#stolas is way too into it

[chosenmango4233]

[impmansloot]

[SANDPAPER]

i had a sketch for this semi-done for like eternity, glad it's finally finished. it's been a fun one!

[zombie-bait]

Full Moon

Ok so I don’t normally post about Helluva Boss but the newest episode touched on an interesting concept I haven’t necessarily seen represented in media. Back when I was on Twitter (derogatory) a few years ago there was this now deleted viral thread where someone discussed how their struggles with mental health affected their relationship with their partner and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. 

This is such a good, short example of how anxiety and depression can play tricks on you. It becomes so easy to envision yourself as a nuisance, a constant burden to those closest to you because they cannot possibly genuinely enjoy your company, right? But in doing so you create this arbitrarily cruel version of the people you love, people who would otherwise never behave like this outside of your own mind.

It's mean. Because your mind wants to be mean to you under these circumstances. It wants to put everyone else's emotions and desires above yours, both in worthiness and validity. And that starts bleeding into your understanding of other people, especially those you care about.

Now. Helluva Boss.

"Can I get a fucking MINUTE to think after everything you put me through you pompous rich ASSHOLE? Treat me like one of your little butler imps, you can’t just dismiss me like that! I mean, you royal fucks think you can do this every time, like you can just play with our feelings because we’re smaller and not as important. Well I’m not letting you, BITCH! Let’s go!" - Blitz

I find it really interesting how Helluva Boss decided to approach this conflict between Stolas and Blitz. Obviously, the difference in power matters. It's the underlying tension of their entire relationship and their lives. Stolas is burdened by the mountain of expectations thrust upon him from a very young age while Blitz is constantly reminded that he can NEVER be part of that world, that he is "smaller and not as important" not just in Hell's hierarchy but in his own life and family. Stolas very literally has power over Blitz (through the grimoire, the arrangement, his position in society) and Blitz uses their relationship as an excuse to reverse those roles. But that power dynamic, in one form or another, never truly goes away. And for Blitz, it's a lot easier to paint Stolas as this manipulative symbol of power and himself as nothing more than Stolas' plaything. It's easier to be angry than to be vulnerable and accept that someone might care about him.

"Dismiss" is the keyword in that quote. All that Blitz has been able to process is that Stolas has decided to end the relationship that they have. He feels ls like a choice has been taken away from him so he lashes out because he's not ready to emotionally tackle what the rest of Stolas' offer might entail. If Stolas hates him, just wants to play with him, then he is justified in his anger, his self-destruction, his isolation. If the world is mean, you're "allowed" to be mean back.

But

In that moment he forgets that Stolas is someone he actually cares about. Someone he's known for way too long and clearly wants to keep in his life, no matter how reluctant he can be to admit it. Someone who is not innately cruel or manipulative but sad and desperate for connections in a lot of the same ways that Blitz is. And Blitz immediately sees that he's miscalculated something.

Somewhere along the way the fictional version of Stolas that he's allowed himself to be mad at and the real one that he's not ready to admit he cares about have merged into something real that he has actual power over. Stolas can get hurt and Blitz can be the one who does it. He has once again allowed his greatest fears (which Stolas so frequently symbolizes) to co-opt his loved ones, to give him an "out" even though he didn't actually want one in the first place.

I'm definitely not the first person to say this but I think this is an example of the miscommunication trope done right. Their individual struggles are what cause them to be unable to connect during this conversation or to even have a proper conversation in the first place. There is no convenient misunderstanding or third party fabricating this rift. Both of them have preconceived ideas of what the other one is thinking but those ideas are flawed and rooted in self-hatred. They also both shutdown in their unique ways when the conversation starts heading in the direction they'd feared it would.

Blitz and Stolas work because they're both fucked up in similar ways, because they want similar things. That's the same reason why they're uniquely designed to hurt one another. A fear of rejection and a yearning for happiness. To borrow a quote that has been used by literally everyone from Spiderman to Evangelical preachers, "hurt people hurt people."

anyway, I really liked this episode.

(twitter thread screenshots sourced from this reddit post)

[blitzwhore]

Stolitz, and their fear of rejection and sense of worthlessness turning into a self-fulfilled prophecy.

