u/dannyyang910930

I now further don’t get where does the notion of “Stolas rapes Blitzø” comes from?

• Blitzø intrudes Stolas home, attempts to obtain the Grimoire.

• An unassuming Stolas thought his childhood playmate decided to revisit him after all these years

• More actions and misunderstanding eventually leads Stolas to think that the whole thing is going to be a “kinky sex role play” (or something similar)

• Blitzø has already obtained the Grimoire and is on his way of leaving, and Stolas is already tied up/immobilized, but Blitzø still chooses to go back and do the sex for real after hearing Stolas joyfully calling him “his first best friend”

He *voluntarily* chooses to do so.

The later development (i.e. the two’s interaction in Mission: Zero and Murder Family) clearly involves some power imbalance, due to the toxic effects of Goetic culture internalization lingering (for Stolas) and their respective personal trauma (one is desperate for reaching out while the other is scared deep down).

*Some people seem to be icky about the second season reframing the uncomfortable jokes rooted from something more nuanced and expanding Stolas as a character, and resents the show for not making the supposed monsters more monstrous.

I know some might interpret that and what happening later as exchange rape, but I will admit that notion feels like a stretch for me. I can’t really comment further on that though, because I am not an expert in the field, so I welcome other’s opinions. Still, I think the whole thing is much more complicated instead of being just “Stolas is as malicious as Valentino”.

I know Helluva Boss is not perfect (I do think some plot points can be handled better after the rewatch so far, though I still really like the show). That’s why I occasionally watch critique videos and analysis, to see if I have missed something or different angles.

But after the rewatch, I really feel some of the most vicious flaws of the show according to the Internet are actually misinterpretations?

Or am I missing something? If anyone has more professional or deeper opinions on this topic, I welcome all comments. Thanks!

Edit: some words and the line annotated by asterisk (*)