#and enforcers of like the status quo lol

[liquidstar]

maybe im overthinking, but do you ever think abt how in episode 1, utena justifies wearing the boys uniform by saying its not against the rules? while this was clearly a "gotcha" moment against that stuffy teacher, i feel like it also shows how shes still functioning within the parameters of the ohtori system. like, yeah, shes being rebellious, but its a form of rebellion that isnt actually revolutionary- shes still following the rules propagating the structure built around the patriarchal prince, shes just doing it in the "opposite" way of whats expected, but shes not actually fighting it. though, of course, even this much deviance still tries to get corrected... its still not against the rules. i feel like from the beginning we're told aspiring to princedom isn't a noble goal, and that utena is still part of the system as long as she pursues it

[snekdood]

Ill probably never know if i have native american in me and even if i did find out i probably wouldnt be welcome but even if its not true thats not going to stop me from respecting the land and the native people who have come before me and to try to make them proud in the best way i can. I want them to know that someone cares, idk.

[sandraharissa]

The thing they did with Silco about forgiveness and letting go was so stupid. And unfortunately Vander’s letter is a part of that. Like I wanna like it for zaundads reasons but I just can’t, it’s all so hollow.

Cos like, s1a1 Silco already forgave Vander in his own way, right? Otherwise he wouldn’t approach him and be invested in Vander joining him, right? “as time passed so did my hate” anyone?

Same with Jinx. These were never characters who were portrayed as ppl who simply needed to learn to forgive. They actually forgive very easily and freely in s1. When reuniting with Vi, Jinx is immediately happy to see her, before Vi ever has the chance to explain anything. It didn’t matter, maybe Vi did abandon her but what matters is that she’s back now. Vander did try to drown him but maybe they can fix things. This is how much they wanna make amends with their family. And it’s not just them. Vander seemingly immediately forgave Silco for killing Benzo, like he’s not mad at him at all for that in ep 3.

Like yes, Silco would never forgive Piltover and Vander and Vi were kinda framed as the ‘topside’ in the relationships but that metaphor never quite worked all the way through cos they’re not topside, they’re zaunites too. They’re family and so they get second chances easily. (That’s why I thought it was a good idea to elevate Cait as maybe even more of a rival to Jinx than Vi was, getting a Jinx vs Vi+Cait conflict, where Vi and Cait together represent Piltover, the ‘dictator’ + the peacekeeper/status quo enforcer that’s kinda in the middle)

Man, I miss how in s1 we had real conflicts (e.g. ideological) and not just misunderstandings that could be easily fixed with a poorly written letter. And so the only reason the plot happened is miscommunication ig. Like, just read the god damned letter Silco lol.

[eriochromatic]

I have a question

What is Silco to Vi ? Only a care taker or even a father figure like in canon with Jinx *gasp* will she call him someday dad too ? 😱

(I'm assuming this is about my AU otherwise it would make no sense LMFAO)

yeah I would say he's definitely a father figure to Vi, but obviously their relationship is vastly different from Silco and Powder/Jinx in canon… Silco still sees himself in Vi but in the "hotblooded revolutionary ready to throw hands at topside" way rather than "I got betrayed by someone who was supposed to protect me" for Powder,,

I think in canon Silco was definitely projecting all his trauma w/ Vander onto Powder's relationship with Vi (I don't blame Silco though bc parents just want to help their children in any way they can, Silco thought by forging a new identity he was able to "get past that" so that's what he taught Powder) but if Silco is dealing with Vi instead, I don't think he'd do that since it's not relevant. Since Vi's older, it's not gonna be as easy to influence her compared to Powder who was like 10 or something.

We never get to see exactly what Silco tells Jinx about Vander (beyond that short conversation in the river where it seems he's still pretty bitter and Jinx is totally over him reiterating the same thing over and over again lol). Vi has a lot more memories with Vander compared to Powder (she would probably be Vander defender #1), so I feel like during those talks rather than Silco focusing on how Vander betrayed him specifically, he would focus on the fact that Vander in a certain way betrayed all of Zaun by making that deal w/ the enforcers. Vi was already sort of feeling that in s1e2 when Vander refused to fight the enforcers, Silco would definitely play into that frustration bc I mean, he still felt the same way. I think after the first few arguments about Vander both Silco and Vi would be on the same page of basically Vander being a good man but a stagnant leader who was too comfortable w/ the status quo (which is basically my point of view as well HAHAHA)

As for specifically calling him dad idk though HAHA I guess that's just not rlly a word I think the characters would use in the sense that like. Vi, Jinx (also Mylo) calls Vander "their father" but doesn't use the term "Dad" for him directly, they just call him Vander. I think it would be the same here where if you ask Vi who Silco is to her she'd probably say something like "he's like my father" (I don't think she'd directly say "he's my dad" since it would be too painful and she probably has emotional baggage abt erasing Vander and Connol's memories or smth idk) but the sentiment is still there. Same thing w/ Silco tbh like he'd obviously see Vi as his daughter but he would never say it out loud (unless he was pushed to the brink like the canon situation where he calls Jinx his daughter LMFAO hopefully that never happens to him). I think they would both outwardly downplay how much they actually care for each other

[heavenlymorals]

Do you have any tips for how to write Arthur Morgan’s personality in general? I’m trying to write a fic but I feel like no matter what I do it somehow just makes him feel out of character haha. It’s probably since I’m writing one with a reader/oc character x Arthur. Like I don’t want to remove Mary from the story because she shaped so much of his character’s pain (since in my opinion I assume that Arthur probably got Eliza with child from a one night stand trying to bounce back after Mary had told him that she was engaged to some other man). But I also don’t know how to really write Arthur as he’s completely over Mary and how he is instead with someone he considers the love of his life, cheesy I know but I had too haha. I’m also trying to somewhat do a slow burn and trying to instead have Arthur seemingly brood over his love for the reader rather than how he did with Mary in the game.

