#Facts are facts and so true Ozzy

[pixelatedtaken]

Blitzø's Name In The End Credits

A while ago, I saw someone point out that Blitzø's name on recent episodes (in the credits) had an X over the O and went to check it out. It turned out to be true and decided to keep track of it until it'll change again.

I wasn't going to search deeper than that, mostly waiting on how it'll go but I decided to check if it was any different than the ø that we're supposed to know. So...

When I saw this in season 1 episode 1, my jaw was on the floor.

I'm sure people have pointed this out before, I've only seen about the recent X over the O but I'm sure this ain't new. Part of me had noticed but when months pass between episodes and you don't actually pay attention to the credits, the change is so minor that it kind of never happened in my mind.

But the fact of the matter is-

all of season 1 had Blitzø's name written with the o. No "silent O", just Blitzo. Until...

Queen Bee.

If people were around, they know Queen Bee did not release after Ozzie's but we're pretty certain it was done way before season 2 began (even though it released in the middle of it). Anyway.

Maybe the change from the o without a line and the ø with the line wasn't so weird when it happened, especially since season 2 was out and the change had already been implemented, as seen below ↓

But it only lasts up until Western Energy. After that...

The X appears.

This is definitely on purpose, I simply can't figure out the purpose. My only theory is that it's supposed to represent Blitzø's declining mental health and severe self-hatred/low self-image taking a hold. I do not know. I can only point out the events on the previous episodes before the changes were done.

Ozzie's/Finale: Blitzø was faced with his past in the most disastrous way, ending with the start of his relationship with Stolas falling apart. His self image crumbled further.

Western Energy: Blitzø was faced with the fact that Stolas can get/be hurt. His view of the immortal/untouchable Stolas crumbled. Assumption, he might blame himself for not being there.

I don't know, I'm just thinking and I'll probably be obsessed with this until we see what else they do.

[morganbritton132]

Pleaseeee I need the live stream audience’s (and their fbi agent) reaction to Steve pulling the nail bat out to defend Ozzy’s honour. The series is so amazing thank you for giving it to us!

Considering the fact that Eddie got Steve to sit down on the bed, kissed his forehead, and then left Steve, Ozzy, and the live-stream to go ‘talk’ to Dan, the unanimous reaction among the chat was, what the actual fuck.

Steve, mindless to the live-stream, flops back on the bed with a loud sigh and doesn’t even complain when Ozzy, still wet from what little time he had in his pool, jumps up on the bed next to him. Steve ruffles Ozzy’s wet fur and tells him, “You deserve nice things, buddy. If an asshole breaks your things, you have every right to break their face. That’s justice, right?”

Ozzy puts his paw on Steve’s chest and Steve nods, “You get me.”

Meanwhile, the chat is blowing up with people being like ‘adorable’ and ‘cute’ and ‘I wish he’d pet me like that’ while other people who aren’t incurably horny are just like, ‘are we going to talk about the bat? Why the fuck does that thing exist? Why does it look used? Why is it being wielded by a middle school teacher with fucking ease???’

“He’s a jock,” Eddie answers. “Of course, he has a bat. All jocks have bats.”

‘NOT WITH NAILS IN IT’ The chat explodes.

“Home security?” Eddie tries with a shrug. “I’ve been trying to get him to GET RID OF IT for decades now.”

Steve doesn’t even lift his head when he says, “I got rid of my axe.”

“You had your axe taken away from you,” Eddie replies because that was true. After the gates were officially closed, the government confiscated everything that so much as breathed in the direction of the Upside Down. Both Steve’s axe and Eddie’s sweetheart were taken.

The only reason the nail bat survived was because the government didn’t know it existed.

A couple days later when half his live-stream chats are still filled with people being like ‘why was he so comfortable holding it?’ and ‘this is a prop from a music video, right?’ and ‘please answer or I’m going to actually die,’ Eddie does provide an answer. He says, “Try googling Hawkins, Indiana. I think that’ll answer all of your questions.”

It does not.

It actually asks a lot more questions.

The introduction of the somewhat-alluded-to-before nail bat to the Steddie Conspiracy Forums causes absolute chaos. No one can agree on anything. It validates so many theories and creates dozens more especially when Steve lets it slip in the background of another live-stream that Jonathan actually made the bat and Steve just never gave it back.

Meanwhile, the only benefit to Steve’s particular brand of shitty parents is that he learned how to girlboss gaslight gatekeep from absolute pros. Anytime one of his students asks him about the nail bat, Steve acts like he has no idea what they’re talking about. He has literally never heard of such a thing, “Like the animal? Their fingernails?”

As for their agent.

Their reaction was heard across all the office cubicles in the basement of the building. Just a loud, disbelieving, “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?”

[vesppperoro]

Hazbin Hotel Cast with Sin of Envy!Reader (Pt.1)

Includes: Charlie, Vaggie, Angel, Husk, Niffty, Sir. Pentious, Alastor.

Info: The reader has a similar appearance to Glitz and Glam from Helluva Boss! They are also based on a sea serpent. This can be read as platonic or romantic. Reader is named Leviathan, but will use Name. Similarly to how Asmodeus uses Ozzie/Ozzy. The reader is also assumed to have shape shifting abilities.

Charlie Morningstar

She is enthralled by the fact you’re from another ring!

She also LOVES your appearance. She thinks you look SO cool.

She asks you many questions about what it’s like in your ring with the smile of a child with a lollipop.

Charlie calls you by the name you prefer or Levi depending on what you prefer.

You are split between believing her cause, but you show her your support. Because of this, many don’t try to mess with her.

Whenever you’re not busy, you take your time to swing by the pride ring. When you’re there, you act as the guardian of the people inside.

You also participated in the fight with the Hazbin Hotel people and Cannibals vs the Exorcists.

When Charlie saw your raw power, she was amazed. She knew you were strong, but you almost killed Adam on your own before her dad interfered!

When the hotel got destroyed, you helped her remake it.

Now, you still act as the guard and protect the crew. Charlie appreciates you SO much.

You even made her a staff for her! Your sigil, as shown above, is present on the back. Now, she can summon you any time she needs you.

When she found out you could shape shift, she asked you to shift into so many things. She was just so curious!

All in all, she loves you to DEATH. You’re just so interesting and… she doesn’t even know the word!

Vaggie

She was VERY suspicious of you at first.

You are a sin, after all. Specifically the sun of Envy. You are the embodiment of ENVY. In her eyes, you weren’t to be trusted.

That was until she saw you defend the hotel from some demon claiming to be an overlord.

Your power alone made Vaggie respect the hell out of you.

She was very open about her distrust in you, however.

Because of this, she didn’t want to admit that she was warming up to you.

You cared about her friends and her girlfriend. That was enough to make her sort of like you.

She was secretly interested in your facial makeup. She asked you about it one time and you happily told her everything about it.

You also revealed your true form to the crew during the battle.

She found the way your serpentine body moved was just… so interesting.

You were strong. She knew that.

Maybe that’s why she was so drawn to you. She wanted to know more.

Angel Dust

He flirted with you WAY too much.

He always talked about how you were a big strong sun and asked how you were in bed.

He was drawn to your power and personality. He just loved the way you defended him no matter what.

He thought for a moment. Did you own any souls? Could you maybe help him with his deal with Val? No. He couldn’t ask you that.

During nights whenever you visit, he hangs out with you by the bar and drinks.

You learned a lot about him and his deal. It made you mad.

You wanted to help him.

You may be the sin of envy, but that doesn’t mean you’re emotionless.

Whenever you two got closer, Angel would vent to you about things.

Because of this bonding, you two were close.

During the battle, you stayed close to him and protected him.

Speaking of protection, you were protective as FUCK when it came to him.

He was happy someone was finally like that to him.

Husk

He didn’t really care all too much about you.

However, he was very interested in how you enjoyed gambling.

He asked you what kind of games you enjoyed and which ones you were good at.

You two probably gamble with each other in your free time.

Since you don’t bother him, he likes you.

Husk and you sometimes talk about the residents and such.

You had a high alcohol tolerance, so he had a new drinking buddy.

But you do still get drunk. He’s learned a bit about you. Your hate for Mammon, your adoration for Asmodeus, your friendship with Beelzebub, your crush on Belphegor, and so much more.

During the war, you remained by his side and protected him to the very end.

Niffty

She thought you looked very cluttered.

She tried cleaning you up at first. Like, she thought your messy clothing choice was an accident. She tried to show up your clothes lol.

When she saw the sigil on your back, she was very interested in you.

She called you a “big bad boy” even if you weren’t a guy.

She loves climbing you and gossiping.

Even if you’re a sin, she still scares the shit out of you.

You sometimes talk to her about your ring and how you wish she could come with you.

Anyways, she sits on your shoulders a lot.

Especially during the war.

She would jump off of you to stab some angels then would run back to you.

You adored her. She was like a chaotic child.

Sir. Pentious

He knew something was happening whenever his best gadgets would disappear.

He would freak out and look for it frantically, only to find a notecard where it once was.

It had a sigil on it. It also had the name Leviathan on it.

