#arcane rambles

[aingeal98]

It is darkly hilarious as well as impressive how the fight choreography clearly showed the difference between Ambessa vs Mel and Ambessa vs Cait. Batting your daughter away as gently as you possibly can while locked in a 2v1 fight for your life vs Are You Ready to Die Today Caitlyn Kiramman.

[luminousdryad]

might just be me but I feel like Vi would've RAN out of that cell the second she was free to find her obviously suicidal sister and try to talk her out of it

I get that the point of Jinx telling her to "go be with her (Cait)" is for Vi to finally choose herself for once but when Vi was at her lowest during the pitfighter era, it was Jinx who brought her back by asking for her help with Warwick/Vander and through Jinx's gentleness with Isha, Vi finally saw Powder again and that's why she wondered if they could stay in Viktor's little haven

like I feel like these two never actually got to talk about certain things, like idk, Vi telling Jinx that it was Cait who got her out of prison, Jinx talking about how lost she is now that both Silco and Isha are gone, etc.

Ekko saving Jinx still could've worked, but Vi has to be the one to do it earlier

something that annoys me in Arcane is that for all the things they set up, the characters barely talk to each other about the issues (and when they do I feel like it's always glossed over or done offscreen; it was reasonable in S1 how Vi didn't know how to react during the tea party scene, but in S2? when she's had time to process what her sister has become?)

Vi going from determined to kill Jinx once and for all to pleading with her and telling her how much she loves her no matter what she becomes, no matter who she thinks she is, she will always be Powder to her (and maybe that she's sorry she failed to protect her and for being a bad sister to which Jinx can respond by refuting her words)

so when Jinx goes to end herself, she's more willing to hear Ekko out cause Vi, the person she's looked up to all her life and who takes priority even over Silco, finally told her she loved her unconditionally, echoing back to "I thought you could love me like you used to. Even though I'm different." And loving unconditionally doesn't mean tolerating their wrongs–it just means you care for them wholeheartedly despite the things they do. And for Jinx, who has always defined her worth by what she's able to do for people... that's exactly what she needs to hear to think twice.

(Vi's words are her anchor; Ekko's encouragement pulls her back to the surface)

[arcaneacolyte]

Mountain Ghoul chopping wood shirtless with overalls unclipped and dangling around his hips.

That's it, that's the vision.

[mollysunder]

I think it would be neat if Vi and Jinx weren't sisters, but were actually cousins instead. Back when I wrote that Lunari theory post I really dwelled on how immigration works for cities like Zaun and how it took on waves of refugees and migrant labor.

I ended up headcanoning Vi and Jinx as first cousins, their respective mothers were sisters instead. I imagined that Vi's mom moved to Zaun first to support their family in Targon. Eventually she met Vi's dad and they had Vi together. Things aren't great for them (not even close), but things are getting far worse in Targon for the rest of her family, where Solari aggression is only rising.

By the time Vi's maybe 6, Powder, Powder's mom, and a few extended cousins move into her home. It's pretty disorienting for everybody to get their bearings with. Powder doesn't even speak the Zaunite language, she's really young at this point, practically still a toddler. She clings to Vi because their the closest in age and Vi's still young enough to decipher toddler babble, even if it's in a language Vi only half knows. Vi was naturally frustrated by the influx of relatives but was quickly attached to Powder. It was helped by the way young children can look at kids no more than 3-4 years younger than them and think, "That's a BABY :D".

All the teens and adults in their family are working for the mines in some capacity, and they often got shafted with the most dangerous work, including Powder's mom. It wouldn't have been too long before Powder's mom was killed in a mining accident (gas, collapse, crowd crush, just so many ways for things to go wrong). Vi's mom informally adopts Powder (there's no paperwork), Vi and Powder are inseparable and the rest is history (for better or worse).

[saysaysayitaintso]

Jayce and Ekko talking was the weirdest but sweetest thing ever, It’s so interesting to get a glimpse at how much Ekko could’ve changed if he had received formal education topside.

When he’s talking to Jayce he shows perfect competency understanding the hexcore, and he’s already incredibly skilled to have organised so many people into one safe haven.

