#helluva critique

If youve seen any work the cast has does outside of the Hellaverse shows, you'd know.

The cast of both of these shows are STACKED with massive Broadway talent. You got Jessica Vosk, Erika Henningsen, Kimiko Glenn, Patina Miller, Jeremy Jordan, Darren Criss, Barrett Wilbert Weed, etc...

CHRISTIAN BORLE???? DAPHNE RUBIN-VEGA??? LESLIE KRITZER??? JAMES MONROE-IGLEHEART????? Etc etc....

I fucking DESPISE Stolas with a burning passion. I have never EVER hated a character more. But Bryce Pinkham? Star of the Tony Award winning Broadway musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder Bryce Pinkham??? Voice of an ANGEL (no pun intended) (Go listen to Gentleman's Guide if you haven't it's WONDERFUL)

Adam was a complete waste of a character, Pentious is passable and Fizz is a character I don't hate in a terrible show, but Alex Brightman???? My man Alex Brightman was ROBBED in the 2019 Tony Awards for his performance as Beetlejuice (I saw him live, he absolutely deserved that Tony). And I cant think of a better pick for Dewy Finn for the Broadway production of School of Rock.

Not to mention the OTHER very notable names attached to this project. You got KEITH DAVID??? STEPHANIE BEATRIZ???RICHARD HORVITZ????

KE$HA????

FUCKING PATRICK STUMP????

And then you have the equally talented but much smaller names. Brandon Rogers, Blake Roman, Joel Perez, etc...

And that's not to forget about the pilot casts too. Elsie Lovelock, Mónica Franco, Michael Kovach, etc...

Unfortunately, the casts of both Hellaverse shows are DEVESTATINGLY talented.

And my point is that if it weren't for the ASTRONOMICAL talent of the cast, no one would think these shows are good.

The cast is so unbelievably good at their jobs that they can make any dogshit sound good. If they read a dictionary with as much effort and enthusiasm as they do the scripts of these shows, it would still sound compelling.

People like these characters and these shows because the talent of the voice cast makes it sound good. Their talent elevates these shows to such a degree that it has convinced a massive audience that the characters are well written and the plots make any sense.

But they're not. And they don't.

Helluva Boss has no plot anymore, it's just Stolitz toxic yaoi + pregnancy arc for the only female character the writers still pretend to care about.

Hazbin Hotel makes absolutely no sense with the Heaven vs Hell plot. Is Charlie even the main character anymore? Because Vox and Angel and Alastor have all gotten much more "development" than she has.

But the actors are just, too good at their jobs. They speak their lines with such conviction and earnestness that they make the characters somewhat enjoyable to at least watch. I don't like HH but Christian Borle is my FAVORITE Broadway white man. (I went all the way to NYC to see Tammy Faye on Broadway JUST to see him at the final performance). I can't help but at least enjoy Vox's presence on screen because Christian Borle is just such a good actor that he play the character SO WELL even when Vox being the main villain I'm s2 makes absolutely no sense????

And the cast believes in these shows so much because this group of professional theater kids managed to break into the mainstream and now they have millions of fans worldwide. It must be exciting, ESPECIALLY for the smaller names like Blake Roman and Joel Perez. So I honestly don't blame them for believing their own hype so much cause they're now accessing performance opportunities they didn't have before.

(I genuinely hope there was a casting director or something at the Hazbin Hotel live on Broadway event because Blake Roman ESPECIALLY deserves to be a Broadway leading man like Reeve Carney or Jeremy Jordan. If Blake Roman, with his GORGEOUS voice, doesn't get cast as Orpheus in Hadestown in the next 2 years I'm rioting. His performance as Angel Dust is so unbelievably good you'd think Angel was a well written character.)

Anyway, that's my rant about why I think the Hellaverse shows are as popular as they are despite being absolutely terrible

I AM ONLY GONNA TAG THE CRITICAL HELLAVERSE TAGS. IF THIS POST MANAGES TO BREACH CONTAINMENT AND HELLAVERSE STANS SEE THIS, JUST BLOCK ME AND THE APPROPRIATE TAGS. I AM NOT INTERESTED IN DEBATING THE QUALITY OF THE HELLAVERSE WITH DIE HARD STANS. THANK YOU

And, all i have to say is...

HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO TEACH YOU THIS LESSON OLD WOMAN?

Like, why does she keep going after people who make valid criticism on a series she likes?

Like, why does she label people who make good criticisms on shows "haters"?

Really?

Like, are you serious?