He asked Alastor about it and he laughed his ass off.

“The sin of Envy must really be envious of your invention..” was the response he got. He didn’t understand.

That was, until, he saw you taking one of his inventions.

He tried to stop you but your power was too great.

Instead, Charlie stopped you.

She managed to deescalate your fury, so you put his invention down and stayed for a while.

You explained to him that you loved inventing and he was way too good at it.

His eyes flared with light as he you fueled his ego.

He was more than happy to explain to you how each invention worked.

From those days on, you two became closer and you worked on stuff together.

To protect his projects, you would put your sigil on it.

Now, the war came.

When he sacrificed himself, you were saddened. You kept his inventions alive and took care of the remaining Egg Boiz.

You missed your inventing buddy.

Alastor

He was very drawn to your power.

He thought the way you could shape shift could be of use to him.

But he knew he couldn’t make a deal with a sin. He’d lose everything.

He was, however, interested in learning about the raw power of the sinners and hellborn from your ring.

You learned of his deals and you would always tell him of deals that he could make.

He also helped you with anyone you were jealous of. He’d either make deals with them or kill them.

You thought he was cool.

You two often talked about radio and how you both enjoyed music.

He won’t admit it, but he was drawn to you because of your taste in music.

He liked your company too. You were a nice break from the morons around him.

During the war, you saved him from being killed and he was VERY delighted.

Maybe you could guide him, just as he wishes to guide Charlie.

When his coat got torn, you fixed it for him and he was very content with that.

You two don’t talk much, but there’s always a silent understanding between the two of you.

[wishful-thinking64]

One Hell of an Unpopular Opinion #05

Apology Tour completely dismantles the very thought of Stolitz ever being a remotely healthy relationship once they actually become canon on account of AT proving that Stolas doesn't truly love Blitzø for who he is but rather the idealized version of him that Stolas created within his own head and could be replaced by anyone who's willing to take/play Stolas' idealized role of a partner. __________

As much as I hate Full Moon for wasting so much of the audiences time, it did give us that scene where Blitzø was finally sick of Stolas' shit and told him off for it. However, since it's HB the show immediately tries to run damage control in it's next episode, Apology Tour. This is not only another episode that I despise but it's also the one that solidified my hatred for Stolas and his character. In the beginning of Apology Tour, Stolas bitches and moans over how Blitzø is still making their "relationship" about sex when, news flash, it's ALWAYS been about sex because you, Stolas, have kept it that way to the point where your victim feels like he has to sleep with you in order to DESERVE to keep his OWN BUSINESS RUNNING!

And Blitzø isn't wrong! Their "relationship" has always been, as Blitzø worded it back in Season #01 of HB, "a transactional fucking." Why would he see it as anything different when that's how its always been? Now, how does Stolas reply to this?

Honestly, this IS very shocking Stolas as I believe this might be the first time where you and Blitzø have interacted with one another where you're not blatantly sexualizing or romanticizing him on screen! After this he says that Blitzø should respect the fact that he isn't in the mood to sleep with or even speak to him right now. Mind you, whenever Blitzø has told Stolas in the past that he isn't in the mood to sleep with him or be flirted with, Stolas has respected that notion ONE TIME which was after the fiasco at Ozzie's back from Season #01. Otherwise, Stolas hasn't respected his boundaries for shit. Boundaries are important but you two aren't in a real relationship and even if you were respect is still a two way street. If you command respect from someone you choose to CONTINUE to disrespect on a CONSTANT/CONSISTENT basis then why the hell should they respect you? If it wasn't for his book, Blitzø wouldn't have any incentive to cross paths with Stolas at all.

Anyway, literal seconds later, Stolas tells Blitzo how he got invited to an annual anti-Blitzø party and comments on how he's above such silly nonsense only for him to quickly change his tune upon seeing Blitzø's annoyed and enraged reaction to seeing that Verosika is behind this petty pity party.

This starts a back and forth with Stolas demanding that Blitzø leaves. This results in Blitzø, yet again, reinstating on what their relationship truly is and how Stolas fetishizes him which discomforts Stolas because deep down he knows what Blitzø is saying is true.

Now, I won't get into the conversation that takes place after this comment as the critical side of the Helluva Boss fandom on Tumblr has already (rightfully) torn it to shreds. So instead, I'll save us all some time by simply skipping ahead to when Stolas is at the party after that Incubus guy (that rabbid Stolitz shippers hate) asks him if he wants to dance and why I despise that entire scene.

We see that Blitzø is uncomfortable with this and Stolas KNOWS that he's uncomfortable with this random guy asking Stolas to dance with him as Stolas made DIRECT EYE CONTACT with Blitzø! Now, Blitzø does effectively advise that Stolas take up the Incubus' offer with a hand gesture HOWEVER for Stolas to claim that he's always been in love with Blitzø and that he has eyes for him and him alone only to later MAKE OUT WITH A STRANGER just proves and validates Blitzø's feelings that you don't actually love or care about him! And moments before this scene Stolas says this.

THEN GO AND FIND THAT PERSON AS LITERALLY ANYBODY CAN DO THAT! YOU DO NOT LOVE BLITZØ, YOU MERELY LOVE THE CONCEPT OF BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM BECAUSE TO YOU, YOU SEE HIM AS A "CHILDHOOD FRIEND" WHEN IN REALITY YOU KNEW HIM AND HUNG AROUND HIM FOR ONE DAY SINCE YOUR FATHER BOUGHT HIM TO BE YOUR PLAYMATE FOR A SINGLE DAY! ... *Ahem.* In conclusion, there's no amount of future retconning that Viv and Spindlehorse can do to successfully make Stolitz appear as a genuinely healthy ship without trashing the entirety of Apology Tour but even that would create/introduce an entire new set of problems. __________

Man, I've been wanting to get this one off my chest for a while as I haven't seen many people bring up these scenes from AT when discussing how and why Stolas doesn't love Blitzø. I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts this time around and I'll see you later!

[vikkirosko]

Hello, I would like Asmodeus, Sir Pentious, Fizz and Stolas to give their crush a bouquet of flowers, and she liked it so much that she grabs his face and showers him with lipstick kisses. Thanks

Headcanons Bouquet

🐍Sir Pentious x fem!Reader 🎩

Sir Pentious has always tried to be a gentleman. He courted you gallantly, despite the fact that it often caused him embarrassment. He wanted to please you, so he decided to give you a little gift. He decided to give you a bouquet of your favorite flowers

Pentious spent a lot of time to collect a bouquet for you that would be perfect for you. When he came to you, he was very worried. When he handed you the bouquet, he saw a blush appear on your cheeks. You took the bouquet and thanked him with a soft smile, then put the bouquet down and hugged him in a burst of emotion

You quickly started kissing him. His face turned red, but he wasn't going to push you away. He didn't have the strength to even try to do it, but he didn't want to either. You kissed his face quickly, leaving traces of your lipstick on his skin. Between kisses, you said "thank you" to him for such a wonderful bouquet. It was the first time someone had given you something like this

Sir Pentious was happy that he was able to please you. He wanted to show you how much he loved you. He was ready to give you all the flowers he could find and not only them. You deserved the best

🦉 Stolas x fem!Reader 🎩

Stolas often gave you different gifts. He sincerely tried to make you happier not only with words and actions, so small gifts were not uncommon. When he was deciding what to give you, he chose a bouquet that he hoped you would like. Although Stolas seemed confident, when it came to true feelings, he was often nervous

He brought you a lush bouquet that he hoped you would like. A slight surprise appeared on your face. He usually gave you something expensive, so a bouquet of flowers seemed like an unusual gift, but that didn't mean that you didn't like the bouquet he gave you

You leaned forward and, taking his face in your hands, began to cover it with quick kisses. Every kiss you gave him left traces of your lipstick on his face. He was giggling and blushing. You were really happy with his gift, and it was such strong emotions that pushed you to so many kisses

When you finished kissing him, there was a touching blush on his cheeks. You hugged him and Stolas hugged you back. He was glad that you liked the flowers. Stolas loved you and wanted you to be happy as often as possible

🐓 Asmodeus x fem!Reader 💕

From the very beginning of the relationship, Asmodeus tried to pamper you. He wanted you to know how much he loves you, so he often attended different events with you and gave you different gifts. Because of his job, he couldn't always be around, so he tried to make up for it at least this way. The last thing he wanted was for you to feel lonely

Because of work, Ozzie returned very late when you were already asleep, and in the morning, when you woke up, he was waiting for you with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. You looked at him in surprise, as if you had never seen such a thing before. He was waiting for your words, but instead you held out your arms, asking him to lean towards you. As soon as he did, you hugged him and kissed him

You smiled at him and started kissing his face quickly. You were sincerely glad of his gift and in a fit of emotion you decided to kiss him, leaving traces of your lipstick on his face. When you finished kissing him, you hugged him and cuddled up, thanking him for giving you such a cute gift. You were really glad

Asmodeus was glad that you were in his life. He hugged you and was happy that you liked the bouquet. He was ready to decorate the whole room with flowers if you wanted. Ozzie was ready for a lot for you

🎪 Fizzarolli x fem!Reader 💟

Fizzarolli was bright and energetic when communicating with others, and you were no exception. It seemed that next to you, he was getting a second wind. He paid a lot of attention to you and did a lot to see your sincere smile

He texted you that he had a surprise for you and that he was waiting for you to open the front door. You were surprised that he just didn't come in himself, because he had the keys to the apartment where you lived. However, when you opened the door, Fizzarolli was waiting for you, holding a large bouquet of flowers. He handed you the flowers with a big smile, pleased with the surprise on your face. It took you a few seconds to realize everything, after which you put down the bouquet and, pulling him to you, began to cover his face with quick kisses

You left traces of your lipstick on his face. Fizz giggled, feeling awe. He was glad that you liked his gift. He hugged you, laughing, while you continued to kiss him. Seeing you happy made him feel better himself. Your smile warmed his heart like nothing else

Fizzarolli hoped that he would have many more gift ideas that he could please you with. He loved you and couldn't miss the chance to put a smile on your face

[uniquepeanutcreatorfire]

Stolas being "Nice" to Blitz

There's been debates within the fandom about Stolas being considered a r*pist involving sexual coercion. Let's go over common defenses that have been used to prove he's not.

