#if the law is unjust: break it

[auressea]

here's your reminder that the Gov of Canada has the power to name activists, protesters and Land Defenders: TERRORISTS.

https://open.library.ubc.ca/media/stream/pdf/24/1.0394048/4

Canada is attempting to deport an SFU student to Pakistan for organizing and peacefully protesting old growth logging in BC. I'd appreciate if your blog would help spread the word and the website set up to help people contact their MPs, sign the petition and/or donate to supporting him with legal fees. Stopzainsdeportation.ca

Stopzainsdeportation.ca

[bestworstcase]

I’m saying that when the rest of volume 7 involved breaking the law for the greater good that just arresting Jacques like a common criminal feels cheap.

I never said it was morally the same as arresting cinder I’m saying as far as the government whose authority Weiss was wielding in that scene is concerned they are.

If Weiss had to utilize some clever legal loophole or find some way around the law that would have been far more fitting.

Because as is it seems like she’s only willing to break the law to stop Salem, but to stop Jacques she has to wait until it’s convenient.

(salem on a seer call to summer) and then those little hooligans broke into my battleship whale so i called the cops to arrest them. kids these days 😤

[anonymous-dentist]

Taking an absolute shot in the dark - maybe because there is no finances involved with the CCs? They’re not employees, just guys? They’re not involved in the legal case against him, are they? I have no legal experience but thats the connection my brain made.

I guess, maybe? But also, and this is important, I don’t believe there is a legal case at all outside of the one Q has going on with that Bad Boss that was fired first. None of the former admins besides the Bad Ones seem to be going forward with a lawsuit, and even the Union isn’t doing one yet. I think Léa mentioned maybe wanting to move forward with one, but she obviously hasn’t started that process yet because she’s talking too much

An apology does count as a legal admission of guilt in the US, but him telling the former admins (besides the ones going to court against him) “Hey, we had to let you go from the team while we investigate and restructure. You’ll be contacted in the future regarding your employment status in the studio once the restructuring process is done” but like more professional-y isn’t an apology, and it isn’t a guarantee of future employment. It still leaves the admins in limbo, but at least they know they’ll be contacted in the future, which a LOT of former admins have spoke out about. Not knowing

[isawthismeme]

[knightoflodis]

Conformists that are against LGBT+ people and just gender nonconforming people in general are annoying. It’s not your life. Fuck off. There isn’t a right answer on how to live, on how to dress, on how to present yourself. Yeah. There might be some caveats and absolute lines. But a lot of those that I see people try to push are idiotic and pointless. As long as you aren’t hurting anyone else, go have fun.

[starbberryblue]

collection of my absolute favorite tags from this incredible post:

Candace and doofenshmirtz would be tumblr mutuals i think

[ms-demeanor]

Can you tell me it'll be okay? And mean it?

Yeah. It feels like shit now and there's a lot to worry about, but there was a lot to worry about last month and four years ago and eight years ago and twelve years ago and sixteen and twenty and twenty four and twenty eight and on and on and on.

Continue to work locally, continue to help people, continue to speak up for what is right and protest what is wrong.

We all should be breaking unjust laws and taking care of one another because you don't survive things like this by being isolated and alone, you survive things like this by building networks and creating parallel systems and growing tight bonds with the people in your community (either physically or digitally).

Plan on helping someone get an abortion. Plan on lying to ICE. Plan on helping someone get hormones. Plan on defending an encampment. Plan on sharing information that is being hidden. Plan on potesting a pipeline or supporting forest defense. Plan on not crossing picket lines. Plan on helping your friends get their meds.

The US Federal Government sucks shit and is not here to help. But there are millions of people who want to help each other, and those are the people you should be focusing your energy on.

It's going to be hard, but it was always going to be hard. I believe in my community, I believe in the networks I've built, I believe in the ability of small groups to make change and I believe in you.

Don't panic about what's on the horizon, do something *today* that will make someone else's life better tomorrow and it will feel less like the world is falling down.

[navramanan]

i dont see the point of human rights laws or courts when states will not oblige by them when they dont feel like it, and when there'll be no consequences when theyre found guilty

[dreamsteddie]

Steve H.

