#She has mommy issues and so do i

[chimuelo2005-blog]

Mel Medarda Deserves More Love, and Here’s Why

So, I've talked about Jayce, Viktor AND I've talked about Mel's nature, but I'm gonna talk about her again because in this blog we love empowered women; especially if they are also part of a minority. I'll do this point by section cause I don't want to miss anything major.

Mel Medarda is currently one of the best characters in Arcane, and I will die on this hill. The way people reduce her to "the black girlfriend" is actually insulting because Mel is so much more than just Jayce’s love interest; and it's very easy to put her in that role when talking about Mel's relationship with Jayce and Viktor, but I refuse to let people think that way. She is brilliant, calculated, and deeply complex in a way that makes her one of the most compelling figures in the show.

Her Design Is Breathtaking

Let’s start with the obvious: Mel is gorgeous. she's mine back off. Arcane’s art direction was already next level, but Mel? Mel was crafted to look like a queen. The gold, the intricate patterns, the warm tones—it all screams power, but in a way that’s elegant and beautifully feminine rather than aggressive. She doesn’t need to be physically imposing because her presence alone commands attention. Every time she walks into a room, you know she’s the most important person there, and that’s before she even opens her mouth. Her entire aesthetic is soft but untouchable—she is always in control, even when she’s playing nice.

She’s Not Manipulative for Fun—She’s a Survivor

I've said this in a different post, but I'll say it again cause I'm tired of the slander of my girl.

People call her manipulative like it’s a bad thing, but let’s be real—Mel isn’t playing chess because she wants to. She’s playing because it’s the only way to survive. She was exiled from her own home for being too soft, too sentimental, for valuing strategy over brute force. The Mel we see in Piltover is someone who has adapted. She had to become the smartest person in the room because the moment she wasn’t, she was disposable. That’s not just ambition, that’s survival instinct.

And despite all of that, despite the walls she builds, despite how careful and measured she is—Mel still cares. And that’s what makes her so fascinating. She genuinely wants Piltover to thrive. She believes in progress, in shaping the world into something better. She’s not some cold-hearted puppet master pulling strings for the sake of power—she’s someone who knows how dangerous power can be when left unchecked and is doing everything she can to make sure it’s in the hands of someone who won’t waste it.

Her Relationship with Her Mother Is One of the Most Tragic Parts of the Show.

Mel and Ambessa’s dynamic is brutal. Ambessa is not just a powerful general; she’s the embodiment of everything Noxus stands for—strength, domination, victory at any cost. And Mel? Mel was too soft for that world. Not because she was weak, but because she valued strategy over brute force. She understood that power wasn’t just about conquest—it was about control, influence, the long game. And for that, Ambessa exiled her own daughter. Let that sink in. Mel wasn’t cast out by enemies —she was cast out by her own mother for not being Noxian enough.

And yet, when Ambessa walks back into her life, Mel finds herself back in that role of the disappointing daughter—trying to prove herself, trying to stand her ground, but also clearly still carrying that childhood wound of never being enough for the person who was supposed to protect her. You can see how much she resents her mother but also how much she still wants to prove herself, how much she loves her. That's her mommy after all. It’s heartbreaking. The fact that she had to fight her, kill her, hold her as she took her last breath just proved how much Mel wanted Ambessa to love her in a softer way.

Her Brother’s Death Was a Turning Point for Her

I'm very pissed at the writers for not giving us more about kino's death and relationship with his family.

We don’t get much about him, but what we do know is devastating. He was killed because he wasn’t strong enough, and Ambessa used his death as a lesson to Mel. Like, imagine the trauma of that. Imagine losing your sibling and instead of comfort, you get told this is why you have to be stronger. That kind of loss doesn’t just hurt—it defines you in some way. It’s why Mel is so careful, so precise. She doesn’t make reckless moves. She doesn’t show weakness. She can’t. Because she knows what happens when you do.

And Mel didn't just lose her brother, she lost the one person who could've understood her. The man who she shared a mother with. Someone who knew how she felt because he lived it too. Once Kino was gone Mel had no one who actually understood her in that sense.

Elora Is More Important to Her Than People Realize

Elora isn’t just Mel’s assistant—she’s probably the closest thing Mel has to a real ally. Elora sees everything Mel goes through, from the political games to the personal struggles, and she stays by her side anyway. That’s not just loyalty; that’s trust. And the thing is, Mel trust her back. You can see it in the way she spoke to Elora compared to how she speaks to everyone else—there’s a quiet understanding between them, an ease that Mel doesn’t have with anyone else in Piltover. Elora might not be in the spotlight, but she was so important to Mel’s story, because she’s proof that even in a world where everyone is playing their own game, Mel wasn't completely alone.

