let's talk about stolas
While I wouldn't go quite so far as to say Stolas deliberately hurts people, and as a result I donât hate the character in the same way Iâd despise a reprehensible villain like Valentino, for example, I donât think the things he did should be overlooked. Because these arenât just small mistakes heâs made, and I think it's important to bring awareness to it.
Blitz:
Manipulated Blitz into having sex with him and initiated their âfavours for favoursâ relationship. He made the proposition at a time when he knew Blitz was under duress and unable to give fully informed consent and explicitly made sex a condition for the grimoire during the conversation without leaving alternative options open. That wasn't just negotiating payment for sex work. That was using the grimoire as leverage to get the sexual favours he wants. To be clear, if Blitz refuses Stolas at any point, then Stolas could deny access to the grimoire and withdraw the desperately needed resource that I.M.P needs to keep their business running and get the income they rely on to get food on the table and a roof over their heads, along with other repercussions an imp could face for refusing a Goetian prince (one he is already in hot water with for attempted theft). Whether Stolas realised it or not, he took advantage of Blitz in a situation in which he had all of the power, physically, financially, socially and politically. This is sexual extortion, which - and I do not use this term lightly - is a form of rape. And this was a relationship that was ongoing and operating under these same exploitative conditional "I'll do this for you so that you do this for me" transactions for months. Â
Persistently degraded Blitz multiple times with very demeaning sexual comments despite Blitzâs clear discomfort with it, making it completely rational for Blitz to think Stolas looks down on him for being an imp and only wants him for sex. Stolas might have thought this was a form of flirting and made an inconsistent effort to undo this after Ozzyâs, but the damage is done, and it would have been impossible for Blitz to tell if Stolas was being honest or just proving a point to make him look better, at least without some big gestures and a lot of repaired trust.
The comments he makes towards Blitz can also be racist, which is also indicated in the way he treats imp servants. This isn't directly about Blitz, but he treats his butler imps by thoughtlessly taking their service for granted, squeezing them like stress balls and making messes for them to clean up, which isnât an ideal way to treat the race of someone you claim to love. Â
Acts entitled and upset whenever Blitz didnât personally come to save him, even when Blitz was preoccupied and still made sure Moxie and Millie would be there (and who never got any thanks for risking themselves to save his life).
Is clearly embarrassed when he was called out at Ozzyâs and does nothing to defend himself or Blitz.
He gave Blitz the Asmodean crystal to break their transactional relationship, but his lack of awareness still shows with how he handled it â opening with getting Blitz to put his entire livelihood in Stolasâ hands and making Blitz beg for it, then ending with casting Blitz out the moment his feelings were understandably not taken seriously and things didnât go according to his script. I realise this was a difficult conversation that neither of them were really prepared for, but this was a situation entirely of Stolasâ making and within his power to prevent. For all his talk of setting Blitz free, he never really gave Blitz a chance to think for himself and actually make a choice.
Instead of listening to anything Blitz said about their relationship and addressing it, he blamed Blitz for the miscommunication and fallout without taking accountability himself and even attended a party dedicated to hating Blitz that was organised by someone Stolas knew was on bad personal terms with him (if he didnât know before, he certainly did when Blitz reacted to the letter) out of petty spite.
This isn't a wrongdoing exactly, but other red flags I saw in their relationship are the fact that Stolas and Blitz don't actually seem to know each other all that well, as indicated by Blitz not knowing what Stolas likes to eat or Stolas not being aware of Blitz's well-known like of horses, along with other examples. Instead it is implied, and then made explicit in Apology Tour, that Stolas doesn't necessarily want Blitz, but rather wants his own romanticised idea of a relationship he picked up from watching rom coms and projected the image of his ideal partner onto Blitz. All in all, their relationship is extremely toxic and I think Stolas in particular has a lot of growth to do before he can be in a relationship.
Octavia:
Utterly obliterated any semblance of stable home life for his young daughter by having a very public and scandalous affair instead of talking honestly with Octavia about his relationship with Stella and getting a divorce, which we know was an option.
Instead of showing consideration for how the affair affected his daughter, feeling remorse for it and supporting her through the separation, he openly continues to have the affair even long after she made it clear to him how the situation was hurting her, makes very explicit sexual comments about his affair partnerâs body in front of his underage daughter and ruins a father-daughter outing intended to cheer her up about their disastrous home life by inviting the affair partner along to fulfil a prince x bodyguard fantasy that neither Blitz nor Octavia wanted any part in.
Regularly argues with Stella about the affair and divorce in front of Octavia even after Octavia makes her discomfort clear, going as far as to call Stella a bitch in front of Octavia (which is in fact turning Octavia against Stella, contrary to Stolas' claims otherwise) and prioritising fighting with Stella over having another arranged outing with Octavia. When Octavia runs away alone and vulnerable to another world, Stolas blames Blitz when he should have been watching her and continues to waste time with Blitz when they go looking for her.
