#like i wish she was more like Verosika because then Stolas could learn something from his past relationship like Blitz did

[problemswithbooks]

On Stella (Helluva Boss)

The fandom fights a lot over Stella and how she's written. Fans who like the way she is presented say it's fine that she's a one-dimensional 'evil queen' trope. It's not bad writing that she's so shallow and one note--some villains are better that way.

That isn't an inherently wrong statement. Some of the most fun villains are shallow, evil, for evil's sake types. Unfortunately, I don't think Stella works as this type of villain for a multitude of reasons.

Reason 1: Stella's 'evil' trait is at odds with the themes of the show.

Stella's primary evil trait is that she's cruel to Stolas simply because she likes being cruel to him. She's abusive and hates him. That, by itself isn't the problem. The problem is that the story isn't about Stolas being in an abusive relationship--it's primarily about two people from two different classes, and how they have to become better people and change in order to have the loving relationship they both want.

Yes, Stolas being in a past abusive relationship could be a hurtle to his growth as a character and him being in a relationship with Blitz, but the show never goes there even when it could. Stolas is not shown as being triggered by Blitz's yelling at him. In Apology Tour he has no issues fighting back and telling Blitz off, ordering him to leave. Blitz's yelling and more aggressive attitude isn't what leads to their misunderstandings, where Blitz accidentally hurts Stolas by reminding him of Stella's abuse.

Instead, Stella's abuse isn't even touched on in any major way, and does nothing to move the plot forward or cause connected drama between the two leads. Yes, she hires Striker to kill Stolas and that does at times cause problems, but she didn't need to be abusive inorder to explain why she'd want Stolas dead. In a world where assassins and murder is around every corner, it'd make just as much sense for Stella to hire Striker because Stolas cheated, and it made her a laughingstock among her high class friends.

I'd even argue her abuse makes the story make less sense. We know, from Stolas's own admission, that once his daughter was born, their marriage wasn't necessary. He claims he stayed to give Octavia a normal life, but if Stella is as volatile as she's shown, why would he think Via being around her was a good idea? If Stella had been less outwardly antagonistic and instead more cold and standoffish, with the both of them having mostly separate lives, intersected by polite, if strained family interactions when around Via, then him staying would make sense.

One of the reasons I think more people wanted Stella to be a caring mother to Octavia was because it explains why her and Stolas were still married despite her constant abuse towards him. If Stella cared about Via, and they were close, Stolas would be not only reluctant to leave but to let their false pretense of 'happy couple' slip in front of Via, since both would hurt her. It also would make Octavia's choice to stay with Stella and her anger at Stolas hold more weight, and give Via more complicated emotions. She'd really love her mom, but be confronted with the fact she hurt her father, who she also loves. As it is, it's pretty clear to see that as soon as Octavia finds out Stella is pure evil, she'll easily go back to Stolas with very little if any internal conflict.

Reason 2: Vivziepop claims she's not a one-dimensional character.

A really huge issue with Stella being presented as a one note bitch, is because the creator herself claims she's not. In an interview, Vivzie says Stella is like Beatrice Horseman from BoJack Horseman, saying that at some point we will see things from her perspective.

The problem with this is that Stella has already been portrayed too negatively and flat for this to work. Beatrice worked because, while yes she was awful to Bojkack, she also had Alzheimer's which gained her some sympathy points, as did the way Hollyhock cared for her. She also wasn't always over the top horrible to Bojack, being more passive-aggressive and neglectful.

On top of that, despite her abuse toward BoJack, particularly when he was growing up, she wasn't framed as the reason for all of BoJack's issues. He was still responsible for his own shitty actions as an adult, and when he retaliated toward her, like tossing the baby doll off the balcony, it was framed as shitty behavior. More than anything, their interactions said more about BoJack than Beatrice. Him trying to hurt her, by throwing away her baby doll or putting her in the shittiest nursing home he could find was to show how BoJack wishes he could retaliate against his mother for all the things she did to him, but it leaves him feeling hollow because he knows that due to her disease she's not aware of who he is. It's meaningless, doesn't help him get any closure.

