#I will defend that forever

[artz16]

Ya know, I’ve been using the

a lot for dr characters

The top characters under it:

Sayaka

Taka

Hiro

Leon

…..I will go into detail

Sayaka: It’s always “she’s a snake” “she wanted to frame Makoto” “she tried to kill Leon” “she’s so selfish” As if no one would do it too! The motive was loved ones, hers was her music group, and seeing that she has no body else, they’re all she has. Not to mention, she’s probably given up so much to be an idol to the point she’s sacrificed her independence and her ability to be her own person (I swear, no one really pays attention to her character or backstory). She was a scared teen idol who had so much to lose and she had the most realistic motive to kill, but no, let’s crap on her. Yes, it was harsh, but hey, loved ones in danger! I’d kill and lie to save my loved ones. And I know there are people who’ll put Celeste over her….Celeste lied too, but it was about…THAT(something Sayaka probably went through during her time as an idol) to live in a gothic mansion with vampire butlers. Nothing else. But yeah, the girl who wanted to save the people she loves is the evil snake who loves no one. Didn’t know about the trials

Taka:…..Shall I start with how he was screwed over by his grandpa or Celeste? Junko’s on the board too

Leon: The other person who didn’t know about the trials when oof-ing someone happened. Part of me also wonders if he was worried about not being believed because no one would listen to him about his cousin being creepy

Hiro:….Should I start with how he grew afraid of fire or how the fandom treats him and his contribution?

[rebelsafoot]

i have been waiting for the gravity falls comeback for YEARS they are the siblings ever

[jojo-schmo]

In this house, we cherish Helpy. We thank him for his hard work and pat his head and give him all the candy that he wants because is a good and lovable little cub!!

[deliciousnecks]

Do you even know what loyalty is, Guillermo?

[infinitelystrangemachinex]

Jayce and the fallacy of the butterfly effect in Arcane's narrative

If Jayce's symbol is the butterfly, then my theory is that we're going into a full "butterfly effect" narrative in Act 2. Either we'll watch it happen, or we'll only see Jayce come out the other side of it changed by the experience, knowing - or more importantly, THINKING he knows - what to do to change the future. Literally, to "defend tomorrow."

tl;dr: Jayce will encounter the butterfly effect in season 2. Viktor and Mel both foreshadowed this in season 1. I think Jayce will fixate on Viktor and will believe that stopping or changing Viktor either in the past or the present - most likely the present - will mean he can save the future. I believe this will lead to an even worse tragedy and may have the same effect as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Ekko's approach to changing the future by sticking closer to the present - considering only tiny increments of time to alter more immediate future outcomes - will be the superior approach. I also think that Jayce attempting to change the future will create the conditions that push Viktor to become the Machine Herald.

One of the most common reactions even the casual viewer had to Arcane season 1 was this: "If [character] had just done this one small thing a little differently, [tragic event] wouldn't have happened!"

Arcane has been called a Greek tragedy for the main reason that because of how well built up the characters' personalities and reasonings are, there's no other way season 1 could have gone. There was no stopping the multiple tragedies that occurred, because with one event leading to another, the chain of seemingly inevitable events goes too far back to identify what one singular event caused everything, what one character made what one decision to put our characters on the terrible paths they walked.

Arcane is about to investigate this idea in its own narrative, and I think that Jayce will be the character to stumble into the flawed idea that you can change one event, or stop one character, and change the future for the better. This is because Jayce struggles with a few very interesting character flaws, one of them being that he believes himself to be the main character, and it is therefore his responsibility to intervene, be a hero, and fix things.

Viktor and Mel both foreshadow Jayce's future encounter with the butterfly effect.

Recall that Viktor said: "There is always a choice."

Jayce sees choices in black and white, believes that he has no other options but to go along with what he's persuaded and pushed into, and acts too boldly with too much power multiple times.

Recall that Mel said: "We can't change what fate has in store for us, but we don't have to face it alone."

Jayce tries to solve big problems on his own, and though he delegates to Enforcers and the like, Jayce relies on his reasoning and his alone to make important decisions if he doesn't simply become persuaded - usually through strong emotions like fear - by other characters. In addition, since Mel is specifically talking about Viktor's plight here, it's worth mentioning that while Jayce did say that he would help Viktor in acts 2 and 3 of season 1, Jayce does wind up leaving Viktor to face his fate alone. When Jayce tries to change that fate in s2 ep1, ep2 shows that only tragedy can come of this as well.

