#Wasted Potential

[existwound-moved]

showdown

[reyenii]

RAFE: if it was my friend, i'd probably go after the guy that just killed him

[x3nshit]

“you have to work hard!” why? “so you can get good grades!” why do i need good grades? “so you can get into a good college!” why? “so you can get a good paying job!” so then i can use that money to do fun stuff? “no you have to save it for later!” why? “so you can survive and retire comfortably!” then i can do the fun stuff? “no, you’ll be too old so you have to take care of your health!” then when can i do the fun stuff? “in your youth, enjoy it while you still can!” but i thought-

[doubly-dateable]

hey former gifted kids and neurodivergent people, how are we feeling about this?

[thenationofzaun]

Arcane and Ideological Clashes

Tags by @coolseabird

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. One of season 1's themes I loved was the philosophical and ideological debate between Silco and Vander (and then Jinx and Vi). I adore the personal character-driven aspects too, but the thing is, they don't have to be mutually exclusive. Ideologies can be extremely personally informed/motivated, and in the case of these characters, they were. Every part of their worldviews were shaped by their circumstances, their lives, experiences, and relationships with other characters. For example, Silco surviving the murder attempt by Vander and how this very personal betrayal motivated him politically, to be unrelentingly extremist in his methods. Or Vander feeling personally guilty for all the deaths on the Day of Ash, leading to him forming a political deal with Grayson to subdue the undercity from ever stepping out of line "for their own good". Because when you live in these kinds of dire conditions, there really is no way to separate the personal from the political.

Though season 1 didn't explore these themes with the sisters as deeply as I would have liked, the crumbs were there! Especially for Jinx. Yeah, she's selfish and personally-motivated, but her actions are nonetheless political. When it comes to her political opinions, the first season itself only gave us crumbs ("We kicked the enforcers butts, imagine what the whole of the Lanes could do!" as a kid, and then later Silco tells her that the children of Zaun deserve more and she seems to listen pensively, but never comments on it). Every act of political violence by her in the first season was given a personal motivation (she wants Silco to think she's strong, she wants to confront Caitvi on the bridge, she wants to avenge Silco). But writers comments outside the show gave us more - one of them said online that while Jinx understands Vander, she disagrees with his worldview and aligns with Silco's views on fighting topside. So that confirmed that Jinx does have an ideology and it aligns with Silco's, even if she was mostly preoccupied with personal matters in S1.

Vi on the other hand was completely neglected by season 1. All of her thought process and political opinions post Act 1 were left entirely subtextual. Act 3 was the worst offender because it's there that she makes her most controversial decisions (betraying Jinx to the Council and attacking the Shimmer factory with enforcers). However, again there were crumbs that one could string together to form interpretations. In S1E2, Vander basically convinces her that rebellion against topside is futile as it would likely lead to the deaths of her loved ones. She then decides to give up her desire to fight them and turns herself in to the enforcers. What follows is 7-8 years of being beaten and abused and downtrodden by topsiders in prison. Yeah, I can definitely see how this experience would only confirm Vander's words, that Piltover's might is too much to overcome, not without heavy casualties on their side. That rebellion is futile and the best thing to do is to keep your head down and don't invoke their wrath.

However, it was a fellow undercity citizen who murdered Vander and took her sister. And when she returns years later, she finds that he is still in power, has significant influence and a large number of followers in the Lanes, and no one has overthrown him. One line that really stood out to me was one she said to the brothel madam Babette in S1E5 - "From the looks of it no one down here lifted a finger to stop Silco". How juicy is that! She feels resentful towards her fellow Zaunites for not avenging Vander and taking down Silco in her absence. She feels betrayed, abandoned, left behind by her own neighbours. Her sister changed under Silco, her home changed under Silco. And everyone moved on without her. Expanding on this could have been such a natural way to justify her class treason by joining the enforcers. She thinks Piltover is too strong for Zaunites to beat so there's no use rebelling against them anyway. So why not use their might against her Zaunite enemies? Zaunites themselves "won't lift a finger" to stop violent gang leaders so why not use topside's power to do it? "What loyalty should I have to my class, if the people from my class abandoned me like this?" I could even see how being wronged by Zaunites could hurt more than being wronged by Piltovians - she could see it as the latter owing her nothing while the Zaunites are supposed to be her family and neighbours, who owe her more.

Again, season 1 itself did jack shit to delve into these feelings nor her trauma from prison. But the crumbs were there. I happily used them to form my own interpretation to justify her bizarre decisions and was satisfied. But then season 2 rolls around. They had the blueprint and chose not to use any of this rich material. How do they justify her joining the enforcers? Do they explore any of the complex feelings of resentment Vi may have for her home and class? Nope, she joins after hearing how her crush talked her up to colleagues. How do they justify her fully turning on Jinx and disowning her sister? Do they explore Vi's loyalty to her foster father Vander, and her acceptance that Jinx chose to betray him and side with his murderer, then try to murder Ekko for years? Nope. In fact, she forgets about Ekko and never mentions him again lmao. Rather she seems to turn on Jinx because she attacked the Council??? That seems to be the turning point for Vi, the thing that makes Vi view Jinx as a monster. "She killed the tyrants who oppressed me all my life, how dare she😤" ???? It would make sense for Vi to view the attack as stupid and reckless, again just like Vander said - fighting topside only brings more wrath to the undercity. But they don't even do that. They never explore Vi's political opinions and how she agrees with Vander's "compliance for our own good" stance. They never touch on her time in prison and how it may have compounded Vander's views. Instead they make it so Vi seems to sympathize with the Councilors and condemns Jinx's bombing because of some generic "violence bad" moral.