Her death ended up breaking Mel. Elora was Mel's, the same way Viktor was Jayce's. The main difference is that Elora worked for her, and like someone said in my reposts on another post, that has to fuck you up some way.

She’s More Than Just Jayce’s Love Interest.

I can say it louder, but not clearer. Yes, I ship JayVik, and yes, Mel and Jayce’s relationship was not meant to last from the start, but that doesn’t mean she was just a stepping stone. She wasn’t some shallow romantic obstacle—she's her own person with her own goals, and she shaped the world in ways that go far beyond her romance with Jayce. If anything, Jayce was a stepping stone for her, not the other way around. She didn’t fall for him because he was pretty and charming (even though he is pretty and charming); she saw potential in him. She saw a man who could change the world, and she made sure he did.

And that’s what makes her incredible. She’s not just a survivor—she’s a visionary, one who refused to let Noxus define her and carved out her own kind of power instead. She played Piltover’s game and won. And honestly? That makes her one of the strongest characters in Arcane.

Mel Medarda in season 2 is everything. If you don’t love her, I don't trust you.

[inkdoe]

The other day I was talking to my friend about how women in fandoms are often placed as the mom of the group even when it doesn't make sense and I said something like "Well shout out to the kotor fandom then cause if there's someone who is the group mom, it's Carth"

[winepresswrath]

Armand's simpering little "and I never have" has taken on new dimensions for me. Technicality king and also I think very in keeping with his whole malign fairy creature deal. You can tell him not to hurt the bae, but you should really specify what "hurt" entails. Is chopping someone's hands off really hurting them? If they have annoyed you very much I mean.

-questions Armand might pose to Lestat that inspire him to leave the country

[guidingthulite]

i finished yokai gakuen

[trappedinafantasy37]

It is now time to go down into the sewers and to face Orin. With this run being just Shadowheart and Minthara and no Durge, this definitely feels a lot more personal for Minthara.

The moment we passed the threshold into the Undercity, Minthara drops the alurlssrin confession. Of course, Shadowheart has no idea what that means. But Minthara is walking down into that temple terrified that she will not make it out alive and she wants to tell Shadowheart she loves her in the best way that she can

Did not exactly feel like doing this bullshit of a fight, so I engaged in a little pro-gamer move I like to call, "If they can't see me, they can't fight me." You'd be surprised how many problems you can get out of if you just avoid them entirely!

Behold, the Temple of Bhaal in all its dreadful glory!

Orin is quite excited to see Minthara again! Oh, how she missed her Minthara.

Turns out, Orin is not too happy that Minthara has a new girlfriend now and wants to get rid of the competition. What is it about evil lesbians that compels them to resort to violence to solve their problems?

I have learned quite a lot of things about Orin these past few days. Not only is Orin capable of turning invisible in the middle of a fight, but she can also resurrect the dead! Who knew? I sure as fuck didn't! What else is she hiding?

YES! SHE DID IT! BABYGURL KILLED ORIN ALL BY HERSELF!

Death is too good for Orin, she deserved worse. Minthara deserved the honor of doing worse.

Even though she personally dispatched of Orin, Minthara has a hard time believing that Orin is dead and that her nightmare is over. She is still quite terrified. Once, she had believed that killing Orin would make her feel better. But vengeance is not all its cracked up to be it would seem.

But, it's okay. Shadowheart is here to make it all better. Orin is dead and can never touch her again.

I almost exclusively play Durge and have always found the fight to be easier in a one-on-one duel. Sadly, Minthara is not granted a duel or the ability to confront Orin directly. Stocking up on some spell scrolls and with some carefully targeted attacks, I was able to make it so that Minthara was the one who fought Orin. And she won.

Like I said, Minthara being my only companion on this run definitely made the confrontation with Orin feel a lot more personal for her. She is sidelined and regarded as if her trauma is just an after thought and doesn't get the opportunity to confront her abuser. Perhaps Minthara's character development gets stunted because she isn't given the proper chance to work through her trauma like all the rest. It will forever infuriate me. But, that's what fanfiction is for and I will always give Minthara what she actually deserves in my little stories.

Next up, the Elder Brain and the end of the game.

< The Foundry and Gortash | Doomsday >

[darklight-owl]

Hey man. Can you watch her I need to go run some errands. Make sure she doesn’t get into trouble. Thanks.

[lost-in-beacon-hills]

I can't imagine being Mrs Everdeen. But I do wish to try.

