#i get that blitz does have some kind of feelings for stolas

[vagabond-pinky]

Its getting annoying the amount of people who are either mad at Stolas for sending blitz away or saying that they could have reconciled if they had just talked for longer.

Talking wasn't the point. The point was that they both showed their true colors.

Blitz didn't want to lose what he had with stolas, yes, but that doesnt mean blitz doesn't have genuine resentment toward stolas.

He was never going to be able to hear out or accept stolas' feelings because not once has he ever stopped thinking badly of him. Hes harbored these really negative feelings toward stolas from the very beginning of their relationship, so there is literally no reason why he'd suddenly want something real with him now that he knows about stolas' feelings. (and that's not even mentioning any of his other issues that prevent him from having a relationship)

So when this ⬆ happened, all those quotes above are what it's referring to.

Theres too much damage, too much mess. Blitz reacted the way he did because there is no other way he'd ever react.

Blitz didn't want things to change but Stolas did. The conversation was never going to end well no matter how long it went on for.

And quite honestly, Stolas didn't deserve to have blitz say those things to him. blitz was verbally abusive to stolas and no amount of "I'm sorry's" were going to make up for it, Especially not when stolas is literally still standing there sobbing his eyes out.

[tealvenetianmask]

I want to think a little about Blitz's self-perception with regard to his lack of education/sophistication. In my opinion, HB gives us a very accurate portrayal of what it feels like to navigate relationships when you're a person with a long history of feeling like you're never good enough ("I can always do better").

Let's start with his friendship with Moxxie, though like a lot of my posts, it will find its way back to stolitz.

Moxxie doesn't necessarily have more formal education than Blitz. I mean . . . he likely had the economic resources growing up, but I don't think Crimson seems like the kind of parent to prioritize education. Besides an education in violence. I assume that both Blitz and Moxxie had some basic education as kids, but the difference is that Moxxie likes "high culture(ish)" things like musicals and bow ties, enjoys knowing details about history, and probably reads for fun. He's also the kind of ". . . um actually . . ." friend who can make even a secure person feel a little stupid. Not that Blitz doesn't sometimes need to be called out, but Moxxie does seem to take some joy in correcting him.

And yes, Blitz bullies Moxx and calls his junk tiny and tells him to eat a salad, but like . . . it's pretty obvious that to some extent, Blitz is covering up for feeling inferior to Moxxie on some level.

We see how Blitz really feels about this in Truth Seekers.

Borrowed observation from excellent reaction youtuber Omn1media: When Blitz hallucinates Moxxie lecturing him, Moxxie goes really hard specifically on the insults to Blitz's intelligence. Moxxie's speech is also much more rambly/laced with figurative language than it is in their real (non-imagined) interactions.

We can see from Blitz's face in these scenes that these comments really get to him. Of course they do- he's making them up in his own nightmare.

"Foolish flights of fancy" is the rest of the caption there . . ."

He's very upset by the idea that he's really inferior to Moxxie- under all of the bravado, he's deeply insecure. It probably doesn't help that the truth gas made him admit that he didn't like the musical that Moxx recommended. Yes, I know that was a Cats joke, but also, Blitz bothered to lie, and he doesn't seem allergic to hurting Moxxie's feelings, so I think he wanted to pretend to "get" the "higher art" that Moxxie likes.

Okay so if Moxxie (with an essentially equivalent status and education) manages to unintentionally make Blitz feel stupid and uncultured, how does this translate when Blitz falls in love with Stolas, who IS objectively very high status and very well educated and DOES speak in "fancy rich people" language?

Oh. Right. The pedestal, the impossibility, and all of that.

I'm not saying that Hell's strict hierarchy doesn't have a lot to do with how Blitz perceives a real relationship between himself and Stolas as impossible- it absolutely does. And so does his history of failed relationships and heaping backpack of trauma. But also, the education/sophistication piece is there, and it's major.

I'm on the fence about whether Blitz actually sees himself as stupid or is just worried about being perceived that way by others. He obviously knows he's very good at the work he does, and that takes both a certain level of strategic thinking AND some very brilliant improvisation. I think he knows this. But he also knows he'll never . . . let's say, be the best read person in the room (if you want to know my thoughts on Blitz and literacy, click here- but short answer, I think he's quite literate but also dyslexic).

I think that like many real people who are kind of out of the box in this way (disrupted education and/or neurodivergence) he's simultaneously aware that he's very intelligent AND deeply insecure about being stupid or having others devalue his kind of intelligence.

[demon-country]

I'm kind of surprised that this isn't a more common opinion, but I really do think that Blitz started coming over way more often than just the full moon for sex and also that he started staying the whole night as time went on. Like, even if you want to claim that Stolas doesn't love Blitz, he only loves the idea of being loved - which I highly disagree with - Blitz ain't that kinda person. He doesn't catch feelings after only like, what, 12-ish days spent having marathon long sex, and a couple of times spent being vaguely together in public? Ain't no way, Blitz is too guarded for that, and even though BDSM breeds a lot of trust just by virtue of it being about trust more than it is about sex, there's no way those things alone would make Blitz start to fall in love enough that he lists Stolas among the people he doesn't want to live without and die alone, or enough to do literally all of The Full Moon and Apology Tour.

On Stolas' phone there is also a picture of a horse that Blitz drew, laid on Stolas' bed, showing that Blitz felt comfortable enough at Stolas' palace and in Stolas' company that he was willing to draw Stolas a horse. That speaks of intimacy, that speaks of familiarity, and that speaks of trust that Blitz would share something he loves doing with Stolas. It also speaks of them having the time to do things other than sex when he comes over.

Now, to be fair, Blitz himself says that Stolas liked to do things like call him a lot to ask about his day and whatnot, and liked his sinstagram posts all the time. And while their now-defunct official Instagram posts aren't strictly canon, Viv did say that the stuff there was true to what the characters might do. So if we take what Blitz said in Oops and applied it to something Blitz posted on his sinstagram account, then Blitz used to book out an entire hour on his daily schedule just to talk on the phone with Stolas. Spending an hour or even half an hour almost every single work day for around a year and regularly talking on sinstagram is definitely significant and would also foster familiarity and plant the seed that Stolas does care for him, even if Blitz's self-hatred and Stolas' more unfortunate comments prevented him from truly believing it.

But I don't think it'd stop with that. Sex is the only way Blitz feels he can really spend time together with Stolas, and it's the only thing he knows for certain that Stolas wants from him and is always down for. If he was catching feelings - and Ozzie's, The Full Moon, and Apology Tour all show that he most definitely was -, he'd start desiring to be around Stolas more often, which would almost definitely lead to him making excuses to come over and have sex.

Of course, he couldn't just admit that even to himself, so he probably would have excused it to himself as something like being too busy to find someone else to sleep with. Oh you know he's just so busy with work and taking care of Loona, and going out to find a fling when he has a perfectly willing booty call he can go see basically whenever he wants is just way less convenient. Why put in the extra work finding someone he's interested in when Stolas is a smoking hot great lay who's down to do pretty much anything and everything? Not that it means anything though! He could totally go get someone else if he wanted to, he just... doesn't. Because he's too busy for that, of course.

And why go to some rando's place if he's just gonna have to get up and leave right after? With Stolas he can stay the night in a giant ass, comfy as fuck bed (with a super soft, super snuggly bird. Uh, not that he cares about that though! It's certainly not like he's touch starved or anything, haha no of course not that'd be crazy! >_>), and in the morning if he sticks around long enough he can either get another round in or some fancy brand coffee.

Like, that's all just an example of how he might explain it to himself, but however he actually did, I'm of the opinion that he used to not stay the night, but most of the time by the end of it he did. Blitz doesn't fall quickly, but once he does he falls hard, and given how desperately he clings to Stolas in The Full Moon and Apology Tour, I'm not sure if he'd be able to stop himself from spending whatever time he could make excuses for with Stolas. The only reason he doesn't post-Ozzie's is because of Stolas' supposed rejection and, after Western Energy, because he feels unworthy of it and is scared of what his perceived failure to protect Stolas might have changed.

