Addicted to the sorrow

It isn't a reward.

It's a punishment.

Someone who has hurt people would have to live every day for the rest of their life staring in the mirror and seeing someone violent and unforgivable. That is gut-wrenching. That isn't easy. That is PAINFUL. An alcoholic who's trying to break out of those habits chooses to drink soda, and that doesn't stop the addiction, it just redirects it. It's not a full circle healing process, but it is a step in the right direction because redemption is slow, it's dreadful, it's exhausting, it's debilitating in a way that would want to make this person stop every second of every day. Them pushing forward is them choosing the path of suffering and THAT'S the essence of redemption. This person and the boxer KNOW these are their worst traits and are actively trying to fight them. Will they ever atone? No. And they KNOW that. Yet, they STILL choose to push forward. A sinner who's truly trying to better themselves would understand that they might not ever be forgiven by the people they hurt and would understand that that's not the point of redemption. The point is simply to BE good. That's it. With no reward or treats at the end of it. They get nothing. And it's horrible. And it's ludicrous. They would understand that they aren't owed forgiveness and will STILL need to walk that path of pain and live with the horrific things they've done. That is AGONY. They're choosing their own pain for the sake of others and THAT'S what redemption is about.

If redemption is discouraged and viewed as this unacheavable thing, then the number of bad people will never lessen. What good will it do if let's say Husk for example continued to gamble and enslave people like he did in his Overlord days? Nothing. He's worse off now, he's being humiliated and flung around by the hotel crew and tied to train tracks and disregarded by most residents as just a bartender, yet he has a heart of gold, he helps his friends, he gives Angel the love and support he needs. He's still an addict, he relapses, he has harmful coping mechanisms, but he's TRYING to be good, and if he wasn't then none of the previously mentioned wonderful moments would have happened. He can't become a different person, but he can do good as the morally dubious person he is. A feral dog will never overcome its hunger for meat, it can't magically become a vegetarian, but it can learn to love and trust and help others in its pack. The past can't be mended, but the future CAN. And this is partly what turns away some sinners in Hazbin like Angel for example; it's the black-and-white belief that their past sins define them and they will never change.

All in all, I agree with OP's post, I'm just adding the addition of why redemption should STILL be encouraged, even though it's improbable, even though most people will never reach heaven, but that's not what those people should be after if they REALLY wanted to be better. They're just trying to be good. And it's messy and it's complicated and it's not perfect. But, as long as they try, even just one person, the future will look brighter.

Taking this fully into the realm of Hazbin and outside the real world – being a good or a bad person is simply black and white and that's that. That's the system we're working with and if I start rambling on my actual take on life in that regard I'll ramble for ages, so to make it as short as possible – People can't change, but they can become better. And when you're working with fictional characters, as fleshed out and well written as they might be, THEY AREN'T REAL PEOPLE, THEY CAN BE SIMPLIFIED AND MORE EASILY FIT INTO THE GOOD OR BAD CATEGORY

It's harder to get a proper take on the Hazbin redemption, because we have only one example to work with. We don't know if dying (permanently by angelic weapon, or by let's say getting your head cut off) is necessary. We don't know if each character has one big sin they need to atone (potentially DIE for it), or if they need to work on every harmful aspect of themselves. I have my theory that guilt and self evaluation are at play

Angel for example, I strongly believe his redemption would involve spearing (NOT forgiving!!!) Valentino's life when he has the chance to kill him, since we know he killed his father, and knowing Angel, it wasn't done as a senseless violent outburst. I believe that's the set up we're getting. And if that's the case – well, Angel is still a drug addict. He's using less, he has longer streaks of sobriety, but if that's taken into consideration, how long would his sobriety need to last to be considered redeemable? He might be sober for years, and the urge to use will still be there. THAT he can't change. He can fight it, use healthy coping mechanisms instead, sure, but the thoughts to relapse, less overwhelming with time, will be THERE.

That's my issue with Hazbin's take on rehabilitation and redemption, as the previous reblog said, it's a destination to be reached, literally. We've been witnessing Angel and Husk bettering themselves. We saw Sir Pentious genuinely believing he can redeem himself, but at the end, his redemption came because he didn't do it on purpose.

Since we're at Sir Pentious – he was building weapons of mass destruction and using them. And... that's not a sin apparently? Or him using his inventions for good counteracted that? It's been two seasons and we still don't know what gets one into Heaven!

Again from the previous reblog – redemption is a punishment. You see yourself in the mirror, you stare at your past, and fight every waking second of the day to not fall back into your old habits. You can't change the past. You can't change who you were, but you try to be better one second at a time. That is the reward, for your own sake.

Also... Heaven is strangely mirroring that? The people we've seen in Heaven are all happy to be there. It's Paradise after all. Yet Sir Pentious feels singled out, like he doesn't belong there. The rest of the human souls don't know Hell, they don't know what it's like to be at your worst and build yourself from there. They don't understand, they can't understand. A person who's never tried heroin will never grasp the strength it takes to stop using

And Pentious is there. He wants to go back to Hell, just for a bit, but he can't. That's another thing about Heaven I don't like, it's like putting an alcoholic in a padded cell and claiming "hey, they aren't drinking, they are cured now!" when alcohol aren't even an option. If Husk were to redeem himself, Heaven doesn't have gambling houses or strong alcohol. He'll be sober for the rest of time, but it won't necessarily be out of choice

In a way, Heaven becomes a punishment. Hell, as unpleasant as it is, can have positives. You find friends, a found family. But you find them in Hell. And when you leave Hell, you leave those people behind too. Not talking from personal experience here, but there's a person on TikTok who talks about their story with drug addiction and how they had to leave pretty much all their friends because they were still using and the person wanted to become sober for good. Redemption is a punishment, getting better is a punishment.

[mention of past self harm in the next paragraph]

Damn it if I don't remember fondly certain things from my lowest and wishing to relive them, THAT is harder. Self harm absolutely sucked, but damn it if I don't miss the sense of relief from it, how the world got quiet and for a moment feeling at peace. 4 years clean and hardly a week goes by when I don't think about it, I can't fathom the strength and will it must take to be sober from substances.

So, Heaven and Hell as concepts don't work for me in the Hazbin context. In life there doesn't come a point you can call yourself fully healed. That's why the vast majority of recovered alcoholics don't touch alcohol for the rest of their lives – there isn't an end goal, it's a path you have to stay on till you die.

And getting better doesn't mean no relapsing. That's not the case for most people. You might use again, the point is that you pick yourself back up and keep going. Smoking one cigarette today doesn't mean you should say fuck it and start smoking a whole pack a day again. It's not a straight path, something you circle right back, but you have to keep going forward.