#Stolas on the spectrum

[timkontheunsure]

Some of the reasons I think Stolas is on the spectrum

(finally getting around to popping this on up too).

He has special interests & misses social cues while being happy in them.

It not really normal to be happy reading legal documents when someone's life is on the line. But Stolas is just vibing that he gets to help with his love of words. Yay him!

Stims

He stims when both happy & sad to help regulate his emotions.

His happy stims are:

*clapping when he gets to take Via to the circus, because he thinks they can enjoy it together.

He also does this with contract reading.

*He hopps up and down when his dad gives him a new books. Also when getting ready for his date with Blitz. He's just so happy he needs to hop.

His sad stims:

*are bang his head again and again about the engagement.

*He self sooves with chest strokes when Blitz says his outfit is too much.

*He hand rubs and wringing his hat when worrying about Via in LA.

Special interests

The there's that Stolas info dumps on the playdate with Blitz all about his books and about plants.

Stolas also feels he has to explain why Blitz horse joke was soo funny. And why's it so funny?

Because it's accurate. I love his little cutie.

But he's also kept up his love of plants as a major hobby now he's an adult. When most people tend to swap interests as they age.

Side bar

His comfy resting hand position is t rex hands. This tends to be an autistic thing. Also works well as an owl.

Sensory issues

Stolas appears to also have some sensory issues too. When his a child he appears to be struggling when Mr Butler touches his hair out of nowhere.

But he's fine with Blitz doing it when they're kissing. This shows a lot of trust between them.

I think it's likely sensory issues are the reason why he swaps into his comfy, very old robe, as often as he can too.

Specific communication issues

While Stolas is very good at some communication styles, he's pretty bad at others.

When the audience think it's another joke about wanting to keep a puppy; he immediately knows Blitz's is panicking the studio. And tries to get to him.

However he doesn't get that his dirty talk is way OTT, because he's mostly likely coping it from the erotica. Not lived experience.

Speaking of erotica.

There's obviously a rule that reading is allowed at the diner table. But Stolas doesn't get This book isn't appropriate to read there.

Another rule he appears to follow more rigidly than most probably would; is that when you get an appointment you wait till you're seen.

Ozzie's ment to met Stolas at noon, but doesn't make it till 4 pm because of problems with work.

Stolas is only a couple of days out of the hospital and is probably feeling horrible.

But he sticks around a minimum of 4 hours to be seen, because he feels he has to.

(I'm assuming he also got taught you turn up earlier rule, but this just a guess).

Stolas genuinely wants to do something Via will enjoy, and he's fine taking Via to stylish occult when she asks.

But didn't get it till she's crying and sad that she wasn't enjoying Loo Loo Land.

"I take it you are.. not having fun." She needs to spell it out. Sarcasm isn't easy for him to interrupt.

His was obviously thought taking his daughter and his lover out to a theme park would be a good way to introduce them.

It's the sort of plot that only works on a novellas. And that's probably when he got it from. (Probably worked great for Gabrielle and Alejandro).

These are examples of him Masking, and not understanding why it didn't work.

Stella's being dangerous to be around = take Via out somewhere for her to have fun to blow off steam.

Wanting your lover and daughter to like eachother = ask IMP to tag along as the completely unnecessary bodyguards.

He doesn't really get that flirty with his affair partner, in front of his kid while going through a divorce isn't a good idea...

He also struggles to understand when his flirting comes off as condescending too. With "ittybity imps like you" or calling him Blitzy in public. He's most likely him coping language from other goeita.

But Stolas is very good at knowing when knowing when Blitz is fine being picked up, when to reassure him with face stokes, or how to calm Blitz down from a panic attack in just a few seconds.

So it's not that he's just never learnt these skills. It's just that some communication skills are harder for him than others.

But if you disagree that fine. 🙂 I just wanted to put down some of my thoughts why I think he could be.

[drama-glob]

Anyone else think Stolas keeps a list of words that bring him delight like how "Kooks" does? :) I know I have fun saying things like "Anomaly" and "Serendipitous." ;)

[sneakingpasta]

I love that ace representation ranges from this QUEEN

to this THING

[theadhddimsenion]

I was browsing around reddit and came across someone who didn't understand why stolitz was attracted to each other and I came across a headcanon I very much like.