Viktor and Mel's statements here are not contradictory. Viktor makes the point that you can always make a choice. In context, he's literally referring to the classic "secret third option," because given a choice between aggression and passivity, war and surrender, Viktor chooses to defuse the bomb instead. Mel, interestingly, seems to believe that destiny is fixed in a broad sense, and she operates as a politician and diplomat and investor who navigates that line of destiny in the most optimal way possible. In reality, in context, she is referring to the fact that Viktor can't change the way he was born and so he has no way to change his fate and therefore must face it, which is true - she's only missing the information that Viktor actually does have the means to change his illness and his body. Her wisdom still applies however, because he'll have to accept the hand that fate deals him after he makes that choice. Will he face it alone, or not?

There is always a choice, there's even secret third options, because having a fate doesn't mean that you are doomed to make only one possible series of choices. What it does mean is that each choice comes with a hand that fate deals you. It is impossible to know what all of these branching choices and consequences are in advance, and it is just as impossible in hindsight - the branches are too complex and the end outcomes are all equally meaningful, just different. If Arcane season 2 is to be a tragedy, it may show us that each possible outcome is still tragic if you fall for the fallacy of the butterfly effect.

Jayce is counseled by some of the wisest, cleverest characters with the deepest life experiences in Arcane, but he hardly ever takes that counsel to heart. If he does, he still acts on that counsel in flawed ways that have unintended consequences. This will come to a head in season 2.

Viktor and Jayce both have a butterfly following them around in season 1. The butterfly effect refers to one small seemingly insignificant event changing the course of history, and changing that event therefore changes history. Viktor bled over the railing of a Hexgate in season 1:

And Heimerdinger sees what we can only assume is Viktor's blood contaminating (?) the Hexgate in s2 ep3:

This might be the seemingly unimportant "inciting incident" that Jayce (and Heimerdinger and Ekko) settle on as something that should be avoided or erased by changing the past (if they time-travel with Ekko, for example).

I doubt that, if this is what this crew chooses to fixate on, it will be the only event that is considered as something to change. But let's take this and run with it for the sake of discussion.

As silly as it sounds, how do you stop Viktor from allowing his blood to come into contact with the arcane? Stop Viktor's involvement with the Academy entirely? Don't invent Hextech at all? But what if someone else invents Hextech besides Jayce? What if future tragedy befalls Piltover because it didn't invent Hextech?

The possibilities and what-ifs could branch on forever. But because Jayce is who he is, and because his tragedy with Viktor is still raw and recent and frightening, I think Jayce's butterfly effect experience will have to do with Viktor.

My personal prediction is that the timeskip between s2 ep3 and ep4 will be Jayce experiencing a timeline where Viktor, taken over by the Hexcore, brings about an apocalyptic event similar to what Heimerdinger experienced in his past. Either Jayce and co. can't go into the past to change the present, or Heimerdinger and/or Ekko advise strongly against it to avoid a paradox. This will lead to them re-entering the canon Arcane timeline before this apocalypse, but still after the timeskip. Jayce, believing that destroying Viktor and his cult will save the future, and believing that resurrecting Viktor was Jayce's mistake to fix, attacks him. But the consequences don't unfold the way he hopes, because trying to change fate once the cards have already been dealt has led to tragedy before.

The butterfly is a symbol of something other than just the butterfly effect - change, evolution, and rebirth. If the butterfly symbolizes the butterfly effect for Jayce, then I think it has a different meaning for Viktor - the change and rebirth meaning.

I've always found it very interesting that we see a similar-looking butterfly on Progress Day... but made of metal.

Every time Viktor's situation changes, he adapts and evolves. If Jayce attacks him, if his cult is destroyed, if the Hexcore is causing Viktor to decay, if all of these things happen at once - he'll just evolve again, and I think the Machine Herald is the next step. And the Machine Herald will be a triumph for Viktor, but Jayce will believe that he's created something even worse. The resulting feud will be a personal nightmare for both of them.

I think this still allows Viktor to use his own agency to choose to become the Machine Herald (the MH will probably be the "secret third option" that saves Viktor, or there will be a secret third option that ends the feud) while still allowing Jayce to be offended and horrified at whatever the Machine Herald represents or is trying to do in the undercity. Introducing the element of time travel allows Arcane to explore the meta concept of tragedy and fate that season 1 was built on while showing that you can't "solve" a tragedy, because there are other terrible possibilities lurking behind alternate choices. Especially if what you're trying to change is singular people or events and not systems of power.