Part Two, Part One

Okay, I started the last post with a "Haha wouldn't it be funny" which turned into a long, not-so-funny rant. So! Here is the funny part!

Steve is Dustin's brother and Claudia's son in all but law. He lives with them, calls Claudia mom and refers to Dustin as his brother, takes them to all his school events until he graduates and helps pay the bills after high school. Claudia never pressures him to apply to colleges he doesn't even want to get into or makes him feel like he has to move out any time soon when he turns 18, so he stays and gets a part-time job at Scoops where he bonds with Robin for life.

At the same time, drop out Eddie and his uncle Wayne move to town when the power company transfers him to the plant in Hawkins. It serves them well since Eddie needs a fresh start after getting tossed out of school without a degree for unjust reasons. He needs some place where he can make friends and get a job without his reputation hanging over his head, and Wayne would never abandon his nephew.

So they land in Hawkins and Eddie finds his feet by visiting the library and happening upon a gaggle of kids commandeering one of the reservable conference rooms for DnD. They're are a few older kids closer to his age there too, but the curly-haired one is definitely running the show.

Meanwhile, Wayne has failed to mention to his nephew that the main reason he agreed to the transfer uncontested was because he hit it off with one Claudia Henderson at a diner after a fishing trip and has been dating her without Eddie's knowledge for 8 months. He breaks the news to his Nephew when he starts making plans to propose and wants to introduce Eddie to Claudia and her sons before he does. Wayne loves Claudia but Eddie comes first and he wants to make sure they'll all make a good family.

So they go over to the Henderson household for dinner one night, Wayne having wrangled Eddie into a black button-down and jeans without holes so Claudia doesn't think he raised a ruffian.

Dustin answers the door and immediately freaks out because he's so excited. He's met Wayne before and so has Steve so he knows things are serious and there's a good chance Eddie becomes family down the line.

Yelling in excitement the whole way Dustin drags both men into the kitchen where the root of all Eddie's troubles can be found.

Steve.

He immediately starts bitching at Dustin about acceptable volumes, towel over his shoulder and hands on hips and Eddie is Gone. Sent. In the stratosphere and immediately smitten. He's lost in the clouds planning their own wedding until reality crashes back down on his head as Steve extends his hand and introduces himself as Dustin's brother.

Eddie, of course, does not know that Steve is not actually related to anyone in this family legally or otherwise and no one thinks to clue him in since they're all so accustomed to the family dynamic.

If Google had been around in the 80s Eddie's search history would be full of "Is it illegal to date my uncle's step-son? NOT RELATED BY BLOOD" "how many degrees of separation in the family tree is acceptable?"

Que Eddie desperately trying to suppress his crush and not ruin his uncle's happiness by wooing his almost step-cousin ew like he really wants to.

But it's so hard! Steve is so beautiful and kind and dorky and a little weird and basically everything Eddie could possibly want in a boyfriend! Eddie wants to bite his freckles and hold his hand so badly but he won't ruin Wayne's future marriage because he kissed his future stepson like they're characters in those soap operas Claudia likes. He won't!

And then to make matters worse Steve seems like he really wants to bond with Eddie. He's always asking him to hang out wether that's going to the mall to hang out with his best friend Robin or swapping tapes at Claudia's house or showing Eddie all his favorite spots in Hawkins. (Steve is very much dropping hints that he wants to date Eddie who he's 96% sure is into him but Eddie is too caught up to notice)

It comes to a head on the day of the engagement. Wayne enlisted all three of "his boys" to help set up a nice dinner party with their closest friends, something Claudia has always mentioned wanting to host, while Joyce invites her out for some shopping and girl time. Steve and Wayne do most of the cooking while Eddie and Dustin are on set up picking up the flowers and pulling the nice table setting down from the attic before separating to get dressed in their nice outfits.

It's like a moment from a fairytale when Steve walks down the stairs and smiles at him. He's so fucking handsome it makes Eddie's heart ache with the cold realization that he's fallen completely in love with a man he can't have. Eddie can feel a prickling behind his eyes but he brutally shoves the sensation down. Today isn't about him.

