#helluva boss episode review

[theblackdragon-studios]

Helluva Boss S2 E7 Reaction Notes

I finally watched the latest episode of Helluva Boss, and I wrote down my thoughts and reactions during. Here they are.

Warning: Contains spoilers to the episode

Thoughts as I watch:

-I wondered what Mammon’s voice would be…Cockney was NOT on my list of expectations. Wow. XD (Edit after rewatch: I think it’s actually Australian…thickly Australian. I could be wrong but it sounds either Cockney or Australian now I rewatched it.)

-Huh, Fizz and Blitz were fans of him when they were young…

-Only in Hell does anyone actually WANT to be a clown. XD

-Weird how Blitzo is so weirded out by Mammon’s pitch about working with him…though actually Blitzo really wanted to run his own circus, so maybe that’s why.

-I love how obvious this guy is. XD The jabs being made at corporate bosses here through this asshole’s whole character so far…they’re terrible at lying, yet people believe it anyway

Blitzo is all of us that caught onto the bullshit. XD This episode is so great already.

-Going for the jugular with that “women just aren’t funny” line. XD 1.) the show is by a woman. And 2.) …yeah. Most of them really aren’t funny to me. XD I know that probably wasn’t the joke (women comedians aren’t funny…), and we obviously aren’t supposed to like him, but yeah.

But also the “written by Vivienne Medrano” credit, AKA Vivziepop herself I think. That was great. XD

-“it’s not weird. You’re weird!” “It’s not exploitation” Exactly what Hollywood says now to anyone being critical of their stuff. Seriously, first South Park and now this…bravo adult comedy people. Just bravo.

Also playing an electric guitar version of “Carmen” I think it is. XD Even more clever, as that song was about how shady and manipulative that woman was if I remember right.

-…weird to hear adult Blitzø’s voice on his teenage self. Though I guess he went through puberty already. lol And I think Fizz’s adult voice is partially because of the fire accident.

-And now taking a jab at the entitled fans out there that aren’t giving constructive criticism and are demanding things then being all butthurt when they’re rejected. Finally an episode I fully get the social commentary on. lol

-$69.99 Subtle. Very subtle. XD (and “no refunds: if you don’t like it, it’s your fault”)

-I LOVE Ozzie here. You go man! Yeah he has his flaws too, even as a demon…but he is so sweet and so honest with Fizz it’s great. I also love the message here about both being a perfectionist…and being a people-pleaser. Destroying yourself to especially please someone that doesn’t give a fuck about you…because you think that gives you your worth. Especially after his accident… I have a lot of thoughts on this, but I’ll see where things go.

-Asmodeus calling Blitzø…somehow the most bizarre thing on the show yet. XD And how Blitzø is perfectly chill about it. Well I know for one, Blitzø knows about Fizz and Ozzie’s relationship and is happy his friend is happy…but I think this is also more evidence Blitzø wasn’t that upset at being picked on by Oz, and instead by being called out by his ex-friend, ex-girlfriend, and Stolas acting ashamed of their own relationship (which is transactional only he thinks…)

But he is at least a little polite when talking to Ozzie. lol So that’s nice.

-…the horse thing. He is STILL on the horse thing. Oh my gosh.

-Vivzie and her team are treating us to so much great stuff lately! First Stolas and Ozzie working together, and now Blitzø and Ozzie. This is comedy gold! Also Ozzie’s happy smile at the end of that scene when Blitzø said yes. Why are all these bird demons so cute? XD

-First, I still love Ozzie’s theme music (it’s the song from his debut episode) and second, cool to see his less flashy, public appearance in other parts of hell look from that first episode he’s in too. It looks really good on him.

And it’s cool seeing a Deadly Sin icon being more subtle outside of his ring. Makes me wonder what Bee looks like when she’s trying not to steal the show.

-Eh spoke too soon on Blitzø and Ozzie teaming up. Ozzie left, but I understand why.

-More jabs at Hollywood and their harmful treatment of their stars through Mammon calling an already incredibly thin Fizz fat

-Huh that rock music…I know I’ve heard it in the show before. I think this IS the Greed ring’s music…but I can’t remember.

-I figured one rescue and hug wouldn’t fix everything…but Fizz clearly no longer hates Blitzø and vice versa, and they are friends again it looks like. But I wonder if Fizz still has anxiety about Blitzø being at a performance of his…or maybe he’s just suspicious because Blitzø has always been openly critical of Mammon and these shows.

-“Smile inside and out”…I’m surprised Fizz doesn’t have depression like Stolas…

-Interesting how the background demons in this scene are just silhouettes. I don’t know if that’s to emphasize how he’s this colorful entertainment prop and toy for them and they represent real world fans…or if it was to save on work load

-Ooh these girls (the twin performers) look like they’re from the Envy ring (Leviathan’s ring) by the fish-like look of them

-I used to find Fizz annoying…but seeing him in the last episode and this one, he’s more like Moxxie. Too nice for this world when it comes to one-on-one conversation with the way he was so polite to those contest participants

-Oh yeah! Mammon said women aren’t funny. XD Ha! I thought that was just a joke for the opening, but he actually called back to it

To be honest I didn’t think any of their acts were funny though. Just cool acrobatics and talented crafting

-More “clearly the money-greedy corporate bosses don’t care about you, their stars, or anything but what sells”.

