Fanfic / Shadows Over Hell

Shadows Over Hell is a Hellaverse fanfic by Ernor.

In Hell, everything has a price.

Octavia Goetia struggles under the weight of her mother's expectations and the consequences of her father's infidelity. Loona contends with being the lowest demon in Hell's food chain, a dead-end job, and too many solitary nights. Two fathers bring together two lonely souls who just happen to need each other. Hell won't have it. But you find friends in strange places. And they will all need each other because Hell is slowly growing stranger by the day.

It starts with the paintings and sketches piling up in Octavia's bedroom and the awful nightmares that inspire them. It deepens with too many disturbing and profitable jobs for IMP. It darkens with suggestions of horrors too vile for any demon and conflicts that will change the landscape of Hell. As friendships grow and the year blackens, a rag-tag group of demons band together to answer one question; What price would you pay to save your family?

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These fanfics provide examples of:

A-F

• A Day in the Limelight:
  • Chapter 6 is noticeably more M&M centric.
  • Chapter 9 is noticeably very Rufus centric, showing more of how he works, the people who serve under him, and more of his personality that we haven't seen until then. As is Chapter 28.
  • The majority of Chapter 19 is seen from Stolas' POV as he goes about his royal duties and tries to keep the recent controversies regarding himself & Octavia under control.
  • Chapter 40 is told entirely from Stella's perspective as she navigates (and becomes increasingly disillusioned with) the fickle politics of a Goetia Court that pays her increasingly less respect.
• A Glitch in the Matrix: While under the Choir's spell, during which we has a nightmare of a day when her barn was nearly destroyed in a fire, she starts noticing mistakes from what's going on and the outcome.
• Abusive Parent:
  • Stella might be more sympathetic this time around, and has a few loving moments to her daughter, but her controlling treatment towards Octavia, believing she knows what's best for her daughter, often refusing to listen to her and becoming quickly ill-tempered when pushed on the matter, often makes her relationship with her incredibly shaky and unhealthy. This is not helped by her also being verbally abusive and her constant fights with Stolas negatively affecting Octavia.
  • Stella herself was raised by very abusive parents, including a bigoted, cold, controlling mother and a physically abusive father.
  • Alastor had an abusive father when he was alive, the man frequently beating him as a child, striking him with his belt, causing the young lad to prefer his mother to him.
• Acceptable Breaks from Canon:
  • This fanfic was written before Season 2 aired, and before Stella was confirmed to be an abusive, uncaring spouse to Stolas with thus far little redeeming qualities to her, so it's forgivable that this incarnation of the swan demon, is portrayed as much more sympathetic and complex than her canon counterpart.
  • This also applies for Season 1's Episode 8 which was aired four days after the fic is fully published, where Tex's canon girlfriend is revealed to be Queen Bee-Lzebub who is one of the Seven Deadly Sins and could've snapped away any tension the story had for the first 40 chapters and be a major player in the final act, meaning that having her replace Andromeda who is just an ordinary mechanic would need nothing short of rewriting major parts of the original story.
• Action Dad: This story has three. Blitzo, Stolas and Rufus.
• Actually Pretty Funny: Stella is greatly amused by Blitzo letting her hit him, as a means to make up for his damage onto their house, instead giving him a light rap between the horns, and expressing a desire to get to know him better.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In canon Stella and Andrealphus get along swimmingly and love each other's company, despite the Marquis' frustration at her sister's simple mindedness having to reign in her murderous tendencies in order to get her onboard with his schemes to get more out of Stolas during their divorce. In here however, the two siblings are on much poorer terms, as Andrealphus openly uses his sister as a pawn for his own selfish gain, and showing little care about her feelings or wants, even after Octavia's apparent death. As a result, Stella dislikes her brother, and only decides to visit him, when living with Stolas becomes to unbearable.
• Adaptational Skill: Hellhounds now can breathe fire, despite having yet to display this ability in the show so far.
• Adaptational Villainy: As this was written long before Hazbin Hotel debuted on Amazon Prime, this Lucifer is almost nothing like his canon counterpart. Instead of a depressed, divorced former dreamer and Bumbling Dad who is otherwise a good man, the Morningstar in here is a calculating, manipulative and ruthless emperor of Hell who loves his family but is not afraid of doing monstrous acts, such as sacrificing numerous hellborn children for a ritual.
• Adapted Out: There is no sign of Striker anywhere in this fic, as this around Stella didn't hire him to kill Stolas. As such the Harvest Moon Festival went without much incident or problems for I.M.P. However, Chapter 51 has Moxxie reveal that he had an abusive ex-boyfriend named Striker in college and it was left ambiguous if it was the same imp.
• After Action Patch Up:
  • I.M.P. spends the last of Chapter 23 tending to their heavy wounds, after nearly dying at the hands of a heavily-armed cult. In particular, Blitzo treats Loona the best he can, while Moxxie sees to a near-fatally injured Millie.
  • The entire team stops for a moment of patching up and licking their wounds, after a hard, long battle with The King. Stolas in particular has to have several of his devastating wounds disinfected and healed up by Yoshimo, after nearly killing himself delivering the finishing blow.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg:
  • Blitzo doesn't enjoy it, but for Loona, he is willing to go down on his knees and beg in front of Verosika, to get her to treat his daughter better, much to the surprise to his ex-girlfriend.
  • When threats don't work, the usually calm, in-control and serious Rufus ends up begging Stolas to let him go to Yoshimo, after spending years keeping his domain safe and controlled, without asking anything in return. Thankfully, with some encouragement from other Stolas is moved enough by this to allow it.
• The Alcoholic: Rufus enjoys his whiskey as well as his tobacco, and Loona keeps a fifth of vodka in her desk at work.
• Alien Blood: The King's green ikor-like blood is acidic and burns the flesh, as Moxxie learns the hard way.
• All for Nothing:
  • When Blitzo & Loona finally return home after all the madness they've endured, they find their emergency vault, containing all the money they earned from their Canada mission completely gone. Meaning that they all nearly died and the team nearly separated, and they have nothing to show for it.
  • Rufus and the hellhounds spends several long strenuous days, crafting powerful hellish/holy weapons for the mission, only for many of them to be taken from the rescue party by the Choir.
• All Your Base Are Belong to Us:
  • The I.M.P. office suffers through plenty of raids and attacks throughout the middle of the story. First, it's where they're attacked by Martha looking for revenge. Then it's raided during the aftermath of the Uproar. And finally the entire building is completely gutted and destroyed by the Exorcists during Extermination Day, leaving the group with no home base whatsoever.
  • Stolas' palace also ends up under siege, when the Exorcists arrive for Extermination Day. While he's able to keep most of them out using warding spells, a few manage to sneak in and kill many of his refugees before leaving once the day ends.
  • Rufus' own base, the Emporium Galorium is attacked by the Grievous Brothers in an attempted assassination. He fights them off, but is forced to leave his shop, leading it to be ravaged during his absence. Like the others mentioned, it is further ruined by the Exorcists.
• Almighty Janitor: Pendergast the librarian of the Archive is powerful enough to subdue and defeat Stolas in his full Owlbear form. Considering that he is the Archive itself, it makes sense.
• Alone in a Crowd: This is how Stella feels during the party at Andrealphus' palace. Yes, she certainly had many suitors and guest attempting to win her hand and favor, but she feels utterly detached and alone through the parties, due to still mourning Octavia's death and her growing disillusionment with the Ars Goetia.
• Always a Bigger Fish: Rufus is cunning and dangerous enough to get the drop on Stolas and keep his part of Hell controlled with an iron fist. Stolas is a demon Prince responsible for overseeing celestial bodies. Yet both are small fish when compared to the other five Wardens and the Goetian Dukes and Kings they serve alongside.
• Amazonian Beauty: Vortex's girlfriend Andromeda, who's often stated to be his top, is described as having a Wonder Woman-like physique and enough muscle to break Rufus in half. She is still described as being a reliable, hardworking and friendly gal to those she's close to.
• Ambiguous Situation:
  • It's left unclear if Blitzo did sabotage his father's ropes on the night he died, or is it was merely convenient timing.
  • The final stretch of the book has several of these.The rescue party faces many physical and psychological trials while in the Choir's grip. But when they escape, all of their gear is still intact and the wounds they suffered are absent, leaving all of them to debate how much of the ordeal was physically experienced or if it was all a psychic funhouse.
  • In the final chapter, Stolas & Stella have an offscreen discussion about their relationship, and what to do now that the prince wants to be with Blitzo. Octavia asks Stella if they're divorcing, and she responds that she doesn't know yet, leaving their eventual fate up in the air.
• Am I Just a Toy to You?: Blitzo still believes this is all Stolas sees him as, and even outright tells him so so, during his breakdown in Chapter 8. By the end of the chapter, despite Stolas's insistence that isn't all he is and the prince wanting to make things right, it's unclear if he's been fully convinced otherwise. Thankfully the two reconcile with Blitzo realizing that the prince truly does value him as a person and reciprocating his feelings for the prince.
• An Offer You Can't Refuse: Volthor offers his assistance in the quest to save Octavia, in exchange for the gang telling him everything they encounter and all that happens during their stay in Mother's realm. If not, he'll simply have them executed for supposedly trespassing on his domain. They accept.
• And This Is for...: Rufus gives one to The King, before delivering a devastating shot to it's face, on behalf of Polaris.
  Rufus: This is for Polaris, SCHWEINHUND!
• Angels, Devils and Squid: Not only are Heaven, Hell and their respective denizens real, so are Lovecraftian eldritch abominations straight out of a story by H. P. Lovecraft, trapped beyond our reality but seeking to break through and eradicate everything we know.
• Anger Born of Worry:
  • After making sure Blitzo and Loona are okay, Stolas chews his lover out for a foolish wager on his soul during a coin toss, making him promise not to do something so reckless again.
  • Blitzo gets his shot at returning the favour in Chapter 59, where after making sure he's doing ok, he gives the owl a light smack and a chew out, for nearly sacrificing himself in front of everyone in order to fuel the portal back home.
• Anguished Declaration of Love:
  • Stolas gives an emotional one to Blitzo in Chapter 8, telling him how much he values the imp and how happy he makes him after the imp tries to storm off and reveals how he feels like the prince only sees him as a sex toy.
  • Both Stolas and Blitzo give on to each other, during their big date in Chapter 42, though Blitzo still too insecure about himself, is unable to actually say the four-letter word.
• Animalistic Abomination: The horrors encountered in Stolas' garden is described as being a gross, horrifying mismatch of various dead and rotting animals combined into it's own body.
• Anti-Regeneration: Sinners are seemingly able to shrug off or regenerate any wound as long as it's not from a Heavenly Weapon. And if they come from Mother's Realm. Even her lower minions were able to tear through metal armor and cancel out their healing factors, which further raises the already massive stakes of the Rescue Party's mission.
• Apocalypse Maiden: Octavia is heavily implied to be this, given her reoccurring dreams, horrific paintings and her bathtub scene in Chapter 16.
• Apocalypse Wow: While the scenes of destruction and carnage are disturbing; there is something awesome and cool about the idea of the Apocalypse happening in Hell of all places. Demons and monsters of every kind and ring break through, wrecking havoc on the streets, leading to some badass images of death and destruction, while even the highest ranking members of Hell are unable to stop it.
• Apology Gift: As an apology for lashing out at Octavia in Chapter 3, Stella leaves a slice of newly-baked peach pie, with the message "I Love You" written in chocolate.
• Arc Words: "Everything has a Price." "They don't get to win."
• Armor Is Useless: Despite getting top of the line armor and clothing from Lucifer's best tailor, said to be able to withstand anything Hell can throw at it, the rescue party's gear proves to be all but useless against Mother's Army. Even the apparent foot soldiers of the Eldritch horror were able to tear through it like wet paper, dealing horrific blows to the various members and nearly killing them.
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  • Stolas gives one to Stella in Chapter 16.
  Stolas: You're so concerned about what the Family thinks of her, Estelle, but what does your daughter think about you?
  • When Lucifer refuses to assist Stolas on his quest to rescue Octavia, Charlie rightfully calls him out on it, asking if he would be so reluctant to action if she or Lilith had been capture. Lucifer is unable to respond.
• Armor-Piercing Response:
  • A terrified Loona delivers gives a devastating one to Stella when the swan threatens to petrify her, which is enough to get the princess to back down.
  Loona: Go ahead. Turn me into a fucking birdbath. Break Octavia's heart. From the sound of things, you're Hell's expert on that, aren't you?
  • Rufus gives one to a grieving Stolas when he tells him Octavia would be disappointed to see her father mourn her death like this, which enrages him enough to shake off most of his funk in order to fistfight the Warden.
  • Yoshimo gets one on Alastor himself during their brief scuffle. The peahen captain of the Warden reveals that she once encountered his mother in Hell, ate with her and heard her many stories about her son. She then uses this information, to call out Alastor for neglecting his mother to build his dark empire, knowing her last words about him before she was killed in an Extermination. The reveal, leaves Alastor completely stunned and without wit for a long minute.
  • After Lucifer expresses doubt in allowing Octavia to channel the healing spell needed to save her dying friends, the princess shuts him up with a Badass Boast of what she's seen and a single whispered, 7 worded secret that utterly terrified the Emperor of Hell. He immediately goes along with it afterwards.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Yoshimo's reasons for hating and fearing the horrors beyond the stars are many, including destroying much of Hell, kidnapping Octavia and ruining her date nights with Rufus.
• Artistic License – Law Enforcement: Rufus has I.M.P., Octavia and Drakon deputized in Chapter 26, without proper clearance and work to properly indoctrinate them. This is Lampshaded by them questioning if it's that easy, to which Rufus begrudgingly responds that he'll worry about the paperwork later.
• Art Reflects Personality: While Octavia usually likes to draw scenic pictures of nature, the toxic home life she endures brought on by Stolas' affair, Stella's strict nature, and their constant fighting, has lead to her to draw monsters and horrific, nightmarish imagery more often to vent her anger. It's heavily hinted at and eventually confirmed in Chapter 42 via that it's also a result of Mother's influence seeping into the waking world from Octavia's dreams.
• The Assimilator: The Choir from Mother's realm, are twisted, tentacled, mind-screwing horrors, that drag their victims into cocoons, in which they make them relieve traumatic memories of their lives and with enough time, eventually assimilate them into their ranks.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership:
  • Warden Rufus is the main peacekeeper of Imp City, and lives up to his title. He runs his city with a stern, ruthless efficiency and when things get bloody is more than capable of taking matters in hand inside and outside his Territory.
  • Special mention goes to his superior Captain Yoshimo, who's equally as efficient and bloody, though sometimes a bit more theatrical given that she also runs shows at the local opera.
• Awkward Kiss: In exchange for safe passage through the Archive, Loona admits that she and Octavia shared one during the rebuilding after uproar, after a long peaceful night of drinking, singing and having fun; describing it as weird but nice.
• Aww Look They Really Do Love Each Other:
  • After blowing up at him over being embarrassed in a gossip magazine, the usually apathetic Loona apologizes to Blitzo in Chapter 5, owning up to her outburst and even finally manages to call him dad. Twice.
  • In Chapter 12, she's offered a job by Verosika, one of her favorite celebrities, Loona turns her down, not wanting to abandoned her adopted father, despite how annoying and self-centered he can be.
  • During a hit on a dangerous and armed cultist group with the rest of her team, Blitzo is hit in the chest by a well placed shot and Loona goes into a blind rage, killing all his would-be attackers with her bare hands, just to make sure he's okay.
  • During their little talk and shared drink at the Hotel, Alastor opens up and admits that despite mostly backing the hotel as a source of entertainment, he has come to genuinely enjoy Charlie's company and the various staff and attendants of the building.
• Babies Ever After: Millie has become pregnant by the Penultimate chapter, the reveal of which being a wrong sense of relief and happiness to both imps, after so much hardship through the year.
• Back for the Finale:
  • Charlie, Vaggie and Alastor made brief appearances during Octavia's birthday, and since then remained absent for most of the story. It isn't until the final chapters near the climax that all three return, to play key players to the plot.
  • Loona's band of hellhound friends, who remained largely in the background after the Uproar, barring a few appearances and cameos, return in Chapter 51 to help Rufus make weapons for him and his team for their big mission.
• Bad Black Barf: Upon returning from Mother's Realm, Loona barfs out a small black sludge that later turns into an eldritch beast that she and Blitzo have to destroy.
• Badass Biker: Loona owns a motorcycle named Norman this time around, which acts as her primary means of transportation.
• Badass Boast:
  • During his speech to everyone at Stolas' palace, just before the Extermination, Blitzo responds to a Who Are You? with a lengthy, cocky and badass boast about himself, his crew, Rufus and Stolas, listing off their accomplishments and how they're going to keep everyone safe.
  • Stolas makes a big one, in the face of the much more powerful Pendergast of what he's willing to do to save Octavia:
  "I don't care what you are. Perhaps you've dealt with too many shrinking mortals and have forgotten how to listen, so let me repeat myself; They have taken my Starfire. This will not stand, Archive. I don't care if I have to go through the Morning Star himself. I will decimate a choir of Angels and pick my beak with their bones. But only after I have razed you to the foundations of Hell itself. This is for my blood, and I will be avenged of these thieves! Now tell me; How do I reclaim Octavia?"
  • Volthor makes one towards Stolas & Rufus when they continue to question who he is:
  "Do not attempt such base evocation bindings with me, little pup. I was old when the least of you monkeys swung from trees. I tested my mettle on the field of combat with the highest choirs of Heaven's Angels. Man's reign was but a blink to my kind when you used to worship me as a golden bull and sold your souls for trifling mortal gains. You think yourself knowledgeable when you have only glimpsed a hint of the universe. Your kind is so amusingly vain, little man. A fool so determined for answers he sells his sweetest memories for knowledge needed to fix broken weapons, herr Wolf."
  • Alastor gets one during his second appearance, when he learns what's going on:
  "And this scheming knot of chaos has forgotten one very important thing. She wants Hell... and I was here first."
  • Even while she's backed up against overwhelming odds, with dwindling ammo and on her last legs, Captain Yoshimo stands tall and proud with a commanding speech towards the oncoming army.
  "VILE BEASTS! I AM YOSHIMO KHANTUN! QUEEN OF DIS! DESTROYER OF NATIONS! YOU HAVE SOILED MY TERRITORY AND TAKEN MY HUSBAND! AND NOW I SHALL SEE YOU BEG FOR DEATH!!!”
  • Octavia gives one to Lucifer of all things, when she demands he channel the spell needed to save the rescue party through her.
  "You think death's the worst thing in existence. It's not. I've seen things you wouldn't believe in ten thousand years, Angel. I know truths that would break your mind like a twig, Morning Star. You pretend to know much. But you understand nothing. You can't even begin to imagine what I've seen. The Null. I've seen it. And what's inside. Fuck destiny. Fuck prophecy. Fuck God, fuck you. We're still here. And now...that fucking cunt is laughing at us. And she doesn't get to win. You need more, Morning Star? All right. I'll tell you a Secret." *whispers a 7 worded secret to Lucifer, who immediately pales and caves in.
  • Octavia gets another one to the racist, prick running a record store banned Loona, after she refused his sexual advances, putting the douche in his place after he insults her.
  Melvin: Who do you think you are, you high class bitch?
  Octavia: Octavia Goetia. Princess of House Goetia, Favorite cousin of Charlie Morningstar, and heir to the Goetia throne. And, as of five minutes ago, the owner of Mix Masters. And you just insulted my Bodyguard for the second and last time, you racist twatwaffle. So. Get. Out. You're fired.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: As in canon, Moxxie always dresses to the nines. Rufus favors the Waistcoat of Style but dones a full suit, complete with longcoat, when on patrol. Chapter 25 reveals that most of his wardrobe doubles as custom body armor.
• Badass Bookworm: Volthor, the oldest and most powerful of the Wardens is a voracious reader and one of the keepers of The Archive.
• Bait-and-Switch: When Angel Dust starts flirting with Moxxie, suggesting a night together, Millie initially steps in to defend her husband, declaring that they're married. When she sly adds that it's Moxxie's birthday soon, and suggest they have a threesome in celebration of the special day. Moxxie reacts in shock. Millie does hint that it was mostly just a joke.
• Bandage Wince: Often subverted at many points throughout the story, but played straight with Rufus in Chapter 36. A tense battle with an Exorcist leaves the Warden with an ugly gash running along the entire length of his left arm. His attempts to play if off as a scratch are spoiled by obvious discomfort when Loona rips off his ruined shirt sleeve to bind the wound.
• Bar Brawl: Rufus and Alastor have a bout of fisticuffs in the Hazbin Hotel's bar in Chapter 48. While the two are more graceful than your average drunken hooligans, the fight racks up several broken bottles and damaged furnishings. Thankfully, Alastor clears up the damage with magic.
• Battle Amongst the Flames: At one point, I.M.P. fights a group of cultists amidst their burning backwoods religious commune.
• Battle Butler: Reginald & Pringles join Stella to retrieve Octavia during the Uproar when the party reaches Goetia Keep, the latter at one point managing to shoot out an eye of an attacking Dragon.
• Battle Couple: Moxxie & Millie, Stolas & Blitzo, Stella & Stolas, Rufus & Yoshimo, Charlie & Vaggie, Vortex & Andromeda, the fic's chocked full of 'em!
• Bear Hug: Rufus gives one to Stormy after they successfully create and test out their Heavenly/Hellish weapons.
