#Waaagh! Stolitz

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Theory addendum: why Stolitz will not in fact be Stockholm syndrome.

Hi, guys, So I made a theory response yesterday (you can check it out here: https://www.tumblr.com/thenotificationmachine/708793464871092225/theory-response-why-stolitz-might-actually-be?source=share) to @stolitzy's defence of Stolitz not being Stockholm syndrome and... I think my response was TOO effective. Not only did I defend my view, I also shattered her faith in Stolitz to the point that she had a personal crisis. So yeah, NOT a good move in hindsight. After some reflection and a talk with her, I've decided to amend my theory and say that Stolitz won't be Stockholm syndrome. "But how?" I hear you ask, " as you pointed out, all the signs are there! And stolitzy had no defence for that!" You (and my theory) are right about Stolitz having all (or at least most of) the hallmarks of Stockholm syndrome, but as stolitzy pointed out in her initial post, there actually is a good argument for why it isn't Stockholm syndrome. Don't misunderstand me, all the signs are there and if normal logic was applied it probably WOULD develop into that, but it isn't that because Viv, the Spindlehorse team and the vast majority of Helluva's fanbase will NEVER ALLOW IT to be that. They all want Stolitz to be this 100% perfect ship with no blemishes given time, and so the current miscommunication is likely the most trouble the ship will ever be in given how quickly the writers jumped from the emotional turmoil in "the Circus" to the overly saccharine stuff in "Seeing Stars".

Call it bad storywriting or an act of mercy for the ship depending on your preferences, but whatever the case may be, Stolitz might end up going down as the Stockholm syndrome ship that never was.

...Or not, since I have to confess that I've overanalysed the hallucination scene from "Truth Seekers" before, more specifically the appearances of the antagonists...

Take Mr. Shitty Clown over here, for example. Given how he's styled like an old rubber hose cartoon and Blitz's reactions to him and Robo-Mr. Shitty Clown, I theorised that he's like this because Blitz just sees him as a bouncy irritant/pest who lives to entertain others, when in fact he's seemingly like this just because Viv and co. liked the idea of that style. As such, my analysis of Striker's grainy/greyscaled appearance being due to Blitz's perception of him being darkened by his assassination attempt on Stolas was also wrong. But the BIGGEST (and most painful to admit) mistake was my analysis of Verosika's appearance in the scene.

You see, I looked at how she had the most "realistic" appearance (in terms of the show's usual animation style), visible tear streaks, the fact that she got the closest to Blitz out of all of them and the fact that Blitz's eyes are filled with a blue line that looks suspiciously like they're filling up with tears and came to the logical conclusion that Verosika was the closest to Blitz romantically and that in this moment he understood how much he hurt her and was genuinely remorseful. When all this analysis was added to hallucination Stolas holding him on a chain and him blushing on it and I immediately jumped to the Stockholm syndrome conclusion. This all seems like a perfectly logical conclusion, simply thwarted by the fact that Viv and co. hadn't looked at the scene as deeply as my theorising self, until you take one more very important factor into account; my MASSIVE bias towards Verosika. Yeeeaaahhh... So I have to admit that both this analysis and the entire "Stolitz is Stockholm syndrome" theory was likely unconsciously influenced by me being a Verosika stan and thus believing that her genuine loving relationship with Blitz (which the latter, not her, sabotaged) deserves a second shot once he goes through some character growth and that Stolitz is unfair robbery. As such I was always going to be biased against the ship and also missed the obvious sunlight behind hallucination Stolas, which stolitzy pointed out symbolises how Blitz views him as his hope. Then again, this could ALSO be proof of the Stockholm syndrome theory being correct regardless of my bias; guess it's up to you to decide. But regardless of whether my overanalysis, Verosika bias and preference for Blitzika over Stolitz disprove the Stockholm syndrome theory or not, the latter ship will still never be Stockholm syndrome since, like with the Orks in Warhammer 40k being able to breathe in space until they're told they need spacesuits to do so, the collective Stolitz fanbase (including the Spindlehorse team and Viv herself)'s collective power of belief will make sure it never turns into such a thing and instead miraculously develops into a stable, healthy relationship.