#and the a point of that arcane episode was what could have been between ekko and jinx

[professorsta]

Ma Meilleure Ennemie is literally them

I mean -

But my best enemy is you

Flee from me, the worst is you and I

But if you keep searching for my voice

Forget me, the worst is you and I

[srslylini]

season 2 has a structure problem and that makes act 1 flow naturally enough and it sets up the next acts perfectly well, but they wanted to do so much more than what they were

1. setting up

2. capable of doing in 9 episodes

had they just cut a few plot lines everything would've moved far easier. For example

1. cut the Smeech thing entirely. Sevika and Jinx don't need this to find themselves together and start a found family. That scene In Silcos office was so moving and everything I always loved about Arcane, stuff like this is what's needed. In fact move the prison break to act 1 and have them handle that together, Jinx can still make Sevika her arm, and everything could've still moved the same. It would've fit so much better and there also would've been so much more time to develop anything else with the magic system and act 2 wouldn't feel like it was overflowing with anything and everything. Isha is a character that as of in the show can be cut so easily and that's so sad because she'd be so interesting. Everything about her would've worked and SHOULD HAVE worked but she also just felt like Plot and a thing to make Jinx sad over again. Either don't do that or make Isha not a character like this???? I liked her scenes with Jinx so much and the scene with Jinx freaking out after finding out that Isha was taken to prison was genuinely so good, I'm still holding on to the hope that they didn't actually kill her

2. either cut that shit with the tree because let's be so honest that basically only happened so that Heimerdinger, Ekko and Jayce could meet, since we do NOT even really talk about the tree in act 2? that was so weird. Like either actually make it a thing or find different ways to let characters meet naturally. I dont know, the show was so good with that in season 1. And if they truly wanted the tree scene at least make it make sense and don't randomly drop it Idk.

3. I LOVE Mel she is like my favorite character but the plot with the black rose takes so much necessary time away from what we actually need to focus on. I heard they want to make different shows so they are setting this up but it just doesn't work. Mel could've so easily been integrated into the main plot line and it would've also made so much more sense at that. Though I'll just wait on act 3 before I judge too hard. (if they actually DARE to make her pregnant Istg)

4. Making Jinx that hero character for only like, what, a few seconds was so strange. I hope act 3 gets that better but that, first of all, happened mostly out of no where and a few touches to her shoulder after the prison scene was also not??? helping??? either set that up from the very start or don't do it at all. She isn't a hero, she is a tragedy and someone who needs help and room to breathe. The scenes where they tried to make that funny, in my opinion didn't land at all. She doesn't need a hero complex she needs calmness and stable relationships. Let Isha live I swear to GOD.

in fact that leads me into the next point

5. Have Vi realize she doesn't want to be an enforcerer sooner? I actually do like how rushed that part felt don't get me wrong, but if they wanted a reunion between Jinx and Vi don't randomly put it into act 2 with barely any build up. Let Jinx and Vi realize it during the fight, they kinda did do that but??? just didn't move that anywhere. it's so strange. If they had cut the Smeech stuff they could've easily used the third episode to make Jinx and Vi slowly reconcile. Which also means I think Vi would've been such a better "symbol" than Jinx. Vi and Jinx, for me, show what Zaun is made of, and Jinx is quite literally the valid pain, distrust and anger of Zaun, and she as well as Zaun desperately need healing. Like that would've been SO COOL. that's just my opinion though, so there is that.

6. If they had made Vi the symbol the conflict between Caitlyn and Vi would've felt a lot more natural as well. Like??? Also Caitlyn should've had so much more time if they wanted that switch up in the end to work. Cut the black rose stuff and that would've worked perfectly fine.

7. Now do NOT get me wrong, Ambessa's character is so interesting and I feel like exploring her is so cool but she and her plot just doesn't fit into the Piltover/Zaun thing. It makes it too big for what the show is. In fact I (and now this is just my opinion, anyone can have their own just saying lmao) would've either cut out Ambessa's character/plotline or subtly continued Ambessas drama with Mel, which would give Mel, who didn't get taken by the black rose in my version, a lot more to do and way more interesting stuff too. Again this is very much my opinion and doesn't mean anyone needs to share it, but I feel like they could've easily made Heimerdinger be the one who gets Caitlyn to where she was/is with Ambessa. It would've expanded Heimerdingers character and it would've stayed in the setting they already perfectly build up, Piltover and Zaun. Also, Heimerdinger wouldn't just feel like a random joke character anymore.

8. The Pit fight stuff could have been SO interesting and I feel had we not stayed with Viktor Christ so much which was also so weird at times, we could've gotten so much necessary insight on Vi. If we follow my idea it could've been Vi forced to be a symbol because of the person she is. The embodiment of Zauns loyalty, strength and resilience. And then the fights that will come out of that forcing Vi to face so much stuff she shouldn't etc etc (I haven't fleshed that one out yet don't come for me) and that could've ended in her pit fighting era, which should've taken at LEAST an episode and not a random montage that just gets forgotten??? for no reason at all. Really hope act 3 talks about that cause??? I feel with Vi as the leader the healing of Zaun would make so much sense, because Jinx realistically can't do that. The idea of Jinx being in that position IS interesting I just feel it wasn't established/developed enough.

9. I really really liked how from the very beginning Viktor's safe haven did not in fact feel safe. There was always a very uneasy feeling and that's what I love about the show. I was always waiting for the shoe to drop and it happened, that was amazing. Though I would've either established a lot of this way earlier on in the show or made it not so, and now walk with me here Ik its magic, unrealistic. That does sound strange but having Viktor suddenly float in space with white silver flowing hair and his dead assistent next to him was... very very out of no where. It was like a lazy show trying to get away with "yeah well it's magic so of course this works" and I hate that because even magic needs explanation and build up. So yeah. Either cut that shit out or have it established sooner. And while seeing the one person who helped Jayce as a kid did kind of help, it still wasn't enough for THIS, though again MY OPINION. Also we spent way too much time there, it was getting ridiculous. So much time could've easily been lent to stuff that actually needed it. I actually laughed out loud when Viktor started the healing process with Vander because come ON now, and I do not think they wanted me to laugh.

10. The stuff with Vander, Silco and Felicia (while cute) was unnecessary and weird. What I liked the most about Vander taking in Vi and Powder was the feeling that he didn't do it because he necessarily knew them very well but because he knew their mom was dead (that did show he and their mother did kind of know each other but so do like all the people in the lanes that is kind of established) and wanted to PROTECT. This new context sadly makes it feel like "well of course he stopped everything and took them with them and cared for them he knew them since birth, duh" when I always wanted to feel "well Vander is in his heart a good man who saw what terrible stuff this war and fighting did and then took in orphaned children because of course he would do that" if that makes sense? I feel this new thing took away so much from Vander, but again that's maybe just me.

11. So many jokes and scenes didn't land with me. The scene with Jinx trying to show Sevika her middle finger was SO GOOD and so Arcane that seeing the scene were they try to make it funny with Jinx's trousers and that enforcerer felt so out of place? Like what. That scene could have EASILY been cut and nothing would have changed at all. And that's what is the worst because there isn't one scene in season 1 that I feel could've been cut and there are so many of them in season 2.

12. Introducing Maddie in act 1 made me believe she'd be a bigger, even more of a threat to Zaun, character than she was and that's so sad. What I loved about season 1 is that every single character mattered. Even those we saw maybe once. This time around I hardly cared at all for any new character because they didn't feel like a Person anymore, they just felt like Plot. In season 1 episode 1 there is this scene, the first scene Vander gets to speak in. The only reason Huck meets the woman and the man to trait was basically so we get to know how the undercity works and establish Vander as basically its leader and protecter; The one people are loyal to etc. But it doesn't feel that way. It's something that naturally happens and every character in that scene, even the man and the woman we never see again, mattered and felt real.

yeah so those were really just my thoughts. I could very much go on but I also don't want to.