Eddie puts on a happy face. It's not hard, he is truly happy for Wayne. His uncle deserves the world and both him and Claudia looked so in love when she said yes. He just wishes it didn't have to mean never having the man of his dreams. Eddie sticks the party out and he thinks he did a pretty good job hiding his mood right up until Dustin barges into the basement where the hideaway bed lives. The plan was always for the whole new family unit to stay the night so Eddie heads down as soon as it is acceptable to fall face-first into the pillows and trash around a little bit. Maybe even scream. Sue him, he's heartbroken.

That's how Dustin finds him and he immediately starts crowing that he knew something was up with Eddie. He starts pestering in true Dustin fashion until Eddie inelegently blurts out "I'M IN LOVE WITH MY FUTURE COUSIN IN LAW!"

Dustin blinks at him for a few minutes while Eddie freaks out because he's been so good only for Dustin to bully a confession out of him the day his uncle got engaged like a jerk!

But then Dustin is literally rolling around on the floor howling with laughter and Eddie has never wanted to strangle someone and disappear at the same time in his whole life. He's about to start asking Dustin what the fuck is up when the younger boy sits up and says "He's not my real brother!" at which point it's Eddie's turn to blink at Dustin in silence.

Dustin explains that while Steve is definitely his brother in all the ways that matter he's not actually related to Dustin or Claudia, nor was he ever legally adopted.

Eddie hardly lets Dustin finish his story before he's booking it up the stairs to Steve's room with a truly unprecedented display of athleticism on his part. He franticly taps on the door, aware enough to avoid banding on it like he would like to lest he disturb the newly engaged couple down the hall.

Steve opens the door, eyes wide and slightly frantic. As soon as his eyes meet Eddie's they disappear from his eyeline because Eddie has dropped to his knees, hands clasped together, and begs "Mary me!"

Of course, they don't get engaged that night. Eddie kind of just panicked and said the first thing that came to his head, but they kissed and began to date with the full blessing of their weird little family.

[roach-works]

you need to stop equating legality with morality

i know im shouting into the void here but i'm really stressed out over how many gen-z kids seem to think that all bad things are illegal and therefore all good things are legal. this is a child's system of ethics and furthermore it's one that fascist bigots REALLY REALLY WANT YOU TO KEEP

here are some things that are legal in the united states of america:

-you can marry a child in 46 states. "The organization Unchained At Last found nearly 300,000 children under the age of 18 were legally married between 2000 and 2018."

-it's not murder to shoot someone to death in 28 states under Stand Your Ground Laws.

-officers of the law can take and keep your personal property "in the course of conducting an investigation." you have to go to court to get it back. since the year 2000, cops have taken and kept personal property totaling a profit of at least 68.8 billion... that we have records for. Policing for Profit: The Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture

here are things that are illegal in an increasing number of states:

-birth control hrt, and abortion

-dildos

-telling kids anything about homosexuality or transexuality

-helping a minor access birth control or an abortion without their parent's consent

-dressing in drag

-protesting against corporate malfeasance

-protesting against police brutality

-suing a company for knowingly endangering your health through exposure to infectious diseases, chemical toxins, or oil pollution

-inhibiting private logging, fracking, and mining operations, even those conducted on public lands, even those conducted without the requisite permits, even those conducted against treaty regulations

IN CONCLUSION:

a country's legal system is not a nice little collection of good rules for proper people. it is a system of top-down control that determines, in broad and violent strokes, which people get what they want, and which people don't.

the sooner you realize that it is a moral imperative to break unjust laws, the sooner you can stop saying shit like 'dni if you support illegal/immoral behavior' and sounding like a fucking chump.

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

Hi Derin! Sorry if this has been asked before, but I'm amazed by the vast array of cultures and gender norms in TTO:U. How did you come up with all of it?

I just thought "hey wouldn't it be funny if there was a little guy" and then made them, and thought "hey what norms would exist in a culture under these conditions" and then made those.