• Bears Are Bad News: Drakon Borowski, one of Warden Rufus' kingpins, is a bear sinner, who's a proficient and deadly mercenary. And in fact, is in charge of one of Pentagram City's more successful mercenary groups.
• Beast and Beauty:
  • Rufus is the scared beast, while Yoshimo is his graceful Beauty.
  • Moxxie and Millie playfully reverse this trope for their own amusement several times during romantic banter. Axe-Crazy warrior Millie lives up to the title of Beast while the pragmatic and firearm-loving Moxxie stands in for Beauty.
• Becoming the Mask: Mephisto spent so much time spying on Earth, tempting mortals, remaining human long into the Roman Empire, that he long forgot who he originally was and arrived in Hell a changed being, less powerful but more cunning and manipulative.
• Berserk Button: Loona is already short-tempered, but becomes very quickly violent and furious, once she's the subject of racism from others. She broke an imp's jaw for refusing to serve her unless she makes out with him and makes serval bigoted remarks regarding her being a hellhound.
• Better than Sex: The guys take the opportunity to bond over drinks before their big battle, with Millie having found some excellent, vintage booze from Lucifer's cabinet. Blitzo and Rufus both agree that the liquor gives sex with their partners a run for its money.
• Beware of Vicious Dog: As ever Loona is a beast in combat. But Warden Rufus also deserves a mention, being described as large, powerful, and very deadly.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Warden Rufus can be a fairly amicable and weird wolf, but there's a reason why he's the one in charge of Imp City. As he casually demonstrates in Chapter 8, where he shows just how easily he could've killed Stolas if he really wanted to. He takes it to eleven in Chapter 25 when a squad of gangsters attempt to overrun his Keep.
• BFG: The Heavenly/Hellish weapons created by Rufus and his team of Hellhounds are described as packing quite the punch. The warden tests out one of the revolvers, and ends up vaporizing the target, along with much of the wall and the steel behind it. All that from a handheld revolver. Keep in mind they also made shotguns and machine guns!
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Right as Octavia & Loona are about to be punished by the lustful overlord Vox, Rufus arrives, having apparently had a meeting with the TV Demon, and helps to girls out of trouble, in exchange for gold & information.
  • Happens twice in Chapter 26, to I.M.P. First, after having successfully killed one of the four attacking Elder Trolls, Drake and a platoon of his men manage to take care of the other two. Then, when the exhausted group are about to face a giant dragon, Stella, along with Reginald & Pringles flies in with a giant sword and shield, to fight the beast head on and cleave through his neck.
  • Several happen in Chapter 36, when the Exorcist breaks in through the bathroom and almost kill Loona and a child. First is a sinner named Trish, who briefly distracts it, before getting killed, then Blitzo and Rufus show up to help Loona kill the first one. And then Stolas arrives, to deal the finishing blow.
  • Stolas manages quite the risky but successful one during the final stretch of Chapter 58. With Mother finally arriving onto the final battle, with the rest of his allies spent, worn down, out of ammo and inches from dying, the prince manages to locate the core of his magical might, channeling every last drop of it into one final part of the spell, successfully hold the spell and keep Mother back long enough for Charlie to get them all out of there. Though at great cost of his body and health, leaving him close to death by the end of it.
• The Big Damn Kiss:
  • Blitzo and Stolas share a few throughout the story, but the big one occurs in Chapter 51, when Blitzo decides to make his feelings and love for the Prince fully known for the first time.
  • Rufus and Yoshimo get a big one during their impromptu wedding at Lucifer's estate.
• Big Damn Reunion:
  • In Chapter 30, Octavia is ripped away from her home by Mother and replaced by a fake cadaver for her loved ones to mourn while she was stranded, alone and terrified for over a month. So when everyone finally discovers what's happened, and they go through hell and beyond to get her back, you better believe their reunion in Chapter 57 is emotional and gratifying as Hell, with everyone crying tears of joy upon seeing her again.
  • It's a very brief, bittersweet reunion, only lasting a day, but after millennia of being separated from his family, regretting everything he did to them and believing he would never see them again, Rufus receives an unexpected gift on Krampusnact in Chapter 60. He is reunited with his daughter Sofia, who, while initially unbelieving is happy to see her after, the two embracing in a tearful hug.
• Big Entrance:
  • Alastor makes his debut in a manner most befitting the Radio Demon, casually crashing Octavia's Birthday party to the horror of everyone present, and then swooping up the birthday girl for a surprise song and dance number. He gets another one in Chapter 46, deliberately keeping his guests waiting to ratchet up the tension until he emerges from the shadows.
  • Lucifer Morningstar himself gets a big one at the end of Chapter 46, appearing in front of I.M.P. and Rufus during their deal with Alastor at the Hazbin Hoel, emerging from the fireplace in the Radio Demon's room, parting the flames like the Red Sea and emerging with his wings up front.…And thanks to a curse placed on the hotel, his arrival causes polka and accordion music to play throughout the place, much to the residents displeasure.
• Big Labyrinthine Building: Mother's Realm is filled with these, including the library where the rescue party nearly get caught by a group of shaggoths.
• Big Red Devil: Satan is depicted as such, in a form similar to that of Darkness from Legend (1985).
• Big Sister Instinct: Both Loona and Charlie act like this towards Octavia, always making sure she's okay.
• Bigger on the Inside: Alastor's room is bigger on the inside, more than spacious enough to house himself and six other guests.
• Birthday Episode: Chapter 17 is most centered around Octavia's 18th Birthday, and the ups and downs she feels during it.
• Bitch Slap: Octavia delivers a devastating one to Stella in Chapter 20, along with a furious "The Reason You Suck" Speech, much to the shock of everyone present.
• Bittersweet Ending: Mostly on the sweet side, but with some undeniable bitterness. Stolas & Stella are likely divorcing, Mother is still out there scheming her next attempt at escape, not to mention the other older horrors that might attempt to break free some day, and everyone is still shaken and traumatized by their experiences in Mother's Realm; in particular Octavia, who still sees the door to the Void beckoning out to her to open it. On a more ambiguous note, Lucifer decided to draft everyone under his service for whatever mission he feels like it. And given he plans to prepare Hell for another invasion by the Old Ones, they likely won't be pretty ones. But, on the plus side, everyone is steadily making progress in recovery and taking great strides in resuming their old lives again, though this time with much closer and healthier relationships all around. Millie is expecting her first born, Rufus & Yoshimo are married, Blitzo is free to pursue Stolas, and while the prince and Stella are possibly splitting up, their relationship with Octavia and each other is much more happy, healthy and loving than it ever was at the start. And, Loona becomes Octavia's official bodyguard, meaning the two of them can freely spend time together without judgement and their parents' approval. Hell as a whole is rebuilding from the Uproar and even the I.M.P. van is rebuilt by the hounds and in perfect working condition.
• Black Speech: The ones driven mad by whatever's influencing the Rings, is mentioned as speaking in a wild, madden and dark language, more foreign and unnerving even by Hell standards.
• Blood Magic: The spell to travel into and back from Mother's realm, requires a great deal of blood in order to work properly. During the first time around, Lucifer had an entire orphanage sacrificed for the ritual, creating a 200 feet magic circle. And to create the spell a second time, Charlie, Alastor and Stolas spend 5 minutes, practically bleeding themselves dry til they're little more than husks, in order to get it working properly.
• Body Horror:
  • The massive, horrifying monster that lives outside of Stolas' garden is a mass of rotting flesh, its body covered in absorbed animal cadavers, with far too many eyes a multitude of limbs and letting out a sound akin to "air conditioners filled with spoiled meat."
  • As a side effect of being in Mother's realm for too long, Loona barfs out a living, tentacled monster on the floor, upon her return much to Blitzo disgust and horror.
  • Blitz, Stolas, Loona, and Rufus visit the Archive for answers and learn that they need to "cough up" personally traumatizing information in exchange for answers with the understanding that "if you can stand the pain, you may survive." Guess how the Librarian collects their contributions?
• Bookends:
  • In the very first chapter, Loona gets banned from a record store called Mix Masters, after she punches Melvin, the son of the owner, after he sexually harasses her and calls her a hellhound slur afterward. In the penultimate chapter, she pays a visit to the store once more, this time with Octavia who reveals to have bought the store (along with the entire block) and gets Melvin fired on the spot for what he did to her, much to the hellhound's satisfaction.
  • Also in the first chapter, it opens with a quote saying that: 'Hell was an ugly place' as we follow Blitzo getting ready to work, drinking coffee, waking up Loona, collecting Moxxie and Millie and getting ready for another hard, thankless day at the office, the scene acting as a show of how rough things are and how distant the group is. In the final episode, we open with a revised version of the quote saying: 'Hell was an ugly place, but it had good bones.' And we once again see Blitzo waking up, getting coffee and going to fetch Loona, and then M&M, but this time the mood is much more amicable and less dour, with Octavia, Rufus & Yoshimo joining them, as they go to celebrate Krampusnacht with Stolas, showing how closer everyone has become with each other, and that things are looking up.
• Botanical Abomination: As in canon, Stolas is very fond of carnivorous plants. Of particular note are his prized Roses which are gigantic bushes that produce violet blooms with magical cores. They also have living, shrieking squid-like creatures for a base instead of normal roots and do not like being disturbed, as Loona finds out in chapter 14 while helping Stolas and Octavia relocate several in the hedge maze gardens.
• Both Sides Have a Point:
  • When Stella confronts Octavia at the end of Chapter 5, the two have an argument regarding her relationship with Loona. While Octavia is the one most in the right, as the friendship with Loona is much more real and friendly than any of the ones she's had with other demons like her, Stella does bring up a good point, that associating with a lower class demon, while her father's already in a deep scandal regarding his affair with Blitzo is going to drag her and their family's image through the mud. While it's still filled with racist, classist, and bigotted undertones, it's understandable why she'd be worried about it.
  • Stella and Stolas' talk in Chapter 20 is this was well. Yes, Stella is overly critical, bigoted and disapproving of Octavia's friendship with Loona and doesn't always attempt to hear her out, but Stolas is too lenient and uncaring about how Hell views them, he often neglects to properly prepare his daughter for her future as a member of the Ars Goetia, and his relationship affair with Blitzo has done just as much damage to the family as Stella's overly controlling hand is doing right now.
  • After a mission goes horribly wrong, and almost ends up costing Millie's life, Moxxie considers finally quitting I.M.P. and leaving Blitzo behind, getting into a debate about it with his wife. Millie, who despite being hurt and still not fully forgiving Blitzo, wants to stay a while longer and not leave him just yet. While Moxxie is absolutely correct that Blitzo is often selfish, egotistical and a jerk, who keeps putting them in unnecessary risks at the best of times, Millie counters they both knew the job wouldn't be without risks and that while their boss' behavior shouldn't be encouraged, he only acts this way to mask his loneliness and he's been steadily improving himself recently, especially with help from Stolas. Leaving him now, would only cause him more grief than he's already going through.
  • Stolas, Rufus and I.M.P. are all furious when they learn that Lucifer knew about the true cause of the Uproar and Octavia being abducted by Mother. They insist that he should've done more to attempt to prevent the calamity or at least warn his people about them, as him withholding the information caused the ruin of several cities and the loss of thousands. However Lucifer stands by his decision, knowing that his people would be unable to understand of comprehend the existence of such otherworldly horror and at worst would attempt to join the cause to free her, thus causing even more chaos and disorder; and possibly turn his people against him.
• Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Blitzo shows this side to him again during his stint with Loona as security for Verosika. The imp gives his daughter condoms and tries to dissuade her from having sex with other demons during their stay in Lust. This is revealed to be mostly driven by his own ex-relationship with Verosika, and his desire to keep his daughter from repeating the same mistakes he did.
• Break the Cutie:
  • Chapter 26 forces IMP, Octavia, and Rufus to experience the equivalent of a one-squad war during an on-foot journey from IMP Headquarters all the way to Stolas' Palace. Naturally, they see and do some awful things to survive and no one takes it well.
  • EVERYONE on the rescue team is severally traumatized by their experiences in Mother's realm. Including the usually bright and optimistic Charlie. Having ventured through the worst of the Eldritch Realm, being forced to kill shadowed versions of school children and giving up so much of her magic to get everyone home safely, the normally peppy princess becomes returns to her Hotel greatly subdued, rarely smiling and singing, to the distress of most of her found family of patrons.
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu:
  • After a long, grueling battle with lot of help from his fellow teammates, Stolas is finally able to seemingly kill the King. But at a high price. The Prince is left badly wounded, with his armor ruined, his sword broken, his upper right eye blinded, his right arm practically rendered a mangled, useless mess. Yoshimo is able to heal the worst of it, though the Prince is greatly weakened as a result of his injuries.
  • During the final battle between the rescue party and Mother's legions, the demons from Hell are able to kill off waves of hundreds, possibly thousands, of Eldritch Demons, even finally killing the King, holding back the full legions long enough for Charlie and the others to teleport them back home. Keep in mind, one of them was strong enough to kill several of Heaven's greatest exorcists. However, to say it costs them dearly would be an understatement. By the end of the fight, every member of the party is reduced to bloody, broken and worn out slivers of how they started the journey as, bleeding out from their numerous wounds and barley clinging onto life. The story makes sure to emphasis, that they would've died had Charlie not managed to get them all out in time.
  • Stolas gets another moment when Mother finally shows up to join her legions in reclaiming Octavia. With his fellow teammates thoroughly worn out and close to death, the Prince reaches inside of himself and manages to summon all the magical energies of his being, allowing him to not only keep the teleportation spell together, but to hold back Mother and her forces back long enough to Charlie to get them out. But again, it comes at great personal cost, as the Prince starts falling apart from the force of the spell, feathers, flesh and pieces of himself fading away. With the final words he gives his family, it's very heavily implied that this spell will cost Stolas his life.
• Breath Weapon: Hellhounds are capable of breathing fire as a means of self-defense. Loona often displays this ability, in particular after her drinking contest in chapter 18.
• Breather Episode:
  • Chapter 24 is acts as one, sandwiched between the intense mission in Canada and the Uproar. This focuses on I.M.P. (specifically Blitzo and Moxxie) mending their fences over a barbeque.
  • Chapter 29 mostly serves this role, after the serval intense, dramatic and horrific chapters that came before it, focusing more on Hell's slow recovery, some growth with I.M.P., Rufus' date and setting up a future party that'll be focused on later. Octavia's trauma and her slow recovery and Rufus discovering he killed Polaris, keeps this from becoming a full breather.
  • Chapter 49, gives us one more breather before the big climax, focusing on each member of the rescue team cooling down after the big revelations, seeking some comfort and relaxation for what might be the last time.
  • Chapter 50-52 also work as this, as while there's plenty of development and build up to the big mission, the focus is more on character relationships giving us some more moments with everybody before the finale, where we might lose many of them.
• Broken Tears: Loona, Stolas and Stella all let out some heavy, bitter tears, after losing Octavia.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Played with in regards to Rufus & Yoshimo's relationship. Rufus may not be brooding, but he can often be a stern and cold workaholic, who spends most of his time focused on maintaining order in Imp City. And while Yoshimo is far from gentle most of the time, she still cares and loves Rufus and often checks up on him to make sure he doesn't become lost in his work.
• Brown Note: The Exorcists' arrival in Hell during Extermination is heralded by a literal choir of angels singing hozzanahs powerful enough to disorient and terrify any demon unlucky enough to still out in the open.
• Bulletproof Vest: When preparing for an outrageously dangerous mission in Chapter 23, Blitz outfits the team with military grade body armor he acquired from Drake in exchange for a few of Verosika's personal effects. True to life, it saves Loona and Blitz from death several times but leaves all four demons bruised and broken.
• Bullying a Dragon: Even when an enraged Stolas has him by the neck and could easily kill him, Rufus has no problem taunting Blitzo to his face and threatening the prince with little to no care in the world.
• Burying a Substitute: The body of Octavia that was buried in the Crypt, was all along a fake that easily crumbles upon Loona's touch, leaving behind only it's dress and pocket watch. The final bit of proof that Octavia is alive and trapped in Mother's lair.
• The Bus Came Back:
  • Verosika makes a return in a phonecall with Blitzo in Chapter 38, after being absent for a while.
  • After almost twenty chapters being gone from the story, Stella finally returns home from her stay with Andrealphus, right on time to learn what's happened to Octavia and help them rescue her.
• Call-Back:
  • During their outing to the mall in Chapter 2, Blitz teases Loona with the song "Waiting for the Bus." She complains about its earworm properties, but secretly enjoys sharing it with him and uses it to lovingly tease and reaffirm their strengthening familial bond after leaving the Archive in Chapter 45.
  • Yoshimo often teases Rufus about forgetting to bring the wine for several of their dates. When he shows up unannounced on her doorstep with a bottle of champagne in Chapter 48, she notes "You finally remembered something even better than good wine, so this must be important."
  • Rufus uses an enchanted derringer hidden up his left sleeve to get the drop on Stolas as a Weapon for Intimidation in Chapter 8. Almost 50 installments later, he uses the same tactic to get a surprise shot on The King in Chapter 57.
• Calling the Old Man Out:
  • Octavia has a brief moment of this towards Stella in Chapter 13, where she calls her mother out for caring more about their reputation than her daughter's happiness. She gets a much bigger and more angry one in Chapter 20, where after slapping her mother, Octavia lets out all her build up anger towards her.
  • Charlie is furious at her father for sacrificing children to active the portal and the two get into an argument; Charlie finally confronts her father about not trusting her, often treating her like a child and for displaying little faith in her and her dream.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Stolas struggles to express his true feelings towards Blitzo in Chapter 7, thinking of loving things to say in his head, but never telling them to the imp. Subverted in Chapter 8 however, where the Prince confesses his true feelings for the imp turning into a heated argument.
• Casting Gag: Castor & Pollux, a pair of hellhound twins from Loona's friend group, are fanciest by the author as being voiced by Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant. Both actors who have played The Doctor. Eccleston being the Doctor Who – Ninth Doctor and Tennant the Doctor Who – Tenth Doctor.
• Casual Danger Dialogue: We get a few instances during intense fights, usually for comedic relief. In particular, Loona & Vaggie share some few good exchanges during the start of the final battle in Chapter 58, along Blitzo & Charlie having a small fight and Moxxie & Millie flirting in between killing. Until things become dire.
• Caught Coming Home Late: Octavia tries to sneak into her bedroom, after her late night clubbing with Loona, only to find a very concerned and angry Stella waiting for her.
• The Cavalry Arrives Late: Upon learning about the riot at Verosika's concert in Anger, Stolas & Octavia teleport in to help out Blitzo & Loona. However, they arrive a whole day later, at which point the riot's over and the two of them have mostly recovered.
• Cement Shoes: Loona nearly drowns upon entering Mother's Realm, as the weight of her armor and weapons nearly drag her down. She's thankfully brought to the surface in time by Alastor and Blitzo.
• Cerebus Call-Back: Stolas' sweet lullaby to Octavia and her nightmares as a child, where he describes her as turning the sun black and other such sweet things, is given a much more haunting context and meaning, when it's revealed that her birth referenced there, is was drew Mother to her and caused her to have frequent nightmares as a child. Meaning she's been stalking her since she was a toddler.
• Cerebus Rollercoaster: Depending on the chapter, you might get a mostly wholesome friendship story with some angst and a bit of nightmare fuel, or a full-on eldritch horror mixed with blood bumping action and nerve-wrecking suspense. By the halfway point, the tone has mostly settled on the latter, things in Hell get much more apocalyptic.
• Chase Scene: Rufus gets into a car chase scene with Steve the Arms Dealer incubus in Chapter 9.
• Chekhov's Gag: Loona finds out that Octavia used her April Fools gift, a bottle of shampoo laced with a dab of peanut butter before she died. This comes in handy as this was what allowed Loona sniff out her scent while looking for her in Mothers' realm.
• Chekhov's Gun: After confirming Dr. Crest's death, Blitzo grabs a supposedly ordinary black book as a trophy. After the Uproar, it is one of the few things that weren't looted from his house, so it remained in his possession. Over 30 chapters later, Loona would use it when getting messages from a supposedly dead Octavia and briefly reunite with her, which would in turn reveal what the book is in question when Blitzo, Stolas and Rufus seek answers from the Archive, kicking off the events of the third act.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Alastor the Radio Demon makes a grand appearance to crash Octavia's party, and then isn't seen throughout the rest of the story, barring a few mentions. He then returns in Chapter 46 in a big way, as I.M.P., Stolas and Rufus are forced to turn to him for help with rescuing Octavia, needing his magic in particular, to open a gateway into Mother's realm.
• Chekhov's Skill: Loona is shown to have an incredibly strong and accurate sent of smell, which helps her guide Octavia, Stolas and herself through the prince's hedge maze. This skill comes in massive handy in Chapter 54, as she's able to pick up Octavia's faint scent (that was also laced with peanut butter) even in a world as mad as Mother's Realm, which she and the rest of the party use to guide them towards the captured princess.
• Chest Burster: Subverted. Rufus finally manages to kill Vulkheim, leader of the band of Elder Trolls attacking him & I.M.P., by clawing his way through the giant's back, eventually breaking and ripping out a piece of the latter's spine. He then proceeds to eat said piece along with ripping out the troll's heart the same way, biting into it in an explosion of blood.
• Chimney Entry:
  • Lucifer enters Alastor's room, by appearing through his fireplace.
  • Krampus, being Hell equivalent to Santa Claus, expediently makes his dramatic entrenches through chimneys.