Only now are they deciding to show that Stolas being tortured and almost killed by Striker traumatized him? Now that poor Stolas is a "commoner", powerless, without his position and daughter?

Now, it might seem like I'm being unnecessarily cruel and mean to Stolas, but I want you to think about it with me for a minute.

You all know how Helluva Boss uses Stolas's suffering, right? Stolas suffering from PTSD isn't going to be used to deepen his character, develop him, or anything like that.

No, no, it will only be used for one thing:

Make him suffer so the audience will feel sorry for him and to gather pity.

This is always how Helluva Boss's narrative uses his suffering, as in Mastermind and Sinsmans.

The loss of his power, position, wealth, and daughter was not used to hold him accountable for his mistakes or portrayed as Stolas' fault. It was only used to generate empathy and pity from the audience, so that they wouldn't have to address Stolas's real mistakes and hold him accountable.

It's just suffering for people to look at and say:

"awww poor Stolas ):"

And it's going to be the same thing here, his PTSD will only be used to victimize him and probably even to alleviate or justify mistakes he makes in the third season.

And damn, the worst part is going to be the fandom; they've been given an huge package now to victimize this damned bird, even more than they already did.

(Both are by GalXE!)

(Left one is by HezuReviews, right is by Autistic Swag!)

(Both are by Madeline Maye!)

(Both are by Cassidy Whiskey!)

Him being a spoiled rich white asshole:

I hate his facial expressions so much, you have no idea

I can guarantee you care about these 'nice things' more than you care about your daughter btw

Oh, we also have, let's see here...

*insert the entire montage of Blitzø (Stolas' victim) trying to cheer his abuser up since he's now in love with him thanks to good ol' Stockholm Syndrome*

Seeing that cigarette reminds me of when Stolas uh... *checks notes* called Blitz an 'itty bitty imp (racist)' despite him clearly hating it, grabbed his cheek and used his horn to put out his cigarette (not to mention Blitzø's severe trauma being related to fucking fire)

Okay so anyway, I think Stolas said "Oh, when have you ever asked" bc Blitzø stole from him and his family 25 years ago. correct me if I'm wrong here but isn't it manipulative af to bring up smth that happened that long ago, also it's totally unrelated to the current situation. I swear it's like a grown ass man saying to another "Oh I still hate you because, uhm, remember that one time in 3rd grade when you stole my pencil..."

So... if Stolas still holds this against Blitzø, let me ask: why was he ever "in love" with him in the first place? Answer? He wasn't. Stolas only used this imp for his sexual fantasies and for him to get to experience his "fairytale romance"

P.S. Imps are a race his privileged ass has always been racist towards and he hasn't ever attempted to, uh... try to understand them better? Understand how they live? I mean if you truly cared about your "boyfriend," Stolas, you'd have put in SOME effort to change your mindset/behavior and WOULDN'T HAVE EVER SEXUALLY COERCED HIM

He also 🍇d you blitz

And no he didn't do much, he's powerful af. Using those powers isn't rocket science heck he turned an imp to stone in s1 he can protect himself but is apparently the "bottom" in the stolitz "relationship". Also no, him leaving Octavia clearly isn't a huge deal to Stolas otherwise he'd have fought to earn her forgiveness and not just sulk like a wimpy loser. YOU ARE NOT ONLY A GROWN MAN STOLAS, BUT A FATHER. At least you were supposed to be

So was not thinking about your daughter until you lost everything, apparently

AGAIN WITH THIS SHIT??? WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT A TRANSACTION AGAIN

Alright I'm signing off until the next season drops, if that ever happens

This episode sucked, but kudos to our girl Via who was smart enough to see through her "father's" bs 👏

CW for images that discuss or showcase rape. Tread cautiously.

First, let’s look at the Glitz and Glam Valentines merch. In this merch, they’re seen groping each other and making a scissoring pose.

The common excuse for this is that they’re just playing into those twincest tropes because that’s their whole brand in the show. But the merch exists outside of the show. This merch was not made in the show to show how the porn company will do any depraved fetish for a quick buck. This merch was made for people in the real world, people who have actual twincest fetishes. You can have merch of them playing into the fact that they’re twins without making it to where they are sexualizing one another like that.  An example of this trope done right are Hikaru and Kaoru from Ouran High School Host Club. These 2 often times play into the twincest trope for money, it’s their whole brand. But the show is very clear in showing us that this is not truly them. We never see them behave this way outside of work. Outside of work, they act like actual brothers. They’re doing it just for money. (And it’s also kind of trauma, but watch OHSHC if you want to see that in depth lol)

I was discussing something with my friend, how fiction does affect reality, since fiction is a direct byproduct of reality, which is why things like incest or age gap ships are inherently wrong. My friend (who is a big Hannibal fan) goes “I get where you’re coming from and I agree, but I’m also a simp for fictional cannibals.” And to that I said you are less likely to meet someone who is a cannibal or done that heinous crime than you are to find someone who’s a victim to incest abuse. It’s similar to how Vox doesn’t receive hate from the fandom for killing lower income workers, because that’s almost cartoonish in how bad it is.