In all seriousness, most of my worldbuilding comes down to tearing down assumptions. Brennans exist because I fucking hate gender and I'm sick of seeing the gender binary or "gender binary Plus Nonbinary Extra People (who still live in a world that assumes a gender binary)" as some immutable natural law that all societies will forever cling to, and I wanted to make a society that was harder for readers to inevitably sort into a binary as they always, always fucking do. (Partial success; I have seen some absolutely rancid takes on the TTOU gender ternary that make me want to break my computer.) The array of different cultural family structures exist because those are different ways that societies can be built on smaller units. The Arboreae and the two space elevators and the Khemin exist because that is a potential response to a critical climate crisis.

On top of that, most of my ideas are stolen. I once read a short story about people who lived under the ocean on an alien planet and spent most of their time just cruising around the ocean in big bubble-like biological submersibles and that was their job, because their submersibles cleaned the water by feeding on things in it; they were employed to be part of the ecosystem. The Khemin, wandering about the ocean as both environmental monitors and trash-gatherers, were inspired by this; from there, I just thought on what sort of family structure and traditions such a group would develop for a stable society. When I was a teeny tiny child I saw a guy on Ripley's Believe It Or Not who was trying to build a self-sustaining floating island to sail around the world on. Absolute disaster of a plan, man knew shit about ecology or farming, but a bit later on I got really into swamps for awhile and started thinking of using plant roots as water filtration systems and, with an eventual biotechnology degree, multiple years hyperfixating on ecology and evolution, and touch of Magic Future Genetic Engineering, that eventually became the Arboreae. The social structure of Hylara is somewhat inspired by CJ Cherryh's azi, particularly the way that Florian and Catlan are raised in Cyteen. The Hylarans are very much not azi (the azi being slaves brainwashed from birth via hypnosis) but the way they are raised fed into building a society batch-raised by robots and each other with no natural family unit. You can just steal concepts from the real world or from scifi and build them into your own thing it's fine.

Anthropologically speaking, the golden feature of any social structure or cultural practice is *stability*. This is the one feature upon which everything is judged. Just or unjust, productive or unproductive, authoritarian or free, structured or unstructured, when developing a society your key thing to worry about is "is this stable? Would a society survive for multiple generations on this norm?" and if your Weird Idea isn't stable, either ditch it or -- far more interesting -- adjust it and your parameters until it is. Different norms will be stable in different environments and built on different histories -- Khemin and Hylaran norms are not interchangeable because of the environments, tech, political climate and reproductive methods the two cultures have. But if it's stable, you can throw in whatever weird shit you want.

[blackownersseekingsuccess]

Remembering Bayard Rustin: The Unsung Hero of the Civil Rights Movement

written by Levi Wise Kenneth Catoe Jr.

August 1, 2024 - Growing up as a Black boy in Paterson, NJ, and attending Roman and Irish Catholic Parochial schools, Black history was not very familiar to me. I grew up in a religious Southern Baptist family and participated in the church choir. In this context, Martin Luther King, Jr., was all that I knew about Black history until I became a teenage Madonna fanatic. Ironically, Madonna made me aware of Black activists and radicals such as Nina Simone, Jean-Michel Basquiat, James Baldwin, and Bayard Rustin. Bayard Rustin was an African American activist who believed in civil disobedience. Rustin felt that Black people should deliberately break unjust laws but do it non-violently to bring about change and this would play a key role in the Civil Rights movement. He also advocated for LGBTQ rights. Rustin moved to Harlem in 1937 and began studying at City College of New York. It’s interesting to note that at the time CCNY was an all-male college once regarded as ‘Jewish Harvard’ which did not accept Black men—Rustin was an unusual exception. While Rustin was at CCNY he became involved in efforts to defend and free the Scottsboro Boys, nine young black men in Alabama who were accused of raping two white women. Activism for Rustin was something that came naturally. He later became a mentor to Martin Luther King.