This headcanon is that due to bltiz being emotionally lobotomized by his ratshit of a father. He has a great appreciation for those who can express themselves often through artistic means which is part of why he's into stolas (the songbird,fizz the clown, veroskia the popstar and even moxxie the thespian. It also explains why he wasn't into millie and just wanted something platonic with her because she isn't exactly the most artistic in anything besides death. As he said himself stolas was his heart.

Inversely. Stolas accurately describes blitz as his light as in the guiding light of hope. As blitz much like the horses he's obsessed with represents freedom now not just for stolas but if blitz does become a matyr than all of impkind.

Blitz was the one who accidentally taught the owl he does have a choice in how he’s treated and he doesn't have to lie back and take it anymore (if he doesn't want to that is). As his first and only friend blitz was his ray of sunshine his light of hope.

[goetiaprincess22]

Octavia: I am on the asexual spectrum, I am mainly asexual, but I am also demisexual to the point I could see myself with the right person if I ever meet them. I am also very happy that my dad never tried to force a betrothal on me because of how unhappy he was being forced to marry mom.

[annachum]

Vassago being usually sunny and juggling so many things at once in seemingly usual high energy while Arackniss is usually more reserved and often tired really shows two spectrums of eldest child syndrome

Angel Dust being often loud and flamboyant and Stolas being usually more reserved and calm really shows two spectrums of ' youngest child syndrome who are also disaster gays '

[helldustedstories]

I haven't talked about it a whole bunch, but I interpret and write Stolas as autistic!

There are tons of examples in the show that I use to support this, but here are just a few:

He clearly has special interests: plants, books / words, the stars (even though this is part of his job, it's also something he's been interested in on his own)

T-rex hands as comfortable resting position (this one is mostly silly, but it's commonly viewed as an autistic thing)

Good at some communication styles but very bad at others.

Misses a lot of social cues, and he has to be explicitly told how people are feeling, at times. Once he knows that, he's usually pretty good about taking them into account (and doing what he can to support them).

Would infodump if he was allowed.

He's very clearly masking a large portion of the time, doing his best to appear as "normal" in front of others.

I could definitely go more into depth on a lot of these, and it's possible I might, but I wanted to list a few things that I'd noticed in the show itself that make me think Stolas is on the spectrum.

Additionally, here are some of Stolas' stims:

bouncing on his feet when he's excited

little applause

flapping his hands (usually also when happy or excited)

lacing his fingers together and squeezing

twisting his fingers

wringing his hands

squeezing his hat

pulling at his feathers (which does sometimes lead to pulling them out, which is one of his more harmful behaviours)

hugging himself as tightly as he can

tapping his foot

[gctchella]

buries face into the table and punches it.

[angelshizuka]

I generally try to be vague when I talk about hate posts, but this one pissed me off so much I can't even be bothered, so this one's gonna be a direct quote. It's extra bad when you consider how much Stolas hate comes down to people hating him when he's presenting traits that could be read as autistic.

"How is Stolas Autistic coded. How. Where are you people getting that from. When does he display a single Autistic trait literally ever. When does he stim. When does he hyperfixate. When does he meltdown/shutdown. When does he struggle at reading faces/intent. When does he struggle with change. When does he have sensory issues. As someone who is Actually autistic, stop."

And because I LOVE autistic Stolas, I'm gonna show two examples for every one of these (there are definitely more examples, but I don't want this post to get too long). I'm gonna stick to just screencaps, because I can't be bothered to make this many gifs/look up the right gifs just to prove haters wrong.

When does he stim? Bouncing and hand clapping are two great examples (autistic stimming isn't just hand flapping, it can present itself in many ways).

When does he hyperfixate? He's literally obsessed with books/words and plants, and infodumps about them, what more proof do you need?!

When does he meltdown/shutdown? Boy, for people who love hating Stolas for being an "overreacting crybaby" they sure love ignoring all the meltdowns/shutdowns he's had... (shutdowns are more common for Stolas, which makes sense, not all autistic people experience both equally).

When does he struggle reading faces/intent? Again, for people who love hating Stolas for episodes like Loo Loo Land, they sure love ignoring how much of Stolas' behaviour comes from not being able to understand situations through social cues.

When does he struggle with change? I could easily just drop the entirety of post-banishment here, but you get the point.

When does he have sensory issues? I do have to admit I can't think of any examples for this one from the top of my head, BUT it's extremely insulting to claim all autistic people experience literally all autistic traits on the same level, it's a spectrum for God's sake.

