idkwhatimdoingbutslay

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Kicking Viktor out of the relationship like that was crazy, Jayce and Mel. Shame. Shame.

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Fascinated how no one else has pointed out(to my knowledge) that Cait just fully wasn't wearing a bra. She pulled off that top and was just fully out lmfao

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CAITVI BACKS SIZE DIFFERENCE GAAH

VI LISTEN LISTEN

the way caitlyn is disappearing behind vi??? like them huge broad shoulders swallowed up our mongoose baby and that one gif where vi slides her hand thru caitlyn's panties and grabbing her from the back pulling her to herself and thrusting her hips forward and caitlyn biting her lip throwing her head back IM FOAMING FROM THE MOUTH and ugh that fanart is chefs kiss

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this. these two shots right there. this is what gets me. they found each other. they’re finally reunited and nothing comes in between. they defied oil and water.

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Attempts to break the loop of Fantastic have merely resulted in Fantastic and Oil & Water alternating on repeat

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I keep thinking about their sex scene. How Caitlyn was trying to be so gentle but Vi wasn’t having it. How Caitlyn didn’t want to take too much and Vi finally let herself take everything she could get. How she didn’t let Caitlyn treat her like glass, how Vi needed Caitlyn so badly. How Caitlyn wanted to be honest, how Caitlyn wanted to be perfect for Vi, and how that’s not what Vi wants or needs. There’s no needing each other to not change and there’s no needing everything to be perfect, there’s no saying no to fate anymore, they need each other and they love each other and they’re MASSIVE LESBIANS IM STARTING TO TWEAK WTF

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Caitlyn taking her shirt off with that smug little look on her face and blowing her hair out of her eyes and Vi just staring……… yeah

Did we talk yet about how back in S1 Vi has to push Cait to carry herself like she's attractive, and now finally we've got Cait comprehensively putting herself on display for Vi? Cupcake knows she's hot, and she knows what it'll be for Vi.

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Holy first meeting parallel Batman 👀

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I don't think some of ya'll realize how monumental the caitvi sex scene is. Normalization of queer love that isn't for the male gaze is so fucking sick

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I am not a King Princess stan or anything but Fantastic has changed my life.

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You don’t understand what this means to me, Vi and Caitlyn get to be together. I get to imagine all their happiness together: Caitlyn gets to apologize, Vi gets to wake up next to Caitlyn every day and go to sleep next to her every night, Caitlyn doesn’t have to fill that hole anymore either, they get to kiss softly and make love, they get to comfort each other when they have nightmares, they get to call each other pet names and tease each other, they get to fight by each other’s side, Cait gets to tell Vi she loves her and Vi gets to say it back, they get to call one another out when either one slips, they get to balance each other, they get to be a mundane couple and sit by the fire place together and eat together, and everyone gets to see them be the power couple they are. Despite all the pain, they get each other, just a little bit of happiness in a world that crushed almost everyone else’s.

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What a ride, Caitlyn stans!

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I think it was such a missed opportunity to not SEE jinx actually cut her hair :( we didn’t get enough final moments with her I don’t think

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A VERY LONG ARCANE S2 REVIEW (Not spoiler free below page break)

Firstly, these are all my opinions and everyone is entirely entitled to their own. If you hated S2? That’s fine but I didn’t. So, I will be doing a kind of general breakdown of my thoughts on each act below but first my general review is that I think in terms of overall story telling, season 1 is better.

To ME, S2 seems like more of what they initially had in mind for the show, and they just really nailed the exposition of S1. This is what I think made S1’s pacing feel a lot better - it’s all exposition for S2. Season 2 had to fit a climax and resolution for all of these characters in the same amount of time that they took to set up all of these story lines in the previous season. I genuinely think that each act could have been it’s own season but w/ how expensive the show is to make and the amount of time production took between seasons, I see how that’s not practical. Especially if they want to explore other regions sooner than 15 years from now.

TBH I really enjoyed this season. I understand some people are hating it because of the parts they don’t like but it’s still a visually stunning show with great characters. Do I think there were areas where the story fell flat? Yes. I also think given the time constraints and restriction of this being the last season, the visual story telling was very well done and a great way to move along the story without sacrificing time. I genuinely think it’s such a phenomenal feat of animation that characters expressions convey thoughts and emotions that feel real without dialogue. I still am blown away that it’s a LoL show because despite my love of league lore and characters, I never would have expected that Riot could produce such a heart wrenching show about the tragic nature of love and loss, the things we do for love, and the flaws of our own humanity.

