I’ve been thinking about how Stolas would feel about this look since I saw it.

After obsessive rewatching the Stolitz duet and laughing at Stolas's switchup from "Tonight's gonna be great!" and having the in love disney princess vibe to "I'LL FUCKING DIE ALONE" having a panic attack in the fridge crying on the kitchen table is because he had no happy pills and now the depression & anxiety is settling in 😭

genuinely love the stolas and blitzø dynamic that was shown in the trailer. no it's not a healthy relationship, no they do not fix each other, they are both ridiculously horrible people with broken lives and they just want to make out with each other.

This is the ONLY appropriate reaction to knowing you're about to plow Prince Stolas of the Ars Goetia. btw.

the true asylum is even worse than this, how did we all survive it

I am obsessed with Blitz’s Full Moon outfit. Like full on unhinged about it. I love it so much. The short sleeves. The suspenders, the bow tie, the gloves. It’s probably my fav outfit in the whole series.

I keep rearranging the scenes in my head to see where they could potentially fit. One way is the scenes where Stolas appears mad and like he’s sarcastically reacting to Blitz in the garden with the robe could be at the beginning of Full Moon. The reason I didn’t immediately put it there is it doesn’t jive with the context of Stolas’s song and the issues we’ve seen in Look My Way. It would be very emotional whiplash if he was being snarky or rude to Blitzø about Blitz’s seeming indifference only to sing about what a monster he is for trapping him in a transactional deal, ya know? But there is also a part of me where it could make sense as another potential misunderstanding. That scene also doesn’t fit after Full Moon for me because that seems to be sad boy hours all around and I don’t see Blitzø going back to Stolas after the crystal confrontation and Stolas being in anyway not happy about it?

Stolas is unmedicated it appears, he’s run out of his pills so he’s all over the place. Been there buddy. He could be vascillating between hurt that Blitzo doesn’t appear to care about him and guilt for “trapping” him. He still appears to be injured as well so there may be an element of anger that Blitzo just comes by for the book. He sarcastically agrees to renew thier Full Moon deal, maybe gets sloshed and then later wakes up sick and feels bad about it leading to his part of the duet and freaking out about giving Blitzo the crystal.

Meanwhile Blitz picked up on none of those cues, just like Stolas didn’t pick up on Blitz’s at Ozzie’s and is honestly and genuinely giddy and excited about their upcoming rendezvous, making pancakes and singing and ignoring the complicated in favor of the sexy. Dumping his work on Moxxie, dressing up, going to Fizz for something special. Meanwhile Stolas is having a manic episode about it. Hiding in the fridge, hiding in his blankets, etc.

Stolas is so overwrought he doesn’t fulfill his Full Moon duties. He gets called in by the Ars Goetia, and that’s where the disgrace line comes in from the Paimonesque figure. I could see Vassago comforting him perhaps, being a shoulder to lean on and Blitzø showing up all dressed up with his candle and then they have their confrontation about the state of their relationship. Or the other way, Stolas and Blitz have it out and that confrontation is witnessed by someone and that Stolas used his grimoire for that purpose and the Disgrace line is after and sets up Stolas’s fall from grace for the rest of the season.

My fanfic actually follows a similar trajectory but different situation so I’m not sure if I’m putting the pieces together in this way because of that preconception or not.

Kinda wanna do a rewatch just focused on the eyes that appear during discord between characters. I know people have mentioned Roo which was before my time in the fandom so I don’t know much about them but there is definitely a deliberateness to the eyes, following the action in the scene and seeming to appear at moments of underlying character issue or strife between characters. I’d like to do a rewatch and focus on when they appear and when they disappear. In the Millie and Sallie Mae short I rewatched to see if they were present at any point before the rooftop discussion and they aren’t (there are eye motifs on buildings and buses and plants but not these specific eyes that move around the scene and focus on the character and change throughout the scenes, these are deliberately included in both Hazbin and Helluva during certain moments).

