So, I’ve Been Rewatching Some Of My Favorite Helluva Boss Episodes Lately (as You Do, The Cope Is Real).

*cough*Stolas can't get his medication*cough*

I repeat STOLAS IS ABOUT TO GO COLD TURKEY OFF HIS DEPRESSION PILLS! WHILE PROBABLY GOING INTO THE WORST DEPRESSION OF HIS LIFE!

There is absolutely No reason he's going to bring this up to Anyone, too. None of them are going to know what's Wrong! *chews on dry wall* *growls* VIVZIE YOU MADE ME INSANE AGAIN NNNNN!! AAAAAAAAA-

The next month is Not gonna be good to him for Every reason(other than being next to Blitzø But Everything Else 😬)

Sigh

Hi I’m back to explain media to the antis

Stolas is grateful for everything Blitz is doing for him but because that’s not blatantly expressed people are whining that Stolas is being ungrateful and mean

Maybe yall just haven’t experienced hard things like for example when my parents died I didn’t exactly thank my husband outwardly for all he was doing for me I was a lot like Stolas, numb and upset and just in autopilot. It doesn’t mean I wasn’t grateful for him being there and helping me.

Blitz isn’t doing it to be thanked, he’s doing it because he loves Stolas and wants to take care of him. Stolas doesn’t need to gush in gratitude, it’s understood.

It’s implied.

It’s what happens when you love each other.

Gotta love Blitzø’s priorities.

You’re having dinner with your friend/employee’s mob boss of a father, and THAT’s what you decide to focus on during the awkward dinner talk. Freakin love him, honestly.

Octavia joining the family

foreshadowing and shit 🙂

Blitz answer her dad call

His phone number is saved as dad (with a few *s)

Alo can't tell me Via long winded dunk on Blitz; isn't a little similar to his on Stolas in the pilot

Blitz says let's go find our daughters, refering to Loona and Via.

(Yes I know English is a silly imprecise language, but I'm counting it).

And this moment had a big effect on Stolas

They have the same taste in music 🎶

Blitz uses the same pet name for Octavia, as he does for Loona

They have the same reaction to Stolas being overly PDA

They both Hate Fizzbot

And both think Stolas' damsel in distress act is bit much

They have a very similar sarcastic snarky wit

(She was having so much fun making Loo loo sweat)

And Stolas treats them in a similar way when they snark

He fires back with a minor piss take of his own. (Think one of the reasons Stolas wasn't as put of by Blitz's walls early on is because of understanding Via).

You can see how well this plays together when they back eachother up taking this mick out of Andy

Blaming @quillyfied for this one but she's in front of both of them saying this.

I want to talk about a kind of troubling reaction I've been seeing to both Apology Tour and Ghostfuckers among parts of the fandom. The person is usually a reaction youtuber but sometimes someone writing on tumblr or twitter. They say something along the lines of "oh, I'm glad Blitz is being forced to confront his crimes/traumas/pain. This is the only way he will finally heal."

That's not how healing works.

I know that reaction youtubers don't always have the most developed takes because they're . . . you know . . . reacting in the moment. But I think it's still worth talking about.

I'm going set aside the people who seem to believe that Blitz needs to be punished for his crimes, and address those who genuinely think that getting a tidal wave of his own trauma in his face is what he needs to heal.

There's an attitude in contemporary culture that traumas are something people need to confront. As in, put on a brave face and dive in like a big boy. I blame capitalism, rugged individualism, and all the pieces of media that tie up a character's arc neatly by having them confront their darkest fears and insecurities. It can put a nice bow on things, but it isn't really how healing from trauma works.

Apology Tour:

Blitz gets confronted by a shit ton of people who hate him, at least some of whom are his exes, who he feels he's personally damaged. The decor and party games are all about killing and torturing him. Verosika confronts him about how much he hurt her. Oh, and then he sees the love of his life, who he's just recently pushed away, making out with another guy- proof, in his eyes, that Stolas is happier without him. And this all reflects the underlying fears he already has about who he is as a person (shown to us by Truth Seekers).

So what was the takeaway? Blitz came to the conclusion that he doesn't always want to be like this (good, but like . . . worth this much pain?). He flops on his steering wheel (relatable). He stops trying to reach out to Stolas (uh oh . . . ). He spends A MONTH spiraling in his own misery and making a mess of all aspects of his life until he's dragged out of it by a caring friend.

