#loona critical

[penguinofspades]

It's funny how Helluva Boss is so badly written that it actually taught me what parental abuse is and how to recognize it due to Loona's treatment of Blitzo.

The Stolas/Blitzo plotline is also a really good example for Quid Pro Quo and the fact that rape and sexual coercion isn't always with brute force.

And yet we're supposed to root for Loona and Stolas lmao.

[chaifootsteps]

Blitz would never go for this but honestly he and Stolas should swap daughters

he gets to raise Via, who would love to be doted on and be happy to see more of the world outside the shelter of the palace and could be taught how to fight by Blitz since Stolas totally neglected her education

and Stolas can raise Loona who will answer his abuse and neglect with abuse and neglect of her own. neither of them will ever admit when they've done something wrong but both of them being coddled by the narrative will produce a stalemate where both are equally miserable and are missing what they used to have

Everybody who matters wins.

[almacambiondaughterofsaleos]

This Is The Pot Calling The Kettle Black

They say Loona set her right when this flea bitten mutt got mad at her own dad for reigning in her behavior and even kicked in the nuts after saying dads aren't perfect speech. Also he wasn't looking for her when he got distracted by Blitzo's dumb routine. Stop trying to cheerlead because this man flunks at fatherhood. Also she has a right to be mad because divorce or not he still could make time for her while handling it with grace which he didn't.

[thishazbinamistake]

In my opinion, Loona is a character with some of the most wasted potential in Helluva Boss.

Though we don't have a ton of information about her background, we do know she lived in a shelter for much (or maybe even all) of her childhood. Loona is cold and distant to her adoptive father, and outright rude to many others, particularly Moxxie, who she constantly mocks and belittles. I'm thinking that this behavior is either a result of her upbringing, or perhaps it was even the reason she was put into the shelter to begin with. But until more is revealed about her past, I want to complain about the way she's currently written.

Loona is abusive, plain and simple. The way she treats Blitz, her adoptive father, goes way past simple angsty teenage rebellion and well into the abuse territory. Any semblance of Loona being remotely sympathetic was thrown out the window in Seeing Stars, when she kicks Blitz in the groin, all because he was relieved to see her and wanted to give her a hug. And all of that after she gives Octavia the "cut your dad some slack" speech.

I've seen people try and defend this behavior by pointing out that Loona has childhood trauma, and this is why she has these behavioral issues. It's certainly not unheard of for victims of childhood abuse/neglect to have anger issues and poor emotional regulation, and I would have absolutely no problem with this being the case if it was shown to actually be a problem, but it isn't. Not once does Loona get called out for her behavior or face any sort of consequence for treating others poorly. If anything, this abusive behavior is treated as a joke more often than not.

It's extremely ironic that one of the most despised characters in Helluva Boss, Stella, receives so much hate for being abusive towards Stolas, when we've seen Loona do far worse to Blitz. I honestly cannot think of a logical reason as to why we're supposed to like Loona, while also hating Stella. We see Stella nearly hit Stolas and it's (rightfully) treated as being abusive. But when Loona is constantly beating up her dad for no good reason, we're just supposed to laugh? It seems extremely hypocritical on both the writers' part, as well as many of the fans'. I honestly can't tell if the writers genuinely think this behavior is okay (when it's coming from Loona) or if they just see it as a quirky character trait of hers.

If we're supposed to find Loona likeable, which we clearly are, then the writers seriously need to start making some changes. I'm not saying they should just completely retcon Loona's character and suddenly make her nice, but they do need to start being consistant with how they portray abuse, and they seriously need to stop excusing and coddling her horrible behavior, regardless of if she has childhood trauma. That is not how you grow as a person and overcome your issues. Yes, it's a process that is often long and difficult, but it hasn't been shown that Loona is actually trying to make any change at all, or that anyone is actually encouraging her to change.

If you want an actually halfway decent example of a character overcoming their trauma (at least within the Hellaverse) look no further than Blitz himself. It's clear his father was abusive and explotative towards him, not to mention he accidentally caused the death of his mother and the maiming of his close friend. Both of these things likely contributed to many of Blitz's flaws and issues as an adult. But the thing is, despite all that, Blitz himself isn't abusive to his daughter. He has shown nothing but unconditional love and devotion to his daughter despite his past. I'm not saying Blitz is a perfect character by any means (I won't excuse him literally threatening to rape his employees), but it really goes to show this whole argument of 'Loona acts the way she does because she has childhood trauma and that makes it okay' doesn't hold up to scrutiny as much as her stans seem to think.