Used the grimoire in ways he knew to be illegal and could result in consequences that would harm Octavia and potentially prevent him from being present in her life if he and Blitz were caught. The whole trial was a mess of their own making. I understand Stolas wanted to save Blitz's life when Blitz didn't deserve to die for it, and Stolas didnât have time to think about Octavia when he first showed up in the court room. However, he didnât make any effort to get his affairs in order and make sure Octavia would be cared for when he thought he was going to be executed and put his head on the chopping block or while his punishment was still under discussion, despite knowing full well that Stella could take custody of her. He only thought about Octavia when Andrealphus brought up the legions he would be leaving behind, after Stolas had his powers stripped and it was already far too late to do anything about it. He did the one thing he promised her he wouldnât do, and abandoned her for Blitz. Stella, Andrealphus, the system that arranged Stolas and Stella in the first place, and Octavia's awareness of those things are factors and separate points in the discussion, but none of those things mitigate the things Stolas himself has done to hurt her. She could let him explain, and probably should have, but really, what can he say at this point? That he had to sacrifice his life to protect his affair partner from the consequences of the illegal activity they were knowingly doing without saying a single word to her? All he can do to defend himself is give her the same excuses he's been giving her for months and tried to give her when she confronted him. Because there is no justification he can fall back on, no lie that Stella and Andrealphus need to tell her to make Stolas look bad, no misunderstanding that Octavia needs to "come around" to. Because she was right. He did abandon and betray her, and she has every right to harbour resentment towards him for it and take issue with his relationship with Blitz, and she shouldn't be expected to just deal with this and be satisfied with the bare minimum, be happy about stolitz's relationship or being part of a family with them and Loona.
Now, Iâm not saying Stolas doesnât deserve the chance to improve and do better. He cares about them, but he has a terrible habit of getting wrapped up in his own fantasies without seeing the reality of how his actions affect others, then trying to fix things with grandiose gestures that end up being hollow because they don't actually address the issue and aren't followed up with a correction of his toxic behaviour. Neglect, adultery, and sexual abuse are absolutely serious enough to end a relationship â as they should. Blitz and Octavia have all the reason they need to want nothing to do with him, and theyâve given him plenty of chances to change. The issues I've outlined here are the reasons why I just can't see Stolas' relationships with Blitz and Octavia as wholesome. Instead of being hated for lies to paint him as a misunderstood and tragic victim, Stolas needs to take the opportunity to reflect and change for the better. However, I can't blame anyone for being skeptical this will happen. The show yet has yet call Stolas out without putting the accusers in the wrong somehow to make Stolas look better. Blitz made the huge leap from "fuck you Stolas for using me and looking down on me, relationships are boring" to "you are my heart" in just three episodes and stops holding Stolas accountable without getting so much as an official apology from Stolas. I wouldn't be surprised if Octavia goes through a similar transformation at some point by the end.
This was a brilliantly written post that kept straight to canon facts to make it. Well done. However, your very last paragraph spells the future that I've also already pegged.
Unfortunately, Via is going to have the same trajectory as Blitz.
Blitz has been written and animated HATING Stolas for almost the whole of two seasons.
Full Moon was even the compilation of that hate.
Yet the very NEXT episode he is pining after Stolas.
Then two episodes later he says he's his heart while becoming the butler he railed against.
His transformation finally concludes in Sinmas with the Blitz we knew finally being erased.
If Blitz(MAIN CHARACTER) didn't get to rightfully keep hating his abuser then Stolas's neglected SIDE character daughter is not going to get to either.
All the Loona/Via merch, the giggling together in the pride poster, the hug in Seeing Stars, the creator and voice actor both saying Loona has big part to play in season three etcâŠ, is all setting the seeds that the homewreckers daughter is going to have a part to play in easing down Via's defenses to accept the man her father threw his family away for.
There is even a writing trick in Sinmas where Via calls Blitz dad three times.
Then the putrid cherry is Blitz has a dream imagery(foreshadowing) of Stolas and Octavia as his family. This is especially important BECAUSE of who Blitz is. Our MAIN. Basically this a new goal of our lead character so therefore it WILL be given to him because of that alone.
Which means Octavia's fate is sealed.
Furthermore the official spidlehorse account also placed, and then deleted, a car decal with all of them on it that had Blitz saying my family as a tagline.
Also the co-writer called her a cockblock and Viv, and her lead animators, outright said they don't like Octavia.
The stage for her has been set in and outside of canon.
Via is now in direct opposition of a now basically canon gay ship. This has to be rectified, and it WILL be by giving her the same lobotomy Blitz got. Therefore her character change is a matter of WHEN not IF.
A good writer would let her estrangement be a permanent consequence of Stolas destroying his family,but we are dealing with a YAOI FANGIRL so all bets are off.
In essence Octavia's pain of her fathers infidelity, neglect, and abandonment is not going to matter. Just like Stolas's sexual extortion of Blitz didn't. Therefore all we critics can do is brace for the inevitable.















