIS IS NOT A CALL OUT POST IT’S JUST FAN DRIVEL LEAVE PEOPLE ALONE OKAY?!?!?

okey

Here are the facts of the matter:

Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss are independently produced cartoons made by a bunch of people juuuuust breaking in on the animation market, and/or internet famous artists having fun with the world they’re producing. The creator, like her style or not, is inspired and VERY passionate about what she likes and what she wants. Everyone working on the show is really into it and their work. It’s such a self-made fandom it was technically a fandom first and a product second. Fans feel like they (and technically do) have a say in how the show should be run and what the characters should be.

It is popular enough to attract attention online but not overblown by the mainstream media.

On the positive side all those things mean:

It’s crew is tight-nit and very passionate + stick up for each other and their projects. It’s basically a giant colab. Whether they were preexisting fans/friends of Viv, the people working on it got to work on something they liked and with people they liked.

The animation community is super pumped and excited for them be they fans of the animators or just people who like cartoons and monsters and stuff. They’re positively skeptical and in on the hype cause they want to see more fluid adult animation and more indie projects take off (also 2D)!

It’s fandom LOVES the characters, concept, and story. They are more invested in what the characters could be rather than what they actually are, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing; to love something based on the concepts presented and use it to make AUs, hypotheticals and what not. Cringe all you want at the Onceler fandom (you can) but it is impressive to make all that material from so little!

They’re both edgy and insensitive based on their subject matter alone. And yet, the creators and fans DO intend for the show to be a net-positive: there IS supposed to a be representational aspect to it’s design and it’s audience. Brandon Rogers, the modern John Waters, is a pure shock-humor artist; an example of the sincere but not TOO serious risque nature these shows should have, and BOTH attract a pretty happy and excitable LGBTQ fanbase who hate bigotry.

The creators directly talking with fans means there’s again a sense of togetherness to the whole production. That the creators tell people to ship what they want BUT NOT TO BULLY is really cool + important.

As an aside, they can only say so much and Viv is at this point not 100% of Hazbin or Helluva’s creation. It’s other people speaking for or with it now. Neither pilot is a singular idea and musing of one person anymore, they are stand alone products and they are not immune from critique or favoritism.

Buuuuuuut, there’s a flipside to these things as well:

Beyond NDAs (as an aside, a lot of productions have these I don’t think it’s amoral that Viv had this) the crew is tight. When they hear how a site that they’ve heard through the grabevine hosted the guy who sent Viv rape porn*, even if the critique is from a user who hates that guy, THEY AREN’T GONNA HEAR THEM OUT. And they shouldn’t. They are tired and don’t want to be involved, at best (or want to move on from past drama) and biased towards Viv, at worst. They stick out for each other in the business and also who are you gonna stan if you were in their shoes? A person you don’t know on a forum you’ve seen post creepy shit OR your friend who paid you, promos you, talks to you and you like to work with?

Ask yourself honestly what you would do if someone said:

“hey I’m from [4chan/Kiwi, ED, Tapatalk, Reddit, ect]. I’m sorry for what happened but just so you know-”

I so get the crew just straight up blocking on sight. I don’t CONDONE it, but in a postGamerGate world I understand it.

AND when it comes to accusations made against the VAs, a producer, or one of the artists, and ESPECIALLY the creator - people are gonna just handwave it away convinced, it’s just whining or has alterier motives + again, friends stick together and choose sides...like Brock Baker’s :B

It’s popular so it’s gonna get love and hate. I know critics are not gonna like to hear the later, but it is true. It feels cathartic to dunk on a property when fans are crazy and you feel it’s overrated/bad. People feel good dunking on this mishandled, problematic clusterfugg cause they know not as many people are watching and unironically liking, say, Alfred Alfer ----- (please don’t look that or Emily Youcis up. Here’s the tvtropes page. Do not look beyond this point PLEASE)

Likewise, the clout surrounding the show is biased and detracted form being too mean as well. Everyone can tell there’s a kind of toxic mess under the covers but no one wants to deep dive or prod the details of something people are working on and liking so much, especially not when the loudest detractors are asshats like P.K. Russel.

A lot of merch has been sold and produced WELL BEFORE the rest of the shows or the finalized series/designs have been laid out. If nothing comes of either show it will be bad having all this merch hyping something that doesn’t exist. If it does but is so radically different than the vision in Viv’s and fan’s heads (these are both PILOTS, I’ll remind you) it’s gonna disappoint. I just know it.

People were writing Hazbin fanfics and AUs before the pilot was dropped and have made sequels to both before we have even a clear picture of what the ending is gonna be. People are in love and writing for a franchise they don’t know. They know the idea of it and the version of it in their head, but they don’t really know it.

The fandom can not take criticism. This is bad. Everyone is a critic and inside every critic is a nerdooo ~ ((critics do have fandoms and everyone will like something problematic for reasons)) Fans want to criticize but they’re scared of being ostracized from the fandom and kicked off of forums/servers, which has happened to two underage fans already. **

The fandom feels entitled to their ideas and to the creators’ attention. If it were any other fandom it is sooper cool that creators allow people to ship as they please, but not one that’s currently still in development and whose finalized characters haven’t been figured out. The babies have been sent into the battle field at only a few months old alongside veteran ship/canon/entitled cartoon fandoms like Steven Universe and Rick and Morty. It’s like the scene from mother! where the crowd dismembers and eats the baby.