Rustin is one of my all-time idols. I have been enamored of him since I learned about him, so I was excited to attend an event dedicated to his life and legacy at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, “Between the Lines: Bayard Rustin, A Legacy of Protest and Politics.” The event was a conversation between Michael G. Long and Jafari Allen, who edited the book of the same name. Their exchange sparked many revelations and I left the event more aware than when I entered. I felt so much pity for the life that Rustin had to live, including the attack on his character that was rallied against him by other Black people and the distance that Martin Luther King placed between himself and Rustin out of fear of people assuming that he was also gay. I also learned that it was Coretta Scott King who introduced King to Rustin. Scott-King met Rustin during her college years as a fellow activist who practiced civil disobedience. She would ultimately introduce her husband King to civil disobedience tactics. Rustin recalled that his first time meeting King he was strapped with a handgun and that he never traveled without his gun. It was Rustin who told King that if he represented civil disobedience he would have to be willing to put away his firearm, which eventually he did. Nevertheless, this raises the question, who was King really? The “I Have A Dream” pacifist or the “Beyond Vietnam” radical? We will never truly know.

All in all what I did learn was that according to Rustin, King had no idea how to organize an event. Instead, it was Rustin who developed the blueprint for King’s early Civil Rights movement, at least until the day that King removed Rustin from his inner circle.

Nevertheless, Rustin returned to organize the March on Washington, despite everything leveled against him by Adam Clayton Powel and Roy Wilkins. Someone noted during the discussion that “it’s funny how karma works given the fact that nobody remembers Wilkins's legacy in comparison to the sudden interest in Rustin.'' If I remember correctly, the comment was made by the moderator, NYU professor Dr. Jarafi Allen, based on the fact that the venue was standing room only, or that the Hollywood lens is now fixated on Rustin’s story, with an Academy Award-nominated movie based upon his life currently in theaters. Wilkins has not received the same interest from Hollywood, perhaps indicating that he is less marketable in the mainstream. Meanwhile, Rustin’s role as an activist for the LGTBQ community is also important for newer generations. Until recently, this legacy and all that he accomplished was invisible, but he has since become a symbol of the “others” and most notably the “forgotten others”. While in his lifetime he was shunned, rallied against, and betrayed by those that he benefitted, history has allowed his legacy the final word.

[ckret2]

Does the axolotl ever take vacations? Do gods get vacations?

You can't take a vacation from being what you are.

I see "the Axolotl is a lawyer" not as a literal job description—he didn't literally go to law school and literally pass the bar so he can go to literal court and literally present legal cases to a literal judge—but more like a convenient human metaphor for his divine role.

What he does is pursue and shape justice. That's not a career, that's what he is. That's his nature, his passion, his mission, his personality.

He may not always be actively Doing Justice; but for him "taking a vacation" would mean "taking a break from being himself in order to go be unjust." It's a ridiculous idea.

[aspoonofsugar]

Hi

A lot of people keep saying Sera from Hazbin hotel and Satan from Helluva Boss are quite similar of how they run Heaven and Hell and personality wise. Would it be possible if you can do an analysis of how similar they are and how heaven and hell isn’t much different from Sera and Satan running both places.

Hi!

Sorry for the wait and thank you for the ask because I have been wanting to discuss this since the episode first came out!

SERA AND SATAN: KNOWLEDGE AND JUSTICE

Sera and Satan are superficially opposites:

Sera is an angel, who presents herself as virtuous, merciful and understanding. She is polite towards Charlie and acts as if she is gonna judge her Hazbin Hotel idea fairly.

Satan is a demon, who presents himself as strict, violent and scary. He is dismissive towards I.M.P., openly racist and all he wants is to find someone to punish.

However, neither is exactly what they seem, as both are wearing a facade.

Sera isn't interested in hearing Charlie out. She manipulates events, so that the Princess of Hell has no chance of succeeding. Moreover, she uses Adam's malice to present him as Charlie's opponent, when she is the one getting in the way. In other words, Sera is the mastermind behind Charlie's failure.

Satan isn't really that much in control. He is easily manipulated by different people, as Andrealphus, Blitz and Stolas all trick him. Moreover, he can't really hide the growing tension among the Sins, no matter how much he tries. In other words, Satan is really no mastermind nor leader of Hell.

What is the point of Sera and Satan both wearing masks?

