#hb critique

[funhouse-mirror-barbie]

Having the only named fat character in your show eat a ton of food face first while other skinny characters nearby all watch on in disgust is certainly. It’s certainly a choice.

A very weird, very fatphobic choice.

[song-of-baldy-ron]

"wish Helluva Boss was still just about killing humans in the living world" BORINGGGGG

I would not have watched The Office if it was just about how they were gonna manage to sell some paper almost every episode

[dwewi66]

That's a little dramatic but i like it Besides, these problems are serious, such as reproductive violence (force to give birth if you don't want to), loneliness, and high expectations And your husband is also a disgrace to you

[darwuzhere]

*posts my Octavia redesign that I'm going to reclaim as my oc and rename her Olivia*

A few things about her

13-14 y/o

She/Her (is also cool with They/Them)

Is questioning if she's gnc or non-binary

REALLY likes capri-suns (they're very much her comfort drink)

Wants to dress more gothic but can't due to their parents being very strict, so for the moment they just wear whatever makes them comfortable or looks good on them.

Makes the badges herself!

Aaaand that's very much it for now folks

[ms-cartoon]

I like Verosika, but one thing I didn't like is how her entire character revolves around hating Blitzo. Every time she's shown on screen, it's her ridiculing Blitzo and expressing how much she hates him. Viv made her out to be the majority of these female characters whose main reason for existing is for us to sympathize with the male characters or in Millie's case, only existing to support the male characters.

I mean-- This girl threw a whole effing party dedicated to hating her ex!! Does that not sound like she's obsessed?? I'm not saying she has no right to hate him, and I am in no way trying to defend Blitzo, but she really needs to get over it. All I'm saying is I want her to have some character outside of Blitzo or what she had going on with him in the past.

Speaking of said party; There was a concerning amount of people that were there, all of whom are explicitly invited as people who Blitzo screwed over at one point in time (unless I'm wrong, please correct me if I am) How was Blitzo associated with all of these people!!! They're not really ALL his exes right???

And how did Verosika even know Blitzo had a certain relationship with those demons? And how does she know that Stolas wasn't on good terms with Blitzo at the moment so she gave him an invitation? Stolas and Blitzo were never even boyfriends; their relationship was solely based on exchange.

[toytle]

the most important thing abt being an artist is being an Enjoyer of art bc every few days i get the urge to delete my posts, but then i remember how much i hate when editors private their edits or when writers delete fics instead of orphaning them, and i come back to my senses. tortured artistry be damned, i can’t do that to my fellow art enjoyers

[luneemeritus]

It's tragically fascinating that antis are obssessed over the abuse and rape that Stolas never did but excuse the abuse and rape that was done to him by that nightmare of a wife

[aspartameabuser69]

Helluva Boss can totally function as a psychological horror about the mistreatment and exploitation of poor and oppressed people by people of a higher station to them. It’s supposed to be a show about imps in Hell killing people in the human world for hire.

[funhouse-mirror-barbie]

I’m relieved that they went with the original storyboard, but it’s a shame that the emotional impact is significantly lessened by the repeated depictions of Stella as being a completely evil individual and the not-so-subtle implication that she’s been “manipulating” Octavia from this and the last episode.

I would have felt a lot more had we got to actually see them being a happy family in any way, or even just see Stella actually feeling hurt like Octavia prior to this. That would have made the impact of this scene much stronger b/c it would be Octavia truly mourning not just her dad, but her previous life, when her family felt whole and when her home actually felt like home.

[66kenobi66]

Here's a low-quality Stella redesign for you guys :]

Ignore my shitty art

She's so "Live Through This" coded <3 (btw would you guys like a Stella playlist of songs that I think represent her?)

They could never make me hate you Stella

[miyuskye]

vivziepop immediately after posting Ghostfuckers as she finally gets the chance to be petty against a random fan who just made a meme post

(yes I am talking about this post and no I do not endorse the consumption of leaked material, especially from independent artists, if she can even be regarded as such. I also have no idea if the op of the post Vivzie retweeted actually watched the leaks, because in their post they say "people who saw the leaks", instead of "us" or similar phrasing. Really, was vivzie's reply necessary?)

[dwewi66]

I searched the entire Internet for ideas of Stella's demonic form... I only like the naked skull of a bird, I didn't want to draw lots and lots of eyes like vivzipop, because I was already tired of seeing it in every character.