That's how I see it, anyway. But I guess it's a pretty unpopular opinion? This got way longer than I thought it would...

[dyssonant-skyline]

Full Moon Spoilers: The Final Scene

I have some thoughts.

Okay let me start with saying, the Stolas & Blitzo conversation should not have been relegated to the last 5 minutes of the episode. I think the rushed nature of the conversation doomed any chance of it being a satisfying exchange between these two characters that covers the full reality of their situation. I’m listing this up front because a lot of my grievances could have been resolved with more time, which the team spent on 15 minutes of lead up that I believe were ultimately unnecessary to the show's central plot and actively hinder the direction the showrunners want the story to go in.

During the episode he acknowledges that Blitzo is in a horrible situation. He states that the deal was wrong, implicitly acknowledging guilt for thrusting it unto Blitz and trying to resolve that by giving him the Azmodean crystal. He has decided to end things, and goes through with it even though he displays clear interest in Blitzo’s advances.

Then what does he do when Blitzo assumes that Stolas hasn’t changed? When Blitzo believes that Stolas, the person who he has only had transactional relations with, is setting up a new kind of transaction? 

Instead of further ensuring Blitzo and trying to clear the air. He throws a tantrum. When things didn’t immediately resolve in his favor. Then he immediately goes into blaming Blitzo for only thinking about sex in their, again, transactional relationship. This gets worse because Stolas doesn’t wait to establish a healthy non romantic/sexual relationship before insinuating that he is still interested in Blitzo sexually, opening Blitzo up to misunderstanding his intent… then not being willing to clarify his intent.

“I have 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.”

My brother in christ, you confront him about this during the sex deal night and don’t expect him to expect sex? You give him ~10 seconds to react to this information before deciding you don’t want to deal with his emotions anymore because they aren’t what you wanted?

The monologue that Blitzo had after that was completely justified and extremely gratifying to hear.

“Fuck you Stolas! You spring this feelings bullshit on me, are you fucking kidding?” - “Can I get a fucking minute to think after everything you put me through?” - “You can’t just dismiss me like that.”

After that sincere outburst, instead of Stolas recognizing what Blitzo is saying and taking some accountability or apologizing… he reacts with

“I didn’t realize you think so low of me.”

HUH? What happened to the transactional deal not being right? Surely if he knows he isn’t right, he knows that Blitzo would probably have a pretty low opinion of him? Breaking the deal doesn’t make his victim required to forgive him, especially not within 5 minutes.

Sidenote but: Stolas’s desire for immediate reconciliation is compounded by the fact that Stolas buries the lead at the beginning of their conversation. He keeps things vague with statements like “I need [the grimoire] back permanently” and “I’ve made up my mind” that lead Blitzo to believe he is being fired. I don’t really believe that the way that Stolas talks here speaks to his character, it reads more like bad writing in favor of a misunderstanding to get Blitzo worked up. It doesn’t seem in character to dwell like this, you could argue it is nerves but I’d argue there is no positive reaction to those first few sentences and Stolas isn’t socially inept enough to fail to realize that.

Honestly, if they were gearing up to have Stolas as a villain still and if Blitzo hadn’t had an apology cut off, I would have loved this exchange as it characterizes Stolas as a villain very well. It shows that Stolas still doesn’t care about Blitzo, just the version of Blitzo he has built in his head in excruciating detail. It shows that despite Stolas trying to make amends through words and actions, he still can not face the hurt that he has caused his victim and will run away when confronted with them. Unfortunately I’m pretty sure the writers are just going to make Blitzo into the one that Stolas hoped would fall into his arms immediately. So whatever.

[justanotherhh]

some trailer things:

big fight around lust/ozzie's place that involves m&m and loona + we know fizzarolli is going to make another appearance, so i wonder how that'll connect potentially. also, new villain?

obvs the whole section of CHERUB working with DHORKS and this massive thing/portal:

john waters big villain episode???? (ghostfuckers from the looks of things)

also more crossdressing in that same episode + millie vs possessed blitz? both millie and blitz giving some evil dead type vibes?

more on stolas' whole social sphere and potential judgement and hell's class politics related to his dating blitz + p much confirmed that blitz will not take stolas' gift in the spirit it was intended

also, "you fucks think you can do this every time-" feels not just like it's about the wider class issues in hell, but maybe like it's personal (potentially with verosika? although it does seem like it's canon that he had more than a little bit of a hand in ending that relationship, so could just be him echoing everything he's been seeing in the treatment of imps and putting that onto stolas in this moment)

and then "thank you blitz, for making me so happy, even for a little while" is during this moment too. lot of teasers for how this is gonna go down (badly, upsettingly, emotionally)

the whole "do you feel any remorse for what you do" feels like a misdirect -- that is, it's edited to look like it's about blitz, but i feel like it's directed at stella or her brother

generally a lot of fun stolas visuals that i won't get into here, but am excited to see more contexts for

also this isn't new, but im always interested in blitz's heart/broken-heart forehead marking

blitz and tilla moment! generally more flashbacks (in the shape of blitz seeming to be almost at the movies, watching his own "failures") around the time of the fire! i didn't see any barbie stuff, alas, but the rest of it looks !!! also lowkey confirmed it was cash who stopped blitz from seeing fizz in hospital

who's this?

another sin? maybe related to ozzie and/or stolas and that judgement of the kinds of people they love?

blitz protecting stolas - maybe from the above, considering the hand motif of it all... stolas really living the life of blitz as a romantic hero, while blitz is barely holding it together as a person the whole time. different genres, my guys. different genres (that's their real communication issue)

this fuck-you-blitz cake looks like a verosika thing to do, esp considering it's her calling him shitty in the VO -- but yay, maybe giving that verosika catharsis, but also generally just verosika!

also the VO part where he says he doesn't want to be this way, he's wearing the same shroud as during his confrontation with verosika. idk, im just. contexts for things. i am curious

is the below also the same episode? I'd think so. it's set during halloween (?) and blitz is then maybe in the blood-covered shroud (costume? undercover? going undercover as a ghost? post-breakup stalking undercover ghost costume?)

MAMMON! and he looks pleased. oh dear.

this blitz + fizz moment

it kinda looks like blitz is wearing the same tee as when he and stolas have their moment + a horse bag + fizz casual wear. fizz generally in this trailer seems to be having the best time (outside the flashbacks). everything makes me suspicious all the time

(also generally hello all the different outfits coming up!!)

fascinated by this:

is that millie?

things we didn't see:

no barbie, no striker, no crimson, no asmodeus (directly, although his imagery is everywhere + fizz and mammon appear), no paimon -- this not to say none of them will show up, but am enjoying that a lot of this is clearly pulling from s1, with the focus on verosika, DHORKS, and CHERUB -- potentially a lot of the s2 villains need some time to lick their wounds a bit (and paimon was never a Villain, just a terrible parent... if he ever returns though...)

and barbie... i do want to see barbie again soonish ngl, she needs some proper introducing, but this is already giving so much callback and continuation of immediate plot-threads, very excited

[stolitzsings]

This is a sort of response to a post I've seen floating around, drawing parallels between the chains in Blitz’s trip that bind him to Stolas and the chains that bind Husk, Angel, and Fizz to Alastor, Valentino, and Mammon respectively. I'm not commenting on that post directly bc I avoid Discourse (tm) at all costs for the sake of my health, and I don’t want to get drawn into an unproductive argument that will mess with my anxiety for a week. I'm not trying to start a fight, just get my thoughts out on why I feel that comparison is inaccurate, and hopefully provide some helpful context and nuance.

So! Let's start with a few disclaimers! First of all, I'm not going to debate the moral purity of any of these characters. I just don't think it's an interesting or valuable critique. On a related note, I am not trying to excuse any of their behavior. I'm happy to admit that my favorite characters in this show have hurt people and are sometimes total assholes. Stolas treated Blitz very poorly at the beginning of their relationship, frequently pushed or even ignored boundaries, and was just kind of a dick about things. My objection to a direct comparison between Stolas and the other characters mentioned above isn't because I think Stolas hasn't done anything wrong; I just think that saying they're similar without further clarification or commentary ignores the nuance of the situation.