Both Sera and Satan try to fit the role of leader they are given. Sera is the High Seraphim of Heaven, so she must be perfect and rightful. Satan is instead the Leader of the Deadly Sins, so he must command respect and instill fear.

Most of all, Sera and Satan believe Heaven and Hell can keep going only if the status quo is uphold.

This idea permeates all their actions, including their role as judges. Sera is in charge of a "questioning", whereas Satan presides a "trial". However, neither of them is a good fit.

A questioning is about knowledge. It is about questioning the status quo to discover if there is a new way to do things. It is about pursuing truth and understanding. Still, Sera herself has knowledge she doesn't disclose:

Lute: SHHH. Sir, what was the Seraphim's one rule? Adam: Uuughhh, "No one but the exorcists can know about the exterminations". I know, fine. 

Not only that, but she doesn't want the other angels to ask difficult questions:

Sera: This questioning stops now. We know when a soul arrives, we know when they pass divine judgment, it is our job to ensure these souls are safe.

She uses ignorance as a weapon to keep the system in place.

A trial is about justice. It is about judging if a person is guilty or innocent. It is about giving retributions, which are proportionate and fair. However, Satan is "accuser", as his name implies, "jury", as he manipulates the other demons' votes:

Satan: Why don't we take a vote. Who wants to listen to hours of testimony? Who wants to kill this imp bastard and get home for lunch?

And "judge", as he makes the final decision:

Satan: So you see Next to me, your master plans all look so small Little mice When you break my rules You pay the price!

He embodies a draconian law system. In this sense, he himself is "the law". He is an unjust justice, which strikes fear in people.

Ignorance and fear are what Sera and Satan use to preserve things as they are. They do so because they both believe "order" is necessary to prevent chaos. And yet, both their authorities are challenged during "Welcome to Heaven" and "Mastermind". This happens because two characters choose to stand up against them.

EMILY AND STOLAS: UNDEXPECTED OPPONENTS

Emily and Stolas are respectively a Seraphim and a Goetia. So, they are members of the groups Sera and Satan are doing the interests of. In fact, both Emily and Stolas are powerful, sheltered and at the pinnacle of their respective hierarchies. All they have to do is to stay in their place to keep indulging in their privilege. And yet, both decide to side with respectively Charlie, a demon, and Blitz, an imp.

Emily, differently from Sera, is curious about Charlie's idea and she is interested in discovering the truth about how souls get to Heaven:

Emily: Yeah, why isn't he here?

She is genuinely pursuing knowledge and virtue:

Emily: To think that I admired you Well, I don't need your condescension I'm not a child to protect Was talk of virtue just pretension? Was I too naïve to expect you To heed the morals you're purveying?

Stolas, differently from Satan, doesn't want I.M.P. to die, so he uses the classist ideology Satan understands to manipulate him into showing mercy:

Stolas: I came down just as soon as I heard of the imp Stood accused of a devilish crime Could it be that a worm such as this half a brain Could concoct such a plot so sublime? Does this fool deserve the flame? Or is someone else to blame?

He is acting out of personal feelings, rather than political ideology. However, he is protecting lower demons at a high personal cost:

Stolas: I am the mastermind, the hand that holds the strings! No simple imp of mine could master the disaster Oh it stings! That you thought You had caught the schemer of the schemes I wrought! I confess! It was me and I have no regrets!

Emily and Stolas's "rebellion" is interesting for two reasons.

1) It leads to a moment in You Didn't Know and Mastermind, where Emily/Charlie (directly) and Stolas/Blitz (indirectly) challenge Heaven and Hell.

Charlie and Emily: If Hell is forever, then Heaven must be a lie  If angels can do whatever, and remain in the sky The rules are shades of gray when you don't do as you say When you make the wretched suffer just to kill them again

Here Emily and Charlie have the higher moral ground over Sera, as they sing a reprise of Hell is Forever. They are calling out the High Seraphim of Heaven on her hypocrisy and daring to say Heaven itself is turning into Hell.

Stolas: You're my light Blitzo: You're my heart Blitzo and Stolas: Only death can rend our love apart!

