#arcane salt

[cushfuddled]

This article is going to make me disintegrate into a pile of cockroaches

Kind of refreshing

I don’t know whether to laugh or scream

1. What universe does this writer live in where it’s the UNCOMMON outcome for the male platonic soulmate protagonists to REMAIN platonic friends, to the point of it being a breath of fresh air to see two close male characters NOT declare their romantic love for each other or kiss or fuck by the end of the show

2. How do I get there

3. I understand some folks would like to see different kinds of fan content, but that doesn’t mean mlm shippers need to make less mlm content, and also—I cannot believe I have to say this—the fanbase ≠ the canon show. A fanbase “dominated by” (as if we’re some brutish occupying force thrust upon a ravaged underclass rather than…you know…some marginalized folks having fun with fictional characters?) mlm shippers does not mean the show itself is dominated by canon mlm couples.

4. Did you know you can skew toxic masculinity, model kindness and emotional honesty between men, AND canonize a gay relationship AT THE SAME TIME? :)

5. Oh, they can’t be GAY because then that’d reinforce the belief that kindness and emotional honesty make you gay?

6. Question! :)) If the problem…is that boys are so terrified of being perceived as gay that they’d rather impale themselves upon the javelin of toxic masculinity…WHY is the solution always “show boys that love and vulnerability don’t make you one of those gross fags you’re so scared of” instead of. I don’t know. “BEING GAY ISN’T BAD. BEING GAY IS NORMAL. YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE AFRAID OF BEING GAY.” If boys don’t think being gay makes you a horrific little freak of nature…maybe they’ll be less scared to perform actions which could cause someone—a gay friend; a homophobic classmate; a random bystander—to perceive them as gay. Because SOMEONE will always make Assumptions. People are nosy. Some people are even staunchly, happily bigoted, regardless of how many male platonic soulmates they see Not Kiss on TV. Crazy, I know! 🤪

7. This writer doesn’t mean any harm, but their article feels like another pebble in a landslide of faux-progressivism (AKA homophobia in a rainbow hat). The implication that a brotherly relationship would better SeRVe sOciEty, or be the more TRANSGRESSIVE (??????) choice (against the overwhelming tidal wave of canon gay protagonists in fantasy shows, presumably)…makes me feel…SO supported as a queer person :)))! Thanks for shielding me from that hail-of-bullets canon gay romantic love, Arcane. Keep fighting the good fight!! 🫡

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

adora 🤝 vi

"main" characters whose endless trauma was completely ignored by the writers

[antispopausandstuff]

What do you think about people comparing catra to Caitlyn from arcane

ah, i had a feeling i'd be asked about something along these lines.

okay, so, just to get this out of the way:

i'm aware that Arcane s2 has very polarizing opinions, points of views, and thoughts from the community, and, provided it's nothing extreme, they're all valid. though my words are largely subjective, i want to apply as much objectivity as possible to create a better picture, rather than complete bias with no desire for discussion.

s2, in my opinion, wasn't as well-written as it could've been. i don't hate it, but i would've made different writing choices for the characters, their arcs, etc., and i feel the ending was lackluster as a result of lack of closure. this includes Jinx's own ending, Isha, Vi's cycle of self-destruct and complicated family, and how i feel there was not enough screentime for the plots and characters given, especially Ekko, Mel, Kino, and Ambessa. and i do feel like the writing choices negatively affected Caitlyn's character, as well, even if i do understand and sympathize with her as a person.

objectively speaking, Caitlyn's dictatorship ( i believe that's what it is, iirc ) was more on-screen than Catra's, but Catra's crimes was heavier, quantity wise, including universal genocide.

because of SPOP's disregard for "show, don't tell", amongst several other factors ( Catra being a creator's pet being the main one ), there is little to no actual weight to her actions, even with the main cast. if there is consequences, it's either more personal than it should be, her mental breakdowns or Horde Prime chipping her, or fleeting, the destruction of Salineas. this is likely why people don't care much for Catra's actions, because there's no legitimate consequences that aren't just her being sad // distressed.

but, while not the best, Arcane writers take into consideration the impact of and to the people. Caitlyn's decisions did have consequences, and it affected more than just her. it changed Zaun, and with Silco and Jinx's absence, the people were anxious and needing a beacon in order to feel safe and empowered.

however, i don't think it's as simple as comparing Caitlyn to Catra.

in the eyes of the people, it wouldn't matter, obviously. as a result of taking her grief and thirst for vengeance out on them, the people of Zaun felt even more unsafe when they were already suffering.

but to us, as the audience, we can empathize with grief blinding us and leading us to making poor decisions that end up being detrimental to our and everyone else's health. keyword: empathize.