I don’t know if this makes sense and feel free to ignore it LOL

Ahah here goes nothing- my consensus on a general understanding of Arthur Morgan-

I think the biggest thing that people should focus on when writing Arthur is his personality differences between men and women. There is a pretty clear divide between how behaves with men compared to how he behaves with women. It can change slightly between how close he is with the people, but it's pretty much the same.

With women, Arthur is very respectful and chivalrous. He even gets mad at other men if they don't behave accordingly. He is more interested in them as well in the sense that he'll listen to their dreams and hobbies and either add to the conversation or encourage them in some way that seems more meaningful, even if it can be at times superficial, just a way to be polite. However, he is no push over. You know that meme that's like "Me and my girl don't argue, she tells me to shut the fuck up and I do"? Yeah, that is NOT Arthur. He can raise his voice, call them out, etc etc. when he feels disrespected in some way or if the person is doing something stupid. We see this with Mary, Sadie, and Abigail. He is also more likely to talk about his emotions with women, but not really BE emotional. Idk if that makes sense, but I don't know how else to say it.

However, Arthur is more inclined to be disrespectful to women who don't fit into his view of life and the status quo of the time (ie. Prostitutes, masculine women, etc.)

Honestly, just think of that when writing him with your oc (I'm going to assume they're a woman 😭). Is Mary a big part of Arthur's character? Yes and no. He can obviously make time for her, but she isn't controlling his every action and thought process. His main focus is the collective of the gang and once the gang is safe, that's when he'll actively start looking for love because that's when he'll have the time and energy for it.

Now with men, Arthur is much more rough. He is very much a suck it up kinda guy with other dudes. There is clearly a hierarchy in the game and he enforces it, especially with the men underneath him. He forces them to work, doesn't take their excuses really, will call them out, will be mean, and will even make threats (ie. Sean). He likes men who are hard workers and are always on the go (Lenny) and is more likely to be jovial, open, and willing to talk. He also will take NO shit from other men and that will either leave the other man read to filth or a black eye. Arthur also does not disclose feelings of fear or inadequacy to other men, but he will show more active emotions like joy or anger.

Honestly, whenever I feel like writing Arthur, I just think of the average older American outdoorsman and it helps me out pretty well. Chivalrous and respectful with expectations and a no bullshit attitude.

Hope this helps and happy writing 🫶🏼

[kimquatz]

hiii! 1, 4, 7, 12, 17, and 20 for jishen!

Send me an OC name and a number to ask!

#12 has already been answered here!

What was the original thought that led to the creation of this character?

Jishen is actually supposed to be a VERY minor side character for my friend @ozmodai's hvswp-centric fantroll story! The story follows along the events of the unfolding Resistance movement on Alternia and exploring the idea that tealbloods do more than just legislative work but also general law enforcement and criminal justice. The main character, Rorzak, is a detective that comes to realize that trying to make a change from the inside to a corrupt justice system on a dystopian planet is much harder than it seems... I was really into the idea of a burgundy blood that communed with the dead that would help the teals with unresolved cases, and THUS... Jishen was born! heheh.

4. And reverse, which one of the four things did you struggle with the most?

I think what I struggled with the most is his motivation as a character or what he'd do "next." Since he was intended to simply be an "NPC," he was only supposed to serve a singular purpose and then eventually die off into obscurity LOL. But my friends liked him too much, so they wrangled him back into life and relevance ASKLJDA. Which, in a way, is almost appropriate for him how death seems to always follow him, but by mere miraculous chance he manages to still live.

7. What is an aspect of their appearance that you like the most?

I'm obsessed with his little ponytail, his stupid stubble, and his too many moles... it is moe......

17. Are there any motifs or symbols associated with the character? How are they represented, in their design, personality or in some other way?

Jishen is heavily associated with death, goats, and the Devil tarot card -- not in like a gothic or satanic way tho LOL, but in the way it represents temptation and self control. This is apparent in his goat horns and his lusus is also a four-eyed goat! His last name is also supposed to mean "black goat" in Chinese. He is also associated with the number 4, as it represents death/bad luck in most Sinic cultures but also to reference the fangxiangshi he was (very) loosely based on; Chinese exorcists who could "see in all four directions to dispel evil spirits." His glasses allude to this as a dumb "four eyes" joke LMAO.

20. Bonus question: share any additional thoughts, art, favourite scenes, anything you've been waiting for a chance to ramble about

OH MAN... What I really like about Jishen's character is his internal moral quandary whether he believes he's a "good" or "bad" person due to his complacency within the Alternian empire. Too scared to ever push the status quo because he's seen enough punishment of what has happened to others like him, he's witnessed and enabled terrible things to happen. Not that he doesn't feel guilty about it either, but it's ingrained into him to think it's not his place to act; to accept that's just the way of this world on Alternia. He's led to believe he has to prioritize himself if he wants any chance of living within his already short lifespan. "Better them than me."

Anyway, thank you for sending in so many questions!! As an apology for the hugeass text wall, have this old funny sketch of Jishen LOL

[arschbiene]

Any name suggestions for this guy

For a thing I have cooking that needs more time in the oven. If it helps, still workshopping it with research and etc and its subject to change, but I'm characterizing him as follows specifically for the 1500s to 1700s:

Menace who calms down in the later years but in the early 17th century, he's just this piece of shit cop enforcing the will of the HRE on his brothers through the threat of military force.