[verboselocket38]

Before any Stolas/itz stans come to me saying I am a Blitzø stan, I'm not. I dont like Blitzø but this thought has been in my head for awhile and I gotta bring it out here.

Imagine this...

A society where Imps are seen as the second lowest class next to hell hounds where not many are able to start their own buisness.

Now Blitzø wanted to start his own killing buisness where he needs to get to the human realm. Currently its successful, but its only sucessful when he sleeps with Stolas every month for his grimore which access people in hell to the human realm.

A lot of people have already talked about the power dynamics and coercive relationship the two have so this post is mainly me talking about how Stolas was the one to force Blitzø into the relationship, whether he knew or not.

1. The reason for Blitzø to live

Lets just get this out of the way, the Grimore is the reason why Blitzø needs to run his buisness. The buisness that helps pay for his daughter and him to have a roof over their head, and their employees. Money that helps them pay for food, bills, other necessities for them to LIVE. Imps are one of the lowest classes in society, we see in previous episodes they may work as butlers for the Goetia and a not treated well.

In Full Moon Blitzø was begging for Stolas for him to do better all because he missed a bit for their arrangment. Alot of people think hes pleading because he "actually loves Stolas and wants to do better" when.... No it was more of Blitzø begging to keep the one thing that kept his buissness that he worked so hard to maintain afloat - and this was before Stolas showed him the crystal. Even if thats not what the writers intended thats not how it comes off in the show.

2. "But Blitzø started the arrangement!"

No he didnt. When Stolas took Blitzø to the bedroom when he was caught trying to steal the grimore, he thought Blitzø was going to "ravish him." HE made it sexual in the first place.

Now its been 25 years since these two last saw eachother. In that time things change and these two only interacted once as KIDS. When you are a child your personality and perspective usually changes as you grow older. What I mean by this is that Stolas being a royal, in Blitzø's mind he believes that if Stolas figured out WHY he was here sneaking around his house, there is a good chance Stolas could just kill him.

And before any of you say "But Stolas would NEVER do that 🥺"

How exactly is Blitzø suppose to know???

It's been 25 years since they lady saw each other. Stuff changes. If Blitzø thought Stolas wouldn't kill him if caught, then why didn't he just ask Stolas for the book? I mean if he knew that Stolas would willingly give him the book for the business, then wouldn't this whole arrangement like- never happen in the first place???

In his mind in this situation, Blitzø was panicking. In this situation him being sexual with Stolas was his only priority in his mind to keep himself alive.... And then later he gave Stolas pity sex.

(Which let me just say since this part is what I believe defiently what wasnt going through Blitzø's mind... But if he left with the book not giving Stolas sex, I wouldn't be suprised that Stolas would feel betrayed and then track Blitzø down to take the book back. We know he can track him down in Murder Family and Truth Seekers, so I wouldn't be suprised but yeah I just wanted to point this out.)

3. "But What about Blitzø's Exes?"

People like to bring Up Blitzø's exes to point out how he somehow screwed up in his relationship with Stolas even though it is a separate issue. And something to point out is that Dennis, a character from the Queen Bee episode, was there. He wasn't an ex, he was a fling. I wouldnt be suprised that the amount of people there are just flings. As for Verosika she has every right to hate him after he maxed her credit card, but like.... girl making a party every year about hating Blitzø isnt going to let these people get over him.

In all honesty I think Blitzø having a lot of "Exes" was just meant to make Blitzø look worse than Stolas. This is just something I wanted to get out of the way.

4. If you still think that its Blitzø's fault cuz the relationship started, let me put it in perspective like this...

(This isnt suppose to be a 100% accurate comparison to Stolas and Blitzø but this is just to set an example)

There was this couple named John and Leslie. Now John has been intrested in Leslie in a romantic way and asks her to be in a relationship. She says yes and they date for awhile. Things may or may not start out ok but later down the line Leslie starts being not a good partner. By that I mean she might be emotionally manipulative towards him or making him think that anything Leslie herself doesn't like is immediately JOHN'S fault. Apparently if we go by the HH/HB fandom's logic, John would be at fault for being abused because HE was the one who started the relationship. The fact that he had feelings for her at one point automatically means that he has to be in the relationship forever now.

Now if we go to Blitzø and Stolas, Blitzø is at fault for being in sexual coercion because he tried to not get himself (In his mind) killed by Stolas when he tried taking his book. Its his fault for not loving him when what they had was a transactional agreement that was purely business. Its Blitzø's fault for not realizing Stolas was having a serious conversation with him in Full Moon, when Stolas has never treated Blitzø like an equal in the past.