This is their first appearance in this episode and they don’t disappear until after the girls start playfully fighting. Has anyone already compiled this?

⚠️ HELLUVA BOSS SEASON 2 TRAILER SPOILERS ⚠️

GOOD FUCKING BYE.

“i just want someone to care. i just want someone to want… me.”

“i destroy everything. i make everyone’s lives worse.”

im done.

IM FUCKING DONE.

A continuation of this post I now think the C.H.E.R.UB. / D.H.O.R.K.S team up is a gag but is WHY the red hooded figures are surrounding them later. Their lack of human disguises gets them in trouble with some higher power so they flee to human world to hide and take on the ghost hotel job. They decide to stop running or Blitzø does and that leads into the Stella/Andrelphus/Vassago confrontation in Mastermind. By the time he saves Stolas they still haven’t dealt with the red hooded figure problem, and we’ll have Octavia being upset, and Stolas’s reputation or status being threatened or diminished. This sets up a lot for season 3 where we’ll have both of them dealing with the fall out of maybe choosing to be together. This will be the first choice, we will probably get two more after this in later seasons.

I just have the feeling this is going to play out very Disney fairytale over the course of the next few episodes. I have a few theories, they may be in the wrong order but I think the major beats will play out in one way or another.

I think split in Full Moon. Both of them dealing with things in Apology Tour and Ghostfuckers, both want to reconcile and come back together by Mastermind and then season finale cliffhanger setting up season 3 conflicts in Sinsmas.

Full Moon I see Blitzø and Stolas approaching it from very different places. This time Blitz is excited and kinda giddy and Stolas is depressed and upset. Blitzo’s excitement makes him react badly to Stolas which feeds into Stolas’s fears. Like a reverse Ozzie’s. The episode will end with them split. I think the sky is red because the split either makes Stolas depressed or he’s so distracted by the whole thing he forgets his duties and is made to look bad in front of the Goetia which is where Vassago and Andrelphus come in.

Apology Tour I think the team up of D.H.O.R.K.S and C.H.E.R.U.B is a gag, like they maybe thought they trapped them and then. Blitzø outwits them and flips them off leaving and that’s all we see. I think maybe the confrontation with Stolas in the garden takes place here. Stolas seems sarcastic and annoyed in his robe when Blitz comes by. This could be in full moon but might be here. He finds out about a concert of a Verosika maybe involving Stolas and sneaks in and has a confrontation with a Verosika. He sees Stolas sing and realizes he’s in love with him. realizes he wants Stolas and seeks out help from Fizz (though that could be in full moon) and maybe even Verosika and finalizes those apologies. I think at the end he’ll maybe go to Stolas but will be unable to reach him because Stolas has been captured by Andrelphus and Vassago through their plot. I think Stolas will be taken out of commission at some point in either Full Moon or Apology Tour. Maybe the end of Ghostfuckers but I don’t think so.

Ghostfuckers will be a break to increase the tension of the Stolas being captured or shut away in some way situation and will be an IMP only mission involving the team having to address truths like Truthseekers but using a haunted ghost hotel as the catalyst rather than drugs. Like I think there may be hallucinations or other ghostly apparitions that make them confront things about themselves. This is where Blitzø finally breaks down in front of Millie and makes a final determination about Stolas and being better in general. Maybe the Tillie scenes come in here and the Millie with glass. Like they are all ghost things. At the end of this episode I expect Blitzø to try to find Stolas and will realize something is wrong. This is the part where the rule of three comes in, he failed to save Stolas twice so now he’s gonna save him.

Mastermind is the Andrelphus/Stella/ Vassago confrontation. I imagine Blitzø frees Stolas from where he was trapped, they confront Andrelphus which is why there is ice while he’s holding a sword. This may be the Octavia episode as well, she is upset her father has been missing and maybe she comes in and he’s with Blitzø and she assumes he left her to be with Blitzø but really he was captured by Andrelphus and Vassago. A classic misunderstanding that plays into both their fears.

