#helluva boss spring broken

[thequeenofthedisneyverse]

How to NOT write like Vivziepop guide!

Writing tips:

1. Don't treat SA/Rape as a joke. Seriously, it shouldn't be that hard. EX: In Helluva Boss; Spring Broken, Moxxie goes to talk to Verosika and her crew in hopes to get them to move her car. He gets SA'd as a result and we're supposed to see that as a joke.

I don't specifically remember the episode name, but Sir pentious asks Cherri if she wants to have sex with him but he then gets scared/nervous and says "BECAUSE I WANT TO HAVE SEX WITH EVERYONE!!" or something like that. He then gets taken by a bunch of people into a room and he CLEARLY looks uncomfortable. Again, I suppose we're supposed to see that as a joke for some reason.

SA/Rape isn't funny, and you can offend tons of people writing it so carelessly. DON'T DO THAT!

2. If your characters come from a certain era, RESEARCH THAT ERA. Ex: Alastor was supposed to be a famous radio host in the 1920s (seeing as he died in 1933) when he was alive despite being a mixed (Black and white) man. Jim Crow laws existed in those times so Alastor couldn't have become a popular radio host unless he was white passing, which we don't know. Also, from what I got from @bump-inthe-night the first black radio personality in Louisiana was Vernon Winslow, known as Dr. Daddy-O, in 1949.

Also, from @bump-inthe-night - (her words were pasted here because I couldn't have said it better myself) Despite dying in 1947, Angel overdosed on PCP. This drug was discovered in 1926, and it started being utilized as a general anesthetic in the 1950s. PCP became a street drug in the 1960s and gained popularity in the 1970s. It's impossible for Angel to have overdosed on this drug when he was alive. RESEARCH. BEFORE. YOU. WRITE. THE. CHARACTER.

This is also from @/bump-inthe-night. Sir Pentious died in 1888, but he’s wearing a shoulder-padded suit. Shoulder pads, invented in 1877, were used in football uniforms. They didn’t cross over into fashion and become popular until the 1930s. Sir Pentious shouldn’t be wearing a shoulder-padded suit, and neither should Vox, who died in the 1950s, when this started falling out of style.

3. Don't victimize characters that obviously shouldn't be victimized. Example: Stolas.

I will tag the people who inspired this post and paste their stuff here because they say these things better than me.

@flower-boi16 says "So fucking what if Stolas was neglected as a child or had a mean wife? How does that relate to ANY of his actions he takes throughout the series??? It doesn’t excuse SHIT. Granted, the “this character’s trauma is not an excuse” argument is a kind of argument I’ve grown to be annoyed by due to how often it gets misused. Yes, a character’s backstory or trauma doesn’t excuse or justify their actions.

The issue arises though when the character’s bad actions are a direct response to that trauma and so it can make it look like your just ignoring major context for what lead to the character doing these actions just so you can label them as irredeemable. With Stolas, however, I have no hesitation in saying that whatever backstory and trauma he may have I genuinely don’t care because that trauma doesn’t matter to ANY of his actions.

The “his daughter doesn’t like him” defense doesn’t work because 1. Octavia is shown to still care for her father and is actually shown to be excited to spend time with him in Seeing Stars and 2. Octavia has a perfectly valid reason to dislike Stolas given how shitty of a father he is to her.

The “Stolas is well meaning/believes that Blitzo likes being treated like a sex toy” defense also doesn’t work when Stolas can very clearly see that Blitzo does NOT like being treated that way. Ffs Blitz was completely shocked and disgusted by Stolas’ sexual remarks on him on the phone in Loo Loo Land, Stolas can clearly see Blitz DOESN'T ENJOY THIS but continues flirting with him anyway. Anyone who is well-meaning can still see when they fucked up."

@floralcavern "Stolas is the epitome of writers thinking they wrote a deep character when they actually created the most shallowly written character of all time. Stolas receives no consequences, no call outs, no growth, because he gets the excuse of ‘he’s abused’ to not have to face anything bad happen to him. It’s infuriating how shielded he is by the writers."

4. Understand what your writing! This is also from @/floralcavern and I couldn't agree more. "And Helluva Boss didn’t need extremely deep characters. It started off as a comedy, where characters could do messed up, edgy shit because nothing is meant to be taken seriously. But then suddenly the show decides to become a super serious, soap opera drama?? It completely derails its original premise to be something completely different. The beginning of Helluva Boss and what we currently have are 2 completely different shows. And I’m not saying comedies can’t have depth. One of my favorite examples is Dan Da Dan! It’s literally a show about a guy whose dick was stolen by a ghost. And yet, the show writers know how to balance ridiculous comedy and storytelling with genuine, human moments. But Viv’s shows don’t have that balance. The show is hardly a comedy anymore and takes itself way too seriously, while also refusing to acknowledge actual things that need to be acknowledged."

5. This should be obvious but don't make male characters (or any characters for that matter) that are supposed to be gay call their sisters "hot" or "Sexy". Example: Andrelphus or whatever his name is. It comes off as extremely gross and really unnecessary. Vivziepop said he does that to make others think he's straight?????...Andrelphus was literally in the pride parade art. WTF VIV?!

So yeah, don't do that unless it's relevant to the plot. Like the characters have a secret incestual relationship or the incest is being pushed/forced onto the other sibling character or SOMETHING! And no, before you say it, Stella never looked comfortable being called attractive by her own brother.

5. Don't fetishize rape or have/hire people that work under you that do. It's as simple as that.

6. When writing serious topics such as SA, TREAT THE TOPIC SERIOUSLY!

7. Be mindful of stereotypes. I've learned (with the help of others pointing it out) that Angel Dust is a stereotype of gay men.

8. Call out your characters for their actions. Angel is shown to sexually harass other male characters with no call outs or apologies. Same can be said for Stolas.

I'm not sure of what else to add. If anyone else wants to add something, feel free to comment or reblog. Your words will help others a lot!

[suzieloveships]

I should be doing uni stuff. Instead here are my Top 8 Marauders ships plus their variants because why not (I get the feeling many will disagree or at least will have questions) (I'm exposing my OTP)

Jegulus: James Potter and Regulus Black (art by corwnvus)

Tropes: Sunshine x Grumpy, Golden Retriever x Black Cat, Forbbiden Love

Variants:

PeterMJ: Peter Parker and Michelle Jones (MCU Spiderman),

Evarlark: Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games),

Narlie: Nick Nelson and Charlie Spring (Heartstopper)

Lumax: Lucas Sinclair and Max Mayfield (Stranger Things),

Starmora: Peter Quill and Gamora (Guardians of the Galaxy),

Bal: Ben and Mal (Descendants),

Chaggie: Charlie Morningstar and Vaggie (Hazbin Hotel),

FirstPrince: Alex Claremont-Diaz and Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor (Red White and Royal Blue)

WolfStar: Remus Lupin and Sirius Black (art by sophithil)

Tropes: Friends to Lovers, Two broken pieces fitting perfectly together, Poor x Rich

Variants:

Anderperry: Todd Anderso and Neil Perry (Dead Poets Society),

Captain Swan: Emma Swan and Killian Jones (Once Upon a Time),

Wesper: Wylan van Eck and Jesper Fahey (Six of Crows),

Poolverine: Logan "Wolverine" Howlett and Wade "Deadpool" Wilson (Deadpool),

Stolitz: Blitzo and Stolas Goetia (Helluva Boss),

WolfStone: Jack Russell and Elsa Bloodstone (Werewolf by Night),

Pepperony: Pepper Potts and Tony Stark (Iron Man),

Merthur: Merlin and Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)

Dorlene: Dorcas Meadows and Marlene Mckinnon (art by likeafunerall)

Tropes: Rivals to Lovers, Significant Annoyance, Soulmates

Variants:

Tarcy: Tara Jone and Darcy Olsson (Heartstopper),

Dimya: Dimitry and Anastasia "Anya" Romanov (Anastasia),

Tianaveen: Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen (Princess and the Frog),

Merlylie: Merliah Summers and Kylie Morgan (Barbie in Mermaid Tale),

Catradora: Catra and Adora (She-ra and the Princesses of Power),

AppleDash: AppleJack and Rainbow Dash (My Little Pony),

SoftBoots: Kitty Softpaws and Puss in Boots (Puss in Boots),

Zikki: Zane Bennett and Rikki Chadwick (H2O Just Add Water)