Stella is not presented as anything other than over the top abusive in every scene she's in. Nothing in the show suggests she's anything besides violent, even going so far as having her choking dogs in a childhood picture. Nor is Stolas's treatment of her supposed to reflect on him or characterize him. The only time it might is when he ignores Via because he's too caught up fighting with on the phone, but again, it's not given much focus and he doesn't reflect on it. The same goes for the cheating--yes, Stella was abusive and he doesn't necessarily owe her anything, but Stolas refuses to acknowledge that what he did clearly upset Stella, both times he talks about it asserting that he knows he didn't hurt her. No, they weren't in love, but cheating is still degrading, and Stella is obviously upset. Frankly, I think it would have made more sense for Stolas to rub that fact in her face--he has no issue insulting her, as we see later in that conversation. Instead, his continued assurance that he didn't hurt her or do anything wrong feels like the writers talking through the character, afraid watchers will judge Stolas to harshly otherwise.

Stella getting the Beatrice treatment will likely fail because there is nothing to soften the audience toward her even a little. She has been presented as Stolas's tormentor and nothing else. There are flashes of possible sympathy for her when she interacts with her brother, but for the most part they're framed as Andre being right and Stella being stupid, rather than Stella possibly being manipulated and used by her brother.

It also will fall flat because unless her background is another showcase of how even the upper class are hurt by the system, and this leads to something either story or character wise for the main cast, then there is no point to bring it up. The point of Beatrice's story was to show how generational trauma seeps down into the next generation. BoJack doesn't even have to know about it for it to reflect on his character and explain why he is the way he is. He and his mother parallel each other, where they start out as innocent children but through their parents mistakes, they grow up into cynical, bitter adults who both feel as if they've wasted their lives.

Reason 3: To many villains.

Stella has taken a backseat in her own villain story to her brother, who, just like Stella, is simply evil (he's even characterized as a catty bitch, just like she is, except less of a yeller). It's true Andre wants power, whereas Stella wants...well nothing really, just Stolas dead I guess, but for the most part they are nearly the same. Andre is just a better written version of Stella since he actually gets to make plans and have an end goal.

Once Andre gets introduced, Stella is redundant because she offers nothing different and in fact offers less to the story overall. If Stella was going to be a flat, evil for evil’s sake villain, she and Andre should have been combined. It would have made far more sense to have Stella be a bit smarter and be the one plotting to get Stolas's power. It also would have made the court scenes more impactful because Stella would be a character that was established far earlier, and who we know is a major threat to Stolas, since she's the one that hired Striker to torture and kill him.

If Andre was going to be the main big bad for Stolas, then Stella needed to offer something different. Generally the underling under the main villain is more sympathetic, and less evil, as a way to showcase how much worse the main bad guy is. Or they're more charismatic and show up far more than the main bad guy, like Azula and Ozai. As it is, Stella is neither. She shows up just as little as her brother, and does far less.

And, while Vivzie is a woman herself, I do find the handling of Stella to have mysoginistic undertones, mainly that since her brother has shown up, she is constantly shown as stupid, and that her only good quality is her looks--things her brother constantly brings up, but are not framed as shitty on his part. Them being essentually the same charater make this look all the worse, since Andre, as I've said, didn't need to be a charater at all, and Stella could have been the main villain instead. To pretty much sideline a female charater in order to introduce a male charater that fills the same roll is not the best. Just like racisuim, sexisuim doesn't have to be done purposfly, and I don't blame anyone who finds this choice to be sexist.

Then there's Striker.

Another reason I think Stella and Andre should have been combined. Striker worked really well as the side antagonist under the main villain. He's the one we see more of, he's more charismatic and has hints of a generally interesting backstory, one that we know would fit into the theme the show has of class issues. He's a mirror of what Blitz could have turned into, while Stella could be presented as Stolas's opposite. Even their work relationship could be a dark mirror of Blitz and Stolas's real love for one another.

As it is, Striker is under two other villains, one of which has become essentially unless to the story (Stella can't do anything Andre can't at this point, especially since her and Via aren't shown to have a close relationship). This reduces his threat level and reduced his screen time since he now has to share it with another character. We can see this in the newest episode, where we get a scene where Andre is talking to Stella and then Striker appears later at the trial with no explanation. If Andre and Stella were combined, that scene could have been Stella going over the plan with Striker instead. This would have helped Striker's character, since as it is, his appearance at the trial is confusing. Maybe he's just out for himself and his selfishness won out over his hate of Royals, maybe he was blackmailed, maybe he was so furious and his pride wounded so much by Blitz he'd do anything to bring him down, maybe it's a combination of all three. We don't know because we aren't given the set up. Is it cool that Striker was a suprise? Sure, but in this case it wasn't worth not showing the charater's reason for doing something that seems to go agasint his own charaterization.