Imagine standing to the side roped off from your children and being unable to do anything as your youngest is reaped. Knowing she won't make it because she's too tenderhearted and too young. You know as her name is called, that she will die. And yet you can't change it. You just gets to watch as your child is slowly marched forward to her death.

Imagine the hopelessness she feels. Having braved the few years of Katniss's first reapings alone, and now having to endure Prims reaping and all the while wishing she had her husband by her side to help her get through it. But she's done it for the past four years with Katniss, so surely this one won't be as bad? Only it's worse. Because it's Prims first reaping. The chances of it even happening are so slim. Katniss made sure of that. And yet, it is, in fact, her name being called.

And you wait in silence as your gut sinks and your eyes close, and you take a second to remember your daughter before she's gone. You regret giving birth because all it's done is lead to here. You regret it, and you feel so resentful. And some part of you thinks this isn't the way it should be. Not her. Not Prim. She doesn't have what it takes to claw and strangle her way to the top. She's dead before she's started.

Your gut lunches and your heart beats too fast. You feel sick. Until you hear your other daughter. The one who has been your family's rock. Who's your rock, is now stepping forward to take her sisters place. You release a breath and part of you unclenches. Because even if you would never speak it, even if you would never want to think it, even as you think it and feel disgusted with yourself, you know that you would rather Katniss go in.

She could do it. She's done so much. For years she's taken care of a family. Kept them fed by skill alone. She's your daughter. You should tremble at the thought of her going in, and you do. But not as much as knowing it could have been Prim.

And all you can do is sit back, watch it happen feeling more than grateful. Knowing this child has saved you in more ways than you can count and how often you've failed her. Despite failing her again and again every day she still continues to provide and protect. She still takes the role of mother when you haven't.

As your sixteen year old daughter marches forward, you get to feel safe one last time, grateful to have this decision made for you.

[palameiad]

i am a firm believer in that akasha is marius' mother figure and their relationship is intentionally meant to parallel him and his human mother

[answer2jeff]

something i noticed in season 2 of The Bear:

Carmen rarely calls Natalie "Sugar" in season 2. We can see that Carmen's emotional distance from Natalie seems to decrease once she becomes project manager, flipping his entire life over once again; fulfilling just a sliver of his dream of turning 'mom and dads piece of shit,' into what it is now.

The nickname "Sugar" was given to Natalie from her mother in attempt to belittle her for a minor mistake she made in her childhood: one of the many ways Donna victimized her children.

Carmen often referred to Natalie as "Sugar" during season 1 whenever he needed a favor or was beyond frustrated with his sister. Although it's a very small change, shortening it to "Sug," and then even replacing it with "Nat," was an amazingly subtle way of the writers showing their sibling bond repair itself.

[monstersinthecosmos]

As a fellow Marius lover, I always find it kind of disheartening how most of the content/fandom talk about him (meta, fic, fanart, etc.) revolves around m/m ships (Marius/Armand in particular but I’d even go as far to include Marius/Daniel here) when, in my opinion, Marius is like the one male character in the VC universe whose relationships with women are far more interesting than his relationships with other men (the only other character might be Lestat but even then it’s pretty 50/50). They’re so monumental and so full of complexities and pain and so much love and they define him and inform his character in ways that I think, his relationships with men simply do not. Interesting/hot under the right circumstances? Sure but like ARE YOU GUYS SEEING THIS MAN??? AND HOW HE RELATES TO WOMEN??? It’s one of the best things Anne ever wrote and I can never get enough of it and it makes me sad how little content there is of it and I feel I can never say this out loud because I would never want to make people feel bad about what they ship (truly not my intention here) but ugh SO MUCH potential there for life changing discourse and meta about Marius and the women he’s loved and lost and have shaped who he is and there’s like… nothing.

Tl;dr the reason I’m sending this ask is because I’m a firm believer that you must be the change you want to see in this world and because YOU get it! And every time you post or write about Marius/Pandora (or Marius/Akasha! Or talk about Marius/Bianca) an angel gets its (black) wings. You are seen, you are loved and appreciated tysm <3

OKAY FIRST OF ALL THIS WAS SUCH A DELIGHT TO GET IN MY INBOX, SECOND IM GOING TO BE COMPLETELY HONEST AND ADMIT I FEEL TOO INCOHERENT TO TACKLE THIS TOPIC HAHA. I don’t feel articulate enough to do it justice. And I don’t say that to be obnoxious and self deprecating but like in all honesty idk how to synthesize it neatly but I think you’re sharing some GREAT IDEAS. 