MaryLily: Mary MacDonald and Lily Evans (art by likeafunerall)

Tropes: Best Friends to Lovers, Prep x Nerd, Different yet so similar at the same time

Variants:

Orangeberry: Orange Blossom and Strawberry Shortcake (Strawberry Shortcake),

Josibel: Isabel and Josie (Bottoms),

Sunlight: Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle (Equestria Girls),

Agentdiamond: Lucy Diamond and Amy Bradshaw (D.E.B.S.),

Ineffable Husbands: Crowley and Aziraphale (Good Omens),

Alexiana: Alexa and Liana (Barbie: Diamond Castle),

Snowing: Snow White and Prince Charming (Once Upon a Time),

Clewis: Cleo Sertori and Lewis McCartney (H2O Just Add Water)

Rosekiller: Evan Rosier and Barty Crouch jr (art by industrations)

Tropes: Friends to Lovers, Partners on Crime, Matching each other crazy

Variants:

Butterfly Bog: Bog King and Marianne (Strange Magic),

M&M: Millie and Moxxie (Helluva Boss),

RiddleBird: Oswald "Penguin" Cobblepot and Edward "Riddler" Nygma (Gotham),

Rocket Shipping: Jesse and James (Pokemon),

Dilila: Lila and Diego Hargreeves (Umbrella Academy),

They don't have a ship name :( :Camilla the Chicken and Gonzo (Muppets),

Gigalon: Megalon and Gigan (Godzilla),

KOBD: Breakdown and Knock Out (Transformers: Prime)

Pebill: Peter Pettigrew and Sybill Trelawney (art by sophithil)

Tropes: Troublemaker x Wallflower, Powerful One x One who isn't afraid, Local man really loves his Wife

Variants:

Duzie: Dustin Henderson and Suzie (Stranger Things),

Scarlet Vision: Vision and Wanda Maximoff (MCU),

Polin: Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington (Bridgerton),

Huntlow: Hunter and Willow (Owl House),

Fiyeraba: Fiyero Tigalaar and Elphaba Thropp (Wicked),

They also don't have a ship name: Dionysus and Ariadne (Greek Mythology),

Fluttercord: Discord and Fluttershy (My Little Pony),

Janlos: Carlos and Jane (Descendants)

Xenodora: Xenophilius Lovegood and Pandora Lovegood/Rosier/Lestrange/Ollivander/Lupin/any other last name you choose for her (art by sophithil)

Tropes: She is Everything, He is just Ken, Local man really loves his Wife, Adorkable, Weird Girl x Guy that loves all of her for her quirks

Variants:

Eriel: Prince Eric and Princess Ariel (Little Mermaid),

Gorticia: Gomez and Morticia (Addams Family),

Karbie: Ken and Barbie (Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse),

Phike: Mike Hannigan and Phoebe Buffay (Friends),

MickMinn: Mickey and Minnie (Mickey Mouse),

CheesePie: Cheese Sandwich and Pinkie Pie (My Little Pony),

Devie: Doug and Evie (Descendants),

Stage Dorks: Jeremy Heere and Christine Canigula (Be More Chill)

Nobleflower: Narcissa Black and Alice Fortescue (art by cutegirlsart)

Tropes: Rich x Poor, Prep x Rebel, Book smart x Street smart

Variants:

No ship name here as well: Duchess and Thomas O'Malley (Aristocats)

Lumity: Amity Bright and Luz Noceda (Owl House)

Jaladdin: Jasmine and Aladdin (Aladdin)

LyraBon: Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon (My Little Pony)

OutlawQueen: Regina Mills and Robin Hood (Once Upon a Time)

Appling: Apple White and Darling Charming (Ever After High)

They don't have a ship name?: Evelyn Carnahan and Rick O'Connell (The Mummy)

Dipcifica: Pacifica Nortwest and Dipper Pine (Gravity Falls)

marylily colour coding hurts my eyes and rosekiller is lowkey all over the place. But it's cute so who cares

[angelshizuka]

I have heard the criticism that the murder business was the only part of Helluva Boss that was unique to the show and that’s why fans were mad that that aspect was shelved.

It was followed up with this critic saying every other character arc or theme it tried to explore afterwards are arcs and themes that we’ve seen done before and done better in other shows.

While I hesitate to say all of them were done “better” since Helluva Boss is still ongoing, I do understand to an extent being upset the thing that made you like a show is the thing that gets put on the back burner in later episodes.

Thoughts?

My take on the matter is basically this;

If people were around when the pilot first dropped in 2019 and had actual time to let it marinate as they waited for the actual show, then sure, I can understand the disappointment of it not being what you were expecting.

Though, that still doesn't excuse how many of their arguments against this show are rooted in misogyny and queerphobia (I don't give a fuck if they're a woman and/or queer themselves).

Or how these people (at least the annoying loud crowd) act like the plot came out of nowhere in s2, when it's been a literal thing since the 2nd episode of the 1st season, aka an episode that dropped about a year after the pilot (also the Stolas scene from ep1 was already setting up things for s2, but sure... "out of nowhere"). At that point they should've had at least a hunch there was going to be more to this show than just "murder of the week".

Not to mention that if you wanna get technical, only Murder Family and C.H.E.R.U.B have the assasination as the A plot (I'm not counting Spring Broken, because the A plot is Blitz vs Verosika). And even then I can still make arguments on how plot relevant both those episodes are, because Murder Family sets up a lot of the character dynamics and the book deal, and C.H.E.R.U.B. intruduces us to the Cherubs. Like, their appearance in The Full Moon would've made no sense without the s1 episode setting them up first.

Which means that even in s1 alone the murder plot at best took up 25% of the episodes. Like, being disappointed you didn't get the show it once was during the concept stage (wheter people wanna admit it or not, a pilot is part of the concept stage, they're just sometimes shared publically) is one thing, but that doesn't mean the show we ended up getting "came out of nowhere", because these ideas were already a thing when s1 went into production.

Also, hot take, I guess, but I LOVE how "cliche" this show can get at times for 2 main reasons. 1, because most modern media is allergic to romance and at the end of the day I'm a hopeless romantic who just wants characters to ship (sue me), and 2, because these plots have rarely ever existed with queer charactes and we deserve cliche romance tropes, too (as one of my animation teachers said "cliches are cliches because they work").

And honestly, as someone who thinks the pilot is just okay (like if I was around back in 2019, I would not have cared), absolutely hates C.H.E.R.U.B. and has Stolas as the literal reason I even ended up here in the first place, I cannot disagree more with the claim of the show needing to be more like the pilot.

[tealvenetianmask]

Loona understands Blitz better than anyone.

Blitz has a hard shell to crack. Actually, one of the things I love about Helluva Boss is how even though Blitz is a super loud, silly, obnoxious character, we gradually get to know the layers underneath that front and love him more each time one is lifted. I think the fact that we, as the audience, experience that shell, is one of the reasons why some viewers don't like him or get impatient with not knowing everything about what goes on in his mind.

Anyway, the other characters get to know different sides of him, but I think that Loona might be the best authority on the "many moods of Blitz." Let me explain.

Loona understands that Blitz has mental health issues. He gets upset and lashes out and then he bounces back. There's security in knowing that he's always going to bounce back.

The writers actually use Loona to teach us this about him early on. Loona's not . . . unbothered . . . by her fight with her dad in Spring Broken. But we learn that it's happened before, probably OFTEN, and that it's a pattern. He acts out emotionally- gets angry, irrational, out of control, and then he recovers and gets back to his fun, enthusiastic, determined self.

We get a very similar moment in Queen Bee.

We don't know what conversations they've actually had, but I think that Loona knows very little about the actual sources of Blitz's trauma. But she knows that he's seriously damaged, and at the same time, incredibly resilient.

Probably more importantly, Loona understands that Blitz cares deeply.

I bring out this Truth Seekers moment to point out that Loona knows that Blitz takes the I.M.P. gang's safety seriously and trusts him to make these difficult calls. Where Blitz might often SEEM careless or impulsive, Loona knows that, fundamentally, he's always looking out for his employees and can make reliable decisions for them in life or death situations.

Okay, Seeing Stars.

Look at this look of confusion when Blitz tells Loona that he "might" replace her.