Violence is not personal to him but it is also not pleasurable, a grim necessary evil to put his hands on his brothers at time. His violence is rarely from a place of temper or loss of control, it's very intentional. When he does lose his temper, he tends to go overkill.

He's ruthless when it comes to following orders and believes deeply in maintaining whatever status quo benefits him the most.

Survival focused due to trauma and very burnt out on war, good at his job but also sick of it. Can be insensitive about other people's feelings, like Ge/rmania, he dislikes displays of emotion. Harsh with his brothers that are more prone to emotional outbursts or whom he thinks add to his difficulties: i.e br/andenburg and pr/ussia lol.

He is interested mostly in making money and believes your value is connected to your productivity, strength and wealth. Will do a 360 on how he treats you if you're doing good for yourself.

Would like to focus on other aspects of his economy like manufacturing etc but his military is his money maker in this era. He is quick to shift focus when he can. Comfortable in peaceful times and flexible and adaptive in war times.

He is very interested in gaining power/independence for himself, carries himself with a quiet arrogance but is mostly friendly and approachable at least on a surface level, just intimidating. Smiles a lot but it doesn't ever reach his eyes. Tends to have a dry sense of humor. Lacks warmth until he matures. Much nicer with age but the damage has been done and his brothers think it's bullshit.

Can be very abrupt and impatient as he's like extremely overworked. I HC him as disloyal and untrustworthy when he's young, nothing said to S/axony is kept in confidence.

He at times plays both side of the issues to see where the best place is to put his pieces and is not discreet about the fact he's shopping his options, a confidence that comes with military strength.

HRE and him have a very complicated and difficult relationship due to this. Like Br/andenburg, he tends to think in terms of "I deserve the things I want" with H oly R ome + A/ustria but his entitlement comes from a place of like "I worked twelve fucking jobs for you".

[adachimoe]

as it is an east asian work and all, persona strikes me as, at its core, extremely buddhist-y. like, the fool's journey is a stand-in for the cyclic nature of life. makoto and kotone getting the universe arcana and becoming the great seal is uhh symbolic of them resolving their karma, breaking free from the cycle of reincarnation, and achieving enlightenment. adachi's character likely comes from how to live is to suffer and suffering is caused by our material wants. and then you have teenagers giving speeches about how life has some bad days (bad days = suffering) that you have to live through, like they are enforcing this status quo lol. sho in p4au and maruki in royal also seem to come from the school of buddhist suffering, hence why maruki's solution to solve suffering is to give them what he thinks are their desires, as to want is to suffer. (and then smt has the extremely un-subtle digital devil saga avatar tuner where seraph achieving enlightenment is just baked into the plot.) idk i guess it's like when you watch western media and assume that something in the plot or writing goes a certain way or follows a certain set of logic because the creators are from a christian country.

[sun-archeron]

Vi can't handle change

In arc 1 she complains that everyone around her changed, and asks Cait not to, and then not even 15 minutes later Cait changes, and Vi finds it very upsetting. But not only that, she also seems perturbed when Isha comes into the scene and Jinx's whole demeanor changes, her bravado giving way to fear for the kid. In season one, when she finds Sevika she angrily calls her a traitor, and after her operation with Jayce kills a kid and Jayce backs out, Vi gets angry at him. When she reunites with Ekko she's confrontational till the point when she can tell he still has the same morals she knew him to have, and that compensates for the change in personality. When she meets Warwick she's immediately hostile, even though she knows it's Vander, and she only stops because Jinx is sounding more like the Powder she knew. And the whole fandom noticed how she was at her happiest in the whole show when she got her family back.

I used to find Vi the most uninteresting character on the show, and only now realised it's because she haven't changed. From episode one of season one, to episode 6 of season 2, she's still the same person. Everybody talks about how Jinx's trauma stunted her mental growth, but the same goes for Vi. She was taken out of society at a young age, and although she probably went through horrible things in prison, all of it only confirmed the world views that she already had. As bad as they are, days in prison are all the same, even if the rotation of prisoners and guards changes, their behaviors stay predictable, and routines there never change. Vi remained static for over a decade, and not only was everything different when she got out but she also got out at a time of various intense changes; she barely had time to absorb what to her was the new status quo and it immediately changed again. She expected to get out and go back to her life as it was, like a movie that was paused and all she had to do was hit the play button and pick up from where she left off.

Meanwhile, everyone else changed. The how and why don't matter because it is inevitable. Even if nothing bad ever happened, all these characters would still change, because that's just how life is. We grow and we see the world, and our opinions and tastes and habits all change, and things and people around us change as well, so we react to that by changing again. Vi didn't learn that because she grew up in the one place that stays the same while the world moves on.

If Arcane were a more optimistic show i'd say it would end showing Vi as our one true hero, who through all the trials and tribulations remained true to her character and beliefs, the whole hero's journey thing. But I don't think it's going there. She is definetly going to have a significant change; whether it's for the better or for the worse I don't know. (Going off of LoL lore, she loses her memory and becomes an enforcer, but Arcane already changed so much lore, and that feels like such a disappointing note to finish her character arc on, I doubt they're gonna do it exactly like that

[emblemxeno]

Honestly it's really funny that the recent discourse I was unwillingly embroiled in revolved around stuff like power hierarchies and racial biases in written works, cuz my English Studies class in uni tackled this exact same stuff.

And I don't wanna be like "well my college said this so obviously I'm correct", but what I will say is that R*xis and his weirdo clique would be looked at weird were they in that class lol.