[thenationofzaun]

Character writing in Arcane Season 2: Act 1

I have big issues with the quality of dialogue and characterization so far in Act 1. Characters and conversations have almost zero depth. Examples:

Heimerdinger - Does he know about the Council attack? How does he feel about it? Is he relieved he was voted out beforehand? Does he feel responsible for the attack, in that if he had taken action sooner, Zaun would not have been driven to this level of violence? Does he feel guilty for the deaths of his colleagues? Viktor was almost killed by the attack but got saved by the very Hexcore Heimerdinger hated. What's his reaction to that??

Lol who cares? Let's do goofy Disney channel hijinks by sneaking into a lab with Ekko. He meets Jayce there. Does he express his concern or relief that his former student just survived a Hextech explosion unscathed? Nope!!! Wacky humour time!!!

Ekko - Does Ekko know Jinx killed Silco? If yes, how does he feel about that? Is he shocked? Confused? If he doesn't know, what does he think happened to Silco? What do Zaunites like him make of Silco's death if Jinx got rid of his body? How does he feel about the Council attack? Does he support it or does he think Jinx went too far? Is he on the fence?

Lol who cares? We don't need to know any of this. Let Ekko have goofy scenes with Heimerdinger. Speaking of Heimer, what the fuck is Ekko's opinion on Heimerdinger's criminal negligence of the Undercity for the past two fucking centuries? Because he sure warmed up to that hairball quick. This is an issue that started in Season 1 Episode 8, but I had hopes they would address it in Season 2. I guess not.

Jayce - How does Jayce feel about seeing Heimerdinger again, when their last meeting was Jayce betraying him? We know he felt guilty about it in Season 1 so why was there no inkling of it during their meeting in the lab? Why doesn't Jayce tell Heimer that the Hexcore saved Viktor? The Hexcore having the potential to save Viktor's life was a huge point of contention for them in Season 1 and was partially the reason for Jayce's betrayal, but neither of them mention it. Lol. Viktor wakes up and tells him that Sky was killed by the Hexcore in their lab. Jayce: "Oh no! Anyway..." ?????? No questions as to how and when this happened? No questions as to where Sky's body is? You just learned your employee was fucking killed in your lab a few days ago and this is your reaction?

Vi - How does Vi feel about the fact that the tyrants who killed her parents are dead by Jinx's hand? She herself wanted to take revenge on the Council in the past, so how does she feel now that her little sister's the one who did it? When Caitlyn yaps about avenging her mother's death by killing Jinx, does Vi realize that Jinx's attack was in itself vengeance for their parents' deaths on the bridge? Which were sanctioned by the Council? Will she ever bring this up to Caitlyn? Probably not. What exactly is Vi's opinion on a Zaunite uprising against topside? Does she no longer think it's the right way to go about things?

What does she think happened to Ekko? The last time she saw him, he was fighting Jinx to the death. He could be dead for all she knows. And she doesn't even think about or mention him once. Seems like she doesn't give a shit about Little Man lol. Did the writers forget they are childhood friends?

What eventually drives her to join the enforcers? Could it be concern for her sister, that she somehow thinks the badge would allow her more say in advocating for lesser sentencing? Could it be ideology, that she genuinely believes stricter policing of the Undercity is the way to prevent more Silcos? Lol nope! She's convinced by some rando giving her an ego boost about how Kewl and Badazz she was attacking the factory of child labourers. (A+ manipulation by Caitlyn by the way. What a wholesome and healthy romance Caitvi is turning out to be!)

What causes the rift between Vi and Caitlyn? Could it be Vi's love for Jinx, because as much she tries to convince herself her sister is dead and that Jinx is a different person, deep down she knows that Jinx is still her sister and for all Vi's bluster and rage, she can't bear to see Jinx actually die when push comes to shove? Lol nope!!! She's actually totally okay with a fucking enforcer killing her fucking sister, the exact thing that orphaned them both. Vi only draws the line when a random kid intervenes, after which Caitlyn proceeds to domestically abuse Vi and leave her crying on the floor without looking back.

There is so much detail and nuance missing. This is why almost every scene and conversation feels so empty. Every conversation is comically rushed and not allowed to breathe. The characters' superficial personality traits are there for the most part, but their underlying motivations, feelings, opinions, and desires are completely neglected to fulfill whatever the plot demands them to do.

[vi-gilante-1010]

What Could've Been: A Hypothetical

Inspired by the final scene of season 1, this series of au-posting will explore Arcane from a new angle, one where Ambessa and Noxus didn't plan to invade, and just how different it could be as a result.

What to Expect:

- A story centered on the conflict between Piltover and Zaun, and a failed revolution

- Vi and Jinx thrust into roles they never wanted. This did happen with Jinx in the canon, but I'd like to explore it more

- Meljay, and lots of it. They've become my favorite ship of the series over time, and I'm allowed to be self-indulgent here I think

- Ekko's focus episode not to be in an alternate timeline

What Not To Expect:

- Isha. Not necessarily out of a dislike for her, but because I'd like include LoL's Ziggs in her place (kind of).

- the arcane to be villainized. Violence begetting more violence is a stronger point when human nature remains the root cause of it

- A happy ending. There's nothing I love more than breaking my darlings

- a redemption for Caitlyn. I want her to get worse, actually, fictional women should be awful more often

If this au doesn't interest you, or you find it somehow insulting to the canon, or what have you, I recommend blocking my account, for everyone's peace of mind. Otherwise, I hope y'all will enjoy my for-fun what-if

Tag to follow(or block): WCB au

[silviathebard]

Why I hate Jinx's not-death

(part 1: Jinx's unfulfilled redemption arc)

So this has been brewing in my mind for a while now, and I just need to write it down and see if anyone else feels the same way.

But first, ✨️context✨️

From the beginning, Arcane has set up Jinx for a redemption arc. As far as I remember, one of the show writers even stated whether Jinx could be redeemed was the main question of the show. The biggest obstacle to this is Jinx's perception of herself. This is most clear in her name change after Act 1, Season 1. She renames herself "Jinx" and tries to forget her old self, Powder. She does this because after the events of episode 3 and after Vi calls her a "jinx", she begins to internalize that she is an inherently bad person.

In Act 2 she is haunted by Vi's words, to the point she wants to separate herself from the girl who had hope she could "fix things", Powder. Her belief that she was destined to be a bad person and a "jinx" is only helped by the various shots of crows throughout season 1, birds that symbolize bad luck, as well as fate and destiny.

But we see in Act 2 that Jinx never left Powder behind. She can't help but be affected by her last memory of Vi just like Powder was. Jinx's ingenuity and intelligence when it comes to gadgets is a shared personality trait between them, except just as Viktor says in season 2, her talents were used to create instead of destroy. In addition, Jinx keeping the flare that Vi gave her all those years ago is another example. She can't let Vi go, but she also doesn't want to be the little girl who needs her older sister's help anymore. Clearly, Jinx is not separate from Powder no matter how much she tries.

This is important because it shows Jinx's potential for change and growth. Although Jinx wants to believe she is her namesake, the parts of Powder that exist within her show she has the capacity to change like any other human being.

With that in mind, let's talk about Jinx's redemption arc in season 2 through her relationships with Isha, Vi, and Ekko.

In season 2, the writers first set up Jinx's redemption arc through Isha. As Jinx herself says, Isha reminds her of Powder. In a way, she is letting the more mischievous, playful, and even protective part of herself flourish. Remember, the event of Act 1, Season `1 that led to the creation of Jinx was directly a result of Powder wanting to save and protect her family. Isha can also be Jinx's redemption, a way for her to save her family the 2nd time.

Her bringing Vi and Warwick together is an even more literal version of that. She is bringing her family back together, even fixing it. Warwick/Vander's arc is also similar to Jinx's, just like Jinx he (with Viktor's help) finds the lost parts of himself and goes on a path toward redemption.