Sinsmas is either a continuation of that conflict and it’s a sad Christmas episode, which sets up a conflict for next season where Stolas and Blitzø want to be together but there is guilt or like feeling like he’s ruining Stolas’s life which we already see will be a big theme. This may be a cliffhanger for season 3 or a more Christmas type episode where they resolve it and Season 3 will introduce brand new conflicts to be explored in S3 and 4.

Just some thoughts, I’m a little tipsy so may not be coherent but this is how I think it’ll play out. I’ll expand more when sober. Edited to change my Apology Tour speculation a bit.

One thing though, is how in the duet we finally see Blitzø's side of the full moon day, and it's refreshing to see him so excited for it. Like clearly he's freaking out and would rather distract himself from his pressing thoughts and questions about the current state of their relationship by focusing on the "sexy stuff", but he genuinely is fucking stocked to be going there.

Which makes the inevitable break-up sooo much worse.

SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP ITS GOING JUST LIKE THOOOUGHT IM SO FUCKING EXCITED.

I HAD TO GO TO A BIRTHDAY PARTY WHILE THE FULL MOON PANEL WAS GOING ON SO CATCHING UP.

I know you probably weren’t looking for the answer to this but as an auDHD person I have found making friends as an adult to be way easier than as a child/teen because of my hyper fixations by following that advice. As a child and teen I had maybe one or two real life friends and a bunch of equally important but less tangible internet friends. As an adult I have a frankly staggering group of really solid adult friends from different things I’ve participated in. But you are right that advice on its own is not helpful, there are a number of overwhelming things.

I will say that doing this is different than being forced to make small talk with people I have nothing in common with who are only there because we were forced to be by an institution or neighborhood proximity. We already gave a common ground to work with. The key is to throw out the conventional advice of introducing yourself to people and engaging in inane social rituals like hand shakes or icebreakers or finding topics of conversation unrelated to the hobby or interest because that’s when that cringing anxiety comes in.

The first thing for me is to find something that requires either a commitment or has a new members night. If the club or activity doesn’t have that you can email or message them and suggest it. Most clubs I’ve been in or even helped run, membership is a huge struggle to maintain so they are usually open to the idea. In my message I always point out that coming into a group of established people is scary so it would give new prospective members even ground and also encourage more established members to be the one to reach out and interact. Instead of you being alone trying to get in you have a bunch of new people who also have no idea what’s going on or how the social dynamics of the group work. The meeting is also geared towards integrating new members to the group so they will handle the introductions and stuff for you. If that’s not possible ask the group leader or a member you can contact if they would not mind introducing you around and showing you the ropes and how the meetings work, who the people are, etc. This takes some of the pressure off you, now you have a person you can follow around, sit with, not be expected to make conversation with because you already established with them you are new and nervous, and they will handle the introductions and explanations. In my experience people who found clubs love doing this, it validates their club and they want you to be part of it so they will help in anyway they can.

If the club or activity is doing something just do the thing. That’s all you have to do. You don’t have to actually talk or appear a certain way. People will come talk to you, I guarantee it. Seeing someone new just showing up and doing the task or activity compels them to reach out. They are curious about you. You are a new face. If you aren’t up to making the first move just be there, focus on your assigned task or the hobby being done and eventually other people will approach you and take it out of your hands. This may take one meeting it may take several but your only job is showing up and doing the thing you already like to do. If they have a volunteer night where you are like assembling meals for unsheltered individuals, or craft night where you are making a thing just get your assigned task and start doing it, if no one talks to you at least you have a job that keeps you busy and you aren’t just standing around awkwardly. But someone will approach you, people will talk to you. And then you come back and do it again the next meeting. I promise people will approach you and offer you the opening you need. I guarantee it. People don’t allow others to sit alone week after week. They just don’t.