He asked Blitz if the deal was fair- So if you re-watch the scene, notice how Stolas said it in a sly, condescending tone. As if he knew Blitz would agree and not give pushback, considering the circumstances at the time. Circumstances that the fandom will ignore and insist that Blitz gave consent.

He respected Blitz's decision when he said "No"- In regards to Ozzie's, this happen outside of their arrangement. Blitz wouldn't be obligated to have sex outside of that. The fandom also loves to use those text messages as proof. However, Stolas only gave Blitz an option on whether to come over. Also, keep in mind that Stolas already got what he initially wanted from Blitz which was sex. Him being nice now doesn't negate the fact he took advantage of Blitz before in season one. People act like abusers and r*pists can't be nice to their victims sometimes (i.e. DV situations, groomers, etc.). That they have to be mean 100% of the time. This is how victims may normalize the abuse, thinking their abuser cares about them. Unfortunately, I see this happening with Blitz.

He is nice to Blitz off-screen. Look at the Instagram posts. Pay close attention to the scene when Stolas was asking Blitz about his day in Ozzie's. Blitz seems confused as if Stolas hasn't asked him something like that before and Stolas is acting nervous and awkward. You would think if they spent time together outside of sex, they would be comfortable having a causal conversation. Now you may argue that they're acting like this because it's a "first date" and that could be true to some extent. It’s just their interactions don't hint at any form of chemistry like the Instagram posts would suggest.

The deal was a mutual agreement- This is another major problem with Stolas. He doesn't fully acknowledge his power and status in the situation. In the recent trailer, he worded it as if they both came up with the terms of the deal. This is to resolve him of some of the responsibility and make it seem like he's being the morally righteous one. When in fact, he came up with the deal on his own and has had full control the whole time, even with this new offer.

Conclusion: HB has handled abuse and SA in a very surface-level manner. Some people who aren't aware of the subtlety and nuanced forms of abuse will only go off what the narrative is telling them. This does a disservice to the sensitive topic. I also understand that this wasn’t the intent for Stolas’s character, but even some abusers aren’t aware of the harm they cause.

[thatkippycat]

hello! if you don't mind i do have a request for poly Fizzmodeus x reader

can you do headcanons of them with a crush on an idol/popstar succubus who's secretly a single parent (to keep the kid safe bc reader knows the public will be more than invasive and will only reveal the kid when they're older)? like reader's hesitant to rlly get into a relationship with the two bc she's afraid of what they think.

a certain anime's been giving me this brainrot for a while and i don't have the skill to properly write this sjjdkdkdkskdk

I didn't focus too much on the succubus part, but I hope this is good.

Fizzarolli x Asmodeus x F!SingleParent!Reader

Fizz is not a great father, but he does try his best, and thats why I love him <3. Hope y'all enjoy!

---------------------------------------------------

• Your tour ended recently, and you already have a new album being planned.

• For anyone else, it's a dream come true.

• For you, well, it's the break you desperately need to see your kid.

• You've been living a double life for a while.

• On one hand, you're a pop star, hiding her face beneath a variety of masks, with hundreds of thousands of adoring fans.

• On the other, you were a mom just looking out for her kid, trying to keep them out of the exhausting and draining world of fame.

• The mask thing was probably one of your best ideas, as it let you actually go out with your child without being accosted by the paparazzi.

• Plus the whole "secretive succubus" act was great for sales and popularity.

• Most of the money goes to your kid. Yeah, they may end up a tad bit spoiled, but you just want them to be happy.

• Plus, you do have the foresight to not make them an asshole.

• You've dealt with enough rich people in your time, and most of them are the exact kind of people you're trying to keep away from your child.

• Although...there are two that are pretty nice.

• You knew Fizzarolli first, both of you hitting Lust's entertainment circuit at the same time.

• You even had a small thing together for a little bit, although it never really grew. It was more platonic than romantic anyways.

• That's not to say that you hadn't considered going further, or that you didn't have some feelings for him, you just chose not to act on it.

• Asmodeus, on the other hand, found you after you had gotten a decent sized following.

• Unlike with Fizz, nothing really happened between you, but you did become good friends.

• He was also kind of hot too.

• When you had gotten back to your home, you were planning on take your kid out to do...something.

• You weren't sure, but it didn't matter, because someone had sent you a message.

• It was from Ozzie, inviting you over for dinner

• Problem is, you had just gotten back, and you really wanted to be with your kid.

• So, you asked if he could make sure that dinner stayed pg-13, which he questioned, but agreed to.

• You had been wanting to tell Asmodeus about you being a parent for a while, you needed to figure out dinner, and you didn't want to leave your child again, so why not kill 3 birds with one stone?

• When you got there, you got a pleasant suprise in the form of Fizzarolli.

• Fizz and Ozzie also had a suprise, the fact you had a kid.

• (I've been trying to leave the kid's age ambiguous, so that y'all can have a bit of freedom with it. If the kid's old enough, they introduce themselves, and if not you do it. Anyways, back to the headcanons.)

• It takes a good couple of minutes to explain everything, but they understand and respect your decision to keep your child out of the limelight.

• The dinner was nice, fancy too. Then again, you weren't expecting anything else.

• There was something odd though, you felt like Fizz and Ozzie were flirting with you.

• Turns out, they were.

• Apparently, both Ozzie and Fizz, who were together already, wanted to invite you into a little polycule relationship.

• And to be honest, you didn't hesitate to say yes.

• As mentioned before, you did have feelings for Fizz, and you did think Asmodeus was hot.

• Plus, you wouldn't mind having some help raising a child.

• Turns out that Ozzie is a pretty good parent.

• Fizz not so much, but he's trying.

• And dear Satan is it amazing to have people doting on you for once.

• Fans are one thing, romantic partners are so, so much better.

• And hey, at least your kid will grow up around some genuinely good people.

[fantasywater]

Is Stolas actually cheating? Why or Why Not?

I've had some debates where I've been told that Stolas isn't cheating, and especially not continuously. However, I personally think that he is.

The not cheating crowd reasoning's are:

1.Only the initial act was cheating. Once Stolas screamed the morning after that he wanted a divorce than every sex act with Blitz afterwards was not.

2. Since the marriage was consentless, loveless, and abusive this means he was never cheating on her. This interpretation tallies with Stolas's words on the balcony and in Western Energy.

3. Divorce only takes one person's consent and Stolas called it so he's free to fuck whomever, whenever, and wherever.

My rebuttals:

1.It's still cheating until that balcony scene where he calls for the divorce and kicks her out.Because even after his petty moment of triumph he still tries to placate her, and she's still living in the house. She is also still eating dinner like a family while still very much pissed at what he keeps doing.

I also find it ironic that only when he finally stops being passive and goes through with the divorce is when he also finally stops sleeping with Blitz for good. He went backwards with it. Which means he absolutely would have kept blatantly cheating(as well as kept Blitz in the deal) if the dropoff wake-up call hadn't happened.

2. No one gets to redefine a word just because the character doing it is a fan favorite. Stolas is committing infidelity by the very definition of it. He's an adulterer and a victim of domestic violence. Both are true at the same time.

Basically Stolas as a character can think what he's doing is indeed not cheating,but this doesn't mean the narrative agrees with him.

Narrative disagreement: Stella and Octavia's call-outs in Loolooland. Asmodeus's call out in Ozzie's. Via's pain again in Seeing Stars. Andre's call out in Western Energy. Via yet again in the Sinmas leaks.

Out of all the people I've listed I think the narrative has been very consistent in using Octavia to drive home that his cheating was wrong, and therefore damaging, regardless of what he personally thinks about it.

3. Yes, he called for divorce, but he cheated to initiate it therefore breaking his daughter's peace and mental health in the process.

The Via angle will always be why despite his pain his cheating still makes him an asshole. As well as the fact that he kept doing it even after his daughter told him that it was negatively affecting her.

