Music / Just Look My Way

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"Just Look My Way" is an orchestral pop ballad and Hellaverse Animated Music Video. Like the earlier Hellaverse music video "ADDICT", it was previously a fan-created song (this time by Paranoid DJ) before being transformed into an official video by Vivienne Medrano and SpindleHorse Toons. The original fan song, "Just Look My Way (Stolas' Lament)", was released in 2021. The official video, featuring a revised version of the song, released on Dec 3, 2023.

Focusing exclusively on Helluva Boss, the video takes place sometime between "Oops" and "The Full Moon". It is a lament by Prince Stolas of the Ars Goetia as he gathers the courage within himself to do what he knows in his heart is the right thing—end his Sex for Services agreement with his beloved Blitzo by bestowing upon him an Asmodean Crystal that will allow him to maintain his earth-based murder company without the need for Stolas' grimoire.

Tropes:

• Adaptational Context Change: The original fan song opens with Stolas calling Blitzo to try and spend time with him, only to be rejected; the song is about Stolas reflecting in the wake of this. The official version removes the opening scene, the song now being set in the midst of Stolas' preparations to give Blitzo independence from him.
• Adaptation Deviation: Some of the lyrics are changed from the original version.
  • "Come now, my little impish plaything, we both made our choice" is changed to "But dearest, I know better now. I must give you this choice." This reflects the shift in Stolas' characterization since the early days of the show and emphasizes his romantic attachment to Blitzo.
  • "What's left for me in this broken house" is changed to "What's left for me and my broken heart", as by this point in the series, Stolas is ending his miserable marriage to Stella.
  • The verse starting with "I'll give you everything you need" and the spoken line following it are omitted.
  • "Is this how she'd feel? Abandoned, all alone and left to fend for herself? For some semblance of happiness that doesn't have to end?" (with the "she" being Octavia) is changed to "Is this what you feel? Scorned by a realm that cannot comprehend what you are, so I'll grant you this mercy — this bind on our souls needs to end," keeping the song's focus on Blitzo.
• Adaptation Title Change: The original fan song is titled "Just Look My Way (Stolas' Lament)". The official version drops the subtitle.
• Disney Acid Sequence: Much of the video's visuals involve Stolas imagining himself in the astral plane amongst the stars with him and Blitzo as celestial bodies.
• Foreshadowing: Many of the song's lyrics herald the grisly and unfortunate events of "The Full Moon" while also paralleling Stolas' lines in "When I See Him" from the same episode.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Essentially the whole point of the song. Stolas is utterly petrified at the idea that Blitzo will abandon him without the need for his grimoire, but he knows that it's wrong to keep extorting the imp for sex, which is why he resolves to fix the very thing he broke in the first place.
• Poor Communication Kills: An integral aspect of the song is dedicated toward pointing out how Stolas is really bad at articulating his desire for a relationship with Blitzo without coming across as Innocently Insensitive at best and a depraved Upper-Class Twit at worst thanks to the privilege and status he's held all his life making him seem like he looks down on Blitzo.
  I don't care that you're of lower station, or primed to sate my dark temptations
  Why can't you understand? Let me explain!
• Space Episode: The music video has Stolas traveling through the vast array of space while singing the titular ballad.