Blitz—

Does anybody love you, Blitzo? / No.

Eventually everyone goes...

Stolas only cares about having a rugged peasant raw-dog him into his mattress. It's nothing... You know. It's nothing else.

I'm going to die alone, aren't I? Just a wrinkly, old, withered waste.

Royal demons don't give a shit about guys like us. They're all the fucking same.

Stolas, don't act like what we have is anything but you wanting me to fuck you. You make that really clear all the time.

But you don't want to do things alone, Blitzo.

I mean, Stolas is just a loud, thirsty bitch who loves feeling the thrill of being dicked by the lower class. It's a novelty to him.

And then he'll call me and try to see how my day was, and he'll pretend to care about me, and comment on my photos, and laugh at my jokes... /Oh well that's definitely your clue right there that it's all bullshit / I know, right?!

It's all my fault. I'd hate me too. I mean, I do hate—

You're going to die alone. You're gonna die alone, Blitzo.

[My worst fear has come true. He couldn't possibly want me. This has to be a joke. He's selfish and an asshole, just like the rest of them. He's trying to get rid of me; that's the only explanation. I'm just a broken toy he's finally gotten bored of, just like I knew would happen. He won't even fight for me, and why would he? I could never be good enough for him. It's happening again. I'm being abandoned by someone I care about. I really am going to die alone.]

Stolas—

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?

I mite b bsuy / I wouldn't want to bother you!

You see... I seem to have found myself with, um. Feelings for him. And I'm not sure if it's a mutual thing.

Dearest, I know better now, I must give you this choice.

I'll save us both before we grow cold.

What's between you and I? Just a comfortable lie.

I'm sorry it's a bad time yet again, Blitzy...

He deserves the choice to stay or go.

So I'll grant you this mercy, this bind on our souls needs to end...

Next time you come over, maybe we can talk about what happened at Ozzie's? / Y? / I'm sorry! Nevermind, it's not a big deal.

What's left for me and my broken heart if I cannot have you? Unless it's me, and no matter what in this world I could give, it's not enough to get through the walls you've conjured up to live...

I'll believe him, and not the voice that says I'm not enough.

I'll fucking die alone if this goes bad!

[My worst fear has come true. I truly am not worthy of being loved. He's rejecting me— no, mocking me for even thinking he could ever want to be with me if he didn't need my book. I've been taking advantage of him all this time, all the while believing we had something real and being naive enough to think he could love me back. I am a monster. And now that he can, he has chosen to leave me. So now the least I can do is quietly let him—the only person I have ever wanted and felt alive with—go. I really am going to die alone.]

[wineonawhitetee]

Ok, I know everyone is talking about the big emotional stuff but I just wanted to point out something super small that I noticed

So in this scene, Stolas says that it's always about sex, and, for some reason, the phrasing of this really jarred me. I didn't notice this while watching but, in retrospect, I realized why.

Because Stolas said the word "sex". Which isn't all that weird, right? It's a raunchy show and all. But for some reason, it felt strange that he said it. I initially chalked it up to Stolas being a more composed and polite character who doesn't swear and stuff outside of certain situations.

But, then I realized something:

So his whole episode was kind of about sex. Blitz was making it through Lust for a reason. There was a bunch of comedy about all the different sex shops and horny stuff going on and this whole time Blitz is prepping for a big, sexy night.

But at no point in this episode do the characters refer to this stuff as "sex". It's always a euphemism or a creative expletive referring to specific acts, but they never say this word with this meaning.

And, throughout the rest of the show, Stolas in particular is always very flowery and vague when referring to it, saying stuff like "our little rendezvous" or "a night of passion" or whatever.

But here he is, referring to this act outside of all that. It's pure and clinical and matter-of-fact and blunt. And it's clear that before this, he's looking for a word, maybe something more gentle or poetic but then he lands on this. It's the most blunt Stolas has been about this. This is the most blunt this episode's been about this, because, stripped of all the kinky shit and the emotional stuff, that is all their relationship seems to be. This is all Blitz sees their relationship as. And there's no need to sugarcoat it because that's all that it is. So he might as well be blunt about it.

