Anti Spindlehorse - Blog Posts

HH & HB Worldbuilding Part #01

Worldbuilding, a beautiful and vital thing for all stories to have, is, for some reason, absent in the Hellaverse. Let’s change that.

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“When was Hell created?” ‣ I’ve decided to base Hell’s creation on how long the Earth has been around for which would mean that Hell was made around 4.5 billion years ago. I went this route because it makes the most sense from a logical and theological standpoint as God only made the Earth after he found out that Adam & Eve had disobeyed him by eating The Forbidden Fruit of Knowledge.

“How many Rings of Hell are there?” ‣ Usually there are only Seven Rings of Hell but I’m taking a page out of Dante’s Inferno for this and having there be Nine Rings instead. However, the order of these Nine Rings is rather different. First and foremost, one of the only things staying from the canon Hellaverse is that the Pride Ring is the very first Ring of Hell as I see it as the only Ring meant to house Sinners on account of the majority of humanities crimes stemming from the sin of Pride by believing that they are better than something else whether it be their fellow man, machine, or beast. As far as the other big Six Rings of Hell go after Pride it would be Lust in 2nd, Gluttony in 3rd, Sloth in 4th, Greed in 5th, Wrath in 6th, and Envy in 7th.

‣ That just leaves me with the 8th & 9th Rings which cannot be accessed via regular means (for instance, Hell’s Metro system for Hellborn citizens) or standard irregular means (like The Marked Alleyways in Pride that’s used by normal Hellborn citizens and Sinners alike.) The 8th Ring is known as The Ring of Treachery and very few know of its existence and even fewer are aware of the evil it holds. On the other hand, the Final Ring is one that every demon knows and fears as that’s where those found guilty in The Serpent’s Courtroom are forced to serve capital punishment (yes, there are things far worse than the death penalty in Hell) and go to suffer for the rest of eternity, in the Ring fittingly named, The Abyss. “What are the laws of Hell?” ‣ Obviously, if Hell has some kind of courtroom then there are some type of rules set in place. How said rules work differ depending on four major factors: which Ring you’re in, your place in Hell’s hierarchy, your race, and whether you’re a Hellborn citizen or not. Which doesn’t sound as bad as it could be until you take into consideration that Hellborn groups like Imps have to constantly be updated on and follow the laws in ALL Seven Rings, be "reminded" about their place in Hell by basically everyone around them, and overall be treated less than a Sinner would be because, “at least Sinners EARNED their right to be here.” The only Hellborn groups to have it worse than Imps are Half-Breeds (like Blitzø, Barbie, and Striker) as they’re expected to memorize DOUBLE the set of rules compared to everybody else and Hellhounds who have the most amount of rules while also having the least amount of freedoms thanks to them being often seen as pets or servants and nothing more. “Will the entirety of Hell be some various shades of red?” ‣ Short answer, no. Long answer, each of the Rings will be various shades of their specific Sin’s corresponding color. For example, the entire Pride Ring is going to be some tint or shade of purple. The only Rings I can’t really do this for are Lust, Treachery, and The Abyss. For the latter two it’s because they don’t exist in the traditional sense and as far as the Lust Ring goes, I’ll have to change the color to pink as Lust’s true signature color is blue however Sloth is light blue which means one of them has to change and I don't know about you but a blue Lust Ring just doesn't sound or look right to me.

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While I was doing this I hadn't realized just how much Vivziepop & Spindlehorse managed to accomplish NOT making Hell feel like Hell. Both Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss are solely set in Hell for the sake of being edgy and so that one show can do the done to death trope of, "angels are the real bad guys," while the other show devolved into a convoluted melodrama.

With a story setting like Hell you, as the writer/director, have to understand that you can't just visually show the readers/viewers that this story could only be set in Hell but you also have to make them FEEL like it could ONLY be set in Hell. Viv somewhat grasps the visual aesthetic of Hell but she's completely lost on how to appeal to an even wider audience due to her shows failing to convince people that FEEL like either show truly takes place in Hell. There's no real ongoing suffering happening to the Sinners in Hazbin Hotel (I'm not counting Angel Dust and his problems because they've opted for him to have rushed and off screen character development) as the Extermination only happens once a year and with Helluva Boss, it REFUSES to go all in on depicting high class Hellborn citizens taking advantage of those beneath them in Hell's society (gee, I wonder why/s.) That aside, I hope that you liked the worldbuilding that I've come up with so far and before the day is over I'll probably make a post dissecting Chaggie and why they should've stayed as best friends like they were originally planned to be in HH before Viv changed her mind last minute. Happy Valentine's Day everybody!