I also think some people set their expectations WAYYY too high for the social commentary aspect of the show after s1, as far as I’m aware there was never any claim made by any part of the prod or writing team that it would be one. Idk overall, I thought it was a lot of fun and still an exceptional show. Not what I was expecting but I’m not upset about how it ended. I think it was conclusive but also not so finite that it leaves zero room for interpretation of the characters implied futures.

It is a little disheartening to see so many immediate negative reactions to it but, again, people are entitled to their own opinions and as much as I complain about people not using critical thinking skills or passing grade 9 literature - art is subjective. Animation, ESPECIALLY at this scale and complexity, is a form of art. I, as I’m sure many other’s did, found it a fulfilling end to one of my favorite shows. Yes, I wish there was more but I can’t bring myself to be disappointed with what we did get.

Below is my (again PERSONAL and NOT SPOILER FREE) 1-10 rating and my thoughts on each act (not really going to analyze anything because I need about 3-5 weeks to scrub through every episode so only my little reviews) :

ACT 1 (7/10) : I think this act is the one with the worst pacing, but I said a whole back in a previous post that I believe to some degree it was intentional. There is suddenly a war happening so I think it’s supposed to feel chaotic a bit chaotic. However I can concede to part of it just being, well, bad pacing. This act is definitely one I wish could have taken up more episodes if there were more seasons since I would prefer flushed out development as opposed to music videos at the beginning of each episode. However, for what it was, they serve their purpose narratively and relay the information that the viewer needs to know. Otherwise, as heartbreaking as the act is, I gotta put myself on blast and say that I LOVE the end sequence of ep 3 when Ambessa makes Caitlyn commander. Like it’s so daunting and cool. Ep 1 fight scene at the memorial? super sick. I also loved the development of the dynamic between Sevika and Jinx. You can feel the characters devolve into a version of themselves that truly is worse and I think that’s so fun. Most of my drop in rating is from how fast it feels.

ACT 2: 9/10

I simultaneously have so much and so little to say. I won’t talk about Isha’s death because to me it was fairly evident that she was going to die from act 1. Anyways, for me this was the most tragic act and I’m still trying to decide between this and act 3 as my favorite. I love them both, in different ways. Seeing Jinx and Vi be brought together and Vander was so touching and sad. You get a real look of how much they still care for each other despite the fact that they’re perpetually ripped apart. I’ve already made a post about the scene between Caitlyn and Vi, so I won’t just say the same thing I’ve already said. I also honestly am not upset that Vi’s “six-ish months of going insane” wasn’t drawn out. Again, I don’t LOVE the music videos, but narratively, it tells you virtually everything you need to know about what’s happened to her and where she is mentally. It’s literally a montage of her life for the past several months. As a recovering addict and someone known to self destruct, I would much rather they condense that like they did rather than draw it out and not handle it well. If you’re going to be cynical, you could say they didn’t anyways but, recovering addict, so I was more worried before the act 2 release that it would be triggering rather than handled poorly.

Jayce coming back and tweaking out was also such a fun touch when it wasn’t explained until the next episode why he was acting that way. Like I figured it had to do with the hex crystal now fused with his body but it was still so interesting.

ACT 3: 9/10

Maybe unpopular but I LOVED this act. Everything was so visually intriguing that on my first watch I wasn’t even fully locked in just because I was focused on how good the imagery/animation is. I thought I was going to hate ep 7 because, unfortunately that leak was real (no I won’t be changing my pfp to a clown like I said I was bc I’m stubborn) but the implication to me of that episode was not “Vi dead so everything good!” it’s that they saw a kid die because of the crystals Jayce had and, in brevity, saw what the tension between the undercity and Piltover was doing to people. I am curious what happened to THAT universes Jayce but I imagine he was probably imprisoned.

Obviously, I have to address the sex scene, and honestly? I don’t mind that it’s in a jail cell BECAUSE of the very obvious parallel to how they first met. It was also done in such a wonderful way that it feels like a legitimately intimate scene between the characters and not just a “man well I suppose they need to fuck, huh.” or male gaze-y “lesbians 🤤” way.