Do you all agree with the view that both parties need to consent if they want to have sex with other people during separation or divorce proceedings,and especially if one spouse still has feelings, is pissed, or sad about it?

I know for example celebrities very much sleep around when they're only separated or in the various stages of divorce though they're technically still married.

Other bits:

Anyone else think Stolas's take back my power moment against Stella was lacking?

I mean it didn't really hit because there was no strong buildup of her wronging him.

But there's plenty of him wronging her with his frequent and remorseless cheating, and therefore her negative actions are because of that inciting incident.

To me Blitz and Via's felt earned while Stolas's didn't.

We had a whole season(honestly Stars and Western as well) of Stolas wronging Blitz so when he so strongly lashed out in Full Moon it truly felt cathartic.

Same with Via. We have two full episodes of this man repeatedly neglecting his own child for his affair partner and breaking her mental health. So when the third time happened and she has her take back my power moment I cheered.

With Stolas however I should have been cheering, and in a vacuum it wasn't a bad scene,but then the buildup was pretty bad because he has been onscreen for a season, and the circus bedroom scene, very much wronging Stella not the other way around.

Thoughts?

[hellfirenacht]

Wing Man Part 6

Fic Summary: Steve 'the Hair' Harrington is your best friend, and is constantly striking out. Sick of this, you two make a deal; you'll wing man for each other. Hooking Steve up with dates is easy, but he finds himself struggling to find you a date. At least, until Dustin starts talking about his new cool friend Eddie. (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9)

Chapter Summary: What DID he mean by five? The second meeting.

5.1k words

A/N: How are we feeling in a post-"Flight of Icarus" world, y'all? I knew from the beginning that I'd want to add some of the lore in and let me tell you, I LOVE Ronnie Ecker. For those of you who did not read the book, or haven't had a chance to, Ronnie is Eddie's best friend who ended up with a full scholarship to NYU. They're siblings, your honor.

Also if anyone can show me on this map where the plot is going, I'd really appreciate it.

This late at night, the only sounds in the trailer park came from the occasional dog barking and the echoes of Eddie’s tapes blasting as he pulled up to Wayne’s trailer. His uncle was working tonight as usual, which would normally allow Eddie time to hog the tv before passing out for a few precious hours before he had to get up for school. 

Tonight however, his mind was buzzing with what had just happened less than an hour ago. He liked you, he wasn’t sure how much yet but he did. You were sharp and knew your stuff about metal. It helped that you were cute. Really cute. 

He liked seeing you in the passenger seat of his car, matching wits with his friends and ranting about Ozzy. He liked seeing you laughing and the way you watched him play. He really liked the way you had fiddled with the pick he’d thrown at you at the end of the set. 

Eddie had never done that before. He’d wanted to, but never had anyone’s attention like that before- no. That wasn’t true. There had been one other person who’d listened to him play like that, two years ago. 

Was he always gonna fold to the site of a pretty girl actually paying attention to his music? 

“Of course you are.” Ronnie’s voice echoed on the phone. “And I’m gonna laugh every time you do.” 

Eddie groaned, holding the receiver to his ear as his forehead pressed against the front of the fridge. He hadn’t planned on running to her with this, but he was nowhere near able to wind down. He hadn’t even expected Ronnie to pick up the phone this late at night with the time zone difference and the fact that it was a school night. He’d have to push his stash a bit harder to pay Wayne back for the long distance call. 

The past two years had been a slow crawl of building back trust up with Veronica Ecker. The two had gone almost a whole summer without talking before Eddie had basically groveled for forgiveness outside of Granny Ecker’s trailer before Ronnie left for New York. She had forgiven him enough to let him give her a ride to the airport. 

“Last time?” He’d asked. 

“Last time.” She’d repeated. 

“So why didn’t you shack up with her tonight?” Ronnie asked. “You got her into your van, and you dropped her off like a gentleman.” 

“I don’t know, I panicked.” Eddie sighed, bonking his head against the fridge a few times. “She was right there, and she was leaning in and all I saw was Paige leaning in-”

“You know not every girl who shares your taste in music is Paige, right?” Eddie could practically see Ronnie rolling her eyes on the other end of the line. 

“Any girl that shares my taste in music ends up fucking off to the opposite end of the country.” 

This made Ronnie laugh. “You’re an idiot. Paige fucked off back to her job and I fucked off to college.”

“Fucking off is fucking off.”

“Maybe you need to fuck off.”

“I tried, remember?” 

She remembered. Both of them remembered. 

“Look, stop being a dipshit.” Ronnie said after a moment of awkward silence. “You’re graduating this year, right?”

“Uhhh...”

“Eddie.”

“Yeah, yeah I’m working on it. I just need those last stupid two classes and then I’m home free.” Eddie confirmed. 

“You can’t stay in high school forever.” Ronnie said. “And you’re gonna realize that there’s life outside of Hawkins. Have you even talked to Paige since then?”

He hadn’t, and they both knew it. Eddie gave up two months after she’d bailed him out of jail. Two months of dead air silence. He got the hint. 

“No.”

“Then stop worrying about one girl from over two years ago!” Eddie could feel the phantom pain of Ronnie punching him in the arm like she always used to. “Get laid and graduate, Munson. You earned it.”

Eddie snorted, sliding down the fridge to sit on the cool floor. “Is that the only advice you got for me, Ecker?”

“It’s the only advice you need. Did you pass that test last week?” Ronnie asked. 

“By the skin of my teeth.” Eddie sighed, leaning his head back against the fridge. 

“Your new girl graduated, maybe she can help you study.”

“She’s not my girl. She’s a girl that I’ve met a handful of times-”

“That’s turning your brain to mush.” 

“She doesn’t even know who I am, Ronnie.” He fiddled with the chord in his hand, watching the spiral wind and unwind around his fingers. It was already stretched out pretty bad, with a few spirals already tangled beyond repair like his old slinky from when he was a kid. 

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Ronnie asked. “She doesn’t know you, that means she doesn’t feed into the bullshit of the rumor mill.” 

Ronnie had a point and he hated it, but that’s why he called her to begin with. Ronnie was the only person who could cut through his Munson bullshit and give it to him straight. He missed it. As much as he enjoyed the power he had to protect his little lost sheepies, they were all too intimidated to actually stand up to him and call him out the way that Ronnie would.

“Yeah, you’re right. As usual.” Eddie could hear her snort and he couldn’t stop himself from grinning. “So why the hell are you even awake right now? Up til 2 am on a school night, Ecker?”

“It’s barely past midnight, the time zone isn’t that off. I was studying for a test, but hearing you complain about your love life is a far more productive use of my time.” 

“You’re using me to slack off, aren’t you?” 

“If I have to look at my flashcards one more time tonight my eyes are gonna go square. How’s Granny doing?”

“She’s an empty nester and is determined to turn me into her replacement grandson until you visit again.” Eddie shook his head. “She threatened to give me a haircut the last time she dropped off a plate for Wayne.”

Ronnie had come back to visit a grand total of five times since she’d left, returning for holidays and summers to visit Granny Ecker and by extension Eddie. Each time she’d come back with stories of law school and how different New York is. 

It seemed impossible, everything that Ronnie had told him about going to college and about life outside their small town. She was playing Dungeons and Dragons still, having found a group that would play with her. According to her, being a rules lawyer for the game at a law school hit way different than it had their small Hellfire group in high school. No one even cared that they played outside of a few students who had better things to do than enact violence against a few nerds. 

Then again, in law school everyone was some sort of nerd. Eddie wondered if even a freak would be accepted there. Well, socially at least. He wasn’t delusional enough to think he’d be able to be accepted into law school with his grades. Ronnie had invited him up to visit a few times, but there was never time or money to do it. 

The two continued talking for another hour, catching up until Ronnie was scolding him for staying up so late on a school night. 

“Yeah? And what’s your excuse?” Eddie said. “It’s almost 4:20 am there.” 

“Ha. Ha. Again, ha.” Ronnie said. “Still not how timezones work. And my first class doesn’t start until noon.”

Right. In college you didn’t have to wake up at the ass crack of dawn every day. 

“Night, Ecker.”

“Night, Munson. Graduate and get laid.” 

“Does it matter the order?”

“Good night, Eddie.”

Talking to Ronnie had eased his nerves, but there was still something inside that wouldn’t let him lay down and go to sleep. It was late now, way later than he intended to stay up tonight. The night he played at the Hideout always had him up late, and his teacher already considered him more useless than usual on Wednesdays. It’s not like anyone would care if he slept in class, unless they were in a particularly foul mood. 

He made his way to a stack of books in his room rummaging through a pile or two until he found what he was looking for. Eddie’s copy of Lord of the RIngs was well loved at best, and completely trashed at worst. The cover of the paperback was nearly torn off, taped back together haphazardly over the years. Pages were dogeared, the spine was cracked, notes were scribbled in the margins, and his name was scribbled in messy cursive on the front page declaring that this book belonged to Eddie Munson and that he was in third grade.