HH & HB Related Post

Well, I didn't think that I would be making one of these again yet but here we are. Believe it or not a lot has happened since I made my last post in November of 2024 saying that rewriting HH or HB isn't worth it anymore but now that I've finally caught up on the rest of season #02 of HB, I've decided to redact that post I made back in early November of last year because the writers of Spindlehorse truly have proved to me that most of them never had a real grasp of media literacy to begin with. Now, I don't see myself as some brilliant writer who's on her way to becoming the next Shakespeare or some other arrogant BS like that but I know that without a single doubt in my mind, that I can write something better than the entirety of Helluva Boss Season #02 as well as everything I've seen from Hazbin Hotel. So I've decided that I will go back to rewriting HH & HB because I've realized that if the writers and creator at Spindlehorse can make their own characters look unrecognizable and derail who they were originally supposed to be/once were, that I have nothing to worry about as the worse that I'll be able to do is to make some lame ass fanfic to a show that already feels like an even worse fanfic of itself. TLDR: If Vivziepop and Spindlehorse can manage to make their own characters and narrative a million times worse then I'll just have to find a way to make it slightly better via rewrites.

One Hell of an Unpopular Opinion #05

Apology Tour completely dismantles the very thought of Stolitz ever being a remotely healthy relationship once they actually become canon on account of AT proving that Stolas doesn't truly love Blitzø for who he is but rather the idealized version of him that Stolas created within his own head and could be replaced by anyone who's willing to take/play Stolas' idealized role of a partner. __________

As much as I hate Full Moon for wasting so much of the audiences time, it did give us that scene where Blitzø was finally sick of Stolas' shit and told him off for it. However, since it's HB the show immediately tries to run damage control in it's next episode, Apology Tour. This is not only another episode that I despise but it's also the one that solidified my hatred for Stolas and his character. In the beginning of Apology Tour, Stolas bitches and moans over how Blitzø is still making their "relationship" about sex when, news flash, it's ALWAYS been about sex because you, Stolas, have kept it that way to the point where your victim feels like he has to sleep with you in order to DESERVE to keep his OWN BUSINESS RUNNING!

And Blitzø isn't wrong! Their "relationship" has always been, as Blitzø worded it back in Season #01 of HB, "a transactional fucking." Why would he see it as anything different when that's how its always been? Now, how does Stolas reply to this?

Honestly, this IS very shocking Stolas as I believe this might be the first time where you and Blitzø have interacted with one another where you're not blatantly sexualizing or romanticizing him on screen! After this he says that Blitzø should respect the fact that he isn't in the mood to sleep with or even speak to him right now. Mind you, whenever Blitzø has told Stolas in the past that he isn't in the mood to sleep with him or be flirted with, Stolas has respected that notion ONE TIME which was after the fiasco at Ozzie's back from Season #01. Otherwise, Stolas hasn't respected his boundaries for shit. Boundaries are important but you two aren't in a real relationship and even if you were respect is still a two way street. If you command respect from someone you choose to CONTINUE to disrespect on a CONSTANT/CONSISTENT basis then why the hell should they respect you? If it wasn't for his book, Blitzø wouldn't have any incentive to cross paths with Stolas at all.

Anyway, literal seconds later, Stolas tells Blitzo how he got invited to an annual anti-Blitzø party and comments on how he's above such silly nonsense only for him to quickly change his tune upon seeing Blitzø's annoyed and enraged reaction to seeing that Verosika is behind this petty pity party.

This starts a back and forth with Stolas demanding that Blitzø leaves. This results in Blitzø, yet again, reinstating on what their relationship truly is and how Stolas fetishizes him which discomforts Stolas because deep down he knows what Blitzø is saying is true.

Now, I won't get into the conversation that takes place after this comment as the critical side of the Helluva Boss fandom on Tumblr has already (rightfully) torn it to shreds. So instead, I'll save us all some time by simply skipping ahead to when Stolas is at the party after that Incubus guy (that rabbid Stolitz shippers hate) asks him if he wants to dance and why I despise that entire scene.

We see that Blitzø is uncomfortable with this and Stolas KNOWS that he's uncomfortable with this random guy asking Stolas to dance with him as Stolas made DIRECT EYE CONTACT with Blitzø! Now, Blitzø does effectively advise that Stolas take up the Incubus' offer with a hand gesture HOWEVER for Stolas to claim that he's always been in love with Blitzø and that he has eyes for him and him alone only to later MAKE OUT WITH A STRANGER just proves and validates Blitzø's feelings that you don't actually love or care about him! And moments before this scene Stolas says this.

THEN GO AND FIND THAT PERSON AS LITERALLY ANYBODY CAN DO THAT! YOU DO NOT LOVE BLITZØ, YOU MERELY LOVE THE CONCEPT OF BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM BECAUSE TO YOU, YOU SEE HIM AS A "CHILDHOOD FRIEND" WHEN IN REALITY YOU KNEW HIM AND HUNG AROUND HIM FOR ONE DAY SINCE YOUR FATHER BOUGHT HIM TO BE YOUR PLAYMATE FOR A SINGLE DAY! ... *Ahem.* In conclusion, there's no amount of future retconning that Viv and Spindlehorse can do to successfully make Stolitz appear as a genuinely healthy ship without trashing the entirety of Apology Tour but even that would create/introduce an entire new set of problems. __________

Man, I've been wanting to get this one off my chest for a while as I haven't seen many people bring up these scenes from AT when discussing how and why Stolas doesn't love Blitzø. I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts this time around and I'll see you later!