#viv stuff

[chaifootsteps]

Nothing says "There's no power imbalance here" like a character tearfully pleading that they'll do anything, anything at all if a rich man doesn't take away their only means of keeping the business they've worked their whole life for afloat.

[chaifootsteps]

Just watched Full Moon and god I am so unbelievably angry. Stolas really tricked me into thinking he was going to do something decent for a second just to instantly get butthurt when Blitz didn't immediately process everything and respond the way he wanted him to.

Then when Blitz voiced his grievances he starts crying and guilt tripping him like a nice guy as if he didn't acknowledge that everything Blitz said was technically true himself? And again before Blitz can even say anything he just?? kicks him out??

Like. this was not even a fucking conversation he just dumped a bunch of shit on Blitz, didn't let him talk and then ran away from it like a child.

Of course everyone in the comments is saying what a great and deep character Stolas is. Can't wait for people to blame Blitz for not playing along with Stolas's delusions again.

Someone even said that this must be Blitz's biggest nightmare because he "might've gained Fizz back as a friend but he lost Stolas" lol. Lmao even. Sounds like an amazing trade for him considering Fizz is actually someone he likes being around while Stolas actively makes him miserable every time they interact.

Seriously I don't understand how Viv can expect anyone to ship them even if you look past the fucked up shit Stolas does. There is no point in the show where they're on screen together and just have a nice moment it's always just them being sad or angry and either arguing with eachother or being overly sexual I'm so tired

100% agree with all of this.

Stolas acted like the spoiled, manipulative child he is and in a kinder world, Blitz would run straight back to Fizz and they'd spend the night laughing over their celebratory drinks.

[chaifootsteps]

Stolas: If he's only here as a prisoner, what kind of monster does that make me?

Blitzo: You sprung this on me out of nowhere after a year of treating me like your personal buttplug. I've already told you once that you make me feel like shit all the time.

Stolas:

[chaifootsteps]

Its quite impressive to see Stolas go "I didnt know you thought so low of me" WHEN THIS SAME BIRD CONSTANTLY BELITTLED THE FUCK OUT OF HIS OWN "PARTNER". DIDNT YOU REDUCE BLITZO INTO AN IMPISH PLAYTHING??? PUT OUT YOUR CIGARRETTES ON HIS FORHEAD???? HARRASSED THE HELL OUT OF HIM WHEN HE WAS OBVIOUSLY SHOWING DISGUST FOR THE THINGS YOU WERE SAYING TO HIM????

It's like, YES YOU DID. HE FUCKING TOLD YOU.

[chaifootsteps]

why is it that everytime Salem post their pre-viz they look so much cooler and cohesive than what we actually got from the show?

I wish this show belonged to Salem.

[chaifootsteps]

precious sanity on the subreddit https://www.reddit.com/r/HelluvaBoss/comments/1d53w4b/am_i_the_only_one_that_thinks_blitzo_was/

Am I the only one that thinks blitzo was justified in his lashout He's correct about everything he said, he was basically manipulated into intercourse by stolas for almost the entire show, he caught feelings, and when stolas suddenly had this "wake-up call" he dumped blitzo? I think everything he said was true.

No, this L is on Stolas. If Stolas would have paid more attention to Blitzo's initial reaction then he should have realized that walking out on him would be a stupid idea. Accusing Blitzo of "thinking so little of him" while he "thinks so much of him" is both incredibly self serving and condescending given that Blitzo was literally standing in tears before Stolas which obviously wouldn't be the case if he didn't care for him. Where Stolas screwed up here is that he wanted to make "big changes" without actually understanding Blitzo's position first. He should have at least confirmed whether or not Blitzo is unhappy with their arrangement but nope, he jumped to conclusions and acted on them.

Brb, just gonna mainline this precious, glorious sanity.

[chaifootsteps]

as far as expecting Blitzo to know Stolas was being sincere there's basically only the season 2 offscreen texts and phone calls to go from, Stolas does so little else that's nice to Blitzo

basically every time he does something kind for Blitzo in season 1 he immediately undercuts it

ep2 - calls him up to bodyguard him and give him the opportunity to earn money (this isn't nice but let's count it for the sake of argument) -> undercuts it by ignoring Blitzo's protests about not flirting with him while he's working, right in front of his teenaged daughter

ep5 - invites him to the Harvest Moon festival for a work free day of fun -> puts his cigarette out on Blitzo's horn, pinches his cheek, babytalks him, mispronounces his name and embarrasses him in front of other imps at the tournament

ep6 - saves his life -> immediately expects payment, doesn't say no to Blitzo assuming he means he wants payment in sex

ep7 - tries to act appropriate and shows an interest on the date, finally calls him by his proper name -> hides his face behind a menu, tries to outright ditch the table when things get rough, doesn't learn much from Blitzo laying down the law outside of 'he won't love me back properly while I'm treating him like a monthly sex hookup'

honorary s2 mention, seeing stars - sexualizes Blitzo some more when he's panicking about going on stage.