Instead of small talk I use the hobby/activity as a gateway and ask questions or seek advice or if I hear someone asking a question I offer my advice. This keeps me focused less on the social aspect and more on the knowledge sharing and acquisition. It just happens to also open the door for conversation. They are questions I genuinely have, I don’t have to make them up or fake them, “What method or technique do you use to get that result”. Look around the group and see what people are doing and if someone is doing something in a way that interests you ask them how or the reasoning behind it. I’ll use derby as an example, I watch other skaters and if they are doing a skill I’m struggling with I’ll ask them “Can you show me how you do that?”. They are always willing, people like to share and show off, and then you have established contact. If someone is struggling with something I know how to do I offer them advice, and again that opens up a door of conversation.

If people are having a conversation about something that interests you don’t feel like you have to know them to participate, just give your opinion or perspective. Their attention being directed to you may feel like “who the fuck is this and why are they speaking to me” but in my experience they are really just looking at you because you said something and drew attention to yourself, and will continue the conversation from there with you now included. If the conversation peters off from that topic return to your activity and wait for the next one.

As far as maintaining those relationships if you have a few people in the club or group you’ve been talking to, either about the activity or other things, ask them if they are on X social media platform and if they are ask to add them. If the creepy algorithm suggests people from groups to you because you were in proximity, just add them. It’s a button click, and it’s not weird because they know you are adding them because you do X activity together now. They probably got you in thier suggested list too. Then they start interacting with your posts outside of the group, you have more opportunities for conversation, you are an established person in an aspect of thier life. If you see them post about a shared interest you have outside of the club or activity you now have something to talk to them about at the next meeting. “I saw you posted about Xmen97 or liked my post about Xmen97, let’s talk about that” kinda thing. Or if they post something message them directly and be like “Omg I love that thing too”. The beautiful thing about direct messages is if the conversation peters off you can just message the next time something pops up and it’ll start again. You are not committed to an unending flow of conversation. You can start and stop as many times as you like.

If there is a group discord or Facebook group or something similar join it. It’s easier to make conversation online versus face to face for me, but you can use those established online connections at the next in person meetup. I’ve had groups where I was in the discord for weeks before I met them in person and when I did it was way easier because we already had a foundation.

Also remember, people are there to make friends as well. They may be better than you at it, which is great because they’ll take the lead. But it’s important to remember that everyone there is also looking for connection and all you have to do it show up and be yourself. Don’t adjust your behaviors, just chime in when you have something to say, do the hobby or task and keep showing up and eventually you’ll have enough small conversations built up to establish a friendship.

If you have a few small connections and there are events related to that hobby or club invite your connections to them. “Hey, there’s a fiber arts convention can we get a group together and go?” Now you are doing things together outside of the club but still related enough to have conversations and a reason to be together related to it. Much less pressure than an unrelated karaoke night or meetup at a bar. If the group is getting together for an unrelated activity try to go. It’s a little scarier than the activity you are used to doing but they’ll see you are trying to participate and there will be conversation opportunities outside of the clubs activity for you to use.

If you’ve been going for weeks and not getting any traction or if you actively dislike the members it may not be the club for you. Just because people share an interest doesn’t make them friend material. There will be others. The key here is time. Small victories that add up. All you have to do is show up and do the hobby/interest which you were going to do anyway just alone. But I have yet to join a thing and not find at least one person I vibe with and stay in contact with. I’ve found my best friends at activities neither of us do anymore because the group we met at fell apart.

Also, I always tell people I’m auADHD in every situation I enter eventually. Work, social situations, etc. Do I have to reveal this information? No. But I find it helps me relieve my own anxiety about coming off as “weird” or “off putting” by just being up front. People will usually be like “Oh okay!” Or “Me too!” It also helps put context to some of the things I can’t control, like my tendency to cry easily, or get startled by loud noises or human jump scares (where I get so focused I forget other people exist and when they talk to me I shriek and jump because they “came out of nowhere”). I don’t just blurt it out like “I’m Steffie, she/her, I auADHD” but if someone talks to me I’m like “I’m nervous, I’m auADHD so this is hard for me”. If you are comfortable sharing there will be opportunities to do so and it will help people understand you better. Be honest, if you are feeling anxious or awkward say that, people will help you. They like doing so, it makes them feel good. It also tells you who in the group is worth your time, if you confess to nervousness or social awkwardness and no one reaches out they probably aren’t people you want to hang out with anyway.