This is why Ekko's approach with his Z-drive will be superior to Jayce's sweeping attempt at changing the future. Ekko's goal has always been societal change. He creates his own punk society in the undercity, more progressive and successful than anything Vander or Silco ever created, and a better bastion of safety, hope, and progress than what Heimerdinger founded in Piltover. Trying to change systems by going back in time is most likely futile. But taking what Ekko has already built in the Firelights, curing his tree, and fighting for the Firelights' survival bit by bit by optimizing the present with the Z-drive shows that:

It's more worth it to focus on becoming wise (Ekko's mask is an owl) and making choices you won't regret

It's best if you don't face your fate alone (act as a collective and take care of each other)

Consider every option, not just the obvious black and white choices

Maintain and fix what you've already built instead of abandoning it once things get difficult

Adapt as needed if the choices you made lead to dark consequences, and once again, stick together and take care of each other when the bad times do come

That's my Act 2 but, ultimately, my season 2 prediction based on the butterfly symbolism we've already seen. Ekko's involvement is what will give the series the at least partial happy ending that the creators have referred to. I personally don't think that the Viktor/Jayce feud will end quite so well, but maybe, they will still survive.

[amazing-jason-grace]

“A good Roman wouldn’t keep talking.

Jason kept talking.”

started rereading some blood of olympus today and forgot about all the stuff jason mentions in his chapters. like genuinely this is so heartbreaking to me. boy tried everything to evade the destiny that being a son of jupiter set out for him. he keeps bringing up the roman standard of excellence throughout the story, and i feel like this small moment just sums up his character development. he learns that he doesn’t have to just abide by the rules of the romans and camp jupiter— he can think and act for himself. he can keep talking. he knows it’s stupid to keep speaking to zeus in that moment but he doesn’t care because he needs to get out what he wants to say.

jason grace the hate for you is criminal

[kathrahender]

"Why do you ship them???? Why "X male character" and "X male character" can't be just friends????"

And one of characters in question is looking at the other as if they were angels or a beautiful mytical creature.

[royalarchivist]

Bad: Guys, are you gonna come?

Phil: I'm confident in your abilities to stay alive, but not in the plan, so I'm sorry.

Etoiles: Bro, in terms of PVP, we are really like– Janet can fight, Aypierre can fight, Pac can fight, Badboy can fight, Kameto is really cool–

Pac, Etoiles, and Badboyhalo have all been eliminated. Their only crime was trusting their friends, but at least they were together in the end. 🥲

[allpiesforourown]

[runraerun]

[trek-tracks]

Do you ever think about how Kirk had a "best friend" on the ship before Bones in Gary Mitchell, a man who:

a) deviously manipulates him into heartbreak for Mitchell's benefit,

b) shames him for not being "fun" enough when he's in a position of power,

c) openly insults intelligent and powerful women,

d) treats everyone cruelly as soon as he gets power and tries to seize everything for himself,

e) finds it fascinating that he can stop a person's heart for fun, and

f) tries to murder Kirk instead of admitting that he's a danger to the universe,

and then chooses to replace him with Bones, a man who:

a) tries to save Kirk from heartbreak at every opportunity,

b) gets him to smile and relax by being genuinely interested in how he's doing and telling him that he's great and respected just as he is,

c) openly toasts intelligent and powerful women,

d) treats everyone kindly as soon as he gets power and tries to use it to help as many people as he can,

e) cries about how people suffered when medical treatments were less advanced, and

f) says, "Jim, I can't destroy life, even if it's to save my own. I can't."

because I do

[thinwhitedoc]

SHERLOCK | Martin Freeman as John Watson

[fyeahygocardart]

Yubel - The Loving Defender Forever

[rainesol]

I was memeing about it earlier but there’s no actual way Trey gives a fuck if your teeth aren’t perfect.

Deuce has a missing tooth from fighting? “The others look great, so let’s just focus on them!” Cigarette stains? “No worries, quick cleaning at the dentist will have you right as rain,”

Cater has a stain or two when the depression/adhd gets him? “Hey, I get it. Let’s set some reminders on your phone. I’ll do it with you if you want,” His canines are a little crooked? “Hey, you think they’re charming and so do I. They’re not hindering anything, and even if they were whatever you do is your choice and nobody else’s,”

Riddle gets a cavity from the unbirthday parties? “Hey, c’mon now. Could happen to literally anyone. Look, you weren’t even allowed sugar until like, last year, so nobody’s gonna hold it against ya. What? No I don’t think any less of you! Come on, let me see— Oh, it’s tiny! You can get that sorted in less than a half hour. I’ll come with to the appointment if you’d like,”

[apostate00]

The ending you wanted

[osinthewhite]

I am not a Rose apologist - that would imply she did something worth apologizing for and my queen never did anything wrong