This. There's no kindness, no warmth and chemistry, no moment where these two just relax and breathe and enjoy being around one another. There's no kindness.

Viv's stans accuse me of having a hateboner for Stolitz from day one, but it used to be my favorite and I've spent pretty much every episode hoping for a reason to like it again. Even now, I'm holding out a scrap of faith. But that reason never comes.

[chaifootsteps]

Full Moon thoughts ahoy!

[chaifootsteps]

just me or is the whole 'saying this is like fanfic is homophobia' framing kind of frustrating? like just to list out the tropes that have come up so far in HH/HB:

female character is written as an evil shrew who gets in the way of the m/m pairing

relationship that starts with rape/dubcon rewritten into true love (this one is probably more common in bad BL manga but I'm willing to bet there's some overlap)

character is the child of a mob family

portrayals of rape/sexual assault treated as titillating / used for drama

portrayals of domestic violence/abuse used mainly to get viewers to feel sorry for a character instead of making them sympathetic on their own terms

abusers/rapists being all powerful monsters solely to torture the victim as much as possible

characters are either Good or Bad and writing is heavy handed about driving this point home

writers has one character they stan and baby above all others and not only the writing but the world bends around them as they eat up more and more screentime while the actual main characters are shoved to the side

writer has one character they hate and they hate other people liking them so they derail them in the most obvious way possible

writer has one pairing they despise and go out of their way to make them seem familial to shame the fans who ship it

writer has intended pairings in mind but they just kinda happen regardless of how much work has been put in to give them real chemistry

the plotlines jump all over the place with no consideration given to the differing stakes each create or audience fatigue when too much is introduced at once/too many hanging threads are left, similar to what happens in unplanned serialized fiction. consistency and worldbuilding errors abound. conversations/events that seem like they should change the status quo kinda don't but there's so little way to tell which one is which that audiences cannot gauge the stakes and either stop being invested or just take the show as it comes since there's no point anticipating anything being done with a lot of its characters & plot points

too many characters, often some of whom don't serve much purpose but the writer is way too attached to to ever cut out (looking at you, Andrealphus & Vassago)

characters are rewritten on the fly. due to the lack of planning their arcs start and stop or get quietly dropped when the writer tires of them

pervasive attitude of misogyny - female characters are underwritten, bitches, dumb or accessories to the men. The world revolves around the (usually white) m/m pairing/s

the main premise is dropped in favor of shipping drama or character shilling

etc.

There's probably more but those are the big ones - like s1 wasn't perfect but s2 really does feel like it became fanfic of itself. I understand Viv being frustrated if it seems like a broad dismissive brush instead of specific critiques, but there's a couple of problems here:

when people give specific critiques she either misrepresents their points to frame them as bad faith (tacitly encouraging her fans to do the same), complains people keep making the same point or writes defensive threads about how people just don't get it because, for example, the show totally demonstrates Millie has qualities other than Wife and Violent

when people say something 'feels like fanfic' as far as I've seen they aren't immediately using it as shorthand for 'it has LGBT characters'. usually when they expand on their points what they're getting at is a lack of planning and a lack of experience or competency in the writer that gives the whole thing impression of being done by an amateur who's either young or still learning their craft, or both

it's the same lack of experienced hands that resulted in the opening of Hazbin being so amateurish and lacking the sense of having actual episodes until other staff writers were brought in to clean up the mess

like yeah I don't like the implication that 'fanfic=automatically bad' since I've read some good stuff myself and maybe people could be more specific; but usually this critique is coming from people who actually like fanfic, who've read a lot of it and who recognize the tropes from the worst fanfics out there in Viv's work

Viv's little "Um, actually, fanfic is good and queer and so if you use it as an insult towards my shows, you're homophobic" snit is one of the more rancid things she's said. When you lay it all out like this, it really does go to show how her stories embody all the worst, most harmful tropes bad fanfic -- and bad writing in general -- has to offer.

[chaifootsteps]

huge hellaverse plot hole in full moon… https://x.com/ovirtuous_/status/1796597850505437359?s=46

Good catch on this person's part!

[chaifootsteps]

It should have been themmmm😭😭😭

They legit had more romantic and sexual chemistry in that very brief scene than Blitz and Stolas have had in the show's entire run.