So . . . obviously Loona is pissed off about getting criticism here, but she's shaken out of her rage and utterly baffled when it comes down to the possibility of actually getting fired. Because in their relationship, Blitz is solid. He offers stability in a world where Loona knew nothing of the sort before her adoption. She knows he would never fire her, throw her out, or anything of the sort. And Blitz usually sides with her over Moxxie. So what gives . . .?

Ultimately, once she reflects, Loona has no fear at all that Blitz will abandon her.

It doesn't get any clearer than this. While Loona gives Octavia advice, she's obviously reflecting on her relationship with Blitz and understanding that beyond all the mistakes and neuroses and fuck-ups and shouting matches, Blitz is truly there for her and that care is not going anywhere.

So . . . what will this mean going forward? I don't know, but my takeaway is this.

Blitz is someone who doesn't necessarily say how he truly feels (more often than not, he avoids it and might not even know himself). He shows how he feels through his actions more than his words. Loona acts fairly annoyed when Blitz makes a show of being affectionate toward her . . . the security Loona feels about Blitz depends on him SHOWING her again and again that his care for her is genuine.

Will she give other characters (M&M? Stolas?) some insights to help them understand Blitz better? It's possible. Or they could look more closely at his actions. Or he could learn to express himself properly . . . that would be a big development. But Loona has definitely helped the audience figure him out.

[kittenface40]

I.M.P is irrelevant to Helluva Boss

When Helluva Boss Pilot came out,I was really excited, to know more about these characters, their personalities, their relationships to each other and how they would develop. Additionally, I was also wondering on why each of these characters joined I.M.P and why did Blitz start his own business.

However, as the series went on, the show went on to become the Stolitz show along with dedicating episodes to fan-favourite characters that have nothing to do with I.M.P (Ozzie, Fizz and Stolas).

This is one of the (many) reasons why I'm disappointed with the current state of Helluva Boss, I.M.P's irrelevance to the main story, while I do enjoy the new episodes. There are a lot of story issues that I have with it, the fact that IMP is basically irrelevant to the Helluva Boss.

NO IMPACT ON THE OVER ARCHING STORY:

So far we only had five out of fifteen episodes (excluding the times where it's offscreen), of IMP doing it's job is the main plot of the episode, while five episode may seem fine for some it becomes a problem when their actions are basically inconsequential to the main story.

The only times where they are important is for one-off adventures like in Murder Family, Spring Broken, CHERUBS & Unhappy Campers. The problem is that their existence doesn't impact Stolas' story in anyway (aside from Blitz), like why are we focusing so much screentime on Stolas (a secondary character) who isn't even employed at IMP. And instead focus on Blitz, the titular character, protagonist and him being the boss of IMP. Understanding his goals and reasoning as to why he wanted to start IMP.

HELLUVA BOSS? WHAT BOSS:

Another problem I have with IMP, is the fact that we don't know why Blitz wanted to start a business on killing people, was it because of his tragic past and to distance himself from it, is it that he discovered he's really skilled at killing people and decided to make it big , is it because he wants love and new connections from his employees, is it to prove the higher class or his father that he can make it big and break class traditions. What is it? We only now why he wants love and respect from his employees due to his tragic past. But we don't know why he started his business.

Also we never get to see him develop into a caring boss that genuinely cares about his employees, with the show only showing the ending of the development in the same episode but none of the development.

In addition, we also never get the chance to see him as a leader of IMP, you think Blitz would be the leader and he needs to grow into being one for his employees. But the show never has Blitz develop into becoming a Helluva Boss.

NON EXISTENT SURFACE-LEVEL RELATIONSHIPS:

Another thing I really hate is that the relationships between employees at IMP, are never explored beyond the surface level. The only one I can say this doesn't apply to is Moxxie and Blitz.

We don't get to see the M&Ms relationship grow outside of loving each other, and when they do explore it, it's written poorly (Unhappy Campers).

We don't get to see Millie and Luna, relationship grow, they don't even talk to each other that much in the show. What is Blitz & Millie relationship, why do they get along with each other, why is she fine with Blitz behaviour. Luna and Moxxie relationship, why is Luna so mean to him, how does Moxxie feel about Luna bullying him, has she ever went too far, would Millie get angry at Luna for bullying.

(Side tangent; but why is Millie not standing up for her husband when Blitz and Luna bully Moxxie, they do it right in front of her. Wouldn't she get angry at them, edit: I checked and she did get angry at Luna for calling Moxxie fat, but not at Blitz for joking about this. But she needs to say something, put her foot down, not just make an angry expression)

EMPLOYEES LACK OF REASONING:

We don't know what the employees motivation was to join IMP. Why did Moxxie and Millie join IMP, was it to prove their parents wrong, to make it big, or is it for similar reasonings to Blitzo.

Why did Luna join IMP? Was it out of gratitude for Blitz saving her, was it because she couldn't get a job as a hell hound, was it to be with her father more.

-----

Anyway, that's my thought for a day, on Helluva Boss, let me know what you think about IMP. Do you agree? Disagree? Why? Let me know!

[vivziepoparchives]

Spring Broken playing card from the Helluva Boss playing card deck. Art by GasuGuma.

[source] [source 2]

[warblogs17282]

The Helluva Boss view count table, post Season 2 finale!

It's been quite the ride keeping this updated for you all, although you all probably aren't going to see it again until season 3 starts, as I'm not sure if I want to post this table for every upcoming short. However, I will still be counting the view counts for each short in this table, even if I don't post about it.

Statistics and stuff:

IMDb Ratings overall: 8.1/10 with 13000+ people giving a rating on the site. All of these ratings are out of 10.

Pilot: 7.4

S1 E1: 7.7

S1 E2: 8.6

S1 E3: 7.5

S1 E4: 7.2

S1 E5: 8.2

S1 E6: 9.1

S1 E7: 8.8

S1 E8: 7.3

S2 E1: 8.5

S2 E2: 7.7

S2 E3: 7.8

S2 E4: 7.3

S2 E5: 6

S2 E6: 8.7

S2 E7: 8.7

S2 E8: 8.2

S2 E9: 8.7

S2 E10: 8.2

S2 E11: 9.1

S2 E12: 9

The day of the week each episode released and the time between each episode:

Just gonna link to this post by sadhornydemons, it shows both of these.

The average view count of Helluva Boss:

Season 1 only + pilot:

The average view count for season 1 + the pilot was 9,086,823 views.

Season 2 only (Shorts not included.):

The average view count for season 2 was 9,690,163 views.

Both seasons together + pilot (Shorts not included.):

The average view count for helluva boss combining both seasons and the pilot together into one calculation is 9,431,588 based on the data I have obtained.

(Quickly threw together an excel spreadsheet for this matter, if I've missed anything or fucked up a piece of data somewhere, please let me know. Also the =average function was used in the process of making this post, the shorts were not a part of the just season 2 average function.)

Rankings:

Top and bottom 3 episodes on IMDb as of 28/12/2024:

Top 3:

Truth Seekers - 9.1/10

Mastermind - 9.1/10 (Recent episode so subject to change.)

Sinsmas - 9/10 (Very recent episode so subject to change.)

Bottom 3:

Unhappy Campers 6/10

C.H.E.R.U.B - 7.2/10

Western Energy - 7.4/10

Episode view counts (Both seasons + pilot), highest to lowest:

1: S2 E1 - 13,126,955 views.

2: S1 E5 - 11,658,760 views.

3: S2 E7 - 10,855,337 views.

4: S2 E3 - 10,630,600 views.

5: S1 E3 - 10,450,616 views.

6: S1 E6 - 10,441,255 views.

7: S2 E12 - 10,380,617 views.

8: S2 E11 - 10,275,899 views.

9: S2 E9 - 9,772,762 views.

10: S2 E2 - 9,753,386 views.

11: S2 E6 - 9,429,540 views.

12: S2 E8 - 9,308,493 views.

13: S1 E2 - 9,230,983 views.

14: S1 E8 - 8,765,836 views.

15: S1 E7 - 8,684,320 views.

16: S2 E4 - 7,877,622 views.

17: Pilot - 7,845,385 views.

18: S2 E5 - 7,814,061 views.

19: S1 E4 - 7,455,897 views.

20: S1 E1 - 7,248,356 views.

21: S2 E10 - 7,056,678 views.

The top three performing episodes in season 1:

The Harvest Moon Festival with 11,658,760 views.