Read on below the cut, it's gonna be another long one folks!

Let's start by examining the "agreements" forged by Val, Mammon, and Alastor. I think it's important to note that, in their cases, the person they got to sign their contract could have been anyone. Husk and Angel could have been any sinners, Fizz could have been any imp. They aren't interested in them as people; they were only using them to gain more power for themselves. The only thing that matters to them is, "What can you do for me?" Angel and Fizz quite clearly become cogs in the machine of Val and Mammon's businesses, and Alastor only thinks of Husk as a tool to be leveraged in specific situations to further his own mysterious goals. Each of them has demonstrated to their subjugates that they own them, body and soul. They have signed legally and spiritually binding contracts that essentially surrender their autonomy to a more powerful demon.

Stolas and Blitz’s agreement is... not that. In the most literal sense, they don’t appear to have made any sort of binding deal. They just made a verbal agreement, which I sincerely doubt has anywhere near the force of a signed soul contract. Additionally, Stolas did not ask for and does not seem to want that sort of total control over Blitz. He very clearly does not view this as any sort of power exchange (which may actually be part of the issue, since it leaves him blind to Blitz’s discomfort with their class difference), he sees it as "favors for favors." While this agreement is inherently unbalanced due to Stolas's status, it's worth noting that they’re both putting something on the line here. The other three risk practically nothing (if the person bound to them fails they can always get a new one), but Stolas IS taking on a real risk by letting Blitz access the living world illegally using his book. Again, that doesn't make his actions right, and probably helped him to justify them, but it does set their relationship apart from the others.

In my opinion, some of Stolas's greatest flaws are his thoughtlessness and his ability to justify his own actions to himself. This manifests in the fact that he clearly doesn't see the ways in which their relationship is hurting Blitz. He convinced himself that this was just an equal exchange, and a continuation of the dynamic Blitz established in their first encounter as adults: "I fuck you, and you give me the book". As he becomes more aware of his feelings for Blitz, though (stay tuned for a deeper analysis of this progression later), he also begins to realize that Blitz isn't happy with this relationship. And this, as @masonshmason pointed out, is the central fact that separates Stolas and Blitz from the other relationships. Stolas did not realize- or chose to ignore- how he was hurting Blitz. Once he came to terms with it, though, he understood that he had to make things right. He specifically says this in "Just Look My Way"; "I will try to make amends/ For making you means to an end". None of the others could say this, because in their case, that was the POINT. Angel, Fizz, and Husk were ALWAYS a means to an end, intentionally trapped for that purpose.

We also need to talk about the CONTEXT of the scenes in which the chain imagery appears. For both Angel and Husk, the chain is at least semi-literal, a physical (and perhaps supernatural) manifestation of the way their souls are bound to an overlord. In "Two Minutes Notice," Fizz purposely CHOOSES to represent his relationship to Mammon as chains around his wrists. However, Blitz's scene is part of a drug trip after being forcibly dosed with hallucinogens. It does not exist in any literal sense, nor is it a representation of Blitz’s conscious, literal thoughts. What it DOES do is showcase Blitz’s deepest fears and his greatest flaws through symbolism and metaphor. Blitz is not literally afraid of being forced to wear a clown costume; he is afraid he'll never escape his past traumas or Fizz's shadow. THIS is the context in which Blitz sees himself being chained by Stolas: a bad trip all about his fear of intimacy and vulnerability.

Stolas appears in this trip as someone elevated high above him, something he's climbing towards, reaching for, even though it means being chained to him. It's directly preceded by his ex girlfriend and his former best friend berating him for how he pushes people away even though he hates being alone. Then Stolas directly asks him, "Are you afraid to love people, Blitzy?" Furthermore, the WAY in which he is framed is alluring, slightly hazy, golden and tempting. It couldn’t be further from the ugly, slime-covered past he's fleeing. It's a new start, a chance for something better that seems too good to be true. This trip is all about Blitz’s inability to be vulnerable with another person. The chain around his neck is a representation of the fact that, by getting closer to Stolas, he's giving Stolas the power to hurt him emotionally.

And man, there's a part of him that wants to give Stolas that power. At this critical moment, he's not baring his teeth in defiance or anger. He's blushing, just slightly, and he looks... nervous. Blitz's instinct, when things get too real, is to cut and run. Hurt them before they can hurt you. Abandon them before they have the chance to leave you. It’s how he tanked his relationship with Verosika. This is a manifestation of what might happen if he stays. This is the sort of trouble he can't fight his way out of.

This is the emotional climax of the scene. There are so many ways they could have gone with this if they wanted to represent Blitz being chained and trapped by his agreement with Stolas. If that was the fear--if that was the POINT--they could have had the chains wrap around him until he couldn't move, or glow white hot and burn into his skin, or a million other more direct metaphors. But the chains aren't the thing that hurts him. It's the feathers: the thing that's left behind after Stolas abandons him, sing-songing "you're going to die alone" right alongside two other people who he loved and who now want nothing to do with him.

Finally, let's look at Blitz’s reaction to this scene. It's a moment of revelation for him, in which he realizes he's pushing everyone away and starts to make an effort to change. It's why he's a bit more open with Moxxie in the next scene. The trip sequence ALSO inspires him to get closer to Stolas, indicating that the trip didn’t make him realize "I'm trapped and I need to get out of this" in the same way Fizz did. Rather, he realizes that he doesn't want Stolas to leave him like everyone else, and he wants to start feeling out what it would be like to deepen the connection between them. As I've mentioned in other posts, their kiss at the end of "truth seekers" represents a level of intimacy that we haven't seen before; it's teasing, affectionate, shows Blitz’s interest in making Stolas happy, and takes place in front of M&M, who have repeatedly teased him about their relationship before.

In summary, while the image of chains may have been invoked in all four of these relationships, they don’t necessarily mean the same thing across the board. Blitz and Stolas's relationship differs substantially from the others in its dynamic, and the context of their scene also sets it apart. It's important to look into the details and the nuance of their relationship to interpret what's going on under layers of trauma and unreliable narration.

[hazbinshusk]

Sexting and sounds for Husk

sexting — do they like sexting their partner(s)? do they ever send nudes? do they like receiving nudes? do they find sexting more or less difficult/fun than curating sexual experiences in real life? are they any different while sexting than they are during real life sexual experiences?

I honestly think sexting isn't for husk, and honestly a big part of that is just that he hates texting. his claws make it cumbersome and annoying, and texting wasn't even invented until after he'd been dead for at least a decade.

it takes him so long to tap out a message (and he gets so irritated with his claws) that it kills the mood for him pretty quick.

he'd much rather call you if you're doing any kind of phone sex. getting to hear your reactions to his words is way more addictive than words on a screen. he'll tell you exactly what he wants to do with you, or relive a previous experience with you, or just tell you what he wants you to do to yourself... and that velvety voice? oh, it's almost as good as having him there with you.

he's probably not going to send you any nudes - partly because of the same issues as texting, and partly because he's not a fan of his body as it is. you send him nudes though? especially while he's stuck behind the bar? oh, you're gonna get it later...

sounds — what sounds do they make during sex? do they laugh a lot during sex? are they chatty during sex?

ohhhh, the sounds this man makes... seriously, I would pay real money for them to include some keith david horny noises in canon.

he'll start off real low and smooth and whisper so much praise to you about how you feel wrapped around him.

he'll purr during too, and if he does that while he's going down on you... holy shit, it'll feel amazing.

husk will get more gruff and rough-voiced as he gets closer, louder in his need as he approaches orgasm.

he's going to talk you through anything new or different, and make sure you're enthusiastic about everything you do together.

send me a headcanon prompt and a character (blitz, stolas, husk, angel)

[chaifootsteps]

saw someone point out something I should have realized before

stans keep excusing Stolas ignoring Blitzo's boundaries/protests as him having 'poor social skills'

but why does he have poor social skills? how is it even possible? he's a royal demon with legions at his disposal and a palace full of guards & servants

he doesn't like parties but he still goes to them and presumably his royal duties (what little there are of them) consist mostly of going places and talking to people

how is it possible he has bad social skills when a key tenant of being royal usually involves training specifically around interacting with other people??

this is probably, like most things, the result of Viv's lousy worldbuilding. we're two seasons deep and it's impossible to tell what being a Goetia actually means on the day to day.

the impression the show gives is that Stolas grew up alone (for no reason, how does this benefit the Goetia family to isolate one of their princes this much?) and would spend most days alone were it not for his daughter still living with him. what his routine even is day to day is unclear, he doesn't seem to have any consistent duties that take up his time so he just lounges around reading or doing basically what he feels like

the most we ever get to see of his duties is the harvest moon festival (which is only once a year) and him doing some kind of paperwork in the Look my way MV.