[chaifootsteps]

It's always surprising to me how many new weird things keep happening around HH and HB. Not weird as in haha weird, but weird as in "What did I just read, and how do I forget it?" weird. In just the last few days we've had:

Someone say that slavery is "barely" used in the hellaverse

Another person downplay the unfortunate history and practice of enslaved children being given as "playmates"

Michael's post talking about how a Valentino cosplayer assaulted (because yes this is full on assault) him at a con

Someone try to shame said assault victim for sharing his experience

A video posted of a NINE!!! year old asking the VAs a very inappropriate question for someone that age at an official panel with who how many people attending (Also can we talk about how terrible this video is for that kid? Because now their face has been posted for so many people to see, and let's be real there are weird people online who will say horrible mean things about them.)

A VA making light of said video and the weird situation, because apparently a grown person asking a weird/fetishy/sexual question to another adult is comparable to a child, who again is NINE, asking something like that

The same VA then deleting said joke and afterwards going "Oh I guess twitter isn't the place to have nuanced conversations"

The same VA then deleting the post made after the weird joke and trying to bury by mass posting about other topics

The new HB episode being teased further

Said episode being delayed

A weird hashtag going around trying to pressure for the release of the new episode

Posting date for episode being announced

There are probably a bunch things that happened that I didn't mention, but it's wild that this happened in just a few days. It's like the hellaverse spreads a toxic around it that both attracts weird things and makes the already present weirdness get weirder.

I think the worst for me was the video thing. It really just showed that even the VAs don't really care if people so young are watching this content. I was so disappointed that the question was even answered. The VA that asked the question was probably just trying to be nice to the kid, but I feel like they could have encouraged for a new question to be asked or just anything. The parent that brought the kid to the panel cannot have their head screwed on right. Why would you let your NINE YEAR OLD child ask a full grown adult a question like that. The dumpster fire that the hellaverse is continues to burn, and I'm gonna keep watching. Just from far far fffaaaarrrr away, like need a telescope distance away.

Didn't I tell you way back that as the normal, reasonable people drifted away, the crazies were going to get louder and worse? Well, here we are.

[chaifootsteps]

while it's nice to see Vivzie finally acknowledge Stella is worthy of pity 'in her own way' (something about the phrasing on that tweet rubs me the wrong way tbh, feels like they're implying her pain is like less important or valid or something? might just be me) it's kind of frustrating to see the end of the tweet say 'that doesn't absolve her of the pain she's caused', because like

I haven't seen many people making that argument, tbh?

like sure there are Stella stans who unironically say she was in the right to order a hit on him and it's fair retribution, but I don't think they're the majority

the majority of fans & former fans I've seen are just frustrated at how much of a caricature Stella is; as a portrait of an abuser she's incredibly poorly done and as an intended Hate Sink with no redeeming qualities she's frustrating because her backstory is just as tragic as Stolas', arguably more so because she has way less power & social mobility than him yet we're supposed to treat her like an irreedemable monster because the writers decided she was evil since birth.

I don't pity her because I like her or because I excuse anything she's said or done to Stolas. I pity her because I look at her backstory and can easily imagine how much of a nightmare her life is & how the fandom only ever seems to consider the 'arranged marriage' part of it and not the laundry list of other things that are awful about Stella's life. And I pity her because she reminds me of people IRL - mostly women - who are stuck in awful circumstances then are victimized twice by people who, if they even recognize the circumstances are bad, don't care about how that influences the person they currently are or why they behave in ways that seem inexplicable to us

for example the whole Stella likes throwing parties thing. we're obviously supposed to take it as a sign she's vapid and shallow, but what else is she supposed to do? at least if she throws parties misery can have company & her friends can visit. We see Stolas make fun of her for not knowing how to spell, but was she ever expected to be literate or allowed to have interests outside of raising a child she didn't want? the show just doesn't care to answer what society looks like for someone in her position. her interests only matter insofar as they provide a vector for the viewer to hate her some more

(going back to the recent discussions around MLP it's so noticeable they went out of their way to avoid 'stereotypical feminine interest = worthy of scorn' by having Rarity & Pinkie's interests be fashion and parties and the rest of the cast being chill about that even if they don't share that enthusiasm)

I know there are some proposed fix it scenarios in your inbox that often throw in 'and then Striker kills Stolas' as a closer but like even those don't sound like they approve of Stella or anything she does. far as I can tell they just hate Stolas and are tired of him because the show keeps insisting he's a perfect angel who never means to hurt anyone so that makes it OK. there's no chance of getting any catharsis seeing Blitzo or anyone else stand up to him, so we have to imagine it. It's even more galling considering Stella keeps most of her ire focused on Stolas whereas Stolas is exploiting and gaslighting a member of the lower classes. I mean at least Stella seems to have no delusions about who or what she is, she knows she's being awful and she revels in it. Stolas meanwhile is in total delusion about who he is and what he's done & the show is running out of chances to fix that

so like yeah, nothing Stella has suffered absolves her of her treatment of Stolas. But that exact logic applies to Stolas, too, yet the show wants us to show him more than pity - it expects us to like and empathize with him while he frees Blitzo from sexual slavery mainly because he feels entitled to love & affection that he's not getting and was never owed

That's what it boils down to, really. Stella's not allowed a free pass, while Stolas is allowed to hurt whoever he wants for any reason.