There’s something rly realistic and beautiful about how Arcane portrays potential and lack thereof.

[kurthummeldeservesbetter]

questions i want answered/things i want to see now that arcane (at least the Piltover/Zaun, Vi/Powder-Jinx, and Jayce/Viktor stories are over for now)

how did jayce find out viktor was in the hospital? (did he like go and get some water and an assistant was like hey your bro is down? did he feel it like a partner-to-partner connection?)

did vi ever mention to jayce that they were the ones who robbed his apartment (and therefore set in motion literally everything) or did jayce just mention it and one point and vi was like nope. never letting him know.

how did jesus!viktor 1.0 get out of Piltover with no one really noticing? he was naked, purple and glowing. had one sheet and a giant shepherd's crook. surely someone saw him pass and was like...was that the guy who helped Jayce Talis build the hexgates?

Mel origin story of when she got to Piltover. Actually just more Mel. Mel kicking ass and taking names politically before she even gets the magic upgrade. Yeah. I want to know more about her. Mel <3.

Sky's journey from Zaun to Piltover. Did she have a similar story to Viktor (basically pretending you were always there)? Heard Jayce/Viktor hired her to promote Zaun connections but what else?

Also more Sky and her thoughts and ideas. Sky <3

who taught jinx about periods and other healthcare. did she get the talk? was it sevika?

what ambessa and singed thought would happen if they succeeded (well, if ambessa succeeded, since singed got off scot-free in the end). cause like. viktor straight up told yall his assimilation plan. you think the guy who went from gay magic jesus to eldritch being was just gonna go "everyone except yall : )"

if jayce ever found out about singed being the dude viktor knows. like hey buddy maybe dont take advice from the guy who does crimes against nature (its not his fault jayce viktor didnt have any good adult support growing up he doesnt know better).

how tf singed got away with everything. did they just all decide trying to find him is way worse than him being arrested? did he just say look i have my daughter now i wont try anything as long as you leave me alone

how did viktor 3.0 get to the hexgates without anyone noticing. did he go underground? hes literally 11 feet tall glowing and so unhuman looking. literally the most noticeable thing.

more about steb. <3 love you fish guy.

how did mel retire from the council? like. hey my bf ascended to a higher state of being after him and his bff doomed the world together and i found out i have magic and my mom is dead so now i got to go lead noxus. have fun cleaning up tho lol <3

sevikas thoughts on literally everything. losing jinx when she finally started liking her. teaming up with the firelights and piltover. getting on the council. finding out she almost assimilated cause two dudes didn't tell each other they loved admired each other soon enough. id be pissed fr. least she kept her arm this act

vi's thoughts on everything. just more vi.

ekko's thoughts on everything. just more ekko.

[jnixz]

It would've been funny but since we Heimerdinger didn't fight, it is Understandable why we didn't get to see Singed fight

Man was using a lot of his blood for his more recent active projects. Refueling Warwick, keeping his hand bleeding to leave a trail (he definitely had to keep it bleeding up till he re-closed his jail cell and bandaged it), the serum, the blood bag bait.

Old man is losing a lot of blood, no wonder he got knocked tf out. (still fast recovery though, enough to wake up and sneakily inject the serum)

While his will to live is ferocious having survived being burnt in an enclosed space, sciencing so much he used his own blood for his projects and probably not sleeping a whole lot -- Man does NOT have the muscles and blood to be tossing people around.

Probably hasn't gone around to augmenting himself much with chems before Warwick came along with Regen.

After the augmenting the Medarda Army with Shimmer he probably knew he can't help much out in the actual fighting, dipped out and worked on things for Ori and probably moved a bit to evade consequences from Caitlynn knowing who he is and where he works/lives at.

(also from his LoL sidestory of him fighting with LoL gameplay, that was in a Zaun setting with much different foes and annoyances to deal with, so we don't get to see his main 'fighting' gameplay in Arcane. We did get the thing of Singed players having an entirely different mindset to be able to win his general personal goals.)