Conclusion

When going through this whole rant I wanted to put this somewhere but didnt know where:

I don't condemn thievery... but I also dont condemn coercive rape.

Just because Stolas feels bad about it does not make anything any better. Even if he didn't mean to put Blitzø in this situation, whatever way you look at it, its unhealthy. Blitzø needed the book to run his buisness that he worked hard for to LIVE. Stolas was the one who decided this whole agreement. HE was the one who put these two in this predicament. And yet this show still decides to make Stolas look like a victim.

[ms-cartoon]

I. Am. So. Sick. Of. This. Fandom.

Seriously, how are these folks immediately gonna assume the op is homophobic because of this??? They already know Vaggie's a lesbian!! They know she's a girl. This is literally just an au fanart with FICTIONAL characters! Y'all act like it's the most abnormal thing for people to gender-bend characters.

[star-daughter]

if Garten of Banban has better queer rep than your story with openly queer characters I think you have a problem with your story

[briefobservationdreamer]

let's talk about stolas

While I don’t dislike Stolas in the same way I would a character like Valentino, for example, who is supposed to be hated for his actions, I don’t think the things Stolas did should be overlooked. Because these aren’t just small mistakes he’s made, and I think it's important to bring awareness to it.

Blitz:

Manipulated Blitz into having sex with him and initiated their “favours for favours” relationship. He made the proposition at a time when he knew Blitz was under duress and unable to give fully informed consent and explicitly made sex a condition for the grimoire during the conversation without leaving alternative options open. That wasn't just negotiating payment for sex work. That was using the grimoire as leverage to get the sexual favours he wants. To be clear, if Blitz refuses Stolas at any point, then Stolas could deny access to the grimoire and withdraw the desperately needed resource that I.M.P needs to keep their business running and get the income they rely on to get food on the table and a roof over their heads, along with other repercussions an imp could face for refusing a Goetian prince (one he is already in hot water with for attempted theft). Whether Stolas realised it or not, he took advantage of Blitz in a situation in which he had all of the power, physically, financially, socially and politically. This is sexual extortion, which - and I do not use this term lightly - is a form of rape. And this was a relationship that was ongoing and operating under these same exploitative conditional "I'll do this for you so that you do this for me" transactions for months.  

Persistently subjected Blitz and other imps multiple times to classist, racist behaviour despite Blitz’s clear discomfort with it. This includes extremely degrading and often sexual remarks throughout all of their interactions ("impish little plaything"), putting a cigar out on Blitz's horns, squeezing his butler imps like a stress ball, making messes for them to clean up and generally taking their service for granted (not directly related to Blitz but it's not an ideal way to treat the race of someone you claim to love). It is completely rational for Blitz to think Stolas looks down on imps and only wants him for sex. Stolas might have thought this was a form of flirting and made an inconsistent effort to undo this after Ozzy’s, but the damage is done, and it would have been impossible for Blitz to tell if Stolas was being honest or just proving a point to make him look better, at least without some big gestures and a lot of repaired trust.

Acts entitled and upset whenever Blitz didn’t personally come to save him, even when Blitz was preoccupied and still made sure Moxie and Millie would be there (and who never got any thanks for risking themselves to save his life).

Is clearly embarrassed when he was called out at Ozzy’s and does nothing to defend himself or Blitz.

He gave Blitz the Asmodean crystal to break their transactional relationship, but his lack of awareness still shows with how he handled it – opening with getting Blitz to put his entire livelihood in Stolas’ hands and making Blitz beg for it, then ending with casting Blitz out the moment his feelings were understandably not taken seriously and things didn’t go according to his script. I realise this was a difficult conversation that neither of them were really prepared for, but this was a situation entirely of Stolas’ making and within his power to prevent. For all his talk of setting Blitz free, he never really gave Blitz a chance to think for himself and actually make a choice.

Instead of listening to anything Blitz said about their relationship and addressing it, he blamed Blitz for the miscommunication and fallout without taking accountability himself and even attended a party dedicated to hating Blitz that was organised by someone Stolas knew was on bad personal terms with him (if he didn’t know before, he certainly did when Blitz reacted to the letter) out of petty spite.