[timkontheunsure]

Smoke hearts

he blow little hearts at Blitz

[birdy-babe]

I was going through some official Helluva Boss artwork and-

Official Beat Board by Nicole B...

This comes from Truth Seekers, which is so interesting considering how everything is displayed here vs how it was changed in the final cut of the episode.

Considering that this was one of the original main ideas for this episode, looking at Blitzo's expression says it all, really.

(also the way Stolas is portrayed here???)

[oversensitiveandoffputting]

Moxxie: Okay but you know that forcing you to marry an absolute nightmare of a woman solely to give the Goetia family an heir is a bad thing, right? Like, you understand that’s not normal?

Stolas: *shrugs* It’s a cultural custom to make sure Hell is safe in case there’s some kind of uprising or invasion. We need knowledge passed down through the generations. It may not be ‘normal’ but it was completely necessary.

Millie: But Your Highness, you were only 18.

Stolas: As is the custom. I was an adult and I needed to be treated as one.

Blitz: Riiiiiiiiight. So I take it you have a husband for Octavia set up for when she turns 18?

Stolas: *white pupils bulging from his red eyes* If you ever ask me something so disgusting and vile again, I’ll fucking strangle you, Blitzy.

[valahelart]

🌌🌠 just look my way... 🌌🌠

[linniegator]

If Stella Helluvaboss was a gay male character we would get her side of the story, positive relationship with her daughter and a narrative that would make her more sympathetic but since she is a boring woman character (yucky) in a vivziepop story we will get none of that ❤️‍🔥

[uselessalexis165]

have some creatures

[helluvazbin-whore]

i get to meet alex brightman and brandon rogers within the next few months, so of course, because i actually have zero conversational skills, i made them each bracelets with little charms. (the pictures at the end were before they were painted, but good comparison pictures to the size of them vs my fingers. side note, please ignore fingers💀)

[angelshizuka]

The way Stolas haters whine about Stolas being "woobified", but I wanna bet my entire ass they'd still hate Stolas just as much if he stayed a villain like the original plan from the pilot.

Because these people have the exact same attitude towards Valentino (a character they love comparing canon Stolas to, despite them being completely different characters and if you can't tell the difference I am deeply concerned for you...) who we're literally supposed to hate for the reasons these haters love bringing up on why he's bad (a villain? bad? well coloured me shocked...)

These people don't even understand the concept of loving a character BECAUSE they're a villain, so how in the hell do they ever expect us to take their arguments why Stolas should be "portrayed properly as a villain" (something he hasn't been since the pilot and they're officially two different characters) seriously.

And don't even get me started on the people who only take issues with liking villains if their crimes are sex related, because only then it magically means you "condone their actions" (that's not how fiction works), like villains who manipulate, torture, murder, ect. are any different.

I'm not even a big Valentino fan or anything, but I see the way you people single him out as the only "off limits" villain you aren't allowed to enjoy. Y'all aren't even subtle.

[satoumafuyuss]

All of my pieces together! Happy full moon day 😬👍🏻!!!!!!!

[justanotherhh]

me: dammit stolas you can't just walk away from someone who's struggling to connect with you, even if they're doing so through the poorly processed means of yelling insults, you've gotta give them time to work through it and not need to control everything

also me: [is aware that i also need to engineer situations to go perfectly and if someone started yelling at me i too would immediately get triggered and leave the situation and cry and if i had portal-making powers would yeet them to another continent, never mind just outside the door]

[helluvahotmess]

might be a hot take but i think even if blitz was about to say sorry at the end of full moon it was already too late? cause stolas was very clearly not in the right emotional headspace for it to really sink in or mean anything at that point.

it was too late way before blitz realised stolas was hurt (and saying sorry in that moment wasn't gonna make stolas' emotions magically reset to neutral)

emotions were running wayyy too high that immediately talking right after the initial conflict/argument was not gonna fix it

(and to clarify not hating either character! very much on the camp of they both fucked up and they need to talk but neither are in the right headspace for that talk just yet)