now that the dust has settled a little, it's time to talk about hazbin hotel i guess. (spoilers of course!)
so i knew about this for awhile, since the pilot posted about 4-5 years ago. i watched its spin-off series helluva boss whenever new episodes would come out, and liked it well enough, but i wouldn't call myself a super fan of it? i liked how naturally all of the LGBTQ+ representation felt and genuinely loved hearing Richard Horvitz (invader zim, billy and mandy) voice a very openly bisexual switch character. it never felt like any of that was forced in like many even higher-budget attempts at the same thing often felt. a lot of people seem critical of the high speed pace of it all and the vulgarity of the characters, but i personally i don't really mind it that much.
hazbin hotel finally came out with its first season, and i hesitated to watch it for a while for some reason until i saw a clip from one of the episodes featuring the character angel dust. now i had always been a little mezmerized by angel dust since i first found out about him watching the pilot half a decade ago. i think i just liked how fluffy and pink and feminine he looked juxtaposed to his somewhat raspy and somewhat-masculine-sounding boston accent, open sexuality and his staggering amount of vices.
i was very surprised to find out that angel dust is actually a victim of sex trafficking due to being in a deal with an overlord (a demon in the show who is of a superior rank to other demons) named valentino, and is forced into becoming a porn actor against his will. angel isn't completely sex-repulsed but it seems like he regrets what making the deal with valentino and doesn't enjoy doing a lot of the things he's made to do and drowns his sorrows by giving into various vices, drugs, alcohol, and of course more sex.
only when confronted by husk, a resident of the titular hazbin hotel, does the true personality of angel come out. husk is used to hearing people belly ache and, being a bartender, he got to learn very quick what people are really like and what they aren't. up until that point, husk was quite cold towards angel and always quickly turned down his constant advances because he knew angel was putting on an act the entire time. this hypersexual porn star that everyone couldn't get enough of became angel's personality. but, husk could see the facade the entire time.
i remember feeling a twinge in my heart when angel yelled out the line "It's not an act! It's who I'm supposed to be!". it resonated with me personally, someone who felt a similar way. as someone who is aroace, or at least on the asexual spectrum somewhere, i personally struggled with feeling like i needed to be hypersexual online. i felt like it was the only way i would have anyone like me, if i just fed what people seemed to respond to. but there was always a part of me that felt bothered by it all. i'm not completely sex-repulsed but i find it hard to relate to what nigh-everything everyone, even some asexuals, find attractive or sexually gratifying. now even after realizing that i was aspec i just feel like i'm not even human, an alien maybe.
so yknow, hearing this overtly sexual cartoon spider character talk about feeling like they feel they need to pretend to be a skank because it means people will like them more...it fucked me up. now i cannot stop thinking about him.
occasionally i find myself listening to this song of his from the show, because it does such a brilliant job of encapsulating angel's character up until that point.
hazbin hotel finally came out with its first season, and i hesitated to watch it for a while for some reason until i saw a clip from one of the episodes featuring the character angel dust. now i had always been a little mezmerized by angel dust since i first found out about him watching the pilot half a decade ago. i think i just liked how fluffy and pink and feminine he looked juxtaposed to his somewhat raspy and somewhat-masculine-sounding boston accent, open sexuality and his staggering amount of vices.
i was very surprised to find out that angel dust is actually a victim of sex trafficking due to being in a deal with an overlord (a demon in the show who is of a superior rank to other demons) named valentino, and is forced into becoming a porn actor against his will. angel isn't completely sex-repulsed but it seems like he regrets what making the deal with valentino and doesn't enjoy doing a lot of the things he's made to do and drowns his sorrows by giving into various vices, drugs, alcohol, and of course more sex.
only when confronted by husk, a resident of the titular hazbin hotel, does the true personality of angel come out. husk is used to hearing people belly ache and, being a bartender, he got to learn very quick what people are really like and what they aren't. up until that point, husk was quite cold towards angel and always quickly turned down his constant advances because he knew angel was putting on an act the entire time. this hypersexual porn star that everyone couldn't get enough of became angel's personality. but, husk could see the facade the entire time.
i remember feeling a twinge in my heart when angel yelled out the line "It's not an act! It's who I'm supposed to be!". it resonated with me personally, someone who felt a similar way. as someone who is aroace, or at least on the asexual spectrum somewhere, i personally struggled with feeling like i needed to be hypersexual online. i felt like it was the only way i would have anyone like me, if i just fed what people seemed to respond to. but there was always a part of me that felt bothered by it all. i'm not completely sex-repulsed but i find it hard to relate to what nigh-everything everyone, even some asexuals, find attractive or sexually gratifying. now even after realizing that i was aspec i just feel like i'm not even human, an alien maybe.
so yknow, hearing this overtly sexual cartoon spider character talk about feeling like they feel they need to pretend to be a skank because it means people will like them more...it fucked me up. now i cannot stop thinking about him.
occasionally i find myself listening to this song of his from the show, because it does such a brilliant job of encapsulating angel's character up until that point.
this character is going to become a shadow the hedgehog type obsession to me in the coming months, i can feel it. can't wait for season 2.