-I know people will still find reasons to hate this episode, but I find it hard to think of anything they could hate without really reaching for something

Actually…they’ll probably complain that Mammon-who is fat-is an asshole and they made him fat because of it…when really, I think it represents the greed thing. He’s supposed to be the stereotype of those fat business men in old cartoons and movies. But as a jester. (Edit: And because spiders have big abdomens)

(Edit after looking through the Helluva Boss tag seeing the nitpicks and complaints: Called it. And a few other things they really zeroed in on just to find something to hate about this. 🙄)

-Giant hellhound background character…was not expecting that. XD

-Fuck…they didn’t have to include that moment with the sign language. But they did…that’s so sweet

Though seeing that kid’s horns…I wonder if their horns also act as their ears? Because his are broken… or maybe he’s mute, not deaf, but Fizz still signed back (despite being exhausted, miserable, and wanting to win this and go home I bet) to show that kid deaf or not, that he took the time to learn for demons like that kid. (Edit: I rewatched it and the kid only had one broken horn in the later scene he’s in. …and I forgot Fizz’s horns are also broken but he can hear just fine…so ignore this theory from when I was watching…)

-…oh my gosh. The entitled fan is back now. This is absolutely commentary on both Hollywood and the Twitter freaks. So good.

-Entitled Fan remembers Blitzø too? Huh.

-Mammon’s 8 eyes…NOW all the webs around the place make sense. And all I can say is YES. Perfect design for the demon of GREED to have spider themes to him. It makes me think of Slughorn from Harry Potter, who was envisioned as a spider spinning his web representing his habit of collecting and exploiting the success of graduating students.

-Fizz making excuses for a shitty boss…also way too real...

-Again…seeing the twins’ performance, clowns must mean something else in this world. That wasn’t funny. It was cool though.

-Ozzie’s back! Yes! He’s so sweet to Fizz…and getting stuck in the door. XD

-Fizz is every famous person that is losing popularity to new things…the ones that cling onto it desperately instead of bowing out with dignity and what they have left…

-I know how Fizz feels here too…feeling he only has all the good things he does because of his fame...he thinks because he doesn’t look as great without it, that he’ll lose his relationship with Ozzie…

But man this couple is so healthy with each other. They try to be very private and secretive (and fail) which is straining, but they communicate with each other and they don’t allow for room for any misunderstandings…I hope we see more Bee and Tex too in the future (Bee might need a new VA if Ke$ha is still dealing with things or too expensive to hire) but these two couples will I hope play a part in Blitzø and Stolas’s drama with how they’ve shown they are in love with low-class demons as well…

Though Goetia are very different from the Deadly Sins…they isolate themselves from the lower class, while the Sins thrive on their company since they feed off their energy or it helps business and stuff.

-Oh my gosh, another Fizzmodeus song! Yes! And the adorable dance…man…I love these two! 💜

-Thank you, Blitzø! The entitled fan guy has been asking for it! And yes. You tell Fizzmodeus off for being hypocrites. XD He has every right to be mad after they bullied his friends. XD

-Oh man I see why the broadway version on Beetlejuice is Fizz now! That was an amazing song! Also Ozzie helping him. XD And getting…a bit more excited than he should. Hilarious. And Blitzø’s part helping too! This trio was awesome!

-The way the cheering kids track plays when Mammon appears in front of Fizz. XD I didn’t notice that until now.

-Yes! Get him Ozzie! Fight! Fight! Fight! Two Deadly Sins in their full power forms! Yes!

-Oh my gosh, the con artist Imp saying ‘I say I say’ again. XD He keeps showing up!

-Ozzie’s animal sound effects…so cool! And the twisting, lashing tails…I love how all-out they go with him being a mix of three animals! Cause Asmodeus apparently is described as having three heads (hence the two shadow heads in his mane) and this design shows that so well! I love it!

-Yeah I think Fizzmodeus being open will help a lot in several things. Including upper class demons getting their heads out of their asses about this stuff.

-This final frame is perfect! XD

Basically I loved this episode. It was so fun and I loved the worldbuilding seeing the leader of the Greed ring, and of course Fizzmodeus being adorable as always! 💜

I do think clown has a different meaning in Hell…but we did only see some of what they did. Most of the humor for me was definitely in the social commentary stuff. And as this is a show for adults…that is what you expect. Jokes about adult problems and mature themes. I got exactly what I was expecting from it.

[thenextchapterbegins]

now

heres some things i did like about the episode

i loved the blitz and loona interactions it was very cathartic to see loona call blitz dad, and care for him. it makes up for the extremely ooc action an episode or two where she fucking punted blitzs stomach into another dimension

still that was

that was a weird thing to occur.

it was super fucking dope to see blitz outshine an icon thats cool thats going on the resume.

i did like the whole bee motifs it was very cool to see just sad they didnt go all the way just makes it all sorta dull out like “oh..were not...ok i guess.”

overall the episode was ok

i actully liked the episode better then some previous ones

it still was pretty meh overall.

overall despite not liking parts of the episode that i thought brought it down a ton it was another episode that i felt had some gems and some things i could extract to help with my own musings. 

[thisonlyguy-49]

Helluva Boss Season 2 Ep. 3: “Exes and Oohs” In A Nutshell

Moxxie deserves a hug.

[dremerie]

APOLOGY TOUR IS OUT

Let's talk about it!

I overall think this episode is really strong and follows on pretty nicely from its predecessor. I actually think I prefer this episode to full moon, it felt better focused with less tangents. The episode was allowed to stay consistent with its focus which I feel was really important.

