untitledlurkingproject

[untitledlurkingproject]

OK but Stolitz from Fizz's perspective though...

There's this guy who was your best friend and crush when you were teens, but he maimed and abandoned you and now you hate his guts. 15 years later he shows up at the club where you work at and his date is a literal demon prince.

A couple of months later the two of you get kidnapped and literally the first thing you find out about his personal life is that he thinks what he has with the Prince is only fetishist sex. But it turns out the Prince is actually trying to spend time with this dude you hate, laughing at his jokes and commenting on his photos. Okay, so this asshole is in complete denial. Whatever. It's not like you care.

You get home that night and find out that the prince was actually at your house asking your partner for a powerful shiny rock as a present for your new rekindled friend because he has feelings for him. Wow, no surprises there. A few more months go by and your friend visits you and he's here to buy the most top-notch sex toys for his Prince. Aw, cute, does this mean your friend has finally realised they both have feelings for one another?

NOPE! Instead, two months later, you watch your friend almost get executed on live TV before the prince storms in, makes up a story about being a villain, and saves your friend's life, losing it all in the process!

[untitledlurkingproject]

He just misses his daughter every day ❤️‍🩹

[untitledlurkingproject]

Oh, yeah, no. This type of situation is definitely not good (which definitely goes without saying), but intent and nuance, especially in this story, are important. I wanted to say that I understand the knee-jerk reaction to despise Stolas and his position of power. In Full Moon, they really made it a point to indicate the power difference. But if I'm being honest, I have to admit that I found Blitz's aggressive behaviors during The Circus and Apology Tour making me the most uncomfortable. But that's a different story based on my own separate experiences, and I understand why Blitz behaved the way he did. Stolas and Blitz's story, to me, seems to be about traumatized individuals with a strong capacity to hurt each other. They slowly learn to do right by one another because the care about each other. In real life, I would recommend the characters go to therapy first before pursuing each other, but in fiction, I think they make a very interesting couple.

S1 Stolas and the Topic of Coercion

Hello! I'm new to Tumblr and just wanted a space to express some feelings I have about Helluva Boss. I've been seeing a lot of discourse/outright anger about "Stolas coercing Blitz," and I wanted to give my two cents. I want to preface by saying that I am a SA survivor, and an adult. Here's my take, and I invite others to share theirs.

The deal between Stolas and Blitz has coercive overtones due to the structure and inherent power imbalance, but it never materializes into actual coercion. We never see Stolas enforce or weaponize the deal.

Blitz is also shown craving the arrangement (especially evident in Truth Seekers and Full Moon), and Blitz does not wear his true emotions on his sleeves (i.e. We see him glaring at Stolas often, but has a soft look in a picture he took of Stolas, while Stolas was asleep.) Blitz constantly says things he doesn't mean, not only to Stolas, but to M&M (calling their relationship "too wholesome for his taste" and "boring af.") His lack of honesty obviously stems from his fear with intimacy, as stated outright in Truth Seekers. He also demonstrates repeatedly that he feels comfortable saying no to sex (Ozzie’s, and lines from Oops). You can't coerce someone into doing something they already want to do and feel comfortable saying no to.

Stolas may hold institutional and magical power, but emotionally and sexually, he hands that power over to Blitz��allowing Blitz to dictate the pace, the tone, and the boundaries of their interactions. ("If that's what you want to play.") That’s where Blitz’s own intentional manipulation comes into play, followed by unintentional ("he can get hurt?") harm.

So, yes, the deal has coercive elements, but Stolas doesn't coerce Blitz. Stolas fundamentally is not a coercive character, and Stolas's good intentions and lack of good communication are why he does away with the deal. Blitz's anger at Ozzie's makes him concerned that Blitz doesn't even like being around him. Stolas's concern becomes, "I thought he liked me for my money and body (and I hoped for more), but if he doesn't like me, then am I just making him have sex with me? That's not fair." He relates that to the only experiences he has, of being stuck in an abusive, arranged marriage. Though Stolas's concerns about Blitz's consent are extremely valid and SO important, the sex obviously wasn't Blitz's issue. Blitz's issue is the belittling and classist comments that make him feel less than and feeds into his insecurities of not being good enough to be with someone like Stolas. It's very obvious that pre-Ozzie's Stolas is not honest about his feelings, and he uses that language since it is normalized in amongst all classes of hell, not just Ars Goetia. (Millie calls Loona "the hellhound" for most of the show. Blitz calls Verosika a "suck-u-bit) He wears that kind of language as he does his expensive regalia, but when he thinks Blitz is taking the relationship to the next step in Ozzie’s, he drops the act. That's why we never see him use those terms like "impish plaything" in Ozzie's or onward. It's clear that he actually does see Blitz as his equal (bowing, "I don't care if you're of lower station," thinking he'll die for Blitz when they exchange places on the chopping block).

