#laura posts hellaverse

[helluvalaura]

Blitz takes notice

So I've been mulling over the Sinsmas dance, as one does, and it feels like an interesting continuation of something we saw Blitz do during the fateful birthday playdate when they were kids.

I've definitely posted about the latter before, but I haven't registered my blog domain (yet) so I can't easily go back in my archive to find old meta and I post too much to scroll at least five months back the old-fashioned way, so lemme set it up to explain what I mean.

One of the things that I find really striking about the scenes we've seen of them together as children is the way Blitz circles back to Stolas's interest in books. Blitz isn't interested in the books, and he's got the pressure of Cash's demands that he steal from the palace weighing on him.

Let's leave aside the fact that Blitz is not a strong reader even as an adult and is very likely dyslexic. Even without those factors that make books a low priority for him on a good day, he's stressed and scared and he was just literally purchased as a plaything and this prince kid seems kind of weird... he's not having a good time, is my point, and he's not willing to engage with Stolas's interests.

But then they play together. They bond, and Blitz gets the weight of his father's demands off his shoulders, and somewhere along the way a genuine friendship starts to blossom. Blitz finds that he likes this weird little prince... and so as the connection between them quickly becomes a sincere one and some of the stress from his mission goes away, he circles back around to the topic of books.

It's not his thing, but he knows it's Stolas's thing, so he brings it back to Stolas's interests by asking about the grimoire. And in doing so, he opens up a conversation that leads to them sharing a lot of big feelings they both have about their respective futures. Stolas admits, albeit obliquely, that he doesn't really understand what his family is expecting of him, and Blitz opens up about his dream of being his own boss someday. He even gets around to promising Stolas a job (indirectly asking Stolas to be a semi-permanent part of the future he envisions for himself).

By keeping Stolas's interests in mind and actively engaging with them despite it not really being his thing, he opens the door for them to bond more deeply and share meaningful things about themselves with each other.

Which brings us back to that moonlit balcony some twenty-six years and change later... because Blitz didn't come up with the impulse to sweep Stolas into a dance out of nowhere.

Back in Apology Tour, Blitz sees Stolas devastated and drunkenly bawling his eyes out over their breakup. He's a mess, and after Blitz has spent months convincing himself that Stolas doesn't give a shit about him and doesn't take anything between them seriously, it's obviously a shock to the system for Blitz.

But the thing is, Stolas doesn't stay devastated the rest of the night. When BTB Guy approaches and asks to dance, he turns Stolas's night around and makes what was otherwise a pretty distressing, terrible experience for Stolas a little less shitty. Blitz clocks this from the jump:

And continues to take notice of how much being invited to dance perks Stolas right up throughout the rest of his time at the event:

In the moment, all Blitz is able to process from this is his regret and heartbreak. He's drowning in self-loathing and the crushing realization that if he had just been brave enough to trust that Stolas meant it when he said he had feelings for him, he could have everything he's ever wanted right now, and instead he's leaving this party alone while Stolas gets swept off his feet by a handsome man. Just like when they were kids, Blitz has too much other shit going on in this exact specific moment to process Stolas's interests... but just like when they were kids, that doesn't mean that he isn't paying attention and remembering.

Blitz doesn't know that Stolas has a history of being left alone in the corner at parties. He doesn't know why it means so much to him that somebody wants to dance with him. But much like he doesn't need to know about Stolas's history of abuse to clock in a relatively short period of time that he's not comfortable with slamming doors and stops kicking open doors around him accordingly (seriously, rewatch Sinsmas and take note of how uncharacteristically calmly Blitz opens doors with Stolas around, in contrast to his usual approach), he doesn't need to know that Stolas has been a wallflower all his life to understand that, for whatever reason, someone wanting to dance with him is meaningful and a good way to cheer him up even when he's desperately unhappy.

So after being by Stolas's side throughout what was unquestionably one of the worst days of his entire life and being unable to do anything other than just be present with him for hours, Blitz brings that understanding out when the moment seems right for it.