I feel like the dialogue between blitzø and Stolas, particularly in the first scene, was really well executed and had good tension. It was nice to see Stolas maintain his frustration while in clear anguish over the situation.

I feel like the writers do a good job of showing how both are affected by the conflict, though, if I am to be a little critical (it could just be me) but it seems they are leaning more sympathy towards Stolas than Blitzø.

I do think Blitzø is more flawed in the vacuum of the relationship (with his ingoing problems with relationships), but in this case, his fears over the aspect of Stolas' position could be explored more and I hope they have Stolas reflect on how that impacts Blitzø

I loved the humour in this episode. It was more subtle and didn't take away from the tone of the episode. I especially liked the twist of the characters from ep1! I also found it funny how Blitzø's words on that apology list seemed more accurate in spelling and grammar than usual 🤔

I especially loved the ending. Though I wish we could have gotten more about Verosika and her specific history with Blitzø, I feel like we were given what we needed.

I like how they characterised Verosika in this episode. Though she is evidently very resentful, she takes the time to actually talk to and reasonably criticise Blitzø.

Her talk of their relationship works as a nice parallel to the present relationship between him and Stolas, giving good advice for how Blitzø can be better with the people he has now, which leaves him, quite rightfully, letting Stolas have fun without him.

I really hope they maintain this level of space between the two for a little to leave room for independent growth rather than a rushed rekindling. Time will tell! Overall I really enjoyed this episode and think it's one of my favourites in the season.

Let me know what you thought below!

[cutepastelstarsalior]

Helluva Boss Episode 8, season 2

Ok so this show has

5 more episodes. Then the show will either

A be done

Or

B, have a season 3.

Whatever way it goes, I hope the show wraps and gives characters satisfying endings. Though I fear that will the episodes spread out, some element or plot continuity will be lost.

What does Pride Weather mean? Is it like the the normal weather report but gay????

GOD DANG IT ANOTHER SONG.

Ok, so Stolas is thinking that his and Blitzo’s relationship will help him deal with the divorce and the negative voices in his head. A fairytale like romance is what Stolas seems to want, where his problems can be fixed with the power of love. Meanwhile Blitzo is just thinking of the relationship as only a friend’s with benefits thing. Interesting that he is also using the relationship as a way to not think about his problems.

“Would he want me if he was free? And if he’s only here as a prisoner, what kind of monster does that make me? My entire life been written in stone. He taught me that I could choose. He desverse the choice to stay or go. Though it scares me to think of what I’ll lose.”

Wow. So far, this is a lot to take it. But what really gets my interest is that Stolas repetitively saying that he wants to free them. Both Blitzo and him. But from what? Is it judgmental from others? Is it from powerful demons that could break their relationship? Or is it from Stolas’s guilt and regrets? Another interesting thing is that when Blitzo sees the date, he has to mental hype himself up to the idea of sex. At first he has a strain smile in the mirror, but once Blitzo keeps talking about sex in detail, he’s like the idea. I don’t know if Blitzo doing this hype up is supposed to be taken has a funny thing, or a way to show that Blitzo is hypersexual. But it does feel like a coping mechanism. I don’t think people normally have to hype themselves up to have sex with someone, or even feel apathetic at first. Also, Blitzo talks about what HES going to do to Stolas, and not what Stolas does for him. Does Blitzo do all the work in bed?

YOOOO THE GOVERNMENT PEOPLE AND THE CHURRUBS ARE BACK YESSSS

Wait wait wait!!!! Are the two angels going to be more and more corrupted and the goat boy is going to go back to heaven YESSSSSSSS I love that.

Oh, 👀 angles can physically be hurt, hit with blow darts, and be electrocuted. Interesting.

PRIST WITH A GUN WHAT WILL THEY DO. This feels so cursed. Omg pls pls pls give the Angels or at least one of them a gun…

EXCUSE ME??????? THE GOVERNMENT WAS LIKE YEAH WILL GIVE YOU MORE MONEY. MAKE A LITERALLY PORTAL TO HELL AND MAKE SOME KILLER CLONE PREIST.., AHHHH THE ANGELS ARE IN HELL NOW

hmmm since Hazbin Hotel finally aired, would this story still be in the same world as Hazbin? Aka angels killing demons? Or no? If the churrubs seem so gun-hoe on killing, were they apart or admire Adam’s army?

There noticeable less swearing here! Wow! Good job Viv.

Oh! So interesting thing, 1 the demons get physical sick at saying the word torture. And 2 they don’t know what sex is. Or at least, they don’t know what sex equipment is. Do Angels natural not know these thing or get sick when saying certain words? Is it just heaven born angels that are like this? The 2 rouge angels (whose names i forget) seems fine with stealing and killing, but not at torture. Will they get comfortable with it as they stay longer in hell? Will being in hell at all make then like, permanently banned from heaven?

There lots of sex shops in the Lust ring. I thought it would just be one company? That kind of neat how there many stores of the same products but with minor variations. Some neat worldbuilding. Heyyyyy it’s Frizz. He seems more happy and cheerful! Yippee. Also he seems more sex neutral or positive? Also obsidian and jewel equipment? That feels very fancy? Maybe? I feel like hell would have lots of rocks and crystal around since, you know, under the earth.