Just because a structure has the potential for coercion doesn’t mean coercion is actually taking place.

Those are just my thoughts, and I wanted to hear yours! Do you think my takes are accurate?

[untitledlurkingproject]

S1 Stolas and the Topic of Coercion

Hello! I'm new to Tumblr and just wanted a space to express some feelings I have about Helluva Boss. I've been seeing a lot of discourse/outright anger about "Stolas coercing Blitz," and I wanted to give my two cents. I want to preface by saying that I am a SA survivor, and an adult. Here's my take, and I invite others to share theirs.

The deal between Stolas and Blitz has coercive overtones due to the structure and inherent power imbalance, but it never materializes into actual coercion. We never see Stolas enforce or weaponize the deal.

Blitz is also shown craving the arrangement (especially evident in Truth Seekers and Full Moon), and Blitz does not wear his true emotions on his sleeves (i.e. We see him glaring at Stolas often, but has a soft look in a picture he took of Stolas, while Stolas was asleep.) Blitz constantly says things he doesn't mean, not only to Stolas, but to M&M (calling their relationship "too wholesome for his taste" and "boring af.") His lack of honesty obviously stems from his fear with intimacy, as stated outright in Truth Seekers. He also demonstrates repeatedly that he feels comfortable saying no to sex (Ozzie’s, and lines from Oops). You can't coerce someone into doing something they already want to do and feel comfortable saying no to.

Stolas may hold institutional and magical power, but emotionally and sexually, he hands that power over to Blitz—allowing Blitz to dictate the pace, the tone, and the boundaries of their interactions. ("If that's what you want to play.") That’s where Blitz’s own intentional manipulation comes into play, followed by unintentional ("he can get hurt?") harm.

So, yes, the deal has coercive elements, but Stolas doesn't coerce Blitz. Stolas fundamentally is not a coercive character, and Stolas's good intentions and lack of good communication are why he does away with the deal. Blitz's anger at Ozzie's makes him concerned that Blitz doesn't even like being around him. Stolas's concern becomes, "I thought he liked me for my money and body (and I hoped for more), but if he doesn't like me, then am I just making him have sex with me? That's not fair." He relates that to the only experiences he has, of being stuck in an abusive, arranged marriage. Though Stolas's concerns about Blitz's consent are extremely valid and SO important, the sex obviously wasn't Blitz's issue. Blitz's issue is the belittling and classist comments that make him feel less than and feeds into his insecurities of not being good enough to be with someone like Stolas. It's very obvious that pre-Ozzie's Stolas is not honest about his feelings, and he uses that language since it is normalized in amongst all classes of hell, not just Ars Goetia. (Millie calls Loona "the hellhound" for most of the show. Blitz calls Verosika a "suck-u-bit) He wears that kind of language as he does his expensive regalia, but when he thinks Blitz is taking the relationship to the next step in Ozzie’s, he drops the act. That's why we never see him use those terms like "impish plaything" in Ozzie's or onward. It's clear that he actually does see Blitz as his equal (bowing, "I don't care if you're of lower station," thinking he'll die for Blitz when they exchange places on the chopping block).

Just because a structure has the potential for coercion doesn’t mean coercion is actually taking place.

Those are just my thoughts, and I wanted to hear yours! Do you think my takes are accurate?

[untitledlurkingproject]

It was so important to me that Stolas was able to be sad throughout the entire episode. Usually media likes to rush a character's grief/depression/sadness. Like "Stop moping around" or "get over it already." Depression doesn't just go away. It is a persistent feeling of sadness.

His depression was also presented through various emotions/emotional states.

Lethargy

Crying

Anger / frustration

Self-blame

Not wanting company and being emotionally drained and unable to reciprocate

We even see him Smiling / Laughing which is so important because we see that he is still in there behind the sadness and tears. His laugh is not as lively as it once but he is still capable of smiling and finding joy.

His problems weren't fix in the end and his sadness didn't go away even if he has someone who loves him by his side (and even if he loves him too). And I think this is one of the best depictions I have seen of a depressed character in media in a long time.