Caitlyn still hurt people. there is no denying that. i am simply saying that we can understand where she was coming from and that her grief was taken advantage of by Ambessa.

to their world, it's black and white. people suffer and // or die at the hands of someone in power.

to us, it's more or less than that.

still wanting to remain as objective i can be, i will say Caitlyn's are far easier to remember and hold against her, and rightfully so. but i believe that Catra's are worse and should've been displayed as worse, rather than stated or turned around to be a way for us to feel bad for her own downfalls.

now, let's move onto Caitlyn and Vi // Catra and Adora.

like with the season, i prefer s1 CaitVi over s2.

for me, the divide and conflict felt too similar to how their relationship originally started out and was too repetitive. it felt like the writers wanted another reason for them to break apart, when there was a lot of time spent to them forming together.

but i think CaitVi has more room to grow than C // A ever really did.

for one, Caitlyn and Vi have cared for each other more than they've hurt each other. even when they were at odds in s1, there was no point in the story where they left one or the other to die. if something bad happened, it was by circumstance, not by choice.

but Catra had always hurt Adora more than she cared for her. from physically harming her to degrading her, engaging in extreme sadism, and nearly killing her, purposefully, on multiple occasions, there's no actual evidence that Catra deeply cares for Adora, or that she cared to begin with.

for another, Caitlyn had more reason than Catra. Catra was given multiple chances to make better choices, but she never did and it was intentional and out of spite.

what was Caitlyn going to do with the fact her mother was killed, that her girlfriend's sister was the murderer, and that her girlfriend stopped her from doing from killing the culprit because she thought she'd kill a kid instead?

of course, it was highly likely that she would've killed Isha. again, blinded by grief. but Caitlyn didn't think that way. in her mind, she has more evidence of being an excellent shot than not, so, obviously, the possibility of her killing the child was 0, right?

( and i don't think Caitlyn cheated on Vi with Maddie. i read the end of their argument as a break-up, especially because Vi disappeared. )

and, for one last thing, even when she knew Vi didn't trust her and kept fighting with her, Caitlyn still tried to help.

overall, i think CaitVi did have a... meh(?) ending, but i still prefer them over C // A. if nothing else, for the foundation.

i don't think Caitlyn and Catra are the same. i just think the Arcane writers had more respect for their audience than SPOP did.

[owlblaze]

Not to be crass

But thiiis

sucked aaaass

It waaaas

A shiiitshoooooow🎶🎶

[littlemisstfc]

The way Season 2 of Arcane played out is exactly why I’m glad that Transformers One did not take the lazy way out when it comes to its justice for the oppressed message.

[golden-forge]

People asking me how I’m coping.

But honestly I think there’s enough for fix it fics and canon divergences and aus. There are sadly other shows with incomprehensible endings and heartbreaking ones…*stares off in vld and wolf’s rain anime*.

But what I think makes things hurt with arcane is that it *seemed* like it was going good. So the finale just makes me scratch my head in confusion.

[rainbowkittyblossomwings]

Sorry to anyone who likes arcane. I really really really liked season 1! It was good! The scenes with viktor were powerful, but I just finished season 2 and it left me really bitter how it treated viktors disability. So i am reblpgging salt takes and im sorry.

[oneshotprincess]

one more thing i definitely dislike about arcane is how...weirdly anti-science it is. maybe it attempted to be talking about the ethical decisions that are involved in scientific progress but instead...

tell me why a disabled man's pursuit to alleviate his suffering is treated as going against the very nature of the universe when his disability is hardly 'natural' (if such a thing exists) but rather caused by the machinations of the upper class of the society he lives. a society that has created many more disabled children and orphans just by how it functions. but ohhhhh magic science bad...don't mess with the order of nature...

[guardianbee]

Hi everyone I came back because Arcane S2 treated my girls Mel & Sky like absolute GARBAGE and then Ekko is rewarded with absolutely NOTHING for saving everyone from themselves and I'm here to reblog shit AND talk shit about it.

I mean, I cannot BELIEVE the disposable black girlfriend trope was used TWICE in a show within TWO episodes of one another, oh my GOD. I cannot BELIEVE they had Jayce verbatim spew out the same anti-Mel talking points this fandom has had since Season 1 Act 1 Episode 1. I cannot BELIEVE they had Sky comfort Vik the same way Mel comforted Jayce in S1, had her be his emotional rock through all his changes with the hexcore only for him to kill her a SECOND TIME. I cannot BELIEVE how little screentime Ekko had this season given how pivotal he is to Jinx and Vi's backstories AND his overall importance to the main plotline (which was totally sidelined in the last act, wtf).

