iwillmissourtalks

[iwillmissourtalks]

”I have this artistic idea but not the skills to achieve it to the standard I want.”

congrats! Now you have a motif! A recurring theme! A focus for your art! Something to haunt you!

Seventeen still lives of dandelions? Three hundred poems about grief? A sketchbook dedicated to your grandmother’s house? Two books trying to unravel the complexities of familial relationships?

Don’t let the fear of it not being perfect on the first try stop you from being Weird About It!

[iwillmissourtalks]

my favorite genre of fictional character is like "i am terrifying to almost everyone, i'm very good at killing, i can endure anything, i've become exceptionally good at playing into my reputation, and if you try to give me positive social interaction i will react with confusion and cower in a corner like an abused animal. and i may try to shoot you. but there is also a chance i may imprint on you like a feral dog receiving its first loving touch! good luck."

[iwillmissourtalks]

I've made a post like this before but I want to say it again: I'm glad to see people push back against the "Mel is an evil seductress" type of thing, but I'd be careful not to go too hard in the other direction.

Mel is a politician from a ruling-class family who is desperate to prove to her warmonger mother that you can attain power through politics rather than through violence. Guile is one of the forms of strength that is so valued by Noxus. In the book about Ambessa's backstory, Mel and her cousin mutually become friends so they can spy on each other for their parents, because their family is so fucked up. She *is* manipulative because that's how she was raised and that's the context she exists in. The binary that's presented to her is between being a fox and a wolf, that is cleverness and cunning, versus violence. She chose cunning. (I was going to go into a big thing about her season 1 flashback but I think I'll just make that another post).

Mel can be manipulative and not be evil because of it. But she is manipulative. In her second scene in the show we see her flatter Hoskel so that he stays loyal to her. She calls the rest of the council "old fools" behind their backs while smiling to their faces. She gets Jayce onto the council to serve her agenda of being able to keep developing hextech.

People say Mel is manipulative because that *is* how her character is introduced. What the haters fail to notice, though, is that the show then *subverts* the femme fatale character trope that she was introduced as. Her backstory is revealed, showing that her approach to politics is her way of eschewing her mother's violence. Because she is a soft-hearted and caring person. Her character *development* (that is, the way her character changes) in season 1 is that being with Jayce brings out her softer, more idealistic side, a side that she had had to supress in order to try to prove herself as a Medarda.

No character in Arcane is purely good or bad. And Mel is a kind and caring person who behaves in a kind of fucked-up way because of her context. And that is what makes her *so* interesting as character.

[iwillmissourtalks]

In celebration of #MelWeek2025 this month, we're offering our Mel Visual Guidebook for those participating in @melweek! 🌟

The guide was created by our Art Mod, @sapphicsparkles, and we hope you all find it helpful. 🥰 You can view the full guidebook below:

✧ Mel Visual Guidebook

[iwillmissourtalks]

Mel Medarda

[iwillmissourtalks]

Mel Medarda: A Field Guide

I occasionally see people nervous to write from Mel’s POV & while I’m absolutely not an authority on her character I thought I might make a list of things I like to keep in mind when writing from her perspective.

None of this is mandatory, it’s more a reference for my own fic than anyone else’s lol

Mel is a diplomat first. When writing from her perspective, moment-to-moment descriptions tend to focus on body language and tone rather than environment. She notices the implications behind dialogue and the emotions in a room before any kind of physical threat. When she does focus on her surroundings it’s because she’s alone or doing something with a specific intent - think insight vs perception in dnd.

She fidgets! A lot! When surprised or thinking she goes for her clan ring and later in s2 she clasps her hands in her lap. The hands in lap thing always feels very intentional, like she’s doing it specifically to avoid doing anything else.

Mel is a noncombatant character. Prior to her mage arc obviously, but even then it’s obvious fighting doesn’t come naturally to her. She’s not very strong and she’s never worn an outfit that’s practical for … anything really.

Politicking is one of her talents but being mysterious really isn’t. She’s like,, comically bad at not drawing attention to herself (see: s2 act 3, face covered but both thighs are OUT. I respect it but queen why are you doing this).

This is more of a note for any character from Piltover, but unless she’s been told otherwise Mel is going to refer to Zaun as the undercity. This isn’t even a classism thing, the nation of Zaun is a hypothetical dreamed up by revolutionaries - it’s niche even to the people who live there.

Mel has spent her life very ‘above it all’ in terms of consequences. She often forgets how tangibly invested people can be in the things they do. Additionally, she’s deeply moved when reminded of that investment or by displays of vulnerability. Look at her face when Jayce lays on her lap for the first time -> she goes from surprise, almost panic to a kind of bemused affection. It’s very quick but it’s obvious it’s not something she’s used to.

EVERYTHING GOES OUT THE WINDOW WHEN IT COMES TO AMBESSA. Mel IMMEDIATELY becomes both hypervigilant and deeply emotive in a way she isn’t around any other character. It doesn’t read as her losing control but around her mother everything very suddenly has Stakes. Piltover is a chess match where Mel has one eye on the door at all times wondering when Ambessa is going to come in and flip the table.