[pzyii]

"oh she's so mean and a dictator" yeah but have you considered autistic and very sad and my wife as well as a very nuanced, well written and great character, what about that.

Also she's hot

[crushing-on-hunks]

Riftwalker's rambling

Soooo I've been thinking on Arcane a lot lately, there are some spoilers - thus why I am putting it all under.

Everything there is my personal opinion.

Steb. Our favourite fish man. Either I accept that he is only partially mute. that coming from the last Act when I assume it's him giving a "Let's go" command. I think it's him, cause he was the first one to react and to run for the weapons. And even though we do not see him talking much, I believe it might be connected just with his character. +game VoiceOver.

Or another, that he is fully mute. I really enjoy when he is communicating with the sign language. In the show it is unclear whether is it his usual way of communicating with friends and colleagues or it is the usual army-silent communication thing. It would also make some sense, that he looks fish-inspired.

Despite his demeanour in the show, he has actually a really kind heart. He is a medic in the team, always ready to aid - have you seen how he ran to help the banded man in the tunnels?! It looked like a 100% trap, yet still he did not hesitate even though it was a zaunist. Also gave him his own breathing mask.

Scar. Is he a vastaya? Maybe yes, maybe no. (Same with Steb, I suppose) There are a lot of other animal-like species of people. Also, vastaya are very longliveing creatures and does not sit well with me that Scar as a long ass lived creature decided to stay there with the kid. SO in my headcanons, Scar has relatively human lifespan as well as non of the magical/arcane abilities some of the vastayas descendants sometimes possess.

Also, it was not really clear in the Season 1, but he can speak. Though he does that rarely, it is unknown whether is it because speech is hard for him physiologically speaking or it is just how Scar's character is.

Discrimination towards animal-people. We do not see a lot of them in Piltover, much less within Enforcers ranks. Also maybe that's partly why Steb is so closed off from other members and gives very standoffish impression. Also! Someone mentioned (here it is) that that's why he looked so broken and ashamed in the hostage scene! Firstly, he believes that it's his fault that the bomb did not go off when expected. Secondly, HOW?! how could the person he trusted and believed to be his close comrade was a traitor?! Whose treachery will lead to their own end.

[tindrasuniverse]

Alright, so first off; there will be alot off rambling about the characters in act 1, until act 2 releases. So I think I'm gonna divide my analyzing into a few parts, depending on who characters I find that need it! But today, I wanna start with Jinx and Sevika

SEASON 2 SPOILERS UNDER CUT

So first off, Jinx is a complex character. Now that the entirety off the Undercity is leaderless, there is a race to the throne between Margot, Smeech and the last dude who I forgot what his name was. Smeech obviously dies, so we have Margot and the other dude remaining as competition. Jinx, and Sevika, who one have lost their father-figure, and the other their boss, loyalist, they cannot figure out what they can do to relax the Undercity and bring it to peace. Their final decision, for act 1, is then "to watch it all burn", meaning they will let chaos errupt, and could not care less about it. Isha comes into the picture, so we can call them a little family. I also found Jinx so, I don't know, calm? Broken? But also happier which makes me happy!

I think that Sevika feels like she betrayed both Silco and Vander, and is blaming herself for not being able to "clean up his mess". She is obviously struggling to figure out what the hell she is gonna do now, because who is a loyalist without their loyalty? I feel like she can finally let that loyalty go, and be a human again without feeling the need to keep her word, because it's not always that easy. She kept her loyalty for YEARS to both Vander, amd especially Silco, even when Jinx and Silco's gang annoyed her.

I am so happy they are on better terms now. The gift to Sevika was absoulutely Jinx-coded, and I love her for that!!! They both needed someone, and they have someone, finally. I can't wait to see what act 2 brings us, and what they have done/accomplished after the (very possible) timeskip between act 1 and act 2.

I think I am gonna do Violyn tommorow, and that one is gonna be LOOOONG.