In my opinion, Vi and Jinx's reunion is a bit rushed. They never actually talk about what happens in A1S1 (I'm tired of typing it out, okay?) But that's besides the point. Jinx and Vi regain their sibling dynamic specifically in the little fight in episode 6? (5?) We also see that Vi has accepted the parts of Powder that have changed. She accepts that her sister is no longer the same, but also realizes she is not completely unrecognizable. This can be seen when Vi asks Jinx about her thoughts and Jinx says, "You actually want my opinion?" As well as when Jinx asks Isha, "got all of your insides?" Vi looks at Jinx in surprise (I couldn't find the shot but yall know what I mean right???) I interpreted that shot as Vi realizing how Powder still lives in Jinx even if she isn't the same.

After Isha's death and Warwick's reversal in redemption, Jinx feels like she has nobody, and worse she believes she doesn't deserve anybody. When Vi comes for Jinx in the jail cell, Jinx says morosely, "You're never going to give up on me, are you?" It's clear she believes that she isn't worth the effort anymore, which leads to her suicide attempt in ep. 8.

Meanwhile, Ekko has been teleported to an alternate dimension, where Hextech was never invented and Powder never became Jinx. In this universe, Ekko has the realization we, the audience, and Vi already had. Jinx is Powder, and Powder is Jinx.

Although alternate universe Powder doesn't go by the name "Jinx", we can still see the remnants of her. When a confused Ekko asks Powder if she killed Vi, she responds first by telling him his tip led to her death, but then she also says, "Don't make me do something I'll regret." Here, we see the potential for Jinx in Powder. Although Jinx has the potential for redemption which is symbolized through the concept of "Powder", Jinx herself holds another kind of fulfilled potential. The potential for genius. As Ekko says later in the episode, Jinx's ideas "change the world". However as Powder says, genius comes with a twin, madness.

Powder decides not to pursue the hextech crystals she finds because she doesn't want to lose "what makes me, me." This is more because of her inherent need to protect people than anything (probably assuming the role Vi had). When Vander makes the analogy about filling others' cups, he is saying that Powder shouldn't dampen her own potential to protect others. It's a bit ironic that Vander has no clue what would have happened if she did this in the original universe.

Clearly, Powder always had the potential to become Jinx as Jinx has the potential to be Powder. Ekko realizes he must also convince Jinx of this, so he leaves the alternate universe to save her.

He comes just in time, however he cannot find the right words to convince Jinx that she is worthy of redemption. That is, until Jinx sees the Z-Drive created with her inventions. That is when she realizes that her inventions can be used for good, and as a metaphor, that she is also capable of good. Off-screen, we can assume they talk more before arriving in ep. 9 at the final battle.

Unfortunately, this is when it all goes wrong. Vi and Jinx fight Warwick together, and Jinx ends up sacrificing herself to save Vi. Later, in a sort-of epilogue we see Ekko mourning her. We also see Caitlyn realizing that Jinx may be alive, as well as a shot of an airship that implies she is on it and has left Piltover.

Coming soon: Why Jinx dying/leaving undermines what was set up throughout the show

[synchodai]

That Arcane AU episode

S2E7, Pretend Like It's The First Time, is my favorite and most hated season 2 episode. I like it because it mirrors S1E7, The Boy Savior, my (and most people's favorite) episode: Ekko-centric, Silco stealing the show, gorgeous emotional choreography between Ekko and Jinx, a microcosm of its season's themes, etc.

I hate it because it is a microcosm of its season's themes and said themes contradict S1E7.

Let's talk about what The Boy Savior showed us:

Vi rediscovering her community and agency with the Firelights. For the first time in the series, Caitlyn is prisoner and Vi is the one with power over her, but Vi chooses to vouch for Caitlyn so that the Firelights ease up on her and agree to give the Hextech core back to the Piltover Council. This shows Vi and Caitlyn as equals with power and influence in two different realms that they use to move together towards a common goal. (Compare that to S2 where Vi is fully dependent on Caitlyn and contributes almost nothing in their mission to capture Jinx.)

Powder vs Jinx. Ekko tells Vi Powder is dead and only Jinx remains. Vi argues with him saying she can still save Powder. We see the seed of doubt she planted in Ekko sprout when he hesitates to kill Jinx on the Bridge of Progress when he sees Powder in her. (Inadvertedly, Vi saved Jinx's life here. Both Ekko and Vi are wrong because Jinx IS Powder.)

Zaun vs Jinx. Chem-Barons want Silco to hand over Jinx so that the Enforcers will lift their blockade. Sevika tells Silco Jinx is a liability in their mission for an independent Zaun. Silco refuses to hand over Jinx (because it's not a choice between Jinx or Zaun — Jinx IS Zaun, but that's a post for another day).

The Enforcer's brutality is shown in full force. Viktor argues with Jayce for ordering a blockade on the undercity. Ekko calls out Vi for the Enforcers treating people in the undercity like animals.

Why Silco fights for Zaun. He gives a whole speech about suffocating in the toxic fumes of the mines to reestablish his dominance and reaffirm Sevika's loyalty. He reminds them that just because they've had a taste of fresh air, it doesn't mean they should forget that they still all come from the dirt.

Jayce's moral spiral in the name of progress. He's tormented by his betrayal of Heimerdinger, calls on Enforcers to terrorize the undercity, alienates Viktor, and eventually makes the choice (with Mel's urging) to weaponize Hextech.

Ekko vs Jinx. The quick 3-minute scene on the Bridge of Progress did so much for Arcane's reputation. If you asked me what Arcane is about, I would point to that scene. It showed who Ekko is. It showed who Jinx is. It showed the history and relationship between them. It is a commentary on Zaun and its children. Every frame is literally a well-conceived painting. It placed Ekko and Jinx as foils — Ekko is what could be if everything went right and Jinx as what happened when everything went wrong.

Let's talk about what Pretend Like It's The First Time showed us:

Only Powder grieves Vi. Whether purposefully or otherwise, the episode paints Vi as someone who would have been better off as a child martyr. Mind you, in the original timeline, she was presumed dead at about the same age, but I suppose a teen languishing in prison doesn't have the same impact as a public tragedy with a visibly gruesome corpse. Vi's previously established connection with her community is diminished. They DID already mourn her and thought they lost her, and their grief was memorialized through a mural because they cared for HER. In S2, Ekko only paints a mural of Vi to placate Powder, implying that her sister was the only one to truly mourn Vi's passing.

Everyone is free to move to and from the Bridge of Progress. Where are the Enforcers? Why are they gone? Who's keeping out the undercity folks sick from mining gas from mingling with the topsiders? The episode doesn't care.

Silco's life is made better by forgiving Vander. This makes it seem that Silco turned to a life of crime out of spite for one person, when S1E7 had him make a whole monologue why he built his Shimmer empire in the first place. They were being poisoned in the mines — did him and Vander making up clear up all the toxic waste in the undercity? How? When they were younger and working together, Zaun was still polluted, so what's different now?

Perfection is either pretending problems never existed in the first place or everyone turning into lifeless statues. Ekko's version of a perfect world and Viktor's version of a perfect world are both heavily sanitized dystopias utopias that ignore history and come at the cost of sacrificing innocent people. The episode never interrogates this.

Ekko and Jinx. I love Stromae but that dance sequence does not live up to S1E7 at all. The animation consists of blurry and choppy frames — an unimaginative way to simulate the feeling of being in love. Ekko apologizes to Powder for being "consumed" by all the ways the undercity wasn't perfect and "giving up on it" WHEN HE NEVER DID. Maybe he gave up on trying to save Powder, but he kept fighting for the undercity. His flaw was (understandably) looking down on Jinx as an enemy and seperate from the undercity rather than someone who shared their plight. What Ekko had to overcome was seeing everyone as deserving of saving and not just establishing another gated community. He shouldn't have seen Jinx deserving of love only when she was Powder. He should have seen Jinx as Jinx (mental illness, full of shimmer, uncontrollable) and came to the realization she's still one of them.