• Christmas Episode: Chapter 60 and 61 are Christmas specials set in Hell, featuring all of the main hellborn and sinners celebrating Krampusnacht after all their hardships and struggles. Compared to the grim, terrifying and emotional chapters proceeding it, it's a much needed relief and breather to close it out on.
• Cliffhanger:
  • Chapter 11 ends, with Stolas & Octavia watching a new report on Verosika's tour at Anger, that's erupted into a riot. Loona & Blitzo are fighting off the crowd, though the imp is badly wounded, and the two royals rush in to try and help.
  • Chapter 16 ends with our first look at the creature haunting Octavia, as it calls out to her while she's taking a bath.
  • Chapter 30 ends with Octavia finally being abducted by Mother and her horrors dragged into her realm, against her will while she screams in horror.
  • Chapter 35 ends with the Excoricts breaking through Stolas' magical barriers, a small legion gathering and waiting outside the castle, to drive the terror home into everyone, as they prepare for an assault, with twelve hours still remaining.
  • Chapter 41: After Loona is finally reunited with Octavia, and learns what's really going on, the pair are once again separated, leaving her seemingly trapped in the void with the final words of the chapter implying that something's awakening inside of her.
  • Chapter 54: While chasing Octavia through Mother's Realm, the rescue party end up in another horrifying section of her home, right as everything starts shifting. The horrified gang are all separated and flown away into the darkness of the realm, and into whatever eldritch nightmares that await them.
  • Chapter 57: As Stolas, Alastor and Charlie prepare to open up the portal back to Hell, with only fifteen minutes left, the rest of the team stand together, their ammo drained and one their last legs, to fighting against the oncoming army of Mother.
• Clean Cut: How Millie finally kills the humanoid abomination, after Loona burns him with her fire breath.
• Clocks of Control: Before becoming a Warden, Rufus was a clockmaker and is often surrounded by clocks and watches. Being the Warden of Imp City, he runs his section with ruthless efficiency and punctuality and isn't afraid to get angry at those that waste his time.
• Closest Thing We Got: Rufus deputies I.M.P. and Drake during the madness in the second half, to help him deal with the ongoing chaos.
• Cool Big Sis: Once their friendship starts growing, Loona more and more starts to slip comfortably into the rule of cool, rebellious, fun big sister to Octavia.
• Combination Attack:
  • How Stolas, Blitzo and Loona seemingly dispose of the monster that's been spying on them in the Prince's garden; Blitzo unloading throwing a statue and shooting at it, Stolas unleashing a torrent of hellfire upon it and Loona joining in with her own flames.
  • We get several during the big battle in Chapter 57, though a big shoutout does to Charlie & Alastor's Fire/Lightning attack.
• Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are: The rescue party find an seemingly abandoned library in Mother's Realm, that soon gets filed with with Shoggoths. All of them are forced to hide from the eldritch horrors, both because there's too many to fight and so as to not draw attention to themselves by Mother. After a long tense wait out, Blitzo is able to throw the monsters off their back with a distraction, allowing them to escape.
• Commonality Connection:
  • Loona and Octavia find many thing to bond over, as they spend more time together, including their love for Stylish Occult, tastes in music, a fondness for firearms, complicated feelings towards their fathers and the pressure and expected roles they're forced into in Hell's society.
  • Mooxie & Millie met in a community college in Hell, and bonded over their previous rough relationships and romantic partners, which eventually lead to them forging a new one together.
• Condensation Clue: After Loona takes a shower, having had another chilling nightmare of Octavia reaching out to her, she finds a haunting note written to her in the bathroom mirror saying: LOONA FIND ME. This along with her dream and her voice calling out to her, clue in to Loona that Octavia is not dead after all.
• Condescending Compassion: The way Verosika treats and talks to Loona, during her time under her employment while seemingly kind, is very patronizing and even a bit racist. Whenever the pop star seems to be kind to her, she treats her the way one would treat a dog, with pats on the head, calling her a "good girl" and at one point giving the hellhound a Milk Bone dog treat, for taking out a drunken fan. Loona doesn't seem to mind, being happy at just being there, but Blitzo is furious about it.
• Connected All Along: Played with. While Octavia & Blitzo were already familiar with each other, through his affair with her father, Chapter 8 reveals they've known each other much longer, as the princess once encountered him, when she was scared at a show from Robo Fizz. She hid behind his ballon vender, where he comforted her and gave her a balloon horse, which she still has after Stolas enchanted it.
• Continuity Nod: After the Grevious Brothers wreck his office and building, Rufus mentions having to call in a favor from Nifty, to clean the place back up. Three chapters later, when things start to cool down for a while, he returns to his office, where the miniature cyclops has indeed cleaned up and practically rebuilt the establishment, much to his pleasure.
• Conveniently Empty Building: Blitzo, with help from Moxxie manages to kill off a large wave of monsters/mad civilians, by collapsing up a nearby, large, burning, twelve-story building on top of them. Unfortunately while doing so, he almost kills the rest of the group, by nearly burying them in the collapsing rubble.
• Cosmic Horror Story: Of the slow-burn variety. The first half of the book primarily follows Loona and Octavia's blossoming friendship, hinting at darker events through Octavia's dreams, background unrest in Hell, and the profitable and increasingly creepy contracts I. M. P. is tackling. Then the Uproar happens, overturning all of Hell with a plague of homicidal insanity. And things go full-tilt horror after Octavia seemingly dies in Chapter 30 and by Chapter 41, it's finally revealed that our heroes are fighting against Mother, an elder god bent on releasing her ilk upon the whole of Creation. And for an extra flavor of scary, Mother and the other omnicidal eldritch abominations like her are said to be older and more powerful than God.
• Covered in Mud: Happens to both Octavia & Loona at the end of their horse ride in Chapter 22, as they fall off their horses and start throwing mud balls at each other.
• Cranky Landlord: Gladys, Moxxie and Millie's live-in landlady, is this to a T, largely due to Blitz's obnoxious behavior when picking up his employees for work every morning.
• Creepy Cathedral: I.M.P. encounters a rustic variety while on assignment in Chapter 23. Despite it's normal size, the place has been desecrated in service to some entity that plainly terrifies all four battle-hardened demons. Then, they descend into the basement and discover it's Bigger on the Inside.
• Creepy Child: Charlie’s encounters a whole school of them, when the Choir takes on the form of the many children she helped teach and look out for, before they were all killed during the Uproar. The haunted, unnerving and mangled cadavers of the children beg for her to stay and sing to them, accusing her of abandoning them when they died, forcing Charlie to tearfully destroy them all, in order to escape the nightmare and help her teammates.
• Creepy Crows: Stolas & Stella get quite a morning shock in Chapter 14, where a injuried diseased crow break through one of the windows of the kitchen. Once they look outside, they are disgusted to find a murder of the same crows picking apart the decaying, unrecognizable corpse of a Manticore. To make things more horrific, it's clear something is influencing the birds.
• Cruel and Unusual Death:
  • Rufus is referenced to have publicly eaten several demons in order to maintain his hold on Imp City. We even get to see him do this in Chapter 25, where he helps himself to the remains of the Grievous Brothers.
  • Threatened but not carried out. When Steve the incubus holy weapons Arms Dealer refuses to talk, Captain Yoshimo threatens to use him as prop at a local opera she's leading, where she'll slowly and painfully mutilate him in front of the entire audience over a week's worth of performances. This is a favorite execution method for her as it's revealed that she one captured an enemy of her empire, and made a pay to watch theatrical show out of slowly mutilating and torturing him, while keeping him alive with magic and making sure he was fed and not thirsty, a front of a crowd for an entire month, before she finally became bored off him.
  • Verosika and her groupies rip the newbie Chad apart, after they discover he drugged Loona.
• Cry into Chest:
  • Octavia has an ugly, bitter breakdown into Loona's chest in Chapter 13, as the hellhounds takes the crying princess away from a heated argument her parents are having at her home.
  • Loona later has a similar cry into Blitzo's chest in Chapter 32, as she finally shows her true pain over losing Octavia.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Rufus utterly butchering the Grevious Brother's gang, without using a single one of his guns. Only his teeth, claws, might and sheer brutality.
• Cult: IMP faces several of these throughout the story, most notably in Chapter 23 when the assassins are hired to wipe out an entire Religion of Evil lurking in a Canadian forest.
• Dance Battler: During the frisbee game with Loona's friends in Chapter 15, Octavia uses her 5 years ballet training, to gracefully dodge her opponents and win the game on her side's favor.
  Octavia: "Five years of ballet, bitches!"
• Dance of Romance: Moxxie and Millie share one, set to their many songs, just before their big mission in the other realm.
• Dark Secret: In order to gain access to the information they need, Rufus, Stolas, Loona and Blitzo are forced to reveal four painful secrets and regrets to the Librarian Penerghast.
  • Rufus reveals he had an affair on his wife, with one of his assistants named Karl. When the Management found out about Karl's true sexuality, they had him killed to send a message to the other works; and not only did Rufus not do anything to help him, out of fear of being ousted himself, he gave Karl up and was the one to pull the trigger. When the two reunited in Hell, Rufus beat Karl to a bloody pulp out of shame and blew up his new establishment. A few weeks later, he was killed in the Extermination.
  • Stolas reveals he once nearly killed Octavia. It was when she was a toddler and keeping him & Stella up all night with her night terrors. Exhausted Stolas was left to take care of her, while Stella was busy with overseeing a treaty. While he was busy watering the plants, Octavia nearly fell into a pit containing a terrifying monstrous plant. Stolas was just able to save her before she fell in, but in the process dislocated her shoulder and made Via scared of him for a week. He blamed the injury on a servant and was forever haunted by his failure.
  • Loona reveals that she once tried to track down her mother. In an attempt to get some closure and talk to her mother, who had long since abandoned her, Loona stole money from I.M.P., while it was still starting and they were struggling, forcing them to take unsavory jobs, to pay for the info. When she finally tracked her down, she was horrified and distraught to see her mother not only doing well, but married with two other kids. Too afraid to confront her mother with her new family close, Loona spied on them until she was caught, taking note of how scared her mom was of her, and she ran away from them, after which she drank herself to oblivion and cried in shame.
  • Blitzo reveals that he likely killed his parents. Back in his circus days, he and his family fell on hard times, when his mother got sick and couldn't help manage the business. Buckzo, already abusive and hardworking, turned to drinking to cope with the stress and ruin and took his anger out on Blitzo. Blitzo accepted it, to keep Fizz & Barbie safe, but when his twin sister had her arm broken during a night he wasn't present, he angrily thought about killing Buckzo. During their next show, the rope to his father's swing snapped and he plummeted to this death, causing the fire that burned down his circus, killed his mother and caused the loss of Fizzarolli's limbs.
• The Darkness Gazes Back: While not shown, it's heavy implied that there's something lurking in the shadows near Octavia, spying on her and other demons. Loona finds herself on the receiving end of this treatment in Chapter 25. Which utterly terrifies her, as she should've been able to pick up on it.
• David Versus Goliath: Chapter 26 has 3 instances of this. First with I.M.P., Octavia & Rufus taking on a tanking Behemoth, then the group fighting four massive Elder Trolls and then Stella fighting a gigantic dragon to keep her daughter safe.
• Dead Person Impersonation: The Choir will often take the form of other people, commonly important figures in their victims lives, in order to trick them into joining their ranks. When encountering the rescue party they appear as Millie's brother Tommy, Rufus' daughter Sofia and Vaggie's former father-figure Miguel.
• Deadpan Snarker: As expected, Loona and Octavia trade colorful digs at the other's expense quite often. Rufus' brand of humor generally relies on this as well, even when the group finds themselves stranded amid utter insanity.
  Blitz: Christ on a Stick. The palace is at least 20 miles away, maybe 16 if we hurry.
  Rufus: Then we'll walk quickly.
• Deal with the Devil:
  • Stolas & Rufus are forced into one with Volthor, who promises them his armies and assistance in reclaiming the lost Octavia, in exchange for a long, accurate and detailed description of what they find in Mother's Realm, to add to the Archive.
  • Alastor is implied to have made one, or at least he learned his magical prowess, through some kind of deal with the Haitian gods Baron Samedi and Kaifu.
• Death Glare: Millie shoots one at Blitzo near the end of Chapter 23, to show her fury at his recklessness nearly getting everyone killed.
• Defiant to the End:
  • Rufus grips Alastor by the neck, and threatens to shoot him through the chest with his holy pistol, after the Radio Demon insults his daughter. Alastor doesn't even flinch or drop his smile, openly mocking him and his hypocrisy. It's only thanks to intervention from Stolas, that he survives the encounter.
  • The rescue party fight to the bitter end during the final battle against Mother's legions. Even as their ammo stars running dry, they lose massive amounts of blood, becoming incredibly exhausted and suffering wounds that would very likely kill them, they continue to hold off the horde, until they physically can't fight anymore.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Played with, in regards to Octavia. While she isn't cold to most people, she is still very skeptical and hesitant about befriending Loona, given her long past of fake friends, and seeing it mostly as another way for her dad to get close to Blitzo. As she spends more time with the hellhound however, Octavia soon warms up to her and eventually becomes more amicable towards others.
• Dénouement Episode: With the main conflicts taken care of in Chapter 59, chapters 60 and 61, act as more down-to-earth and wholesome breather episodes, finally allowing the main cast to slowly recover from their trauma and injuries, figuring out their new lives and rebuilding after everything that has happened.
• Despair Event Horizon: Loona, Stella and Stolas, all three go through this, after Octavia's death. Of the three, Loona is the first one trying to recover, having gotten through most of her pain by the end of Chapter 32, and is starting to move forward with the help of her family. Stella chooses to leave Stolas and the palace for the time being and Stolas has become a wrecked, reclusive shell of a man, turning to drinking and bargaining to cope with his loss. Luckily with some help from Rufus & Blitzo, Stolas is able to work through most of his issues, in time to help prepare for the Extermination. And Stella eventually decides to move back in with Stolas, after becoming disillusioned with the royal court and getting some help from Reginald and Diana.
• Deus ex Machina: Just as the team seems to be hopelessly outmatched by The King, the tentacled terror breaking into their minds and nearly causing them to snap, Stolas and Loona call out to Octavia for help. In the last minute the captured princess manages to break through, delivering a devastating psychic blow on the beast, weakening it long enough for the others to finish it.
• Deus Exit Machina:
  • Blitzo searches far and wide for a potential fifth member to join them on a big hit in Chapter 23. When Moxxie suggests inviting Stolas himself, given how powerful the Goetian Prince can be, Blitzo reveals that while lower level hellborn like them can go to the living world no problem, demons like the Ars Goetia, are bound by certain rules that keep them from killing the living; doing so without being summoned by a human, would attract attention from Heaven & Hell, making it a massive risk for everyone involved.
  • When Stella eventually learns about what caused the Uproar and Octavia's predicament, she is of course eager to join Stolas' quest to save his daughter. However Lucifer barres her from joining them, despite her and Stolas' strong protest, stating that she is needed with him & Lilith to keep the portal open and ensure that everyone gets back safely and to keep out anything attempting to leave through the portal. While it's still playing a role in the mission, it leaves her unable to play a big part in the actual rescuing.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?:
  • Warden Rufus pulls quite the big on Prince Stolas, a member of the Ars Goetia, the third-highest rank in Hell and the demon's superior in Chapter 8. When the Prince attempts to ban Rufus from hurting Blitzo anymore, the warden calmly demonstrates how easily he could kill the demon, exploiting his affection for the imp by breaking Blitz's hand and pointing a gun on Stolas while he's distracted by his lower's injury. Had the gun been loaded, he very well might've killed the Prince right then and there.
  • Stella punches Alastor through a wall, when the Radio Demon crashes Octavia's party for an impromptu song and dance sequence.
  • During the first minutes of their talk, Loona is absolutely terrified of Stella and the sheer power she is capable of. But, after having to endure her racism & interference, and knowing how her controlling nature has mentally hurt Octavia, the hellhound is unafraid to call out the princess and demand a proper talk between them. She even laughs at Stella to her face, when the Goetia accuses her of using Via as a means to an end; and when Stella threatens to petrify her, Loona stares her down knowing she won't do it, out of fear for how that'll ruin her relationship with Octavia. She's right. And Stella backs off, allowing them to have a proper chat.
  • A tired, angry and emotionally exhausted Octavia, finally has had enough when her group is confronted by a titanic Hell Dragon, after having fought off a squad of Elder Trolls. While the others are worried, she stands up to the beast, covered in blood; her beanie gone, calls it a cunt and demands it piss off.
  Octavia: "We fought our way through a whole goddamn city. We just killed a squad of ancient trolls. My favorite jacket is ruined and I need a goddamn shower! SO SHUT YOUR GOB AND PISS OFF YOU BIG! SCALY! CUNT!!!".
  • While they're all utterly horrified by the sheer mass and horror of Mother's realm, conjured up by Pendergast, Loona and eventually Blitzo, Stolas and Rufus are able to defiantly shake it off and stand together to power through the horror of it.
  • When Lucifer initially refuses to help Stolas in finding Octavia, the prince is willing to fight the Morningstar, if he stands in his way, despite knowing he's utterly underpowered compared to the fallen angel.
  • Octavita belittles Emperor Lucifer himself, telling him he has no idea what she's seen during her time in Mother's Realm, and even manages to terrify him with a single whisper.
  • Diana, Stella's grandmother, openly tells Lucifer to kiss her cunt in Chapter 60, much to his mild annoyance and her granddaughter's horror.
  • Loona tells off Lucifer, when the Emperor seemingly dismisses the threat and danger Mother's realm poses, arrogantly thinking he can fight against it with preparation and their experiences, the hellhound telling him to shut up, that he has NO IDEA what truly awaits them out there, and the trauma it caused all of them, much to everyone shock.
• Disappointed in You: Rufus tells Stolas Octavia be so disappointed in him, for ignoring his responsibilities and duties, after her death. The prince doesn't take too kindly to this, resulting in the two coming to blows.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Played with. Loona briefly wonders if she and Octavia went too far with Melvin, after buying his father's store and then getting him fired. Via reminds her friend, that while there are certainly worse people out there, the ogre was still a bigoted asshole, sexual harasser and possible rapist, who doesn't deserve any amount of sympathy or pity. But tells Loona that if she truly feels bad for the guy, she can get Melvin a job cleaning their stables, where Kratos will be more than happy to kick him in the nuts. Loona agrees with her friend, feeling the ogre gut just what he deserved.
• Don't Go in the Woods:
  • Stolas' palace grounds becomes infested with monsters from another dimension. Octavia's big nightmare in Chapter 30 starts with her slowly walking through a large, creepy forest, right outside her own castle, where she eventually encounters the terrifying and monstrous eldritch being that's been trying to get to her all along.
  • Lucifer's garden includes a massive forest, filled with dangerous, wild monsters, that will kill any that enter. Rufus' uses this forest to put I.M.P. through some rough training, leading them to a nest of monstrous birds, to help them survive the other more dangerous horrors that are to come.
  • Alastor died in the woods of the Bayou, with men and dogs chasing him for his numerous killings, while crocs and predators threatened to eat him. Under the Choir's spell, Al is forced to relive the traumatic moment, as he runs through a twisted, living woods out to get him, while struggling to outrun his nightmarish pursuers.
• Don't Sneak Up on Me Like That!: Octavia is so drawn to taxidermy in Chapter 17, that she doesn't notice Loona's there until the hellhound touches her shoulder. In surprise, Octavia cast up a shield, before realizing who it is.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Blitzo hates having Stolas coming to his aid. He refuses Stolas' money to pay off his debts to Rufus. And as he attempts to leave Stolas' palace following their disastrous encounter with Warden Rufus, he outright exclaims to the Prince that he doesn't want his pity, money or him pretending to care about him.
• Doting Parent: As always Stolas & Blitzo are extremely supportive and loving of their children, even during all the plights they suffer.
• The Dragonslayer: Stella becomes this at the end of Chapter 26 when she bests an insane Elder Dragon attacking Goetia Palace in order to save Octavia, Rufus, and IMP.
• Dreaming of a White Christmas: Krampusnacht arrives with mountains and curtains of snow throughout the rings. Even Wrath, a harsh, dry, murderous desert land is covered with the stuff.
• Drinking Contest: Loona engages Slaanesh, Octavia's bitchy lush classmate, in one when the hound and Octavia go to the High Roller in Chapter 18. Not only does Loona win, she drinks three times as much as the naga in one go and ends by venting most of the alcohol in a fireball belch hot enough to melt a barstool and part of the floor.
• Drowning My Sorrows:
  • Rufus does this, during his date with Yoshimo, after realizing he killed Polaris and having to tell Vortex & Andromeda the bad news, the latter blaming him for her death.
  • Stolas has turned to drinking wine and alcohol, as a means to cope with Octavia's death.
• Due to the Dead:
  • After finding her body, Rufus returns what remains of Polaris to her sister Andromeda & Vortex, along with giving them a large sum of money as recompense for his deeds. In the next chapter we learn that they had a funeral for her, with her closet friends & loved ones, with eulogies, memories and fond laughs were had in her honor, with Stolas giving them a small plot of land to bury her, covering it with roses and flowers.
  • Octaiva is given a grand funeral upon her death, with members of the Goetia and her closet friends attending. She's given a magnificent casket and is finally put to rest in a large crypt, reserved for the fall nobility of hell.
• Duet Bonding: Loona and Stolas grow closer together, once the prince learns about the hellhound playing piano. He helps her through it, and together they play "You Will Be Okay," with him singing the lyrics and her playing the keys.