Eddie stripped out of most of his clothes, tossing his jewelry on his nightstand, and hopped into bed. He turned on a small lamp and opened the book. He could probably recite the first chapter from memory if he tried, the words on the page a comfortable lullabye for his wound up mind. But tonight he flipped to a page near the end where his bookmark was. The flower made out of blue construction paper wasn’t nearly as old as the book, and only in better shape because it never left the safe pages of Tolkein’s writing. 

His eyes glanced at his arm again, your phone number a temporary tattoo on his skin until it washed off. Shit, it was going to wash off eventually. Eddie grabbed a pen from under his bed and added another scribble to the inside of the book before copying your number carefully onto the paper flower. At least this way he’d always know where it was. 

With that aside, Eddie didn’t make it through three pages of his book before he passed out with the light still on. 

Fall Semester, 1984

The PrinciPAL’s office was just as interesting and inviting as it always was, which is to say not at all. Eddie was slumped back on a chair, watching as Janice sorted through paperwork, pretending to look busy so that she could avoid any small talk with ‘that Munson boy’. He had been waiting for Higgin’s to show up for almost fifteen minutes now, because why shouldn’t he waste Eddie’s time at this point? The worst that was going to happen today is that they’d do their little song and dance, Eddie would plead his case that the flyers were absolutely serious and that Chris Morrison had every intent to run for student council, and that it was all of the club that had made the posters, Higgins would shake his head and not believe Eddie for a second (which to be fair, this would be the first time that Eddie would admit privately that it was his fault), they’d go back and forth until Eddie got some form of detention or Saturday school. 

Honestly, the worst part would be rescheduling Hellfire if he wound up in detention. 

Eddie had counted out 13 paper clips that Janice had used in her papershifting before the door to the front office opened up again. He looked up, expecting to see Higgins walk in, ignore him for another five minutes, before Janice would let Eddie go in. 

He didn’t expect to see you, pale and shaken, clutching a teacher’s note in your hand. Eddie watched as you handed the note over to Janice who read it, shook her head, and pointed at the chair next to himself. Your eyes never left the floor as you sat next to him, staring at the cheap carpet as if you could somehow burn a hole in it and disappear. 

Trouble was no stranger to Eddie, and Eddie was no stranger to trouble. In Hawkins the name ‘Munson’ might as well be in the thesaurus next to the word. This wasn’t his first rodeo, and it would be far from his last as long as Higgins stayed the princiPAL. He’d walk away with a lecture and a sigh and then it would be business as normal. 

The look on your face though, that was far from the mild annoyance he felt. You look downright traumatized at the idea of having been sent here. Eddie glanced up at Janice who deigned to make eye contact with him now. Her eyes flicked between the two of you, a disapproving look behind her purple frames as if this was somehow Eddie’s fault that you had ended up here as well. But then, as far as any of the faculty from the office was concerned, even him being enrolled at this school was a death sentence to the rest of the poor student body. Eddie was a disease that they would try to contain until they had the cure to remove him. 

The shaking of your knee made your chair (and his chair by proxy) rattle slightly. The quiet of the office and the mundane shuffling of Janice’s papers only added to the tension that was radiating off you. 

“Janice, is Higgin’s gonna be long?” Eddie finally asked, and your bouncing knee stopped for just a moment before going back to its nervous movement. 

“He’s in a very important meeting.” Came the reply over a stack of papers, still not looking at Eddie. 

He sighed again and looked over at you, trying to place where he knew your face. Your eyes were a bit red, and you looked like you were on the verge of crying. Shit, he needed to do something before he had to ask Janice for the tissue box. 

“First time?” Eddie asked, and when you didn’t respond he nudged your knee with his. 

You jumped slightly, head snapping up. It was a wonder you didn’t give yourself whiplash and it would have been almost funny to Eddie had you not looked like a deer in the headlights looking at him. 

“I... Huh?” your voice cracked slightly. 

“What are ya in for?” Eddie did his best to give you a smile which he was sure made him look more like a serial killer than a comfort. It was rare he wished that he had his dad’s smile, but in cases like this he’d make an exception. 

You looked at the paper in your hand and swallowed. “Uh... skipped.” 

“Skipped school or just class?” Eddie prompted, trying to get you to talk more. If you were talking, then you weren’t crying. That’s what he hoped at least. 

“Class.” He didn’t think you’d say anymore but you surprised him. “US History.” Eddie caught the way your eyes darted to Janice again as if to make sure she wasn’t listening in, but Janice had better things to do than to eavesdrop on two delinquents. “I wasn’t... I had a bad day. I'm having a bad day. I felt like I was going to explode and I went to the library.” 

Eddie nodded, wondering what had happened today that made you need to duck out. It wasn’t his business, and frankly Higgin’s was going to grill you enough as it was. 

“Rookie mistake.” He said instead. 

“Rookie...?” 

Eddie kept his voice low and leaned in closer to you as if telling you a secret. “If you’re gonna skip, you can’t go to the library. You might as well have walked into the teacher’s lounge and announced that you were cutting class.”

You let out a sharp breath that he swore counted for a laugh. “Thanks for the heads up, can you tell me that a few hours ago?”

There was color returning to your face now and Eddie kept going. His brown eyes scanned your face, trying to place where he knew you from. Hawkins was a small town, and there was nothing about you that screamed ‘I’m new!’. 

He liked your sarcasm though, and his ‘comforting’ grin shifted into a genuine smile. “If you’re gonna ditch, you need to go to the bathroom or go outside.” He said. “Especially for last period. Go hide outside in the woods and you can slip into the parking lot seamlessly without anyone noticing. By the end of the day the teachers are barely taking attendance anyway.”

“Have you been in the girls rooms here?” you asked, shaking your head. “I think I’d rather take my chances here than stay in there longer than I’d have to.” Eddie wasn’t sure if you were trying to make a joke or if you were serious.

“Would you rather hide in the boys room?” he asked. “I swear it only smells like piss almost all of the time and you’d end up in the splash zone even if you were in a stall.”

That got a laugh out of you, a genuine one. Your shoulders were relaxing and you looked down at the paper again and took a deep breath that you exhaled with a sigh. 

“I’ve never been in trouble before.” you said, your hands starting to bend and fold the paper on your lap absently. “I’m not good at being in trouble.”

“Well, lucky for you I’m here.” Eddie nudged your knee again with his. “Being in trouble is kind of my job here at Hawkin’s High. I’m a professional, you know. If I wasn’t here taking up all of Principal Higgin’s time he might have to actually do his job.” 

That last part was louder, as he directed it to Janice who refused to take the bait and only reached for her lilac stapler instead. 

A small smack on his arm drew his attention back to you, you were smiling at him looking astonished. “You’re gonna get us in trouble!” you whispered at him. 

“We’re already in trouble.” Eddie reminded you, his smile never fading. “Look, you’ve never been in trouble before, right? You’re gonna be fine. Just give him a good sob story about being overwhelmed with school, or about a sick pet. If you can squeeze out some tears that’s even better. The worst that he’s gonna do is give you a slap on the wrist and maybe detention if he’s in a shit mood”

You take in his words, listening to him carefully and taking in every word he was saying as if this was life or death. Eddie admittedly, had purposefully slipped into his Dungeon Master voice. It was a skill that normally only worked on his little sheepies in his club, and that was after semesters of training his players to listen and pay attention to his words or else it would be life or death for their characters. 

Having someone else listen to him like that? It felt really good. 

Your mouth started to open to say something but then the office door opened again and Higgin’s stepped in, nodding to Janice and then looking at the two of you. There was an accusatory look in his eyes as he made eye contact with Eddie again, and it was clear what that look said. Leave her alone, don’t make things worse for her than they already are. 

“Munson.” Higgins said and it took everything in him to stay still and not flinch at his last name. He was used to the weight that came with his name, but he hadn’t wanted you to know who he was. Not after he just remembered where he knew you from, glancing down at the note that you had folded into a flower in a fit of nerves. 

“I heard you missed me, Sir.” Eddie forced his eyes to meet Higgin’s. “You really should just start saying hi in the hallways instead of inviting me to these little chats every week. You’re taking away valuable learning time from me, you know.” 

If the two of them had been alone, Higgins would have snapped back at Eddie about being a smartass. But you were there, and the color had drained from your face again, and there was a shine to your eyes that was threatening to spill over your waterline. Higgins looked at you and motioned for you to follow him into his office. 

Eddie wished that you would turn and look at him before disappearing into the PrincePAL’s office. He could imagine you turning to look at him for comfort, he’d give you a smile that would put you at ease and a thumbs up. You’d give him another smile and walk in feeling brave. 

Instead it was like you forgot he was there as your figure disappeared behind the heavy wood door that shut with a heavy click. 

Of course Higgins had you come in first, even though Eddie had already been sitting here since the beginning of the period when he’d been called in. 

He was tempted to go over to the door and press his ear up against it to listen in on what he was saying to you but even Janice would scold him for that. So there Eddie sat for another ten minutes as he waited for you to step out again. 

Higgin’s was the one to open the door and let you out of the office, as if he were some gentleman instead of Eddie’s own personal warden five days a week. You walked out and to Eddie’s surprise you gave him a nod and mouthed thank you as you slipped back out the door and into the hallway. 