TL;DR: The Boy Savior was supposed to throw the nickname in Ekko's face because instead of saving Jinx, he was already counting her out as a "necessary sacrifice" for their community to move forward. S1E7 tackled with the idea of having "necessary sacrifices" in the name of progress. Give them this problem child and save Zaun, give up on your sister and move on with your life, just sell out this person that no one cares about and is only a burden on society and everything would be hunky-dory. Silco said no, Vi said no, Ekko said yes and then hesitated (which still led to her death if Silco hadn't saved her). But the message is clear — you do not better your society by sacrificing a scapegoat. Jinx is a product of the evils of her environment, not the cause of it. Class solidarity and all that, something something we are closer to the homeless and the drug addicts than we are to the politicians and billionaires.

However, S2E7 affirmed that, yes, sometimes children do have to die and we do have to sacrifice people for the world to be a better a place. What a mess.

[thataromanticbisexual]

I have an arcane 'hot take'

I wish they ended season two off at the end of act 2—now stay with please just stay with me for a moment!!

just so you know this is a really long rant so i'm sorry in advance, spoilerss ahead ofc!

main focus characters mentioned + timebomb—

────────── ⊹ ⊱ ☆ ⊰ ⊹ ──────────

Most of us know (at least i think everyone knows) that arcane was originally supposed to be a five season show, i repeat a five season show. And i really fucking wish they kept it this way, or at least made it a season longer than it ended up being. But don't get me wrong, i'm happy (and maybe a little heartbroken) with the ending we got. I just wish they didn't condense it down into the two seaon show.

In all honesty, It felt a tiny bit rushed. And yes, maybe that was our fault for making so many theories, but either way, they introduced so SO many new themes, for non league players (like myself) an episode or half on magic on it's own, and don't get me started on the new characters. There wasn't enough time to explore all of their backstories, or their motives in only nine episodes. We needed more time, i'm sure we can all agree on that, right? Do you get what i mean?

To get a better idea of what I mean next I’ve provided visual representation, oh yeah

Personally think this would’ve been a pretty good ending for the season. The cliffhanger would leave fans pissed but it would do numbers.

So instead of cramming all of the seasons plots + sub plots into those three acts, they could extend it and explore those points in more detail and depth. We'd be able to develop a much better understanding of those plots.

─────────────────────────

An example of the extended plots i'd like to make clear is Maddie. She was iffy from the start. Sure she was cute and seemed sweet and all, but there was something off about her. And then we learn that she was actually working under Ambessa's wing, fuck we've already missed so much.

Why was she working for Ambessa? Why was she smiling like a bitch when she was abt to shoot Cait? Did she have ulterior motives outside of being a pawn in Ambessa's game? There's other points that i can't think of right now, but there's missing infomation. There is holes.

Then there's Enforcer Vi, Act 2 Caitlyn and Vi. Their arcs in the story were watered down DRASTICALLY. In a simple summary, we witnessed vi become an enforcer, the caitvi get together and divorce in the same episode. Then we saw the start and the end of Caitlyn's dictator arc from the 6 month timeskip in like under 20 minutes of screentime. And we also got 2 lousy minutes of pit fighter Vi from said timeskip. There was major external and internal struggle for the both of them during this time in their lives and it impacted them a shit tonne in different ways, and it was basically was skipped over like it was nothing. These experiences alone impacted their mental health heavily. We could’ve gotten so much more from this!! Be so fucking for real.

And then there's Jinx and Isha. We got flashbacks during Act 2 Ep6, but thats the thing, they were just flashbacks. We didn't get to experience the whole thing. We see this huge change in Jinx after the time skip, and it was all because she had Isha to ground her. And we see nothing of this. The character development was pivotal, and we missed it.

Same slightly goes for Ep9. Jinx lost Isha, and she's about to kill herself. Then Ekko steps in and saves the day. Next time we fucking see them they're in different outfits, they've got paint and doodles on each other, AND they've teamed up? Ugh! Again we've missed so much. And to top it all off, it was confirmed that they scrapped at least 30 minutes of timebomb footage between?? God damn.

All of these points could have been explored deeper if only we had more time. More of Maddie’s story, more of pit fighter Vi, more of dictator Cait, more of Jinx, Isha, Ekko.

Sometimes these things can’t be helped but it would’ve been so nice.

Got opinions? If you do I’d actually love to hear more theories from you people. I love to see your thoughts and stand points.

(and i also just want to point out that theres a FUCKING petition to relase the extended cut of the caitvi sesbian lex scene, which is so crazy and insane... anyway heres the link if you want it)

[aveadore]

Tumblr, hear out my Arcane thoughts. Some of it is slander, though, so don’t read if it’ll bum you out. In the end, I decided to go with one topic mostly, because I had too much to say.

Spoilers, obviously

Tw: suicide

The way the show handles suicide is SO irresponsible. Call it heroic sacrifice, if you must, but I won’t. The same song that played before, during Jinx’s attempts, played again, during her sacrifice, so the intention is clear.

Do they not realize that so many people that relate to Jinx in some ways are watching it? It’s like they are trying to say: “yes, your intrusive thoughts are right, you are better off not being there. It’s best for your loved ones, if you disappear.” So weird. And, fine, she’s probably not dead. But why hide it? Why not make her end be, openly: “sometimes, you can only heal if you cut everyone off and start anew” Fine. That would be way better. I just can’t believe that such a high profile show, in year 2024, uses suicide in such an irresponsible way. Makes it “cool” looking, gives vulnerable people a playlist, actually. Says “wait a minute, not yet”, and later LETS HER FINISH IT? Wft. Like it’s okay? Like it’s a good end for her?

Isha’s story is also part of this problem. I can’t believe her earlier end was not mentioned later. What was the point of it? Was it a good thing for a seven year old to sacrifice herself? You would think so, they way the show sidesteps the whole thing. The way Jinx is repeating what Isha had done, with no reflection on it. I also have no idea WHY Isha has done it. Was it a consequence of something someone else did, or said? Didn’t seem so. Jinx didn’t really fuck that one up, I think. I thought Isha was jinx’s foil, but it ended up not meaning anything. Was it going to show Jinx her own actions as a child, so she could find some empathy towards Vi? But Isha was not mentioned, so who knows what they were trying to say.

Summary of my other opinions, with no details as it’s too long already:

-I liked Victor and Jayce’s ending. Their relationship had enough time/buildup throughout the whole series to pull of the weight of it. It was a little bit rushed at times, but not as much as the rest of S2.

-I absolutely hated how they handled Cait, and she definitely ended up as my most disliked character.

-Mel was one of my favourites, but her story was the most rushed one is S2. I also wasn’t crazy happy that she also ended up mostly fighting at the end. I have no idea what the Black Rose lady was talking about with the whole empathy thing.

-I really liked episode 7, it was the best one from S2. Because they focused only on Ekko and Jayce, the story had time to breathe. The whiplash between their parts was crazy, but in a good way.

-The way they introduced the third faction, just so all main characters could unite was such a cop-out. The systemic problems were much too big to just be fixed by that, and the show just brushes it all under the rug. And the end is just fighting. Ugh.

-Well, it was obviously very pretty. Every frame a perfect picture and all that. Weird complaint, but some designs were “too good”. Too polished. Too much like a high-end commercial for a new skin that costs 200$. It was so distracting for me :P Especially with some Victor “outfits”

-The biggest, most pervasive problem was the time. So much stuff, so little time. It should have been three seasons. There was no time to breathe, no time to understand what’s going on. Characters running from one massive scene to next, with no build-up in between. Just so everyone can end up similar enough to their LoL variant. A bit disappointing.

[ninthhousedyke]

Arcane Season 2 Final Thoughts (Spoilers)

I adore this series. This series has single handedly filled a hole in my life for media that does everything I have ever wanted: hot women, complex villains, morally grey characters, dynamic and powerful worldbuilding, emotional moments that sit in my chest, animation too powerful to comprehend. I have loved and obsessed over this series for years and I am so sad to see it go. I have been introduced to the world of Runeterra and have fallen down the rabbit hole of League of Legends lore and I am so grateful to the series for introducing me to this new fandom.