Spring Broken with 10,450,616 views.

Truth Seekers with 10,441,255 views.

The top three performing episodes in season 2:

The Circus with 13,126,955 views.

2. MAMMON’S MAGNIFICENT MUSICAL MID-SEASON SPECIAL (ft Fizzarolli) with 10,855,337 views.

3. Exes and Oohs with 10,630,600 views.

The top three performing episodes in both seasons:

In first place we have THE CIRCUS WITH 13,126,955 VIEWS! With the episode continuing to hold an iron grip on that top spot, will the first episode of season 3 be able to rival it? Place your bets now!

In second place, we have The Harvest Moon Festival featuring the debut of Striker! With it also holding a solid grip onto second place in the rankings.

In third place, we have MAMMON’S MAGNIFICENT MUSICAL MID-SEASON SPECIAL (ft Fizzarolli) coming in at 10,855,337 views! Featuring the debut of our idiot of a sin and a villain, Mammon! Also featuring bangers like Two Minutes Notice and more!

The bottom three performing episodes in both seasons:

Ghostfuckers with 7,056,678 views. Even this one caught me off guard, was expecting it to be a bit on the lower side due to the absence of other major fan-favorite characters like Stolas and Fizzarolli, but it being the worst performing episode still caught me by surprise tbh.

2. Murder Family with 7,248,356 views. Where everything started, the beginning of the show we know and love to this day.

3. C.H.E.R.U.B with 7,455,897 views. Yea I'm not really surprised that this one is here, most people think it's a rather weak episode or one of the worst of the show, so I can understand why it's the third worst performing in around it's first week.

Finally, the shorts:

MISSION: WEEABOO-BOO with 5,975,830 views.

Hell's Belles with 4,721,921 views.

MISSION: ANTARCTICA with 4,265,974 views.

4. MISSION: CHUPACABRAS with 4,038,466 views.

No average for the four shorts at the moment as I feel like there isn't enough of the shorts yet to make a fair average view count of them.

But hey, if you're reading this part, you're cool as fuck, and I hope you have a great day!

[a-cold-day-in-pentagram-city]

“Helluva Boss” Season Three Prediction

With business booming, Blitzø-after paying Moxxie and Millie, of course-decides that it’s time for him to go house hunting, since his current apartment was cramped even when it was just him and Loona.

After a long and unpleasant search, he finally finds the perfect house. It has four bedrooms, is in a good (by Pride ring standards) neighborhood, and even comes with a yard and stable for a horse!

The only downside is that, even with more money coming in, Blitzø can’t afford it.

He complains to Fizzarolli, who immediately offers to buy the house for him; but Blitzø insists that he doesn’t need or want charity.

Blitzø is snapped out of his moping when an anonymous client hires I.M.P. to murder an entire police department.

It’s not easy, but the money earned from the job is enough for Blitzø to buy his dream house!

After he announces the good news, Millie mentions that she and Moxxie are also searching for a new place to live; since their current home doesn’t have enough room for the baby.

Blitzø immediately suggests that they move in with him. “You two, the baby, Loony, and Stolas can each have a room; and I can sleep on the couch!”

Stolas argues that HE should be the one sleeping on the couch, since Blitzø is the one paying for the house.

Loona offers to stay in her and Blitzø’s current apartment, since her salary is now enough to cover the rent; but both Blitzø and Stolas tell her “No!”.

Moxxie finally ends the argument by suggesting that Blitzø and Stolas share a room.

As the members of I.M.P. tour their new home, the scene shifts to Fizzarolli talking with Verosika Mayday.

It turns that she was the anonymous client from earlier; who, after hearing about Blitzø’s plight, hired I.M.P. to kill the police officers who arrested her and her crew in “Spring Broken”.

[definitive-receipt]

The Very Disjointed Themes and Subtext of Helluva Boss

-It's okay to drink and abuse medication! [The Circus, Stolas having no reprecussions for his actions]

-If someone is disrespectful and not understanding it's because they're un-medicated and you shouldn't take them seriously [Sinsmas towards Stolas]

-It's okay to treat lower class/poor people with disrespect because they just have nothing better to do then be poor [Oops, Western Energy towards Striker]

-It's okay to cheat on your partner if they're abusive all the abuse is one-sided and you don't need the other partners' side of the story! [The Circus towards Stella]

-If you're a child of divorce then it's your fault and you have to fix that relationship yourself otherwise why even consider yourself a good child! [Sinsmas towards Octavia]

-Divorced children shouldn't be upset towards their parents if they don't know the full story and should be told excuses about why the divorce happened, not the truth [Sinsmas towards Octavia]

-If you question your parents' parenting don't! Cut them some slack they're 'trying their best' is all people will tell you making excuses for them [Seeing Stars towards Octavia]

-If you've been abused it's okay to abuse others around you, they don't know how hard you've had it! [Stolas, Blitzo, and Loonas treatment in general]

-If you're in a relationship, it's 80/20 over discussing problems you see fit and you should always sacrifice for the other even if the other barely notices or recognizes you about it [Respectively Blitzo, Millie, and Fizzes treatment within relationships]

-If you've been dumped by someone hold onto that grudge for as long as you can it's totally justified to not move on, you go girl! [Spring Broken and Apology Tour towards Verrosika]

-Alcoholism is cool and you don't need to change yourself one bit, it's hell it's okay if characters consistently drink and the show displays it as a sign of power hell yeah, 'Fuck it up'! Who needs to get better or sober when you're in hell you deserve that drink![Crimson drinking, Stolas drinking, Stella drinking, Blitzo drinking, Loona drinking, Moxxie drinking, Belzebub drinking, Mammon drinking]

-If you're having a child your family comes first over your partner! [Sinsmas towards Millie] *though not that egregious really eyebrow raising as to why she hesitated telling him about it but she's okay with telling her family first?

-Starting arguments and belittling anyone who tries to argue back with you even if they're right is so not cool especially when they call out how you treat others. Just cry and guilt trip it's not your fault! [Apology Tour towards Verrosika and Stolas]

-Don't rekindle old friendships because acknowledging a misunderstanding is bad and the other person probably doesn't want anything to do with you! [Oops with Fizzeroli and Blitzo]

-Cheating if you're gay is a-okay [Sinsmas with Blitzo, Stolas in general]

-Risking your life for a side-piece and part-time lover is expected, after all you do love them don't you so you should put your life on the line for them! [Sinsmas with Stolas]

[tigerqueen767]

Helluva Boss Season Finale

So a homophobic client shows up and tells IMP to kill her husband for leaving her for a man and cheating (possibly.) IMP attempt to try and kill him but then Blizto can't do it cause of his feefees and cause he sees himself in that man. Forget that Blizto has killed many people for petty reasons before (Spring Broken is a good example, he literally killed tons of random people, many of which were probably gay, just because of a bet) and forget that he chastised Moxxie for doing the exact same thing (weird how Mox didn't bring that up honestly) NO, you can't criticize this gay man because he's so cute and gay. That's the message Viv is sending.

The moral of this episode is that if you criticize Stolas and Blizto's relationship, you're homophobic. Wowww... Just wow!

It couldn't possibly be because these two have absolutely no chemistry and only know eachother because of sex. It couldn't possibly be because Stolas made a creepy and predatory deal with Blizto. It couldn't possibly be because Stolas is a terrible person who lied to his daughter and is written terribly. Forget that Stolas risked his life for his fuck buddy when he should have stayed with his daughter. Forget that Blizto never wanted a serious relationship until now just because that's what the writers want. Forget everything I said and just sit back and watch Blizto and Stolas dance on the balcony since it's the only thing Viv cares about.

Stolizt is the only thing Viv cares about. That's what this episode proves once and for all. Their relationship is the only thing that had any meaningful continuity in season 1. Everything else was episodic material.

Maybe in Season 3 we'll focus on other things but it won't make up for the trainwreck of a Season this was.

Now, because I don't just want to be negative, let me talk about how this Season could have been 1000 times better. Let me offer a fix.

This Season would have been great if it split it's screen time 70-30 between the IMP stuff and the Stolas stuff. Let every member of IMP shine in their own episode. It's not like there isn't enough time. Explore Millie's prejudice against Hellhounds (cause we all know she doesn't respect Hellhounds.) Explore Millie's wrath and how it might help and hinder her. It might lead to devastating consequences depending on who she chooses to fight and why. Shoot first and ask questions later is not a good principle and I feel like that's exactly what she does. Have Loona and Via actually hang out! Show us how her timidness and introversion make that relationship start off rocky. Show us how she changes from a person who can barely hold a conversation in the Queen Bee episode to a person that would have a bunch of friends over for Sinsmas. That development WAS. NOT. THERE!!