The party doesn't empower Blitz to change. It knocks him down and fucking traumatizes him (seriously, images of Stolas from the party show up later in his trauma reel) too much for him to be able to do actually work toward said change. I suspect that if left to his own devices, he would have kept spiraling for quite a while longer. It's one thing to want to change, and another to try to do so alone in the aftermath of a pile-on.

Ghostfuckers

After Blitz drags himself out of his hole of cheesy ice cream and despair to "play sex ghosts" (escapism, again, still knocked down by Apology Tour), infester demon Rolando picks him out as an easy target and assaults him, yes, assaults, with horrific images of his worst traumas and fears.

Not to state the obvious, but Rolando isn't interested in helping Blitz heal. He's trying to kill the guy. He wants to engulf Blitz in his trauma to the extent where he's consumed by it and loses the will to fight back. And as some excellent posts by others have pointed out already, he very likely would have succumbed if not for Millie's support.

Millie helps Blitz get through the onslaught by telling him about what makes him great and how he's improved her life and showing him love and care. And by literally beating the fucking infester out of him. Because there's someone in him who's hurting him, who's re-traumatizing him against his will. She takes him away from the reel of horrible memories.

So . . . do I think that confronting traumas can play a role in healing? Sure. But only if it's consensually (which neither of these situations are) and when the person trying to heal is ready. And most likely in small doses. No one's going and successfully confronting every horrible thing that's ever happened to them in one go.

And in my humble opinion, it's not going to work (for anyone, but especially not for Blitz) alone and without a healthy dose of kindness and compassion (both external and internal).

Blitz has a long road ahead of him toward healing, and it's going to be hard work on his part but also require love and support from the people in his life.

In a wonderful moment near the end of Ghosfuckers, Blitz and Millie work together to get Blitz's wrecked van unstuck and push it back through the portal into Hell. I love it because it's so simple and it kind of tells us everything we need to know. This sweet and salty gremlin has a lot of work ahead of him, but he doesn't have to do it alone.

I am calling it right here and now. One month before Octavia turns 18, Blitzø is going to adopt her

The thing with the crossed out pictures is like. It’s such a SPECIFIC way to portray Blitz’s self hatred. It’s not really unusual for media to show negative self worth through photos, but often it’ll be a character who insists on always staying behind the camera, or hides and won’t smile in pictures.

Blitz isn’t like that at all. He initiates selfies with his loved ones, grinning and putting his arm around them and having the time of his life. He prints them out, finds a nice frame and dedicates time to hang them from the wall of his apartment—all for himself, because there’s no reason anyone would have asked him to. He spends time on this.

And then, when he’s alone, he gets the Self Harm Itch. The urge to scribble himself out because he needs to do SOMETHING. He doesn’t cut the pictures, or throw them away, to remove himself entirely. He needs them up there, and WANTS to be there with them. But in those moments, he can’t believe he’s worthy of it, can’t stand to see his own face. And then he’s left with the consequences.

And all of this is just shown through images in the background! He’s never even brought it up but we can see it! We know! It drives me insane (positive)

Something about Sinsmas

It’s this scene right here that’s stuck with me ever since the episode released. Blitz is the happiest he’s been in a while. Not to mention the most open and unguarded. The most relaxed. Which brings me to my sticking point.

Those marks under Blitz’s eyes? They aren’t stress/tension marks. You know, those little marks under the eyes that artists use to highlight the strong emotion in characters in certain scenes. No, those marks under Blitz’s eyes are eye bags.

Blitz is exhausted, and he has been for a good while now (those eye bags have been there in earlier episodes too). And now? With him pushing everything to the back-burner to take care of Stolas and Millie’s possible pregnancy reveal in the future? Season 3 could very easily have Blitz getting better at self care with the help/for the sake of his found family. Or maybe even having him break under the pressure prior to that growth.

Honestly, I’m just excited that there’s something else for me to lookout for in Season 3.

Some examples of high energy scenes with highlights under the eyes (that I couldn’t help but include):

Blitz appreciation post!

ages/lifespans in Helluva??

I know the sins are Immortal, it's established they've been there since the beginning of Hell. We know Stolas is only in his late 30s, and I assume Goetias have an unusually long lifespan (hence his 100 years banishment). Sinners don't age and that leaves the Hellborns. Blitz and Stolas are roughly the same age, but do Hellborns also have unusually long lifespans? Or do they age more like humans do? What does 100 years mean to Blitz?