She has frequent nightmares. There isn’t enough evidence to 100% confirm it but I like to headcanon her as an insomniac, the purple makeup under eyes is a very … specific colour to not be hiding eyebags.

Her magic hurts, it’s also very physical. She has to haul it around like a heavy object & shudders & grips it when conjuring shields. Prior to the Noxus cinematic she blacks out/almost collapses every time she uses it for more than a couple seconds.

She tilts her head when frustrated.

When describing her from an outside perspective and word I tend to lean on is “soft”. She does a lot of stuff softly. Intentional; methodical, slow, watching and evaluating are all words that get thrown around a lot as well; she’s very specific in the way that she moves.

When caught off guard Mel tends to go very still. She makes a very slight movement back/inward and then just stops. Her eyes kind of dart around and after a few seconds of reevaluating she intentionally relaxes and speaks again.

Mel IS manipulative but it’s not malicious. She never gaslights anyone she’s just the type to see the optimal path through a conversation and has to make an active effort not to take it. That scene where she ignores Viktor? Really obvious debate tactic, she’s not giving the opposing argument time to breath. It’s a shitty move but it’s not because she looks down on Viktor as a person.

She’s an artist with a really strong eye for colour. When she notices things that’s probably the first descriptor I go for; then shape and some kind of comparison to a past experience. Her memory is insane, especially if it has a strong emotion tied to it.

When speaking, Mel’s very direct with what she wants. Everything is either conveying information or asking a question; it all has a purpose. She notices so much context I often find myself with entire paragraphs between short lines of dialogue:

Anyway yeah!! She’s my favourite character in arcane and probably one of my favourite characters to write ever. There’s so much left to say but this post is already really long lol

I hope it was helpful

[iwillmissourtalks]

few things more humbling than the realization that you really do write the same fic(s) over and over again

[iwillmissourtalks]

i do appreciate the way that we tumblr users have evolved our language to discuss our feelings related to The Character/The Guy. you used to have to just say he was hot or he was making your ovaries explode or he was a precious cinnamon roll even if he looked bad or was just kind of standing there or whatever. now you can say things like “the creature” or “he looks so sopping wet here” or “i want to chain him to my radiator” like it’s just more inclusive and adaptable to the situation

[iwillmissourtalks]

One of the things that I find so fascinating about Mel is that she is the definition of a progressive bourgeois.

She comes from the most powerful empire in the world, but it's economically backwards. It's feudal, and based on territorial conquest. And then she gets sent to Piltover, which has the vibes of an emerging capitalist city-state; it's got 19th-century steampunk aethetics, but there's also something of Renaissance Italy about it. When finance capitalists were insanely privileged, yes, involved in all sorts of sordid stuff, yes, but also they genuinely invested in the arts and sciences, were genuinely interested in arts and science. And that's what Mel is. She not only funded the Piltover Opera House, she's an accomplished artist herself. She's on the lookout for technological advancements, and she creates the conditions to push them forward. She wants to profit, and she wants to improve the world. She is at the leading edge of a new kind of society, and she's investing in it.

(And yes, meanwhile Zaun looks like a city that went through full capitalist development and then deindustrialized, and is basically a failed state. The different stages of economic development that coexist in Runterra and their relationships to one another do not make any sense. But anyways)

She's no revolutionary, but given the context that she's in, she represents a vast historical advancement, along with all the idealism that comes along with it. And I just love the aura that gives her. I love that spirit.

*[correction: another Piltover Medarda would have built the Opera House. I don't think it's a stretch to conclude that Mel continued to support it, though.]

[iwillmissourtalks]

Mel Medarda is so fucking funny. nicest woman alive stunned and delighted to find there are even kinder things to do than Not Kill People

[iwillmissourtalks]

was literally about to post "do we think elora was looking for mel after she got taken by the black rose" ..... girl she died. girl she is dead. girl a blossom rooted in her brain matter and exploded out of the soft flesh of her eye. she was torn to shreds by magic thorns. Um.

[iwillmissourtalks]

The problem is I always want to dm my mutuals some shit like "I consider you an ally to my cause"

[iwillmissourtalks]

hot damn i wish i could put together proper and supportive sentences to my mutuals who are struggling because the like button is really not cutting it here

[iwillmissourtalks]

my advice to anyone who’s thinking about writing as a hobby would be that if you’ve already started thinking about it there’s nothing i can say that will save you so let it rip dude

[iwillmissourtalks]

a comment a day keeps the insanity at bay

[iwillmissourtalks]

werewolf who is hunting. her senses are primed and her nose twitches as she stalks her next meal. she can feel the cold ground under her paws as she walks tall and scans her environment for signs that her dinner might be nearby. all she has to do is find an easy meal-

oh shit 80/20 ground beef for $4.03 a pound? fuck yeah thats coming home with her for sure. supermarket’s great. why the fuck does anyone ever do this in the woods?

[iwillmissourtalks]

My wishes

I hope we get some Kendrick vs Drake level beef with Swain and Mel vs Leblanc.

I also can’t wait for the bitter custody battle Leblanc and Swain will have over Mel. It’s funny when you take into account Mel does not fuck with Leblanc. It’s even funnier when you realize that Leblanc knows this, she just doesn’t care.