And you know what? He's spot on. Stolas has just been through one of the most devastating experiences of his life, he's deep in depression and has been off his meds and most likely recently quit drinking cold turkey besides... but when Blitz sweeps him into a romantic dance to the tune of a syrupy holiday love song, he's delighted. Being on the receiving end of this kind of sincere attention from Blitz makes him so happy, even after everything he's been through that afternoon alone.

There's a lot that these two still don't know about each other, largely because of the nature of the deranged situationship they managed to comedy-of-errors their way into. But just because there's a lot of context they're lacking doesn't mean that they haven't been paying attention. It's really fascinating to see these moments where we can see Blitz bring out his little mental list of Stolas Facts, because every time he does, it seems to lead to the pair of them inviting each other in to share a deeper emotional intimacy.

[helluvalaura]

Something that I think about a lot with Mastermind is the significance of Stolas taking responsibility.

Like yes obviously politically it's a huge deal and obviously it's this dynamic shift in the whole course of the plot, yada yada yada... but like. the personal significance is huge in a way I don't see talked about, specifically because of Blitz's personal history.

Blitz is consistently in a protector role with those around him. That's not news. It probably started with Fizz (and perhaps Barbie?) and continues with Loona, with M&M... he's the guy who is putting himself on the line to take the fall when shit goes wrong.

The implication is pretty clear (and I suspect will become clearer as we get more information about the Buckzo family) that Blitz has been The One Responsible, for better or for worse, since he was very young. We see his father placing responsibility for the family finances on his shoulders when he's only grade school age. He is just as heavily parentified as Millie, although from a rather different angle, and the echoes of that abuse (and it is a form of abuse) are loud in Blitz's behavior throughout the series... and it shows up elsewhere, too.

Notably, it shows up in Barbie. I was hesitant to make any sweeping statements on her based on Unhappy Campers alone. One episode where she only appears for a few minutes at the end isn't enough to base major analysis on. But after the most recent short, I feel more comfortable saying that Barbie is very reluctant to take responsibility for her own actions... but all too happy to place blame on Blitz.

If it weren't for this, it would be easy to assume that Blitz probably spent his youth sharing the blame for childhood shenanigans with his twin. But Barbie is never responsible for anything that goes wrong, and Blitz? Blitz is always responsible for anything that goes wrong, in perception if not always in fact.

There's a lot we still don't know about the Buckzo family and how Barbie fit into the circus trio dynamic with Blitz and Fizzarolli. But I would wager that Blitz, who was very clearly The Idea Guy even as a kid, was the one taking the heat every time the circus trio got into some kind of trouble as children. That's a bit speculative, of course, but there's a very strong implication showing in his present-day dynamics with his loved ones that he has a history of being the one falling on the sword, taking the blame whenever anything bad happens.

But here's the thing: when Blitz was a kid, even if he was the one with all the fun, crazy ideas, he wasn't actually responsible for his sister's actions, or his friend's, even if he was likely punished as though he were. And when it comes to the grimoire... well, that wasn't all on him either, was it?

Which brings us back to Satan's court:

This would have been Blitz's final act— one last chance to jump on yet another grenade for the people he loves. He was fully prepared to take all the blame for the whole mess with the grimoire onto his own shoulders to spare his friends and his daughter from sharing in the punishment.

Whether or not an imp having access to a powerful spellbook is actually wrong is a whole other question (I would strongly contend that he and Stolas did nothing wrong and it is the laws of Hell which are wrong), but even with that in mind, it was technically illegal, and it was a crime he and Stolas committed together.

And for what might be the first time, someone who created trouble alongside Blitz stepped up to share the responsibility. Not just share responsibility, but wholly lift it from Blitz's shoulders, even though there was absolutely no obligation to do so.