[aingeal98]

Vi and Jinx in season 2, a brief summary:

[nagy-bari]

rambling about arcane season 2

cause i'm supposed to work hard on other things but it kinda bugs me

kind reminder these are fleeting vibes and personal oppinions

a, all in all i liked it. had the horrible decision to binge all 9 ep in one day so when i saw people saying the writing was shit i still cannot really see what part of it. watching it in one go it was a coherent story, maybe not the greatest masterpiece writing wise but i'm a simple lad - i loved timebomb before arcane, i'm happy the writers did too, - the only character that got me intrigued in LoL before was Jinx and then Ekko and their little nonexistent backstory so i'm happy the series was about them as well as the dual set up of Piltover and Zaun

and here are the iff vibes

living in the time we do watching a story payed by one of the richest publisher about revolutions and political atrocities rendered in wonderfully stylish art just had me stop at moments. i do not want to make any comment as i do not live in any of the really affected countries (just next to them) but it just... huh. kinda lost me i guess

the arcane's design. personally it reminded me of early mindjournal ai imiges that i prompted out of curiousity - the first picture it gave me as an answer will forever haunt my mind - needlessly white and art-deco-ish and glitchy and don't get me wrong i do see the appeal, it is nice and descriptive, it just gave me ai vibes and that made go: huh.... so from then on no matter how invested i tried to be in the glorious evolution subplot it gave me the iffs. cause of the visuals.

the same with the astral versions of Sky, Victor and Jayce in the end. i'm all for the abstract. and it wasn't that. it was the carefully lined 'look you can't see the body but the face and hands remain so you can tell them apart, and you know what actually the body just got a vivid glitchy paint' in on itself it's not a bad choice but compared to all other visual wonders the show did so far i was sad how much they sticked with the carefully crafted faces even in the abstact. it once again reminded me of ai. and it might have been deliberate. and then i'm all for it, intentional creations are my bread and butter. but i'm so tired of all the ai debates i was just. huhh....

character times: Mel. how i missed her most of the time. Sky. her being the one greeting Victor to this whole new plane of thinking (or simply being the last guiding sanity of his so he doesn't spiral) or the new evolution took her form so Victor would be more compliant or- i love a good hook, but i would have loved more of her actually.

the arcane eating the little fluffy professior and him never being mentioned again - did he die? did he hop back to that fluffy Au? i1ll never know. do i care? a little?

the sick doc's daughter being dropped in the end as either a teaser or a hook for something else that i have no idea about. does it fit in the story? maybe?

Mel being someone with magic, having to kill her brother to escape.... huh.......

Isha. Isha's death that is a major emotional drive for- Jinx . what about Sevica? Vi? anyone who lived with that kid for a day?

Mel's mother being cut off from telling her anything in their final battle. do i think it's funny? yes. was i interested in what she had to say? yeah.

fight scenes and actions? lovely wonderful but sometimes i couldn't follow. was it cause the game itslef is a particle fest after a point and they followed that - maybe.

the enforcer trio that are only there for one-one major plot point and to look pretty. the guy dying in the end. the girl dying in the end. only the fantasy eyes living. ah well. maybe next time.

and here are some good vibes - mostly relating to the writing critics i've seen soo far:

the cut parts of Ekko convincing Jinx in ep 9. first of all, applause for the dark humor there, loved it 10/10 always funny - but also i'm okay with not hearing all the arguments. enough was said. Ekko arrived just in time, struggled second by second to change Jinx mind and something in his tone caught her - something in his hand - her monkeys and the tiredness in his eyes. we see them interact, we see them react to each other - and we see Jinx curious. that can be enough. and besides as most of my points here will say: it was fuel. fuel for all the people to write it, to try and really write that convo cause let me tell you that's a hard topic. talking out someone of a void is not something that's easy to give justice. to actually be real. and so far the series tried to be as honest with Jinx's mind as they could. so what would convince her that is not seen or read as plot device? some things are better left covered.