Eddie’s eyes followed you until he couldn’t see you anymore and it took Higgin’s standing in front of him with folded arms and saying his full government name for Eddie to snap back to reality. 

“Munson. A word about your little flyers?”

“Well, I’d say a picture is worth a thousand words-”

“In my office.”

Eddie didn’t remember much else about that talk, only remembering the white paper flower that had been carelessly tossed into the trash next to Higgin’s desk. 

“He still hasn’t called you?” Steve asked as you, him, and Robin continued your closing routine. The day had been busy, with almost everyone in Hawkins coming to rent a movie for the weekend. Robin was stocking the candy while you wiped down the sticky counter where children had been touching all day. Who’s idea was it to leave out free suckers on the counter anyway?

Oh right, that was your idea because you loved Halloween. 

“Nope.” you said, your voice a little tense. It had been almost two weeks since that night at the Hideout. You hadn’t returned to the dive bar, hoping that Eddie would call you and make the next move. Each passing day you had stayed as close to the phone as possible when you were home and you’d checked your voicemail every day when you got home for any sign that he’d attempted to reach out. 

Nothing. 

You shouldn’t feel this rejected but you did. It was far too early to tell if you had any feelings beyond initial attraction to the guy, but... you’d felt something. An enjoyment of bantering with him and an ease that came as naturally as your friendship with Robin and Steve. 

Plus, you had to admit it, he was really fucking hot. Seeing him play guitar two weeks ago had haunted your dreams and slipped into a few of your fantasies when you were alone. 

You kept that part to yourself though, that was the last thing that Steve or Robin needed to hear. Besides, that was Steve’s job to go far too into detail about his sex life. Steve had tried ribbing you about going home with Eddie but you’d told him that you were a complete gentleman with him. 

That night had left you feeling electrified, almost high as you danced around your room as you got ready for bed. Even as his odd parting rattled around your brain, you couldn’t help but to feel excited at the idea of seeing him again. 

Then a few days went by. Then a week. And now two weeks later you hadn’t heard from him. The kids hadn’t stopped by either so you couldn’t hassle them about Eddie either. Even if they had, you weren’t sure if you could ask about him, you didn’t want to come across as desperate. 

“Did you ever figure out what he meant by ‘five times?’” Robin asked, opening up a squished package of Reese's Cups. “Like, didn’t you say you didn’t know him?”

You threw your hands up before tossing the paper towels you were using to clean in the trash can. 

“I have no idea.” you said. “Either I’m bad at math, he’s bad at math, or maybe we’re both stupid.”

“He did get held back a few times.” Steve muttered to himself. 

“There’s a chance that you two have met before though.” said Robin, “I mean think about it, you’re both weirdos who went to the same school. Shouldn’t you both have bumped into each other before?” 

“You’d think so, but my group kind of kept to ourselves.” you said with a sigh. “We were private weirdos. When I DID try and make other friends-”

“Yeah, yeah, Chris Morrison shot you down.” Steve said, waving his hand. 

“Oh, you heard that story?” you laughed. “I didn’t think I mentioned it to you before.”

Steve gave you a blank stare that only made you laugh more. “I swear you keep talking about that guy more than Eddie. Maybe I should track him down and set you up on a blind date with him instead.” 

“Don’t you dare!” 

“Hey, that could be fun!” Robin added. “We’ll dress you up super hot, set you up with Chris, and then you can turn him down instead!” 

“Excuse you, Robin. I am always super hot.” you declared, straightening out your unflattering Family Video vest. “Who wouldn’t want a piece of this?”

You hadn’t done laundry in a week, and your hair had seen better days. The green polyester vest was wrinkled and if Keith saw you looking sloppy he’d probably have words about it. Not big words or even intimidating words, but words nonetheless. It was night and day compared to how you’d looked at the Hideout and the arcade earlier in the month. But it wasn’t like you had anyone to impress while you were at work anyway. 

“Hey, nerdy chicks can be hot.” Steve said. “I mean, Nancy’s an academic nerd and I was crazy about her.” 

You hummed thoughtfully and turned to Robin. “How about we get married instead?” you asked. “You, me, a fuck ton of cats, and a tax break. What do you say?”

Robin laughed and shook her head. “You aren’t my type.” Her eyes darted nervously to Steve for a split second and you sighed dramatically. 

“Guess it’s just me and the cats I’ll eventually adopt.” you said. “Not even a tax break.” 

“You know, Keith thinks you’re cute-”

“I am going to pretend that you did not just say that, Harrington.” you said firmly. “Nope, not happening. Uh-uh. Absolutely not.” 

“He’s not... that bad?” Robin said, but you could hear the pain in her voice through the laughter. “Methinks the lady doth protest too much.” 

“The lady is trying not to think actually.” you laugh. “We’re closed, I’m actually done thinking. I just wanna finish cleaning up and go home. What’s left?”

“Rewinding the returns,-”

“Ugh.”

“Cleaning up the kids movies,-”

“Ugh.”

“And cleaning the bathroom.”

“UGHHHHHH.” 

“Would you rather clean up the porn room?” asked Robin. 

“Yes actually, I would.” You said. “Whatever they think about doing in that room is what they do end up doing in the bathroom.”

“Gross.”

Steve sighed “Okay, I’ll be the hero and save you ladies from cleaning the bathroom. Robin, you fix the kids section, and you can rewind the tapes.”

“I thought I was in charge here.” You crossed your arms. 

“Okay, did you have a better way to divide and conquer?”

“...No.”

“Then let’s hurry up and-”

Ding!

“Who didn’t lock the door?!” you asked. 

“It was Steve’s job to-” Robin started. 

“Oh, shit. Hi.” Steve was staring at the person who had just walked in. You turned around and your heart jumped in your chest and your stomach dropped. 

“Cursing in front of customers, Harrington?” Eddie said. “Now that’s not very professional of you.”

Robin’s eyes were darting so fast between you and Eddie that you were surprised she wasn’t giving herself vertigo. You tried to give her a pointed glare but your friend either didn’t get the hint or refused to. 

“Well, we’re closed. You can’t be a customer if you can’t pay.” Steve said, putting his hands on his hips. 

Eddie looked away from Steve and made eye contact with you. It had been two weeks since you’d seen him, and you glazed at his arm for a second, trying to see if the faded remains of your phone number were still stamped on his arm. Unfortunately for you he was wearing a heavy leather jacket and you had not yet developed x ray vision. Perhaps in another genre. 

“Do you want to get out of here?” Eddie asked and you, ignoring Steve who looked mildly offended. 

You stood there in shock for a second before Robin nudged you in the rib. 

“I- uh. I have to finish closing.” you said, snapping out of it. 

“Steve and I can handle the rest of closing!” Robin grabbed Steve and shook his shoulder. 

“Guys, I’m literally in charge of you both. I can’t leave before you.” You said, already reaching for your bag under the counter. 

“We can handle it!” Steve said. 

“And I can handle Steve!” Robin added. “We close without you and Keith all the time, remember?”

You could trust Robin, and as long as Steve didn’t knock down any displays then it wouldn’t take them more than another ten minutes to finish up. You were so tempted to turn them down, make Eddie wait as you had waited for him for the past two weeks. 

But you were already stepping behind the counter towards Eddie and tossing the keys to lock up to Robin. Keith would murder you and write you up (in that order) if he knew what you were doing but looking up at the roundest pair of brown eyes you’d ever seen had you in the mood to make questionable choices. 

You shrugged off your vest and tossed it at Steve, in an attempt to make yourself look like you hadn’t spent the whole day dealing with unruly customers and screaming kids. Part of you almost wished that you had agreed to bathroom duty, if only to give you an excuse to look in a mirror and straighten yourself out. 

“Thanks, guys.” you gave them a quick nod, catching sight of Robin’s knowing smirk and Steve shaking his head before walking out the door that Eddie was holding open for you. 

The last thing you heard was the scrambling of the entrance to Family Video being locked. 

Part 7

Dividers by @strangergraphics

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[eggcats]

Since we don't know what/if Vox has a full demon form, I've decided his isn't much (or any) bigger than his regular form. He's normally a long-distance fighter (using hypnosis, electricity/electric cables), but he can fight directly with his claws if need be.

And when combined with Alastor’s power, everything he does ramps up. Also, his abilities, in turn, enhance Alastor’s - very much symbiosis. They feed off each other - both powerful and deadly on their own, but a force when together.

Tbh I'm saying this because I can't get the idea of Alastor doing his normal shadow tentacles/shadow shield to fight, EXCEPT now it's also a deadly electric fence because Vox and him are intertwining both of their long-distance fighting abilities. So, not only are their enemies being impaled - but also being electrocuted at the same time. Double-whammy, no ability to recover or resist.

(Vox’s powers on his own tend to be more of an electric forcefield/electrifying the entire ground as a wide-range but nonspecific attack, which since it's usually such a large area causes damage but isn't lethal unless he focuses and exhausts his energy).

