a-friendly-fangirl

[a-friendly-fangirl]

Probably a bit of a hot take, and definitely petty fandom salt, but i’ve come to notice that in recent years, with most fandom spaces becoming puritanical in their efforts to ice out anything that can be labeled toxic, or anything that just doesn't fit the fandom’s prevalent opinions on a situation or character–a phenomenon that has only been exacerbated by TikTok and the overuse of “therapy-speak”--there seems to be a general lack of nuance and/or sense of media literacy in most vocal fandom spaces when it comes to a story that is not just black and white.

Arcane is one of the most recent example of this, with (arcane s2 spoilers ahead) characters caitlyn and vi being discussed pretty heavily with the terms like “domestic abuse” and “abuser apologism” particularly when it comes to caitlyn’s act of jabbing her rifle at vi’s side before walking away, leaving vi anguished. Now, i’m not saying domestic abuse is not real–i’m just saying, that in this instance, I don't believe that the act was domestic violence, nor do i believe that any of the parties that make up CaitVi are abusers.

Arcane itself is a complex story with heart shattering situations that the characters find themselves in constantly, often putting them at odds with their morals, the morals of their environment, and the morals of the audience. Do I think caitlyn was right to jab her rifle at vi? No. But we as an audience can tell that neither does Caitlyn herself. Neither does Vi. But when Caitlyn did so, it was when she was under immense emotional duress, her mother’s killer getting away, and she was blocked from taking vengeance by the person she trusted the most. When she said the horrible things she did, she was hurting and angry and lashing out–she was punching the walls like a woman gone. And why is it that we can offer characters like Jinx the grace to absolve her of her crimes due to her own psychotic breaks, but not other characters to their own actions done in moments of their own breakdowns? Vi punching Powder, for instance. An act that had Vi villainized by the fandom for a long time. 

Which brings me to another point–absolution. It is one the extremes characters tend to fall into when it comes to fandom, with the other extreme being amplification. A character’s sins tend to be glossed over, or explained away so that the character in question becomes an unquestionable angel and champion of justice, or, in other cases, tend to be overly exaggerated, making the character out to be the worst of the worst, the lowest of the low. Rarely is there an in-between, with multifaceted characters complete with riveting backstory and motivations and complicated characteristics inevitably losing a little of what makes them, them, all in the pursuit of woobification, gratuitous groveling from other characters, and victimization; it’s an apology fantasy on steroids. In other cases, and often, connected cases, if one character is getting the baby treatment then chances are that another is getting the villain treatment, becoming a sort of caricature of themselves. Motives and environmental factors and politics are all thrown out the window, and all that’s left is cartoonish, flat, oft one-dimensional portrayals. 

Arcane’s Silco is an example of the former, with the singular trait of caring for Jinx becoming twisted and emphasized until he is nigh unrecognizable. His harmful actions towards the undercity are erased and he is lifted up instead as something other than he was. He is transformed from the fascinatingly flawed, human depiction to something bland and uncanny. He is just a Poor Sad Betrayed Meow Meow who is also a Good Dad. But it’s okay because he also does crimes! Except wait, those crimes are also sanitized and cutesy, or horrific and without reason or logic. He has lost what makes him, him.

And for the other half of the coin, the unnecessary villainization, we have Jayce! Jayce was hated upon widely, especially after the release of Season 1, and his struggles were erased.

(and yes, there were struggles. Jayce was more privileged than those from the Undercity, that is unquestionable, but he was not as privileged as the other Council members or even most of his peers. He had the fortune of a patron, but that was something that had to be earned, and he could always risk losing. He was from a House, yes, but it was also a minor one, and he would have labored in his factories alongside other workers–he wasn’t a crazy wealthy guy. He staked his entire life on his research that he was actually going to take his own life when his dream was taken from him. His dream wasn’t to generate wealth by unlocking the arcane, but rather, it was to put these tools in the hands of the common man too. One of his first act as councilors was to immediately try to root out corruption. He was able bodied and from Piltover, and so, had more privilege than Viktor (who is my favorite arcane character) that is undeniable. But Jayce did have struggles, he wasn’t taken seriously by the Council due to his own status and had to go through them initially when it came to his own HexTech. Jayce had struggles,but Jayce is a POC and Viktor is a white boy, so Jayce’s problems are gonna be minimized by fandom but that’s a whole other issue–)

And yet, three years ago, the Jayce hate was at a total high, with every action of his being dramatized so as to make Viktor’s pain far more excruciating. 