It's so stupid too, because they completely forget about Grayson. That's more PRIME material to justify Vi's enforcer arc. If Vander, her mentor, allied with Grayson, Caitlyn's mentor, then why shouldn't she ally with Caitlyn? She could easily use the Vander-Grayson peace deal to make herself feel better about her class treason. "He allied with enforcers to keep the undercity in check for their own good. So will I. Putting on the uniform is just the next logical step. I will take out the gang leaders and Silcos that Zaunites are too weak to stand up to. My parents were wrong to fight against topside, rebellion is futile. Jinx is wrong to fight against topside and will only get more Zaunites killed in the resulting retaliation. They can call me a traitor but I'm doing this for their own good."

All the pieces are there. Instead they never bring up the Vander-Grayson deal. Caitlyn and Vi have never even spoken about either of them in their entire relationship lmfaooo. They don't even know that their beloved mentors knew each other. They never speak about anything of substance. The only crumbs of an ideological clash we get in season 2 is the argument in S2E5. But it's all from Jinx's side - "I wish I was just seeing things when you decided to throw in with the Piltie goons who murdered mom and dad." But then Vi replies with some lame insult, then they're having a cheap slapstick comedy fight, and Vi never reckons with this. She never expresses what she thinks of her parents dying fighting topside. Then the Piltover vs Zaun war is completely abandoned and the plot focuses on Warwick/Hexcore/Noxus. And we don't get any more explorations of the ideological/philosophical clash that the sisters represent. Is it worth it to rebel against an oppressor if you lose yourself and all your loved ones to violence, but at least those in the future reap the benefits of your fight? Is it worth it to comply for the safety of yourself and your loved ones, if your people will eventually suffer a slow death and never have a future? What are you willing to sacrifice for your revolution? How far will you go? They handled this theme beautifully with season 1 Silco, then said "alright that's enough" and dropped all effort when it came to season 2. And from the trailers of Act 3, it looks like Vi will be convincing Jinx to fucking help Piltover against Noxus. Which is just gross lmao.

[watchyourbuck]

“is that why they call you firehose” *smirk* “nope” is a CRAAAAZY introduction btw. really set the tone

[girlyteengirl16]

as i get older i get sadder at the fact i wasted my time and potential being sad all my life

[catarpillarrr]

When im at the "wasted potential" competition but they show up

[shitghoster]

how the medical exam at the prydwen should’ve gone

like hello, why are we pretending i didn’t just spend approximately 3 hours fast travelling naked and doing chems to raise his affinity😭😭 so much wasted potential

i always question why he asks bc like. hes right there

[clownmitts]

Oh you destroy my ship? I destroy every man that have a crush on her

[wishful-thinking64]

One Hell of an Unpopular Opinion #02

Note: This opinion is longer than the first one as I'm super passionate about this one compared to last time. Because of that it might come across as a bit of a rant. Side Note Regarding My Previous Post: I came up with a proper acronym for C.H.E.R.U.B. as I plan on using them in my rewrite for HB and what I came up with was the Capable. Habitual. Earnest. Reliable. Upbeat. Bureau. This took me all of two to three minutes to come up with. _______ Adina should've/should be in Hazbin Hotel's series due to how much she fits with the whole, "Heaven is corrupt," idea that the show is going for.

For context, Adina was a character from Viv's Zoophobia days who was featured in the scrapped Angels vs. Demons arc alongside Emily. That's right, much like most of the Hazbin Hotel cast, Adina and Emily were in the same Zoophobia arc too! However, unlike Emily, Adina's character was ultimately scrapped and replaced by Sera (by the way, you're not being clever with that name Viv) who is nowhere near as much of a threat as Adina was.

These three images ALONE already express so much about Adina as a character to the point where you can tell JUST BY LOOKING at them that if anyone were to try and convince this woman that her beliefs are wrong, they would probably either be murdered or tortured immediately. By the way, if that silk ribbon bow that Adina wears wraps around anyone that isn't herself, it not only reveals but forces demons (as seen by beta design Angel Dust) to RE-LIVE their MOST UNPLEASANT AND TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCES. And on top of all of this...

