#something non-existent on stolas-stella for example

[princessfroslass]

Honestly, I really want the Husk-Alastor dynamic to be explored completely differently than the Val-Angel one.

Not only because, well, originality lmao and because let's face it, Alastor is a fan favorite. He is THE favorite of the creator, and the one that sells the most merch. His huge scene with his slave in episode 5 wasn't really about Husk, but about HIM. Showing how he has his secrets and how scary he can be. Husk is left shaking and visibly traumatized on the floor and in the next scene he is with the guys eating popcorn and seeing how Alastor kicked Mimzy out is seen as his "vindication". In Finale we have this little moment where him and Lucifer are comically "Oh great, this guy again..." like both treat him like an annoyance. Alastor will never be vilified like Valentino is because Valentino is a villain first, a character second. Alastor is a character first, an anti-villain/villain second.

The first time we see Alastor in animated format he is shown preying on Charlie's whole televised fiasco, then he shows up, Vaggie info dumps about how DANGEROUS he is and shit.....and then Alastor sings a tune to charm Charlie in. He is not MEANT to be seen as a good guy, he is meant to be SHADY, and manipulative, and clearly our sweet naive protagonist is making an deal with the Devil. We know this guy has bad intentions, but Charlie herself open the question that if he is really unredeemable, what the hell are they doing there? It keeps you aware he is bad news, but is quite charming and could be an interesting character to explore, since his motivations are so obscure and we don't really know if he is truly unredeemable since all we have are rumors and an scene of him getting rid of the guy that attacked their hotel.

The first time we saw Valentino in animated format he was sexually assaulting his employee.... yeah, is very clear the show is point-blank telling you this guy is NEVER seeing the pearly gates, there is no point in even bringing the question up, what matters on this story is not him, but how Angel copes.

Hazbin has the subtly of a frying pan to the face. Alastor LIVES in the same space as Husk, if they were meant to be a Valangel 2.0 Husk wouldn't be allowed to say shit when Alastor is in the same building other than nod and do his job. He wouldn't be able to be so vocal about it and, even if Alastor was just saving face, Husk wouldn't be so willy-nilly to have a one-to-one with him alone. Again, Hazbin has the subtly of a baseball bat to the knees, they go out of their way to show how absolutely terrified of Val Angel is, even when he stood up to him there were frames where he was visibly shaken and unsure about the whole thing (pause Val convocates the chain and ESPECIALLY after he hits him, you can see his bravado breaking) so I always found that they NEVER show Husk scared of Alastor until he literally has a chain around his neck very strange, considering they had been together for years.

So, since it's clear that Alastor will never be vilified like Val is, what can we do with this relationship? Simple, we EXPAND on it. Why is Husk perfectly chill to insult this sociopath who literally owns him to his face? Why does Alastor even keep him around rather than disappear him like he did with so many other OverLords? Was it just entertainment?.....Company? What does he GAINS from dragging Husk around? Where does Nifty fit into all this? How much does Husk knows about Alastor's shady business- what was he doing the 7 years he was disappeared?...is there any feeling of endearment among either of them? And how does this relates to Husk's past as a overlord....does he sees this as some sort of Karma? Does ALASTOR see it that way? EXPAND ON THIS SHIT-

Also, this difference could create some interesting shifts on HuskerDust dynamic. Imagine Angel, being so used to dealing with his absolute abusive of a boss/ex-boyfriend and now aware that Husk is owned by Al, is visibly confused by Husk casually talking back to Alastor. Maybe even further into their relationship he would jump all "Al he didn't mean to-" only to get promptly shrugged off. Think of how he is the one to appease Val's anger whenever is redirected to someone other than himself. Maybe they have a fall off over it cause "You have NO idea what is like to be in my place!" because- yeah, is true, their situations would be similar on the basis that they are slaves- but their relationships with their masters is completely different. Husk would wish to be given the ""freedom"" Angel gets by only being owned by Val at the studio, not UNDERSTANDING why he goes back when he lives with the princess of Hell who wouldn't doubt to protect him if his abuser came looking for him- basically, not understanding that Angel LOVES his abuser. That, like Blake Roman said, "loves the parts of him that he doesn't hate". And Angel's thoughts could go a... darker place. Let's just say that when one is so hurt, having someone that is treated the exact same way as you despite being on a similar position can be....triggering. Obviously knowing your pseudo-boyfriend isn't sexually assaulted on the daily should be a cause of relief -and it is! again, Angel is very protective of those he gives a shit about- emotions are a bitch and can be super treacherous, especially accompanied by an already explosive temper as Angel's.

But going back to the main duo-Is often interpreted that Al uses Husk to do his dirty work for him from time to time, and I think it would be interesting that if that is case, to show how Husk goes from uncaring and annoyed that Alastor is using him like this to genuinely- disgusted by it. By his old self. And how he would respond to it after like a year or so of simply bar tendering and being everyone's drunk grandfather- cause Alastor literally owns him. I think that is where he would take a more active role in getting out of his contract and even reforming, as Alastor himself spirals.