• Dying Declaration of Love: While Stolas prepares one last spell to hold off Mother, tapping into all of his magical reserves to do it, he starts to lose parts of himself and withering away, so he spends his last moments telling Blitzo that he loves him and Octavia that he is proud of her. Thankfully it doesn't come to that, as he survives his injuries and makes a recovery in Hell, alongside his loved ones.
• Eagle-Eye Detection: While reading a contract supposedly signed by her grandfather, promising Vox and Valentino certain shares of his mines, Octavia is able to notice several errors in his writing and how he signed his own name.
• Eldritch Location: Mother's realm is this, being the home of the Eldritch Horror along with countless other otherworldly beasts, such as shoggoths, constantly shifting landscapes, buildings and masses, otherworldly, indescribable smells, sounds and sights, that are enough to overwhelm and horrify anyone not native there. Even beings such as Stolas, Alastor and Lucifer are horrified of it.
• Enemy Mine: During the latter half, Rufus is forced to work with his longtime rival and hated enemy Alastor for the betterment of Hell. Neither of them is entirely thrilled with the arrangement with Al taking any opportunity he can to get on Rufus' nerves, with the warden biting back.
• Empty Bedroom Grieving: Stolas leaves Octavia's room untouched after her death. He visits it in a moment of grief, and begs for a sign that she's still there. He briefly hears her call out to him, but eventually dismisses it as a cruel joke from Hell and leaving to his own bed.
• Enforced Cold War: Loona & Stella come to this in Chapter 22, with neither particularly liking or trusting the other, but both being willing to put their differences and animosity aside for Octavia's sake.
• Ensemble Cast: Loona and Octavia might take center stage, but the nearly 750k epic boasts over a dozen principle characters and at least as many small players, each with their own time in the spotlight, to the point that it borders on becoming unwieldy.
• Even Evil Has Standards: For all her spite, Verosika does have a few redeemable moments to her. Most of these are shown in Chapter 12. After Blitzo begs her to stop demeaning Loona, the Succubus agrees and since then starts treating Loona with more respect and fairness. She even offers her a job as a bodyguard, which Loona turns down. When Loona falls unconscious from a spiked drink, Verosika is quick to make sure she's okay and the next day—after brutally killing the incubus responsible. Even when Stolas shows up, and Verosika has the perfect opportunity to make her Ex's life miserable, by taking photos and leaking the story online in a way that will significantly manipulate events in her favor, she chooses not in exchange for a ride to Lust after she and Blitz have made up a little.
• Everybody Lives: Both subverted AND played straight. Plenty of side characters, like Polaris and Oz die in the first half, and Octavia seemingly dies in Chapter 30. And, despite heavy foreshadowing and in-universe speculation that many of the dozen demons who make up the rescue party to reclaim Octavia will not return, everyone lives! However, the entire party, and most of their aids, are forced to grapple with broken bodies and psychological wounds that will likely never fully heal. And when the reader realizes that Mother's ageless nature means that her schemes have only been delayed, it makes for a rather bittersweet victory.
• Everyone Has Standards: For as horrid, selfish, cruel and shady most of the core cast are, they're all disgusted by Alastor's cannibalism and the way he partakes for pleasure and fun, going much farther than even the worst of Hell.
• Evil Is Petty: Verosika takes every opportunity she can to make Blitzo's stay as her security guard as miserably as possible. She gives him all the dirty and hard chores she doesn't want to do, extends her tour by an extra week to screw with his work, beings to toy with Loona treating her unfairly and with plenty of bigoted remarks and gestures, knowing it will piss the imp off, and when he finally confronts her about it, demands he kneel down and beg for her to stop.
• Exact Eavesdropping: When Charlie goes to confront her father regarding the loud, annoying music he has playing, she manages to catch wind of some of his reveals to Stolas' group, mainly him withholding knowledge regarding the Uproar and more importantly the true fate of Octavia.
• Expy: Dr Crest, one of I.M.P.'s targets, is a very blatant adaptation of Dr. Herbert West from Re-Animator.
• Extra Eyes: Many of the horrors faced in the story and coming from Mother's dimension are described as having either too many or too little eyes.
• Eye Scream:
  • Seems to be a theme, with those overcome by madness. In the heat of the moment, Loona rips out the eye of a cyclops bouncer in Chapter 18, when he tries to take her out of the club. Later on, when everything turns to shit, we see the maddened hellborne either punctuating or ripping out their eyes.
  • Stolas loses one of his in defeating the King, as bits of his armor get's lodged into his upper right eye.
• The Fagin: During her living years, Vaggie had one in the form of Miguel. A drug dealer who provided her and others with food and shelter, in exchange for them helping to ship this wares to other people and taking the fall for him. It was during one of these outings, after being caught one too many times, that Vaggie was killed by an officer.
• Failed a Spot Check: There are two of these in Chapter 39.
  • First, after the Extermination, Stolas goes to check all over his palace, to figure out how the angels got in. As it turns out there was one room, he failed to fully close up during his protection spell. The room of the now dead Octavia. However Loona brings up, that it doesn't explain how one of them got in through the bathroom, hinting that something darker was responsible for that.
  • While Stolas and Loona try to investigate more clues on the strange eye symbols, they ultimately come out short they turn up with no lead. And while they briefly returned to Octavia's room, remembering her old stuff, they miss a small gap behind Via's bookcase where something seems to be lurking and several of her haunting and monstrous paintings hidden between desk and wall, where something seems to be watching through.
• False Friend: While Slaanesh & Emeli are two of Octavia's classmates and the ones she hangs out at most with at school, they aren't really friends. Octavia dislikes their personalities and bigoted views, and only really spends time with them at the behest of her mother and the image she has to uphold.
• Family of Choice: While already a theme of the show, this really picks up steam and becomes true, during the latter half of the story. With I.M.P., Octavia, Rufus and Stolas bound together to survive and try to save their home, and thus further growing their bond with each other and truly becoming close.
• Fanboy:
  • As hinted at in canon, Loona is a big fan of Verosika Mayday, much to her dad and the pop star's ex Blitzo's ire. It's bad enough that she's willing to look past or not care about, the pop star's patronizing of her during their tour, despite how much she usually hates being treated like an animal.
  • Despite being a ruthless mercenary, Drake is also a big fan of Verosika Mayday, and completely loses it, when Warden Rufus tells him he's been hired to act as her bodyguard, during her next tour.
  • Moxxie is revealed to be a closet fan of Angel Dust, owning numerous DVDs of the porn star's films. When Angel learns about this, he is all the eager to tease and flirt with the imp, even offering himself for sex, much to the imp's flustered shock.
• Fancy Dinner: Stolas and family have one in Chapter 13 with fellow Goetias Prince Vassago along with other high ranking demons from Gluttony & Envy. Octavia does not enjoy it, due to her disinterest in politics and the company, and the dinner quickly turns awkward, when one of the demons reveals to Stella that her daughter has spent more time with Loona than her fellow demon heirs.
• Fantastic Racism: As in the show itself, imps and especially hellhounds are treated as second-class citizens and viewed more like trained animals than people. Loona suffers the brunt of this treatment, being the subject of many racist slurs. Several high class locales she visits with Octavia refuse to allow hounds to enter.
• Fantasy-Forbidding Father: Gender Inverted and Played With in regards to Stella's feelings towards Loona. Stella is vehemently against Octavia's friendship with Loona and the various un-royal activities the two get up to, due to mostly her bigoted views and partly the bad press and political consequences that might arise from their royal family associating with someone from the lowest class, especially after Stolas' affair with Blitzo.
• Faux Affably Evil: Despite his eccentricities, Rufus is introduced as a tough but friendly demon towards others, in particular Loona and Millie. But it's revealed very quickly that he has a much more terrifying, cold, and cruel side, who's more than happy to abuse his power, give thinly-veiled threats, and brutalize people to get what he wants, as Blitzo knows all too well.
• Feathered Fiend: Played with. Captain Yoshimo can be quite cruel and malicious when she wants to be, but acting as the Captain of the Wardens and one of the main sources of order in Hell, it's all in service of the security of the Rings.
• Fictional Colour: Mother's realm and beasts are said to glow with a unearthly, unknowable color forbidden in the mortal world. Looking upon them for too long, is enough to drive even the strongest mind mad.
• Fingore: When Blitz arrives without enough cash to make his monthly payment, Rufus slowly and calmly breaks three of Blitzo's fingers to drive home the importance of punctuality.
• Flipping the Bird: Octavia flips off both birds at Loona in Chapter 14, not amused by her teasing at them being in a romantic relationship. Loona just flips her back.
• Fire-Forged Friends: At first, Loona and Octavia do not get along too well, only hanging out due to the insistence of their fathers. But over time, through their shared interests, tastes, and personalities, they strike a close friendship that becomes sweeter and stronger as the story goes on.
• Flirting Under Fire:
• Foil: This story has several, particularly with Alastor. The Radio Demon shares an antagonistic relationship with the equally surly Rufus, although the two men are more alike than they're comfortable with. Alastor also acts as the eternal pessimistic realist to Charlie Morningstar's perpetual optimism.
• Foreign Cuss Word: After hearing about this level of madness happening through all the rings of Hell, Rufus cussed with the German curse word "Scheißkerl!". [[spoiler: He gets another in Chapter 57 when he call the King a "SCHWEINHUND!".
• Forging Scene: We're treated to a truly epic on in Chapter 51, as Rufus assembles Loona and her pack of hellhound mates, to assist him in making heavenly and hellish weapons and armor for their big upcoming assault. This leads to an intense and exhaustive display of the hounds gathering various materials and metals from throughout hell, melting it down into a useable state and then forging into a new form of iron for their needs. The task is long and laborious, leaving many of them swelling bullets, out of breath and even close to harm at some points. Chapter 52, sees them completing the work on the guns and the sheer power they wield.
• Fountain of Youth: Millie is briefly regressed into a child, during her nightmare with the Choir.
• Freudian Excuse: Above all else, Stella cares about her family's reputation, and how the rest of the world's royalty might view them. Given that they literally live in Hell, where love is sometimes viewed as a weakness, the reputation of a Goetia is important, she does whatever she can to ensure they come out looking good. Stella does care about her family, but she's so blinded by their image and lessons imparted to her since she was a child, that she often can't see she's doing the wrong thing. And when she does, Stella often tries to run away from the issue instead of addressing this, which in turn is ruining her family life.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: But as shown several times over and even pointed out by Loona herself, Stella's good intentions has only caused Octavia to resent her mother more and more. To the point that she even feels unsafe and caged in her own house, causing her great mental and emotional abuse. At times, it feels like she cares more about image than her own daughter, and if she wants their relationship to improve, she's going to have to better herself for Via. Thankfully, after Via gives her a blunt, cold talk down in Chapter 20, after finally having had enough of her behavior, Stella begins to make genuine attempts to improve her relationship with Via, becoming a bit more easygoing and accepting of her choices and trying to mend bridges with Loona despite her biases. It's a long, rocky road, and it his a small snag after Via's abduction, but Stella manages to over come her previous behavior to become a much more kinder, supportive mother to Octavia, while still making sure she doesn't go overboard.
• Friendless Background:
  • As in canon Loona doesn't have many friends at the start, besides Vortex. This is sighted as one of the main causes of her attitude and laziness in her work.
  • Similarly, Octavia has little to no friends, that aren't classmates and fellow royal kids, she doesn't get along with and is forced to hang out with for appearances sake, at the behest of her mother.
• Friendly Enemies: Blitzo & Rufus seem to have entered a version of this, after the Uproar with neither liking each other, or even considering each other a friend, but both having grown a mutual respect and fondness, and being much more willing together, both due to their fondness for Loona & Octavia and to ensure their town makes it out okay.
• From Bad to Worse:
  • A reoccurring theme is how things usually end up poorly for I.M.P. and friends, despite numerous successes, and yet still managing to get by despite it all. The story starts with their business still in the red as ever. Then they start getting increasingly disturbing and dangerous jobs that while beneficial, cause them massive mental and physical damage; including the Canada job that results in Millie suffering a near-fatal wound, which nearly destroys the team. [[spoiler:And right after that the Uproar begins, causing massive shift in Hell's structure, killing millions of lives and ruining just as many, including I.M.P. as their business is destroyed and all their hard earned money is stolen. It's only thanks to Stolas that they manage to have a home and sanctuary from the madness.
  • The entire final battle in Chapter 58 can be best described as this. It starts out hard but well enough, as the rescue party manages to take down several of Mother's legions despite having little ammo and low morale. Then one by one, they start to fall, ammo beings to be used and each member receives a devastating wound that leaves them unable to fight. The portal keeps falling apart, thus keeping them in the battle longer and longer. Midway into the battle, the King returns landing a grievous wound on Rufus. And then Mother shows up and all but destroys the ground they're standing on, nearly killing them all, if it wasn't for a last minute save from Charlie and Lilith.
• Futile Hand Reach:
  • Stolas is snapped from his nightmare under the Choir's spell, when Octavia briefly manages to break out of holding and reach out for him. During their brief moments together, the Prince hold out for Octavia's hand in vain, as the princess is far away from his reach and quickly dragged back into Mother's hold.
  • Almost happens again during the last steps of the Rescue Party's return to Hell. In between dimensions, Lilith reaches for Charlie's hand, only to miss, thus sending the team spiraling across space. Both Lilith and Stella then rush in after them for a second attempt; after much hardship, Stella is able to get a grip on Octavia, allowing her and Lucifer to drag the rest of the team back home.

G-L

• Gas Leak Cover Up: Octavia's miraculous return and Stolas' injuries are quickly explained away with cover up stories; Octavia having fallen into a magical coma and mistakenly buried alive, and Stolas having suffered devastating injuries whole on an expedition in Wonderland. Given all the strangeness and insanity from the Uproar, it's quite easy for them to sell most of Hell, with these tales.
• Gene Hunting: Loona tracked her long-lost mom down, shortly after the start of I.M.P., even stealing some of their money to provide the funds for her quest. After a bit of searching she was able to find her in Greed, where she had married someone and given birth to twin sons. The reveal is so chilling for Loona, that she's unable to confront her mother, instead driving off to get drunk and cry.
• Genius Loci:
  • The Archive is a massive library filled with magical knowledge and is the second oldest building in Pride, so naturally, it has gained sentience. Its stairways move, hallways lead to different floors, and it interacts with visitors through a projected representative, Pendergast.
  • Mother's Realm is a massive, horrifying, living eldritch location, with unearthly buildings, shifting scenery and foliage, bright dazzling lights that can overwhelm lookers, changing uneven winds and smells, sights and sounds unlike any seen in Heaven, Hell and on Earth. It's even capable of whispering to it's intruders, inflicting traumatic memories and tossing them aside at it's own whims.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man:
  • Millie does this to Rufus, along with a piercing slap, when she & the others are trying to convince him not to return to Pentagram City, after the hell they've had to endure.
  • Blitzo does this to Stolas in Chapter 42, when the prince starts madly laughing, before breaking into laughter himself along with Loona.
• Get Out!:
  • Andromeda says this to Rufus, before breaking down into tears, after finding out he accidentally killed her sister Polaris.
  • Stolas says this to Blitzo & Rufus, when the pair try to get him to return to his duties, before the coming Extermination.
• Giant Squid: Most of the monsters in the Void are described as looking similarly as krakens. In particular, the King is a massive, winged squid with acidic blood and mental abilities.
• Gift of Song: Alastor's birthday gift to Octavia is a song from his shadowy band, along with a dance.
• Godzilla Threshold: With Mother having entered the final battle, near the end of Chapter 58, at which point all of the team has been left completely drained, out of ammo and unable to fight, with the very ground they're standing on falling apart, Stolas uses one last move to save everyone. Tapping into the core of his being, drawing upon every drop of his magical power, he channels it into a single powerful spell, that's able to hold off Mother long enough for Charlie to activate the portal and bring everyone back home. However, it comes at a high price as the spell starts to tear Stolas apart piece by piece, until by the end, it's very unlikely he will survive his injuries.
• Gone Horribly Wrong: Blitzo & I.M.P. are given a suspicious hit on a cult in Chapter 23, and despite doing their best to figure out the intense situation, things soon fall apart, as their initial plan is foiled, they're discovered too early and are forced to fight off legions of their members who are all armed to the teeth, and much more dangerous than they were led to believe. By the end, it's a miracle they manage to survive.
• Got Volunteered: Charlie insists on taking Vaggie with her, on Stolas' big quest without asking her girlfriend's interest or permission first. When the moth finds out about it, she is understandably upset and calls Charlie out on her reckless behavior, but eventually agrees to it.
• Great Big Library of Everything: The Archive serves this role being the second oldest structure in Pride and the heart of the Intelligence district. All known knowledge is recorded there for Lucifer's safe keeping, with enough records that it would take millennia to get through it all. It's so safely hidden that hardly anyone's allowed entry with the only means being to buy it, by giving up personal information about themselves. It's where Rufus managed to fix I.M.P.'s broken guns. And where I.M.P. turns too to find information about Mother and how to bring back Octavia.
• Grief-Induced Split: In Chapter 32, Stella leaves Stolas and the palace after Octavia's funeral.
• Grimy Water: When Loona attempts a ritual to reach Octavia through the her bathtub, the waters soon turn into a gross, putrid liquid, colored unlike anything in Hell or Earth, and smelling just as awful.
• Groin Attack: Rufus delivers a devastating one on Stolas, during their fight in Chapter 33.
• Gun Nut: Moxxie and Warden Rufus both qualify, and then some.
• Gut Punch: How chapter 23 ends, with Millie nearly dying from a shot from behind, causing Moxxie and the rest of I.M.P. to flip out on Blitzo due to all the injuries and suffering they went through because of him; hinting that their trust in him has been severely shaken.
• Hands Go Down: As they prepare for the Extermination, Blitzo asks the large gathering of sinners & hellborn how many of them can fight, to which a legion of hands emerge. When he asks how many would be willing to help them fight off the angels, many of them fall back down, with one a few dozen remaining.
• Hangover Sensitivity: Both Loona & Octavia experience this, after their epic birthday bender.
• Happily Married: As in canon, Moxxie and Millie are completely devoted to each other, to the point that it throws Octavia for a loop, wondering how two imps on the edge of poverty can be so darn happy together while her royal parents seem so miserable.
• Heads or Tails?: When Pendergast refuses to give them anymore of the information they need, Blitzo bets it all on a coin toss. If Pendergast wins he gets to keep Blitzo for whatever he desires and if Blitzo wins he tells them everything they need to know. Thanks to the imp's quick movements, he is able to beat the librarian, much to the badger's ire.
• Healing Hands: Krampus, has very strong almost miraculous healing abilities, which he uses to help ease Blitzo's mind, briefly cure much of Octavia's depression and mend Loona's limp leg for the day. Sadly they aren't permanent, but all the recipients are more than happy for his gifts.
• Heal It with Booze:
  • One of the many upsides to drinking Ambrosia, is that it heals up any recent wounds or injuries the drinker might've sustained.
• Heal It With Fire: Played With. While not using fire directly, Yoshimo is forced to disinfect and cauterize the worst of Stolas' wounds, using waters from the Phlegethon, a burning river so hot, only Baal and Lucifer can stand its heat.
• Heartfelt Apology:
  • After Blitzo tells him how much he hates the way the prince has been treating him, Stolas is quick to give him an emotional and sincere apology for making him feel this way, feeling ashamed of himself and promising to do better from now on.
  • After Octavia & Loona meet up again, after their big fight over the former's party, Octavia breaks down in tears and hugs her best friend, as she tearfully apologizes for being a terrible friend and not standing up to her mother in regards to her not being allowed at her birthday party. By then Loona's mostly over it and the two of them make up.
  • Blitzo fully apologized to Verosika, for his behavior and breakup, realizing he treated her horribly due to his own frustrations. While the succubus is still a bit bitter about it, she's able to make amends with her ex, the two departing on amicable terms.
• Hearing Voices: Stolas briefly hears Octavia calling out for him, when he begs her to give him a sign that she's alive. After a bit, he bitterly dismisses it as the wind and his mind playing tricks on him.
• Hedge Maze: Octavia and her family have one in their garden. Instead of being an obstacle, it's where the two of them have a private talk, with Octavia revealing her frustrations with her family life to her friend. It's also home to a garden where Stolas bonds with the two girls while tending to his prized roses and finally earns a little of Loona's respect.
• Heel Realization:
  • Blitzo telling him how he feels like nothing more than a clown and sex object from the way the prince has been treating him, is enough to make Stolas realize how much he has hurt the imp. He immediately apologizes and vows to try and treat him better.
  • Stella experiences this in Chapter 20, after Octavia slaps her and calls her out for her treatment of her & Loona, as well as her follow up fight with Stolas, where she accidentally let's slip she regrets marrying him.
  • Octavia also has a smaller one in Chapter 21, as she goes over some of Stella's papers, causing her to fully realize just how much effort she does to try and make their family look good, and how her carelessness has made things stressful for her mom.
  • Blitzo gets one in Chapter 23, after accepting a dangerous but high paying mission, that nearly costs everyone their lives and leaves them all in horrible shape. After he's called out for his selfishness by Moxxie and later Loona, he seems to finally realize just how much danger he has put his team in via his carelessness and greed, breaking down in tears in from of them all.
• Hellish Horse: Stella owns a stable full of hellish horses, which she, Loona and Octavia ride on in Chapter 22.