Viv probably wanted to make him look lonely and friendless but she's just made him look like a lazy layabout who's bad with people for no real reason and doesn't bother using his power or opportunities to improve himself even though there's nothing stopping him (seriously, he whines about being alone but can't bring himself to leave the house and meet people? even when the show is totally inconsistent about whether his being royalty even matters for interacting with others from episode to episode? and if it's as a result of his depression which he's medicating for, how did he keep finding the energy and motivation to harass Blitz into sleeping with him?)

I know I bring him up more than I should, but this is yet another point in Instagram Stolas's corner. The guy communicated like you'd expect a royal to have been meticulously trained to communicate, always polite and very precise. Series Stolas's day job, from what we've seen, has consisted of paperwork, attending the Harvest Moon Festival, and insulting his subjects.

A better writer would explore the fact that Stolas, despite thinking of himself as kind and lonely and tragically friendless, drives away potential friends with his callousness and insensitivity towards their feelings...and Stella, despite being an deeply embittered person, attends parties and tea parties, and is always shown to be surrounded by friends.

[crooked-wasteland]

Stolen from @pinkandpurple360 anonymous ask.

"Blitz still has a long way to go with character development”

That's great. I can't wait to never see it.

This was an issue I tried working into my Fizzarolli Dissection but it kept feeling less about the character and more an overarching writing issue, so let's just take it here.

Every bit of character development in the series is inconsistent or entirely spontaneous. Stolas being in love with Blitz seemed like a slow burn until out of nowhere in Ozzie's he is so head over heels for Blitz in specific. Asking why Blitz only now is asking him out "after all this time", like he has been waiting on and expecting it despite that never being a thought towards their dynamic before. Going from being entirely obsessed with their sexual contract and seeing Blitz as a sex object to suddenly wanting cuddles on the couch with no strings attached?

That change was never shown in the series. It was never developed. There is no character growth, they merely are different to suit the new direction to the plot.

So again, I'm so glad Blitz has more character development to go through, can't wait for it all to be implied off screen like every other ounce of character we've been gaslight into believing has "grown".

If you never show it on screen, the dynamic, the relationship, the change, it never happened. Loona at the end of Queen Bee seems to get closer to Blitz but the next time we see her she's trying to assault him. We never saw any moment of change following the end of Queen Bee where we felt her character actually develop. Even after calling Blitz dad in the episode, she ignores him in favor of strangers at the party. She expressed clear disgust with Blitz before leaving with him, and her mild softening towards him at the end could just as easily be seen as nothing at all as it could be a character growth.

However growth requires reinforcement. If you never reinforce that moment meant something, it isn't growth, it's a cheap emotional scene to get a reaction from an audience. A short scene of Loona simply telling Blitz good morning to show some kind of change was all that was needed, but it was not as important to establish change in the characters as it was to have the most cringe scene in existence. Priorities.

One of the biggest issues with the series is how blatant the meta agenda of the writing is. They never allow the space to establish characters or change, instead citing these one off moments as “proof” of story when they do not amount to anything at all. There is unfortunately a distinct difference between a story and a scene, and it is painfully obvious by how Medrano and Nylan utilize these scenes that it is entirely for a superficial effect.

The relationship between Fizzarolli and Blitz similarly is extremely vapid and has no foundation to establish what their dynamic actually was growing up. Additionally, the two scenes of them being younger are fundamentally contradictory. Younger Fizz from The Circus is assertive and confrontational. He threatens to punch Blitz for being annoying and not playing the way he wants to play. He's bossy without necessarily being mean and not only knows he's popular, but also how to utilize it as manipulation, seen in how he draws attention to himself to spare Blitz the embarrassment of his failed joke. This Fizzarolli actually lines up also with the Fizz from Ozzie's. It's hard to claim that Ozzie's Fizz was "just an act" when as a literal child he has all the same traits

Then in the Special he is insecure, timid, has very little self esteem and is an anxious people pleaser with a mousy voice. There is nothing to establish this as the same person at all, and all the narrative context clues around his popularity does not support the direction of change this character has experienced. Fizzarolli has only gotten bigger between being what appears to be six years old and what I can only assume to be thirteen based on his cracking pubescent voice and gangly limbs. All we can go on is context clues and extrapolation, but arguing of a non-existent event that humbled Fizzarolli to this extent, while maintaining his stardom prior to ever meeting Mammon, is founded on nothing, when there is a much simpler answer.

His whole personality has taken a 180 turn for the sole purpose of the episode’s narrative. Fizzarolli being the pathetic whump he is in the episode is not founded anywhere else in the show, but we need that so people feel bad for him. There is no confidence in this writing. It shows that instead of believing the character is likeable as a whole for a complex personality, the only way anyone will like him is if he is just the softest jellybean in the bunch.

It is only this way because it suits the episode right here and now. And when his character changes, it isn't founded on any concrete narrative of growth and actions having consequences, but on what the writers need to get the audience to feel a certain way. So I say it again:

That's nice, I can't wait to never see it.

[aspoonofsugar]

What do you think of Stolitz as a ship? What do they offer each other in the story in terms of growth, and what does their relationship contribute to Helluva's themes?

Hi,

I love Stolitz as a ship! I think their dynamic is very well written and original. Here come my thoughts on it.

THE CIRCUS

The episode The Circus clarifies what Stolas and Blitz's dynamic is and how it came to be.

Stolitz is a relationship where mutual attraction and care is poisoned by self-hate and classism. This is shown in Blitz and Stolas's first meeting, where:

Paimon buys Blitz as a playmate to Stolas, so that he does not have to deal with his child's emotional turmoil. He also tells Stolas not to bow to Blitz because his social standing is higher.

Cash sells Blitz out and guilt-trips him by using Blitz's mother as leverage. He also forces Blitz to steal from Stolas by insisting it is alright to do so because all Goetias are bad.

So, both Paimon and Cash enforce on their children two ideas:

Stolas and Blitz are worth something only if the family benefits from them. Stolas has value if he marries Stella and gives a heir. Blitz is good if he puts himself in danger and steals from the nobles.

Goetias and Imps should not mix and should not treat each other as equals. Goetias are rich fuckers and Imps are inferior masses.

In general, Stolas and Blitz internalize that relationships, especially inter-class ones are transactional. Stolas can't just go and befriend Blitz, but his father needs to buy him. Blitz can't just go and have fun with Stolas. He needs to steal from him.

Fast forward to when Stolas and Blitz meet again as grown-ups. They immediately rekindle their relationship, but they do so by imitating their respective parents:

Stolas buys Blitz's affection by using his status as a Goetia (his grimoire)

Blitz takes advantage of Stolas's attraction to him, so that he can manipulate Stolas and steal the book

In short, nothing has changed since they were kids. They are now free from their fathers, but they approach relationships the way they were taught. Deep down neither believes they have any value unless they make the relationship transactional. Hence the grimoire/book deal seems as the perfect solution for both. At the same time, both Stolas and Blitz have inter-class prejudices. These biases are challenged by a character that is a dark foil to both. Who is that?

