(for context on what this series is, please see my Day 1 post here: Redundancy Review: Day 1, “A New Beginning” – Rosalia’s Rambles)
Good morning cockerels and dewdrops, welcome to Day 56 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
So, I tend to start work at eight in the morning. Usually meaning that I wake up around half seven to get myself ready in time, being a remote worker and all has its benefits in that regard. I tried to mimic this pattern after my redundancy as well, waking up the same time and trying to get to work.
You might think “wow, that is one hell of a morning person attitude”, and you would be right.
Except I am not a morning person. Not in the slightest.
I am forcing myself to be one though.
It comes from the fact each job I have had has been remote, meaning I have flexibility to set my own working hours so long as I complete the required amount of hours each day. When I first started out I mainly used this flexibility to sleep in some days, before having the realisation: starting at the earliest point my contract allows means I finish the day earlier as well.
From that point on I have kept the same habit for over four years at this point. I start work at eight in the morning, I finish at half four in the afternoon with me very rarely staying past this point as well unless it was mandated for whatever reason.
When it was just my day job that had this routine, it worked out fine enough – especially when I still lived at my parent’s place and had way fewer responsibilities than I do now. However now I am balancing my contract role, my daily writing practice in the form of the review, cooking meals, and finding time to relax, so, it gets hard to keep up with it all sometimes.
Weird thing to say when I am coming up on two months worth of doing this almost every day, but hopefully you get what I mean.
This is also why I am such a caffeine fiend, a caffiend if you will. One way to make up the energy deficit between the time I wake up and the time I really should be waking up is the love found in the bottom of a cup of coffee… or a bottle of Lucozade… or a can of Relentless when I really need to get stuff done.
Speaking of getting stuff done, I should really do a proper review, and today I am extremely thankful for it being Hololive Tuesday because Advent dropped a shit tonne of announcements as I slept that gives me plenty to discuss – from a 3D live concert for their second anniversary to the subject of today’s review, the first of five original songs that build upon the pre-established lore of Advent.
“Genesis” tells the story of Advent before they are placed into the prison that formed the background for their debut lore, exploring the chaos and mayhem all five members got up to. It is an incredibly funky beat, which is not incredibly surprising given all of Advent’s originals and covers all complement their voices perfectly.
True to their form as a group of convicts, this song embodies the themes of freedom that are common among Advent’s originals, with one of the opening lyrics being:
“I knew I was meant to be,
Livin’ life so fast and free”
The first verse is also packed with references to Advent’s lore, with Shiori (my fave) getting the lyric:
“I have awakened to wisdom beyond my understanding”
Playing into her role as the Archiver of Advent, collecting forbidden knowledge that would lead to her imprisonment, followed by Bijou coming in shortly after with:
“Don’t blame me if I shine too bright
Can’t help it if I start a fight”
Which ties into her lore as the Jewel of Emotions, being so radiant and beautiful that humanity would wage war in order to keep possession of her.
One small detail that I like in the music video as well is the attention to continuity about the background of Nerissa. In all of her current models she has her her-right our-left horn shattered, restricting the power of her demonic might, but this video canonically takes place before Advent’s imprisonment, and so:
She is portrayed for the first time with both horns intact, which is an incredibly cool thing to highlight.
The themes of freedom and enjoying yourself come back in full force for the bridge before the final chorus, with each member getting their chance to contribute:
“Let your worries go
Gonna show you how to lose control, ready?
You’ve got to free your mind
Leave your restraint behind
Be outrageous
The chaos is contagious
Come on, you know what time it is!
It’s our genesis!”
…I know I should not be reading trans allegory into this but… I just have to, it is what I am best at. This bridge speaks to me on such a personal level as someone who has had to go through a lot in terms of trying to find myself and find a style I am comfortable in, and in a strange way, Hololive has helped with that.
The girls often talk about reaching for dreams together and working hard to get where they want to do, something I often find inspiration in because if they are able to overcome their own hardships; I definitely should be able to as well.
To transition is to leave behind who you were before, and become the person you want to be, free from the reins of societal pressure to live out your truth, and Advent’s themes of found family & freedom have always spoken to me in that regard.
Plus, I have to shout out how insane it is for their second anniversary they have decided to go “yeah we are releasing five original songs in the leadup to our 3D anniversary concert”. The dedication and passion on show is insane, and I am very much looking forward to seeing the conclusion of this project.
And now, time for the obligatory thing I have to do whenever I talk about Advent…
…she is so pretty oh my god I love her vibe so much.
That does it all for today, felt good to actually write a proper review again… even if it took close to seven hours to actually finish off and put out there. I hope wherever you are you can have a relaxing day and things do not bring you down too much. Thank you for reading.
Rosalia Rambles 