🎼🎵IM A ANGEL WITH A SHOTGUN FIGHTING TILL THE WARS WON I DONT CARE IF HEAVEN WONT TAKE MEEEE BACKKKKKK ILL THROW AWAY MY FAITH BABE JUST TO KEEP YOU SAFE DONT YOU KNOW YOUR EVEYTHING I HAVEEEEEEE🎵🎼

Loona’s voice seems different. Maybe it’s because I haven’t heard it in a while, maybe the VA has a good microphone. But it feels sharper and clearer. All the voices do. It feels like higher quality.

Ok. Now the ending.

Stolas gave Blitzo a crystal, that way Blitzo and his team can legally travel to earth and back. Stolas called off the deal, and says that even thought they don’t have that agreement anymore, he (Stolas) would like to still have Blitzo stay. Blitzo, at first thinks it’s a roleplay, or a joke. But once Stolas starts to leave, Blitzo gets angry. He even calls Stolas a porous asshole, just like Striker did. Blitzo gets angry and even starts to tear up, saying that Stolas had, treated him like other imps. That Stolas looks down on imps and doesn’t respect them. Blitzo even comments on his imp butler.

In the background, many objects are covers in tarps, and all the paintings have Stolas’s wife covered, while Olivia has her face shown. It seems like Olivia either doesn’t live with Stolas, or goes back and forth between her parents. I’m bringing this up because like before, Stolas doesn’t want the relationship to be base off a deal. He thinks highly of Blitzo, but Blitzo only thinks of the relationship as something that’s transactional. Stolas wants this relationship because it the only one in his life that seems to either bring him joy, or doesn’t let him think about his problems. While I do like that Stolas calling off the deal and giving Blitzo the crystal. I feel like the last line “I think highly of you and you think so lowkey of me” feels a bit manipulative?

Like, yeah Blitzo does feel that way. Why shouldn’t he? What has Stolas done besides letting him use the book, what has he done for Blitzo? Did Stolas even gave Blitzo comfort? Did he ever let Blitzo talk about their deal? Does Stolas actually out effort into their deal or does Blitzo do all the work? Stolas let Blitzo not have sex for a few months, but is that it? Blitzo has being Stolas bodyguard, help him track down Olivia, save Stolas multiple times. He even bought a bunch of sex equipment and seems to do all the sexual favors. So yeah. It’s damn well in Blitzo right to think lowly of Stolas.

Man I hope and pray that the series dosnt have then be endgame.

Review 4/5. The song was ok. I like that the angels and government guys are back and have more power, hate Stolas.

[thatstonedwriter]

Full Moon

Thoughts and Review- these notes are a combination of my initial reactions to the episodes and some more thought-out critiques

Formatted chronologically, organized by scene. Overall Thoughts are at the bottom

.・。.・゜✭・.

Stolitz Duet

Seems like Stolas is understanding his role in manipulating Blitz, the power differential, and Blitz’s discomfort

Blitz seems to use his sexuality to mask his nervousness- personally, I think most of his nerves are attributed to feeling indebted to Stolas, having mixed feelings about their relationship and his growing feelings, as well as his job security with Stolas still supplying him with the grimoire

Furthering Stolas’s hesitation of giving Blitz the Crystal, but knowing it is something that needs to be done- so far looking like good character development

Taking note of Stolas being out of his medications, unsure if that information will actually be important and referenced again or if it’ll be forgotten; regardless, that context doesn’t excuse Stolas’s later actions

CHERUBS

Glad they’re being utilized again

Is Colin new? He seems to know less than Cletus and Keenie and is more easily manipulated- this also seemed to be the case in C.H.E.R.U.B 

 Good to see Agents 1 and 2 again

Office

Finally, more crumbs of the IMP business

Blitz clearly states how he’s wanted a break from Stolas and has been taking advantage of Stolas being more lenient with the deal- Blitz is prioritizing his comfort- with, seemingly, Stolas’s “permission”

When Loona makes her comments about Stolas getting bored of Blitz, his first thought is that he’s going to lose his ticket to the Overworld, jeopardizing his company and employees- another product of the unhealthy power differential between Stolas and Blitz

The “overdue paperwork” gag made me giggle

Interrogation Room/DHORKS HQ

The Cherub/Dhorks team-up makes sense; I’m just really not that interested in it- they allude to bigger issues of the government being involved, but I doubt any of these lines/themes will be used or referenced later on

The Cherub battle suits being based on the IMP squad feels a bit lazy tbh- It is also just a little too on the nose for me for the parallels of the role each Cherub plays in their group - Cletus/Blitz, Colin/Moxie, Keenie/Millie

Wondering about what the lore explanation is for angelic beings existing in Hell and demons existing in Heaven- is it a mutual thing? Do angels or cherubs have more power? I assume (in reference to the Hazbin lore) that cherubs are like Imps and are lower-ranking angelic beings? I could be wrong though- unsure if something else has been confirmed

Lust Ring

Not really interested in the Cherub gags while following Blitz. they all rely on the "innocence" trope, which I personally find a bit boring/overdone

FIZZ CONTENT- LOOK AT HIM- HE'S IN COLORFUL PANTS

No way Blitz is over Fizz. Look at the way he reacts when he’s blindfolded- like, come on

Fizz’s just so great in this whole scene

IMP/Cherub fight was pretty good

Stolas's Home

Right off the bat, why’s Blitz gotta be so cute? Damn

When Stolas asks for the grimoire, he does not give any words of reassurance to Blitz that his job, livelihood, and friends/employees will be safe. Blitz hears that Stolas needs the book back and goes into panic mode because he’s worried about fucking up Loona, Moxie, and Millie’s lives- he also assumes this is Stolas retaliating against him- not the healthies assumption, but a reasonable one, given what their dynamic and agreement is