He's galloping over the dusty planes Even the cacti know his name If you don't want to die don't cross his path The best assassin in the ring of Wrath He's Striker! He's Striker! Sure shootin', darn tootin', his name is Striker

STRIKER

Striker calls out both Blitz and Stolas on their inner classist biases, but he does so in different ways.

In the Harvest Moon Festival, he tempts Blitz to give in to his darkest side:

Striker: Blitzo, come on. You know, the two of us are superior than most of our kind. And you were so above suckin' on a disgusting, rich, pompous Goetia, only to sneak topside for scraps and work for bitter sinners, who could care less who you are, when you could be slaying Overlords.

In Western Energy he tells Stolas point blank how Goetias are hated because they steal from others:

Striker: Look. Not every ring is some fancy-ass city, with some fancy-ass mansion, that only fancy-ass royals get to live in. Some of us have hard lives to live. And some of us have everything we care about taken away by fuckers like you.

Blitz and Stolas have opposite reactions to Striker's challenge.

On the one hand Blitz is disturbed by Striker because he deep down sees how similar they are. After all, both are Imps who refuse to accept their place in the hierarchy. Blitz opens his own business, whereas Striker targets higher demons. Moreover, both are hitmen. It is just that Blitz operates on Earth, while Striker operates in Hell. So, Striker's anger towards Royals and society is something Blitz feels too. It is something that could get the best of him:

Stolas: You speak just like that vile Striker friend of yours.

On the other hand Stolas is disgusted by Striker because he forces him to face something Stolas himself does not aknowledge. Striker strips him of his powers and shows him how much the lower classes resent him and the other Royals. Striker tells Stolas directly that Goetias hurt him and stole everything he had. Despite this, Stolas fails not only to show any sympathy, but also to aknowledge his own biases:

Stolas: I don't look down on you! How many times do I ha- When have I ever?!

In other words, Blitz openly embraces classist ideologies and consciously projects them on Stolas. He uses them as an excuse to backpedal on their relationship:

Blitzo: Point is, royal demons don't give a shit about guys like us. They're all the fuckin' same.

Stolas instead does not realize his own classist bias and thinks that just because he cares for Blitz and admires him, his classism has no impact on their bond. Except it clearly has:

Stolas: As shocking as it may seem, Blitzy, my grimoiiiiiire is actually incredibly important. And it isn't supposed to be lent out to itty-bitty Imps like yourself.

This difference ties with Blitz and Stolas's ideas of each other and of relationships in general.

Blitz sees Stolas's flaws clearly and knows how complicated a relationship between a royal and an imp could be. However, he ignores Stolas's qualities and is overly cynical:

Blitzo: If by "crushes other's feelings" you mean- end shit before it gets serious, then bingo. I'm doing everyone a favor because relationships are boring.

Stolas sees Blitz's qualities and looks up to him. Still, he ignores Blitz's flaws and runs after an idealistic and irrealistic love. He is so romantic that he becomes delusional:

Stolas: You wanna know what I want? I want to know what it's like, to not be alone. I want to be someone's someone. I want to feel wanted. But like, in a romantic way, like I'm standing out in the rain at a train station and someone is shouting: “Harriet! Don’t get on that train, it’s going to London and I cannot be without you!”

So, Blitz only sees the worst in Stolas and forces negative classist stereotypes on him. Stolas instead only sees the best in Blitz and refuses to aknowledge his unconscious classism as an important factor on their bond. They need to grow in opposite ways, which is why they go through complementary arcs.

COMPLEMENTARY ARCS

Blitz and Stolas are respectively the protagonist and the deuteragonist of the series, as the first two episodes show:

Episode 1 showcases HB's dark comedy side and focuses on Blitz's family. As a matter of fact the whole episode comically juxtaposes the Demon Murder Family with the Human Murder Family. It also illustrates how Blitz's business works.

Episode 2 showcases HB's strong character and psychological focus and it explores Stolas's family. As a matter of fact the episode is dedicated to Stolas and Via's relationship, while introducing also Stella and the Goetia in general.

Blitz and Stolas are two sides of the same coin, both when it comes to their personal arcs and to their social roles.

Personal arcs

Blitz is full of relationships and of people who love him and that he pushes away. Stolas has instead very few relationships, that are mostly bad. However, he is scared to cut them because he fears loneliness more than anything. As a result:

Blitz's arc is about reconciling with all the people he hurt or lost (Fizzarolli, Verosika, probably Barbie Wire). All while trying to be a better friend and family member for those bonds he still has (Moxxie, Loona). He must build his own family (by repairing his broken one)

Stolas's arc is about claiming his freedom back, even if it means to go against social expectations, to lose his privilege or even to unwillingly hurt Via, his most precious bond. He must escape his own family (to build a new one)

Social roles

Blitz is an Imp, while Stolas is a Goetia. However, neither fits with what society expects from them. Blitz runs his own business and shows no respect for higher demons. Stolas is in love with an imp and asks for a divorce. Both are oddballs, who are disliked by their peers, but find company in each other. This is why throughout season 1, they end up saving each other:

Blitz saves Stolas from Striker in the Harvest Moon Festival

Stolas saves Blitz from the Dhorks in Truth Seekers

They do so cause deep down they care for each other. However, they still hide their feelings behind utilitarianism and classism:

Blitz insists he is only saving Stolas because he needs his book:

Blitzo: Yeaaaaah. Well, I'm not a fan of someone I offered a job to about to off my easiest lengthy ticket to Earth behind my back.

Moreover, he deep down sees Stolas as unkillable, so he does not warn him that a killer is after him.

Stolas starts a rant on how Blitz should be more careful with the book as to not cause problems for Stolas:

Stolas: How the FUCK... did you get caught by humans?! Are you little creatures not being careful up here?! You know, if you get in trouble, I get in trouble! WE... don't want that!

Moreover, his display of power impresses Blitz and strengthens his inferiority complex.

So, both Blitz and Stolas have the potential to care for each other and to help each ohter find the family they long for. However, they are still slaves to their flaws in season 1. That is why they receive two important call-outs.

OZZIE'S AND THE FULL MOON

Ozzie's and The Full Moon are where Blitz and Stolas are called out on their flaws. These episodes highlight both demons still have work to do on themselves and the way they approach relationships. However, the first episode's call out is mostly about Stolas. The second episode's call out is instead mostly about Blitz.

Ozzie's

Ozzie's highlights Stolitz's problems:

[Fizzarolli] Is that Blitzø? So you're showing your face? Hey everybody, this guy's a total disgrace! Some nerve you got to comment on a relationship Last I checked, your love life is a pile of shit! [Verosika & Crowd] Oh, Blitzø? I used to date him (date him, date him) [Blitzø] Oh Verosika, you are here [Verosika & Crowd] I'd stroke and I'd fellate him (fellate him, fellate him) Yeah, but when it was my turn (my turn, my turn) He did no reciprocatin' (what a dick-bag) A selfish imp in the sheets And just as bad in the streets A reckless, heartbreaking freak! [Asmodeus] Who's that at your table? Is your date a demon prince? Stolas, is that you? [Wally Wackford] Are you sleeping with an imp?! [Asmodeus] Wooo! My dark lord, how the mighty do fall You used to have a smoking wife, a kid, you had it all! I hope you didn't give it up so you and him could get it up You sold your life for a thrust Now, that's the spirit of lust

And makes clear what they want:

[Millie] I think you were trying to sing something for me, Mox [Moxxie] Yeah, I was I love us I love us just the way we are Don't have to pretend to like to do things we don't I've always got you around to laugh at my stupid jokes I'll never take you for granted I'll always give you my best And if you can offer the same thing Fate will handle the rest 'Cause I love you 'Cause I love you

They want a relationship like the one Millie and Moxxie have, but they can't because differently from the two Imps they aren't honest with themselves.