Here Stolas and Blitz are having a metaphorical wedding. They affirm their love with a formula similar to "until death do us apart". Moreover, this exchange happens in front of the embodiment of law (Satan). Stolas and Blitz's relationship is symbolically disrupting the balance between the higher class and the lower demons. They are challenging Hell's bigoted views.

2) It forces Sera and Satan to deal with Emily and Stolas's resistance.

On the one hand Sera insists Emily should ignore what just happened and keep going with the duty Heaven assigned her. She tries to enforce "ignorance" on Emily:

Sera: It is my position as the head Seraphim to protect our people at all costs. And it's your position to keep them happy and joyful. Emily: How can I bring joy when I now know we are bringing misery to thousands of innocent people?

On the other hand Satan makes an example out of Stolas, so that none of the other Goetia will dare to challenge the status quo. He "frightens" the rest of Hell with Stolas's punishment:

Satan:��No. Ooh, ooh. No, no. You still definitely fucked up, we just need to figure out a fitting punishment for you.

What's interesting is that both Sera (directly) and Satan (indirectly) compare Emily and Stolas to Lucifer:

Sera: Please.... if you start to question... you could end up like Lucifer: Fallen. I couldn't bear to see you suffer that fate, so please, let me worry about this, ok?

Sera does not want Emily to end up fallen, like Lucifer.

Satan: STOLAS! I hereby strip you of your status, your power, and your title for the next hundred years. You will have to live amongst the citizens of Hell and revel in your failings!

Satan banishes Stolas, just like Heaven banished Lucifer.

Why is the fallen angel so important?

LUCIFER'S FAILURE

Sera: Well, you failed to control the demons' unrest, and now Lucifer is involved, setting up an audience for his misguided daughter. 

Satan: I've ruled the endless dark Since long before the golden angel's fall

Sera and Satan know Lucifer personally and used to share their political role with him:

Sera and Lucifer were both Seraphims, at the top of Heaven's hierarchy

Satan and Lucifer are both Deadly Sins and Lucifer used to be the leader in Satan's place

However, Lucifer ended up disappearing from both of their lives. First, he fell and left Heaven forever. Then, he got more and more depressed and became uninvolved in Hell's ruling.

It is unknown what Sera and Satan's personal relationship with Lucifer was, but right now they both seem to resent him and are trying to erase his memory.

Sera is annoyed by just mentioning Lucifer's name and she clearly projects her unsolved feelings for him on Charlie. She sees the Princess of Hell as just an extension of Lucifer (daughter of the Morningstar) and is biased against her project because she sees it as an echo of Lucifer's past dream.

Satan is angry at Lucifer and is using his absence to take over his Kingdom. He even changes their shared past by presenting himself as the first rightful rule of Hell. He also imposes a policy, which ironically punishes people for sins similar to Lucifer's original one.

In short, Sera and Satan represent Lucifer double failure:

Sera is a Seraphim, who upholds Heaven's "order" and thinks changing Heaven in any capacity is impossible and dangerous. All because Lucifer's attempt ended up in a disaster, which broke the world. She embodies Lucifer's failure to reform Heaven.

Satan is a Sin, who imposes in Hell a law very similar to Heaven's. He upholds a hierarchy, whcih is just a mirror of Heaven's one. He is Sera's parody, in a sense. He represents Lucifer's failure to rule Hell and to make it an alternative to Heaven.

So, Lucifer failed twice. He failed to create a better universe and he failed to live as happily as possible in Hell. Moreover, as King of Hell he failed both at foreign policy (the exterminations) and at domestic policy (Hell's classism).

CHARLIE AND BLITZ: PICKING UP THE PIECES

Charlie and Blitz are meant to pick up Lucifer's pieces and to help both the universe (Charlie) and society (Blitz) to change.

Charlie will deal directly with Lucifer (and Lilith)'s original sin and fix the universe they broke. When it comes to Hell's politics, she is going to grow into a political leader, a true princess in a sense:

Charlie: 'Cause right now, we need a leader And it seems to me that Destiny has picked me to be that If you'll permit me So who's with me?