Have Moxxie actually confront his fears. It looked like he was about to fight his dad but then he got tazed and his wife did all the work. Why? Have him stand up to Blizto finally and make Blizto respect him. Cause Blizto does not respect him. Look at the way he talks to him in Season 2 and tell me this is respectful. Plus, in the episode Truth Seekers he only congratulated Moxxie for killing well. That's it. He respects the work he does but not who he is as a person. That could have been explored in Season 2. That would have been a great arc.

As for Blizto show more of his relationship between him and his sister. Blizto brought Barbie up again in the finale and it sounds like they really want us to care about her character but she wasn't even in the flashback episode. In order to fix the flashback episode, get rid of Stolas! Don't make a flashback that includes Stolas at all. Just make it about life in the circus performing with Blizto, Barbie and Fizz.

And instead of a giant special episode about Fizz and his terrible boss how about an episode dedicated to Stolas and Via's relationship. Why not write a song about how they've lived their lives over the years. Show us what it was like to BE her.

I'm getting tired of writing now. I hope you enjoyed reading this, at least a little.

[amalthea-13]

Stolas and Via v.s. Loona and Blitz

Introduction

I'm BAAACCCKKKKK! As much as I adore talking about Octavia and debating about Stella. I wanted to utilize my rewatch of Spring Broken (S1 Ep3) to talk about the dichotomy setup between Stolas and Blitz's parenting styles!

This will be a defense for Stolas because I noticed that many people use Blitz as an example of a "good parent" when- in actuality both of these dorks parent the exact same way but in differing fonts.

You all may wanna argue against that, but this is purely from my observation.

Now the major differences between Octavia and Loona is Octavia wants all her dad's attention and Loona wants less of her father's attention. While yes there is a bit of an age difference and circumstances, we are purely talking parenting techniques and their similarities.

Let's dive in!

Both Don't Listen to Their Daughter's Needs

When it comes to Stolas, one of the major issues I notice discussed is how Stolas disregards Via. That he is only concerned about himself and that she should always come first.

I'm not going to argue against this at the moment since I have outlined many times that Stolas has always been a selfless father who prioritizes his daughter first above his own safety and happiness. If you wanna argue that, go argue with the wall.

Moving on, the biggest complaint is Stolas doesn't seem to concerned with listening or caring for Octavia's needs as I outlined back in the Stolas, Via, and Loo Loo Land essay.

Stolas is known to get caught up in himself at times, and remember that habit is a biproduct of his abuse. He gets excitable due to being deprived of any sense of happiness for so long.

This causes him to not listen or hear out Via's needs when she is clearly unhappy at Loo Loo Land.

Octavia looks consistently uncomfortable and like she isn't having a good time.

Many argue that again, Blitz is a good parent, but he does this to Loona too during Spring Broken. Loona unlike Via is 22 and a growing woman. Therefore she craves independence away from Blitz, but he is consistently up in her space and invasive as all fuck. Going as far to get between her and Tex.

Loona clearly struggles socially as we see later on in Helluva Boss, but here she is trying to make connections and meet new people. She clearly craves social interactions with people her age and people like her. She seeks connections with other hellhounds and therefore it really isn't fair of Blitz to try and stop that. I mean he knows his daughter and is consistently overbearing to an annoying ass degree.

Stolas on the other hand can be just as overbearing and annoyingly up in Octavia's business. Trying his best to do the right thing and often fumbling.

Both Have the Capacity to Be Selfish

One major criticism of Stolas is that he acts selfishly during Mastermind and while I WILL be tackling that in another post, the main thing here is both of them have been able to act selfish at times.

Blitz during Spring Broken prioritizes a parking space above Loona's need for community and socialization away from him. A parking spot is not more important than your daughters needs.

Both Stolas and Blitz have room to be selfish or downright unfair to their daughters, but that doesn't make either of them as awful and terrible as ya'll make it out to be. While I can understand why some people talk about Stolas's parenting, it makes no sense when you realize he isn't much different from Blitz.

Both of them Truly Care

However, both Stolas and Blitz have one thing in common and it is that they care. Despite Loona being 22 and knowing her father is a lot, she still trusts him and knows he will take care of her even if it means things go a bit off the rails.

Both of these men would go through hellfire and brimstone for their girls and that's the biggest takeaway ya'll should take. When debating these two as parents or as lovers.

The arguments come down to Stolas being bad and Blitz being good, but they both care so deeply for their daughters that I think this whole "good or bad" mentality makes no sense since they both are trying their best.

Especially considering the background both of these characters come from.

Stolas and Blitz: Background

Now let's talk about childhood because this is gonna be a DOOZY. Both Stolas and Blitz had ASS fathers. Cash Buckzo sold his son for a 5 dollar bill and a CONDOM. While Paimon couldn't give a fuckin hoot what happened to Stolas as long as it served the Goetia Family.

Both of these fucks did not give two flying fucks about their kids and sadly it shows in how violent they are towards them. Literally during the fire when Cash sees his freshly burnt son, he not only grabs Blitz by his burns, but also hits him!

For Stolas, we know physical violence was utilized to manage his behavior. Not as severe as Blitz's example, but still important to the context of his character.

Also note that Blitz flinches because he himself is hit quite often.

Both of these characters had their behaviors managed by a form of violence and lived in families where they were only as loved as they were useful.

Their love and care was dependent on what they could provide. Hence Stolas believing he has to give Blitz things to make him stay and Blitz's "I can always do better" line during Full Moon.

It's why many of Blitz's relationships fell apart. Once he can no longer gain something or feels like they'll leave him he dips.

It's why Stolas tries so hard to be able to provide for Blitz so he has a solid place in Blitz's life.

Blitz eventually left his family but decided he wanted to be a better father to Loona and that even if the world saw her as a fuck up, that he'd do better for her.

That he himself may be a lost cause, but shit if he can give this girl the opportunities he was robbed of then maybe, just maybe she'll be better than him.

Stolas having lived through abuse, pain, and ridicule for most of his life wanted nothing more than the best life for Octavia so he spoiled that girl with all the love he had since he wanted her to grow up to remember she was cared for and adored.

So she never felt as lonely in that palace as he did.

That despite how vindictive and awful his wife was, he'd provide her a normal life and try his best to give her everything he didn't have.

When I say these men beat the odds of their circumstances, they beyond anything beat the fucking odds.

A person like either of them would have continued the cycle of abuse, but instead both Stolas and Blitz chose to be better father's for the sakes of their daughters and nothing else.

Conclusion

Despite the odds and their lives, both Stolas and Blitz are amazing parents. While this may be a weird way to discuss Spring Broken, I wanted to touch on this topic after seeing the dynamic between Blitz and Loona as it mirrors Stolas and Via.

I hope you all enjoyed!!!

Toodles! Amalthea Out!

[niiwa-angel]

We need more emotionally complex characters!!

You guys can't even handle Via and Loona from Helluva Boss.

I have seen quite a few posts complaining about Loona this episode and how they "rushed her character" because she grabbed the I.M.P picture from her desk drawer and told Blitz she loved him. Like, if you think her character was rushed, you haven't been paying attention to the show.

I also saw people complaining about Octavia, calling her spoiled and entitled because she "wants her dad to stay in an abusive relationship" as if Stolas himself didn't say that he worked hard to make sure Via had a normal life.

Loona cares about people, she smiled in the pilot when Blitz called her family, she smiled when he hugged her, she almost called him dad in Spring Broken. She's a traumatized person, when we saw her in the orphanage, she was literally trapped in a cell with another hellhound that had a weapon and was ready to attack her. She had what looked like hundreds of tally marks on her wall, God knows how long she's been there or what she saw. Do you think that might contribute to why she's outwardly hostile?

As for Via, from her perspective, her parents had a functional, happy marriage until her father cheated on her mother in their bed. Then her father drags her to an old place they used to go, where she had happy memories as a family, and flirted with the guy he cheated on her mother with the whole time. Then her dad kicks out her mother right before what he promised was going to be a special event for the two of them, something that must have also been incredibly stressful. And then, when she tried to talk to him, he tells her that her mother is being a bitch.