This isn't a wrongdoing exactly, but other red flags I saw in their relationship are the fact that Stolas and Blitz don't actually seem to know each other all that well, as indicated by Blitz not knowing what Stolas likes to eat or Stolas not being aware of Blitz's well-known like of horses, along with other examples. Instead it is implied, and then made explicit in Apology Tour, that Stolas doesn't necessarily want Blitz, but rather wants his own romanticised idea of a relationship he picked up from watching rom coms and projected the image of his ideal partner onto Blitz. All in all, their relationship is extremely toxic and I think Stolas in particular has a lot of growth to do before he can be in a relationship.

Octavia:

Utterly obliterated any semblance of stable home life for his young daughter by having a very public and scandalous affair instead of talking honestly with Octavia about his relationship with Stella and getting a divorce, which we know was an option.

Instead of showing consideration for how the affair affected his daughter, feeling remorse for it and supporting her through the separation, he openly continues to have the affair even long after she made it clear to him how the situation was hurting her, makes very explicit sexual comments about his affair partner’s body in front of his underage daughter and ruins a father-daughter outing intended to cheer her up about their disastrous home life by inviting the affair partner along to fulfil a prince x bodyguard fantasy that neither Blitz nor Octavia wanted any part in.

Regularly argues with Stella about the affair and divorce in front of Octavia even after Octavia makes her discomfort clear, going as far as to call Stella a bitch in front of Octavia (which is in fact turning Octavia against Stella, contrary to Stolas' claims otherwise) and prioritising fighting with Stella over having another arranged outing with Octavia. When Octavia runs away alone and vulnerable to another world, Stolas blames Blitz when he should have been watching her and continues to waste time with Blitz when they go looking for her.

Used the grimoire in ways he knew to be illegal and could result in consequences that would harm Octavia and potentially prevent him from being present in her life if he and Blitz were caught. The whole trial was a mess of their own making. I understand Stolas wanted to save Blitz's life when Blitz didn't deserve to die for it, and Stolas didn’t have time to think about Octavia when he first showed up in the court room. However, he didn’t make any effort to get his affairs in order and make sure Octavia would be cared for when he thought he was going to be executed and put his head on the chopping block or while his punishment was still under discussion, despite knowing full well that Stella could take custody of her. He only thought about Octavia when Andrealphus brought up the legions he would be leaving behind, after Stolas had his powers stripped and it was already far too late to do anything about it. He did the one thing he promised her he wouldn’t do, and abandoned her for Blitz. Stella, Andrealphus, the system that arranged Stolas and Stella in the first place, and Octavia's awareness of those things are factors and separate points in the discussion, but none of those things mitigate the things Stolas himself has done to hurt her. She could let him explain, and probably should have, but really, what can he say at this point? That he had to sacrifice his life to protect his affair partner from the consequences of the illegal activity they were knowingly doing without saying a single word to her? All he can do to defend himself is give her the same excuses he's been giving her for months and tried to give her when she confronted him. Because there is no justification he can fall back on, no lie that Stella and Andrealphus need to tell her to make Stolas look bad, no misunderstanding that Octavia needs to "come around" to. Because she was right. He did abandon and betray her, and she has every right to harbour resentment towards him for it and take issue with his relationship with Blitz, and she shouldn't be expected to just deal with this and be satisfied with the bare minimum, be happy about stolitz's relationship or being part of a family with them and Loona.

Now, I’m not saying Stolas doesn’t deserve the chance to improve and do better. He cares about them, but he has a terrible habit of getting wrapped up in his own fantasies without seeing the reality of how his actions affect others, then trying to fix things with grandiose gestures that end up being hollow because they don't actually address the issue and aren't followed up with a correction of his toxic behaviour. Neglect, adultery, and sexual abuse are absolutely serious enough to end a relationship – as they should. Blitz and Octavia have all the reason they need to want nothing to do with him, and they’ve given him plenty of chances to change. The issues I've outlined here are the reasons why I just can't see Stolas' relationships with Blitz and Octavia as wholesome. Instead of being hated for lies to paint him as a misunderstood and tragic victim, Stolas needs to take the opportunity to reflect and change for the better. However, I can't blame anyone for being skeptical this will happen. The show yet has yet call Stolas out without putting the accusers in the wrong somehow to make Stolas look better. Blitz made the huge leap from "fuck you Stolas for using me and looking down on me, relationships are boring" to "you are my heart" in just three episodes and stops holding Stolas accountable without getting so much as an official apology from Stolas. I wouldn't be surprised if Octavia goes through a similar transformation at some point by the end.