In particular, she is gonna gain more power and influence in the Pride Ring and is gonna take charge of foreign policy (the relationship between Heaven and Hell).

Blitz will disrupt Hell's hierarchy thanks to his business and relationship with Stolas. He will break free from the system:

Blitzo: All I was trying to do was rise above this stupid fucking place YOU ALL FORCED US INTO!

In particular, he is gonna show new paths for imps to advance their statuses and is gonna impact domestic policy (Hell's classism).

Charlie and Blitz's respective "court episodes" are key steps in their parallel journeys, both on a personal level and on a political level.

On a personal level, they both have a revelation about their love interest:

Charlie discovers Vaggie is an angel and sees her darkest side. She needs to go through this because she must realize the world is gray and more complicated than what she thinks.

Blitz realizes Stolas's feelings for him and admits his own for Stolas. He sees Stolas's light, in a sense. He needs to go through this because he must understand the world can be warmer and more beautiful than he thinks.

On a political level, both Blitz and Charlie manage to mess Sera and Satan's "order".

Charlie highlights Sera's hypocrisy and for a moment she gets through to the other angels. Even if she loses, she is eventually proven right by Sir Pentious's rebirth as an angel:

Blitz survives Satan's judgement and shows other imps things can change for the better. He gives hope to the lower demons and inspires them not to let Hell define who they are:

On a final note, it is interesting that everything Sera and Satan do to keep things as they are actually backfires.

Sera approves of the exterminations to make sure demons won't upraise. However, this leads Charlie to lead Hell's resistance. Sera dismisses Charlie's Hazbin Hotel project. And yet, precisely because of Sera's refusal to look for a peaceful solution, Sir Pentious dies in the battle and becomes an angel.

Satan spends the trial trying to come up with a punishment, which will strike fear in the hearts of the citizens of Hell. He first decides to kill all I.M.P., but then changes his mind when Stolas tells him this would just turn Blitz into a martyr. The end result is that Satan broadcasts Blitz's struggle and victory throughout all of Hell and makes him a hero.

These are my main thoughts on Sera and Satan's foiling! Of course things may change as the two stories unfold.

In any case, thanks you for the ask and a happy new year!

[wc-confessions]

Hollyleaf is so tragic to me. She's like if the child of a cop grew up idolizing her father's work, thinking that the law is all that matters, and then realized that oftentimes the law is unjust. The idea that sometimes in order to do what is right you have to break the law was too much for her. It's sad that we couldn't have seen her grow and change her opinions through that and instead she just clung harder and harder to the code.

.

[seat-safety-switch]

Many argue that the strength of Western civilization is its strong historical bedrock of legal practices, verified knowledge, and careful study. Others will say that it's ambition, rule-breaking, and adventure that drive success. I disagree with both sides, which proves I am the most intelligent of all. What makes Western civilization great is junkyards.

Sure, other countries have junkyards. Some of them are really great: China has vast miles of industrial refuse, enough that you could build projects for a million lifetimes. The Dutch have charming feral populations that live within their abandoned DAFs. However, I can’t walk to any of those countries when my shitbox Dodge throws a rod, which is what makes our local ones the best in all the lands.

Here, too, is the essential tension. All the scums who want you to buy new cars live here, or at least their rich failchildren do, and they would really rather prefer you stop pulling random components out of the trash heap and slapping them into the vague configuration of an automobile. Otherwise, they can’t afford their own space station. New Zealand? They don’t have a car industry at all. If you want to make a car out of papier maché there, there’s no industry fat cat to call his golf buddy and make some unjust, arbitrary horseshit like “should probably have a windshield” the law of the land. Some of the fun in thumbing your nose at The Man is gone.

That’s why I’m really patriotic about our shitty yards full of garbage that cost you a few bucks to roll around in cancer mud. However, like any true patriot, I acknowledge that our system isn’t perfect. It has room for improvement. And if the small island nation of Japan is willing to pony up a couple bucks for a plane ticket, I am perfectly willing to visit all of their junkyards on a fact-finding mission to figure out if any of them contain an axle for a 1980 Plymouth Sapporo. Call it my little contribution to world peace.