That being said, I was let down by episodes 8 and 9 of season two. Episode 9 primarily. These are some thoughts I have based on my watch, but I want to make it clear that I have not rewatched in-depth just yet. These are all preliminary feelings that I had. Overall, I do not find that two poorly executed episodes tarnish the overall quality of this show, which did so much so well, but I do think that dropping the ball on these final episodes will leave a displeasing taste in my mouth about the series going forward. I know the writers were excited to move on to new areas in the world, and I’m excited to see what they do next as I am manifesting Riven in an upcoming Noxus show, but I think they lost sight of how best to wrap up what they were doing in Arcane.

Episode 7 was fantastic, no notes.

Episode 8 had many incredible moments and for the most part was fine. The ending scene with Viktor as the Twenty-One Pilots song plays was jaw-dropping!!! I have opinions on the CaitVi sex scene because I think it could have been done better, but I will write fanfiction about it and everything will be fine. No one wants my whole thesis on that skdhsgd.

I think when Jayce rallies Piltover and Zaun to fight against Viktor and Ambessa, there should have been more discussion on what Zaun gets in return for helping. I think this would have been a good moment for Sevika to get actual fucking lines and negotiate for independence as the price of Zaun’s aid. This would have made her becoming the de facto head of Zaun more explicitly understood, and would have paralleled when Jayce made the initial deal for independence with Silco in season 1.

Episode 9 was just weird. Viktor as the mage that saved Jayce as a kid? No. No that’s not what happened actually. Ekko using time travel but the time travel really not doing anything for the plot? How could you do that to my boy?? Viktor not being evil anymore by the power of homoerotic friendship? I’m sure the JayVik shippers are happy but that’s definitely not it. Maddie as a Noxus spy? Guys you killed her a second later, what was the point of that? We don’t even get an explanation as to what the fuck was up there.

In my opinion, Ambessa and Caitlyn should have had the chance to fight for real. Not when Caitlyn is injured and not with Mel assisting. A genuine duel between these two women in front of the crowd with stakes on the line (maybe Ambessa uses Vi’s life as a bargaining chip?). When Ambessa gets the upper hand and everything is about to go to shit, then Mel steps in and we get mage duel and the death of Ambessa. Followed by the realization Viktor has used this as the distraction to get inside the hex gates. Jayce and Viktor get their epic battle and Jayce kills him, with or without his own sacrifice. I think either option would have been good.

(Side note: full Machine Herald Viktor was jaw-dropping. They ate that shit up for real.)

Rather than Jinx “sacrificing herself” she could simply save Vi from Warwick and they both can mourn together the true loss of Vander. Jinx tells Vi she knows that together all they do is cause each other pain and maybe its best if they go their separate ways. They get a final sister hug and a promise to be there if the other ever needs it. Jinx leaves with Ekko (Timebomb shippers can be happy) and Vi returns to Caitlyn. We end with that beautiful speech from Caitlyn about the stories not being over and the image of everyone’s papers burning off into the sky.

Am I….gonna write an entire fix-it for the last two episodes? Oh God….I’m gonna write an entire fix-it for the last two episodes.

Alright yeah, those are my thoughts. I want to reiterate that this show means the world to me. My current WIP is shamelessly inspired by Arcane and I cannot thank this show enough for everything it has done for me. I think this is a solid 4.5/5 star series, and you can’t get everything right. I don’t blame the writer’s too much; they’re human too.

At the end of the day, this fandom will come together to do exactly what Arcane has told us to do: tell our own stories and make better futures for everyone.

[idreamofneonsheep]

Can't stop thinking abt arcane s2, specifically the alternate timelines episode where jayce goes through it and ekko does science.

By the time we'd reached that episode, my sibling and I already disliked the season and were just watching it to see if it managed to get any better later on.

So we were chilling, making fun of this or that and wondering why the pacing was so strange when we started seeing the telltale signs of romance between ekko and powder/jinx. Now, my first thought was "really???" because I'm a hater of 99% of romantic pairings in media and don't find it enjoyable to watch/read. My second thought was "wait wait wait, hold up. explain how this timeline hopping works Right Now."

And thus the alarm bells starting going off as my mind worked overtime to try to figure out how this works. Is this timeline more like an illusion than a concrete world, where the people there will cease to exist when heimerdinger and ekko leave? Did the ekko and heimerdinger of this world get swapped with the ones we've been following? Are our guys in the bodies of their counterparts?

I would have had these thoughts regardless, because I quite enjoy overanalyzing media. The reason the alarm bells were ringing was because, depending on the answer to those questions, the romance between ekko and jinx/powder gets questionable.

As the episode continued it became clear that our ekko (ekko1) was very different from the ekko (ekko2) the people of this new timeline know and expect (which makes sense). To be clear, at this point, regardless of how the timeline hopping works, the romance is Very Uncomfortable. Ekko1 and ekko2 are clearly different people/characters. They could be likened to identical twins, really.

So. We're watching the episode. I'm crocheting a far too long single chain because it's all I know how to do. Sibling is judging me for my single chain of weird, sad brown yarn.

Dance scene comes up. We mock it, as we do with things we find strange, unnecessary, and annoying. The lingering sound of alarm bells is fostered by dread as we watch powder think she's hanging out with her pal ekko2 in a romantic way. The dread grows and the bells clang as we realize "they're going to kiss".

They kiss.

We sit for a moment, silence creeping in as the bells start dying. The episode plays on.

We look at each other.

The episode is finished in disappointed and disgusted silence.

Perhaps my horror was more visceral than my sibling's, as this episode has certainly not stuck with them as it did me, but I just. Whatever cute relationship stuff the creators were going for was ruined Immediately.

Powder kissed someone because she thought they were someone else, and there was nothing done to correct that assumption or apologize or anything. Ekko1 kissed powder while she thought he was ekko2 and that just feels gross and awful to me.

Now, was ekko1 thinking of it like that? I seriously doubt it. Were the creators thinking of it like that? I also doubt it.

But sometimes I just sit and think abt how powder didn't know that it wasn't ekko2 she kissed until ekko1 dipped out of ekko2's body to go back to his own timeline. What did she think about that? After the confusion, what feeling came next?

So yeah, this episode of arcane s2 is on my list of Horrifying Romances, right there with 50 first dates

[clonerightsagenda]

I shockingly have not been spoiled for Arcane yet, but I don't trust that state of affairs to last. Luckily I'm fairly chill about spoilers, but let's get an episode knocked out before grocery shopping.

(Also Netflix sent me an email yesterday asking 'how did you like Arcane' and it's like believe it or not Netflix, I did not watch it all. I was in the car.)

S2E8

Oh hey the disk image is different!

Nice touch with og!Jinx being shown first as the reflection

Ekko got yeeted into the good end!independentZaun!everybodylives!AU M/F relationship TimeBomb AO3 universe and he is NOT giving it kudos

well I suppose killing Milo spared him from that facial hair

What happened to the Ekko in this universe that this Ekko replaced? Will he resurface if 'our' Ekko leaves?

Jayce on the other hand got bad end!everybody dies

Never mind, this is not the everybody lives universe. And Powder can't escape killing family members no matter what. Universal constant

Feels funny having that post about Pompeii bodies going around rn because the bad end remains are very reminiscent of that

Jayce getting a leg injury to mirror Viktor. Oh, then a brace and staff too

Of all the characters to literally claw their way out of the underground, Jayce makes the least sense symbolically

Is Powder going to figure out Ekko wants her help to build something that will allow him to abandon her?

Ekko has created his time travel device. It's call the Z Drive ingame, right?

Heimerdinger getting exploded in the background lol

Silco?? If the point of deviation in this universe is Vi dying on the mission (presumably getting hextech banned and providing a sob story that helped convince Piltover to give Zaun independence) at that point Silco was already a crime baron making magic drugs.

What changed? Did he feel he no longer needed all that since Zaun was independent? Or did the loss of the kid they both promised to protect shock him enough that he reached out to Vander? I guess I could press play and maybe find out.

