#also angel and vaggie had more dialogue and interaction than vaggie had with charlie

[refriedrambles]

Finally getting around to watching Hazbin and omg Adam's perfect. The introduction, the rib bit, literally all of his dialogue with Charlie has been perfect

Dude he's like literally the perfect character to bounce off Charlie. Love their dynamic.

That "NO," out of Charlie sounds like she's ready to punch the shit out of him.

He's so grumpy when she regains her momentum after trying to convince him that Sinners deserve better and it's totally believable that he'd break into song after she does to just absolutely overwhelm her.

The fact that she can't interact with the hologram but he can grab her and throw her out! That's icing on the cake

Ooo and the end bit is something I've never seen and I think it definitely shows he's smarter than he seems to some degree. But maybe something about being the first man can instill a bit of patience

As for the rest of the cast in the first episode, Husk and angel have a solid back and forth and if Vaggie wasn't so redundant with Alastor I think, their dynamic would be a solid second but meh.

Charlie and Vaggie's dynamic honestly feels kinda weird... Like Vaggie's trying to be more of a guardian than anything else? Yeah I think that explains it well. She nags, tries to reassure and correct Charlie, is usually frustrated with her and after asking her how things went when she starts to get to the point Vaggie cuts her off... And like Charlie accepts the reassurances, but totally brushes Vaggie off without a second thought, multiple times. Yet all of these things are too small to really grab onto or run with. It's like Vaggie's putting herself into this mother figure role for Charlie and neither of them notice. But again just the first episode.

Though with all the seemingly unwilling estrangement Charlie's got with her parents I wouldn't be if she like unwittingly encouraged this type of behavior in Vaggie.

Anyway from everything I've seen of the show I never imagined that Heaven was the one that set up the meeting with hell. I thought it was something she begged Lucifer for, not something he pushed onto. Like that was a twist for me and I was so confused why Adam would call a meeting with hell at first, but it really comes together

Also like if they weren't in that meeting for the reason they were Charlie could have had a chance. Like a very very small chance, the slimmest of chances, but it makes sense why Adam was being like that aside from him just being Adam.

I think that entire thing was to see if whoever showed up actually knew anything about what happened, that's why Adam was fucking rambling and inviting conversation. Fucker was trying to get information and then she just starts singing with these random laden pictures and it's pretty clear just doesn't have a fucking clue about anything, so he drops the news in her lap like a bomb and throws her out

Although I feel like that storybook opening about Charlie inheriting Lilith dream to rise up against heaven was at the very least misphrased. Cause like that's not at all her Charlie's dream at this point and if it was her misunderstanding of her mother's dream those words shouldn't have come from her mouth

There's very little subtext in this "1st" episode. Like it's idk a little insulting to the viewer I think. I get they're trying to both establish and re-establish a lot in this episode, but I think they should have just left a lot of it out and they could have done it more naturally in later episodes. Vaggie is definitely the worst offender there, pointing out Alastor is an untrustworthy overlord, Angel is a porn star, the hotel is Charlie's dream. She's mostly exposition. Literally almost all of her dialogue is exposition of some kind. Aside from some when she's trying to film the commercial, but it kinda sneaks in there a bit too.

Husk's bit of exposition really really works. He's bitching and he's bitching in response to a relevant conversation Angel is having with Alastor. He is being forced to be there. That scene is probably as natural as that could have been dropped if the viewer didn't see the pilot. That and Alastor's deal and mentioning he doesn't want her soul on their own could have been enough to hint that Alastor is someone dangerous, but Vaggie just repeating it just kinda undercuts it...

Anyway really liked the episode! Favorite character from it is definitely Adam, followed by either Lute, Angel or Charlie.

[hezuart]

Got any Chaggie (Charlie X Vaggie headcannons)?

hmmm

First off I'll say I at this point in time I actually don't ship Chaggie despite it being the canon pairing. Their merch together is certainly cute, but as I've stated in the past, Vaggie seems more like a mom-friend than a lover.

Of course, Vaggie is meant to be Charlie's foil of sorts to balance out Charlie's brash behavior and happy-go-lucky naivety, but I just haven't seen the thing that made them fall in love, you know?

I love the Charlastor ship, since they're one of a kind. They love to sing and dance and smile. (Even if Alastor has ulterior motives) Charlie danced with him and was impressed with his magic. Alastor was inspired by her fresh boundless imagination and charisma.

That all being said, I like that Charlastor is not canon, (I prefer to just adore it in fanon) I just think they have better chemistry as people.

With that in mind though, I've said before the only thing I have to go on with Chaggie is that it's supposed to be a Jack Skellington X Sally situation, and I don't care for that pairing because of Jack's ignorance to Sally's feelings. (one thing I can't stand is one-sided love) Not only was Jack ignoring her crush, he was also ignoring her warnings. (Not on purpose of course, but it just made Sally seem like the only one pulling the weight in the relationship, which is kinda what Vaggie is doing for Charlie.) Vaggie seems to always need to protect her, talk sense into her, and also reign in her crazy ideas.

Sally comes across as almost mothering Jack at that point, which is what Vaggie is doing to Charlie. It doesn't seem like Jack or Charlie reciprocate. What the heck does Sally or Vaggie get out of the relationship? Seems like they just get frustration and ignorance.

Sally and Jack have one thing in common: cherishing new ideas and loving new worlds (Jack and Sally were both amazed by Christmas, Sally and Jack were probably the only ones that truly understood the feeling of it unlike the other townsfolk; ergo, Vaggie and Charlie being the only ones that believe in the possibility of redemption from Hell.)