For example, some of the things we talked about after just a few weeks was hegemon powers enforcing their views and perspective onto the people as a new status quo and how that's Not Good™️, and also how the ideas of merit-based power structures and "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" is a hinderance to progress as it puts the onus of responsibility on to the oppressed to escape their own oppression. We discussed all of this because most of the literature we looked at was by black and non-black critics of white supremacy, class structure, and generational wealth. We even looked over the Civil Rights Act and the Housing Discrimination Act to prove points about this.

Claude being written to support Edelgard's ideals not only makes him look worse in a writing sense, but also in a moral, racial, and political sense. He supports what's equivalent to a Booker T. Washington way of thinking when he supports Edelgard in Hopes. He lacks his curiosity, perspective, and unwavering belief in treasuring life in Hopes, character traits that he not only was explicitly shown to have brought with him from Almyra (i.e. BEFORE THE ACADEMY), but were also developed as a result of him being of mixed race. I rake 3H over the coals for its attempts and failures at tackling racial dynamics and oppression in its storytelling, but Claude-for the most part-was relatively unscathed. Then Hopes came and made everything worse.

So, historically in both the FE series and the real world, what Edelgard does is for the worst, and making Claude support that without question is not only a slap in the face for fans of his 3H characterization, but a slap in the face for the first brown main character in the FE series.

[merriweather-boat]

just posting my stream-of-conscious from earlier for the masses to read. come one come all! It's about Shinra as a corporate state, its rise to power, and the wild implications of its existence? kind of? I feel like I didn't get to address NEARLY as much as I would have liked, but I'd still like to share it.

these thoughts are all half cooked but I CANNOT contain my enthusiasm right now, so you all get to suffer with me

[10:41 PM]the sheer existence of shinra as a corporate state has me rapturing at my desk right now (not in a good way or a bad way? but like...)

[10:43 PM]it's mentioned that cities and villages like Midgar and Nibelheim alike have mayors, I think Banora had a governor(?), but despite all of these regions clearly being so connected, there is no common government. At the same time, no regulatory bodies to act as mediators aside from Shinra Electric seem to exist.

[10:43 PM]So it's like government only exists at a level local to a given settlement.

[10:44 PM]But at the same time, Shinra has such a huge hold on each settlement's resources, industries, and needs (electricity for heating in places like Nibelheim) that they hold the most power

[10:45 PM]and they've fully militarized, both recruiting soldiers from around the world and SENDING soldiers around the world to enforce this idea that they have authority globally.

[10:45 PM]So it's obvious, but Shinra is the connective tissue of the world, and it's a monopoly in a way that modern corporations could only dream of, but it's also... kind of the global government, just because of the sheer size and strength and omnipresence of its military.

[10:47 PM]That being said, Shinra Electric hasn't been around for all that long. So aside from Wutai, what nations existed before Shinra came along? What did they destroy that everyone forgot about? I know that it's not exactly unheard of for regions to have VERY small nations, and thus many of them, but it doesn't seem like any of the towns or villages even see themselves as former nations. Any memory of independence has already been lost within President Shinra's lifetime.

So I have a lot of questions about what the geopolitical situation was before Shinra became a thing, first of all. That's never really addressed in canon, which in and of itself implies the craziest possible propaganda campaign, honestly. Or a lot of assassinations. Something like that.

[10:49 PM]But the idea of it is terrifying, because how do you go from fully independent to fully dependent on a corporation in less than a single man's lifetime?

Actually, I take that back. President Shinra is 67, so it only took like 40-50 years at absolute most

the more i think about this the nuttier i get

[correction: Junon Republic existed before Shinra takeover. Read more on this wiki page.]

I'm also shocked that if Shinra overthrew a nearly continental connective government, it's not brought up often, although it makes sense given the eco-terrorist bend a lot of ffvii has on shinra's problems instead of (specifically) on things that were a problem more of a few decades back

a fandom thing I've noticed in general that's also really interesting is how a lot of fics (and I say this with the utmost love because they're adorable and really lovely reads) really stick to the status quo, even when the author is writing about characters who would usually challenge it. A lot of fics discuss it a little bit as an issue, but ultimately the characters let go of any issues they have with Shinra in some capacity a lot of the time. The fandom also doesn't talk about its issues as an establishment often. I want to reiterate that none of that is criticism in any way but i do find it super interesting

[10:59 PM]always thinking about ffvii but sometimes I really THINK about it lol

[10:59 PM]thanks for coming to my ted talk

[a-twistedheartslonging]

Deuce cop x rapscallion/prankster reader/yuu

It's very judy hopps x nick wilde

Although, i guess Deuce isn't quite as uptight about it (riddle feels very judy hopps tbh lol) but it's deuce having banter and such with a beloved neighborhood prankster (maybe they're not necessarily doing things majorly wrong, and it's all in good fun and people tend to love it)

Idk just a fluff idea although a law au has plenty of angst or grit potential

Also yeah, i feel like most of the cops and law enforcement in Wonderland aren't as bad as real life due to their origins. most were genuinely citizen protectors or protecting the lands and monitoring the factions for trouble or worked as queens guards or something rather than status quo enforcers.

It would be interesting if they were called Queendom guards instead of police officers.

Do you think we can bribe him with donuts? It would be pretty funny if Deuce ended up pulling over Riddle one day cuz his taillight was out. Ace has prob been handcuffed by Duce at least twice.