France exists in this universe. Or at least French.

"Can we just pretend like it's the first time?" In between running frantic calculations about time travel and dimension hopping Ekko has another secret chalkboard running frantic calculations about whether this universe's version of him has been making out with Jinx or not. He has come down on Probably.

I assumed the central figure in destroyed Piltover would be Viktor, but no this appears to be Jayce's corpse. Is the hooded figure going to be Viktor?

Heimerdinger heroic sacrifice. I did not expect that and also I do not care

Oh good, AU!Ekko is still there!

[tsscat]

Things I fully think could have *all* been addressed reasonably in nine episodes and woven together if they had planned the writing thoughtfully and efficiently:

Ekko time travel (his episode was great, I think it should have been earlier)

Caitlyn fascism arc AND redemption (should have fully started earlier)

Ambessa as the main villain (more time given to flesh her out)

Mel black rose arc (should have had more connections to Piltover plot via Ambessa so it felt less out of place. Also should have started earlier)

Viktor god arc (tbh could have basically happened as is, except for end)

Jayce anti magic arc (could happen as is, with rewrites to his character writing near the end)

Zaun revolution arc centering Sevika (easily be woven into the entire nine episodes)

Vi going from cop to rock bottom to working with Jinx (I don’t think Warwick should have been the reason though. Major rewrites would need to happen here)

Caitvi endgame that’s more convincing to both of them

Even Warwick tbh but I think Warwick actually getting to the point of full sentience is unachievable. But that’s actually more compelling because it’s part of the tragedy

I think fully the issues with a lot of these is

there was a lot of waffling/backtracking with arcs, which isn’t wrong inherently but in nine episodes is less feasible because you need to be efficient with time

Too much focus on shit that did not need much unpacking. I do not think finding the secret vander room was necessary nor do I think a lot of the Isha stuff. Was necessary. For what they were trying to achieve (also lowkey I do Not Think so much of the final episode should have been dedicated to Jayce trying to “get through” to Viktor I think it was stupid and doesn’t make sense but whatever I know people will get mad at me for saying that so)

Glossing over shit that should not have been glossed over! I actually really loved the amvs I think they were a really cool way to do story telling but I also do feel like they were used on the wrong stuff a lot of the time. I think they should have been used in the middle of episodes more when the momentum was already clearly defined. But even beyond that I do feel like there was a lot of stuff that was just kinda glossed over. I know Arcane is king of trusting their audience with subtle storytelling but there’s a difference between that and making your audience do the work you should be doing.

[echo-of-the-eye]

Arcane season 2 arc 3 live thoughts:

SPOILERS

• Damn the timebomb shippers are being fed tonight. Gotta admit I never really saw it but I think I get it now. They’re cute.

• Time travel and alternate dimensions is. Interesting? Not what I was expecting exactly but I don’t mind (well the time travel I kinda expected. I don’t know shit about lol but I’ve heard people say that’s part of ekko’s powers). It can be kinda an overdone trope but I think they did it really well.

• Alt powder is interesting. Find it hard to believe that she’s this.. stable? Even if she lived a much better life she still lost vi in a very traumatic accident that was TECHNICALLY her fault. And I think it’s been implied that she was predisposed to mental illness even as a child. That said she might still be having hallucinations but is just better at coping with them. It was sweet to see her happy though even if she was barely recognizable (which I guess is kinda the point)

• Also alt powder looks like Melanie king (as much as you can look like a character with no canon design, but you know what I mean)

• Was there? Something between mylo and claggor?? I swear they shared a look.

• Heimerdinger no! (Jk I don’t really care about him, he was fun I guess. And he can sing!?)

• The apocalyptic timeline was scary as hell. Jayce had it ROUGH. His actions are pretty understandable now. Still not quite out of the question mark zone.

• MEL!?!!!!

• Viktor is alive! Good for me. Probably terrible for everyone else.

• Oh. Oh Viktor. Noo….. oh he’s so problematic now.

• Oh jinx:(((( my heart

• VIKTOR!!?!! Oh god he’s gonna be the main antagonist isn’t he? I was afraid this would happen. “My partner died in this room” AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH yeah he did. That’s not Viktor anymore:( He’s an extension of the arcane.

• God my feelings about him are so complicated. He is so so wrong. But I stand by my cancelled wife.

• Ok they’re not allowed to do this to me. Jinx I love you.

• Pfft. Jayce’s outfit looks ridiculous.

• Oh topside and bottom coming together

• CAITVI LETS GOOOOO!

• In a prison cell? Really?

• Vander:(

• Oh god Viktor. I didn’t think it could get worse. I’m guessing this is what the lol fans have been talking about. I’m kinda sad honestly. Viktor is my second favorite (after jinx) and even though everyone in the show is morally gray (except maybe ekko) it still hurts to see a character I love basically become a villain. Like it’s a good story and arc, but still sad to see. Especially cause I wasn’t expecting it going into s2. I guess I can kinda comfort myself with the fact that it basically isn’t him anymore. It’s easier to accept that he’s dead and what we’re seeing is not him (which is what Jayce did) but at what point do we stop being ourselves?

• Alright final episode, let’s see how it goes.

• Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck starting of strong I see! Jiiinnxxxx!!! My girl:(

• Nooo Vi’s friend is dead:(

• MADDIE??!?!!!!??!!?!!!???! I FUCKING KNEW SHE WAS TERRIBLE!!! Guess she didn’t take the breakup well (jk I’m guessing she was with ambessa the whole time)

• HELL YEAH!!! JINX AND EKKO LETS GO!

• Gotta admit I’m not the biggest fan of jinx’s new look

• Ah fate vs free will. The good ole question. Love that shit. (Viktor are you secretly with The Web?)

• Hell yeah Mel!

• Ekko to the rescue! Truly the boy savior.

• Omgogmgmmtogmgmtmshhahajak

• I. Do not have the words. I’m a sobbing mess.

• Viktor’s still in there! DOOMED YAOI! They’re almost as good as jmart (though nothing could ever live up to them). Good shit. I am now fully on board the jayvik train. I love them so much! Gay love couldn’t save them but at least it could bring Viktor back to clarity for a moment. ALSO I FUCKING CALLED IT ON VIKTOR BEING TGE WIZARD!! I didn’t say anything cause either thought I was being stupid but when I first saw him in ep7 I thought it was Viktor at first and then got the feeling it was him before he sent Jayce back! There had to be a reason they were dressed so similar! The time travel is kinda fucking with me but damn. Viktor is the one who saved Jayce!

• Jinx;-; heartbreaking but it felt like a fitting end for her. Going out with the monkey bomb, taking Vander with her.

• They fucking killed both of my faves! At least vi and ekko are okay

• God that was so fucking good. Was kinda concerned at first, the battle was awesome but wasn’t really feeling the emotions. Jokes on me cause the emotions definitely hit me

[francesderwent]

Thoughts on arcane 4-6

1. Isha just frankly didn't bring anything so far that wouldn't have been strengthened without her! Vi could EASILY have been about to kill Jinx at the end of 3 and then been unable to do it because that's her sister, try to talk down Cait, Jinx's desperate need for revenge cooled due to that, Sevika could have been the one imprisoned meaning Jinx had to go to the prison because they do care about each other in a fucked up way, and then Jinx gets Vi to help after meeting Vander. The entire story would work with previously known characters, and I just feel it would have had much more emotional depth than introducing this new, completely unintegrated character and saying yeah haha jinx isn't killing people anyone because she's hanging out with a child. Cut it!

2. It DOES weaken the backstory but vi jinx and vander reconciliation made me emotional.

3. Regarding point 2 - I will allow the weakening of Jinx as a father killer IF Vander survives into act 3 which the preview suggests he will and vi is forced to kill vander to protect innocents, thus making her and Jinx mirrors. That would slay I truly believe.