Edit: Courtesy of @caldella here are two examples that can be read as sensory issues, sleeping in the nude and not wearing shoes.

These people just refuse to see Stolas as autistic, because it means admitting so much of their hatred for him comes from hating his possible autistic traits.

Sincerely someone who's also actually autistic (and has an autistic sister) and knows not all autistic people are exact copies of each other, so understands "it's not a perfect copy of my autism so that makes it bad/not real" isn't a valid argument.

[archivedblog16]

I’m sooo confused with Mammon cuz they’ve made him ace in the pride month art, and then he’s flirting with Levi in what feels like a sexual way, but honestly I’m not ace and I know it’s a spectrum, so whatever. But I don’t trust Viv with ace characters cause she HAS to make everything sexual anyways. Maybe Mammon didn’t even mean it in that way. But then Bee is shaming him and has to add on the ‘no one wants to bang you’ thing. Like yeah using sex to shame someone (who is apparently asexual) is so #coolgirl . But when no one wants to sleep with stolas it’s so sad boo hoo.

Like idk, I can’t speak for ace people at all, I just think that instead of representing how being aro, ace or both can be a spectrum, Viv is more interested in making everyone obsessed with sex. Or maybe they decided to make Mammon asexual long after they finished writing the episode and this doesn’t matter. But I feel they treated Alastor in a similar way. Anyway I love Mammon sooo much, he’s one of the only antagonists that hasn’t been watered down and had every action justified with ‘trauma’

I’m not ace too but I will admit lowkey it feels like Vivziepop attached that label onto Mammon at the last minute. The ace spectrum in TV shows is one of the labels that isn’t mainstream or highly represented compared to other sexualities such as pansexual, gay, bisexual, lesbian, etc.

So many asexual people will understandably cling to an asexual character as they feel seen. Like for example: Todd from Bojack Horseman or Alastor from Hazbin Hotel. I won’t lie, I did forget Mammon is ace, Anon 💀

I could’ve lived with the sins’ sexuality being ambiguous or up to the audience’s interpretation but oh well. Maybe nothing sexual happened between Leviathan and Mammon, I can see some very cute snuggling under the covers.

Either way Bee insulting Mammon, how no one wants to fuck Mammon and how he should fuck himself, makes her look even worse. Not only felt mean spirited and also felt ace-phobic.

Like imagine being Mammon and you rightfully call out your fellow sins for slumming with 2 lower class citizens. Then out of nowhere, your fellow sin insults you of how undesirable you are while being a confirmed asexual. 😭

[aspartameabuser69]

“All Helluva Boss/Hazbin Hotel critics are homophobes and queerphobes!!!” No. I’m gay. I hate stolitz because it’s horribly written and stolas is…i don’t know…a RAPIST??? I would still hate it if it was the straightest ship alive. It’s horrible representation as well, another reason for why I hate it so much. You can not say to me with a straight face, an aro-ace spectrum lesbian survivor of CSA, than I am homophobic for not liking the representation in Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel. I am not a person of colour (I’m so fucking pasty words can not describe it), so I can not comment on the representation of POC characters in those shows. But I have heard many people of colour who do not like the representation in the shows, so I trust them with that. I will repeat, part of why I hate those shows so much is because the representation isn’t very good in my opinion!!! I swear to god what part of that is not clicking!!!

[meandtheyeehaws]

(Sorry if you’ve already answered this, I’m new, but) out of curiosity, where do you stand on the fault spectrum between Blitz and Stolas? No hate either way, just wondering.

i dont rlly think eithef them are fully at fault or fully blameless, its just a big mess of miscommunication and insecurities lol. stol has now realized his own faults in this and tried to kinda make up for it but since blitz hasnt fully yet (but hes on his way, hes at least reflecting and stuff) its all still a big mess. very interested to see where it goes tho :]

[thatstonedwriter]

Crush

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Content; gender neutral, no pronouns, swearing, mentions of relationship insecurity, some suggestive themes, mentions of Polyam (fizz/Ozzie/reader)

Feat; Fizzarolli, Loona, Blitz, Stolas

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You got them acting up. When they're down bad,