Like, both characters have flaws, the same way all characters do, but they aren't the irredeemable monsters some people are making them out to be.

[aspoonofsugar]

Merry Sinsmas!

It's Christmas, so here come some quick and unorganized thoughts on the Helluva Boss season 2's finale :''') (yes, I am late to this)

First of all, I loved the episode and I thought it worked very well as the season's finale!

MY FAVORITE CALLBACKS

The episode is full of callbacks, which show how much the characters have grown. Everybody already listed them, so here are some of my favorites:

The Circus: The beginning and the end of the episode mirror The Circus, with Stolas waking up surrounded by plushies and Stolas being on a balcony looking up at the sky. This is perfect considering this was mostly Stolas's season. It starts with him in a gilded cage:

Prince, all alone Upon your throne Your power is so frail You raise your voice You have no choice Inside your gilded jail

It ends with him dealing with the responsibility of choosing freely:

Stolas: You don't need to feel any guilt for my situation, it was my choice. It was all my choice. I caused all of this.

Murder Family: I.M.P.'s mission mirrors their first mission ever, as they are asked once again to kill a cheater, even if it destroys a family. The difference is that this time the group and Blitz especially does not follow through. This is clever because 1) It ties into the Christmas spirit :P (one good deed for Christmas LOL) 2) It shows Blitz's growth. He has grown enough that he can now imagine a new family for himself and Stolas in the future. Something he could have never done in episode 1, where his business and colleagues were the only family he could conceive. Blitz has now matured enough he is more in tune with his deepest wishes and can slowly start working towards them. It showcases how an important part of the story (half of it really) is over and how next season is gonna change the game and introduce new objectives and struggles.

Spring Broken: The fight against Andrealphus's dragon parallels the fight against the sea monster in Spring Broken. Both times an imp saves their romantic partner from being eaten by a monster, slays said monster from the inside and there is a "high five" played for laughs. In Spring Broken, the couple in focus is Moxxie and Millie, whereas in Sinsmas it's Blitz and Stolas. This is lovely, as it shows Stolitz have the potential to share a full fledged romantic relationship, just like M&M. Considering Blitz sees Moxxie and Millie's bond as perfect to the point he has tried to live it by proxy, this is a pretty important implication. It shows how much Blitz is now open to a true love story with Stolas.

This is a nice moment for Moxxie, as well. In Spring Broken he was drunk and was useless during the fight, leaving it all to Millie. This time he supports Blitz and gains a high five and some appreciation from his Boss (which he deeply craves). Him and Loona's team-up is pretty awesome too <3. Finally, it is interesting that during the fight Moxxie and Millie exchange roles. Moxxie tries the melee, by using a sword, whereas Millie tries the firepower. This is a direct inversion of how they are fighting in their skirmish at the beginning of the episode, where Millie uses a sword and Moxxie a giant gun:

I wonder if it foreshadows a deeper integration Moxxie and Millie will have to undergo next season, especially because the pregnancy plotline will definately arise some conflict.

Queen Bee: Loona gets some nice moments, which show how much more open she is with others compared to the previous season. She now refers to Blitz as dad more often and she is even eager to have him spend time with her friends. Speaking of whom, I love we are seeing more Hellounds. It is so great Loona has managed to build some positive bonds from the Queen Bee's episode and she is now better integrated with the people of Gluttony, her birth sin :''') I guess next season these bonds are gonna have some focus, especially considering Loona keeps mentioning Vicky, a hellhound she hates. I wonder if it's her:

On another note, I LOVE that the Hellounds are all dressed as foods to celebrate gluttony, that is so creative!

Ice cream and Hamburger

Pop corn

Their costumes are also all yellow (or different shades of yellow), aka Bee's color! Loona's outfit even loosely resembles Bee's. I am curious if Loona and Bee's foiling will come up again tbh.

Loo Loo Land and Seeing Stars: Obviously Sinmas heavily references the two other Octavia-centered episodes. This storyline would probably need a meta all for itself, but here are some thoughts. Octavia's "I Will Be Okay" parallels "You Will Be Okay". There Stolas tells Octavia he will always be in her heart, even when he can't be physically there. He also assures Octavia she will be okay even if the universe gets destroyed (because Stolas himself will make sure of it). Here, Octavia sings that even if Stolas left her, she will be okay, but she is cutting ties with her dad. She also sings so as her world (her family) is symbolically falling apart. The space symbolism is interesting because it ties with Seeing Stars, as there is a meteor shower exploding like a giant firework, just like the ones Stolas and Octavia watched together.

In general, Octavia says she is never forgiving her dad and that Stolas will only know her by her name, but she does so by:

Playing a guitar Stolas gave her

Singing a reprise of Stolas's song

Singing a song with a lot of references to space and stars

Well, let's just say Octavia will never be a stranger to Stolas because Stolas is too deeply intertwined with who Octavia is already <3<3<3

This is made clear in the climax of the episode, where Octavia goes to look for her dad because she is worried about his mental health without the Happy Pills and saves him from Andrealphus. This is once again a reference to Seeing Stars. There Octavia is shown to still be inexperienced with her powers and Stolas tells her he has yet to teach her powerful spells. Here Octavia gets a hold of her powers on her own and uses them to defeat her uncle. So, Octavia might learn to fend for herself more, but she is never truly hating her dad, no matter how angry she is.

I also like that the previous two episodes dedicated to Octavia make clear her outburst is not coming out of nowhere. Stolas has been failing her a lot since the beginning of his affair with Blitz:

In Loo Loo Land he still treats Via as the child she isn't anymore and fails to address the issue that is truly and clearly bothering Via until she forces him to. And even there, although he reassures her, Stolas fails to address the matter effectively. (Not that it is simple).

In Seeing Stars he is so caught up in his divorce, he fails to listen to Via and forgets their past promise. The fact it is Loona to find Via and not Stolas himself really ties into this. It is not that Stolas isn't trying, but at the end of the day he spends the majority of the episode with Blitz, laughing at his jokes and getting horny for him. Sure, Blitz was forced into the sit-com, but Stolas could have left Blitz and kept looking for Via. This shows how much Stolas was already struggling between his love for Via and his desire to build a romantic relationship with Blitz.

In short, Via calling Stolas out on prioritizing his relationships with Blitz over their father-daughter one is correct:

Stella: Sorry, sweetie. No talking to that deadbeat. Andrealphus, look who's finally calling! Andrealphus: Oooh! Took him this long? That's hilarious.

Stella and Andrealphus aren't exactly wrong here either. Stolas waited a lot to call Via. That is because he was shocked and needed a long sleep, but Via can't know it. From her point of view her dad took responsibility for a crime in order to save Blitz, was banished and then ghosted her for a whole night/day.

At the same time, it is obvious Via is gonna to slowly discover more and more about her dad and his pain. Finding the Happy Pills was just a first step into a process of maturation, which will lead her to become an adult. Still Stolas's daughter, but not Stolas's helpless little girl anymore.

As two sides note:

I like that season 1 ends with Loona and Blitz's bond in focus, whereas season 2 ends with Stolas and Via's. It is obvious their two girls are key for Blitz and Stolas.

I like how Stolas's home is now completely frozen. It is a great metaphor for the kind of cold and abusive environment Via is now in. It is kind of telling the only parts of the house, which are not frozen are Via's room (filled with her and Stolas's shared interests) and the closet with Stolas's stuff.

STOLITZ I loved the Stolitz's development this episode! It was the perfect wrap up of their relationship this season. It is especially interesting how their dynamic is now inverted compared to the beginning. Right now the one more openly affective and open to an official love story is Blitz. Stolas is instead too heartbroken and jaded to fully jump into it, despite how much he clearly loves Blitz. Also, as other people noticed:

Stolas: Go enjoy your Sinsmas, Blitzo. I'm fine. You don't have to stay here with me.

This is a call back to Full Moon, as Blitz is now choosing to stay by Stolas's side.

Stolas becoming Blitz's secretary is instead another callback to The Circus:

Blitzo: Yeah! A big office! Circus business with clowns and horses! and the horses will all have good names like Stapler and Biscuit Queen. Stolas: I'm sure you will. That sounds like a good business. Blitzo: Yeah! And, if you want to apply, I'll hire you. Maybe. Stolas: You'll hire me? Blitzo: Yeah, if I feel like it. Stolas: Well, I hope I qualify! You'd be a good boss.