4. WHERE ARE THE BOYZ (Ekko and Heimerdinger boy band)

5. Of course it's Jayce fucks this all up (said with understanding that he's not actively malicious but also wtf).

6. See I reckon there could be FASCINATING parallels between the cult, which clearly tampers with people's minds and emotions to an extent, and Ekko's paradise which is just people trying to be good, but unfortunately the show writers this season are not as smart as me.

7. The way I'm actually really liking Mel out of absolutely nowhere all she needed was to be trapped in a mind prison and become a mage for me to be like wait...

oh, I agree, she’s an unnecessary plot device lol. the only one of the moments you list that I think Isha does enhance is Vi being unable to kill Jinx—because if three episodes in, we get Vi realizing that IN HERSELF she is unable to kill her sister, no matter what she’s done, where do we go from there? that’s practically the end of the whole arc. whereas in the scene as it exists, Vi gets to realize “I’m not willing to hurt anyone and everything in order to destroy evil” which separates her from Cait in that moment, AND she gets to realize “there might still be something good in my sister and yet she’s still not my same little sister anymore”. it lets Jinx appear as an equal for a moment! which is such a crazy moment as an older sibling, when you look at them and realize hey they’re not a kid anymore!! this, I think, COULD have set us up for really interesting sibling dynamics moving forward, with Vi still kind of on the “we need to defeat Jinx” train, but conflicted about it and more worried about the collateral. Obviously they didn’t do it, and it didn’t work. But I think this would have ESPECIALLY worked if they built up Isha in the first three episodes (by letting her TALK for example), and then had Cait take a second shot after Vi tries to stop her and actually genuinely kill Isha in this scene, or had Isha be a casualty of the explosion Jinx set off, or something.

I’m genuinely happy for you but it just annoyed me haha. I was devastated they would do that to Vander, and then I was insulted that presumably the whole point of them inventing Vander in the first place was to turn him into this league of legends wolfman

that is so fucked up and I am so impressed by you thinking of it

WHERE ARE THE BOYS????????? they really said “here are our incorruptible characters. they’ve teamed up. you will never see them again”

getting possessed (?) is the most in-character thing for Jayce to do, he never had a mind of his own anyway

ooooooh the cult which demands you lay down your weapons! the firelights which take up arms against the people poisoning their streets! Viktor takes away people’s suffering, removing the negatives—Ekko gives people a positive reason to LIVE

no seriously, honestly I think they just had to get her away from her favorite hobby of leading Jayce by the nose and I was like “hmmm slay perhaps?”

[madwolf023prompts]

Yesterday I watched Arcane season 2. I had many thoughts and opinions about season 2.

But the biggest thought that went through my head was: How did Arcane shape shipping?

Specifically how Arcane has shaped what ships Fanfic writers have predominately written about.

So using Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, and taking the data from AO3, which was literally me clicking on the relationship tab and seeing what the top fics were, I made some discovery’s.

The results should not surprise you, but I’m still compelled to write about it anyway because it’s been driving me insane.

There are disclaimers at the bottom that I find interesting, and add context, but are minimally impactful to what I’m going to write.

There may be some spoilers for who the most popular ships are, but I'm not going to actively discuss why those characters are the most popular ships, nor talk about the canonicity of said ships. Still, if you don't want to know anything at all about Arcane at all, especially which characters share a bond that could be described as romantic, then I'd advise you don't continue reading. Particularly for season 2, where I discuss a particular pairing. (I only mention that they get close/closer/meet/interact in season 2, not any specifics). I also mention that a character does not appear in Arcane.

Let’s start with a baseline:

As of Janurary 27, 2025, the League of Legends most popular ships are:

Not really surprising.

On January 14, 2021 League of Legends shipping looked like this:

Now the big things to note here is A) Akali/Evelynn is the top of the chart. B) Caitlyn/Vi is the second most popular pairing. C) Neither Jayce/Viktor, nor Ekko/Jinx are popular enough in the LoL community on AO3 to warrant enough fics to make this list. There is a little bit of interesting history here. Sometime between July 25th and December 11th, 2019, Caitlyn/Vi had gone from the most popular pairing to second most popular pairing behind Akali/Evelynn.

Next date October 16, 2021

This was the closest date I could find before Arcane released (there is a date that is closer after Arcane released, but I'll talk about that in a moment). This shows a very interesting: Over ten months: Akali/Evelynn had added 177 fics, Ahri/Kai'Sa had added 132 fics. Ahri/Evelynn, which hadn't been on the list had added at least 62 fics. Caitlyn/Vi had added 26 fics. The K/DA group was winning the shipping. Caitlyn/Vi had been relegated, and likely Ahri/Evelynn was looking to take it's place in the (relative to pre Arcane fic production level) near future.

Then Arcane Season 1 released on November 6th, 2021.

On November 11, 2021

Caitlyn/Vi had added 17 fics in a one month time frame. Akali/Evelynn had added 5 fics, Ahri/Kai'Sa had added 0 fics. Now, by this point, Caitlyn and Vi hadn't even interacted. (This was after the release of Arc 1, the first three episodes of Arcane). But there is a notable shift from, presumedly from information about future episodes such as trailers, that invigorated (or reinvigorated old fans of the ship) to create new fics of the two.

The next available date on the Wayback Machine is November 27, 2021, after the end of Season 1.

I would have loved to see the information at the end of Arc 2. How long did it take the Cait/Vi writers and Jayce/Viktor (who, unlike Cait/Vi had interacted in Arc 1) to get going. After Arc 2, or did it wait until the end of the first season? In any case, it's clear by now that Arcane had done two things: Reignited a ship that was starting to fall behind, and turbocharged a new ship.

November 29, 2021

Not much to say here, except the supercharge for both continue.

December 7, 2021

Return of the Queen(s). Honestly, at this point the trend is clear. Jayce/Viktor was clearly going to overtake Akali/Evelynn soon from this point. So, we're done. Cait/Vi and Jayce/Viktor are at the top, and probably anticipate to stay there for quite some time.

But.... isn't there another pairing who was completely absent from the original list on January 14, 2021? Who's popularity is almost entirely surrounded by Arcane?

Well... Jinx/Ekko clearly was a season 2 thing. So there shouldn't be any shock about the fact they don't make the cut after season 1.

Here is the list on October 10, 2024.

One month before Season 2 is released, Ekko/Jinx is in 9th place. Now it's popularity is clearly inflated by the presence of Season 2, adding 380 fics, more than doubling. Still, why is it on the list in 2024 before season 2, but not in 2021, after season 1?

But, Ekko and Jinx interacted in Season 1. Maybe it was a bit of a delay. Fics aren't instantaneous, and maybe it was just right behind Malcom Graves/Twisted Fate? The 11th most popular pairing that was going to eclipse them soon.

This is... sort of the case. Somewhere between January 29th, 2022 and March 4th, 2022, Ekko/Jinx would become the 9th most popular pairing.

So... there we are. Arcane has clearly changed the landscape of LoL shipping, in the same way that I imagine K/DA did, (though on a much more intense and broader scale, as seen by the pure number of fics).

You have some clear older pairings that have remained somewhat popular. LoL has clearly been doing other things in the background that isn't Arcane that has also shaped shipping. Ezreal/Shieda Kayn appears sometime between March 4th, 2022 and October 10, 2024 and outperforms Ekko/Jinx until Season 2 of Arcane.

But by far, the biggest driver of shipping has to be Arcane. Six of the top ten most popular 'ships' (including three friendship tags for characters), are full Arcane ships (in which both characters appear in Arcane), and an additional ship is a half Arcane ship (involving a character from Arcane, and a character not from Arcane.) Compared to prior to the show being release, where only one pairing of the top ten would be considered today a full Arcane ship, and another would be a half Arcane ship, this showcases how much the shipping landscape has changed.

This wasn't a project I intended to do. It started with a thought. I wonder how popular Jayce and Viktor were before Arcane. I then lost about three hours of my life.

Damn.