I’ve derailed a little! The point of this post was to point out the “therapy speak” in fandom that often comes at the cost of lifting one character up and bashing the other, all while skipping over the context and nuance for the gray situations the characters found themselves in. All this to say–with fandom’s recent behaviors when it comes to relationships in fandom, it really makes you wonder if people have forgotten that relationships aren’t easy and actually require constant work and effort. That relationships change and evolve and grow with each obstacle that comes one’s way, and that sometimes things get rough, but that love is being able to understand and empathize with one’s partners–that not everything is black and white and that not every mistake is irredeemable.

[a-friendly-fangirl]

ARCANE SEASON 2 ACT 3 SPOILERS

I've been thinking a lot about this scene, as to why Caitlyn looks relaxed but keeps her eye open.

My theory is that she does believe Jinx is alive, but probably doesn't have enough evidence to back her claims. It's clear in the way she was holding the monkey bomb's head and going through the tower's structure... she's looking for Jinx. And I don't think she wants revenge anymore. She just wants her back for Vi. Or, if not back, she at least wants to tell her she's alive. But she can't.

And that's why they're cuddling, but Cait's not closing her eye. Can you imagine the feeling of being potentially able to make the person you love happy, while at the same time not wanting to give her false hopes? I do think Cait'd give anything to make Vi happy.

[a-friendly-fangirl]

SPOILER ARCANE S2 ACT 3

I can't stop thinking about dead Vi in the alternative universe. I keep asking myself whether Caitlyn entered that room and saw her lifeless body and what she felt. I wonder if she somehow would've recognised her or felt like she did know her

[a-friendly-fangirl]

And what if I told you that, in the Arcane - Les Misérables parallel, Jinx is Cosette and Vi Éponine?

Have a good day!

[a-friendly-fangirl]

"Her mother was just the final nail in the coffin. She tried so hard to do things right, and all she got in return was pain and heartbreak"

Literally!! I can't believe people are saying Caitlyn is overreacting, her mom is dead you idiot!! What do you mean she's overreacting!? You people have never seen a character go through such stages of grief, despair, and devastation. Caitlyn has been through the worst experiences of her life because of Jinx's attempted murder, kidnapping, torture, and now the death of her mother. I mean, Caitlyn's personality change and her intense hatred for Jinx and loss herself are completely understandable.

Look how scared she is, we don't know what hell Caitlyn went through when Jinx kidnapped her, but that expression on her face says it all.

And let's not forget that Caitlyn in episode 1 refused the order to invade Zaun. Even after her mother's death she still didn't want to use violence, and we later saw that she would go there for only three goals.

And indeed she did, she attacked those gangs present in Zaun "Gangs that were hurting people and children in Zaun".

(And of course we shouldn't forget that she didn't suddenly change her mind, but rather because of the attack caused by Ambessa that made her reach this level of anger)

And now Ambessa will definitely play an important role in Caitlyn's character change by inciting her to seek revenge.

Ambessa manipulates everything and puts someone in power she can easily control

Another thing I found weird is how some people think in this ridiculous way to say that Caitlyn wants to kill the child or that Caitlyn wants to kill Vi. Are you really serious? Literally, you have never seen in any show or movie a character who is angry and loses control after that, don't you know when a person is angry they don't see it in front of them especially since she didn't want to make Jinx run away again, this was her chance to take revenge on the person who ruined her life completely (Caitlyn's actions are logical and her anger and sadness did not come from nothing or came from her mother's death only, but came from other things that were piling up on Cait which led to her explosion)

And as I was saying Caitlyn just wanted to kill Jinx, anger and sadness at that moment took over her. Jinx had NO mercy with Caitlyn, there is nothing that softens her actions.

And I hope you guys remember the true core of Caitlyn, she was trying to do what is good and she gets bombed, kidnapped, and her mom dead now.

[a-friendly-fangirl]

I can't fully elaborate right now, because lecture books call and I can't waste time crying... but there's a verse in Lucy's new song that caught my attention from the get go:

You were looking for saints/ But you only found people

First of all, this part reminds me of this other one:

Living with demons I've/ Mistaken for saints

Coming from "Claws In Your Back", Julien's song about trying to fight the darkest parts of ourselves in order to keep living. Julien has several times talked, throughout her music, about using pain (physical or psychological) as a form of connection to God (A saline communion that I held like a séance on the blacktop) or as a way to ask for forgiveness (Start asking for forgiveness in advance/ For all the future things I will destroy), meaning that probably, prior to Claws In Your Back, she was more accepting of her struggles, because they somehow made her a better person through penance (that's why she looked at her demons as if they were actually saints).