[chaifootsteps]

impressive how the episode designed to make me hate Blitzo made every criticism made against Stolas look way stronger:

Blitzo looks on the verge of a nervous breakdown during the duet

The entirety of IMP are apparently also worried about Stolas pulling the plug on their business and are actively invested in pleasing Stolas to placate him

Loona directly calls Stolas 'a meal ticket'

Blitzo is totally happy about getting months off from sleeping with Stolas

Blitzo's only interest in the sex is casual

Blitzo is desperate and anxious about losing the business the entire time they're talking, it takes awhile for him to switch gears

During the entire heartfelt speech from Stolas he never once apologizes directly, takes responsibility for the whole situation being his fault or says a single thing he likes about Blitzo outside of the sex they've had. He never mentions using Blitzo getting shot at to get sex out of him or that he put his business at risk by changing the terms up on him (most he manages his wishes him a generic all the best with the business)

He immediately gets offended Blitzo still assumes it's about sex and walks off

When Blitzo wants to make his feelings heard Stolas immediately dissolves in tears and starts doing a pity party instead of apologizing or asking when he made Blitzo feel like he was one of his servants (like doesn't he literally compare himself to the butler? the one Stolas treats like garbage? yeah, that says a lot)

He physically throws Blitzo out of the house since he doesn't want to listen any longer

Agreed, and good catch on the butler comparison. Even on this blog we've questioned whether Blitzo noticed that shit...yeah, you'd better believe he did.

I think it says something significant that Blitzo immediately apologizes to Stolas when he realizes he's made him cry. Stolas has never apologized to Blitzo for anything.

[chaifootsteps]

Stolas stuff notwithstanding... WHERE WERE THE JOKES? You can't just put a bunch of sex toys on screen and assume people will laugh! That's Big Bang Theory levels of "comedy" writing! TELL A JOKE, MEDRANO! A WEIRD DILDO ON ITS OWN ISN'T A JOKE!

DILDOS, ANAL BEADS, BONDAGE!! BUTT PLUGS!!!

WHY AREN'T YOU LAUGHING?!

[chaifootsteps]

idk if anyone's done a fic like this but I always wanted to read one where Stella and Blitzo meet

like at first Stella is furious to see him but maybe (assuming this is set in a time period when she's still in the house) she ends up overhearing how Stolas treats him or how unhappy Blitzo seems around him

and at first she's happy that Stolas' affair partner isn't having a good time, but when Striker mentions Blitzo was the one getting in the way of Striker killing Stolas, she's dismissive like of course Stolas' toy would protect him, but then Striker gets this... look. It sticks with her and when she's around the house she finds herself noticing the servants as people for the first time, too. How they have a look around Stolas sometimes, too

and the way Striker behaved nettles her so much she bugs him until he spills that he nearly talked Blitzo into helping him kill Stolas, because Stolas is lending out the book to get sex out of Blitzo

Stella is incensed. Not only is her husband gambling her daughter's inheritance and their precious grimoire but he's also extorting sex from someone. She's still not totally free of all her classist habits but she knows from her own stomach-turning memories what it's like having no safety around her own body. And when she and Stolas were trying to conceive they were mutually trying to please their own families, but it doesn't sound like the imp has a choice. And if the way Stolas talks to him is any indication he expects the imp to actively participate in this forced sexual activity, too

Stella's unsure what to do since this is way too messed up to risk Octavia finding out about, but at the least she has to secure the grimoire. And maybe when she goes over to see Stolas she ends up running into Blitzo - maybe out on the streets drunk or injured from work. It's the full moon and he's miserablely self-destructing in an attempt to get out of it. Maybe he ends up right in front of Stella and at the exact moment she has the opportunity to snap his neck for all the misery he brought the family - she doesn't

She gets the butler to bring him in so she can talk to him. Striker's there and tensions are high until she says she knows about the deal.

And she's the first one to tell Blitzo she thinks what Stolas is doing is wrong.

He's never heard it from anyone else and it stops him cold.

Striker promises Blitzo he won't touch his employees, but he asks if putting up with Stolas forever is what he really wants. Stella goes even further - if he joins Striker on the next hit she'll find a way to get him to the living world, maybe just buy an Asmodean crystal using Stolas' connections and money.

Blitzo realizes Stolas knew another way he could do the job the whole time and the disassociative shell he's formed around himself cracks and suddenly he's livid.

This time when he says he's in, he really means it.

I never get tired of these AUs, and want every last one of them to be canon. If you make a full fic out of this, Anon, by all means send it in!