In general, it is gonna be interesting to see Stolas struggle with his newfound situation and self-reflect on his previous privilege.

However, the part I loved the most about Stolitz is the fight against Andrealphus:

First of all, I loved the princess and knight's symbolism because it is so extra and it fits them so well! It is also Stolas's dream come true:

Stolas: You wanna know what I want? I want to know what it's like, to not be alone. I want to be someone's someone. I want to feel wanted. But like, in a romantic way, like I'm standing out in the rain at a train station and someone is shouting: “Harriet! Don't get on that train, it's going to London and I cannot be without you!”

Secondly, I loved all the Disney references:

Blitzo: Hey Elsa! Get your icy hands off my bottom, bitch!

Frozen

Sleeping Beauty

Hercules

They are truly hellbent on turning Stolas into a Disney Princess!

OTHER THINGS I LIKED

Via vs Andre

I loved Via easily defeating Andrealphus. First of all, she is awesome and I adored her star-themed powers! Secondly, it ties very well with the classism commentary of the series.

Andrealphus is a Marquis, while Stolas is a Prince. Via is Stolas's heir, which means she is more powerful than Andrealphus, even if her powers are still raw. The short fight makes the difference clear as day.

Why is this important?

Thematically, it makes Andrealphus an interesting foil to Stolas. As a matter of fact he is clearly meant to be seen as Stolas's negative parallel. Both are homosexual nobles forced to repress their sexuality to fit the role they were given by society. However, they clearly both resent said role.

Stolas tries to evade it by starting an affair with Blitx, the first thing that truly makes him happy in years. He acts outside what is expected from Goetias, ignores protocols and eventually helps I.M.P. at a great personal cost. He is slowly going to face and unlearn his unconscious classism in the next season, as he works with Blitz and the others.

Andre tries to climb the hierarchy because he thinks that if he were more powerful and richer he will be happier. Hence he makes use of Hell's rules to dethrone Stolas and steal his assets. However, no matter how much he tries.

First of all, Hell's hierarchy isn't as easily destroyed, especially if you play by its rules:

Satan: STOLAS! I hereby strip you of your status, your power, and your title; Andrealphus: Yeees! Yeeesss! YEEESSSS!! Satan: For the next hundred years. Andrealphus: Oh motherfuck! Seriously?!

Secondly, no matter how much Andrealphus tries, there will always be someone higher than him. Stolas is gone, but Via is already able to kick his ass. He will always be a Marquis and never a Prince.

Thirdly, Andrealphus associates value to social status, but his short fight against I.M.P. makes very clear there is more than powers to a person's abilities. He is immensely more powerful than imps and hellhounds, but he sucks at fighting and it shows. Blitz and the others are able to hold their own easily.

Last, but not least there is no amount of social status that can buy true happiness. Andre being linked to Elsa is funny, but it is also meaningful when we remember Elsa is a lonely girl, who represses her emotions to fit into a system. Well, Andre does the same. He probably represses who he is (his sexuality) and is left cold and unhappy.

In short, just like Striker, Andre too is probably deep down unhappy with the current state of society. However, our protagonists' dark foils try to change their state by hurting others and crushing them under their feet. The protagonists instead more genuinely oppose the system by trying to help others.

Plot-wise, this might lead to some interesting developments.

First of all, this might tie into the Stella-centered episode. It is probable she was forced to marry Stolas, so that her family could social climb. This might explain why she was so angry about Stolas's divorce and why it was so important for her and Andre to get some retribution from Stolas. Their family is on a lower level than Stolas's one.

Secondly, Andre might at one point decide to kill Via, so that he can keep Stolas's assets for himself. This might become true especially if Via keeps rebelling against him. In this case, I have a pretty good idea of who Andre is gonna call:

Striker: Well, this has been fun, but every good thing has to come to an end. Shame you won't see your kid, again. Stolas: Don't you dare breathe a word about my daughter. Striker: Oh. Finally hit a nerve, huh? Stolas: I swear, if you go near her, I will destroy you.

Striker threatened Octavia in Western Energy, so this checkov gun might fire. If so, it will be a chance for Stolas to help Via, for Blitz to face his dark foil once again and for Via to discover the truth about her father's attempted murder.

The pregnancy plotline

This season we have a little conflict between Moxxie and Millie in Happy Campers and I was wondering if they were gonna have a bigger one later on. Well, it seems they will because the pregnancy plotline is going to bring some drama in the relationship.

As for now, to me it seems Millie is not convinced about the pregnancy and might contemplate an abortion:

Millie: What? Didn't he cheat or s-s-something? Come on, this is fun! We've done this kind of t-t-thing before. Blitzo: Just… not this one, Mils. Not today. Millie: I can do this one, I can do this! Blitzo: Millie! Moxxie: We'll do it next time! It's just not worth it. Millie: Don't start, Moxxie! Just because you aren't demon enough to do this job, doesn't mean…

Her being the most insensitive while watching the happy human family seems as foreshadowing that Millie doesn't really want kids. At least not now. This might change of course and I might be wrong. Still, the fact she hasn't told Moxxie about it yet is pretty indicative of how confused she is at the moment.

In general, to me it seems Moxxie and Millie are partly subverting feminine and masculine tropes, as Moxxie is more feminine (musicals) and Millie is more masculine (fighting). At the same time, I think they are also meant to deconstruct these ideas.

Moxxie exhibits some traits of toxic masculinity that clearly come from his father. For example, in Happy Campers he is obsessed by the fact he and not Millie must complete the mission, because he must prove himself to the boss. Or in The Harvest Moon Festival he tries to show he is as strong as Striker, even if his talents lie elsewhere.

Millie might soon reveal she herself might feel pressured to conform to some traditional feminine roles. For example, she might fear that becoming a mother might mean she has to give up her career. Or she is scared of how others (like her family and husband) will see her if she gives up the baby. All in all, she comes from a rather traditional environment and I am curious to see if this inspiration will be used to explore her pregnancy.

SINSMAS

I LOVED the idea of Sinsmas for several reasons.

Thematically, Sinsmas is really about self-expression:

Blitzo: Uh, it's Sinsmas! You know, the day every Hellborn celebrates and acts on their birth sin? Or any sin, whichever ones they want, honestly!

It is about giving in to your vices for one whole day (it is really similar to Carnival), so that you can indulge in what makes you happy, even if it is considered strange or wrong.

This is very important for the theme of classism:

Stolas: I cannot say I'm familiar with this holiday. Blitzo: Really? Wow, rich people don't have any fun, do they? Stolas: No, fun is free, but we can afford nice things.

Stolas is a noble and nobles do not celebrate Sinsmas. That is because the Goetias can never truly express themselves:

Stolas: Yaaaay! Birthday, birthday! WOOHOO! Birthday tiiiiime! Mister Butler: Calm yourself, young prince. You know excitement is unbecoming of a Goetia.

They have to repress repress repress.

So, it is telling Stolas slowly embraces the spirit of wrath throughout the episode.

He starts by trashing Blitz's office (luckily it is insured :P):

Stolas: Augh! Come on, you suck! You fucking suck! You fucking piece of shit, move you fucking face, you goddamn sucking motherfucker— GAH! WHAT A FUCKING IDIOT I AM! THIS WAS SO STUPID! I CANNOT BELIEVE I COULD BE! THIS FUCKING STUPID! I RUINED EVERYTHING! MOVE!!! YOU SHITTY DESK!!!

And he ends by trashing Andrealphus:

He has left the Goetia for one month in universe and he is already fitting in :''')

World-building wise, Sinsmas is very interesting because it is mostly celebrated by Hellborn Demons. Karen, who is a Sinner knows nothing of it and is uninterested in it. For her it's just Christmas.

As a result, I wonder if Pride as a sin is less celebrated than others during this Holiday. We see decorations for Greed, Wrath and Gluttony mostly. But I am sure people from Lust, Envy, Sloth will mostly celebrate these sins. However, the Demons typical of Pride are Sinners or Goetias, both of which do not celebrate.

So, I am wondering:

Do some Sinners who have been in Hell for a while celebrate Sinsmas? Do they stick to Christmas? Do they fuse the two holidays?