Then there’s Val. The show is constantly fluctuating between him between a genuine, sinister threat and then him being a ridiculously silly evil man that we shouldn’t take seriously. I can almost understand what they’re going for, showing that he’s an absolute loser that we’re meant to point and laugh at, because he is a loser (fuck sexual abusers). However, there’s a huge disconnect. It’s jarring when you switch between the two on a dime. And I think part of the reason they do this is because of his relationship with Vox. Vox is meant to be a silly, goofy villain and so pairing him with the genuine sinister and disgusting version of Val that we all know and hate, it would feel weird. But here’s the thing. NONE of the Vees should feel cartoonish and stupid like this. They’re supposed to be perceived as actual threats, apparently. So, instead, make Vox genuinely sinister and evil too! ACKNOWLEDGE HIS CAMERA IN ANGEL’S DRESSING ROOM! ACKNOWLEDGE HIM MARKETING VAL’S DATE RAPE DRUG! Don’t add these background details if you’re not going to acknowledge that Vox is a predator as well. 

And then there’s Charlie, who has the power and authority to take Val down if she wanted to. But why doesn’t she? Because, in her words, “That would be so meaaaaan.” …I have nothing to say to that. 

And then there’s Angel. He is not deep in the slightest. They tried so hard but failed miserably. He’s supposedly from a mafia background. You would never know because he’s never seen outside of anything sexual. Sex jokes, comments on how he’s sexy, talking about how he’s a sex worker, all that jazz. He has nothing going for him outside of sex. Which is bad when his whole arc is meant to be how he hates being sexualized deep down! I understand that the show is trying to show us that he’s hypersexualizing himself because of his trauma. But this rings hollow when the show refuses to show us literally anything outside of him being sexual! Apparently, he likes to sing and dance. But you wouldn’t know that! (I know he sings, BUT EVERYONE SINGS. IT’S A MUSICAL. Even Vaggie sings when she clearly didn’t like it in the first episode, so Poison doesn’t count). You wouldn’t know anything about his interests because all he’s used for is for sex. It doesn’t help that literally almost all of his merch surrounds him being sexualized in some way, feeding into the idea of him hypersexualizing himself not being taken seriously. 

This is especially bad when you remember that when Viv was marketing the music video for Poison, THIS WOMAN MADE A CUM JOKE! Yknow, the music video all about sexual abuse? Ya, let’s make a stupid sex pun because that’s not tone deaf at all! Fuck you Viv.

And only certain characters get their sexual abuse shined on. But if you’re, say, Blitzo, Sir Pentious, or Husk, your SA experience is completely swept under the rug and ignored. Why? Well, because Blitzo and Husk are more masculine characters than her twinks who get acknowledged for their abuse. And Pentious is a character we’re supposed to be pointing and laughing at. 

And don’t even get me started on Raphielle. This person is a storyboard artist for the show, and the storyboard artist for Poison. AND THIS MOTHERFUCKER HAS A RAPE FETISH! I kid you not! This person has even drawn art of Angel being raped by Vox and Val. I refuse to believe Viv cares about abuse victims when she has someone like this on her pay roll (whom she actively defends, mind you). She even lied, saying that this person is a victim of sexual abuse, to which this person admitted was a LIE. 

Also, how she treats fans who are also victims of SA. Everytime someone comes forward, saying that they didn’t like the depiction of sexual abuse in the show, Viv will dogpile on them (the most famous example of this being Limus). But then if a fan who is a victim of SA praises the depiction, she will put them on a pedestal. This is tokenization at its finest!

And, hey, let’s talk about Viv’s catcalling comic, too!

In this comic, two women are being catcalled. One hates it and the other likes it, saying that it means they’re attractive. The one who hates it then starts yelling at the other girl and based on the framing of the scene, it feels we’re supposed to hate the first girl and think that the second girl was right. FUCK. THAT. This comic could’ve been such an interesting commentary on victim blaming and unhealthily coping with SA by justifying it to yourself. But no. That’s not what was done here. Great. 

EDIT:

I feel like this video is also appropriate to add here