Fizzarolli will constantly be touchy. Somehow, someway, he just needs to be in contact with you. Loves showing off- which means he'll do tricks, sing, and show off his flexibility (fuckin' slut). He'll brag about how cool you are, how fantastic, how amazing- to literally everyone. If he's in his relationship with Ozzie, the two of them talk about how they would integrate you into the relationship. Since Fizz actually knows how to communicate (unlike someone we know), he's very good with knowing about boundaries, needs, and expectations. Will constantly cozy up to you and will flirt shamelessly. He's just such a cutie

Loona can't hide it. She's so obviously enamored by you. Her intimidating facade shatters, leaving her an awkward, smiley, goofy love struck pup. Her tail will wag, she stands up a bit straighter, avoids eye contact, but listens so intently. Tries to crack jokes, but just ends up telling on herself. For reference, please see: "That's hot-" "Ha, I wish I had friends-". Can and will fight people for your attention. If you're in a conversation with Moxxie, oh wow, suddenly she has a reason to drop kick him into the next ring of hell. Blitz obviously knows if Loona has a crush on someone, so expect some glares, "playful" death threats, and lots of questions/comments about how you'd treat her, etc. He warms up.. Eventually. Either way, Loona doesn't care. All she wants is to be with you.

Blitz avoids it. He thinks love is stupid, that no one could ever possibly love him, and that he doesn't deserve a relationship. Depending on how close you are, he'll either: isolate, pretend he doesn't feel anything and attempt to act normal, or flirt. Tbh, I think if he's very close to someone, he'll isolate, because he doesn't know how to deal with his emotions. No matter how he handles it, everyone notices this change in his behavior, especially Loona. Like her dad, she'll be very protective and pretty harsh. Once she's sure you have good intentions, she'll be more accepting. Still pokes fun at you though. It'll take a lot of patience, determination, and a lot of forcing Blitz to communicate- but eventually, hopefully, he'll allow himself to be happy with you.

Stolas, somehow, becomes even more of a slut. We've seen how he acts with Blitz. Of course he's going to flirt and make passes. (However, if you're on the ace spectrum or are uncomfortable with it, he'll absolutely respect your boundaries). He's also one to spoil those he's interested in, whether it be thoughtful gifts, bouquets, you name it. He wants so badly to have and express his love and passion. Initially, there will likely be communication issues. It's entirely possible that he has relationship insecurity and will be a bit clingy, but will always try to give you the space you need. He just wants love. He just wants you.

[ripplestitchskein]

I don’t know if we’ll ever get into it, because the show at this point largely plays it off as a joke, but I do wonder if Blitz’s very misogynist language and his association with feelings as being “gay”or for “pussies” will be explored more as part of this. It’s really hard to tell at this point if it’s an issue to be examined in the narrative’s eyes or just Brandon’s particular brand of humor coming into play with no deeper character considerations beyond the superficial “he uses insults and abrasive language to keep people at arms length”.

I mentioned it in one of my episode breakdowns but Blitz’s interactions with women are very interesting. Whore. Slut. Titty Haver. He is exceedingly more aggressive with women he meets than he is with men. Yet Blitz seems to have very much loved, and from the little we’ve seen, had a good relationship with his mother. He seems to get along well with Millie, he takes good care of Loona. Barbie is the only character he hurt he actively pursues to reconcile with. Yet all his interactions with other women he is a lot more hostile and aggressive than in his interactions with other men and that’s present from Murder Family on.

Most of his disguises are him dressing in drag though? If he has to put a costume on he generally defaults to female presenting. He seems to enjoy it as well, based on expressions and animated body language he is comfortable and having a good time. Again, hard to tell if it’s just a bit, but Blitz has been shown as pretty gender non conforming many times for a guy who mostly uses gendered insults. Some of it could be as simple as hiding horns and tail being made slightly easier by a wig and a dress, it could be just the way the writer’s humor trends but it could be a lot more.

Especially when paired with his clear association with feelings = gay. A crux of his post Full Moon communication attempts with Stolas seem to be “Haha, silly feelings, that’s gay, let’s…have gay sex about it again?”. Feelings are for pussies. What you said is gayer than love ballads. Etc. etc. The dude has no issue filling a house party with his conquests from across the gender spectrum though.

It just reads as coming from somewhere else. Cash specifically. Blitz himself seems to default to queerness. He doesn’t seem to care about it from the perspective of his own sexual relationships or gender expression but at the same time he is very misogynistic and associates things that make him feel weak or could be perceived as weak with gayness or women.