How long has it been since anyone did this for Blitz? Has anyone ever done this for him? Has anyone ever planted themselves between him and blame or consequences and said "no, I had a share in this too, don't blame him alone" and taken the weight off him?

One of my earliest posts when I first started actively blogging about HB was about how symbolically and emotionally significant it was that Stolas faced the literal fire in Blitz's place, but it's so important that he took the metaphorical heat as well, because Blitz hasn't had anybody willing or able to do that for him in who even knows how long.

[helluvalaura]

The thing that is getting to me is how so many of the major couples in the Hellaverse kind of... match. I was talking about this with @leeholtwrites the other day and it really stands out when you start looking for it. Whether they have the same (or at least complementary) aesthetics or there's a visual resemblance between them of some kind, there's kind of an artistic cue that they're aligned to each other.

Chaggi obviously have a very matchy-matchy aesthetic, lots of red and and black to embody the overall visual sensibilities of the series, lots of sharp, clean lines to their clothing, and an overall funky-femme-as-gender vibe to both of them

and of course Millie and Moxxie, the pair most obviously attuned to each other as a comfortably-established married couple, could not be a closer visual match for each other if they tried

even Fizz and Asmodeus, two characters who are visually extremely different in size and shape— which makes sense, since one is an imp and one is functionally a god— still have a matched-up aesthetic with all the hearts and stripes and vivid color-blocking, and there's even some matching with their silhouettes with Ozzie's crest feathers and Fizz's jester cap

And even when you look at the "oddball couples" like CherriSnake or MadMaid where the whole point is that they're an off-the-wall, kind of inherently slightly silly duo, there's still a visual sense that they were designed to be a match for each other. Even if there isn't a big overlap in the characters' aesthetics the way there are with the "major" ships, they just look so very obviously correct together— very proportional to each other, and usually providing an aesthetically pleasing visual contrast rather than a perfect visual match.

But then... there's Stolitz. And it's literally a recurring joke how much they don't match.

They look patently ridiculous together. Even leaving aside their wildly different aesthetic sensibilities, with Stolas's royal finery (and the soft nerd vibes I suspect he'll be going for now that he doesn't have a personal tailor) and Blitz's vaguely gothy aging punk looks, they're an absurd non-match based on the height difference alone. It is transparently clear, when you compare them to the rest of the romantic relationships in the Hellaverse, that these two were absolutely not designed to match.

And honestly? That makes it so much better. Their character designs are holdovers from each character's original conception; both of them were originally intended to be the villain in someone else's story rather than the hero of their own. But both of them did that thing that characters often do, just stuck their head up and announced that they wanted to do something different, and the creative team pivoted to a new direction accordingly.

They evolved beyond those original character sketches to become something much more profound, and now Blitz and Stolas aren't tied to the roles they were originally designed for. They're the masters of their own fate. And in a universe where romantic couples all look so visually matched-up as if fate designed them for each other, there's something extremely powerful about a pair who wanted to be together so much that they defied destiny to be together despite it all.

And you know what? When you look at them from the right angle, they do kind of match up in a certain sort of way anyway...

[helluvalaura]

looks like somebody had his taste in action/adventure stories permanently rewired by playtime with Blitz as a kid 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[helluvalaura]

Theory: Blitz was going to ask Fizz to run away with him

I have been ruminating, as one does, on the as yet unknown context of the circus fire. I suspect that S3 will be the season in which we get more of that context, and I look forward to finding out if any of my speculation here is on point! In the meantime, though, here's my conjecture.

I think most of the fandom has worked out by now that Blitz had feelings for Fizz back then and was most likely planning on a love confession that night. The show isn't exactly subtle about the breadcrumbs it's been dropping to that effect:

But to me this raises the interesting question of... what actually prompted Blitz to bail on his plan to confess and give up?