Stolas lets Blitz speak but never intervenes to reassure Blitz, leading Blitz to default to what he knows Stolas usually wants- sex

Stolas gets up and walks away, saying he’s made up his mind, AGAIN being vague and Blitz’s panic only gets worse- he literally begs Stolas for the grimoire

Good on Stolas for giving Blitz the crystal and explaining- again, it really seems like he’s coming to terms with how he’d been treating Blitz and understanding that their dynamic isn’t healthy

Honestly, Stolas’s apology and explanation here was the best part of the episode

Blitz’s reaction, while I don’t support it, is still understandable. I don’t think Blitz has a ton of context for what's happening. From his perspective, this is all very sudden, and he was clearly trying to ignore this issue earlier in the episode- now that he’s confronted with it, he’s scared and, again, defaults to sex as a means to appease Stolas. This is a pattern that developed BECAUSE Stolas kept sexualizing and belittling Blitz

Stolas, taking this reaction at face value, I can understand—it’s hurtful to be so open and then be met with sarcasm and insincerity—but then to close off the conversation? My Man, can you really blame Blitz for also being confused, hurt, angry, and scared?

 Stolas is confused that Blitz thinks he only wants sex?? Stolas!! Your agreement literally hinged on the fact that Blitz was willing to prostitute himself to keep his business going

Blitz, they could never make me hate you. 

His lashing out isn’t healthy at all, and he has some serious emotional development to do, but I honestly can’t blame him. All of this has been building up for so long- Blitz isn’t good with handling big emotions, this was all just sprung on him, and Stolas took his angry outburst at face value without giving Blitz time to process

I can’t tell if this is good writing for a miscommunication trope or negligent writing that victim blames one character while painting the other as a saint

Overall

The composition of this episode was cohesive enough, but definitely has some weak points.

The inconsistency and one-off gags that are introduced are funny but sometimes frustrating, as they can allude to larger themes but ultimately go nowhere

I really enjoyed finally seeing more of Moxxie, Loona, and Millie. It's frustrating that they're being sidelined in favor of Stolitz, which probably should have been more of a B plot than the main one.

Currently torn about the writing for the Stolitz dynamic because there are multiple lenses that their content can be viewed through. I want to try using the Reparative Lens Theory, but honestly, the writing just seems to get more inconsistent and is meant to cater to Viv’s ideas of “good” and “bad”

re-watching this episode after Apology Tour is so, so frustrating because any character development Stolas might have gone through is scrubbed and retcons everything just to make Blitz the "bad guy"

If you made it this far, thank you for your time

[showtoonzfan]

Anyway can’t wait to critique and pick apart episode 8 for it’s shit writing (since it’s Helluva Boss) only to see fans (and maybe Viv herself) go “UHM…IT’S NOT ATTACHED TO OZZIE’S 🤓” even tho despite Viv making changes at the last minute and deciding that this isn’t a follow up after…you know….MONTHS of making her fans think that way, that doesn’t automatically mean the episode is immune to criticism, sorry Viv. 😘

[dorkycreature-89]

⚠️spoilers for ep 6 season 2⚠️

AAAAAAAAAAAA

STOOPPPPPPPP

FIZZ AND OZZIE ARE SO FUCKING CUTE

STOP IT

oh my god. i love this episode

FINALLY A GOOD FUCKING EPISODE

we're actually getting some stolizø fallout with stolas wanting to give blitzø one of ozxie's crystals to travel to the human realm

IT FUCKING HURTS AND I LOVE IT

i MUCH prefer the sibling issues in this episode over unhappy campers

CUZ I ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT THIS ONE

when i tell you i was about to cry during the scene when blitzø was explaining his side of the incident (⁠〒⁠﹏⁠〒⁠)

i still don't like strikers motivate but it is what it is

interesting that crimson is looking for assassins

could it be for moxxie?????? (⁠ ͡⁠°⁠ᴥ⁠ ͡⁠°⁠ ⁠ʋ⁠)

(that's a rhetorical question. of course it is)

love this episode so much

best one from the whole season

edit: WHY DID I SAY BLITZØ AND FIZZ ARE SIBLINGS????? WHY AM I SO DUMBBBBB?????? AAAAAAA

[codecicle]

That new helluva boss episode really was.... something. Like. That's definitely an episode of all time. You made that. It is an episode of the show. That definitely happened and it gave us a backstory. I loved the part where moxie said "it's moxin time" then proceeded to have a comically large dildo stick up his ass.

[miyakuli]

The Divine Speaker

The Divine Speaker is a BL visual novel set in a fantasy world in which we follow Raen, a young orphan who is about to discover the truth about the world around him, in the company of 3 men who will soon become his friends (and maybe more xp) and help him on his journey.

To be honest, I launched this VN without expecting much, just to pass the time. In the end, I found myself quickly becoming involved in the story and genuinely enjoying its characters, I'm even almost sad to leave them now that I've finished the game entirely ;v; It therefore remains a good surprise overall even if it remains only rather banal overall, with its strengths and weaknesses.

❤ The characters are all super endearing and this even more thanks to the work of the dubbing actors whom I warmly salute because really, they bring a real freshness to their roles and also a lot of humor (especially Jonah Scott and his perfect cynical tone ;D). Kudos to them! ❤ The art direction is very pretty, whether in the varied scenery or the charming chara-design, or in the illustrations, some of which are truly magnificent. ❤ For such a little indie game, I think the music is really good, with several pretty themes that are easy to remember.