We have some scenes from the trailer that could potentially explore his more. His scene with his mom possibly coming out about his feelings for Fizz versus Cash refusing to let him see him at the hospital. Those may just be more “your romantic reveal led to a horrible tragedy” but it could also hopefully give some insight into why he handles the Full Moon fight like a 90’s middle schooler declaring anything that makes him feel squishy inside with a “That’s gay.”

[helluvagirlboss]

The False Dichotomy of What Should Be Helluva Boss’s Focus

“It should have just been a silly murder of the week show!”

Vs.

“No the IMP episodes were boring the character drama is more engaging!”

These arguments are two opposing sides of the biggest debate in the Helluva Boss fandom.

There are people who think it should have just stayed a simple murder-of-the-week comedy, that the show lost its edge and turned into a boring soap opera.

And on the flip side there are people who think the more character driven plots make for a better show longterm and that the mission episodes that focus on the business would get stale and boring.

I only joined the fandom back in May of 2024, I’m not a longterm fan but this debate has been going on for as long as I’ve been here, and based on the numerous YouTube videos recommended to me, it’s been going on for even longer than that.

Through it all I have realized what my biggest problem with this debate is.

Why does it have to be one or the other?

There is validity in the first group being annoyed that the business itself had fallen out of focus, but there is also validity in the second group wanting the show to evolve beyond its initial premise.

But for this show to thrive, it needs both the character drama and the relevancy of IMP as a business in the story.

And when I say relevancy of IMP as a business, I am not suggesting we go back to strictly the “murder of the week” format because the show has evolved beyond just the assassinations, but keep IMP as a plot device, let it be the reason the episodes’ plot happens more often than not or at least let it be used as the vehicle for character exploration.

IMP, and by association, Blitz, is the reason characters like Millie, Moxxie, Loona, and Stolas were able to find the strength to leave behind the lives they felt trapped in and why they began their journey to living life the way they want to. Their lives are the way they are because of this business, and that’s why keeping it as a relevant part of the show, even if the missions themselves aren’t the point, is crucial to the story’s narrative.

IMP is what sets them apart, sets Blitz apart, showcasing that imps are more than capable of standing on their own two feet. It is also the reason all the character are here in the story. Let it be relevant to what’s happening in the story. You don’t need an episodic “murder of the week” format to do it.

And speaking of which, on the other side of the spectrum, as much as I love S1, if the show never evolved beyond the “murder of the week” formula, it would have gotten boring and it could have risked turning into a Miraculous Ladybug situation, a show that spent four out of its six seasons going nowhere, and once it realized it had to go somewhere it fumbled the bag super hard.

The show needs both the murder business and the character drama to thrive. It needs the murder business as a plot device to keep the show focused, and it needs the complex character drama to give the show any substance.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, second half of S2 has a much better grasp on balancing both, and episode over episode structure in the second half has a much more logical and focused progression:

“Full Moon” has Stolas give Blitz the means to run his business independent of the grimoire while confessing his feelings to Blitz, something that goes poorly for both of them.

“Apology Tour” is the aftermath of the confession, I’m gonna assume it’s been a month in between considering the calendar in the previous episode and it being Halloween in this one, and Blitz trying to understand what went wrong and make things right, only to make things worse.

“Ghostfuckers” deals with the aftermath of “Apology Tour” in which Blitz completely falls apart, self-destructs, and almost tanks the one thing he is most proud of: his business. But this episode serves to remind him that the business he created allowed people like Millie to thrive and that he needs to cherish it and his friends more.

“Mastermind” is the consequences of all their fuckery, and how dangerously close they come to losing everything. In fact Stolas does end up losing everything because of it, and it all happened because of the deal he and Blitz struck to keep IMP afloat.

And finally “Sinsmas” is the direct aftermath of “Mastermind”, in which Blitz finally gets to bring Stolas into his world and gets to show him the business he created, for better or worse.

While S2B still has flaws in its pacing and tonal inconsistencies, it feels more focused and balances elements of the initial premise with the character drama that kept people intrigued. And I really really hope the writers took what made S2B work and kept that going for S3.

I’m open to discussion if anyone has to to add about this post!

[chaifootsteps]

Hear me out. Pansexual/demiromantic Blitz left Verosika bc it was the first time he had romantic feelings and he had no idea he could have those, but after growing and understanding aromatic is a spectrum, they get back together. But first, they kill Stolas.

Nothing heals a relationship like dumping the body of a rich sexual abuser on a golf course.