I find the Valangerl dynamic very interesting cause it's very clearly an abusive couple from the get-go, so now that we know that Valentino is an irredeemable piece of shit, what does this subplot tell us about Angel's character? That he is a man so starved for love that abuse can taste like it, he is VERY aware is destroying him- but thinks is all he has, just like the drugs that killed him in the first place. How did he got to that point? Angel is very clearly street smarts, he comes from a mafia of all things and had been in Hell for over 3 decades before Val even died, how he got the point of trusting someone he gave HIS SOUL for is what is really interesting about this dynamic. The before, the during....the after. The balance of hatred and love, the obsession, all. And how the only thing keeping an horrible person for ruining someone they once proclaimed love to....is power (look how Val is seen as a pathetic man child whenever he is with Vox and Velvet, his equals, compared to how he is seen by Angel. A literal shadow with glowing red eyes that towers over him)

What makes Al and Husk's dynamic interesting is what it can tells us about how their view of their world through men that are both on the highest and lower of Hell's Sinner chain. Of how while Alastor's situation made him more obsessive, more controlling and yes, more abusive -cause I am not about to brush THAT scene under the rug just because it seems to be an isolated incident- Husk just grew numb to it. He doesn't care anymore, just do whatever he is told to while complaining and drinking the whole way, but eventually is welcomed onto this new family, changes his ways, all the good stuff....

Hell, wouldn't it be hella interesting if it was HUSK who kickstarted an hypothetical Alastor's redemption arc? Kinda of how Verosika was the one that truly made Blitz aware of his behavior in HB. And like in that show is not that they become FRIENDS or anything just- Husk is allowed to go and do his life with the person he loves and the friends he made, while Alastor is left alone staring at nothing and Thinking(tm)

[crooked-wasteland]

I'm very much looking forward to your Stolitz/HB is a bad musical essay. I've had my own thoughts on HH being subpar as far as a musical goes but never really felt like I had the knowledge on musicals as a narrative style nor as a music genre to do it much justice; excited to see you tackle the topic in regards to HB! 🫡

I absolutely understand the hesitation. It isn't like I personally have a masters in Musical Theory, but I think we as a generation have had musical theories subliminally inculcated into our psyche from the sheer amount of exposure that we can understand what makes a good musical and recognize when those qualities are simply not there. No one has reservations talking about how bad Wish was as a musical, and what I am finding in my own deep-dive for this essay is that Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel suffer the same issues as Wish. The lead in music being Sam Haft who is not a musical theatre composer and frankly doesn't understand how musical theatre functions on a fundamental level.

For a small preview of a major point in my essay that I plan on expanding much more, Helluva and Hazbin completely lack an understanding of musical diegesis. This may be a new term for some. Diegesis is most often referenced in how music interplays within a movie or film.

Most of the time the music is not diegetic to the story. When we have big moments in our media with that swelling emotional music, we don't think that there is an orchestra just off screen playing this music for these characters. We are aware the music is an external component to the story. In this way, the music is most often not diegetic to the narrative.

Of course that isn't always the case. Take for example Guardians of the Galaxy and how the films utilize their soundtrack. Starting the movie off, we hear Come and Get Your Love as we would hear any other soundtrack, only for Peter Quill to remove his headphones and the music can be heard playing faintly over them. That makes the song Diegetic.

Another example is Shrek. All of the pop songs in the films are non-diegetic, but there are diegetic songs in, say, Shrek 2 with the Fairy Godmother singing Holding Out for a Hero.

To pull back to more direct inspiration, Happy Day in Hell is nothing more than an embarrassing parody of Beauty and the Beast's opening number Belle. However, Belle is non-diegetic. The Townspeople are singing their thoughts and feelings, but that is not what literally is happening. And Belle turning at the end isn't supposed to be taken as literally the town coming to a halt just to follow her and talk about how weird she is, but that the town as a collective sees her as an outsider and she gets that sixth sense sort of feeling of people judging her. Because they are, they just don't say anything. That is a key crux for the film.

Every single song in Helluva Boss and Hazbin are diegetic. We know this because Vaggie tells Charlie not to sing and we are told by Angel Dust explicitly that Charlie is, in fact, physically singing. Stolas' song ends with Stella telling Stolas to stop singing. Striker, Verosika, Moxxie, Stolas, Fizzarolli, Glitz & Glam, and Asmodeus all sing as a part of a literal performance.

In fact, Hazbin goes out of its way to shoehorn in-universe reasons to have a song rather than just allowing the world to exist in that heightened reality. Additionally, by having the songs explicitly being legitimate songs in the world, we actually face more issues with the world building because on one hand Vaggie is begging Charlie to not sing and is struggling with the secondhand embarrassment, only for the denizens of Hell to join in? Except the world has established that singing is not something people just do. It is the one time the criticism of "Why is everyone singing" and "How do you all know the words?" Are legitimately valid questions.

This all screams insecure and shows a clear discomfort with the genre of musical theatre as a whole. There is no depth of understanding how music in musicals function, just like Wish.

That isn't even touching on how San Haft's lyricism is identical to Wish's worst numbers with how he just borks the internal structure and meter of his songs.