Anyway disclaimers below:

Disclaimers:

1) This is not a thoroughly researched paper, nor should it be considered as such. This took me an hour of research (and two hours writing), and honestly most of it was doublechecking the dates. Because of that:

1a) I only use AO3. If I was being serious and doing a more in-depth research, I would have also done research on at least Fanfic.net, and a more general search online of where LoL fics are located. But AO3 is honestly the easiest to navigate, and as the most popular one should show enough of the pattern to make a generalized statement on my non academic post. 

2) As anyone who has used the wayback machine can tell you, the wayback machine are ‘screenshots’ of a particular moment in time. It is not updated constantly. Particularly for something a bit… niche like this. For example, the first sceeenshot I could find for LoL fics on AO3 is November 7, 2012, which has 7 fics: one labeled maybe romance, one gen fic, two M/F but no ships attached (though one fic does have Morgana and Katarina as the only two characters listed, so I’m guessing them, the other has Jarvan Lightshield IV, Pantheon- The Artisan of War, Hagurashi Kagome as the tags), one Miss Fortune/Twisted Fate fic, one Garen/Katerina fic, and one Ezreal/Shyvana | Jarvin IV/Shyvana fic. The next date is November 9th, same fics. After that is January 24th, 2013, with 15 fics. So some dates are used not because they make the most sense, but because they are the closest date I could find to the date that would make the most sense. 

This brings up an interesting point:

2a) Fics disappear. One of the fics I mention no longer seems to exist on AO3. That means that, especially as we approach the more modern day, a lot of fics may have disappeared. So if I say: there were 100 fics about Vi/Cait, that means when the screenshot was taken there were, at that time, 100 fics about Vi/Cait on AO3, and not that there were only 100 Vi/Cait fics ever posted on AO3 before that point. 

3) I am not a LoL fan. I enjoyed Arcane, but beyond Arcane and some TB Skyen shorts I’ve watched, I know nothing about LoL and its world. If you had asked me before December 2021 (when I first watched Arcane season 1) I could have identified: K/DA (though I would not have known they were related to LoL), and Jinx. My knowledge has only improved based entirely around Arcane. (And TB Skyen shorts)

4) I touch upon this briefly, but Jinx/Lux is an interesting case. Similar to Caitlyn/Vi it appears in the top ten list the entire time I check, so it had some popularity before Arcane came out. But... Lux isn't in Arcane. I can't speak to the appeal that Jinx/Lux has in the same way that I could for Cait/Vi, Viktor/Jayce, or Ekko/Jinx. I have theories on why it's popular, and why it became supercharged in it's popularity since Arcane, but that is well outside the scope of what I actually researched and am presenting, and would require much more research than I want to do. I'm looking into: Did fics involving pairings increase after show began, not why did certain pairings become much more popular instead of others.

Last Note:

I don't use Tumblr much anymore. I stopped opening the App on a daily basis 5-6 years ago. I check maybe every few months. I had one 'viral' post. The email attached to this Tumblr account is one I never use anymore.

I always told myself that once I became an author I'd return to Tumblr. Realize my dreams. That's not progressing the way I'd hoped. And I'm honestly probably happier for it.

I do publish fanfics of my own, but honestly not that much. (Check out Madwolf023 on AO3 if for some reason a demon possessed you while reading this and is now forcing you to read my fics.) When I started using Tumblr I thought I'd be writing fics every day of my life. Spoiler Alert I did not. As with most people, my focus changed. I still love writing, and still I'm more focused on fun research now that I do for myself, and is like this: Scientifically and Academically dubious, but enough to satisfy my itch.

The reason I say this is as a bit of a swan song to myself, an admittance to myself that maybe work in the creative fields isn't for me.

I'll still write, I'll still do the world building I love, which I have done in the years since I stopped using Tumblr.

But... for myself. Not really for the perceived audience I once hoped for.

For anybody who is really interested in this... thank you.

Madwolf023 out.

[hedonists-den]

wait what was wrong with arcane? I thought it was pretty good and I used to be really into league. just curious what it was that you didn't like

I want to clarify: Season 1 is FANTASTIC, and I can still go back and love it if I ignore where the show goes in Season 2.

This is going to be a longer post, for I have many grievances, in no particular order. I'll put a tl;dr at the end.

And I will acknowledge that I believe most of the issues stem from how rushed it was because they only wanted to do 2 seasons.

⚠️ SPOILERS FOR ARCANE SEASON 2 ⚠️

No character makes it out unscathed. Jayce actively does nothing or is sidelined most of the season when he should absolutely be intervening (act 1) and makes really stupid decisions given what he knows later in act 3, his and Mel's relationship is completely scrapped (even though it was really interesting) in favor of having Mel do...pretty much nothing all season in an alternate dimension, Heimerdinger is reduced to a silly caricature that seems to have no input on anything that's happening when he very much should and is then quickly forgotten about, Ekko and the Firelights are mostly forgotten about when it feels like they would have a massive stake in trying to stabilize Zaun all so that Ekko can have a shipping moment with not-Jinx that came out of nowhere (also he doesn't interact AT ALL with Vi in this season??), Vi almost immediately compromises her principles in episode 1 and joins a strike team in gassing Zaun which is actually insane given her character in season 1, Jinx's trauma is pretty much glossed over for a redemption arc that feels forced and feels like a complete 180 from what was teased in season 1 so that we can reach a "happy family" payoff that I just don't buy, Caitlyn does some of the most irrational flip-flopping on her motivation from episode to episode that I've ever seen, and her relationship with Vi feels weak compared to their relationship in season 1, Sevika is completely wasted as a character and I don't believe for a second that she would ever team up with Jinx after what happened in season 1 (especially that I don't believe for a second that she doesn't find out that Jinx killed Silco and then immediately try to kill her. Also the chomper claw arm is dumb), and arguably the worse offense: Vander's likeness is dragged from the grave and stapled to a different champion (Warwick, I've been told) to be used to reach a cheap payoff that felt so manipulative.

Silco gets his own point because he was my favorite character and even he doesn't survive the character annihilation in this season. He's retroactively turned into a dulled version of himself and it tries to play this whole "oh no, if only Silco had seen this note, everything could have been different..." that completely ignores the core of Silco and Vander's disagreement. And the alternate reality super happy place makes this worse. The only thing he says there is like a Disney Jr. message of today's episode line. And the flashbacks to him, Vander, and the girls' mom calls a lottttt into question with how Vander and Silco behave towards the girls in season 1.

Everything felt very spectacle > quality and plot > character. So much is just like, "Yeah! Look! So coooool!" rather than making things make sense and provide proper setups and payoffs that felt character based. Season 1 did all of this amazingly, so idk what happened.

Sooooo many storytelling opportunities left on the table in favor of rushing to a finale that didn't feel earned. Mainly, the almost complete dropping of the growing tensions between Piltover and Zaun which seemed to be the core of the show's drama. The Chem Barons are totally wasted and it would have been super interesting to see more of, but that's done away really quickly.

Thematically tone-deaf music videos that fail to completely capture the scenes that they're montaging over in a couple minutes. This goes in line with wasted opportunities.

Character interactions that feel missing/poorly fleshed-out, which I've sort of covered a little bit already. Characters do not say/do what they should/what we're given to believe they would because if they did act in character, the plot couldn't happen.

The whole season felt like it lost its teeth/edge. I mean, season 1, episode 3 sees the death of five named characters that you got to know fairly well before they bit it and, while sad and emotionally impactful, it's the result of character decisions and their fates feel narratively earned. The plot armor of (almost) all the characters is so ridiculous here. And yeah, I know there isn't a ton of wiggle room that they have with the champions because of game canon, but still, it's absurd. But to be fair, there is plenty of plot armor in Season 1 as well. That's one of my very few complaints about it.

The Jinx child. Just everything about her. She's a shallow plot device to achieve an unearned emotional shortcut.

tl;dr: Season 2 lacks the emotional depth, character dynamics, character conflict, sensical cause & effect, and proper dramatic tone that Season 1 built. The quality took a massive plummet, and after a second watch, I'm prepared to drop my rating from 4/10 to 3/10. Only the animation quality saves this season.