Reson 4: Threat.

One of the main reasons to have a simply evil villain is so the can be incredibly menicing. The Aundence doesn't have to feel anything but fear for the protagonists and hate for the villain. They pose no deep moral question, and it feels great when they're beaten.

Despite being a major villain we never see her threat felt by the protagonists. Take her abuse of Stolas. We see her go to hit him and he catches her hand easily and tells her off without issue. Stolas has no problem standing up to Stella ever. In The entire show Stolas is never portayed as afraid of Stella.

Contrast this with how Moxxie and Crimson interact. Yes, sometimes Moxxie does stand up to his father, but we are shown how terrified he is of Crimson multiple times during the one episonde they interact. In comparison Stella's actions never make Stolas even worried. The most we see is him doging things when she throws things at him, but he doesn't seem genuinly afraid, and it's forgoten as soon as she leaves.

He insults her over the phine, insults her to her face. When he learns she hired Striker we arent shown him suddenly relize he underestimated her and become afraid. He instead he's more conserned with his reletionship with Blitz and getting him a crystal. Stolas never tells Blitz about Stella, so we don't even know how Blitz feels about how she treated him.

It's hard for a pure eveil villain to work when only one charater even seems to know they exist and they aren't even worried about offending them. The only way this could work is if Stella pretended to be nice most of the time, but was secretly ploting, like Scar in the Lion King. Instead she's framed as this force of nature, pure bitch, who torments Stolas, yet Stolas doesn't even show anxiaty when having to meet with her, something we know he's prone too because he shuts himself in the refrigerator when contemplating his confession to Blitz ending badly.

If the writers want Stella to be evil--make her evil. Let her be powerful and scary. Have Stolas fintch at her voice, show flashbacks of her hitting him, let her win arguments and verbally tear Stolas down. Make her smart enough to plan things on her own.

I think when alot of people say Stella is a badly written charater it's not nessesarily because they wanted her to be good, or complex. I don't see alot of people angry at how Mother Gothel was written (besides her deisgn being anti-semetic) or Maleficent. It's possible to write evil, one-dimensional female villains. The issue is that even as an evil bitch, Stella falls short in a mutitupe of ways. Her charater is a complete waste, even more so now that her brother has been introduced. She has no reason to exist and serves no narritive purpose. Even as a raod block to the Stolas/Blitz ship she isn't nessesaey because their main issue is the class systum. Stella could have been dead before the show started, leaving Stolas with Via for drama, and Andre could be the evil uncle trying to get Stolas's power.

Stella is pretty much a sexy lamp, execpt the sexy lamp is also a bitch. She's less affective then the random bitch charaters introduced in romatic webtoon comics that are only there to be mean to the main charater and try to steal her man. Stella's not badly written because she's pure evil and simple, she's badly written because she doesn't serve a purpose in the story and could be replaced with a sexy, evil lamp.

[pastellia63]

Man, i sure to love Stella being once again portayed as dumb to hype up her brother!

AND more incestous comments from Andrealphous, lovely! Haven't they learned from the first time he did that? I don't even think it was done on purpose to show that he was gross like that or anything, rather then it just being a "quirky" thing he just does.

Anyway this episode sucked, Stolas shows up to play hero and is completely okay with lying instead of admiting he had infact coerced Blitzø, just to have this cool moment of him sacrifing himself.

(and to of course make Octavia suffer once again because this show much like with Blitzø does NOT give her a break when it comes to her father)

The scene with her hugging her mom was pretty bittersweet, even if it was just to show Stella smirking evily to show how evil and bad she is or whatever

Okay now to talk about something more positive, the scenes between Blitzø and Loona were actually so sweet :(

i wish we could have seen more of them, i don't think we really got to explore their dynamic enough, and i'm really sad since their father and daughter relationship is one of the reasons why i had stuck around for this show besides Octavia and Verosika (before they butchered her character).