+/- The game offers us 3 very different love interests in their interactions with Raen so each player can find their own personal tastes and their favorite route (humhumFawnobviouslyhumhum). There are even "hidden" routes with the secondary protagonists. However, I found them uneven in terms of chemistry and progression; some felt too rushed and underdeveloped. This is all the more apparent as the LIs' routes follow a similar pattern, the only difference being the scenes about their past and the few intimate scenes with Raen. As a result, once one route has been completed, the others will seem rather repetitive and therefore less impactful. +/- The scenario quickly grabs your attention and its universe is interesting enough on the whole, but everything is quite predictable and certain points of the story are resolved a little too easily for my taste.

✖ Although I said earlier that all the characters were endearing, I find Raen, our main protagonist, to be sweet as can be but far too bland compared to the rest of the group. He's definitely evolving, but he has much less depth than his companions, which unfortunately makes him a rather forgettable character on an individual level (because yes, as a couple he's still cute :p). ✖ Some of the transition visual effects look really cheap and unnecessary (like the old Windows Movie Maker effects from the 2000s lol). ✖ This is completely personal, but I think it's a shame that once Raen confesses his love to each of the LIs, the remaining illustrations become nothing more than sex scenes XD I've got nothing against that haha, but I was still pretty frustrated not to have any more SFW illustrations to at least conclude the routes in a soft way……but I've always been more fluff than smut, that must be why x)

The game has a good lifespan (18 hours for me) and I managed to get attached to the characters and their trials and tribulations right to the end, despite the fact that this visual novel is only more or less decent ; is it the power of this Divine Speaker I wonder….

➡ My personal VN ranking (in french) ➡ My Steam page

[skullduggeryandboonedoggle]

Hey guys, please check out our first ever video review on our new channel! We're reviewing HELLUVA BOSS S1 EP 8 with our friend Jinxy!!

Shout out to @jinxy-jay-bird

[turnercreations-art-blog]

The new episode is up! The presidents review episode 8 of Helluvaboss! Featuring Bell!

[fandom]

Helluva week, amiright?

A new episode of the Hazbin Hotel spinoff, Helluva Boss, dropped over the weekend and broke everyone's hearts—mostly Blitz's. The latest season of Doctor Who continues to capture the hearts of fans, new and old, with its special brand of timey-wimey goodness. Donald Trump was found guilty on all 34 charges in his hush-money trial, becoming the first former US president to be convicted of a felony. This is Tumblr's Week in Review.

Palestine

Dungeon Meshi

Artists on Tumblr

Pride

Donald Trump

Helluva Boss

9-1-1

Interview With The Vampire

Doctor Who

Dan and Phil

Laios Touden | Dungeon Meshi

Destiel | Dean Winchester & Castiel, Supernatural

Marcille Donato | Dungeon Meshi

Jujutsu Kaisen

Cats of Tumblr

Falin Touden | Dungeon Meshi

Evan Buckley | 9-1-1

Gojo Satoru | Jujutsu Kaisen

Hazbin Hotel

Baldur's Gate 3

[mauesartetc]

Redesigning Helluva Beelzebub

Hoo boy, roll up the sleeves for this one.

The Original

In my review of Helluva Boss 108, I mentioned that Beelzebub's character design put me in mind of how some DeviantArt kid's fursona might look. And... Yeah I stand by that statement. The most likely reason I can figure Viv Medrano wanted her to be dog-like was to make a reference to her Die Young music video, which featured an anthro wolf singing a Kesha song (for context, Kesha herself voiced Beelzebub and co-wrote a song for this episode).

But for those who are unaware, Beelzebub's traditional depiction looks nothing like this.

Really the only visual similarities the Helluva version shares with the Infernal Dictionary version are the insect wings, six limbs, and the crown thingy over the head. (At least I think that's a crown-? Kinda hard to tell on both counts.)

Bee's eyes get somewhat more insectoid later in the episode, but that feels like a cop-out. Wow, her eyes and colors changed. Totally a bug demon, right?

They had the same problem in Hazbin Hotel with Katie Killjoy, who's allegedly supposed to be a praying mantis but barely resembles one, even after her transformation.

I understand the desire for fresh takes on old figures, and taking creative liberties so the new interpretation doesn't feel generic. But the changes should at least make sense. By now it's pretty clear Viv couldn't care less about representing Ars Goetia demons faithfully, as demonstrated with Paimon, Andrealphus, and now Beelzebub. You could slap completely different names on these characters and it wouldn't change a thing. I posted this meme a while back but it's never been more relevant:

On top of that, what reason could there possibly be for the design to be this damn complex? Why did she need so many markings on her face? Why did she need so many layers of hair? Why did she need flowing goo for her hair, tail, and body, each requiring dedicated effects animation?

When it comes to a hand-drawn production, less is more. Any superfluous details on a character just make unnecessary work for the animators.

Anyway, here's what Viv has to say about it.

Alright, I'll admit: The lava lamp bit is a little clever. Basically it works as a regular stomach does, but on demonic steroids. But it wouldn't look so much like Viv's making this up as she goes if we'd seen Bee's stomach performing its intended function in the episode. Let her chow down on a giant piece of food (maybe that cotton candy she's been handing out-?) and swallow it, and let Loona (and the audience) see it dissolving in her transparent belly. As a general rule, if it's not shown or explained in the work itself, it's not canon. Like I've said before, Viv: Elaborate on the nuances in the story you're telling, not on social media.