Like what the fuck black characters can't have anything lol, lmao even.

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

whenever i say that a character needs therapy and healing before they start a relationship, people jump at my throat and assume that i'm saying that people with mental health issues shouldn't date at all or that they're not deserving of love.

folks. i have bipolar type 2. i'm also a psychology major. trust me when i say that i never said people with mental health issues shouldn't date at all.

i just think that it's a lot healthier to get into a committed relationship once you've started therapy and/or medication. no one is stopping you from getting into a relationship before that, but there is a higher chance of the relationship turning unhealthy and/or complicated. not just for your partner but for yourself as well.

and there are other relationships that people can and should focus on. i would never recommend an individual completely isolate themselves because they're mentally ill. that's the opposite of effective, it will only worsen your mental health.

romantic relationships aren't the only form of love. and when a person focuses solely on their romantic relationship, pushing aside their familial and platonic relationships, there's a higher chance of the person becoming overly dependent on their partner, which can again be unhealthy.

and keep in mind, my criticism is also more from a fictional perspective. stories that ignore a character's trauma and just give them a romantic partner aren't trying to tell you that people with mental health issues deserve love too, they're trying to brush the character's trauma under the rug and hoping that you won't notice.

a lot of these writers seem to genuinely think that romance will “cure” a character, and that's such a harmful mindset because it discourages people from seeking professional help. it's the same logic as thinking that birthing a child will solve relationship problems between a couple - that's just not how it works.

and in cases like catra, it's even worse because catra is not just dating anyone, she's dating the same person she has abused since childhood. this is destructive for both of them, not just adora. we have to realize that toxicity often stems from some kind of trauma (though not always) and it's not ableist to say that an abuser shouldn't be dating their victim.

one good example of a relationship involving a victim of trauma, in my opinion, is steven and connie from steven universe.

steven universe future focuses entirely on steven's deteriorating mental health, caused by all the trauma he endured in the original series. but in the end, after experiencing a mental breakdown, he actually seeks professional help before beginning to date connie.

it must also be mentioned that their relationship had great development since their friendship was already quite healthy and mutually supportive, and connie has been with steven through all his highs and lows. and so, it doesn't feel like this relationship came out of nowhere, just so that steven gets a happy ending.

it's a satisfying conclusion to both of their arcs and even better because they're allowed to stay away from each other and pursue their own goals while still being in a relationship, meaning that there won't be the risk of them becoming codependent.

this is all that i'm asking writers do with their characters with mental health issues/trauma. you can give them a romantic partner, just make sure you address their personal problems too, instead of brushing them under the rug.

[dancingdaffodils08]

Listen I love Viktor as much as the next gal, but y’all know you don’t HAVE to bring him up under every Mel/Meljay post right? Let that girl LIVE. Let her have one thing without bringing up the white man challange.

[ssaltlicker]

I feel like you can tell who reads and doesnt read poetry by how they took the “dirt under your nails” comment. To me, it immediately read as “we are inseparable” like saying “the salt and the sea” or something. You arent focusing on the pieces individually, but the whole that they form together. AKA, being so close to someone/something that you are forever intertwined.

Its just shocking how many people took it as some kind of dig or insult. Getting your hands dirty symbolizes hard work. Someone that “never gets their hands dirty” is someone that doesnt work hard. Caitlyn WAS the latter, the elite that puts the work on other people. The whole point is that she has changed through work, but also through her relationship with vi.

Also; the phrase is actually pretty common in some regions (usually some alteration of it, anyways). Its been a phrase of affection for a while. Just funny how you can tell a lot about someones background by how they interpret certain phrases

[beskars]

once more; vander x reader

"One more?" Vander suggested when the kitchen was clean, nodding toward the bottle of tequila and the remaining limes on the counter. "Seems a shame to waste it." You hesitated only briefly before nodding. "Why not?" He reached for the bottle, pouring a single shot with practiced precision. From a small bowl, he selected a lime wedge, his large fingers handling the delicate fruit with surprising dexterity. "Have you ever done it properly?" he asked, his voice dropping to that lower register that never failed to send heat spreading through your body.

"Properly?" you repeated, watching as he reached for the salt shaker.

The corner of his mouth quirked up. "Salt, tequila, lime. In that order."