• Hellis That Noise: In Chapter 25, the apparent Hellshake that rocks the realm is accompanied by a chorus of screams and sounds so awful it causes Loona, Octavia, and several other demons to black out for over half an hour.
• Helpless with Laughter: In Chapter 42, Stolas, Blitzo and Loona all have a short, wild laugh over the fact that Pringles took the day off, the same time they experienced some of the most traumatic and world-shattering revelations in their lives.
• Heroic Resolve: After the Choir, everyone seems to have hit their lowest point, having been too traumatized and horrified by the sheer power, vastness and danger that the Old Ones pose, that they struggle to find the will to keep on going. But through a determination to save Octavia, support from each other and acknowledging that while they can never defeat the Old Ones they can annoy them enough for now, the team barley muster up the resolve to finish their quest.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Seemingly does this near the end of Chapter 58. With Mother arriving for the final battle, when everyone is one their last legs, with no ammo and several fatal wounds, Stolas recklessly summons up all of his magical reserves, channeling it into one final spell to keep the Eldritch Horror at bay long enough for Charlie to get them out. It's successful, though it massively damages the Prince's body, as feather and chunks of flesh start falling off rapidly. Knowing this is likely the end, Stolas binds farewell to Blitzo, Loona and Octavia than falls unconscious shortly after.
• Hired Help as Family: The butlers and maids of Stolas' keep are treated as practically secondary members of the family, with how long they've served them and how closer they are with the royals, including Octavia. Reginald and Pringles in particular, the latter having inherited his position from his own father, who himself had been head butler to the family, giving him a closer connection to them all.
• Hold the Line:
  • When Extermination rolls around, I.M.P., Stolas and Rufus must do their best to stand their ground, and protect the hundreds of survivors they have gathered inside the Prince's palace. It's a rough fight with casualties and plenty of near deaths, but the group is able to hold out until the even is over, by the skin of their teeth.
  • While Stolas, Alastor and Charlie try to open the portal back to Hell working, I.M.P., Rufus, Vaggie and Yoshimo most hold off the oncoming legions of Mother's Realm, using what little weapons and ammo they have left.
• Holy Hand Grenade: Warden Rufus has plenty of holy guns in his collection, including a derringer he names Aughra, that he pretends to use against Stolas. He later gifts some of them to I.M.P., right before the Extermination begins.
• Hold Your Hippogriffs: The locals have many unique slurs and phrases that fit Hell. "Christ's Bones", "Hell's Teeth" and "Satan's Balls" are just a few.
• Home Field Advantage: With several dozen sinners & hellborn packed together in Stolas' palace, everyone's able to work up some ways to keep everyone safe, space out the different fighters & soldiers and coordinate everything before the Extermination starts.
• Homemade Sweater from Hell: Rufus' is gifted from Alastor, at Blitzo's request, being given a truly hideous sweater with the Radio Demon's face sown in, covered in blinking lights and a bright red nose. And a pair candy-cane themed pants to match. The Warden promises to make both of them pay for the prank.
• Hope Spot: Chapter 30 has Stolas and Stella plan to designate Loona as Octavia's official bodyguard in light of the former's performance during the Uproar. As a Bodyguard, not only it would finally normalize the two girls hanging out, it grants Loona access to places that normal hellborn doesn't have while she receives specialized training. I.M.P could be made legal while Blitz and Loona would have the option of moving from their rundown home into the estate. As her friends, Tex and his pack would have someone with real authority in their group, a line to a noble's ear if any issue came up. It also would make her part of their Family and command respect. Obviously, if the title of the chapter didn't give it away, Octavia's "death" put the kibosh all of those plans and things gets worse for everyone instead.
• The Horde: And army of Mother's horrors and beast are sent after the team, once they successfully rescue Octavia, with Chapter 57 ending with the team preparing to take them on.
• Horrifying the Horror: Finding out about Mother's growing presence and plot to escape causes Lucifer Morningstar to shiver. Even Alastor himself is terrified of her power, getting a shiver when Mother attempts to call out to him.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: After Stolas easily falls for Rufus' bait in Chapter 8, the warden remarks how lust has blinded him, and that fifty years ago, the prince wouldn't have forgotten where he was or fallen for his ruse so easily.
• Human Architecture Horror: If a sinner is killed by any means other than Silver, their souls merge with the surroundings of Hell, thus turning them into anything from a concrete brick or a pipe to a random wall. Often forever. After being killed being Alastor, Rufus spent some time as the sidewalk, until he managed to painfully pull himself free from his fate.
• Humanity Ensues: As part of The Choir's messing with reality, Rufus is turned back into his human self.
• I Call It "Vera": Blitzo calls his pistol Gladys and his flintlock Davy Jones. Rufus names his favorite derringer Aughra. Loona even lampshades this in the first chapter, taunting Moxxie for naming his favorite shotgun Stanley. Later on Octavia gets a .45 pistol she names Marian.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Despite everyone calling him out for his massively reckless and foolish coin toss for his soul at the Archive, Blitzo refuses to be apologetic about it, claiming that it was necessary for them to get what they wanted.
• I'm Standing Right Here: Blitzo & Stella have a talk about what the former does to Stolas, that makes him crave him so badly. Blitzo is more than happy to do this, also mentioning that he snores, while Stolas is in the room. He brings this up, only for the both of them to hit him with a "Shut up, Bitch."
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Blitzo is quick to get a drink from Stolas’ kitchen, after having to walk though the compelling ruins of Imp City with his team, witnessing countless horrors along the way.
• I Resemble That Remark!: Castor flat out says this word-for-word, when he and his brother are described by Loona as "giggly, spotted idiots, but they make good beer so we keep them around."
• I Just Want to Have Friends:
  • Millie quickly deduces and explains to Blitzo that one of the reasons for Loona's cold and distant attitude, is because she's lonely and doesn't have anyone to talk to. She turns out to be right. Loona is only now slowly making friends with other hellhounds like Vortex & Polaris. Once she starts befriending Octavia, it gradually starts to improve her attitude.
  • Octavia continues to see Loona despite her mother's disapproval because the hound is the first real friend she's made in some time.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: By the end of Chapter 52, Stella seems to have made peace with Blitzo or at least she's become comfortable enough to allow it, as she encourages Stolas to go him instead of her, wanting to remain friends while he can pursue his true love.
• Ignore the Fanservice: Verosika attempts to seduce Warden Rufus when he refuses to let her use Vortex, one of his sergeants, as one of her bodyguards for her next tour. He calmly rejects her offer and stands his ground on the matter.
• Ignored Expert: Rufus ignores the doctor's advice to be patient and let his artificer abilities return naturally over time, warning him that forcing them back could weaken them permanently, trying to call them back on his own to fix a clock. It doesn't work.
• Impossibly Delicious Food: Ambrosia is a glittery liquor reserved for the upperclass, that is so good that it sends the drinking into a state of euphoria from one glass, supposedly turns you into a sex machine, and even heals up injuries they might've sustained.
• Improbably Quick Coma Recovery: Subverted. Octavia spends two weeks in a coma, from the toll of being trapped in Mother's realm, becoming sickly thin, having to give up energy to help heal everyone else and the overall stress of it all. When she wakes up, she is too pained to even move her arm, and spends the next weeks in her bed slowly healing along with everyone else. When she's finally allowed out of bed, she spends more time having to walk with crutches and struggling to stand, before she is finally able to move on her own after months of rehabilitation.
• Improvised Weapon: Loona uses a flaming bike chain as an impromptu whip, against the hordes of rapid, rioting fans during Verosika's final tour in Anger.
• Infodump: Chapter 44 acts much like this, being the chapter that answers many of the questions about what's going on, why they are happening and how the protagonists can try and stop it.
• Innocently Insensitive: In Chapter 13, Octavia tells Loona she's been lying to Stella, about spending time Slaanesh, with one of her classmates rather than her, thinking it would be believable as "She's got a hellhound she brings along sometimes." Loona is mildly offended that her friend referred to one of her own by species, rather than by name, but but doesn't bring it up. Mostly because Octavia was already going through enough stress. This continues later on with Stolas making a few uncomfortable remarks to Loona in Chapter 14, and comes to a head at Chapter 16, where Loona, furious over not being allowed to attend her birthday, accuses Octavia of treating her like a dog at times.
• Insecure Love Interest:
  • Blitzo clearly has feelings for Prince Stolas, but due to his self-loathing, lower rank, and the way he feels more like a glorified sex toy than an actual lover, the imp has trouble feeling like he's actually loved by him and is reluctant to open up to the Goetia demon. Over time he manages to work past these issues and come to settle into a healthy, loving relationship with the prince.
  • Similarly Stolas in the earlier chapters, wants to tell Blitzo just how much he values him but isn't sure of himself enough to actually do so, which is why he resorts mainly to flirting. It takes him until Chapter 8, to come clean.
• Instant Web Hit: Thanks to Vox's interference Loona's flaming burp at Vox's club and her maiming on of the bouncers, goes viral overnight, accumulation millions of views in less than a day. This ends up becoming quite scandalous for the both of them and Octavia's family.
• Insult of Endearment: When they first meet Loona & Octavia exchange insulting names to each other out of pettiness. As they grow closer, those nicknames become more amicable and done more with lightness than any real malice. It's no surprise when the two are finally reunited in Chapter 57, they great each other with these.
• Interclass Friendship: The main plotline revolves around the growing and deep friendship between Loona, a hellhound, the lowest ranking species of Hell, and Octavia, a princess, and daughter of Prince Stolas of the Ars Goetia.
• Internal Reveal:
  • Chapter 31 has two, as the Wardens and most of the ruling class find out about demons being plagued by nightmares causing them to go insane and that Rufus is in a romantic relationship with his Captain Yoshimo.
  • Chapter 39. While Loona was aware of the graffiti and eye symbols that have appeared across Hell during the Uproar, it's here, when she sees one in Stolas' palace, that she start to believe that something otherworldly and wrong is going on with them.
• Interspecies Friendship: Loona the hellhound becomes fast, good friends with Octavia the owl demon.
• Intimate Hair Brushing: Chapter 25 has Blitzo brushing Loona's hair, as a show of how far they've come and their better financial place after the Canada job. Loona allows the same curtsy to Millie in Chapter 38.
• It Amused Me: Part of the reason why Rufus agreed to loan money to Blitzo, so he could fund I.M.P., was because he loves to prove other people wrong. And the idea of a lower class imp-like Blitzo managing to run a successful business, despite the rest of Hell not believing in him, is amusing enough for the Warden to allow it to continue.
• It Has Been an Honor: Before what might likely be their final battle, facing off against a charging legion of Mother's horde in Chapter 57, the team each say this to each other, with Loona & Blitzo reaffirming their familial love for each other, before the fighting starts.
• "It" Is Dehumanizing: [[spoiler: Mother and her legions exclusively refer to Octavia as The Key, not seeing her as a person or someone worthy of respect, but rather a possession and a means for them to break free into the rest of existence.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Stella, despite her rage, has every right to be furious at Stolas for his carelessness during his play date with Blitzo, wearing dirty, flirtatious matching Hawaiian shirts with the imp, and not even putting on a disguise. Being a royal demon, him openly displaying his affair with the lower class imp, is going to cause problems to their family and severely ruin their image.
• "Join Us" Drone: The Choir have a haunting chant, as they attempt to bring others into their fold, telling their victims to: Sing.
• Karma Houdini: Despite being the overarching villain of the whole story, her and her followers nearly destroying Hell midway through, Mother is so powerful and above everyone else, that she doesn't really suffer any consequences for her actions. The worst thing that happens to her by the end, is that Octavia is rescued, a good chunk of her monsters are killed and her attempt to escape is thwarted. And even then, it's made clear these are all minor setbacks, as being an ageless being, she has all the time in the world to attempt her schemes again some day. Especially as she might've gotten several new future conduits by the end of the story…
• Karma Houdini Warranty: Other than a deviating punch to the jaw, Melvin seemingly gets away with banning Loona from his dad's store and sexually harassing her, no doubt letting him go on to hurt other women and hellhounds without any punishment. That is until Chapter 60, where Octavia buys the store, and the surrounding block, just so that she can get him fired, much to his shock and rage.
• Keeperof Forbidden Knowledge: Pendergast, one of the Archive's more powerful representatives, certainly qualifies, and then some.
• Kick the Dog: The first casualties the Exorcists take during their siege at Stolas' castle, is several of the prince's horses, much to Blitzo's horror.
• Killed Offscreen: Numerous Ars Goetia were driven mad and had to be put down as a result of the maddening.
  • Oz.
  • Polaris.
  • Jarvis.
• Killer Bear Hug: Stormy gives Rufus a crushing hug in Chapter 59, when he finally returns from his big mission. This one is especially painful, as the warden was currently suffering from multiple injuries, having spent weeks in recovery prior ro their reunion.
• Kill It with Fire: Upon seeing the shambling humanoid abomination walking towards her and the team, Loona tries to take it out with two large spouts of molten fire directly at it, which weaken it enough for Millie to deliver the killing blow.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: When Blitzo & Co. come to Moxxie & Millie for helping with Octavia, Blitzo bluntly tells them that while he would love their help, he won't force them into it and won't blame them for not going, as what they're about to face is far beyond anything they have encountered. After a long talk about it with each other, the couple agrees to help them in their mission, despite a strong likelihood that they might die.
• Knowledge Broker:
  • As a part of his job as warden of Imp City, Rufus knows almost everything that goes on in his city. And even things that occur beyond it.
  • And a step above him and the rest of the Warden, are Volthor & Prenderghast, the keepers of the Archive which contains every bit of information regarding Hell, Heaven and everything in-between.
• The Krampus: Acts as the Santa Claus of Hell during the annual Krampusnacht celebrations. Surprisingly he is a very kind and giving character, and unlike his usual interpretations, rather than punishing the naughty by stuffing them in sacks, he gives them gifts and even temporarily heals the injured and shaken who have been good.
• Lame Pun Reaction: When Loona quips that Blitzo is a loud-mouthed clown, the imp defends himself by trying to tell a joke: "What's the difference between a hippo and a zippo? One's huge and heavy, the other's a little lighter!" The hellhound groans in response, clarifying that he's a lousy loud-mouthed clown.
• Last Episode, New Character: The Archangel Gabriel, Lucifer's little brother, shows up in the Penultimate chapter, for a brief tense chapter, setting up more potential animosity and feuding between Heaven and Hell. Especially with Heaven wanting the Rescue Party dead, after they have been touched by Mother's presence, thus turning them into her future conduits down the line.
• Last Stand: Chapter 57: I.M.P., Vaggie, Rufus and Yoshimo make one last stand against the hordes and horror's of Mother's Realm, in hopes of buying Stolas, Charlie and Alastor enough time to open up the portal back to Hell.
• Latin Is Magic: Stolas' spells are spoken in Latin. With one in particular: Abyssus invocat abyssum, used in chapter 54 to calm everyone down, after being overwhelmed with fear. Charlie later uses the spell Abyssus abyssum invocat, to open up the portal allowing her and the rescue party to return to Hell with Octavia.
• Laughing Mad:
  • Stolas, Blitzo and Loona briefly end up in mad hysterics after finding out about Octavia's true fate, witnessing unbelievable horrors and being nearly traumatized, over Pringles having the day off during all of this.
  • The entire rescue party spend the first days of recovery from Mother's journey, either laughing or screaming like crazy over what they've been through.
• Legendary Weapon: For the big final battle, Lucifer gifts Vaggie with a weapon from his vault. The legendary spear of Odin himself: Gungnir! It comes in might handy when she, Yoshimo and Millie have to kill a weakened King.
• Let Me at Him!: Stolas nearly abandons his post and goes to save Blitzo, when his beloved imp is nearly killed on the battle field. Charlie and Alastor have to physically hold him back and remind him, that the gateway home needs all three of their uninterrupted attention if they're ever going to have a chance of escape, which is already looking slim with how often the portal keeps falling apart. Reluctantly, Stolas agrees and is forced to continue work on the spell, even as Blitzo and the other's scream begin to haunt his mind.
• Let's Just Be Friends: After their long talk together in Chapter 20, Stolas and Stella confess they can never truly see the other as a romantic partner, the two seemingly decide to just remain friends. Though Stella is clearly torn about it.
• Let's You and Him Fight: Stolas and Rufus finally come to blows in Chapter 33, when the Warden goes to knock the Prince out of his depression, so that he can resume his duties. The prince nearly kills the Warden, before Blitzo finally stops him.
• Living Prop: Yoshimo is quite fond of using these for her many theatrical plays, mostly from the many criminals she's caught throughout the years. At one point, she kept one of her would be usurpers alive for a whole month, keeping him fed and quenched, making a magnificent show of her slowly torturing him to death.
• Loan Shark: On top of being the Warden of Imp City, Rufus also acts as a sort of loan shark for Blitzo, as the imp asked him for the loan that allowed him to start I.M.P. at 19% interest. Combined with expensive weapon repairs, Rufus collects a lot of money from the startup. When Blitz begins to fall behind on his payments, the warden is often antagonistic and at times, even violent towards him.
• Lock-and-Load Montage:
  • Before their big mission in Chapter 23, I.M.P. have a quick bit of them strategizing an attack plan and gearing up for the big assualt.
  • Chapter 52 can serve as one, as this is where the gang not only get their big weapons for their biggest mission yet, but also their new suits to help them through.
  • Right before the end of Chapter 57, the team ready their remaining weapons and spells, in order to fight off one last assault from the coming army.
• Lonely Rich Kid: Up until she meets Loona, Octavia has no friends or close ones to speak of, other than her parents. She only hangs out with some of her classmates at the behest of her mother, but doesn't enjoy their company at all.
• Lotus-Eater Machine: Upon capturing their victims, The Choirs will attempt to lock them up in hive-like prisons in order to assimilate them into their collective. In order to keep them distracted, by trap them in dream-like states filed with distorted memories and people from their past, manipulating them into joining them, as they do with the rescue party in Chapter 55 and 56.
• Love Confession: Blitzo finally confesses his love for Stolas 51 chapters in, after some encouragement from Moxxie. The prince lovingly returns the gesture, confessing his own deep love for the imp, as they snuggle together in bed.

M-R

• Mad Scientist: Dr. Horace Crest, is a madman obsessed with reanimating the dead, collecting dozens of bodies for his experiments, and stitching different bodies together to create new, horrific abominations. With all these horrors, it's no wonder he ends up becoming a target for I.M.P.
• Making Love in All the Wrong Places: After a long mission in Chapter 6, Millie leads Moxxie into the armoury, claiming to want to check on their gear, in order to have some quick lovemaking with her husband. They later have another moment in their own home, in their bathtub.
• Malicious Misnaming: During the first few days of their tour, Verosika frequently gets Loona's name wrong; calling her "Moonie", "Tuna" and "Loonie", on purpose to spite Blitzo. It isn't until the imp confronts her about it and demands she stop, that she finally puts an end to it.
• Manipulative Editing: Blitzo & Stolas' trip to the Mall with their children ends up making headlines the next day. Loona and Blitzo are edited to look oafish and disgusting, while Stolas and Octavia are largely left unchanged to portray the lower-class demons as badly as possible.
• Massage of Love:
  • Played With. While the two have long since broken up, before her final show in Anger, Blitzo calms Verosika's nerves by gently rubbing her back, similar to how he used to, back when they were still a couple.
  • Stella gives one to Stolas in chapter 22, to help ease his tension after a long, bitter talk with Overlords.
• Meaningful Echo: "Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow." While the phrase is not said in the story itself, it is the core belief of Charlie, something that Alastor laughs at. So when he tells her this near the end of Chapter 58, as encouragement for her to hold on and a sign of faith in her, it really goes to show how much Al has come to respect Charlie's core belief and unyielding optimism.
• Meaningful Gift: Octavia receives two in Chapter 17. One from Rufus on her birthday and another from Loona a few days after. The first is a beautiful handmade, space-themed pocket watch, with one of her feathers as the hour hand and some of Loona's hairs as the minute hand. From Loona she gets a collection of Short Stories of her favorite book series, Trogdor The Barbarian autographed by the author himself.
• Memory Jar: Krampus gifts Rufus with a brief look into his past, through an enchanted mug of hot cocoa. First he remembers back to celebrating Christmas with his dad and their last days together, to him happily spending the holidays, free from work or stress, with his daughter and wife.
• Mental Health Recovery Arc: Chapter 59 and the last two chapters are dedicated to Octavia and the rescue party having to physically and mentally recover from the countless horrors and near death experiences they've dealt with on their mission, slowly moving towards recovery, bit by bit.
• Mephistopheles Warden Volthor is revealed to have been none other than Mephisto, the right hand of Lucifer himself, having assumed a mortal form after centuries of living on Earth.
• Mind Rape: The Eldritch Horrors of Mother's realm are fond of this, with the Choir trapping it's victims in horrific nightmare realms, that twist reality and forces them to relive some of their worst memories and faces from their past, compelling them to sing and join it's ever growing legion. And then there's the King, who can invade people's mind and break them from within, nearly doing so to the rescue party, before Octavia helps them out.
• Mirror Character: Alastor and Rufus share more similarities than either wants to admit, which only fuels their animosity. Both powerful, ruthless men jealously guards his territory and those within its borders and are prone to theatrics and loud, shockingly violent displays of power. Each has a fondness for red clothing and is lonelier than he wants to admit. And both are monsters seeking a greater sense of purpose in Hell, to varying degrees of success.