Also, "Her ears are designed after beehives"? Wh...Wha? Ma'am have you ever seen a beehive.

(Hell, even if you told me the ears were inspired by the generic cartoon beehive we're all familiar with, I wouldn't have guessed. There's a difference between being subtle and being vague.)

I can kinda see it in the overall shape, but that's a very specific design inspiration that wasn't clear at all in the design itself. Same with the "animal trainer" thing: I never would have picked up on that if Viv hadn't pointed it out. If a character design doesn't visually convey all the necessary information, it's not a successful design. Show, don't tell. There's a communication breakdown between what Viv's telling us and what Bee's design shows us.

(It's possible she actually meant "Her ears are designed after honeycombs", but even then, each compartment has a specific pentagonal shape that's not coming across at all here.)

I also find it interesting that Bee and Loona have almost the exact same body type. Of course Viv's pretty infamous for samebody syndrome, but it's actually unnerving how similar these two are.

Might this be a reference to Vortex's "type"? Is this foreshadowing a relationship with Loona? Am I overthinking this? Yeah, probably. Viv's demonstrated a clear preference for tall, skinny body types over the years, so it's safer to assume that's the explanation. It's all aesthetics. It ain't that deep. Occam's Razor and all that.

Finally, Bee how the hell does your shirt work.

The Concept

So at this point it seems most logical to lean into the "bee" thing for the redesign, and scrap all the canine elements. As for the blobby hair and tail... yeeeah let's nix those too. We're going for a streamlined version that's easier to animate. And because I ignored the ringmaster look for my redesign of Asmodeus, it only makes sense to do the same for Bee's animal trainer vibe (what little there is) for the sake of consistency. I know this version of Hell has a circus theme with its highest-ranking demons, but there's never been an in-universe explanation for why that is.

Let's look at actual bees, then. A quick peek at Google has informed me that certain insect species have smaller, "simple" eyes (also known as ocelli), in addition to their compound eyes. In bees, this manifests as a triangular grouping of three beady eyes on top of the head.

In her Helluva Boss episode, Bee's full demon form has three eyes, which could be a reference to this triangular arrangement, plus her regular form has two spots on her forehead in addition to the third eye. So it's possible Viv actually did research for something. Pleasantly surprised on that front.

Next, the body. I've noticed that some folks find Bee's skinny body type refreshing, as the sin of gluttony is too often personified with fatness. And that's fair. That's valid. But consider this:

Imagine any Vivziepop character saying that about a chubby person. Imagine the series sending the message that fat people can be sexy too, and that they have worth outside of their appearance, enough for at least one character to consider them girlfriend material. That they're valued and appreciated regardless of this culture's beauty standards (which we know nothing about since the worldbuilding is as thin and flimsy as tissue paper, but whatever). Imagine if this show finally had a fat female character who wasn't relegated to the background. Don't know about y'all, but that would be refreshing to me. And when you take into account all the fat-shaming of a character who isn't even fat, portraying a fat character as attractive would be a nice change of pace for this show.

Now let's talk about clothing. In the episode, Bee's clothes show off a lot of her body, with a cutout crop top and short shorts. We can take a similar approach for the redesign (something that still shows off her chest, belly, and limbs, in keeping with the extroverted "party girl" persona), but that perhaps includes more queenly elements.

The Redesign

Because this is a redesign, many elements were already in place, but I still had to figure out how this character would look as a bee. Here's where the preliminary sketches came in. Lots of trial and error in this process.

Wrestling with this character's face got a lot easier once I realized I could mold it into a pentagonal shape akin to a honeycomb compartment. It took a few tries, but at last, I had a final sketch.

All that was left to do was test out some color combinations.

I tried a few different approaches, but in the end, this is the version I felt worked best.

I used many of the colors from the original, but pushed the orange much harder since orange is the symbolic color of gluttony as a sin. And overall it gives Bee a nice honey-ish look rather than the generic black and yellow we already see on so many bees in cartoons. I thought the colored outlines on her clothing would add a soft, feminine touch, as well.

And just for kicks, here's a quick sketch of her giant form, inspired by the Infernal Dictionary drawing of Beelzebub.

Conclusion

The canon version of this character exists in the form she does for no reason than to stroke her creator's ego. "Hey guys, remember when I animated that Kesha fan video? Remember how cool that was? Wanna see me foist this unnecessarily-complex character design on other animators while I take a victory lap?" I wouldn't mind so much if Viv animated any of this herself, but she didn't. I could almost excuse this if she had no animation experience and didn't know how much work it requires, but she does. The self-aggrandizing entitlement is just off the charts. But a nonsensical design is leagues better than a stolen one, so... brownie points for that, I guess.

[newbtheveryawesomeandkindanewby]

Welcome to Helluva Boss, a TV show review in song parody form

Welcome to Helluva Boss

Have a look around

Everything you’ve heard about this show can be found

We’ve got episodes monthly

And merch drops for days

So if you don’t like it, well then you must hate gays

Welcome to Helluva Boss

A bold new take on Hell

Not much torture goes on down here, in fact everything seems swell

Don’t say that we’re sexist

Millie’s not ignored, haha

She has plenty of focus in this five-minute short!

Welcome to Helluva Boss

By and for Tumblr

At one point our ‘hero’ says a gross ableist slur

Be horny

Be sleepy

Be just plain confused

We could explain the lore in-show, but we refuse!