Catyln being too easily forgiven for her warcrimes and bad saga - maybe. at one point i was really intrigued if they will explore her descend to madness and slowly turning the season 1 level cruel of Jinx but it was dealt with one sentence from Vi i guess. truth be told i do not know much about her, don't know just how much they mischaracterised her according to lore (???)

jinx not blowing everything up after Isha's death. maybe. just maybe. the story tried to show how peple change. how much they can change. was it rushed? dunno you tell me when we're supposed to pick up on miniscule clues and colors alone of 2-3 characters whole backstory in split seconds. i think having 2-3 episodes slowly building up quiet moments between the two showed me enough of change in Jinx that i didn't even question why didn't she go berserk.

why did the writers kill Isha? -that's a more tricky one. i do admit to be in similar stance on characters dying cause of emotional narrative but again was it in character for the little girl who adored jinx so much she wanted to become her? did her fearful but proud smile in her death make Jinx realise something? see someone dying instead of her again? is it good food for thoughts? YES . so i'm good.

if Jinx dies at the end none of the other's sacrifices matter. yes. did she die? dunno. the characters think so and as much as this series was about political unrest and unfair life and all that having the characters in the story know less than the audience is usually how you write. so again i'm good.

using Mel and Ekko for cheep shots in the end without giving them anything meaningful in return. yeah... kinda. Ekko got to come to terms with his feelings and views, Mel though... yeah she was done dirty. this season wasn't about her. we saw soo little of her wits and charms and i get it we got to see more of Jayce descending to madness and Victor slowly loosing himself again i missed the socialite mastermind.

personal favorite little moment of recognition - this is kinda on Vi's and Jinx's mom. she was the catalisth before.' absolute self indulgent rant here: i'm a succer for two bozo's and a lady with one (1) braincell between them trope and they (Silco, Vander and the Mom - name please someone) just tipped it all - snark sass, care and love and the tender attention and the little balance - the hearth (Vander) the smarts (Silco) the adventure and purpose and calling and the goal and the reason why stick here why endure (the lady)

and i hoped to see something similar with Viktor Mel and Jayce casue they could fit. but it was missed. and i guess it's okay this trope is hard to do well, but ah well... would have been funny.

the memories rewriting Silco's whole relation to Jinx cause oh fck oh no. she is almost his daughter, she is why he stick here, she is what remained of those times and we don't know anything from his perspective just what Jinx knows and oh this will hurt for days.

Sevica. Good old Sevica. should she have more time? hell yeah. was she interesting in the show? hell yeah.

as you can see i can ramble on and on and on. so tl:dr for the writing. yes. it might have blindspots cause the drive to show something else was greater. but it's a choice most of the time and the story is good on its own still. it's a wonderful palette of food for thought and seeing how many jumped on it to try and find something more is good enuogh for me to say: this was well written. it got the people engaded and curious and emotional and it did tell the story it wanted to tell.

the internet culture of fix it fics nowadays makes it harder to see but as much as you respect other's fanfic you should respect any fic out there. someone wrote it and that's the story they wanted to tell.

Arcane season 2 wanted to tell a story about slower moments and fuckups of situations that are devastating and horrible and sad and please please can we go back - and they did it in their tone and in their style. and i'm happy to have watched it. do i find holes in it? yeah. did i see a story weave 2-3 main plot together better juggling 12-19 characters an episode? yeah. do i mind this is not that story? no. i loved the details and attention that were shown - even if some of it was for future marketing and merch and such - cause it did tell me everytime that someone was telling me this story. that it was thought out. and i love to listen to others when they tell me something.

do i still wanna ramble about some au where Ekko comes back sooner or crosses path with Jinx Isha Sevica and maybe Vi and maybe Vander or read more fics exploring the allure of Viktor and Melinda or Sky or Silco Vander and the lady or any of these variations? YES. but alas i should be doing uni stuff so i'll leave it.

[arcaneacolyte]

Aw man none of you are gonna be ready for the sequel to my Dewther Daddy fic "Soft" once this goddamn burnout and executive dysfunction stops trying to bury my like it's a fucking WWE Buried Alive match out here.

[kalicocal]

ONE FUCKING BREAK. CAN THEY NOT GET A GODDAMN SECOND TO FUCKING BREATHE?!?!?!

[missholloween]

The arcane tag is so funny right now

[brown-bear-64]

Lesbians will have a situationship start and end within a day, and then one of them will end up as a dictator. Never trust gays with fucking anything