• Missing Mom: Loona's mother abandoned her on the streets, when she was only four years old. She later found out she had started a new life for herself in Greed as a singer, being happily married with two twin sons.
• Mistaken Death Confirmation: After Octavia's body is found unmoving and unresponsive in her bed, in Chapter 31, everyone believes her to be dead. Especially after the doctors confirm it, saying there's no sign of life inside her. A funeral is had for the deceased Goetia, with everyone mourning her death over several chapters, but slowly over the course of a few chapters, she's implied to be alive in some form as her voice reaches out to those closets to her, in particular Stoals & Loona. This is then finally confirmed in Chapter 41, where Octavia manages to reach out to Loona and bring her into the void dimension she's been trapped him, telling her friends of what's really going on and begging the hellhound to free her.
• Mood Whiplash:
  • Chapter 16 ends with a seemingly happy moment for Octavia, as the teen has a sweet moment with her family, a good nab, a nice dinner and then a relaxing bubble bath… only for her bath to get ruined, by an Eldritch Abomination pulling her inside the bath tub, calling out for her to join them as their key. Octavia reemerges from the bath, only to find the creature gone and her to dismiss it as a dream, ending the chapter on a haunting note.
  • The upbeat opening of Chapter 23, where I.M.P. get ready to start the day in unusual good and happy spirits, is soon ruined when they enter the office, to find the large and creepy Barlow there with another inhumane assignment for them.
  • Chapter 25's seemingly peaceful book store visit for Loona & Octavia, is suddenly ruined when a skeletal fox is run over and mutilated on the streets and then eaten by a passing ogre.
  • By the last third of Chapter 42, Stolas, Blitzo and Loona have all been through several traumatic and terrifying encounters; Loona in particular having been stuck in a Nightmare Realm for who knows how long, briefly rendering her a traumatized messed and vomiting up a living monster upon her return, and just found out what really happened to Octavia. Everyone is shaken and scared by the event. So it comes as a bit of a surprise, when they all become Helpless with Laughter over Pringles having taken the day off needing a break.
• Morton's Fork:
  • When Charlie offers Rufus a place in the Happy Hotel and a chance at redemption, Rufus turns it down for this reason. While he is suffering in Hell and missing his family, reuniting with them in Heaven, would mean leaving behind all the new friends he's made, including Yoshimo and abandoning his post as Warden.
  • Once the rescue ream finally get Octavia back and have to make the trip back to the Portal, they're face with two equally risky and dangerous choices. They can choose to either take a new unfamiliar path, though one that's likely going to take too long or have a good chance of leading them to a wrong course; or go back the way they came, which would mean fighting the same horrors as before, which would likely kill Stolas. With great reluctance, they pick the latter, though thankfully make it back to the portal location, without losing any life.
• Mr. Exposition: Pendergast mostly serves to fill this role in Chapter 44, giving Stolas, Loona, Blitzo and Rufus the info about the nature of the Elder Gods, their desires and realm, what's been going on in Hell, why they want Octavia and how to access their domain from here.
• Mundane Horror: Chapter 25 goes full ham on this, as the city around Loona & Octavia erupts into chaos, without most people noticing. On their way to Rufus' shop, they pass by small street of houses and shops where everything seems normal…only to find it's usual workers gone or murdered, with their clothes scattered on the floor, hands on the roof, and ice cream parlor butchering it's own costumers and a sickly imp, forming some kind of symbol on a nearby wall made out of either blood or shit, casually waving to the girls as he does.
• Mundane Made Awesome:
  • Rufus upgrading Octavia's bone shears, is made to sound mythical and untherwordly, by the way the forging process is described, expertly highlighting the Warden's craftsmanship.
  • Octavia, Loona, Vortex and the rest of their friends, take part in a game of frisbee over first pick of the meat and booze. This results in a heated, epic battle between two sides, with special mention to Octavia winning the game for her team, using her skills in ballet to turn the tide and score the winning goal.
• Musicalis Interruptus:
  • According to Octavia, Alastor only got through the first part of his song to her, before Stella punched him across the room.
  • Loona gets a brief chance to get in touch with her lost musical skills on the piano in Chapter 22, and even gets through the first chorus of She Used to Be Mine, before Stella interrupts her.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Rufus has this response, after discovering that he unknowingly killed a maddened Polaris, while he was escorting the girls & I.M.P. through Hell.
• My Horse Is A Motor Bike: Subverted. At first Loona compares being on a horse to riding a bike that can run. Then once she and Octavia go for a proper full ride, the hellhound quickly learns how wild and chaotic riding a horse really is, and nearly shits herself on the ride.
• My Life Flashed Before My Eyes: Moxxie's experience under The Choir's influence, is depicted as this, as the imp experiences painful and haunting flashes of his past, his family and his hardships, before managing to break free.
• Necromancer: Dr. Crest certainly fits the bill, being a pastiche of Dr Herbert West, reanimating dead corpses for his benefit.
• Neck Lift Stolas grabs Rufus by the neck and nearly snaps him right there when the warden tells him, how disappointed the deceased Octavia would be in him, if she saw him in his current state.
• The Needs of the Many:
  • As they do their best to prepare and keep everyone safe, for when Extermination rolls around, Rufus request they keep a pair group of sinners on the third floor, to keep the Excorsits away from the children. Most of them are disgusted and displeased with the idea, but reluctantly agree that if angels break through, they won't be able to save everyone, so it's best to make sure the children are safe, while a few sinners, the angel's main targets, are used as bait. They are forced to use them, when the angels eventually break through, Stolas sealing up the Third Floor, leaving the rest of the palace to get slaughtered.
  • Pendergast is very reluctant and even discouraging of Stolas & the gang's attempts to free Octavia from Mother's grasp, saying that she is unlikely to fulfill the needs she wants from her, and they should leave her in the realm so as to not risk the safety of the rest of the universe. Stolas, of course doesn't take his suggestion all too well.
• Never Sleep Again: Some mysterious evil is plaguing the dreams of various demons in Hell, causing them to slowly go crazy. In particular, Octavia suffers the most of these dreams, even being haunted by some unknown horror that tries to come for her. We finally get to see their work in Chapter 25, when Hell starts to break down and later in 30, where the Monster in the shadows finally consumes and kills Octavia.
• Never Split the Party: While the rescue party mostly stick together throughout most of their journey in Mother's Realm, they're forced to split up during the final battle in order to properly deal with the army at different places. And while it does work to hold them off, one-by-one the separated members suffer absolutely devastating wounds that nearly take their lives.
• New Old Flame: Stella's slow changing attitude and attempts at improving herself for Octavia's sake, has the added effect of rekindling her old relationship with Stolas, as they being to talk more and grow closer as a result.
• Night of the Living Mooks: The imps are forced to fight through Dr Crest's reanimated creations, in order to get to the doctor.
• Nightmare Weaver: Throughout the story it is heavily implied that someone or something, is invading Octavia's dreams, giving her nightmares and influencing her to draw disturbing and monstrous images based on them. This is then practically confirmed in Chapter 16, where Mother contacts Octavia while she's taking a bath. And is then fully confirmed, when Mother returns in Chapter 30, consuming and killing Octavia in her nightmare.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown:
  • Octavia gives a short but devastating one to Slaanesh after she openly mocks Octavia, her family and Loona to the princess' face.
  • Once he gets the upper hand on the fight in Chapter 33, Stolas tears into Rufus beating him to a pulp until Blitzo stops him.
  • Rufus gets one on Alastor of all demons during an inevitable confrontation at the Hazbin Hotel bar, even repaying the crippling back-breaking blow Alastor dealt him over 70 years ago.
  Rufus: You spent the last 70 years basking in your power. I spent it getting my ass kicked by a colorful thespian until she taught me something useful. I know kung-fu. And for you, I think I'll get my hands dirty again, now GET UP.
• No One Gets Left Behind: Rufus is willing to go into Pentagram City, so shortly after bringing I.M.P. to Stolas’ estate, risking his own life & wellbeing, all so he can make sure Captain Yoshimo is alive and well.
• No Sympathy: Hardly anyone in Sloth seem to care about Stella's feelings after losing Octavia, seeing it more as an inconvenience and caring more about attempting to get into her good graces and win her over, now that she's vulnerable and away from Stolas.
• No, You: When offered to join him to save Octavia, Yoshimo gently turns him down; saying she's not joining him on his quest. HE'S joining her on this quest.
• Noodle Incident: During a meeting with Captain Yoshimo in Chapter 9, Rufus is quite surprised to learn that an addictive hallucenagenic called Flare is turning up in Pride, as Lucifer outlawed the substance after "the Chinatown Ramen Factory Incident."
• Not So Stoic: After being humiliated and insulted by a racist couple at a cafe' in Chapter 4, Loona haltingly cries in front of Octavia on the playground and is finally able to talk about the racism she must endure as a hellhound. Later on in Chapter 23, where Blitzo is nearly killed, a terrified Loona puts herself in the line of fire to save him, and then tearfully berates him for his selfishness during their after-action patch up.
• Not Worth Killing: Rufus explains that never got around to a rematch with Alastor because by the time he was powerful enough make a serious attempt, he realized the collateral damage would be too much trouble for everyone involved and his duties as Warden of Imp City were more important than settling an old grudge.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore:
  • Chapter 25 completely uproots and wrecks the status quo for everyone, as all of Hell is nearly destroyed by a wave of madness and monster attacks that leave the realm devastated. Our leads emerge alive, but out of business, home and options, forcing them to bond together in order to survive.
  • As Millie notes while staying with her family on Krampusnacht, her home has changed since she was there last. It serves as a bittersweet reminder that she and the rest of our protagonist have been irreversibly changed from their experiences in Mother's Realm, them becoming more dour and less optimistic than before. And how even if they one day recover, they will never quite reach the same heath they once were.
• Odd Friendship: One of the odder but more touching relationships is the bond between Millie, the hellborn, optimistic, violence happy, possibly crazy murderer with a heart of gold and a loving husband, and Rufus, the often cold, control-obsessed, odd but serious, gunsmith and Warden of Imp City.
• Of Course I Smoke: With some encouragement from Loona, Octavia tries to smoke a joint in Chapter 15. It doesn't go too well, with the owlet ending in a coughing fit and nearly dropping the cigarette, from the bitter taste. She gets used to it over time, though still dislikes the taste.
• An Offer You Can't Refuse: Barlow pays a large sum of money to I.M.P. for killing a large cult, that supposedly wrong his employer sometime ago. When Blitzo starts asking too many questions and considers turning it down, Barlow calmly hints that he is very highly connected and won't hesitate to kill all four of them, if they don't go through with it.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • In Chapter 25, a squad of gangsters attempt to use the chaos unfolding across Imp City to invade Rufus' shop and overthrow the Warden. He offers them a chance to leave and when they refuse, he magically locks the door behind them. The thugs have just enough time to realize their mistake.
  Mook: Oh fuck.
  Rufus: It's too late for fear, boys. It's time to kill.
• Old Flame: Stella runs into on at the party. Damian, one of Paimon's children and a member of Lucifer's army. Stella used to have a crush on him since she was a child, even bedding him at one point. During Andrealphus' party, she briefly considers pursuing her feelings with him fully, with nothing left for her in Pride, until she realizes this is party of her brother's scheme, to make her Damian's trophy wife. After which, she turns down his advances.
• One-Winged Angel: Both Stolas and Alastor sport two terrifying ones. Stolas, of course, get's his massive black and red hell-raptor form, while Alastor sporting a nightmarish wendigo with a a deer skull for a head.
• Only Friend: Loona quickly becomes this to the lonely Octavia.
• Only Mostly Dead: Thought by everyone to be dead in Chapter 31, it's revealed in Chapter 41, that Octavia's actually been trapped in a vast void with an Eldritch Horror, trying to reach out to others for help.
• Original Character: The story features several new characters, including Reginald, the Goetia family's head of Staff, Oz, the Warden's righthand man, Polaris a hellhound friend of Vortex & Loona, Warden Rufus, the main overseer of Imp City, Kris the semi-accountant of I.M.P., Captain Yoshimo, leader of the Wardens and theatric maintainer of law and order in Pentagram City and many more.
• Our Centaurs Are Different: Centaurs are among the many hellborne species. One in particular, Nessus, appears as one of Verosika's temporary security heads, as a powerful, dangerous warrior, who despite her no nonsense and brutal nature is still friendly towards those she respects. Including Loona.
• Out-of-Character Alert:
  • Stella brings up to Stolas, that it's suspicious that the video of Loona & Octavia at Vox's bar spread so far, as the Overlord isn't usually the type to let such pettiness get the better at him. Similarly, Rufus threatening war over the incidence, is very bold for someone usually so calculating, both hinting something big going on not just with them, but all of Hell's Overlords as well.
  • Upon her return from her sudden, unexplained mission into Mother's Realm, the other Hotel residents are quick to notice that somethings' up with Charlie. Aside from the sudden grey streak in her hair, Angel points out that she isn't smiling as much as usual, and Husk tells her that he's rarely heard her sing since she returned.
• Outliving One's Offspring:
  • Stolas and Stella, both lose their only daughter Octavia in Chapter 31. Though Chapter 32 hints her spirit might still be around in some state, which is definitively confirmed in Chapter 41, where she manages to successfully call out to Loona
  • Prior to his fall into Hell, Rufus had a wife and a daughter named Sofia. During an accident at the plant his family was caught in the crossfire and they were all killed. Sofia died only a few seconds before he did.
• Over The Top Christmas Decorations: On Krampusnacht Stolas' castle is practically covered in various grand, and over-the-top Christmas decorations, including elaborate ice sculptures, wreaths and garlands everywhere, three stuff Christmas trees and having the suits of armor singing carols. Even in the bathroom.
• Painting the Medium: Mother and The Choir's dialogue are written in Italic text to emphasize their otherworldliness and dread, compared to the demons of Hell, who all speak with regular text.
• Papa Wolf: As in canon, Blitzo is very protective and loving of Loona, and will do anything to keep her safe and happy. This is highlighted in Chapter 10, where he furiously confronts Verosika over her bigoted treatment of Loona just to get back at him.
• Parents as People: Blitzo, Stolas, and Stella are given many flaws that dampen their relationships with their daughters.
  • Blitzo loves Loona to a fault, but his overbearing and babying gets on her nerves, resulting in their relationship often being tested. This is not helped by Blitzo's own insecurities making it difficult for him to get close to Loona.
  • Stolas' relationship with Octavia has improved since Loo Loo Land but his continuous, casual affair with Blitzo and the deterioration of his marriage have still put a strain on it.
  • Stella, despite her temper and bigoted views, does want Octavia to be happy and cares about her daughter. But her views are skewed, she is unshakably stubborn in her conviction and often refuses to listen to her own daughter. Even if what Stella believes to be right and best for Octavia is not necessarily what her daughter needs.
• Parental Abandonment: Loona's mother left her on the streets when she was four years old.
• Paying It Forward: IMP and Rufus go through the ringer together, nearly dying on multiple occasions while defending each other and safeguarding Imp City. When they return to find Rufus' shop wrecked during the Extermination, I.M.P. declare Rufus one of their own and work together to rebuild it.
• Perilous Marriage Proposal: Rufus makes one to Yoshimo in Chapter 52, before the two depart on their most dangerous mission, knowing there's likely a chance they may not live through it. Yoshimo not only accepts but demands Lucifer marry them right on the spot.
• Pet the Dog: For all his ruthlessness, Warden Rufus has several moments of kindness that keep him from being completely unlikeable. These include his close and real friendships with Millie, Loona and Andromeda, and him having a soft spot for hellhounds. He even fixes Octavia's shears and gifts the princess her own gun, when she stops by in Chapter 11.
• Plagued by Nightmares:
  • Many of those who went mad before the Uproar, are said to have experienced countless horrific nightmares.
  • While most of the cast have many bad dreams after the Uproar, after Octavia dies, Loona and Stolas both suffer from horrible, traumatizing nightmares of her dying, being in trouble or begging for help, further adding to their grief.
  • As a result of their time in Mother's realm, facing countless horrors and nearly losing their lives, the entire rescue party suffers from frequent disturbing nightmares, that plague them even after they've started to recover. They've had to take medication in order to try and get some decent sleep, and even then their dreams keep them up at night, without any rest.
• Planet Eater: One of the first thing Loona witnesses upon entering a shadow of Mother's Realm, is one of the Elder Gods eating an entire galaxy.
• Platonic Declaration of Love: In Chapter 15, during their bonfire party, while taking the other's hand, Loona and Octavia each that they love them.
• Please, Don't Leave Me:
  • After Blitzo comforts Loona, during her breakdown over Octavia's death, she asks him to stay with her, while she sleeps. He agrees to do so.
  • We get plenty of these in Chapter 58, as characters start suffering near fatal wounds. Most notable include both Moxxie & Millie saying this to each other at different points, Yoshimo begging for Rufus to hold on and both Blitzo & Octavia begging Stolas not to sacrifice himself during his last spell.
  • After angrily chewing Stolas out for nearly sacrificing himself back at the void, a still traumatized and saddened Blitzo tearfully begs Stolas not to scare him like that or ever leave him. The prince agrees and apologizes for making the imp worry.
• Pocket Dimension: The Crypt, the place where the Ars Goetia bury their dead, is one, with it even being accessible through a door in Stolas' palace.
• Portal Pool: The way to enter Mother's dimension is seemingly through water. In particular through the bathtub. Octavia is dragged down there in by the Lovecraftian Horror, and Loona enters it through a ritual using the an ancient tome and her bathtub.
• Positive Friend Influence:
  • It's still small but her friendship with Octavia, has a noticeable effect on Loona, which causes her to change her wardrobe, spend less time on the internet, read more and becomes more interested in other things. She even starts treating her coworkers better, as dials back her usual taunting towards Moxxie and gives him an easy job in Chapter 13, after their terrifying near death experience.
  • On the other end, Octavia slowly starts becoming more independent and rebellious towards her parents (in particular her mother) and getting into new interests such as guns and bikes. Once she assimilates into Loona's friend group, she gets to show her deeper, wilder side, being free to relax, participate in games, drink, smoke and become less ladylike than she's used to, much to her joy. The hellhound encourages Octavia to be less critical of herself.
• The Power of Friendship:
  • Blitzo seems to have finally succumbed to the Choir's spell, giving in and almost joining its folds, as his past mistakes and the ghosts of those he has wronged, like Fizz, Barbie and his own momm attempting to drag him down, the imp is able breaking free from their spell and power through into sanity, by thinking of his new friends and family with I.M.P. and Stolas.
  • Similarly, Loona is able to fight off the Choir's influence, when Octavia briefly manages to enter her dream and help drag her out of the madness, long enough for the hellhound to escape.
• The Power of Love: This is how Loona & co. are able to with stand the greater horror they've faced together, much to their bafflement. Their combined love and loyalty towards each other and how they yearn to protect them, is able to help them fight back most of the influence attempting to drive them to madness.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Blitzo gives one last, familiar battle cry, at the end of Chapter 57, before the final battle:
  Blitzo: All right fam. I don't know about you, but I'm done shaking in my boots for these slimy, brain-raping shitlords. Guys, let's fuck these FUCKERS UP!
• The Precious, Precious Car:
  • Both Blitzo and Octavia's cars are utterly wrecked by the end of Chapter 25, thanks to a wild ork, forcing them to make the long trip to Stolas' palace by foot.
  • Rufus' car is wrecked, while he and Loona attempt to get into Stolas' palace, when it's sent crashing into a Elm Tree by angels.
• Precision F-Strike: During Octavia's stint at IMP, Moxxie returns from a job bloody and out of temper enough to say "fuck" for the first time in the Princess' earshot. Octavia finds it highly unsettling coming from the usually reserved and polite imp.
• Prelude to Suicide: Loona starts displaying some signs of this, while trying to move on from Octavia's death, such as an increase of drinking, trying to bottle up her feelings and having a growing disillusionment with the world around her. Luckily, we don't see how serious is really is, as her family is able to pick up on them quickly, and help her through it.
• Prince Charmless: Andrealphus qualifies once he becomes a prince. Then there's also lord Damian, a seemingly charming friend of Stella, who in reality wants her as a trophy wife and doesn't take her rejection well.
• Protect This House: When Extermination arrives, I.M.P., Stolas and Rufus are forced to fight for their lives, from the leagues of Excoricts coming for the large amount of refugees inside the Prince's Palace.
• Public Secret Message: In between her painting out her nightmarish dreams, Octavia managed to sneak in small glances off Mother's Realm in her art, to help Stolas navigate through. While it's not enough to get a clear picture, it's gives Stolas and his team a clearer picture of where to go.
• Pulled from Your Day Off: In Chapter 33, Rufus calls in a hellhound Stormy, on her day off to cover for him in the shop, while he checks on Stolas.
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: Loona pulls out one of these on Octavia when she tries to convince the princess to take her place, while she joins Blitzo on his tour with Verosika.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!:
  • Stolas threatening Rufus in Chapter 8, after discovering how he's been threatening and hurting Blitzo: "You. Do. Not. Touch. Him. EVER."
  • Rufus gets on on Stolas in Chapter 25, during their second phone call, when he demands to talk to Stella: "Put. Your Wife. On. The phone."
  • Several are dropped in Chapter 57, during the battle with The King.
  Octavia, delivering a mental attack on the King, forcing him to release the Team: LET! THEM! GO!!!
  Alastor while facing off against the King in his full demonic form: AND I! HATE! KALAMARI!!!
  Rufus in response to being called a fool: YES.. We...are.