On the one hand Blitz keeps self-sabotaging his relationships. The moment they become serious he ghosts the other or hurts them, so that they fall out. His inability to honestly express his feelings is literally at the root of the most tragic event of his past:

Blitz's self-hate makes it impossible for him to confess to Fizz, which in turns causes the fire.

On the other hand Stolas is indecisive on what he wants. He wants to belong with someone and has feelings for Blitz. However, he does not act on them and uses the deal they stroke to save appearences with the Goetias. In fact, he is still very clearly concerned of what other people think. He is especially worried of destroying his family and hurting Octavia:

Both characters are flawed, but Stolas is the one who receives the biggest call out:

Blitzo: Stolas, don't act like what we have is anything but you wanting me to fuck you, okay? You make that really clear all the time. But, I just, I-I can't do it tonight, okay?

Blitz's speech opens Stolas's eyes to the point he starts to change. He finally asks Stella for a divorce, he gives Blitz more space and eventually decides to cancel their deal. All so that Blitz can choose freely if to stay with Stolas or not.

Blitz too grows, but his development is slower and more reactive. He mends things with Fizz, but he succeeds because the two find themselves in a dangerous situation outside of their control. Blitz still fails to connect with Barbie. Finally, he keeps being dismissive of Stolas, despite having clear feelings for him:

Blitzo: Stolas got what? How?... He can get hurt?

The Full Moon/Apology Tour

The Full Moon has the characters being on completely different pages:

Stolas: When I see him Blitzo: When I see him, I'm gonna do that thing he likes Stolas: I will change things Blitzo: No need to change things I'll just bring the rope and spikes Stolas: Oh God! Blitzo: We've got a nice arrangement and it's working out just fine We'll keep it light Stolas: I'll fucking die alone if this goes bad! Both: When I see him tonight

Stolas has developed to the point, where he wants the relationship with Blitz to either become a real one or to end. Blitz instead is fine to keep things as they are. In this way he gets to have a relationship, but doesn't really have to put in any effort.

This incompatibility explodes in their discussion, where:

Stolas conveys his feelings clearly enough, but is too self-focused on his own hurt to give Blitz any time to properly express his. Blitz's first and bad reaction is all Stolas decides to listen to. The moment Blitz confusely tries to reach to him, he dismisses him and only pays attention to Blitz's angry rant. If he were not too focused on imagining Blitz as this perfect knight in shining armor, he could have noticed the imp's confusion, vulnerability and desperation to keep the relationship going.

Blitz fails to understand both Stolas's genuine emotions and his own. That is why he is unable to give Stolas a proper answer. He himself is not sure, but instead of admitting it he makes sex jokes and tries to make their bond all about physical intercourse. He can neither understand feelings, nor communicate them. Moreover, the moment he is misunderstood he lashes out instead of trying to explain himself better.

As Blitz is the one who grew up the least, he is given the biggest call-out between the two. He is invited to a very special Anti-Blitzo Party, where he is forced to see first-hand how many people he hurt. There he is forced to face not only Stolas, but all his exes, Verosika and most importantly himself:

Blitzo: No. You're right. I actually am, ya' know... sorry. I-I don't want to be this way. Not forever.

Blitz reconciles with Verosika and will probably start to fix his flaws in the upcoming episodes. Like Stolas did after Ozzie's.

There is another interesting difference between Ozzie's and The Full Moon, though. Ozzie's outcome is explored in two different episodes, one dedicated to Blitz (Queen Bee) and the other to Stolas (The Circus). The two characters are both messed up after their first real date, but they go through their pain alone. The Full Moon's outcome is instead explored in Apology Tour, where the two characters face the pain of their break-up together. In a sense, it is only after their first fight they can really look at each other as two real people, instead than ideals.

BREAK UP THE (I)DEAL

Blitz sees Stolas as a powerful, cold and selfish Goetian Prince. Stolas instead sees Blitz as a wonderful Knight in Shining Armor. Both see the other as some kind of idealistic version of themselves. Either 100% negative or 100% positive. They ignore each other's feelings and struggles. That is why their first honest confrontation degenerates into a fight. If they knew each other better, they could have understood each other.

That is why it is only after they break up, that ironically they can treat each other as real people, as it happens in Apology Tour.

Both are able to properly express themselves freely. Stolas breaks his thirsy bird mask and shows how lonely and sad he is. Blitz breaks his self-assured asshole persona and says how vulnerable a real relationship with another makes him feel. Both are finally able to be themselves and to show themselves to the other.

However, they still have a long way to go before they can rekindle their relationship:

-Blitz is imo the one bound to grow the most from this altercation. He was called out directly on the things he did wrong and has finally to try and fix his attitude towards others. Something the narrative has made very clear he must do, not only when it comes to his romantic bonds, but to his platonic ones, as well.

-Stolas knows he messed up, but he is probably still struggling to see what exactly he did wrong:

Stolas: But maybe it's all on me For missing every sign and every glance and every turn Maybe there's something here for us to glean For you to teach and me to try and learn

Still, he is bound to soon receive some consequences. After all, he risked it all on his relationship with Blitz, only to find himself as lonely as ever. He is in the middle of a divorce, which will probably end badly for him. His relationship with his daughter is in danger and I would not be surprised if he were to lose his status as a Goetia soon.

In general, I am expecting the climax of the season being Blitz and Stolas risking to lose everything (their businesses, their families), but finding an ally in each other. Once again.

[flower-boi16]

I find Blitz unbearable sometimes. I know it's only two seasons but throughtout the series he learned so many things yet everything still sets back to zero and he never changed from day one. This miserable man drowned in his past for so long that he can never grow. His trauma is his character. It's so boring man the same shit happened over and over with him crying about his exes, friends and family. I know about his current relasionship with Fizz now but I want this dude to change too not just Fizz.

Personally I dont really hate Blitz as a character. Of all the characters in HB he’s the one that season 2 hasn’t completely ruined. He is actually fairly interesting as a character, but some other people have already talked about the depths of his character so I won’t go into it here.

That being said, I really think the issue with Blitz is less about the character himself and more how the show seems to treat him, mainly in regards to Stolitz. Season 1 directly paints Stolas as the one abusing Blitz in the relationship (as it should), making it seem like the show is taking Blitz’s side here, that he has a right to be mad at Stolas and cut him out.

But then season 2 comes along and suddenly the victim and abuser roles are SWAPPED. Now the show is painting Blitz as the one in the wrong for “not loving Stolas” even though he has every reason to hate him, while Stolas is portrayed as nothing but an UwU soft boy. I’ve talked about this before but the show demonizes all the people that Stolas has hurt in some way, and it does this as an artificial way to make him look more sympathetic but painting the characters calling him out on his shit as in the wrong.

Blitz next to Octavia gets the worst of this, both in the show and the fandom. The Circus directly tries to frame Blitz as in the wrong because he apparently was the one who gave Stolas the wrong idea of the relationship, but that fails because that doesn’t somehow change the fact that Stolas is coercing Blitz into sleeping with him, and Stolas should be the one to accept that his delusions of Blitz loving him aren’t gonna be true.

Plus the line with Stolas saying that Blitz was his “first ever friend” feels like a major case of the writing guilt tripping Blitz into having sex with him for Stolas’s pleasure. Oops then tries further to paint Blitz as in the wrong by gaslighting him by having Fizz say “oh, you just hate him for being a prince”, and by then trying to make Blitz look like an asshole for not loving Stolas because Stolas did “so many nice things for him”…of screen, and “he cares for him!!”

This ALSO fails because just because Stolas did some nice things for Blitz OFF-SCREEN and cares about him doesn't somehow mean that Blitz has no reason to get mad at Stolas for once again, sexually abusing him. And yes, that is what Stolas is doing. Plus, none of these "nice things" lined up with any of their interactions in season 1 COMBINED with them happening off-screen, and it makes it feel like a retcon. They can victimize and UwUify Stolas all they want and portay Blitz as a big meanie UwU but it won't change anything.