I will be honest and say I don’t like multiverse stuff since it kind of kills the whole “arcane is cannon” thing. I also just don’t love it in general because in recent years it’s been just a cop out for companies to make more money off of IPs (see Marvel) but it makes me want to go back and rewatch s1 again to see if this has always been the plan. I don’t mind Viktor being the wizard that Jayce sees when he is a kid since they tied that up in a way thats really cool. I do think it’s an episode though that, after seeing it a couple of times, is easily skippable since it doesn’t really do a ton for the main plot. Like Ekko gets his Z drive, heimerdinger (i think?) dies, and Jayce discovers the damage hextech can do. Don’t get me wrong, I really like the episode, unfortunately it is just one that I feel like viewers can skip over upon rewatch because of the AU stuff.

Also MEL, I love her storyline with the black rose and I really hope that her putting on the Noxian clothing in the end is an indication that we will get more of her if Riot does a series based in Noxus.

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So, regarding the peony necklace Ekko left Powder….

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I think what it is is that the heart of Arcane has changed as of right now. What’s guiding the plot isn’t character dynamics anymore, it’s just plot. It’s not Vi and Jinx or Jinx and Caitlyn or Mel and Ambessa or Ekko and Jinx or Silco and Jinx or Vi and Vander or Jayce and Viktor or Mel and Jayce or even Caitlyn and Vi. There are hints of all of those things, yes, but they weren’t hints in season one, they were driving forces. The characters don’t feel like people as much anymore and their relationships suffer from that.

Edit: I wrote this after act I and I feel this even more after act ii. There is so much intimacy missing this season. The interpersonal conflicts are lacking so hard and I feel like the plot isn’t even heavy enough for the sacrifice to be so great. That’s why we’re missing the importance of characters like Ekko and Vi who are so driven by their care for other people. I’ll come back to this draft once act iii airs.

From season one, I can tell you that this is a tale of two sisters. From season two… I don’t know what’d I’d say.

Edit post act iii: I have to say, regarding this, Act III is the best. I really didn’t hate the focus on Jayce and Viktor and the Arcane considering that’s the name of the show and this is the most consistent and well thought out storyline stretching from s1 to s2, but I do have my gripes with Mel being so disconnected from this story despite her also having the Arcane within her and being a main player in Hextech in s1. The black rose s1 set up was a complete fumble imo. Either do it well or don’t do it at all.

This act felt a lot more propelled by the relationships in this show. What I loved about Arcane s1 is that it’s not just a bunch of people within a plot but a bunch of people making the plot. Things aren’t just happening to them, they are actively making them happen. This cast in s1 is how you write real, good and well thought out plot devices. They’re all elements of a narrative that feel so so real.

Episode seven being the best episode of the season is such a good example of this. We get to see the characters we love in the story we love. We get to see the consequences of the characters existing (or not). We also have an Ekko centric episode which is just the cherry on top.

Act II wasn’t too bad in the relationship propelling the story aspect with Jinx, Vi and Vander (and Isha). But they barely lasted and the Warwick we saw in act III was so obviously not Vander that it felt kind of meh. And Isha felt empty to me, sorry. She should have lasted longer but she would have no significant part to play in act III. She was just TOO MUCH of a plot device to me.

The fact that we got ONE Silco hallucination and it was in act III is another reason why I feel like it’s better in this way. I know Jinx was getting healthier and whatnot, but in act I we didn’t see any hallucinations at all after her literally killing Silco and really leaning into the Jinx persona which felt a little off.

Erm not to talk about the lesbians but I’m gonna do that lmao. This season was so wishy washy we them. We got what we wanted but not how we wanted it. Their characters were kinda fumbled (Caitlyn less so) so thereby, their relationship felt a little fumbled. I think them ending their respective storylines separately is fine, but having them hardly be intertwined felt off. And even the final scene with them felt a little empty. Like of course they’ll forever be together but that can’t be it. There’s so much more to CaitVi than that. I feel like they’re missing the “despite it all……”, even tho it was implied pretty well I suppose. Idk, just a little unsatisfied with the “Dirt Under Your Nails” line.

TLDR; this show is made up of characters and relationships that make the story move forward and I feel like s2 was lacking in this in comparison to s1.

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ARCANE LEAGUE OF LEGENDS S1EP1 ↔ S2EP9 (2021-2024) ↳ "I think the cycle only ends when you find the will to walk away."