Jack and Sally are also both good at science/experimentation. (Jack with his Christmas research; Sally with her cooking and butterfly brew she sent Jack in that basket)

Charlie and Vaggie don't seem like the type to do science? So there's gotta be some sort of talent they share together. Vaggie doesn't like singing or dancing unlike Charlie (which is one of the big reasons I don't ship them since singing is one of Charlie's favorite things to do, and Vaggie just shoots her down. Of course, she was trying to protect her, but it's still kinda sad.)

Charlie and Vaggie don't seem like they spar or fight in their spare time. But whatever it is, there's gotta be SOMETHING that connects these two.

well... what we do know is, Charlie had an abusive ex-boyfriend that she has since recovered from. Meanwhile Vaggie is hostile and completely untrusting of men. There's a traumatic past somewhere in there that made her this way....

(Of course, the theory of Vaggie being a fallen angel opens up a world of possibilities that could shape their relationship in a new light, but it's far too early to make that speculation. We have nothing to go on in terms of Angel lore.)

I just hope that when... or if... Hazbin Hotel comes out, they reveal how Charlie and Vaggie met and fell in love. Because right now I'm not seeing their spark.

[critical-hazbin]

Alastor Comic Review

(Spoiler alert: the comic’s not very good.)

The Angel Dust comic actually did a pretty good job of establishing Angel’s character, his conflict, and his reasons for joining the Hotel. There were some issues with lettering, and some awkward dialogue, but otherwise it was good. 

I wish I could say the same for the Alastor comic. I was really anticipating it, and it ended up being a lot of... nothing.  

It’s mostly just Alastor wandering around (a still desolate and not at all overcrowded) Hell by himself. We see him save a young girl from being attacked, which was actually really great. But just when the comic finally gets interesting, it ends. We don’t see if he bothers to comfort the girl, or if he just takes his food and leaves. We see that he’s jealous of Vox, and thinks he’s overrated, but his furious ranting seems out of place, since we don’t see Vox actually do anything besides smile menacingly at him. (Also, we were told over and over again Alastor doesn’t swear, but that was changed. For some reason.)

We don’t see him interact with any of his friends (Husker, Niffty, Rosie). We don’t see him actually have a conversation with Vox (he was right there???). We don’t get any real sense of why he’s at the hotel, aside from that he’s obviously bored. No one knows for sure what the “fairer means” line actually means, and that was literally the most important line of the comic. Due to a poor writing choice, we have no idea if he meant to say fairer sex (implying women), lesser means (implying poor people), or if he just cares about underdogs in general. 

The only consistent through-line to the comic, from my perspective, is that everywhere Alastor goes, he makes things worse. He feeds the birds devilled eggs and they attack the waiter. He tosses his hat to the ladies and they become hostile towards each other. He picks up a flower and it wilts. He goes to rescue a girl from harm and she is saved but ends up cowering on the floor. He makes things worse, and he doesn’t seem to care. All the more reason why Charlie should not have let him anywhere near her project. He’s going to ruin things, and he’s not going to try to fix it. I’m hoping Alastor will get a redemption arc, and he clearly cares a little bit, but he’s just kind of awful right now. It’s hard to root for him, and I’m not even sure if we’re supposed to. 

Artstyle-wise, this comic looks distinctly different from the official Hazbin style. While in the pilot Alastor had a much softer look, with a rounded face and wide eyes, in the comic the style is much more angular, his face is narrower, and he has a pointier chin and longer nose. His antlers are down lower too: 

I don’t know why the Alastor comic looks so different from the Angel Dust one, which stuck pretty closely to the canon designs. If I hadn’t already known there was going to be an Alastor comic, I might have thought this was fanmade. I much prefer the official Hazbin style over the style used in the comic. 

Also: Alastor’s antlers kept randomly disappearing and reappearing throughout the comic, especially towards the end. These characters are so overly detailed even the professional artists either forget his monocle or his antlers.

Finally, this comic really doesn’t tell us anything new about Alastor, other than the idea that he might be lonely or that he might intervene on behalf of those he feels deserve help. It also doesn’t change the fact that he assaulted Vaggie in the pilot. I’m very tired of the “Alastor is a sexist” or the “Alastor is chugging his ‘respect women juice’” narratives dominating the conversation when neither is really true. I don’t think Alastor really respects anyone much, he sees everyone as beneath him. But I think he was raised to be chivalrous and therefore is polite and protective towards women who fit into his idea of how women should behave. That doesn’t make him a sexist, but it’s not true respect. I’d love to see this addressed in the show at some point in the future. 

This comic could have been so much better. It felt pretty pointless overall and came out very, very late. It was expected to come out in April, was completed June 30th, was supposed to release late July, and was finally published in October after Vivzie herself held it up for another three months. I understand Spindlehorse can release their content on whatever schedule they want as an independent company, but that kind of delay is not going to fly with a production company like A24, or any boss, really. It seems very unprofessional to me. 

Some random positive things about the comic:

*The cannigals

*Alastor mentioning Rosie

*Alastor looking frustrated when people run away from him (it’s definitely not because you eat people, Al)

*Vox smiling back at Alastor to intimidate him

*”Really nothing good on these days, huh?” Careful Al, your jealousy is showing.

*The sheep girl probably did something bad to be in Hell, what’s her story?

*Alastor supporting the street artist by tossing him a coin

TL;DR: I didn’t like the comic because it felt boring and pointless, but at least it was pretty in-character for Alastor. You can disagree with me all you like in the comments/reblogs, just please be respectful.