Also, this image has been haunting me: Vox and Alastor fighting near each other. Alastor is in his giant demon form, and Vox doesn't notice someone come up behind him to take him out, and suddenly - BAM - giant Alastor either squashes or eats the person coming up behind Vox, and is now currently practically shielding him from any other attacks - essentially crouched over him, leaning down to head-off anyone trying to take Vox out.

Vox is absolutely swooning a bit at being surrounded by a giant protective Alastor (as well as the fact that when Alastor leans down to chastise him for not paying attention, his face is still bigger than him). Vox is now dealing with how it feels to fight WITH Alastor, and not against, and to feel SAFE surrounded by his giant demon self, rather than in danger. (It's a lot for him to deal with in the middle of the fight, tbh).

Also! At some point, giant Alastor picks up Vox to get closer to the fight to better use his powers (hypnosis, most likely), so now you have a giant Alastor with a regular sized Vox like on his head.

(Not that Vox can't fight, obviously, but I'm also imagining a scene like with Fizz and Ozzie where Vox is holding his own and then suddenly a giant Alastor appears behind him to help, and Vox just not flinching at his appearance because he knows he's not going to hurt HIM).

I just love the idea that by working together is how both Vox and Alastor reach their true fighting potential, since they can work off each other's powers to enhance their own AND now they have someone to rely on as backup in the fight.

[warblogs17282]

I've been thinking about why Stolas put the menu up to his face again, and I think I've found another part of the reason why Stolas did this.

Let's get the obvious out of the way, we know what Asmodeus said to Stolas, especially about Octavia hurt a lot, and Blitz also shoved the menu in his face so Stolas was copying Blitz, but I think another part of the reason Stolas did this is because Blitz showed Stolas almost no positive reciprocation back.

I think Blitz's plan for the night went something like this, if he uses Stolas to get into Ozzie's, Blitz gets to stalk his employees as he originally intended, and then once that is done, Stolas gets what Blitz thinks Stolas wants, which is to have Blitz fuck Stolas. (I mean the Blitz having sex with Stolas part could've never been a part of Blitz's plan, but considering the way he's acted up to then, I wouldn't be surprised if he would've been willing to have sex with Stolas afterwards, if everything had gone smoothly, but hey this is just one of the things we don't know for sure.)

"Wow. That's a bit overkill, don't ya think?" The way Stolas reacts to that, it's quite clear that Stolas' self-confidence in this scene has already taken a bit of a hit from that statement, temporarily at the bare minimum.

"Yeah, whatever." Look at Stolas' face drop when Blitz gives that half-assed and vague answer, it's quickly replaced with a nervous chuckle and such, but this shows Stolas has clearly noted Blitz's disinterest in the date, and combined with the nervousness again, I believe this shows us that Stolas' self-confidence has probably taken another hit from it.

Also, Stolas' pupils appear again in this scene and Stolas takes a really loud breath, this owl is panicking inside a bit and scrambling to think of another conversation topic that might get Blitz's attention. Plus for everything past this moment, there's subtle clues in Stolas' somewhat erratic breathing and voice that Stolas is still incredibly nervous after this statement.

Blitz gives another very disinterested and vague answer to Stolas' next question to Blitz, and Stolas is very clearly not taking this all that well, considering how after the response, Stolas is very clearly extremely nervous now, both in his face and the fact that he's shaking quite badly, at least he exhibits those behaviors for a little bit.

Stolas' nervousness does get lessened a bit once Blitz responds to the follow up question and turns around to face Stolas (which was probably huge for Stolas), but it's very clearly still there as Stolas responds to Blitz's quite vague and quickly thrown together answer.

After that however, Stolas' (at least overtly) nervousness seems to die down a lot when Stolas is asking him the question of the day "So, what made you decide to ask me out after all this time?"

Blitz is rushing to think up an answer here, because the true reason he 'asked out' Stolas was to spy on Moxxie and Millie, and he obviously can't say that to Stolas, so he just pulls the "uhhhhhhhhh" card to buy himself more time, and because of this, Stolas' face drops to a frown. That's 100% a hit to Stolas' self-confidence about the date.

For a positive interaction to come out of this date for Stolas, I can only really think of one, which is Blitz's answer to Stolas' first question after entering Ozzie's "I just thought we'd have a blast here, you know?" You can see Stolas' smile actually get wider here, and from there it all goes downhill sadly.

So, where does this all lead to exactly?

I think almost all of these events have been shattering Stolas' self-confidence about the date, and as a result putting doubts in Stolas' mind about his potential romantic life with Blitz, which would just make Stolas all that more embarrassed, because considering "Are you sleepin' with an Imp?!" and "I hope you didn't give it up. So, you and him could get it on" was said in the song, Stolas has almost nothing to say to defend himself and his relationship with Blitz, because all routes of defense he could use lead right back to mostly sex, because of the arrangement, and in one of the mirror fragments in All 2 U, we see Blitz walking away from a clearly saddened Stolas, which in my guess was shortly after the sex, before they could do any romantic stuff.

Plus Stolas is not just gonna air out all the abuse he suffered at the hands of Stella in front of everyone, and Octavia means so much to Stolas.

With all of that in mind, I believe that this is also part of the reason why Stolas put up the menu to his face in embarrassment, alongside with this being Stolas copying Blitz doing it, and Asmodeus just mentioning Octavia the way he did.

[kityana]

i was going to add this to this post, but it got very long and a little off the topic and i didn't think it was fair so here goes.

i think there's a very good chance octavia isn't really aware of the situation between her parents.

in "loo loo land", octavia talks about her parents not loving each other as a new development.

when we know for a fact stolas and stella never got along, and seemed to dislike each other from the moment they became betrothed.

but in the trailer, she says "you never loved mother", so it seems like she recently realized that was the case. further more, she seems to put it in the same category of disappointment as the idea of stolas not loving her, too.

i think it's unfair to blame octavia for not noticing the dynamic between her parents sooner. for one thing, abusers are notoriously good at hiding their actions, and abuse victims very often hide their situation out of shame. this is doubly true for male victims of abuse, and even more so if the abuser is a woman. stolas himself says he put up with stella's behavior because he wanted to give octavia "a normal life", and i imagine that "normal life" did not entail knowing just how much her parents can't stand each other and how cruel her mother is to her father.

also, as @ceaselessims noted- octavia is rich and privileged. we base what we think is normal on our environment, and octavia's normal is not our normal. try putting yourself in her shoes- most of the people she knew her entire life were other royals. most of the relationship she saw were relationship between royals, probably the kind that is either arranged like her parents or made for other politically or monetarily advantageous reasons. that means most of the adult relationships around her weren't what we would consider loving, healthy adult romantic relationships. so the fact her parents were rarely if ever affectionate toward each other? to her that probably seemed normal. the fact they rarely seemed to spend time together unless they had to? again, normal. the tensions between them? stella's occasional snide remarks about stolas that stolas probably doesn't even address? normal, normal, normal.

i'd like to think that maybe at some point in the future, octavia willll spend some time with fizz and ozzie, or m&m, or any other actually healthy couple, and then the penny will drop that this is what an actually healthy, romantic adult relationship is supposed to look like.

but for now i'm thinking that for 17 years, as far as she could tell, her parents had a really ordinary, stable marriage of the kind she sees all around her. and then, one day, completely out of the blue, her father shatters it all with an affair. of course she's pissed at him. of course she mostly blames him for everything that's happening and seems more sympathetic to her mother. and of course that shakes the foundation of her trust in him, because as far as she can tell, he betrayed one person that was close to him, so who's to say he won't betray her, too?

and stolas isn't exactly helping things by seemingly not even attempting to explain the situation to octavia. i understand he's struggling with a lot, but keeping her completely in the dark is just letting her jump to her skewed conclusions, and it also gives stella a way to control the narrative, which i'm sure stella is going to take.

i think octavia will find out the truth eventually, and then i'm sure she won't take stella's side anymore after that happens. but i also think she's going to be very sad to know just how much stolas hid from her. that also seems like a betrayal of trust- that he couldn't trust her. their road to healing is going to be long and interesting, i think. and i can't wait to see it.

[chaifootsteps]

it's pretty funny Blitz is painted as this bad partner when that fits Stolas a lot better

the worst Blitz has done is what he did to Verosika (stealing from her and running off) and the rest seem to be one night stands or just being rude to/insulting people (which is pretty standard for Hell, idk why Blitz is the only one getting heat for being a jerk when every character is at least a little mean as a baseline except for M&M)

Stolas meanwhile cheated on the wife he was married to for 17 years, blowing up his daughter's life and potentially tanking the family's reputation in the process, then continued to coerce that affair partner into sex in the same house as said daughter, using her inheritance as a bargaining chip in order to do so.

We're supposed to side with Stolas here because of Stella's abuse and his claims he 'tried for so many years to make it comfortable for them and have a family' but with all the other available evidence about the 'family dynamic' we've seen it comes across as hopelessly naive on Stolas' part.