Was Pride more celebrated as a Sin before Lucifer decided not to get involved in Hell's affairs anymore?

Do the people of Pride have some specific festivities? Or to better say, do different Rings have different festivities?

I love holidays in different cultures and I would honestly just love a series dedicated to the different holidays in the Hellaverse :''')

MY FAVORITE EPISODES OF THE SEASONS

So, since this was the season's finale, I think I can now say which episodes were my favorite this time around! It is difficult because I thought this season was pretty strong overall, but if I must choose:

Ooops!

Mammon's Magnificent Musical

Ghostfuckers

Mastermind

Sinsmas

These are my favorites! In particular, Mammon's Magnificent Musical and Mastermind are my two pick choice, in no order.

This is all! Merry Christmas to who celebrates and Happy Holiday to everybody!

[hina-has-no-life]

About the Full Moon and Apology Tour discourse

Helluva Boss is, in it's essence, a show about Blitz and his relationships. Everything that happens only happens because of the way people feel about Blitz and how he feels about them. But the show has taken a unique approach to this.

Usually a show like this keeps the POV on the main character, which would be Blitz here. But Helluva Boss has not done that.

Every episode before Full Moon and Apology Tour has been shown from the perspective of another person or multiple people. But Blitz hasn't been the POV character in a single one. At most we got Blitz reaction as seen by other people. He's shown like a background character in his own life for a majority of the show.

We get Moxxie and Stolas POV in Murder Family while being shown what happens with Blitz and Millie through a neutral lense. In LooLooLand it's Stolas and Via's POV, it's Loona in Spring Broken. It's omnipotent in Cherubs and Striker/Moxxie in Harvest Moon. The show breaks the trend for the first time in Truth Seekers with Blitz trip sequence and even then, that is the only time we see the world through Blitz eyes, the rest of the episode we see things from Moxxie and Millie's view. Ozzie's is from a mostly neutral POV but with a certain twist to Stolas and his feelings. Season 2 continues the trend, we get the most Blitz lore we ever had within the show in Oops through Fizz POV and his story.

Full Moon and Apology Tour break the trend. Full Moon is a split POV between Stolas and Blitz while showing us what happens behind the scenes with the rest of I.M.P. but we are put into Blitz life, the way he spends his day while shown Stolas feelings and motivations for the episode. It created a dissonance because while we are shown Stolas feelings we are also shown Blitz day and his POV.

The moment Stolas and Blitz meet we are firmly put into Blitz POV, we don't see Stolas again unless Blitz is focusing on him. The switch is so seemlessly that you only notice it upon a second watch where you directly look for details you missed. And Apology Tour takes that moment of us being in Blitz head and runs with it.

The whole episode we are put in Blitz shoes. While we get to see what happens with Stolas, it's only because we need to know what Blitz is walking into. The whole episode we aren't put into the POV of someone else and solely focused on Blitz.

Blitz hates himself and his first assumption is always that people hate him. That's why the whole episode is so harsh towards him, because we are in his head and see the world the way Blitz sees it. The episode makes us feel like Blitz does in every moment we see. The artistic direction even goes the extra mile and often shows us the things as if we literally see it through his eyes. Those shots are small but scattered throughout the whole episode.

Ghostfuckers also shows us Blitz POV but it also shows us Millie's. Seeing things through Millie's eyes softens the world for us again. Because to Blitz the world is a harsh and unforgiving hellscape where he suffers but Millie brings in that more positive perspective he lacks.

Full Moon and Apology Tour force the viewer to live through Blitz eyes instead of just letting us watch him from afar and judge him. It makes us confront that uneasy and hurtful truth that Blitz is a very hurt individual. The show forces you to confront the fact that the world Blitz lives in is a different one, it's one where nothing is certain and if he doesn't give up everything he is then he will be made to suffer.

It's terrifyingly genius to start this with the episodes that are the harshest to Blitz.

[theadhddimsenion]

I have heard some ideas about how as the i.m.p family develops they will eventually give up assassination work and become bodyguards or something and while this does look good on paper in terms of what it would really mean for the story I Don't personally think that it would fit.

Point one. The i.m.p team love killing humans and up until recently it could be argued that some of their targets didn't deserve to die. Blitz said it himself back in murder family no one is perfectly innocent and so far they killed a family of cannibals, corrupt agents, a greedy old miser, a Mexican con artist, a fish monster and likely many other such scumbags so over all I'd say they are really a net gain for humanity over all.

Point 2. Even when they did kill relatively innocent people they still got away with it. You could aurge that blitz getting harrased by emberlynn was "karma" for killing an innocent but while I love emberlynn as much as everybody else does anyone really think she didn't stalk or harass anyone in life? And then there's the scores of people in spring broken and the bystanders in unhappy campers so it's not like the narrative is punishing them for killing humans.

Point number three. The biggest and most important point in my opinion. Bodyguard work would put them at the beck and call of the demons that created the systems that they were trying to break free of. Look while Bodyguard work might sound like a more positive version of i.m.ps current occupation it would ultimately go against what they set out to do in the first place. I.m.p and Viviennes work as a whole is all about shaking up people's conceptions of hell and demons as a whole and one of the biggest if not thee biggest things she's done is something that has never been seen in pop culture before. Imps that work for themselves. Can anyone here actually say that they have seen imps in any other form of media that aren't at the beck and call of some form of greater demon? As far as I have seen i.m.p is the only example of imps that work for themselves and on their own terms. Blitz byckso has single handedly (ok maybe not by himself but the idea was his) done something that hasn't been seen or done in any version of hell! Gathered a group of what is considered by demonic nobles and mortals alike, to be the lowlyest forms of demons there is imps and hounds and not only lift them out of their own personal hells but create something that challenges the very idea of what it means to be an imp!! And no striker doesn't count he's Stella's and Andy's stooge remember? Blitz sums it up nicely as "I only wanted to get out of the shitty place you all forced my into!!!" And he did and not only that but unlike his father who got his postion by exploiting those around him. He got his postion as the helluva boss himself by lifting others up and making them stronger even if he never realized it. The point I'm trying to make being is that i.m.p was founded on the dream that imps could work for themselves and doing Bodyguard work betrays that Vison because it would send them right back to serving the same people that created the system they were trying to overcome.

[sadhornydemons]

Helluva Boss episode, music video, trailer and shorts air dates & hiatus:

Reference for future episodes. Episode hiatus 3 months or longer will be noted.

Pilot: November 25, 2019 (Monday)

(Music Video) Oh Millie: February 14, 2020 (Friday)

(11 months)

Murder Family: October 31, 2020 (Saturday)

Loo Loo Land: December 9, 2020 (Wednesday)

(Trailer) Season One: December 31, 2020

Spring Broken: January 31, 2021 (Sunday)

C.H.E.R.U.B. : March 14, 2021 (Sunday)

The Harvest Moon Festival: April 30, 2021 (Friday)

(4 months)

Truth Seekers: August 21, 2021 (Saturday)

Ozzie's: October 31, 2021 (Sunday)

(Trailer) Season Two(A): December 17, 2021

(9 months)

The Circus: July 30, 2022 (Saturday)

(3 months)

Seeing Stars: October 19, 2022 (Wednesday)

(5 months)

Exes and Oohs: March 11, 2023 (Saturday)

Western Energy: May 20, 2023 (Saturday)

Queen Bee: (delayed season 1 episode) June 24, 2023 (Saturday)

Unhappy Campers: July 8, 2023 (Saturday)

Oops: September 9, 2023 (Saturday)

Mammon's Magnificent Musical Mid-Season Special (ft Fizzarolli): October 29, 2023 (Sunday)

(Music Video) Just Look My Way: December 3, 2023 (Sunday)

(Short) Hell's Belles: April 26, 2024 (Friday)

(Trailer) Season Two(B): April 27, 2024 (Saturday)

(7 months)

The Full Moon: May 31, 2024 (Friday)

Apology Tour: June 22, 2024 (Saturday)

(Short) Mission: Antarctica: July 31, 2024 (Wednesday)

(Short) Mission: Weeaboo-Boo: August 31, 2024 (Saturday)

(Short) Mission: Chupacabras: September 29, 2024 (Sunday)

(4 months)

Ghostf*ckers: October 31, 2024 (Thursday)

Mastermind: November 29 2024 (Friday)

Sinsmas: December 21 2024 (Saturday)