I think a good idea would be to start showing more of how Loona's behavior negatively affects those around her, something which would give her the motivation to want to change. Show how hurt Blitz feels whenever Loona lashes out at him. We get a taste of this in Spring Broken when she hurts Blitz's feelings, but it's clear from both her dialogue in the scene as well as her later actions that the writers apparently don't want her to actually learn from her mistakes and grow as a character, which is such a shame.

Loona had the opportunity to be an extremely complex and compelling character if her aggression and violent outbursts were actually addressed as being a problem she needed to overcome, and if she actually tried changing herself for the better. Seeing the effort she puts into treating others better and breaking the cycle of abuse would have made her character feel so much stronger and more likeable. But instead, the show just treats this abusive behavior as a quirky, edgy joke and "lol that's just classic Loona!! What can ya do lol!!!"

She does have her moments where a good character actually shines through, but they're so few and far in between. I want to like Loona so much, but as it currently stands, I just can't, and that makes me sad.

[ms-cartoon]

Imma be honest with y'all, I don't like how Loona is drawn here. She looks too jagged in most parts. Feels like an amateur artist drew this.

Also her smiling like she did somethin' makes me mad. Like telling this 17 year old girl that she needs to suck it up for her daddy's sake and forgive him despite what he put her through is something to be proud of, lol!

Definitely big sister material here . . . .

[showtoonzfan]

Erica Lindbeck said on twitter that everything that’s happened in the eps so far have always and exactly been intended by Viv from the start, and Viv says one of the biggest Loona eps is the unreleased ep8. Any thoughts?

https://twitter.com/VivziePop/status/1669459017641656322

Not surprised that Loona not doing shit or speaking for 2 episodes straight was intended, the same thing happened in season 1, where she would pop up but not do anything, lmao I told y’all that she barley does or says anything, she’s useless until the plot needs her for her two character personalities, her whole character is just…daddy issues + mean furry goth. In fact, this being confirmed literally means that Viv IS to blame for keeping Loona quiet during Western Energy, and that the B plot was even more useless than it already was since there’s no character growth or even dynamic bond between Loona and Blitz, ya know…..something that you could have added to actually have a point, but instead we just got an unnecessary B plot that only existed to pat out the runtime.

I get that episode 8 ain’t out yet but that doesn’t excuse Loona’s shitty writing. Like Millie, Viv barley uses her to her full potential and only has like..two things to her, I will never understand how people can love Loona so much and act like she’s this deep 3 dimensional character, it will always be laughable when the fandom or creators act like these characters that have the complexity of a shallow pool are deep. 💀

[playcraze]

So you're telling me this girl is the same person ?

If s1ep8 came before s2ep2, I would've been honestly heartbrokened seeing Loona turn into... what she became. I honestly would've believed it if Viv said she had an evil twin 🤷

[starlight-bread-blog]

It's hard for me to like Loona, but it's also hard for me to hate her.

You can see what they're going for with her: An angsty teen (?) with trauma which makes it hard for her to socialize. She's not malicious, she just doesn't know how to handle her father. And he's been restricting her in a way that has been feeding into her struggle to socialize. She had no friends. Besides this one person who pretends everything is fine, she had no one. She gets angry, not knowing real boundries, not knowing how to behave. Knowing how she acts is wrong, but not knowing amything else. That's what they were going for.

Meanwhile we get stuff like this:

And let's not forget, that even after giving a heartfelt speech about appreciating her dad, of course, we all know the scene:

So I find myself conflicted. On one hand, Loona actually has some depth and deserve so much better than this writing. On the second hand, well, she's made to be a b*tch.

[gartenofbanny]

So while taking a shower. I just realized Mammon is a pretty stupid antagonist now that I think about it, Not just because he's a poorly thought out interpretation of the Sin of Greed, but because his only antagonistic trait is being a shitty boss.

He physically assaults Fizzarolli, insults Fizzarolli, manipulates him, fatshames him, and gets mad when Fizzarolli messes up.

However, there is another character in Helluva Boss who shares ALL of those traits but is somehow a protagonist of the show. That being Blitzo.

Blitzo physically assaults Moxxie, fatshames him, insults him, gets mad when Moxxie messes up, and even threatened to rape him and his wife all the way back in the first fucking episode.

Helluva Boss has a tendency of "Rule for thee, but not for me" and I'm just tired of it. When the protagonists physically assault and insult each other, it's supposed to be funny, but when the antagonists do the same, we're supposed to hate them.

I'm sorry, but you can't have your cake and eat it too. Make your characters face the consequences of their actions instead of dismissing their abuse because it's funny. Also, one more point Entertaining Antagonist doesn't equal Good Antagonist.

Anyway, that's all I got for today, I might post tomorrow idk shit's been less than well lately.

[radiostatik]

I'm glad Loona and Via are confirmed Bi and ace.