[sandraharissa]

After thinking about it a little here’s some of my predictions/thoughts about Jinx in s2:

1) Her and Sevika are deeply involved with the fighting/revolution efforts and maintain stuff like how Silco left them, but after reaching whatever outcome (likely they’ll successfully earn independence) both of them peace out, they have no interest in this kind of politics and after managing the chembarons for some time and getting rid of the ones that caused trouble they’ll reach some sort of equilibrium where the chembarons when left alone will largely just mind their business and continue getting rich and controlling their territories (with there not being any ‘bigger fish’ to take over so nobody ever succeeds Silco’s role). In that way we’d reach the status quo we see in Zaun in LoL.

2)

The whole time she might look and be like this. Possibly going on feral like this for months on end. That’d really convey the state she’s in. For her to be in this paranoid/feral/survival mode cos she destroyed everything dear to her and Vi is hunting her. I imagine her looking like this even in more casual interactions with Sevika. Consumed by rage and revenge and hatred and throwing herself all into the revolutionary efforts to cope with grief for Silco and the whole situation with Vi. Especially now that it’s obvious that she’s working with enforcers, including Cait, to catch her and nothing else, the thing Jinx was worried was happening in s1.

That’d also potentially be interesting to see the contrast between how she’s perceived (the mural) and how she actually is in real life. The symbol of hope vs feral rabbit.

3)

She does this thing again that she tried in the finale. Idk if at this point she’s at all hoping for reconciliation, likely not. But she still wants so badly for Vi to understand her so she adorned the walls with the most impactful moments of her life and how they pertain to Vi. One last attempt to make Vi understand. That maybe after Vi sees a highlight reel of Jinx’s life she’ll put it all together and see it how Jinx sees it.

[minzart]

You know what? I'm gonna complain it is good to put it out with a semi(hopefuly)understandable way see if anyone else had the same thoughts or something

So yeah arcane season 2 ramblings bellow

I knew it would be a hard task to deliver after such a good season 1, like it had everything ending with a perfect cicle, the first step was the last

We got themes and coherent actions with it, the characters are Charaters as much as embodiments of the narrative and it's mensage

And it was all a tragedy in the making

I though they could keep the loop, at the end I never expected we to get close to see Zaun and Piltover being split. Never, they are sisters cities one hurting the other more and more as progress comes and their bridge burns and grows bigger and bigger but never splitting, a never ending cicle(to a never ending game)

It works in the first season and I wished they kept it running in the second,but nooo let's pick up an already solved tread and force it to work again.

What the fuck am I talking about? well, many things, one specifically is

The sisters arc.

I can't be the only who thought what season 1 was trying to say with the tea scene was that she IS Powder AND Jinx, and what she actually needed was for both sides(Vi and Silco) to shut the fuck up and let her BE HERSELF. At that time I though if we ever get a season two she would realize what happened that night, not as choosing a side as she puts but as a birth of something new, while VI could also realize her sister has changed and she is not dead but become worse, or spiral into a worse state of mind ignoring who her sister is and insisting she is dead and wtv that thing Jinx is is not her sister anymore(and that's only bc at that time i discovered her lol conterpart is an enforcer so i though hey Vi's gonna have a villain arc and people are gonna acknowledge she also has insues to work with right :D )

But what season 2 did was forget continuity they are trying to GO BACK and this time the narrative will repeat itself beat by beat but worse.

In season 2 they revived Vander(and that IS vander with a warwick skin), only to beat the man to death 3 times over and over, and worse, don't revive his fucking theme with it making him a plot device more than the character he is, and let's pull Silco right along with him and change all that mattered before with these 2 too why not.

And don't come telling me "but they foreshadowed warwick in season 1" I KNOW AND I WANTED TO SEE WOLFMAN AS DID EVERYBODY. But what I did not want was it to be Vander AGAIN. I wanted them to lean into the amnesiac aspect of his story, Warwick WAS a man before, he was someone ELSE, but now He is OTHER, he is not Vander and would never be, and THAT would be the link to conclude the sisters arc.

The direction I though they would go was to cherish the past, learn from it, and see that you did changed and yet not, you are you in all your gloric and flaws, the child you once were is still in you as is the adult you have become with. It. there.

You can not run from your past, you can not break off of it, else you are not yourself anymore.

In a way VI would trace Vander's footsteps but worse, I though she would lean in the protecting the status quo without thinking about it, yes she is from the undercuts but she has been 7 years in jail and the city changed without her in it, she wants to go back so bad, that she can't see she can't. There is no way she could go back, she is not Vander, and yes his ideas are alive but the time they worked not, a new twist has to be given to it, adapt it to the new present, a thing she can't do alone

And as paralels Jinx, would have traced Silco and not liked it one bit, I never got the vibe that she would by the end fight for a cause, she is no leader, and she is no dog either, she is chaos itself right? She works for herself at the end of the day, I hoped we would see she try and abandon that path altogether without noticing she would be the reverse.

Silco was a dictator in the making with the speech of freedom as his weapon, Vander was a keeper of the status quo in the name of "peace", read stability. Jinx would be an arsonist that accidentally spiked the dream of revolution, of freedom, in the people around her while VI would want to go back to "status quo" by the means of violence.

You see how that's an interesting talk? Yes the past was safety, and yet it wasn't perfect, and yes freedom is beautiful but to get there it will be gory. There will be loss to both mentalities.

It would what? Exactly, keep the goddamn theme of season 1. Maybe not perfectly, I'm no professional, but I can dream.

"But jinx did become a simble of revolution!" NO she did not, it was cute that Isha transformed her image in a simble of hope and that itself works someway for the theme they tried to do for her as just Poweder 2.0, bc that's all she is, the child self, nothing more. But that is not what I'd call satisfying for Jinx character from season 1. Added to that, what revolution? if by the end both sides made up by the power of third party enemy?