  Stolas while slashing at the King, his sword growing as he does: GIVE! HER! BACK!
• Pyrrhic Victory: I.M.P., finally gets a job big enough to get them out of the red, and let them live the comfortable and happy lives they've always wanted. But, it ends up not being worth it at all, as they have to fighting through leagues of crazed cultists leaving them shaken and some even close to death, which shakes Moxxie's low faith even lower and nearly causes him to leave the group entirely. The cultists they kill are later revealed to be directly involved with the Uproar that occurs in Hell shortly thereafter, causing massive chaos and destruction throughout, claiming many innocent lives and shaking the group even further. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the money they earned from the job gets stolen during the chaos, leaving them financially broken and I.M.P.'s future very uncertain.
• Race Against the Clock:
  • Once allowed inside the Archive, it's visitors have one hour to find what they're looking for, before their pass expires. At which point, they expire as well. Which becomes much harder, with the Archive being a massive labyrinthian library, where one can easily get lost. When Rufus, Blitzo, Stolas and Loona visit, they manage to make it just in time before the expiration, with some help from Prendergast.
  • Lucifer reveals that once the portal to Mother's realm is opened, Stolas and his team will have 2 hours to find Octavia and get out before the portal closes and they ended up stuck there forever. Making things more difficult is they'll have to be stealthy about it, and they have no idea where Via is located. To make things trickier, the realm keeps fucking with their synchronised watches, thus causing everyone to nearly lose track of time once inside. By the end they barley make it in time, with the spell castors having to create another portal in order to escape.
• Racist Grandma:
  • As expected of the mother of Stella, Svetlana Goetia is every bit as disapproving and bigoted towards hellhounds as her daughter. Given that she raised her daughter to become such a perfectionist, it's not unreasonable to assume she passed on her bigotry to Stella and her son Andrealphus.
  • Subverted with Stella's actual grandmother Diana, an ancient battle axe of a swan who chose to take a seat of power in Violence rather than bend to the largely mysognisitic views of the Goetia Court. When she learns Octavia's best friend is a hellhound, the former battlefield commander's only comment is to praise her great-granddaughter's willingness to spit in the face of established societal norms.
• Rage Breaking Point:
  • During their big reunion, Rufus & Alastor revisit their violent history together, throwing insults and quips at each other. While the Radio Demon keeps his calm throughout, the psychologically and physically exhausted Warden struggles to keep his temper in check, finally finally snapping when Alastor mocks his daughter's death, causing Rufus to hold him at gunpoint. Even while starring down at the barrel, Alastor doesn't break and only Stolas' intervention deescalates the situation.
  • After having his peaceful afterlife and daily entertainment ruined by the Uproar, and the subsequent rise of Mother forcing him to see he is no longer the top dog he wants to be, thus being dragged into the rescue mission, in which he frequently came close to death, Alastor finally snaps and loses any sense of composure when the teleportation spell back to hell gets disrupted causing him to slip into a furies rant and being fueling the spell through sheer spite and anger
  "I've had quite enough! This place is a pig sty! I don't have any coffee! The chocolate is all gone! My best suit is ruined! I'm going to fuck. That. Cunt! I don't care what it takes—WE'RE GOING BACK TO HELL IF I HAVE TO POWER THIS SPELL ON NOTHING BUT PURE SPITE!”
• Rapid Aging: Happens to Fake Octavia's corpse to a haunting degree, after Loona touches the body, causing it to reduce to dust leaving behind only it's dress and watch.
• Relationship Upgrade:
  • Blitzo & Stolas start off the story as tentative partners, though in a messy and toxic working agreement, to eventually dating and by the end into a full-on loving relationship, with both sharing feelings with each other.
  • Rufus & Yoshimo have a similar hidden, though much more healthy and equal relationship going on, that near the end of the story, turns to them marrying and becoming husband and wife.
  • Vortex & Andromeda went from being boyfriend/girlfriend to engaged in Chapter 52.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • When Stolas asks Blitzo to tell him what he's done wrong and how he can be better, the imp doesn't hesitate, with a short but bitter rant about how he's been treating him.
  Blitzo: "Fine—if you want me to lay it out for you, I'll do it; Stolas, you're a selfish, spoiled little rich boy who treats me like your own personal cum sock. I know exactly what I am to you and Rufus and everybody else in this shithole; a little imp who'll never be anything other than a clown trying to run a business he's an inch away from losing! And I'm not your fucking boyfriend, okay? I don't need you or anyone else holding my hand like I'm your goddamn princess! You can't keep your fucking beak out of my life, even when I tell you no!"''
  • Octavia finally has enough of her mother's criticizing her relationship with Loona in Chapter 20, and let's her have it in a furious, bitter, tired rant.
  Octavia: "I hear you. Maybe now you'll listen to me for once in your life. You talk all the time about how Dad never listens to you and always takes my side. He's not perfect, but at least he took the time to get to know Loona a little. At least he cared enough to find out why I like her. I've tried to tell you, but every time I bring her up, all you hear is how she's going to ruin my life, my future, our family. And you won't even say her name. It's always the dog or the mutt or the bitch. Well I've got news for you; she's not a fucking piece of meat, Mum. Loona is my friend, but just because she's a hellhound, you won't give her a chance, or even let her in our house. No, she has to stay outside, like a good Dog. And she puts up with it! For me! And I chicken out because it makes YOU happy! And you stand there and say I'm never sacrificing anything for this House? Hell's Teeth, Mum, where do I even start? I've put up with you and Dad screaming every other week all year until you chase me out of the goddamn house because I can't fucking sleep. I've gone to every party, and training course, and political playdate you've ever asked me to since I was ten. I put up with Slaanesh and all her idiots even when they treated me like I was a wall decoration. I aced all my classes. I took ballet and foreign languages and piano! But nothing is ever good enough for you, is it? All that, and you couldn't give me one demon for one day. So I snubbed my best friend on one of the most important days of my entire life. For the Family. For all those fucking reporters you hired to fix our "soiled reputation"! I did it for you! Loona's not perfect, but she's my friend, my first REAL friend in this whole, shitty town, and I am so fucking tired of trying to make you understand! Just once, can't that be enough for you? Can't I have anything for myself that's about being your daughter instead of some Bullshit Fairy Tale Princess!?"''
  • Moxxie gives one to Blitzo after their disastrous and dangerous mission in Chapter 23, almost considering killing his boss right then and there:
  Moxxie: "You talk all the time about how much of a family we are. Well, now it's my turn, so unplug your ears and listen up you arrogant, greedy son of a bitch. I told you we shouldn't do it. I warned you it was too good to be true. We all did, but you didn't listen. Again! And we barely got back with our lives. We're lucky we got away with broken bones and empty magazines, you greedy, fucking asshole! You... you... What do you have to say? HUH? TELL ME SOMETHING TO MAKE THIS WORTH IT, BLITZ!"
  • Rufus gives on to Alastor in Chapter 48, being one of the few demons bold enough to insult the radio demon to his smug face.
  Rufus: "Do you know what I think really pisses you off, Deer? I'm alive, I'm happy, and I'm a better man than you are. I'm a hungry monster with a purpose larger than myself. And you're on center stage with nowhere else to go, running your mouth and clinging to a Princess's passion project because you don't have anything else to fill eternity. And now, when Hell turns upside down and scares the piss out of us all, you come right for an old, reliable target to put a little spring in your step. Predictable. Reliable. Poking and prodding and playing the all-knowing asshole, and pissing me off so much I want to mount your head on the wall. I hope you're enjoying it while it lasts. When I'm done with this drink, I'll leave a tip, go sit with my new friends, and then go home to my Captain. And you'll still be here. All alone with your empire of cheap, tasteless meat, and your stagnant little radio show, and so much power that you don't know what to do with yourself other than talk to a mirror. I'll be kissing my woman while you're here with nothing but your thoughts for company. A man can change. A monster can't. So you'll stay here, making a nuisance of yourself, like the narcissistic, self-centered little brat you are because after almost one hundred years in Hell, you're still too in love with your own ego to realize that your life is as empty as your glass while mine is overflowing. You're just a lonely monster clown who climbed the mountain of dead bodies only to find that there's no one left to enjoy his show. I'd almost feel sorry for you, if you weren't so pathetically needy."
  • Lucifer receives one from Loona of all demons, a hellhound, usually considered the lowest on the food chain, in Chapter 61. When the Emperor tries to life the rescue party's spirits, claiming that they'll be ready for Mother and her ilk should they ever attempt to return, seemingly dismissing the trauma they've endured in a failed rousing speech, Loona tells him off to his very face, and gives the proud, arrogant Emperor a grilling on how little he knows of what they went through in Mother's Realm. And how unprepared they really are.
  Loona: "With respect, Sire; shut up. You. Weren't. ''There''. You held the Door open, but you didn't see. You don't know. So please, spare me a little of the rah-rah go-team hype, all right? You didn't fight what we fought. You didn't see what we saw. And what we're still seeing. Or am I the only one still having freaky dreams?" (Everyone solemnly admits to having nightmares) "Yeah. I have to chug Somnium like it's everclear on spring break. And I still can't sleep for shit two nights out of every five. So don't tell me we're ready, because you didn't see...It. There's no being ready for something—ANYTHING—like that."
• Real Event, Fictional Cause: The Black Plauge is revealed to have been caused, by human meddling with the De Vermis Mysteriis which was so horrific, Lucifer himself ordered every copy destroyed.
• Rebuilt Pedestal: Octavia and Stella's relationship was portrayed as loving but flawed during the first chapters, but as the chapters went on, it slowly deteriorated as Octavia became increasingly frustrated and hurt by Stella's strict, bigoted and image-focus mindset, and her strong dislike of Loona. This finally reaches its breaking point, where a furious Octavia finally snaps at her in Chapter 20, which sends her to tears. After this, Stella starts trying to improve herself in the eyes of her daughter, becoming more accepting of her friendship with the hellhound and eventually the two make amends and forge a healthier relationship with one another.
• Rejected Apology:
  • After telling Andromeda and Vortex about her sister's fate, Rufus can do little but apologies for what he did to her. Andy, still furious and grief stricken, refuses it coldly, demanding he leave and never return to them.
  • After Rufus learned that his former affair Karl, whom he refused to save and even dealt the killing shot to, was alive and working at a bar in Hell, he attempted to make amends with him. Karl understandably refused the apology, spitting in his face, leading to a fight in which Rufus insulted him and blew up his bar.
• Relationship Upgrade: Over the course of the story, Blitzo & Stolas slowly work their way from a tense, unbalanced series of one-night stands, to a much more loving, healthy and balanced relationship, with them officially ending their monthly deal and continuing to date with no strings attached during the start of Chapter 42.
• Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: Despite being set in Christian Hell, many of their places are actually named after Greek Underworld locations. Examples include the various rivers like Phlegethon, Lethe and Styx.
• Resurrect the Wreck: After getting utterly wrecked by a wild ork, the IMP Van was supposedly destroyed beyond repair. However, Loona has her hellhound buddies rebuild completely the van as a Krampusnacht present to Blitzo, causing the imp to hug her with overjoyed tears in his eyes.
• The Reveal:
  • We get several in Chapter 39-41 as Octavia is revealed to have been alive, but trapped inside of Mother's realm. Mother in turn is the creature that's been trying to contact and kidnap her since she was an owlet, wanting to use her as a key to exit her prison dimension and consume the greater universe. The Uproar was caused by her followers in Hell, growing more powerful and performing a ritual that would increase her power, allowing her to temporarily influence and destroy Hell.
  • We learn the identity of the man, who's been hiring I.M.P. on increasingly morbid and haunting hits throughout the year. Turns out it was Lucifer himself, using them as his secret task force, through the use of several agents, to assassinate members of Mother's cult to prevent them from summoning the Eldritch Horror. Once they arrived in Hell, they would be pursued by his personal judges and executioners; though some managed to survive, allowing them to continue their work, thus causing the Uproar.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Loona goes on a brief one in Chapter 23, when Blitzo is shot in the chest and about to be killed by a group of cultists. She quickly tears them apart limb from limb, and checks on her father, who luckily was wearing body armor.
• Rousing Speech:
  • At the encouragement of Rufus & Stolas, Blitzo gives a big speech and Badass Boast, to the scared and worried masses of demons inside his palace, to help calm them down and assure them, they will keep them safe when Extermination comes around.
  • Alastor of all demons gives a sincere one to the group, before their big rescue mission. Vaggie is absolutely taken aback by this, remarking that they must all already have gone insane.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: A prominent theme of the story is the importance of the Ars Goetia and the political sides of being a royal. After the Uproar, we get treated to several chapters focused on Stolas, Lucifer, Rufus and the rest of Hell's upper class attempting to rebuild, keep control and prepare for the upcoming Extermination.

S-Z

• Sacred Hospitality: The Infernal Accords provide rules for business etiquette among powerful demons, including the Law of Hospitality. Even a monster like Alastor abides by the rules when the group arrives at the Hotel; he gives them seats in his room and offers them drinks for their trouble, much to their bafflement. He doesn't even try to attack them, even as one of them pulls out a gun on him.
• Sadistic Choice: Stolas is given a hard choice, in order to save Octavia from Mother. He can either let her stay in the realm, where she might die with a low chance that she might become a key, that will open Mother's dimension to unleash her upon existence. Or he can try to save her, in the process opening a portal to her realm, with Mother can use to escape. He chooses to save Octavia.
• Safe Under Blankets: Octavia desperately tries to escape the nightmare monster chasing her in Chapter 30, by hiding under the covers. It doesn't work.
• Say My Name: Upon seeing Blitzo's broken hand in Chapter 7 and learning that Rufus was responsible, Stolas immediately teleports into his office to confront him, screaming his name upon entry.
• Say Your Prayers: Upon entering Mother's Realm and being horrified by it all, Millie is able to spark some courage and will into herself and the rest of her party by reciting a prayer to Lucifer, that the rest help to finish.
• Saying Too Much: During her fight with Stolas and Chapter 20, Stella let's slip that she wishes she had never married him. Realizing what she has said, finally causes her to breakdown and realize her mistakes.
• Scary Librarian: Pengergast, the portly, demon-badger and keeper of the Archive, may seem small and unassuming at first glance, but once you start pressing him for sensitive information and have to trade with him, the Librarian reveals his hidden side, that of a cold, stern and almost sadistic man, who'll taunt, pressure and belittle you for your deepest, darkest secrets, looking on with glee and making you cough out small manifestations of your regrets, you'll see he isn't one to be taken lightly.
• The Scottish Trope: The final chapter reveals that there's another Horror out there besides Mother. Something even bigger and much more powerful than her. It is simply known as he, as even thinking of their true name is an invite to trouble.
• Secret Identity: Warden Volthor is this to Mephisto.
• Self-Disposing Villain: In an attempt to escape from the imps, Dr. Crest tried to flee the mansion via a rope made from sheets. However, the rope fails when he's halfway to the ground causing him to fall to his death.
• Sensory Overload: Everyone, and particularly Loona, are absolutely overwhelmed by the sheer volume and mass of new, foreign and eldritch sensations in Mother's Realm. With them almost going mad just by the smells, sounds and sights alone.
• Sex for Solace: When Blitzo finds Stolas in turmoil in the shower over Octavia's fate, he helps to calm the prince, by joining him and laying with him.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Maybe believe Octavia's friendship with Loona, is more than that, and that the two are in love with each other. Octavia does not appreciate the rumor.
• Shout-Out: Has its own page.
• Shooting Gallery: Among the pair's outings during their second hangout, includes Warden Rufus' private shooting gallery, where Loona teaches the princess to use and enjoy guns.
• Shower of Love: Blitzo & Stolas share such a moment, in Chapter 50, when the imp finds Stolas grieving over Octavia's fate and wanting to help comfort him in some way. In between their love making, the two manage to talk and work out their frustrations on the whole matter.
• Silent Whisper: Octavia gives a seven worded whisper to Lucifer in Chapter 59. We don't learn what the message is, but whatever was it's enough to turn the ever smiling emperor pale.
• Slashed Throat: How Stella ultimately kills the dragon at the end of Chapter 26.
• Sleep Cute: After a long, fun, exhausting day of having fun with Vortex and his group of friends, Loona and Octavia end the day, and Chapter 15, sleeping together in the same bed, with their fathers tucking them in.
• Sleeping with the Boss: Rufus has an on-again-off-again relationship with his boss Captain Yoshimo. Both of them have feelings for each other, though they usually display them in private, so as to not ruin the image they uphold.
• Slipping a Mickey: Chad, a newbie incubus of Verosika's entourage, spikes Loona's drink after their final show in Anger, as a prank. The succubus doesn't take it well.
• Smoking Hot Sex: Stolas and Stella slowly begin to rekindle their relationship in Chapter 22, with the two having sex and sharing a cigarette afterwards, while they plot to get back at Vox for threatening Octavia and stealing from them.
• Snake People: Slaanesh, one of Octavia's vain, bigoted and annoying classmates, is described as a naga-demon, with diamonds piercings in her cobra hood.
• So Crazy, It Must Be True: The reason why Rufus is so quick to accept Loona's story about Octavia being alive and trapped inside Mother's dimension. While it's possibly the weirdest story he's ever heard in his life, it adds up pretty well with the rest of the bizarre and terrifying happenings that have occurred thus far.
• So Much for Stealth: When an Exorcist manages to break inside Stolas' bathroom, Loona and a child she was helping to go potty, do their best to stay quite and still, so the angel doesn't notice them while they try to figure out what to do. They're caught, when the child's tail accidentally hits the toilet seat causing it to fall and alerting the angel to their presence.
• Soda Can Shake Up: Happens in Chapter 22, when Loona & Octavia get drenched in soda, when the latter tries to wash out the taste of mud & piss from her mouth; the can having been shaken up from a long horse ride.
• Spit Take: Loona has one when Blitzo suddenly suggests she join him on Verosika's tour as security. She, in turn, causes Octavia to do one in Chapter 14 when the hound jokingly suggests that Stolas thinks they might be romantically involved.
• Stargazing Scene: Loona and Octavia have one in Chapter 7, as the princess points out the location of Orion and Scorpio to her.
• Steel Eardrums: Subverted and played straight. Loona and Octavia wear ear protection when at the Emporium Gallorium, but IMP fires their weapons on the job without any harm. Similarly, Octavia is shocked by how loud her little Colt .45 sounds when she uses it to save Moxxie at the end of Chapter 11.
• Stepford Smiler: Whenever Octavia brings up her home life to Loona, she drops small hints at how rough things are, but always just smiles and tries to act like nothing's wrong. It isn't until Chapter 13, that she finally breaks down in front of her friend and reveals just how terrible things are, after she calls Loona to come for her while her parents fight.
• Suddenly Speaking: Arthur, the mute tailor of Lucifer and Rufus, is given the ability to speak as a downpayment for outfitting the warden and his team for their big mission.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: While the body armor I.M.P. wear during their attack on the cult does save their lives on multiple occasions, the blunt trauma by feel from the impact of the bullets, leaves their bodies battered and bruised.
• Sword over Head:
  • During the ending of Chapter 23, when the team returns from a mission gone wrong, that leaves Millie nearly fatally wounded, Moxxie knocks down Blitzo and aims his gun at him, considering finally killing him after everything he's put them through. Blitzo almost allows him to do it, but thankfully Millie manages to talk him out of it.
  • Upon learning that Rufus played a large part in the death of her sister Polaris, Andromeda beats him down to a bloody pulp and threatens to kill him for it. Rufus apologizes for his actions, explaining that he couldn't see her and it was either Polaris or Loona & Octavia, which is enough for Andy to just demand that he leave her sight.
• Take My Hand!:
  • Once she enters the void her friend is trapped in, Loona finds Octavia reaching her hand out towards her friend. After a long and hard swim, Loona reaches back and briefly manages to hold hers, before the two are separated behind a barrier.
  • The past have another very similar moment, when Loona is about to be consumed by the Choir, only for Octavia a breach through the vision and drag her out of the worst of it. Sadly she disappears before Loona and bring her back.
  • Stella reaches out to grab Octavia, after Lilith fails to grab ahold of the Rescue Party. After some heavy strain and through sheer force of will, the mother is able to take her daughter's hand. At which point Lucifer drags her and everyone else back to Hell.
• Take That!:
  • Chapter 13 has a small but fun one at the expense of The Twilight Saga & DeviantArt through thinly veiled pastiches.
  Octavia: If you want something for girls, there's always the Daylight series.
  Loona: Ugh, NO. If I want to see some whinny bitch waffling and simping between a vampire and a werewolf, I'll go back to DelinquentArt.
  • When asked if Scientology and Lord Xenu is real, Lucifer is baffled by the question and quickly answers no, dismissing the religion as wacky nonsense, admitting he takes pleasure in watching the reactions of its followers upon entering Hell.
  • The author delivers a sneaky one to himself in Chapter 60. When Gabriel laments that Lucifer apparently had real-life author H. P. Lovecraft Erased when the man arrived in Hell, he responds: "Writers are too full of themselves and prone to annoyingly neurotic perfectionism."
• Taken for Granite: In Chapter 14, Stolas reveals that he petrified Richard Dees in a fit of rage and regrets that he and Blitz won't be able to spend a weekend torturing the photographer. Blitz is likewise disappointed, but is happy to learn that all the birds in Stolas' garden will spend eternity pooping on the statue.