They all deserved better

[monofpoke4life]

I've done a lot of rewatching and reading other people's views, and I think you're right with a lot of this, but especially that Stolas is sure of what he wants.

However, I don't think it's Stolas conciously choosing his reputation when he hides. When Verosika pushes Blitz down, Stolas stands up to do something. (Similar to Millie when Ozzie and Fizz first step in). However, he does nothing.

But I don't think he did nothing because he didn't want to. When watching videos and reading things from episode 6, I learned that the irl legend of Stolas is a pacifist; which explains why someone didn't need to die to summon him, why Agent Two survived Stolas twisting her neck to scare Agent one (because let's face it that should've killed her), and why all he did was scare them. So I'm not surprised he did nothing.

On top of that, I think Ozzie is above him in the demon hierarchy (I could be wrong with that) so if he did go ballistic like he did against D.O.R.K.S. for Blitz, Ozzie could've easily smacked him down, and maybe even killed him. (But tbh that's just something I realized while typing this).

But I think what more importantly why he didn't do much, and contributes to why he hid his face, was that he didn't know what to do. I forget off the top of my head who pointed it out on tumblr, but someone said his relationship with Blitz is probably the closest thing to his first real relationship. His relationship with Stella was most likely arranged, and he mistakenly equates sexual affection to normal, lovey dovey intimacy. On the flipside of that, he's never went through the ups and downs of dating, and has never dealt with the backlash of people judging him for who he dates.

But most importantly, he's never had to justfisy being with the person he's with to other people. He was arranged to be with Stella, who most people approved of, there was no judging, and if there was, it would never be to his face that he was marrying that "stuck up bitch" whether they were afraid of what he or she would do to them. Combine that with how Stella practically walked over him in that relationship, he doesn't know how to stick up for himself; let alone for someone else.

I think, along with being ashamed of himself for ruining what he had (not that it was all its cracked up to be, but not that other demons know or care), he just didn't know what to do in that situation.

And I think some additional evidence of that is actually from after this moment. On my second rewatch, I realized they were trying to parallel the M&M's with Stolitz. On the third rewatch, I started to pay more attention to the moment Moxxie is singing the last part of his song about "loving us." I especially started to take notice of Stolas' reaction to that. At first I was like aww, he wants what they have, and then tries to comfort or seek comfort in Blitz's hand. However, on the third, and additional rewatches after that, I think there's a bit more to that moment. When the M&M's are having their "Fuck what you guys say we love each other," I think Stolas looks at them and realizes, "Oh, that's what I'm supposed to do."

Those versus speak to him, like "Yes! I too give no fucks about what others say." He is sure, Blitz is worth it, but of course he's not as violent as Millie, or like I said maybe he is unable to because of Ozzie being there, so he goes to hold Blitz's hand. He tries to take that first step. But it's not bold enough after what Blitz just perceived as a rejection, and a little too late.

So he is sure of what he wants, but just clueless on how to move forward, especially because I think he holds back because Blitz isn't ready. I mean at the end of the episode he respects Blitz's wish to leave, and isn't it odd that with how Stolas reacts to being asked on a date, it seems to imply Stolas never asked him on a date.

Or maybe I'm just reading too much on that last part. But uh so yeah, hopefully ya don't mind me adding my two cents to this.

Stolitz in episode 7 part 1

I see alot of ppl saying they think Stolas isnt sure of what he wants or if it was all worth it after the recent episode, but I disagree.

To me I felt like the reality of shame hit him there, like before hes always been shameless about his relationship with Blitz and was pretty open about it and nobody said anything, however here was the first time someone ever brought up just how SHAMEFUL the relationship actually is, reality hit him like a ton of bricks when they brought up his wife and kid and how he gave it all up for Blitz, mocking him for being demon royalty and sacrificing everything for a lowly imp.

 This was the first time he was hit with the true reality of the whole situation and for the first time felt ashamed, which to be fair anyone would feel ashamed in that situation especially when its made a spectacle for a huge crowd of ppl, its understandable why in that moment, on reflex, he hid his face in shame. Not that Stolas was ashamed of Blitz because as I said hes always been shameless about his attraction to him, but he was ashamed of himself and what he’d done to his family, ashamed that everyone pretty much knew and pointed out what a failure and disgrace he is. 