The Warwick variable would come to contrast both as a new character, maybe a victim of the status quo Vi is adhering and a psicological contrast to Jinx change.

As a side not LET SILCO DIE. LET HIM FUCKING DIE AND STAY DEAD LIKE VANDER IS. I don't want a backstory,nor flashback, nor memory trip, the past of these two was excellent as ambiguous, they are the mentors, the fathers, the side characters, ambiguity WORKS IN THEIR FAVOR, legends of their own making

What i asked of this arc was a paralel scene with Jinx and Silco to VI and Vander back in season 1, y'know? The one VI is knocked down and Vander's ghost basically comes back to give her a BRIEF pep talk that MATCHES HER OWN MINDSET AND HIS, BC THEY EMBODY THE SAME PARALEL? YEAH. AND I WAS HAPPY that Silco got his ghost moment, but... he would not... forgive, season 1 would not and Jinx in that mind state,nor before, would too, these two have one thing in comum and is SPITE, they are cocrooch that refuses to die despite being repeatedly beaten out of your home, wish that was the focus of these two in that paralel scene, but well... with the theme they choose he had to be changed

Mel Medarda what did they do to you my girl you did not deserve this

Now, to be fair her arc could be fixed with more episodes or just one more season just establish something that wasn't there is season 1, her magic powers. But in my rant I'm trying to see if there is just another way for her to go that could tecnicaly and not need another season

Arcane was fast peaced but at least it had a focus.

Season 1 focused on the sisters more than up top, everyone there, including Mel were more world building devices than characters to me, and season 2 changed the focus characters to Viktor and Jayce but forgot to bring with them their support characters wich explains to me why I feel so lost to half the casts motives and place in the story.

In the beggining I loved that we focused on her opposing her mother in every decision, and gave a paralel to her own path in season 1, when Ambesa says let's use hextech I wanted the show to scream the same scens as Mel had when she convinced the council to use it too.

I wanted the show to pick these people who says "wow Mel is so evillll she manipulates peopleeeee my poor babyyyy jayce noooo my himbo sonnn" by the throat and say "you want to see manipulation? I'l fucking show you it" and presents Ambesa as the foil.

Focus on a political intrigue to these two, buy time for wtv is happening with Viktor, Caitlyn, Vi and Jinx to cook, Ambesa wants an invasion, Mel doesn't.

Maybe the seeds for magical powers were there in season 1, Mels paintings(magic and art thend to be used interchangeably in some medias i think), Ambesa's music video, "why did you come here mother?", but it would need more time to flourish in a satisfactory way, or at least better presented.

"Oh your powers are growing faster bc the arcane is awaken" BULLSHIT I TELL YOU.

Mel is strong in her words, love a woman who can kick ass but love one that can make myself bend to her will with one word even more.

Actualy on second though you know what would made her arc suck less? IF THEY DIDN'T FRIDGED HER FOR HALF OF IT. If the black rose was not meant to be the big bad at the end then what the fuck was the point of taking her out of the picture(would it be too hard to make her magical powers manifest in the scene she was kidnapped insted of... kidnaping. Girl was playing detective already)? The only way I can think it was a good idea is bc they didn't want to make her and Caitlyn fight for the sake of a final show down with Ambesa, bc there is no way these two would be in speaking terms if they interacted during Caits dictatorship

Speaking of dictatorship, for more that I love it I also loath it bc they just didn't show the during reing enough and I blame they taking Mel down way too early(I love the path of anger and grief Caitlyn went). Imagine a world were down there it's an emotional conflict leaded by Vi-Warwick-Jinx and up there a political intrigue of Mel-Caitlyn-Ambesa. That ends with peace below and an explosion(fascist reing start) up there? A, say it with me, INVERSION OF SEASON 1 ENDING :) wouldn't that be NEAT?!

Maybe even end it right there and let it ambiguous. There is no need for season 3 if they don't can't do it, the open ending is the strong forte of this series for me especificaly.

But what about the rest? What about

Jayce, Viktor and Ekko

Gonna be honest, they arc is so over the place with who they were in season 1 that they fell completely unrelated to anything in there anymore.

Season 2 changed focus from the sisters to Jayce and Viktor, everything plot related was through them, the problem is, their choices and... themes? Were not previously established by season 1 and season 2 took both out of the picture and put doppelganger in their places.

For more that I love Jesus viktor... now that I saw the fans that know him as The Machine Herald complain about his arc I know what was bugging me with it too.

He didn't choose any of what happened to him, something that is and was, a big thing to him back in season 1 and his lol conterpart. You know, Sky was never a character, she was a warning to Viktor remember? She died, consumed by the hexcore because of his medling, and he still continued to use it, wasn't that supposed to be the warning sigh to us that Viktor was going to spiral? And yet...

By the end Jayce and Viktor are foils, even if the season presents literaly 3 versions of them in one season bc they didn't transitioned their chance as smoothly as I'd like. Bc for more gay and amazing that ending was... Jayce is not the same character he was when he shot Viktor, absolutely not, you are telling me, that he was given a mission to show Viktor the future, and his response was to kill him instead of try to allude to the end? That the Jayce that shot Viktor in the chest was the same Jayce that understood he had to hug the divine manifestation lf his partner in the Astral plane to show the future and esencialy die with him by the end?