Nothing will ever change the fact that Stolas is sexually abusing Blitzo, and Blitz has EVERY REASON to dislike him for doing that, NOT TO MENTION him BELLITTLING Blitz in season 1 constantly. YET the show demonizes him. And guess what? The demonization is only gonna get WORSE based on the trailer, where we litteraly have Stolas singing in front of a sign that says "Blitzo sucks", and the line "do ever feel any kind of remorse for what you do" which is said by Stolas.

It's so funny to me how fans will call US media illiterate for not understanding the "nuances" and "complexities" of this reletionship, yet they demonize Blitz and coddle Stolas, ignoring the things Stolas actually did to Blitz like the fact that he....ya know...constantly bellittles and is sexually abusing him, and getting mad at Blitz for "hurting Stolas' feelings". Meanwhile, we're actually the ones taking note of these things and rightfully pointing out that OBJECTIVELY, Stolas is the abuser here, nothing the show can do can change that and I am SICK of the fandom having this braindead idea that Blitz is somehow in the wrong for not loving Stolas. Because he's not. He's REALLY not. No amount of mental gymnastics can somehow change that.

[aarafox]

I've been playing the last 5 min of the ep on loop for more than an hour and holy shit. I have so much to talk about.

At first Blitz’s attitude towards Stolas reclaiming the book is understandable, from a business POV: he needs the book to perform his job! It makes sense he gets a little desperate, tries to keep up the bargain, begs for Stolas to rethink.

But then. Then Stolas gives him the crystal, in one of the sweetest ways possible.

Like a marriage proposal.

The crystal is supposed to be everything Blitz wants, because, supposedly, fucking Stolas is just part of the deal… in any other situation, with any other person, he would’ve been like sure! Cool, thanks :)

But not for a single second he looks happy with this. We all know it’s because deep down he feels the same way… But he gets upset, worried, afraid. From the get-go.

And Stolas is telling him the loveliest things. He’s pouring his absolute heart out. I don’t think I expected him to tell Blitz exactly how he feels but he does. Just like in his texts, he’s completely honest with him:

“Blitz, I’m giving you this because… I care... VERY deeply for you. And I have for some time.”

How he places the crystal on his wrist like a ring on a fiancée’s finger. This is Stolas’ absolute biggest gesture of love. He’s setting Blitz free! From this transactional thing… That’s what Blitz wants… right?

“I want you to continue to… be who you are. Your business!” This was such a kind thing to say. In his eyes, Blitz is perfect as he is and I wonder how often - perhaps if ever - Blitz has heard something like this. The music reflects Stolas’ honesty and affection, the soft and beautiful melody that we know so well… This is Stolas’ big moment, his declaration of love.

“You don’t have to stay here with me... But... I want you to. I want you to stay here with me. Because you want to. Only if you want to.”

And honestly… the shock on Blitz’ face when Stolas says that first line (the "you don't have to stay" one):

Like seriously?? Biggest shock so far? Blitz doesn’t want to separate from Stolas! He wants to stay with him! But when Stolas reveals his truth… that he wants Blitz to stay because Blitz himself wants to and not for any deal or arrangement…

And Blitz, who still can’t believe someone could genuinely love him, responds in the only way he thinks he should: in their “business language”, the language of sex. Because he cannot let the truth sink into his heart.

Of course this hurts Stolas, for whom this reaction is only proof that his feelings are unrequited. If Blitz can’t respond to him in any other way than this, there’s little chance he feels the same…

And still, he is so so kind:

“Thank you Blitz. For… awakening me. For making me… so happy… if only for a little while.”

He was trapped in an unhappy, abusive marriage for so long and Blitz saved him from that. Thanks to Blitz, Stolas had a chance to find out who he was, change his life for the better, and experience true happiness. But if Blitz can’t give Stolas what he needs emotionally, then this is where it has to end.

And Blitz retaliates in the only way he knows how: self-protection. He doesn’t want this to end, but he also never expected Stolas to feel genuine love for him. He HAS no time to think about this, in his eyes Stolas is ending this on his own terms. But he doesn’t have the full words; he hasn’t faced his own feelings and, if he can’t even be genuine with himself, how can he be genuine with Stolas?

But his words, that he’s saying partly because he truly believes them but likely also because he wants to protect himself from the pain, cut Stolas like knives. Stolas flinches when Blitz calls him "asshole" and "bitch":

Blitz's words... shatter his heart.

Stolas has been on the receiving end of hate for a long time. But to hear this from the one he loves so much... It's simply too much to handle. So he sends Blitz away.

As Blitz’s apology still echoes through the air.

[iris-draws]

Verosika in her apology tour fit🔥🔥

Okay WOW that episode was amazing and also a lot so I'm gonna ramble for a bit.

Verosika absolutely slayed and ate (surprising nobody) and I love how sweet she was with everyone and especially stolas. Her talk with blitz was great and I'm glad she got the closure she needed. She truly is a kind soul for throwing a party for all the people who have been hurt by this horrible guy, and everyone there is understanding and comforting, it was so cute to see. Also the fact she was able to forgive blitz was incredible in itself. If I saw how many people he had hurt this badly and also been hurt and embarassed by this guy, I don't think I'd ever be able to forgive him with just him feeling sorry for himself and a half-baked apology.

This episode really showed us what a terrible person blitz really is. And honestly? I don't really sympathize with him anymore. Yes, he has trauma. But he refuses to work or just get better and can't even apologize. Getting a bit personal here but I had a toxic ex who was very similar to blitz, so maybe I'm biased and that makes me hate the character more. Nevertheless, blitz was absolutely terrible this episode and yes you can feel bad for him but I better not see anyone condoning his actions.

There is a party EVERY YEAR specifically for this guy and everyone he's hurt. There were SO MANY PEOPLE there?? He's screwed over and fucked a lot of those people, and he can't even bother to remember them or apologize?? His excuse is "Well it's hell so everyone is shitty" which is a terrible excuse. Just because it's hell doesn't mean you have to be a shitty person. Bro really needs to go to the hazbin hotel and take Charlie's lessons cause he needs to learn "it starts with sorry."

Now for stolas. Omg my baby ATE this episode. I loved seeing him be passive aggressive and sing his heart out (btw, that song is one of the best in the series, MY GOD. it doesn't even sound like stolas it's so different from the rest of the songs but it's SO GOOD. THE VISUALS, THE VOCALS, THE LYRICS AHDJDANKQ SO GOOD OMG) I do think stolas has some issues as well. He needs to understand he DID look down at blitz. He doesn't really understand that he truly is privileged. He treats blitz and his butler imps completely differently. If they're going to be in a relationship they both need to change. Stolas needs to learn his worth (which i think he will start to realize he's better than blitz deserves until he changes with that succubus dude) and blitz needs to get his shit together. But stolas does need to look back on his actions and the things he's said to blitz to give him the impression that he was nothing more than an "impish little plaything" to stolas.

I could ramble for hours about this episode but I'll stop for now lol if you made it this far you get a cookie🍪

[spiralling-thoughts]

Loona would make an awful and abusive friend for Octavia

(Sorry if I might be rude and pity in this post , but this have been bothering me for so long and I feel like I should voice my opinion on the matter now disclaimer I mean no ill will towards anyone and I don't harass people who write about this idea neither should you this is just me voicing MY PERSONAL OPINION so are we cool here?)