But she's come a long way. She's now willing to believe that she deserves better (I wanna be happy, like she sings with Phoebe). Still, she maybe didn't feel like she could go on without some guiding figures like saints, who are idolized and protective figures.

Now, I do believe that Lucy is specifically referring to Phoebe and herself, in her own words. Why? First of all, because she's the one singing them and because there's a nod to Graceland Too (I watched you fall from Grace/ You were graceful), connecting the three of them (Julien's troubled past could be considered a fall from Grace, at least in her own mind).

And if True Blue is any indication of their relationship's past hardships, then of course, if Julien at any point idolized her best friends (who've always been by her side ever since they first met), the ways they hurt each other clearly transformed them from saints to people. Loving people. And to Julien that's fine, because it still "feels good to be known so well".

[a-friendly-fangirl]

Not the Graceland Too reference...

LUCY DACUS debuts new song at brooklyn steel 10/8/24

clasping your necklace / zipping your dress / hands on your waist / kissing your neck / i love your body / i love your mind / they will change / so will mine

but you are my best guess at the future / you are my best guess / if i were a gambling man / i am / you’d be my best bet

tracing your tan lines / making you mine / if this doesn’t work / i’ll lose my mind / and after a while / i will be fine / but i don’t wanna be fine / i want you, you

you are my best guess at the future / you are my best guess / if i were a gambling man / i am / you’d be my best bet / here is the church / here is the steeple / you were looking for saints / but you only found people / ‘aint that just the way it goes / i watched you fall from grace / you were graceful

after all / it’s a small world / you may not be an angel / but you are my girl / you are my pack a day / you are my favorite place / you were my best friend before

you were my best guess at the future / you are my best guess / if i were a gambling man / i am / you’d be my best bet / you are my best guess at the future / you are my best guess / if i were a gambling man / i am / you’d be my best bet

[a-friendly-fangirl]

Would it be rude of me to offer my help as a native Italian speaker to Wenclair fanfiction writers? I'd be happy to help, if you needed some words or sentences in my language.

Or to any writer whatsoever, of course 😊

[a-friendly-fangirl]

Oops, I did it again.

Jokes aside, I don't feel like this is as good as I would've liked it to be. Still, Heatwave is my favourite Julien Baker's song, so I hope it'll still be enjoyable.

[a-friendly-fangirl]

Not Vi seeing Caitlyn in her Season 1 form, when she was still "innocent" and a simple, principled Enforcer 😭

[a-friendly-fangirl]

I can’t believe I have to explain to people how not to behave like creepy stalkers especially since Chappel Roan spent weeks talking about it but here it goes :

If Jenna Ortega , Emma Mayers post a picture of the concert on their (open ) social media that’s fair game . If they take a picture with a fan and the fan posts it again that’s fair game

Shooting creepy stalker videos of them while they are trying to enjoy a concert in a private booth nonetheless is ABSOLUTELY NOT OKAY. Obsessively spreading those videos and pictures is not ok. Tagging them is not ok . Tagging them as fictional ships is not ok. Catfishing their family and friends so you can get access to their private social media is not ok . And do I even need to say that you shouldn’t bother celebrities in real life and should graciously take no for an answer ?

It’s not ok but it’s understandable if due to echo chamber of fan creepiness this behaviour had become so normalised that you did it as well . We have all made mistakes . But know you have no excuse . You knows it’s wrong . So now you have a choice . Do you double down and defend your atrocious behaviour and seek similar creepy fans to justify your creepy actions ? Or do you grow up, delete these pictures and videos from your blog immediately and learn not to act like this in the future

[a-friendly-fangirl]

post battle smooches

[a-friendly-fangirl]

I didn't want My Immortal (Evanescence) to be in my Caitvi playlist, but here we are I guess.

[a-friendly-fangirl]

This edit is incredibly important to me. I love "I know the end" as a song and working with it was an emotional experience. I hope you'll like it!

[a-friendly-fangirl]

In respect to the animators, artists, and team for Arcane S2, I will not be sharing or posting anything from the recent Netflix leak, nor will I be looking for it.

I hope to encourage everyone here who loves Arcane and all the hard work put into the show to do the same.

Please don't ruin such exciting thing as season 2 to other people and to the team of arcane who put so much work into it

The fortiche team is devastated that this happened so let's give them the respect they deserve by not spreading anything.

[a-friendly-fangirl]

I'm really proud of this one😭

[a-friendly-fangirl]

Think this is my favorite piece of art ever rn FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸 (art is by sappherioo on Twitter I will post link in replies!)