I’m also big on fake it till you make it. Not being fake but acting as we are already friends, or I already know what I’m doing. I’ve never had anyone be like “who the fuck are you, go away” they usually just go with the flow, oh this person is here talking to us now, cool. I dunno, this is harder to explain but I just kind of act like I’ve always been there? This may not work for everyone but it works for me. A brute force “I’m here, now you have to deal with me” tactic has never failed me at work or social situations. Some people may not like you because of this approach, they fear your audacity, or feel you are weird, but they are irrelevant, the people who accept your crashing into their life like you’ve always been there are the real ones. It’s the same as stealing or getting into a place you aren’t supposed to be, if you act like you are supposed to be there people will accept you are supposed to be there. Again, this is not for everyone but it works for me, both professionally and socially.

So it all boils down to, don’t feel like you need a script or a set of lines. Just be there, talk when you feel compelled to, if you don’t, don’t. You don’t owe anyone a social performance, you don’t have to act differently to make friends, you just have to be in situations where you can make the attempt by being you. It’s a crude analogy but it’s like fishing, you put yourself out as friend bait and people will bite and then you reel them in. It may take several bites, you may not get any, but eventually you’ll catch a fish but you gotta go fishing first.

maybe unpopular opinion but probably one of the least useful pieces of advice I've ever got as an auDHD person to the question of "how tf does one make friends" was to go and join clubs/groups that do hobbies I enjoy. Not only does this not actually answer the question of how to make friends (yknow, how to approach people, how to start a conversation, how to appear friendly enough that they don't immediately reject you for existing, how to actually keep them as friends later on, etc), but also the chance of me choosing to force myself into the discomfort of "making smalltalk with random strangers" is absolutely nonexistent when the alternative of engaging with a hyperfixation is not only socially acceptable but even encouraged

i miss the part of fandom where we would watch together in real time then hiatus would be a feral expanse of creativity that would bring such innovative fics to the masses that it was just a wild time. it's just harder to tap into that now. i guess we still can but gosh what a time it was. speaking as an introvert who has a hard time keeping in touch it was great to jump on and just be with everyone's enthusiasm. some of my favourite things were jumping on a crack pairing or just taking one throw away line and world building with other fans with that

I agree mostly. But I'm saying, if I see someone publish a chapter and insists that the readers never comment anything negative about any elements in that chapter, it's unfair to expect any positive comments either.

it’s like this, right

If you see a street musician, you have three options:

Walk past without saying anything

Stop and listen to the music, but don’t give them any money

Stop and listen to the music and if you have the money and liked what they played, you give them money

Nowhere in any of that is the option, “Stop and criticize them to ‘help them improve their performance.’”

If you do that, you are considered an asshole. That’s just how life works.

In the same manner, when you read a fanfiction, you have three options:

Read it, like and/or love it, leave without a word

Read it, dislike and/or hate it, leave without a word

Read it, like and/or loveit, leave a comment

If you don’t like it? You don’t have to comment!

If you did like it but there was an element that wasn’t to your specific taste? Focus on the part you did like when you comment.

If you can’t do that, then walk away. Don’t say anything.

You’re right, you don’t have to leave a positive comment, but I’m not telling you that you have to leave a positive comment. I’m telling you that if you can’t leave one, then don’t leave a comment at all.

If the only way you’re willing to tell someone about the parts of their story that you liked is to also tell them the parts that you did not like and/or actively hate? Then don’t comment. Do. Not. Comment.

Because no matter how long each of those lists are–no matter if the good outweighs the bad or not–the only thing you’ve done is left a sour taste in someone’s mouth.

People do this for fun. It’s not fun if we give you something and the only thing we get back is that sour taste.