One of Blitz's defining character traits is his stalwart refusal to give up or back down even in the face of overwhelming adversity. The one notable exception to this, in fact, is his love life... but that seems to be, in large part, because of how spectacularly everything went wrong with Fizz and so wouldn't have been a factor yet. Nevertheless, he does give up on his planned confession, without even trying no less. So it begs the question: why?

Hypothesis: Blitz planned to ask Fizz to run away with him and start their own circus.

The thing is, Blitz has always been ambitious. Even when he was a very young child, he knew he wanted to be his own boss.

And of course it's pretty heavily implied that part of his drive even this young to be self-employed is because he chafes against his father's abusive and controlling behavior:

Blitz has an incredibly low tolerance for being controlled or commanded. It's one of several reasons why Moxxie's bossy nitpicking gets under his skin so much, it's why he has zero tolerance for abusive bosses like Mammon, and it's why he has a 4/4 track record on calling the Sins a bitch to their face the first time he meets them, metaphorically speaking.

He's driven, he's ambitious, and he doesn't want anybody above him dictating how he should live his life. It's only natural that, once he was an adult, he would pretty quickly start making plans to make his dream a reality.

And naturally if he was planning on leaving the All-Imp Circus to start his own outfit, he would want Fizz to come with him, right? Not just because he has feelings for him (though certainly that, too) but because Fizz is talented and never let it be said that Blitz doesn't have an eye for talent!

This, I think, is what makes the timing of Fizz's birthday significant. The timeline of HB is pretty loose and ages are mostly a guesstimate (we assume that the infamous birthday playdate took place on Stolas's 10th birthday but we don't know for sure, we assume that M&M are like 26-28 based on Millie's remark in Truth Seekers but that's a pretty general guess, etc. etc.), but if we assume that this is Fizz's 18th birthday, that would make the timing of his confession all the more relevant.

Blitz sticking around Cash's circus until Fizz became a legal adult and would be free to leave with him would make sense if he not only wants to confess his feelings, but also ask Fizz to run away with him and be his business partner in starting a new circus.

Which is what brings me to the final pillar holding up this hypothesis: what Blitz actually saw that made him lose his nerve and back down without trying.

Because the thing is... if we JUST take Blitz's planned love confession as the only factor here, it's hard to see what would prompt him to give up. There's no rival for Fizz's affection as far as we can see, so that's not the issue. If it were a question of Blitz being jealous of Cash preferring Fizz to his biological child you could maybe make that argument, but also it's not like that's news, you know? That's been the standing state of affairs since they were little kids.

I think it's something deeper and more nuanced.

Something I find very interesting to explore in fiction is the ways in which two (or more) people can have a shared childhood and yet have radically different experiences and memories of said childhood, and the people in it. Two children can be raised by the same person but have two totally different parents out of the experience.

And I pretty strongly suspect that this happened with the circus trio, especially the gap experienced between Fizz (whose background we still don't know but who mostly seems to have been a ward of the circus/Cash?) and the twins. While Cash was an incredibly toxic presence in his biological childrens' lives, based on what we've seen I'm not so sure that Fizz had the same experience of him.

(which isn't to say that Cash's treatment of Fizz wasn't also toxic or to deny that it primed Fizz to be receptive to Mammon's later abuse, but I think Cash fluffed Fizz up in a way that made it hard to recognize his manipulation as abusive in the same way his treatment of Blitz and presumably Barbie was)

All this to say that, essentially, I think that what happened in the moment that Blitz decided to keep quiet and not speak his feelings was this:

Blitz walks in, having hyped himself up to confess his love and beg Fizz to run away with him to start their own circus, away from Cash and his bullshit. He sees Fizz, surrounded by the adulation of the rest of the circus and happily basking in Cash's affection, and realizes that Fizz doesn't have the same desperate need to get out that he does. He realizes that, regardless of whether Fizz returns his romantic feelings or not, there's no way Fizz would choose running away with him over all this. In the All-Imp Circus, Fizz is the star of an established show. He's got the springboard to the career he wants already lined up. So if Blitz asks Fizz to choose him, he's asking Fizz to abandon a sure thing and leap into the void, to risk everything he's worked for since they were little kids on Blitz's gamble. Even if Fizz does love him back, he would basically be asking Fizz to choose between him and his career.