Welcome to Helluva Boss

Come on, bring a friend

Here’s a fun antagonist

We highly doubt you’ll see again

We got demons, up on Earth, who get paid to kill folks

Except we changed our minds and now

It’s about a red dude and a dumb bird fucking each other

Welcome to Helluva Boss

Views are down the drain

We’ve lost two-thirds of our audience to some weirdo named Caine

We’re out of animators

The critics are mean

We still haven’t sold all our stock from last Halloween

See a washed-up pop star’s

Freshly washed car, be in pain

Steal our employees’ work and

Blacklist them if they complain

Furbait gone mad, deadbeat bird dad,

Love stories you’d find on Wattpad

He’s a rapist because he’s sad

His wife’s bad, sex makes him glad

Here's the show's only non-psycho

Committing awful crimes

Here's the exact same character arcs

That we’ve done a thousand times

Here’s the puny pay rate

For our animators

Here’s the show’s creator buying taxidermied birds

Could I interest you in naughty words?

All of the time?

An awful lot of naughty words

All of the time

Not laughing is a tragedy

Criticism’s a crime

Tons and tons of naughty words

All of the time

Could I interest you in naughty words?

All of the time?

An awful lot of naughty words

All of the time

Not laughing is a tragedy

Criticism’s a crime

Tons and tons of naughty words

All of the time

[chaifootsteps]

for anon who was frustrated - things have come a long way already, so don't lose heart

Most of Hazbin's reviews were lukewarm and a lot of Internet reviewers said it was a massive disappointment compared to the pilot. Helluva Boss has seen a massive drop in views and there's pretty clear signs that they're struggling to get the support they once did outside of that, given they're doing often subpar quality merch drops after every episode (even shorts!) now.

The Full Moon/Apology Tour releases have really turned off a lot of the audience who are realizing what others have been warning them about for a long time - Stolas is likely never going to be held accountable in a way that makes what a sucky character he is, instead Viv is just going to keep trying to retcon and engage in other bad writing to dig herself out of a hole of her own making in order to push an OTP that even some of its most die hard stans seem increasingly disillusioned with. I'm seeing a lot more discontentment with the show, especially the Stolas shilling, on the once positive Helluva Boss reddit. and once the rest of the episodes come out at the end of the year, if Stolas sees no meaningful consequences at all and is just woobified again then it's going to get harder for fans to keep coping and using the 'it'll get good if you just wait!' excuse

And I don't think people will forget the mess around Poison that easily, especially since the pile of evidence of unprofessional/exploitative behavior from Viv and Spindle is growing. Crediting and bad pay issues are increasingly common to hear about nowadays and the claim that Spindle is 'indie' is starting to ring increasingly voice now its own that outsourcing to Toon City is going on. Not to mention that Viv seems to get into Twitter drama every other month, which isn't helping

Meanwhile, all the pilot cast that everyone loved that she tossed to one side (which there's evidence of) are going on to do bigger and better things in communities that actually care for them. Lackadaisy and TADC are really stealing the indie thunder and they're far better quality made by (in LD's case, can't speak for Glitch) much more ethical and supportive production houses, and Far Fetched is coming along at some point, too

Viv may never flame out the way people might be hoping she will. It might not be a big explosive downfall that gets someone to do a two hour YouTube expose that causes general awareness of the whole mess of stuff around Spindle. But I think there are enough signs that things are going south to trust that she's not going to make anything that's a classic, she's not going to be respected in the industry and she's not going to be able to keep it up forever

People keep comparing her to Butch Hartman but I kinda feel she might end up more like RWBY/Rooster Teeth did. RWBY started out with this real indie underdog spirit and had talented people on the staff (Monty and Shane, one who died tragically young and the other who left the company) but it all got squandered by the other, more amateur writing. They shared Viv's tendency to engage with criticism poorly (in their case, only responding to the bad faith stuff), they too were way too precious about their characters to give them real flaws as well as having Viv's tendency to let self inserts and faves steal the show, plus the amateurish and bad worldbuilding

I don't know if Rooster Teeth ever crunched and underpaid the way Spindle seems to, but since people often seem to put art before their consideration of whether it was made ethically, I think that will ultimately be Viv's downfall. Some of her fanbase are happy to ignore allegations of credit issue, crunch and embarassingly low wages so long as they get their demon show. But if their demon show keeps getting worse and worse (and taking longer and longer to come out), their attention will probably wander elsewhere, which has already started to happen

Combine that with anything that comes out as a result of NDAs expiring and my bet is Spindle will face consequences mostly in the form of more and more fans just quietly turning away from their show and them bleeding money more and more until it's unsustainable to hope to make all four seasons of HB unless the venture becomes wholly outsourced. Same with Hazbin - it might get renewed for more seasons but that doesn't mean those seasons will be good. The love and optimism people had towards Viv's work is just gone now. And if we're being real she's been trying to coast on goodwill from the HH pilot for a long time now

All important things to keep in mind. Thanks for this, Anon.

I think a lot of people are counting on this big, dramatic downfall of Vivziepop and for HH to be cancelled and then none of us have to hear about her ever again -- which isn't impossible, nothing's impossible -- but it's a lot more likely that each round of drama takes something out of her reputation, and eventually down the line she just kind of putters out, replaced by bigger and better shows.

Whether it got 1 season or goes on to have 12, Hazbin's legacy was always pretty safe. Viv's is a lot less certain.