Love how Ekko swinged by the end and bough enough time for that finale he literaly lived up to his expectations as the boy savior, but lord I wanted him to be so much more coherent, the narrative yanked him out of the leadership role he had in season 1 and made him a by stander and last minute deus ex maquina. HE SHOULD BE THE ONE TO ANSWER VI/Vander AND Silco/Jinx THEMES, HE HAS WAS THE THRID FACTION THE BETTER FUTURE, THE SIDE WE AS THE AUDIENCE SHOULD CHEER THE MOST AS THE NEW FUTURE FOR ZAUN. NOT THE LETS GET TOGHETER AS ONE TO DEFEND OUR CITY FROM THE BIG BAD NATION OVER SEAS- FUCK THAT.

Him and Sevika should join forces, their arc should have been bring down town togheter and focus on a better future, heal the now, even if both have diferent visions of a future they should agree to clean Zaun even if in diferent direction. I love him with Heimendinher, bc it could be amazing to see a founder of Zaun learn with the next generation of leadership, let's bring the spark of empathy back to the old man, lets show what community is again for him, a tall about how disconnected he had become from what were supposed to be his people,let him give propositions and Ekko oppose them but with compromises, a paralel to Jayce in that way too.

How Jayce was the pupil that went into politics and become corrupt, Ekko is the one who is a community leader and won't be corrupt, how Heimendinher was too cautious and practical for both parties he will be opposed but know to better compromise, learn again why humanity moves fast, we do not have eternity. Where Jayce failed Ekko will thrive, and it was to make that old man learn emphaty again.

So maybe the focus of these 3 should be the future isn't?

Viktor, by his own hands, would want a evolution were no weakness are present, and by weakness I mean emotion bc... the focus of his path in season 1 was to live, he wanted to be alive to make a name for himself, to be remembered, so maybe with his close dance with death with that missile it pushes him to realize humanity never changes and even when everything could end up right and peaceful, our personal vendetta would detriment any chance of progress, hence he starts a way to fix it.

Instead of... internalized ableism, is it a interesting talk? Absolutely but you can't deny it was poorly set up, he was dieing and he wanted to not be... I'm sorry but "your imperfection is beautiful" was done better with Entrapta and Hordak from reboot Shera

Bc by lol lore that was the conflict between him and Jayce right? Viktor wanted a hive mind Jayce didn't, it was a conscious choice from both parties, so there we have a divorce arc, and sexual tension with the enemie.

So yeah

These are my thoughts mixed with what I wish it was and complains... I have no idea if I make sense or not

But hey if you got to this end thanks for reading, and hope it resonated a bit with you, if not, well shit bro I did say I was complaining.

[vindicated-truth]

Rewatching the scene of Jaeyi throwing eggs at Joowon while knowing everything that really happened now puts everything in a whole new light.

For one thing, it now brings to light Nam Sangbae's and Oh Jihoon's kindness to Joowon after all of it. They are being kind, but they're also overcompensating out of guilt.

Sangbae keeps his distance and only approaches Joowon with a new towel when they're alone, while Jihoon takes it upon himself to clean Joowon's car.

Jaeyi is the one truly innocent in all this (I'll get to her actual reaction in a while) and while her actions towards Joowon may not be justifiable, it's understandable, because she's innocent.

However, Jihoon and Sangbae are two people who know something about Minjeong's murder that they haven't disclosed to anyone, each for their own reasons. Jihoon knows for sure that Jeongje was the last person Minjeong was with before she died, and he's also the one who leaked Dongsik's warrantless arrest to the media. And Sangbae knows for certain that Dongsik was the one who placed Minjeong's fingers in front of the grocery store. He deleted the CCTV footage of it after all.

Sangbae and Jihoon watching Jaeyi be angry at Joowon while knowing for sure that Joowon himself is just doing his job and is running around in circles because of the secrets each of them choose to keep now brings to light why both Sangbae and Jihoon feel compelled to extend a certain kindness to Joowon.

They're overcompensating out of guilt. They both know that Jaeyi's shop wouldn't have been unnecessarily searched had they disclosed the secrets they know. Her resulting anger is partly the consequence of their own decisions to keep these secrets.

And as for Jaeyi herself—

It's fascinating because I even consulted @rumpleteasa about the nuances of the Korean language lol because I've learned that Korean dialogue usually don't have a specific subject or pronoun used, and you'd usually have to rely on context clues to derive the subject.

During the entire exchange between Jaeyi and Joowon, Jaeyi had been talking about Joowon stigmatizing an innocent person, and Joowon's interpretation is that Jaeyi meant Dongsik.

This is particularly fascinating because:

1) Joowon doesn't actually think that Jaeyi herself is guilty, because his focus is on Dongsik as the murderer, and he's just trying to find out where the murder might have occurred. He's sneering at Jaeyi not because he thinks she is guilty, but because she trusted in someone who isn't innocent, and that is Dongsik. 2) Joowon seems unaware of the fact that it's Jaeyi he might have also stigmatized now, even if it hadn't been his intention.

The reason why I say this is because as soon as Joowon tells Jaeyi off for trusting someone like Dongsik, Jaeyi instead silently pulls out the search and seize warrant of her shop and throws it at Joowon.

To me, that action means she is actually also talking about herself.

And it makes sense narratively, because all the scenes leading up to this confrontation had been a peek at her background and the gossip she had to endure when her mother went missing, which is now mirrored in the present when she's again enduring gossip for her shop being searched as part of a murder investigation.

Her anger is due only in part of her defense of Dongsik, whom she does love and care for. But to me, watching it now knowing for certain that she's innocent, her anger is stemming from how she is now stigmatized too.

(And I believe both Sangbae and Jihoon realize that then too. Hence, again, their actions overcompensating for the guilt of what they choose not to reveal.)