HER TRUE FORM WOULD'VE BEEN THIS GIANT ELDRITCH LOOKING DRAGON CREATURE! VIV, ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT YOU TRADED AN ACTUALLY GOOD VILLAIN WITH A GENUINELY BAD ASS FINAL FORM THAT FOLLOWED THE SHOW DON'T TELL RULE FOR ONCE ALL FOR A STATIC CHARACTER WHO'S FINAL FORM IS BASICALLY JUST A FUCKING BIRD!?!? ... Obviously, the answer to that question is yes. That being said, it will never cease to piss me off how or why the answer to that question is yes. Moving on, I heavily believe that Adina's character could still work incredibly well within Hazbin Hotel and to where you could still keep Sera if you wanted to. Simply, have her be Sera and Emily's mother. That's what I'm doing for my rewrite of Hazbin Hotel. To me it makes sense especially how Adina being Sera's mother would explain why she's so hesitant in stopping Hell's yearly exterminations. Although, that isn't exactly what I plan on doing for my rewrite you, reader, could use it for yours (if you plan/want to rewrite the show that is.) In conclusion, I'll never forgive Viv for replacing Adina with Sera because even if I wasn't a writer that was just a terrible decision to make. Like, you literally had all the material and potential there and you chose to scrap it. But hey, that's Viv for ya. Always scrapping good ideas.

[yuuverseyuuverse]

Where is the plot line of this Kubo? Why are you not continuing this Kubo!? Don't just abandon this Kubo!? WASTED POTENTIAL OMG

[beargyufairy]

And when I’m back in Chicago, I feel it another version of me

I was in it

[achillesreborn]

to the ones who were meant to beat the odds, meant to succeed where others had failed, who've felt the weight of expectation on their shoulders since they could hold their head up alone. those who know the feeling of peering eyes & judging whispers in their ears.

to those who were meant to be the best, & did not reach those hopes, you did wonderfully. your efforts are not in vain, no matter how bitter their words may be.

you tried. it wasn't easy, so you fought. search for that pride inside of yourself & once you find it, cling on hard. you've stayed, so you've won.

[painedpen]

Mitsuri and Zenitsu could have had a positively adorable brother/sister relationship and maybe Zenitsu could have learned Love Breathing but y’all aren’t ready to have that conversation

[bibibbon]

Nobody ever pays attention to the fact that Hawks is literally a government drone. He has bird wings that have feathers that can listen in on conversations, and he works for the government.

Hawks works for the bourgeoisie.

That's the interesting aspect of Hawk's character since he literally fulfils the role of the perfect government spy or agent.

Hawk's has it all to fit the role perfectly. He has the quirk, the skills, the looks and the charisma. He is a beautifully built puppet that works to uphold the status quo, the same status quo that also harms people like him (hetamorphs and the less fortunate in society).

To the civillians and the hpsc Hawk's is perfect in every way possible. However, this notion of perfection is interpreted differently by both the hpsc and the civillains. To the HPSC Hawk's is the perfectly crafted puppet that was successfully produced to be everything they wanted him to be.

Hawk's to them understands the system, was raised to worship it and uphold it. He has no doubts of what he must do and does it almost as if the action of upholding the system and killing have become second nature and pure animalistic instinct to him. Those red feathers are the HPSC biggest prize. They are stained culling weapons that kill, disarm, hear and have eyes everywhere. A huanting red that must do what's necessary for the system to survive and for the government to always be on top. The colour of blood but to the hpsc it's the colour of their pride and most perfected puppet.

To the civillains Hawk's is alluring. He is handsome, young, strong, tall, muscular and he has it all. Hawk's is what the people fan over and to some who they want to be. He is a Saint to the civillains a man with good looks that ensures to keep them safe with his agility and quickness. An angle in disguise is what the civillains would think of him (yet to the villains he is more of the devil in disguise)

To the villains hawk's is the embodiment of the system and its wicked ways. Hawk's interaction with twice says it best whether that be from Hawk's not wanting to kill twice heck he tried to disarm twice he cut off twices muscles so he couldn't move and therefore disarmed him from using his quirk yet when it came to it hawk's reverted to his hpsc taught instinct and killed what he deemed a good man. OR twice completely being shattered at the betrayal and realising that hawk's is the system that he hates and has suffered from severly.

Throughout the MVA arc hori seems to draw some religious imagery of Hawk's comparing him to the fallen angle or heck even icarus (could be both 🤷‍♀️) In the MVA arc Hawk's does tell the truth about one thing and that is that he feels trapped in a cage due to the hpsc. Hawk's wanted to escape that cage, and one way he may have tried to defy the hpsc was to try and save twice, yet in the end, he never did. He was too optimistic, too quick to revet to hpsc instinct and too slow to fully stop twice so he ended up killing him and rather falling from grace of the publics eye who saw this happen on a live recording, from the eye of the hpsc who if they were still around would of quickly abandoned him and he fell as a hero.

Hawk's ambition and insiticts led to his failure.

In the end, Hawk's is a government spy that upholds the status quo and the mha civillains most of them that is were okay with the status quo so why would they care if the hpsc would send a spy in order to keep them "safe"?

(Such a shame that Hawk's never gets to change properly whether that be acknowledging his mistakes, changing by leaving the instinct embeded in him and getting to have proper intropsection looking at characters in a different light such as enji)