However, there ain't no way Millie is straight. Millie, who wondered what sex with Verosika was like, straight? Ain't no way.

Also Sallie is lesbian, that's cool. Apple, Coco, Bee, Barbie, and Verosika are all pan? Okay. I mean at least Barbie and Verosika are girl kissers. So... verbie when?😉

Also, where's Stella? Ain't no way her manhating ass isn't lesbian

[pedanticat]

These two minisodes served as a reminder as to why I got into Helluva Boss in the first place since they're hilarious and creative. I wish the show was more of this and less Stolitz melodrama.

[tooningin]

A rewrite of Via and Loona’s talk in “Seeing Stars”

Loona: Try to cut your dad some slack. He may not always get it right but… he’s trying. That’s-

Via: TRYING HIS BEST?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! EVERYTIME HE SAYS HES GONNA SPEND TIME WITH ME HE EITHER BRINGS THAT FUCKASS IMP WITH HIM OR NEVER SHOWS UP AT ALL

Loona: *Is shocked*

Via: YOUR DAD IS THE ONE ACTUALLY TRYING HIS BEST, AND WHAT DO YOU DO?! YOU BEAT HIM UP ON A DAILY BASIS

Loona: *Gets defensive* B-but, he always gets in my space, and-

Via: Have you ever tried, oh I don’t know, TELLING HIM THAT INSTEAD OF RESORTING TO SHOVING PICTURE FRAMES DOWN HIS NECK?! *She begins to tear up* He’s far more likely to listen anyway…

*Via heads for the stairs, and Loona watches, realizing just how badly she treated Blitz*

[deadbeat-motel]

ᑕᖇYᗰIᑎI ᖇEᗪEᔕIGᑎ

So this redesign is on a character that doesn't appear in the series proper. This is Crymini.

Her purpose in Deadbeat is to fulfill the sloth part of the 7 sins theme and be the most modern character we have in the roster (still debating whether she should be from the 2000s, 2010s or the 2020s).

Theres really not much I can say about this redesign.

My issues with her Original design:

A "Punk rock" character who has a pretty bland design. Her outfit consists of only two things, a skull print dress and a black jacket.

How in the 9 hells does that hair work??? Two segments are fighting for space on her head while the third one acts as a giant ponytail???

She suffers from the same problem all anthro female characters from Viv suffer from: they're made from the same hourglass body wolf base. If I were to take out the spots from her body, could you tell that this is a hyena and not some generic cat/wolf character? If she ever gets into season 2, Hopefully, she gets a second redesign to give her a unique body.

The thought process behind the design:

Gave her a nonfeminine body, or more like a body type where she doesn't have a cinched waist.

My roster was looking a little bit too muted and she needed a pop of color to distinguish herself from the others, hence the blue stitches on her grey hoodie.

The collar is a manifestation of her feelings of being controlled by her family, being visually too tight and almost suffocating. Despite being far from her family now, she hasn't outran the issues they cause for her

Her clothing choice is pretty bland since I don't think she would be the type of person to have a fashion sense. As long as it feels good, it's nice enough for her.

[almacambiondaughterofsaleos]

The Slapstick Defense

And people wonder why we don't take the drama seriously. If it's funny for one character to be abusive, but another one is condemned for it then it's hypocrisy.

Again we are supposed to take Stella as an abuser seriously, because creator pet, Stolas, was hurt by her.

Yet see this as funny even though she gave a goddamned speech about giving a father's a chance to Octavia. The inconsistency with these morons is bs.

It's the same problem that Scream of Silence: Story Of Brenda Q had which is consistency in message in handling abuse. If your characters regularly use abusive slapstick then expect us to take it seriously with another character then it's double standards which defeats the message because it's hypocritical.

[that-guy-in-the-chiton]

Me when anything bad happens to Blitzo, Loona or Stolas:

[arteicetb]

Despite my hyperbolic nature, my criticisms of Helluva and Hazbin do come from a place of genuine concern and hope for the show. I wish nothing but the best for the artists who are busting their butts on this show, they’re great, but sadly visuals can only take a show so far if the writing doesn’t improve. That’s my bone to pick with this series because it’s both fascinating and disappointing how far it goes for some characters (Fizz, Stolas) than others (Barbie, Loona, most the women honestly). If ppl enjoy the direction it’s going in, cool, glad they can. They have every right to share what they love about the show however…those of us that loved the demon show about Imps we thought we were gonna get also have a right to be critical about it.

That being said, I want to make a video reacting and rationalizing our “Helluva/Hazbin Hot Takes”🔥🔥🔥

Such takes range from reasonable to outrageous and I wanna hear them all!