So I have seen many and I mean MANY fanfics ,fanart,ect of the idea that loona would make an awesome older sister to Octavia and be her "first real friend who understands her " and some take it as far as shipping (sorry but the shipping aspect of this is really gross loona is 22 while Octavia is 17 this is pedophilia) now I will be honest I personally think this is sugar quoting and people giving loona to much credit, this woman is ABUSIVE (yes I said it she's a more accurate representation of abuse than stella and yes abusers could be traumatized victims) this woman beats and attacks her adoptive father who always shower showed her with affection and she knows hed get over it this is an extremely toxic trait, she kept insulting moxxie about being fat (even though he's a stick figure) until she gave him body image issues and she starts pity fights like how she did in queen bee now in what world would someone like this be a good older sister towards anyone?like imagine if Octavia asked loona to dial down her attitude a bit what would loona do? Would she listen to her NAH if she'd beat up her own father for that whose to say she wouldn't do the same for Octavia?, and their conversation in seeing stars....oh boy I was holding back trying not to throw my phone when this part came there are a bunch of posts about how nonsensical this part was but the long and short of it is that loona doesn't have any right to tell Octavia to put up with stolas when she herself treats her father poorly and she straight up lied to Octavia, stolas wasn't looking for her he was pathetically sitting around in the theatre getting thirsty over blitz and he wasn't all that freaked out that he's daughter ran away because of him, so loona literally gaslighted Octavia to apologise and come back to her neglectful father (yes for the millionths time stolas is neglectful) , this just makes their "friendship" all the more jarring and toxic, just because both are goth girls with daddy issues doesn't mean they will be instantly healthy friends their issues, upbringing, situations are completely different, Octavia is getting neglected by her father who constantly puts hes own desires before her will being and constantly makes her uncomfortable and constantly let her down and break his promises and from her perspective he ruined her home life, loona on the other hand is being rude and abusive towards her father who so far gave her affection, protection and while yes he was once over protective of her it's understandable considering where he got adopted her from yet even after all of that and after 5 years of being with him she still treats him poorly with only a few moments where she was nice to him and even then she resorts back to not caring about him and being rude and violent and she knows he'll get over it and come back to spoiling her, Octavia is getting emotionally abused by her father while loona is abusing her father THERE SITUATIONS ARE NOT THE SAME and now loona will basically glue Octavia onto her abuser while also probably abusing Octavia either emotionally, mentally, physically I don't see her at all as a kind or understanding or caring person she only act like that when it's convenient to the plot or as a moment to gaslight people into ignoring her awful actions , so yeah I don't think loona would at all be a good person for Octavia to hang out with under any circumstances she'd probably badly influence her and make her mental health worse than it already is , people go out of their way to make her act completely different from what she does in the show to make this s*** idea possible and that's another problem loona like stolas is coddled by the fandom and they always ignore how much of an awful person she actually is instead come up with excuses for her and try to make her look better than she actually is , I get the appeal people might get from this idea but I really don't like it or see it I feel like people are glossing over alot of issues with this whole situation

Thank you for coming to my rant

[fizziepopangel]

A Fizziepop Take: Let's talk about Blitz's new look at Stolas

Ok, so in the past, I’ve talked about how the incident at Ozzie’s put more strain on an already fragile relationship, thus solidifying the idea a certain imp had in his mind that he was essentially beneath Stolas in every way he possibly could be and therefore unworthy of love. This ideology made the relationship between the pair appear strictly transactional since Blitz wouldn’t let it be anything else because he himself feels that that’s how it should be; that it’s all it could be. Now don’t get me wrong, Stolas isn’t completely innocent in making the whole relationship feel more like a transaction than a relationship, but in this instance, we’re gonna focus on Blitz and what I believe his turn around will be based off this newest episode because I believe that it could be a game-changer for their relationship and Blitz’s own character development. So let’s get into it!

As I’ve pointed out previously, Blitz has felt like he’s been used as a glorified sex toy since the beginning of their relationship. And given the hierarchy of the demons, Blitz is already pretty low on the totem being an imp while Stolas sits somewhere on top…. We can see that Blitz understands that when he’s tripping balls in “Truth Seekers”, but because of this, it seems that Blitz got it in his mind that Stolas was less than ‘human’ (for lack of a better term). Because of the status difference, Blitz always just assumed the other demon was unfeeling, uncaring, and essentially indestructible; building this image of the demon prince in his head that is a romanticized version of him that truly was worlds above where Blitz sees himself. And until “Western Energy” came out today, this is really the only version we’re shown of Stolas because we seem to be seeing the man the way Blitz does. Is he whiny? Sometimes. But do things hurt him? From Blitz’s point of view, no. 

We as the audience see maybe two or three times where Stolas is truly vulnerable but it seems to end just as quickly as it starts. Blitz doesn’t see that side of him. Granted, I believe Stolas does want a relationship with Blitz where he can be vulnerable in ways he never was able to before and because he has a preconceived notion of what their relationship is, Blitz shuts down any attempt Stolas tries to initiate intimacy… But I think in the imp doing this and Stolas just blindly going with it to try to appease Blitz has given the image of someone made of stone… And being so used to the abuse from Stella, Stolas doesn’t see that he’s almost restarting the cycle with Blitz by allowing the imp to be as mean as he is to him; even going as far as to tell Blitz through text that he can be mean to him if it’s what he wants. I think this genuinely leads Blitz to believe that Stolas can't be hurt in any way, emotionally to physically.

In all honesty, it’s interesting to look at Blitz in this light where he seems to unintentionally be another abusive relationship that Stolas is trapping himself in because you can see that the imp does genuinely care for the owl, even if he thinks he shouldn’t. That is why the incident at Ozzie’s was such a big deal to him, because after some time, I think Blitz was slowly trying to open himself up to Stolas and whatever little progress he made was pretty much crushed when Stolas basically refused to acknowledge the fact that he’s out with him in public when confronted. For someone like Blitz who struggles with communication and bases their self worth on how others view him, Stolas not wanting to be seen with him in public but being kind to him when no one else is around would have destroyed every sense of security he may have been starting to feel with the other man. Like just shredded it. Which in turn, is going to cause a rift that Blitz will rationalize as just him not being worth anything more even though he is actively contributing to the rift by refusing to communicate.

Now, the interesting part: in the newest episode of Helluva Boss, Blitz actually has a chance to view a more humanized idea of Stolas. It sucks that it took Stolas being damn near murdered and hospitalized for Blitz to see him on a different level, but it does happen. I think this in turn may give us a more freely feeling version of Blitz down the line. We can already see small fragmented moments when Blitz is genuinely worried about Stolas, genuinely cares about him, but he still keeps himself distant…. Seeing something bad happen to Stolas does open the man up a little, prompting him to text the man while he’s in the hospital to let him know that he hopes he feels better. Despite how minor that may seem, I think it is a step in the right direction, and I do think he’ll see a more personified version of Stolas which could prompt him to want to be closer to him, meaning he would have to stop pushing his feelings down to allow himself to wander into this territory of emotional vulnerability he may have seen but never experienced.

While I trust Vivzie completely in this journey she’s taking us on, this is definitely a route I really hope she takes because I truly do want to see the two men get a happy ending of some sort whether that’s at the end of the series or it advances their storyline together through the rest of the series.  But this is just a Fizzie take on things so far. I would love to hear what your thoughts are on how Blitz and Stolas’ relationship seems to be going.

[ripplestitchskein]

It might just be where my head is at today, it’s been a rough few weeks, and I might be forgetting other examples, but I do feel a little saddened or like disappointed I guess (?) that yet again we have Blitz reacting more strongly visibly or dialogue wise to a character other than Stolas when it comes to like pure physical attraction. We have Seeing Stars but I struggle to remember any other moment where Blitz blushed or indicated in anyway he found Stolas attractive. Even descriptionally “He’s tall as shit” or when he dresses up for the date and Blitz is like “You went kinda overboard” instead of showing any appreciation for Stolas’s physical appearance. Apology Tour is full of looks but more of a reverence and feelings realization sort, which don’t get me wrong is very much greater than a physical attraction, but I still want like some indicator from Blitz that he does in fact find Stolas physically attractive? Blitz obviously enjoys having sex with him, and he is jealous of Better Than Blitz guy and like Apology Tour as a whole is a lot on the looks front, so we have a lot of narrative evidence and inferred details but actual explicit attraction cues are just lacking for me personally and I was hit with like a weird jealousy about it immediately watching the short.

I think practically it comes down to the character hiding his feelings, from himself and others, like how he took the picture of them cuddling in contrast to all the ones Stolas has of him looking away, so having the character visibly react in a noticeable way might be harder to sell that aspect of their miscommunication conflict.

Doesn’t mean I don’t want it though and it just kind of made me a lil sad thinking about it today.