And as for Joowon himself—

I'll preface this by saying that I personally do firmly believe that the system of law enforcement is corrupt and broken, as it has become a system of oppression to the poor and the powerless, and has become a tool of maintaining the status quo of the wealthy and the powerful.

That being said, our naive and innocent Han Joowon is actually wholeheartedly talking about the spirit of the law as he tells Jaeyi this:

This is all a show? Is life easy for you? I really envy the world you live in. That if I put a show like this, innocent people become culprits and people all believe that. If that unseemly world of yours, that kind of prejudice, is the only reason I'm getting egged, you are taking Korean Police as shit.

It's arrogant. And it's cruel.

But the thing is—he's right.

Take note that, knowing Joowon's real character as we do now, he really was talking about the spirit of the law here, even as he seems blissfully and naively unaware of how truly broken the actual system already is. And at this point, he's also blissfully and naively unaware of how easy it is for an innocent person to be stigmatized, as Sangbae did warn Joowon about.

But it doesn't take away the fact that Joowon, despite it all, is right. Everything he's doing is just following the course of the investigation, and simply doing his job as he should, because more than anything he does want to catch the murderer whom he now has reason to believe also killed Lee Geumhwa, and more than anything he wants to bring justice to her too.

And while Jaeyi is right that Joowon has now stigmatized an innocent person like her, Joowon is also right in his point that the spirit of the investigation shouldn't be disrespected like this, if (in his case in particular) it is nothing more than a means to get to the truth.

Which again, if only Jihoon and Sangbae had chosen not to hide these truths, neither Joowon nor Jaeyi would've had to endure any of this.

It does bring to light now the importance of reexamining every scene with the nuance that we now know, instead of just blindly assigning blame on the characters. We as the audience have omniscient knowledge of everything that's happeing, but what the characters themselves know are incredibly limited.

That's why our judgment and perception of the characters tend to be skewed when we forget that what we know isn't necessarily what they know at that point in the story.

[raffleshitposting]

my thoughts and ramblings on merdeka (2) [spoilers!!]

CAN I BE SO FR this was my favourite production of the play so far.... the cast are incredibly talented and i really liked the additions of traditional malay and indian dance that weren't there in the original play (or at least, not in the recording i have). the coordination and chemistry of the cast (despite their increased size) during the added choreography in the syed yassin scene where farquhar and company were running around in circles and collectively sniping the temenggong's house, as well as the rani of jhansi regiment marching and flag signalling (semaphore?) scene gave me literal CHILLS.

also on the characterisation of raffles, i deeply enjoyed the played-up machiavellian portrayal of him for comedy here. i think i whispered to my friend "lore-accurate raffles" multiple times during certain scenes LOL it was so damn funny i was trying not to tweak out in my seat everytime the actors pranced around on stage. on the other hand, the real raffles is probably rolling in his grave rn. truly the raffles of all time.

also the way they utilised the stage and props in this one is genius even though all they had to work with was these platform things which they could stack and move around? in chapter 1 during the ritual humiliation scene where raffles and the installed sultan sat together in the palace (narration taken from hannigan's raffles and the british invasion of java!!), the platforms they sat on were stacked high and they were put in a very elevated position as compared to the original play, where they were just sitting on chairs on the ground. thought it was a very clever way of showing how the british constructed and enforced their superiority by literally elevating both the installed sultan and raffles above the the stage. watching this scene IRL was a very sobering and upsetting event like the whole audience was silent and the tension..... holy shit wtf. and in chapter 3 or 4 (?), there was also a bit where raffles and farquhar literally backed the sultan into a corner by moving the platform back into him which was a small thing but i will be thinking about this for the rest of my life...!! AGGHHGH

though i was a bit wary at the way they replaced the plot of the 'raffles must fall' book club with the one about a youth group staging a play for a school festival at first (not because i didn't like the idea, but i was just not used to the change and wondered if they were going to change any other parts of the play) i came to realise that the changes made were a sort of 'modernisation' of the play for 2025 (complete with jokes about DEI and cancel culture) because the original play was made in context of the bicentennial and i suppose it would've felt quite dated. and also they retained the scenes i loved in the original anyway so im good :3

also this is a random thought, but the national service protest scenes eerily made me reflect on the state of modern student protests in singapore. idk if it's just me but like it just feels so impactful that students (students MY AGE) were fighting for a cause they believed in with such conviction. but nowadays, it seems like any protests here are quickly shut down by the authorities as soon as they start (moe lgbtq protest, 'smiley face' guy, nus campus protests for palestine etc.). and it's easy to think that any sort of protest or activism is not worth the legal issues and are ultimately a waste of time and resources, but like. the whole point of protests is having the courage to disrupt the status quo for something you believe in, regardless of the consequences you might face!!! head in hands fr.

(OKAY TIME TO BE NITPICKY (not actual criticism. just things i want to be annoying about) erm ackshually ☝️ farquhar was scottish so i wish he was given a scottish accent, but i think it's really funny how he was given an exaggerated posh english accent instead. the rest of the audience loved it and i can honestly forgive it because i also love making fun of the english accent LMFAO. ALSO i was quite sad that they didn't do the thing where they threw the 'MERDEKA' prints to the audience </3)

BUT overall i fucking loved this play man. so much. kudos to the playwrights and the actors and everyone involved i'm so glad i watched it live (AND MANAGED TO GET FRONT ROW SEATS AHHGHHGHHH). truly the quintessential singaporean play i hope they stage this again every so often 🙏🙏 WILD RICE THEATRE DO YOU HEAR ME. WILD RICE THEATRE.......