Its clear Blitz is the one thing thats RIGHT in his life, atleast for him, but the problem is because of his status and poor communication skills he doesnt convey that to Blitz at all which makes him feel like nothing more than a sex toy for Stolas. 

I dont think Stolas is questioning what he wants or if it was worth it, as we know Stolas was miserable in his old life and the only joy he had was his daughter Octavia whos pretty much grown up now, but he has clearly never been happy with his wife. 

Stolas knows hes happy with Blitz and definitely wants to be with him as more than just sex partners but hes just haunted by his status as a prince of hell that wont allow him to FREELY be with Blitz without some form of shame or ridicule like what he experienced here, especially by other demon lords. 

Notice several times when Blitz was getting roasted Stolas wanted to intervene but couldnt bring himself to

Then after he got roasted as well and it was time for him to make the choice on what meant more to him, his reputation or Blitz, hiding his head in shame was him choosing his reputation over Blitz which is why you see his hurt expression as Stolas does it, because this just confirmed in Blitz mind that Stolas really didnt value him as anything more than a play thing because he didnt stand up for him, which is one of the many reasons why he was so hostile and dismissive towards Stolas in the end, he didnt BELIEVE he wanted anything more than sex from him at that point because when it was time to prove it he chose to hide away in shame instead of confidently saying “Yeah I ruined my family, fked an Imp & am dating him so what? I dont care” which really shows the contrast between them and M&M. 

and then after he got roasted as well and it was time for him to make the choice on what meant more to him, his reputation or Blitz, hiding his head in shame was him choosing his reputation over Blitz which is why you see his hurt expression as Stolas does it, because this just confirmed in Blitz mind that Stolas really didnt value him as anymore more than a play thing because he didnt stand up for him, which is one of the many reasons why he was so hostile and dismissive towards Stolas in the end, he didnt BELIEVE he wanted anything more than sex from him at that point because when it was time to prove it he chose to hide away in shame instead of confidently saying “Yeah I fked an Imp & dating him so what? I dont care” which really shows the contrast between them and M&M. 

Note: Again Im not saying Stolas was ashamed of Blitz, he’s ashamed of himself for what he did, but to Blitz it looked like he WAS ashamed of him since he didnt stand up from him and looked away, anyone would come to that conclusion in that situation.

Moxxie and Millie are in a stable and secure relationship and dont care what ppl say about their relatioship, their confident in their love and thats all that matters to them, everything else is white noise. Meanwhile Stolitz has yet to reach that type of stability and security, Blitz is unsure of his feelings for Stolas but clearly has some growing feelings there, and Stolas is sure of his feelings for Blitz but unable to confidently and proudly proclaim those feelings and their relationship under intense situations like this. 

I think one of the most beautiful parrelels in this scene was when Moxxie was being taunted, made fun of, and ridiculed, Millie jumped in and defended him, beating up Fizzeroli allowing Moxxie to continue singing uninterupted, Stolas on the other hand did NOTHING when Blitz was being ridiculed and instead hid away and allowed it, he didnt like it, but he was complicit. 

I think that also contributed to Blitz already immense envy of M&M, seeing how Millie ride or dies for Moxxie but then Stolas just ghosts him really had to hurt. He probably thought when he came to his rescue last episode that maybe Stolas really did care for him the way Millie did Moxxie, but in this episode he DIDNT come to his rescue which just reinforced his trust issues and fear of getting close to ppl since right as he had began to start somewhat accepting his feelings for Stolas, he turned his back on him. 

So I dont believe Stolas is unsure of what he wants, he’s just hesitating to take that final step ready to face the full shame and ridicule of being together unapologetically with Blitz. 

Alot of ppl think its Blitz who needs to make the first move but personally I see it as the other way around, its Stolas who has to be firm and honest about what he wants and stop hesitating, if Blitz is gonna open up and work on his issues Stolas has to give him a REASON to and stop sending mixed messages. Once he does that then Blitz will see he’s genuine and THEN he can begin to slowly let down the wall he’s put up.

But this is just MY perception of it, I’ve seen plenty of others which are all valid, just wanted to give my 2 cents since this episode REALLY hit hard because I KNOW what that type of betrayal and humiliation feels like.