I have to say this in bullet points because I don’t feel equipped to string this into a cohesive post:

Marius was based on Anne’s husband, and Marius/Pandora was based on their marriage!!!!! And I think it explains a lot about why their relationship feels so fuckin POTENT to me, like it’s so genuine!!!!!!! And like knowing that I think it makes sense why she wrote him so HOT lol. Like she’s just writing thirsty stuff about her husband right? LOL

Also like insofar as there’s a lot of genderfluidity in VC there’s also something vaguely misogynist about it at times. And Anne Rice was a mega feminist and her work had so much womens lib in it!!!!! So I don’t think it’s intended as misogyny at all vs. Anne having conversations about gender and maybe her own relationship to gender. I think enough characters have said vaguely misogynist stuff that it makes me think it’s an Anne Problem vs being Watsonian. (This is also a historical/time period issue and we can discuss another time if and when vampires are supposed to break out of that when they transcend humanity and social constructs even when they’re still saying weird sexist shit at their big ages.) But I say that to say all VC characters are a tad sexist, even if perhaps she was writing with the intention of her own male power fantasy/male superiority/penis envy. AND THAT MAKES MARIUS VERY INTERESTING. 

Cause like really the three main ladies in his life (Akasha, Pandora, Bianca) DO define him so much! And we don’t see him pine for Armand the way he did for any of them! Why!!!

Like there’s that aspect of sexism where women can be infantilized by men who don’t think they’re being unkind and it makes me wonder, especially when the author is a boomer, like where is that line between condescension and respect? I don’t have an answer here, this is too big-brained for me LOL but like he is SO devoted to the women in his life and I just wonder like if he sees them as creatures unlike himself, you know? 

This is headcanon territory but I bet he’s such a fucking sub to Pandora lol and it just thrills me that he spent 2000 years begging Akasha for affection and she ignored him the whole damn time wow. And he continued to simp!

AND ALSO LIKE, I think people DO NOT DISCUSS THIS OFTEN ENOUGH, but did we forget that he chose Armand because he needed a Bianca rebound? He was absolutely TORTURED by his love for Bianca and picked Armand because he didn’t want to kill her oh my god. Oh my god!!! HE KEPT HER LETTER IN HIS POCKET OVER HIS HEART OKAY??? HE DIDN’T WANT TO DRAG HER INTO HIS COLD AND FATAL DOMAIN????? Fuck lol

It’s so fucked up that he didn’t go after Armand but spent like actual fucking millennia trying to find Pandora. HE KNEW EXACTLY WHERE ARMAND WAS AND LEFT HIM THERE LOL BUT PANDORA HAUNTED HIM EVERY NIGHT OF HIS LIFE FOR CENTURIES.

After everything he wound up spending like 200 years with Bianca or something and ?????? CORRECT because Bianca was the fledgling he actually wanted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But it’s odd, I know I’ve said this 337589235 times, but Marius like. Has an idea of the person he wants to be and he tries SO HARD to live by logic & reason and he just can’t reconcile with the fact that he has EMOTIONS. And so like part of the person he wants to be like, open/empathetic/wise and he begs his lovers/students/fledglings to CHALLENGE HIM when he’s not actually healed enough to be challenged? And to me there’s something kinda like, extra spicy about it when you’re in Rice World and you’re a lil sexist; how much that burns EXTRA when it’s Pandora or Bianca sticking up to you or AKASHA FUCKIN IGNORING YOU. 

Just really incredible that this person who is like the epitome of a patriarch has such fucked up relationships with all the women in his life. And like he underestimates these women, like the way he tries to manipulate Bianca and she leaves him! PANDORA AND AKASHA ARE UNAVAILABLE TO HIM AND BIANCA FUCKIN LEAVES.

akasSHA JUST IGNROING HIM!! JUST STRAIGHT UP FUCKIN IGNORING HIM FOR 2,000 YEARS!!!! HE'S OBSESSED WITH HER!

Anyway Enkil is ignoring him too but he doesn’t give a shit about that guy tbh lol 

Also the amount of space he gives Eudoxia and Zenobia in his book like there’s more here too but tbh it’s midnight and I can’t start unpacking. I just think like, in 2000 years it’s interesting how Eudoxia wound up having such a lasting impact on his life. 

I did just peek at the Eudoxia part and I’m dying, he goes “Her face was small, oval, and as close to perfection as anything I've ever beheld, even though she bore no resemblance to Pandora who was for me perfection itself.” CERTIFIED WIFE GUY.

What kinda mommy issues are we dealing with here? HIS MOTHER WAS A SLAVE THAT DIED IN CHILDBIRTH AND HE INHERITED HER GENES AND LOOKED LIKE HER AND DIDN’T LOOK LIKE HIS FATHER & BROTHERS? AND HE’S SORT OF AN OUTCAST AS A HUMAN LIKE ? THE STIGMA HERE? AND THEN HE SPENDS 2000 YEARS WORSHIPPING HIS NEW MOTHER??? PERHAPS YOU COULD SAY ENSLAVED TO HER? IDK MAN. 