And by this point, Cash Buckzo has already had the better part of two decades to work on Blitz's self-esteem, so he knows ("knows") how that choice is going to turn out. He knows there's no world in which Fizz would choose him if that's the choice.

Whether Blitz was right in that assumption or not, I think that's what drove him to walk away that night. I think it just boiled down to him being either unwilling to force such a difficult choice on Fizz, or unable to believe there was any world where Fizz would choose him (or maybe a little of both), and so he decided to give up, keep silent, and pursue his dream alone rather than hurt both of them by forcing the decision into Fizz's hands. And unfortunately as the result of a total freak accident, the point ended up being moot anyway.

[helluvalaura]

Okay but I love being right

For months I've been saying that I thought that part of the Stolitz journey in S3 was going to be them having to change up their sexual dynamic once they start becoming intimate again, specifically because of what happened with Striker.

In order to survive that encounter, Stolas had to relate the torture he was going through to his sexual experiences with Blitz as a way to taunt and fluster Striker. His desire for sexual submission is now mentally linked to an actually traumatic experience of extremely real, not at all play-pretend-sexy-fantasy torture. And while that desire for submission is not going to go away, it's also going to be a lot more complicated now and Stolas has emotional needs for (sexual, but not just sexual) control and agency that can't necessarily be met through submission.

And now the very first clip we get fed for S3? Is Stolas attempting to write up a fantasy of sexual submission (and one which plays into the elegant prince/rugged peasant kink he definitely has not unpacked yet but that's a subject for a whole other post lmao) but immediately stumbling into the problem that the very idea of sexual submission also carries with it some significant PTSD triggers now.

Anyway team "Stolitz are going to have to experiment with switching sometimes for everybody's mental health" for life

[helluvalaura]

listen I know we talk about Blitz's sappy little smile at the end of Mastermind when he realizes Stolas is already asleep but I also think we should talk about the look on his face as he's turning around to check on him, right before he realizes he's keeled over in the bath

he literally could not be more visibly full of Tenderness and Love if he tried. the amount of Soft™ going on for that split second before he's like "oops shit birdie isn't okay" is genuinely crazy

[helluvalaura]

The thing that will never ever stop being crazy to me is that Stolas put himself between Blitz and the fire.

Throughout the entire series, we've seen so many instances of Blitz using himself as a shield, putting himself between his loved ones and any kind of danger. It's kind of his number one move, and it's instinctive and immediate for him in a way that tells me this is something he has been doing for his loved ones his entire life. I'll wager that Blitz being a protector like this started a long time before the circus fire.

Point is... Blitz is always the one shielding others. Whether it's getting between Fizz and Crimson's goons or standing in front of the rest of Team I.M.P. when they're cornered by the D.H.O.R.K.S., it's always him in the line of fire. I actually went back and checked to see, and yeah, we never see anybody else shielding Blitz first. He's always the protector, never the one being protected. Being willing to take the hard hit to spare the people he cares about is one of the biggest ways Blitz shows his love for others. And he was all set to do it again in Mastermind by taking the full punishment upon himself so that his family would be spared...

...only for Stolas to do something that, as far as we've seen, no one has ever really done for Blitz before. He takes on all the blame, he accepts the burden of punishment, he puts himself between Blitz and the fire!!

And in the face of Satan's law, in the face of Wrath, Stolas is not one jot bigger or more powerful than Blitz is in any way that matters. Although his privileged position ultimately leads to his punishment being different than what Blitz's would have been, Stolas is as powerless in the court of the Sins' judgment as Blitz was. Nevertheless, he steps up and places himself between Blitz and danger, the first person we've ever seen do so, and he does it fully assuming that he's going to die for it.