Viv and has a serious influence on these people so even when her and a bunch of fans/artists are just gabbing about stupid memes on twitter, this invites a slew of onlookers to attack these people***. Despite the influence you can have or say to stop this behavior, it’s waaaay harder to put a stop to it than just saying “hey guys be nice” (Anyone else remember the inner-drama of Brony fandom? Like chuds would even take the word of the AskMolestiaMod to heart when their one goal was to take down the dreaded Essjaydoublewes that threatened their rape jokes).

Fans also have no boundaries. Sea also; Lincar Rox.

Being a netpositive doesn’t mean everything you say or do is devoid of critique. If you make vulgar/shocking adult content it will have fans and it will have detractors regardless of the positive intent. As I’ve said earlier, the problem with Viv’s works isn’t really the content but the context and the presentation. You can say Angel Dust is an inspiring character all you want. To some people that’s absolutely true but that does NOT absolve the fact that the it’s a cis woman writing and glamorizing an abused crossdressing gay man. People are gonna be offended and the creator needs tougher skin about this be it satire, parody, or drama.

*back when they were fixated on Zoophobia, there was a guy on Bad Webcomics Wiki/Tapatalk for the comic who posted art of Viv’s decapitated head getting raped by Angel Dust as a “joke”. Oh! and he also took the complaints the wiki had and made Viv and ED page. The rest of the forum was not happy but yeah that happened. The forum itself is the same as any reddit thread and NOT a hate site, but yeah um Viv has every right to quit after that, sorry.

The evidence is linked here in this google doc, which is why I linked it. (tbh I sympathize with the author but I don’t think it’s their place to say when Viv should have let the world known about the harassment porn )

**the underage fans who were bullied/blocked/demonized by creators are frootrollup1, for doing redesigned fan art, and StarVader from the Tapatalk/BWW forums, who was targeted and blamed by fans for Lincar’s shit. I’m not linking them for fear of their safety.

***The meme and twitter thread that went off the rails is one you’ll have to scroll down a bit through @gamergirluprising‘s post to see.

Okay that’s all.

---

[face-palming-fox]

meh my dinner said ‘feel miserable bitch’ so now i wanna lay down instead of be productive like i planned..

and instead i’ma do a l’il bitchin’ post cos i’m a bit grumpy today after glancing a video about something i was looking forward to. but over all, i think it’s just kinda really sad and disappointing there is like... absolutely zero reason to look forward to shit anymore? or be excited about things? because as soon as you get invested into it... it goes to hell or something happens to leave a bad taste in your mouth about it.

kinda ridin’ off of my disappointment of sky cotl yesterday, cos the fact i spent real money for in game items that i THOUGHT i was getting and yet you still need to spend IN GAME currency as well to even reap any rewards from your real money is a fucking scam. and i normally don’t spend money on IAP/microtransaction games and gacha like this cos.. it’s all a scam and i got more important things to spend my cash on but when i do get excited about something and justify spending a l’il cash this is the reward i get? i have to grind away to get anything? i mean there’s a lot they grant you with the money.. if you can unlock it.. but yeesh. not a good look when i was feeling pretty good about the game and it’s balancing. it’s worse than i thought under the surface.

but today’s gripe is... it’s been what.. two.. three.. idk how many years now of hazbin/helluva branding and advertising and merch selling and what not. i’m not even excited about either series now. people argue that ‘oh don’t be made about the changes in hazbin, they did it in helluva’ they didn’t change every voice actor, very few had design changes and it stayed relatively the same as the pilot. not to mention it was hyped less (imo) and advertised/merch sold less than hazbin. i glanced a vid today talking about helluva update and drama. apparently there’s legal issues preventing it from moving forward plus a lot of va’s have crossed over doing hazbin too which.. feels like??? bad planning on productions part? like why would you have one team of cast working on two shows? you could’ve oh idk.. kept the original cast of hazbin who a lot weren’t in helluva as far as i know.. and had two shows releasing side by side without much waiting but y’know what do i know about anything.

as far as the redesigning... why are they even redesigning them? i see everyone so hype about the redesigns and what not and.. i just think they’re completely stupid and useless. literally angel and alastor didn’t change really at all (except i hate angel’s white gloves.. his arms/hands are white.. why give him why gloves as well? the red contrasted with his body..) and they prolly made those decisions because all hell would’ve broken loose if they had change their original designs too much being the most popular charas. i do like charlie’s hair more in the redesign, it makes more sense and looks better visually, i miss her dark eyes because yes she’s a demon but i think it gave her that doe-eyed hopeful look since she’s not like.. (as far as we’ve seen) an EVIL demon? so the red eyes just kinda don’t make sense to me but w/e, i don’t hate them.

but what doesn’t make ANY sense to me at all.. is making everyone look the same. take away the contrast, put vaggie in the same color palette... who else is just gonna be red/black/white instead of having unique design and looking like separate charas. like if it was just a hotel uniform costume? okay sure. but... why did they take her clothes design away completely? (i’m not much of a fan of vaggie anyway) idk. it’s getting to the point where i feel like i should give these two series the ‘voltron’ treatment and just.. not watch anymore so i don’t absolutely hate the show for every choice they’ve made that put it in the toilet.

i love so many charas and it’s rare when i like a bunch of charas in a show rather than a select two or three so.. kinda just feels like they’re shooting these two shows in the foot. i’ve already been a bit sus of v/ivzie anyway cos i’ve seen rumors float around about her here and there anyway but it’s the internet as well so i dunno what exactly all that’s about but damn man.. can i have anything to enjoy/look forward to/continue to be a fan of?