• Talking Down the Suicidal:
  • Blitzo slips into a deep state of depression in Chapter 23-24, even considering suicide in the latter. When he tries to dismiss Stolas' attempts of comfort, the prince reveals he knows about the revolver Blitzo was considering using on himself, and manages to convince the imp not to use it and encourages that he make peace with Moxxie.
  • Moxxie does this to a slightly drunk Loona, while she's on the roof, still in mourning over Octavia's death, worried that being left alone up there while tipsy, might cause her to do this. While we don't know, how serious it really was, Moxxie's words to her, are what finally convince Loona off of the roof and to try and move on from her friend's death.
• Tampering with Food and Drink: Yoshimo splited arsenic in the drink of the fallen sultan she was forced to dance for.
• Taxidermy Is Creepy: Subverted. While Loona initially finds Octavia's taxidermy hobby and practice a little weird, Octavia herself isn't all that creepy, other than her goth look.
• Tear Up the Contract: After spending several chapters together, growing closer and coming to trust one another during the uproar, Chapter 38 has Blitzo & Rufus finally destroying the contract that gives the Warden partial ownership of I.M.P., thus nullifying the imp's debt and making him the sole owner of his company.
• Tears of Blood: The rescue party begin experiencing this along with other symptoms, after over an hour and a half inside Mother's Realm, as their wards begin to ware off and their wounds take their toll. A little bit of voodoo magic from Alastor saves their skin just long enough to escape.
• Tears of Joy:
  • Octavia lets out a few happy tears in front of Loona in Chapter 15, as she admits this is the happiest and most relaxed she has been in several months.
  • [[spoiler:There's not a dry eye in sight, when the rescue team finally free Octavia,
• Tentacle Rope: The Choir and the King are fond of doing this, retraining their victims so as to better Mind Rape them and break their mental will.
• Tentacled Terror: Many of the horrifying monsters I.M.P. and their allies encounter throughout the story are described as having multiple tentacles on their bodies. Mother, the overarching horror of the story, is also described as being a large mass with tentacles all over her body.
• The Mall: Loona and Octavia first meet when they're dragged into the Mammon Mall by their dads for a playdate.
• Things That Go "Bump" in the Night: Stella is briefly visited by a monster from her childhood inside her closet, after a haunting nightmare involving Octavia calling out for her.
• This Cannot Be!: Loona has a similar reaction to finding Octavia communicating to her through her nightmare, the hellhound dismissing her as being dead, despite the princess' constant warnings.
• Those Two Guys: Castor and Pollux, the lady-chasing beer-brewing hellhound twins are almost always seen together.
• Threatening Mediator: Rufus acts like this towards Blitzo & Verosika when both of them complain vocally about being forced to work together. While he attempts to be peaceful and reasonable about it at first, their constant bickering and complaining finally push him to straight-up demand they get over it and accept his terms.
• Time Dilation: Before entering Mother's Realm the rescue party all synchronies their watches for two hours, in order to keep track of time for the return journey. When they go to check on the time, they're all shocked to find their watches are set to different times. Moxxie's set to forty minutes, Vaggie's twenty nine, Rufus' seven minutes and nine seconds etc, with the place seemingly bending time to fool it's intruders. Only Stolas' hourglass seems to be telling the correct time, the party using it as an indicator from then on.
• Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Lucifer is described as being surprisingly short for an Emperor of Hell, especially compared to the many large demons of the realm. His wife by contrast is a whole six feet tall, much larger than her husband and her daughter.
• To Absent Friends: While none of them were too fond of him, Rufus, Vortex & Andromeda share a toast in honor of their fallen comrade-in-arms, Oz.
• Toilet Horror:
  • Octavia takes a calm bubble bath in Chapter 16, when she's pulled under, far deeper than the tub should allow, by a Lovecraftian creature, telling her to join them and calling her the Key to Empty Night. Even more unsettling, when she finally reemerges from the tub, there's nothing there anymore.
  • Chapter 41, has another one for Loona. The hellhound taking a shower to wash off her terror from her recent nightmare. It's here that Octavia pulls out all the stops on trying to talk to her, with written messages, churning pipes and voices calling out for her help.
• Toilet Humor: Both Loona & Octavia end up on the receiving end of this, as both are covered in mud and horse urine, after their long ride in Chapter 22.
• Too Good to Be True: Blitzo & his crew are offered an obscene amount of money for a seemingly easy task of killing a large gathering of cults. Blitzo however is soon to realize something's up, given they've had a long string of similar cases, and only agrees to it, when the client threatens them if they do not go through. Sure enough, the easy job had I.M.P. having to fight waves upon waves of heavy-armed and dangerous people, and at one point a nightmarish monstrosity. By the end of it all, the four of them are left exhausted, battered, ammo-less and luck to keep their lives.
• Took a Level in Kindness: This seems to be where Stella is heading towards, after her talk with Octavia in Chapter 21, where she promises to try and be better to her & Loona. She continues to make good on her promise, as the end of Chapter 22 has her warming up to Loona and accepting her and Octavia's friendship, and she even managed to rekindle some of her old love with Stolas. Time will tell if it sticks.
• Tome of Eldritch Lore: Loona finds a creepy dark book among her belongings in Chapter 41, described as being humping, incredibly old and filed with demonic, horrific writing, images and symbols. She initially dismisses it as a prop from Stylish Occult. Turns out it's not only the real thing, but Dr. Crest's book all the way back from Chapter 6 known as the De Vermis Mysteriis. Octavia uses it to communicate with her friend, after being trapped for so long. The book also helps Loona to reach her friend through a spell, that creates a portal from inside her bathtub.
• Trail of Bread Crumbs: Octavia has seemingly left a number of close in Mother's Realm, in order to lead her rescue party towards her location, including an odd feather and the like.
• Training from Hell: Rufus puts I.M.P. through some laborious stuff, in order to prep them up for their final mission. It starts off with a rough and long run through an obstacle course, while having to carry heavy weaponry, before leading them straight into Lucifer's forest, where he keeps a menagerie of horrific monsters, forcing them to fight their way through and exit quickly, in order to survive. Needless to say, while it helps them prepare for the coming rescue mission, everyone's quite pissed at Warden for the surprise ambush.
• Training Montage: Vaggie & Millie are given one from Yoshimo, as the captain trains them up for the big mission, helping them to refine their swordsmanship and weapon skills.
• Tranquil Fury: Loona is clearly furious over not being allowed at Octavia's 18th Birthday Party, but manages to keep her anger surprisingly under control around Octavia. Rather than exploding in anger like she might've before, she instead resorts to passive-agressive jabs and taunts towards others, mostly her coworkers and drinking in her room after work.
• Trash the Set: The I.M.P. office suffers much during the Uproar, being raided multiple times by demons and angels, before the entire building is then blown up in Chapter 38.
• Trauma Conga Line: Octavia gets put through the RINGER, she has spent years having to deal with her parent's dysfunctional marriage and her mother's expectations, then suffers through numerous nightmares, then the Uproar happens forcing her to witness battle and death, then she's kidnapped and dragged to Mother's realm where she's held prisoner for months, and finally she nearly loses her father in the return journey. The experience leaves her very shocked and haunted, as she suffers from nightmares even after it all, and it's heavily implied it's going to be a long while before she ever fully recovers.
• Troubled Backstory Flashback: A section of Mother's Realm, triggers one for Loona as she smells the scent of Kennels. She's brought back to a particularly traumatic moment in her childhood, when a sinner attempted to take her and likely have his way with the young child, and possibly even worse, send her to a kennel to be put down. She managed to escape, getting caught by a different one three days later, but the incident traumatized her for the rest of her life.
• Truce Zone: The Wardens' Stations are considered this. As the headquarters for the arbiters of the Infernal Accords that govern rules of formal business conduct and etiquette in the Pride Ring, places like the Emporium Galorium are designated neutral territory. Those who arrive by appointment and respect the Rules of Hospitality are afforded protection as Guests, including promises of nonviolence and conflict mediation. This applies even to Goetia nobility, as Rufus demonstrates in chapter 8 when he pretends to shoot Stolas.
  Blitz What happened to all that bullshit about Neutral Ground?
  Rufus Your Bird broke the Rules, Blitz. He started this fight. I would have been well within my rights to finish it.
• Tuneless Song of Madness: The first words out of Loona upon returning from Mother's realm, is a haunting poem about Mother and her insatiable hunger, which she repeats to a terrified Stolas & Blitzo.
• Ultimate Blacksmith: On top of being a Warden, Rufus is also an expert clockmaker and master gunsmith and knows enough magic to craft powerful items, even out of broken materials. This is shown in chapter 10, where he fixes and upgrades Octavia's bone shears.
• Ultimate Forge: Lucifer's forge is so magnificent it nearly brings Rufus to tears. Containing many metals from throughout the rings, including some heavenly one, along with countless gems and bonding materials, magnificent tools and a furnace so hot, being uncareful around it might cause the blacksmith to burn themselves to ash.
• Unbroken Vigil: Upon their return, Stella spends weeks by her husband and daughter's side, even as she neglects her own health and sanity, waiting for them to finally wake up. As does Loona to Octavia, when she's well enough to stand.
• Underestimating Badassery: Stolas reasonably views Warden Rufus as a minor threat given his higher status and power. The Warden calmly and casually outmaneuvers the Prince by exploiting his affection for Blitzo long enough to easily pull a gun on the distracted Bird. While the gun was unloaded, he clearly shocks the Prince by how effectively he turned the tables on him.
• Uninvited to the Party: Despite Stolas & Octavia's protests, Stella refuses to allow Loona to attend Via's 18th Birthday party. Reluctantly Octavia delivers the bad news to her friend, under the guise of her telling Loona the party will be too dull for her, much to the hellhound's frustrations.
• Upper-Class Twit: Groggar, a King of Meat from Gluttony, certainly qualifies. Despite his great wealth, his rampant alcoholism and poor table manners make him unpopular among the other demon royals. Both Stolas and King Azarael lament that he somehow managed to survive the Uproar.
• Uptown Girl: Gender-Inverted. Blitzo and Stolas are the main romantic pairing, though their issues and the various societal problems that come with it, make things very complicated.
• Victory by Endurance: Mother comes VERY close to this in Chapter 58. Despite putting up a helluva fight, the rescue party eventually find themselves outnumbered, overwhelmed and almost completely defeated as the near endless legions of Mother's army being to prove too much for them, even with all their preparations. It's only thanks to one last spell from Stolas and Charlie finally activating the portal allowing them to escape, that the heroes manage to emerge victorious and alive.
• Virtual Soundtrack:
  • Briefly happens in Chapter 22, as Loona stars playing the piano while waiting for Stella, quietly singing She Used to Be Mine to herself.
  • The author links two songs for the forging scene in Chapter 52, those being The Man Who Made the Monster and Wyrm of Doom.
• Voice of the Legion: The Choir is described as speaking in such a way, with multiple voices all singing in unison, as they trap their victims.
• Void Between the Worlds: Chapter 41, heavily implies this is where the soul of Octavia is trapped in alongside with mother. Loona is able to enter this void, with Octavia's instructions and find her missing friend.
• Wants to Be Hated: When Octavia brings up to Rufus, that most of Hell hates him, the Warden is quite pleased with the news; in his mind hatred and fear are handy shortcuts to respect, which comes in handy in his line of work.
• Wardens Are Evil: Played with. In Hell, Wardens are the main lawmakers of the Pride Ring, ensuring that some degree of order and peace is kept, as the ruling class care little about them. But, that doesn't stop them from abusing their power, as seen with the Warden of Imp City, Rufus, who seems friendly to most, but is not above threatening Blitzo with death for constantly missing his deadline for payments. It is so far unknown if this attitude is directed only towards Blitzo or if it's similar towards others.
• Wartime Wedding: With nothing left to lose before their big rescue mission, Rufus and Yoshimo have Lucifer himself marry them in front of the whole group.
• Watch Out for That Tree!: Rufus and Loona rush towards Stolas' keep inside the Warden's car, when the Extermination happen. Only to be attacked by angels, sending crashing into the tree, severally wounding the both of them and utterly wrecking the vehicle.
• Weapon for Intimidation: During his ruse in Chapter 8, Warden Rufus pulls a gun on Prince Stolas to prove he is much more dangerous and effective than the Goetic demon gives him credit for.
• Weirdness Censor: Octavia experiences many haunting, terrifying eldritch horror during the story, but often dismisses them as either nightmares or hallucinations brought on by stress, not realizing something more evil is behind them.
• Wham Episode:
  • Chapter 8 reveals that Warden Rufus was the one who loaned Blitzo money to fund I.M.P., in a Contract that was cosigned by Stella Goetia. This is also where Stolas finds out how Blitzo feels about their current relationship and the two begin attempts to improve things between them.
  • After several hints that something nefarious is going on at Stolas' home, Chapter 16 practically confirms there's something haunting the place and mainly Octavia, as an Eldritch Abomination calls out the her during her bath, telling the princess to join them and hinting that she's vital to whatever they have planned.
  • Chapter 23 also seems to be this for I.M.P., where it's strongly hinted that their recent horrific assignments are all connected to the same group of demons, who are also hinted at being the ones responsible for Octavia's nightmares and also seems to have shattered much of the group's faith in Blitzo, after him accepting the mission nearly gets everyone, especially Millie, killed.
  • Chapter 25! This is were the shit truly hits the fan, as all the build up with the increasingly disturbing clients I.M.P. have received, Octavia's dreams and the growing tensions in Hell, have finally reached their breaking point. Demons start going berserk, attacking & mutilating each other, some go insane laughing and drawing freakish symbols on the walls, while gold foam falls from their mouth, I.M.P., Octavia & Rufus are forced from their homes and office and have to begin a long and hard trek towards Stolas' palace, their cars having been destroyed walking through the growing destruction that is befalling everyone in Hell.
  • Chapter 30 starts with some light but major changes to I.M.P., with their money stolen and the company's future in worse shape than ever, but the final third goes full into the status quo shaker territory, as the Lovecraftian monster from Chapter 16 makes it's grand return in Octavia's dream, where it consumes and apparently kills her.
  • Chapter 31. Octavia is found by Stolas, lifeless in her bed.
  • Chapter 39. Loona & Stolas start to realize there's something going on with the weird eye imagery that keeps popping up, leading them to suspect that someone actively invited the Exorcists into the palace to kill them all. Worse, they have no way to find the culprit among the hundreds of refugees still encamped on the grounds. And, to make matters more disturbing, something with malicious intent is secretly watching them go from the darkness.
  • Chapter 41. Loona finally discovers Octavia's true fate after the princess communicates to her in her dreams and mind, allowing her to enter Mother's world and briefly reunite with her old friend and learn what's really going on. But the two soon end up separated with something inside Loona coming awake.
  • Chapter 46. The leads go to make a deal with Alastor, only for that to get interrupted by the arrival of one Lucifer Morningstar.
  • Chapter 60. Just when you think all is well on Krampusnacht, we learn a few haunting new twists at the end, during a meet up between Lucifer and Gabriel. Turns out, not only was Heaven aware of the going ons with Mother, even subtly helping I.M.P. out from the sides, but most terrifying enough, by traveling to her realm, the rescue party have now all been touched by her presence. Making them all much more susceptible to become her future conduits and potentially free her from her realm.
• Wham Line:
  • After Chapter 17 seemingly ends on a happy, positive note, the final lines are enough to send shivers down your spine:
  Apparently, before Loona had entered, and while (Octavia)'d been busy looking for a door that didn't exist, her hands had been busy, carving a familiar, twisting pattern of curling, writhing limbs into the wood of her work bench.
  The shape of a crudely daubed eye.
  • In Chapter 32, when Stolas demands Octavia give him a sign that she's still alive, he hears a voice calling out one word: "Daddy."
  • Chapter 41. We've had several signs of Octavia being alive through voice heard by Stolas and Loona, and their many dreams with her. But near the end of this chapter, she manages to make a written note to Loona in the bathroom mirror.
  LOONA
  FIND ME.
  • Chapter 45, when Rufus proposes another ally to the quest for Octavia. "Alastor." "The Radio Demon."
• What Does She See in Him?: Drake is extremely shocked to learn that Blitzo used to be the partner of Verosika, his celebrity crush and favorite Pop Star. He refuses to believe that he could've been with her, firmly believing the imp seduced her.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Vaggie is incredibly furious at Charlie for volunteering her for the quest with Stolas against her will, even after knowing the reason behind it. She calls her out of always blindly rushing them into these situations without giving much thought to the risks or consequences behind them.
  • While not a full hero, I.M.P. is understandably furious at their ally Rufus, for leading them straight into a nest of monsters under Lucifer's care, just to better prepare them for their big mission. The Warden receives swears, punches to the face and call-outs, but stands by his decision, as they're going to need everything they've got in order to succeed and get out alive, which they eventually begrudgingly agree with.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: In chapter 60, Blitzo briefly reflects on how Stolas and Octavia will eventually outlive both him and Loona, feeling like gnats compared to powerful beings like them and Mother.
• Working with the Ex: Blitzo is forced to become the bodyguard of his ex Verosika Mayday, in order to settle some of his debts with Warden Rufus, after the wolf makes a compromise with the succubus in exchange for Vortex.
• The World Is Not Ready: Lucifer and Lilith have kept the nature of the Elder Gods and Mother, a secret from Hell, knowing that people would go mad from the reveal or possibly even attempt to release them. They didn't even want to tell Charlie, until she was ready to assume the throne.
• Wrecked Weapon: Stolas' sword is shattered in Chapter 57, from overuse and the amount used in defeating the foe. He opts to leave it there, the weapon having served its purpose.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: After Moxxie briefly breaks free of their spell, the Choir decide to take on the form of a mortally wounded Millie, tricking the imp into thinking he killed her, in order to lure him back in. It briefly works, before Moxxie is able to break free again.
• Yin-Yang Bomb: Rufus, with the help of Loona and her fellow hellhounds, crafts a series of guns and armor made from both hellish and heavenly metal, granting the weapons the qualities of both domains.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are:
  • Before the Extermination, Stolas has a nice moment with Blitzo, in which he tells the imp that he and his group are much better than he believes. He tells him how impressive it is for an imp of his calibre to start off such a successful business of his own, to steal from a Goetia and earn his love & respect, to face so many foes and still live, and being given the notice and favors from the Warden, his kingpins and even several other royal demons.
  • Reginald gives one to Stella, after Andrealphus' party, telling her not to blame herself for her daughter's death, but also not to let her grief consume her. Despite her failings and doubts, he asserts that she was a loving mother to Octavia, better than her own, calling her the best master he was ever served under and encouraging her to find her pride again despite her loss.
  • This is what Charlie thinks of Al. Despite his horrific past life, his numerous bloody deeds in Hell, his manipulative and sadistic nature and desire to screw over everyone for his own amusement, she knows there is good and a chance of redemption in the man, if he only let him give her a chance. The Radio Demon is less than willing to entertain the possibility however.
  • Blitzo gives one to Octavia, as the two burn their crutches on a pyre. The imp, recognizing that the princess is starting to self-doubt and blame herself for not being stronger, doing more to stop Mother or even causing misery to her loved ones. Blitzo tells her that voice is simply her mind playing tricks on her and that she has done good, encouraging her to ignore the voices telling her she's not good enough, reminding her that none of what happened was her fault and that things will get better.
• You Are in Command Now: After Warden Jacques was killed off during the rampage on hell, his underling Sargent Leon was promoted into his position.
• You Are Not Alone: Millie tells this to Loona, while she's still reeling from Octavia's death.
• You Can Barely Stand: Everyone's both mentally and physically exhausted after encountering the Choir, and experiencing its many overwhelming nightmares, in an attempt to assimilate them into its folds. When they attempt to resume their search, the group struggles to even stand up, falling over multiple times, before eventually managing to push forward.
• You Do Not Want To Know: When Andromeda tries to know what Rufus needs his new Heavenly/Hellish weapons for, Rufus responds with this. Saying that even with the new weapons, they're still terrified.
• You, Get Me Coffee: While Blitzo and Loona are mostly there to act as security, Verosika has them, mostly Blitzo, do menial tasks in between such as fixing the septic tank, taking out the trash, hauling equipment and making him clean up after she has an orgy.
• You Mean "Xmas": As expected the denizens of Hell don't celebrate Christmas; instead they have Krampusnacht. But they still celebrate the holiday not too differently from it's counter holiday, as they decorate their homes, bake cookies, have a festive tree, spend time with loved ones, exchange gifts to each other and even have their own mythical spirit, whom they leave out milk and cookies (and sometimes beer) out to, who comes at night to deliver gifts to those who have been good.
• You Shall Not Pass!: When the Choir emerges in full force to recapture it's escaped prey, Vaggie & Rufus stay behind to fight off the monster, knowing they might likely die, so that Moxxie & Millie might free Stolas and the others, banking on them being able to defeat the eldritch horror.
• You Should Have Died Instead: A grief-stricken Steela tells Loona this at Octavia's funeral, after the hellhounds tries to tell her she's sorry for her loss.
• Your Worst Memory: The Choir's main method of assimilating its victims, involves trapping them in nightmares where everyone's forced to relive twisted versions of their worst mistakes and failings. These include Alastor reliving his death, Charlie encountering the ghost of children she taught, Vaggie encountering the man who killed her, Stolas seeing his dead mother and Moxxie experiences many unpleasant times during his life before I.M.P.
• Zerg Rush: Chapter 58 mostly serves as one big Zerg Rush, as Mother's endless legions of monsters and horror start charging at the rescue party in overwhelming waves, forcing them to hold them off with limited ammo, until the magic users can finally teleport when home.

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