"I know the basic concept," you replied, though the truth was your experience with tequila had been limited to mixed drinks and the occasional hurried shot at overcrowded bars.

Vander seemed to read your uncertainty. "Let me show you," he offered, extending his left hand palm up, then turning it slightly to expose the space between his thumb and forefinger. With deliberate movements, he sprinkled salt onto the tender skin there.

"First, salt," he explained, his eyes never leaving yours as he lifted the shot glass with his right hand. "Then tequila." He gestured toward the lime wedge on the counter. "Then lime. Cuts the burn."

Your throat felt suddenly dry as you watched him demonstrate, licking the salt from his hand with a swift motion before downing the shot and immediately biting into the lime wedge. The entire sequence was efficient, practiced, and somehow the most intensely sensual thing you'd ever witnessed.

"Your turn," he said, his voice rougher than usual as he poured another shot.

With slightly unsteady hands, you accepted the glass, then extended your left hand as he had done. Vander took your wrist gently, turning your hand to the proper position. The heat of his fingers against your skin made your pulse jump.

"Hold still," he murmured, reaching for the salt shaker.

The gentle cascade of salt crystals against the sensitive skin between your thumb and forefinger sent a shiver up your arm that had nothing to do with temperature. Vander's eyes met yours as he set the shaker aside, something darker than usual in their depths.

"Salt first," he reminded you, his voice so low it was almost a physical sensation.

You brought your hand to your mouth, maintaining eye contact as you licked the salt from your skin, the sharp taste dissolving on your tongue. Without breaking his gaze, you downed the shot, the tequila burning a path down your throat.

Before you could reach for the lime, Vander was there, holding the wedge between his fingers, offering it to you with an intensity that made your breath catch. You leaned forward, taking the lime directly from his hand, your lips brushing against his fingertips in a contact so brief it might have been imagined.

The tart juice flooded your mouth, cutting through the burn of the tequila as promised. For a moment, neither of you moved, the air between you charged with unspoken possibility.

"Again," you said finally, breaking the silence. "But this time, I'll hold the salt for you."

Something flashed in Vander's eyes—surprise, desire, a momentary hesitation quickly overcome. He nodded once, pouring another shot with a hand that wasn't quite as steady as before.

You took the salt shaker, suddenly bold as you reached for his left hand. His palm dwarfed yours as you turned it slightly, exposing that same tender space between thumb and forefinger. The skin there was rougher than yours, marked by years of work and training, yet somehow vulnerable in its exposure.

With careful precision, you sprinkled salt onto his skin, hyper-aware of how his pulse had quickened beneath your touch. When you finished, you didn't immediately release him, instead running your thumb lightly over his wrist where his heartbeat was visible.

"Your turn," you echoed his earlier words, reaching for a fresh lime wedge.

Vander's eyes remained locked with yours as he brought his hand to his mouth, the motion somehow more deliberate than before. You watched, transfixed, as his tongue swept across his skin, collecting the salt in one fluid movement before he downed the shot with practiced ease.

When you offered the lime, you held it differently than he had—between your thumb and forefinger, but close enough to your own lips that he would have to draw very near to take it. The invitation was clear, even if unspoken.

For one breathless moment, Vander hesitated, his eyes darkening as they dropped to your lips, so close to the lime you offered. Then, with careful restraint, he took the lime from your fingers without letting his lips brush yours, though his fingertips lingered against your hand longer than strictly necessary.

The almost-contact hung in the air between you, vibrating with possibility even as he maintained that final, crucial distance.

"Once more," he suggested, his voice a rough whisper as he reached for the bottle. "Together this time."

[sandraharissa]

That "We want more complex female characters' but y'all can't even handle […]' meme is actually perfect for describing s2 writers, especially with how they handled s2 Cait and her corruption arc and how they dealt with Jinx following her s1 corruption arc, as in they are petrified of the 'complex female character' being too grey/dark and potentially unlikeable to the audience and god forbid perceived as a bad guy or framed as a villain by the narrative for her villainous acts.

s1 was revolutionary in its 'complex female character' depiction with Jinx and everyone loved it and no one complained, how curious. s2 Cait (and Jinx) is the actual example of being afraid of making the female characters too complex and does nothing that s1 already didn't do a thousand times better.

[sad-endings-suck]

some of you are once again getting too comfortable disproportionally headcanon-ing disabled and neurodivergent characters as ace and demi-sexual without examining why you always seem to do so.

[hanhahar]

I'm sorry netflix but the choice to use this image as the cover is foul, diabolical even