Like what's worse? Blitz who knew he wasn't cut out for commitment and ended things before or right as they were getting serious with all his partners (which isn't an invalid choice if the show wasn't so determined to shame him for not monogamously settling down the minute the option was on the table) or Stolas who let a sham marriage continue for nearly two decades for no good reason, then cheated right before Via was about to become old enough that she could ditch the false domestic scenario he'd tried to conjure up for good, ensuring maximum upset for everyone involved? (And then continued to cheat after the fact by continuing affair that wasn't even a real relationship, it was just Stolas forcing someone into sex so he could playact at having a partner)

All true, and also thank you for mentioning the show's constant shaming of Blitzo's rejection of commitment, because that one's awful.

The only thing Blitzo has ever done wrong is what he did to Verosika, stealing from Stolas, and maybe inviting Stolas to Ozzie's when all he needed was a warm body to get him through the door. He's not a bad person for having one night stands and he's certainly not a bad person for not wanting a relationship with Stolas.

[morganbritton132]

I saw this scrolling the social media today and I just needed you to know. My fictional true love Joan the disservice cat definitely needs one.

First, thank you for this.

When I got the notification that you sent me an ask, I was not expecting four of the best images on the internet. I love these cats in their little outfits and I agree, Joan needs this.

I can picture Eddie scrolling through Pinterest, seeing little heavy metal cat outfits, and immediately taking out his credit card despite the fact that Joan has never once enjoyed him putting her in an outfit. In fact, she actively acts like she’s dying every time he does.

So, she never wears them, but…

Joan has grown up observing Ozzy and Ozzy takes care of Steve. So the natural conclusion is that Steve is Baby and he must be looked after.

Joan also has no concept of federal holidays. She just knows that there are days that Steve is not there and days that he is. If he is home on a day he’s not supposed to be than that’s bad. So, he should not be putting on his running shoes.

Since Ozzy is doing nothing to stop him, Joan insist on stepping in.

Steve nudges her out of the way as he slips his foot into his shoe, “Joan, move. You’re going to get stepped on.”

But Joan does not move because she is helping. Steve does not seem deterred so Joan insists on coming with him and if she has to wear a silly little outfit and get put in a torture device (AKA the cat stroller) than so be it.

Steve lets out a little annoyed huff and calls out, “Babe, I’m taking the cat!”

So picture it: Steve in pastel joggers since it’s chilly outside and an old but well maintained Hawkins High Swim Team t-shirt that’s tight across his shoulders. He’s got his pristine white dad shoes and his socks pulled up. Ozzy’s running beside him as he pushes the stroller, and then he’s stopped by a woman a couple blocks over who wants to see the baby.

The baby is, of course, Joan with her little fangs sticking out and her shirt that says Cannibal Corpse.  

[flower-boi16]

Alright, this needs to be said:

The Helluva Boss fandom does not understand why critics are going after the show

I'm so sick of people saying that "Helluva Boss critics are mad because their headcanon's weren't true!", I've seen AyyLmao say it in his hatedome video and that could not be farther from the truth.

Helluva Boss critics are not going after the show because their headcanons were false, critics are going after the show for:

Underdevelopment of its female characters especially Millie and Loona

Stolas being the embodiment of an unintentionally unsympathetic character in season 2

Stolitz being an awful and objectively toxic ship (no amount of retconning and demonizing of Blitz will ever change that)

Forgetting Blitz and Stolas's conflict in Ozzie's happened and then resolving it with a blink and you'll miss it text message

Constant plot holes, retcons, and continuity errors especially in season 2

Overuse of sex jokes and swearing to make the show sound more edgy

Completely forgetting its premise which represents the fact that the show has absolutely no idea of what it wants to be anymore

Stella being a boring and underdeveloped character

None of these are people getting mad that their headcanons weren't true, these are ACTUAL PROBLEMS within Helluva Boss's writing that people are pointing out. Look, its ok if you like this show. We're just a bunch of randos on the internet, don't let us take away your love for this show. However, please actually understand where we're coming from with his criticisms instead of just going "Oh your mad that your headcanons weren't true!" because there is no such thing as a statement more laughably false than that.

[ms-cartoon]

Now see? What I tell ya? What. Did. I. Tell. Y'all!

I knew they we're gonna do this! What I say, "instead of Stolas being in the wrong for how he treats Blitzo, they're gonna make the latter the bad guy for how he "treats" Stolas. Because blah blah blah, Blitzo doesn't love Stolas back, blah blah he's not considerate of Stolas's feelings for him, blah blah he's being mean, blah blah, he needs to give Stolas a chance."

This is what I said on my post about the trailer

There is so much that needs to be said about this episode, for now however, I need to discuss this little conversation turned argument between the fandom's main couple

A little off-topic, but first of all, I really don't like how Blitzo's feelings for Stolas are retconned in between seasons. He went from hating Stolas and dreading a night of sex with him to actually sort of liking him and being so afraid that Stolas might be bored with him that he'll figure out ways to impress him with a bunch of sex toys. Him worrying about how complicated it is with Stolas, being nervous and giddy about how the meeting is gonna turn out? Being excited about having a night of sex with him and thinking dirty thoughts?? I can't tell if it's just Blitzo being perverted and horny or what, but it doesn't feel right. It's like these two switched roles or something.

Cuz where the hell did all this come from???

We don't even get a scene with them after the Ozzie's incident. Blitzo just told Stolas to screw off before driving away that episode, and there was NO conversation about it! It was a whole "Now you see it, now you don't" after 3 episodes with the aftermath being through text instead of in-person.

It made it seem like Blitzo was just DONE with Stolas while reluctantly pursuing the agreement.

Now the show is just in and out with them acting like boyfriends to them feeling awkward and distant. Like Viv, Adam, whoever is in charge of writing these relationships-- pick a lane!!

Anyway, back to the topic

Like everyone has been saying that I 100% agree with, Stolas is just a self-insert of Vivziepop: As soon as Viv is called out by us critiques, she'll throw a fit, cry, and resent us because we don't like her or her show (or we do like the show to some degree, it's just lacking the potential that it needs), and we're saying things about her that she doesn't like (despite them being true), therefore, she won't hold accountability for these things. And this is how Stolas is acting. Blitzo is calling him out, Stolas doesn't like it despite it being true and he turns it around on Blitzo for thinking so negatively of him, and won't admit when he's wrong.

Is Viv doing this on purpose? I'm starting to feel like she knows what she's doing here?

What really grinds my gears is when after Blitzo tells him off, Stolas tears up, being the dramatic pity me crybaby BITCH that he is, and says this--

"I wanted you for so long. The fact that you couldn't believe that I might have these feelings about you, that your first instinct is- that it's always about sex. That's enough to know what this is."

I know he didn't- ARE YOU F**KING KIDDING ME!! That is literally THE MOST hypocritical thing he's ever said since he's existed in this show. I know I shouldn't be shocked at this point, but I am just so APPALLED that I want to laugh (I'm laughing right now). I had to hear that line more than two times to make sure I wasn't deaf when he said that.

So he mentions Blitzo not believing that he might have feelings for him the entire time, almost as if he's shocked by this. "Oh my gosh! I can't believe you don't believe that I'm in love with you!" Have you really given him any reason to believe you might be in love with him, Stolas??? Literally the first thing that came to mind when you two see each other for the first time as adults was, "You came here to ravish me, did you?" You sure as hell weren't loving him then! In what moment have you shown you might be in love him? And I don't want anybody bringing up any kind of excuse from season 2. Season 2 is a whole ass retcon anyway and Stolas's "love" for Blitzo just developed outta nowhere from ep 7 of season 1 to now. So none of it counts.

And then you have THIS part of the line--

"The fact that you think it's always about sex when I'm actually i'm love you."

No you stupid bitch!! That's you!

And then there's this---

"I didn't realize you thought so lowley if me."

Do I even need to explain anything to prove this how false these lines are??? Of course not! Cuz I feel like it should be obvious at this point. So instead, I'll put my "Reasons why I hate Stolas" post.

I swear, it's like the writers suddenly decided they wanna switch roles on these two. Where Stolas feels like Blitzo is messing with his feelings and Blitzo is the horny bastard who doesn't actually care about love when really it's the other way around on both ends. I swear this whole confrontation was thought out so poorly. Viv (or whoever is in charge of writing this EP) clearly doesn't keep track of what goes on in her shows. Or maybe she does, but she just doesn't care, and just changes things so that the story turns out the way she wants it without being logical about it. Stolas saying something like, "Your first instinct is sex." or "How can you not believe I'm not in love with you?" To Blitzo? It makes no sense!! Because sex was always on HIS mind!! HE hasn't shown ANY genuine love that didn't involve sex. So he shouldn't have ANY room to be judging Blitzo. They're whole relationship and the way that it is now; that's all STOLAS'S fault. Sure, Blitzo kind of started it so it's on him too, but Stolas was the one that pursued it despite Blitzo making it very clear he didn't like him. Not to mention he's been manipulative towards him.

I swear, I'm so done with Stolas. He better not pull this shit on his daughter istg. Ur feeling all sad cuz Blitzo doesn't live u back. Cry me a river you poor excuse for a father!

And I can't believe there are some fans out there that are siding with him too. Normally I wouldn't care what fans would think cuz sometimes, there's no changing their mind. But it's like . . . Did we watch the same show??