IS THIS ALSO WHY HE WAS SO OBSESSED WITH LOSING PANDORA?

The irony too, and something I think a lot of people miss, is that he DIDN’T WANT TO MARRY PANDORA LOL. He wanted to be betrothed to a child so that he could FUCK OFF and NOT get married because she wasn’t old enough to get married! He fucked off! He went exploring! He said this is not for me! 

AND TO GO OUT INTO THE WORLD AND BE MURDERED BY HIS MOTHERS PEOPLE???? IDK. 

I’m not sure how these last two points tie into anything but I just wanted to mention his complicated relationship with Pandora and his own heritage lol. And then Akasha like DELIVERS Pandora to him because she’s like “wow this guy needs somebody lol and I am not emotionally available” — Akasha who was famously a violent genocidal radfem and who would not approve of his relationship with Armand but explicitly allowed him to have Pandora and Bianca. IDK WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN! 

Did Akasha approve of these women because she knew Marius was completely pussywhipped and would worship them and she wanted to see someone mommydom the fuck out of him and she knew that Armand would never be that person? 🫢

And again I want to say like, taking the author into consideration!! Anne Rice had a HORRIFIC relationship with her mom so you see these themes pop up occasionally in her work. DESPITE ALL OF THAT SHE IS STILL A FEMINIST AND WRITES ABOUT MATRILINEAR FAMILIES like The Great Family or the Mayfairs. But thinking about Mothers in Anne Rice Works makes me think a lot about this like, the damage they can do and the voids they can leave even when you’re a feminist and love women! You see a TON of this with Gabrielle and I always think that Lestat & Marius are such similar characters that you can do a lot of extrapolating or backwards engineering to ask questions about them and how they work, since we get SO MUCH Lestat POV in this series to work with and how we can zoom out sometimes and ask like, what is common across her entire body of work and what is more specifically common between Lestat & Marius and WHAT EVEN MORE INTERESTINGLY is a result that they were both based on her husband in their inceptions. 

Like how much of this has to do with Marius’s actual feelings towards men vs women on purpose, or how much was subconscious author bias, how much was simply that Anne Rice based him on her husband and she was THIRSTY, idk. It’s always hard to say in VC because Anne was such an intuitive and self-indulgent author and the stories are so weird!!! So your mileage may vary!

But I agree with you that these are FASCINATING relationships!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I like Marius/Armand too (I recently made a post about how I didn’t “””””ship”””” them but then I spent 2 months working on a M/A fic every day and now I think I’ve corrupted and converted myself LMAO) but yeah like. There’s such a lack of substance between them in the end. He treats Armand like he’s temporary, fucks up and moves on, and it’s such a departure from how DEVOTED he was with all his other partners. 

Wow I didn’t think I had a lot to say, sorry about that. !!! EVERY TIME I BROUGHT A POINT UP I THOUGHT OF 5 MORE POINTS GOSH I COULD TALK ABOUT MARIUS ALL DAY.

[ronnierosest]

[rising-phnx]

there are benefits to being a teacher's pet

[designernishiki]

I feel like I liked yakuza 5 a lot more than most people for some reason

[bumblingbabooshka]

Something real to me immediately post-Voyager is that both Tuvok and Janeway are looking around at their crew like “God...these poor folks are not dealing with this transition well...” in an earnest but also slightly condescending way (as they are prone towards thinking of themselves as examples to be followed and somewhat superior to others, even if that isn’t the language they’d use/how they’d understand themselves) but in reality they are also dealing with it extremely and visibly poorly and are thus unable to help literally anyone and everyone who sees them is like “You guys don’t seem to be doing well” but this flies over their heads or they think to themselves, shaking their heads sadly, ‘this poor bastard...trying to say that I need help when they’re obviously the ones suffering...thank God I don’t have any problems.’

[grapecaseschoices]

I wanted to do some of my fat babies with this new meiker.

From top left to bottom right: Carmela Brown [FHR], Nicola Abbott [KOTSAM], Lala Sandoval [Infamous], and Lucienna Donegan.

tagging: @quaxorascal and @quinnorion and @sustainably-du-mortain and @narrativefoiltrope and whoever wants to! just tag me so i can see please!

[this is also a good one: ive done carmela and nicola on it before]

[mdemn]

i think i’m going to make the next word web for francesca for the target audience of me & tumblr user @swiftcola . the chronic women of mafia enjoyers