#basically the warwick situation

[silly-toji]

It's almost funny that no one cared about Jayce's situationship with Viktor but it ended up being everyone else's problem in the end.

[wonder-worker]

"The division between the two families [the Woodvilles and the Nevilles] and their allies can be seen in the royal charters that they witnessed. Warwick, Rivers and Archbishop Neville of York, while serving as chancellor and afterwards, were fairly constant witnesses to royal charters and consequently often appeared together. This was not, however, the case for other family members and friends. From 1466 to 1469, if Scales or Woodville associates like Sir John Fogge, John Lord Audley or Humphrey Lord Stafford of Southwick witnessed royal charters, then members of the Neville group, such as John Neville, earl of Northumberland, or John Lord Wenlock would not, and vice versa. Discounting the ubiquitous Warwick, Rivers and Archbishop Neville, of the twenty-four charters issued between February 1466 and June 1469, twelve were witnessed by men associated with the Woodvilles, eight by men associated with the Nevilles and two were witnessed by no member of either group beyond the two earls at their heads and the archbishop; only two charters, both from 1466, featured associates of both families.

Such striking segregation of witnesses suggests that something more than simple convenience or availability was at play. [...] The evidence of these witness lists does show the extent of the split between the two groups from early in Edward's [first] reign and of the need for political society to work with that cleavage in the heart of the Yorkist regime."

— Theron Westervelt, "Royal charter witness lists and the politics of the reign of Edward IV"

*This is specifically applicable for Edward IV's first reign; in contrast, the charters in his second reign displayed a great deal of aristocratic and domestic unity and cohesion.

[theclownghoul]

It seems like the writers were scared of the complexity that they set up in many of the relationships and themes in Arcane S1 so they tried to walk things back in various ways. Here’s some examples:

Cait is losing herself to her grief and is making questionable decisions that hurt Vi and the undercity? Do they contend with the tensions in their relationship and have Cait and Vi go through satisfying arcs and tackle the issues between them and the cities? No they tease each other a little and get to fuck so they’re def fine now.

The sister’s relationship is unrecognizable and they have both changed so much and borderline hate what the other has become? Do they have to build something new and work through all the problems… No they use Warwick to bring them together and basically “just get along” when he could have been a good catalyst to start building back.

Ekko and Jinx have been enemies for years but still harbour some feelings for each other? Are we going to see them grit their teeth and work together for the sake of Zaun and get to know each other again and build back their trust? No the AU shows “what the potential of this relationship could be” and our Ekko and Jinx get put in a dire and traumatic situation to bypass all their conflict.

They couldn’t handle the complicated ideas they set up. It would have been fun and devastating to see all of these dynamics play out. It was going to take drastic work or drastic measures for the characters to reconcile and the writers chose drastic measures because they were scared.

This thing is most of us were in it for these messy ideas and relationships and now we feel cheated.

[thewistlingbadger]

I'm going to be honest: I think one of the ways you fix season 2 is by getting rid of Warwick

Act 2 was more or less entirely dedicated to Warwick, a new character who really isn't that new bc he's actually Vander from s1. Despite the fact that he plays a heavy role in the act, his character isn't explored at all. Warwick is used in act 2 for the main purpose of reuniting Jinx and Vi. The sisters end up basically ignoring all their problems and differences and become family again solely due to Warwick's presence. If you get rid of Warwick, then the sisters don't reunite. They either stay on opposing sides or they end up reconciling later in the show, most likely due to them developing some sort of understanding for the other and by actually exploring their baggage.

Warwick is tied to Singed in this season, and through him and Viktor he's tied to Ambessa. Half of the plot in act 2 is Ambessa trying to find Warwick by using Singed to turn Warwick into the ultimate weapon. This part of the show was kinda weird and it definitely took away from the plot. If you get rid of Warwick you can actually focus on ambessa and her motives, or on ambessa and Caitlyn since their relationship is established but not developed.

The sisters end up bringing Warwick to Viktor's commune, which is how Viktor gets reintroduced to the story after not being seen for several episodes. Viktor decides to attempt to heal Warwick, but it isn't said why. We learn that Viktor's powers are suffering and that the commune isn't all that it seems, but we never get to learn anything further bc this segment isn't focused on Viktor- it's focused on Warwick. If you get rid of Warwick, you could actually focus on Viktor, his powers, his commune, his relationship with sky and the hexcore, and his motives.

At the start of act 2, we see that Vi is in a really bad place. She's fighting a lot, getting wasted, and isn't taking care of herself. We see that she has a friendship with Loris as well. However, we're not able to explore Vi's friendship or her current situation or her character bc shortly after Jinx asks Vi to help her with Warwick. If Warwick is gone then you can actually focus on Vi as a character and unpack all the shit the show has built up.

At the start of act 2, we see there's a lot of unrest in zaun. We see zaunites starting to band together and view Jinx as a symbol. This is a really cool concept that isn't explored because instead of Jinx spending the act with other zaunites, she spends it with Warwick. If Warwick is gone then we could actually explore the current politics between zaun and piltover and the effects they have.

It really doesn't make sense to have Warwick be the center of the act when he's not a main character. Hell, he isn't a character at all. He's a plot device. Literally almost everything that happens in act 2 is somehow related to him, yet he has no arch in the season. Everything he does just adds to the plot, not to the value of the story. We end up getting the most random piece of lore dropped in the middle of the season because of him. Lore that literally wasn't relevant at all to what was going on in the show and was never brought up again. I understand that season 1 hinted at Warwick being Vander but if it were up to me I'd be prioritizing the other, much more important shit that s1 set up. Not fucking Warwick. Especially since he's just Vander, an excellent character that we were done with at the start of the first season. There's no reason for him to be back. Since act two is so centered on him, the other acts had to condense and become jammed packed full of shit. But if you get rid of Warwick, you give the story space to breathe. You could have things stretched out longer and in more detail because now you have the time to! You can go into the gray and Caitlyn's dictator arc in detail because now you don't have to worry about wrapping it up before Warwick shows up.

Warwick was literally so big in the show that he took away time and development from literally every character, but especially mel, jayce, ekko, heimerdinger, and Viktor, who were rarely seen this season despite being key players from season 1. If Warwick was gone, you could actually show what happened to ekko, Jayce, and heimerdinger before act 3. You could give ekko some much needed depth and screen time. You could actually explain the black rose, which is never explained throughout the entirety of the show. You could have had Ambessa's backstory be in the show and not its own separate music video. You could have showed Mel more. If Warwick was gone, you could actually explore the characters of Caitlyn and Vi and their relationship. You could explore Sevika's character, who got pushed to the side despite her promising start. You could explore Isha as a character. You could explore lest as a character, who was introduced and then completely forgotten. You could have expanded on the chem barons instead of glossing over them.

In general, if Warwick isn't around you just have more time to do more shit. Like holy shit this is actually crazy.

[foone]

whats your favourite narnia book if you have one

Since I grew up as an autistic christian, I have many Narnia Opinions!

So, my favorite book for it's own reasons is probably The Magician's Nephew. I'm always a slut for worldbuilding and backstory and that novel is basically just only that. Some guy we know from another book goes on an adventure and in the process gets to be involved with the creation of one world and the destruction of another? kick-ass.

Best book to adapt? The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. 1988 BBC version, 1979 Cartoon version, 2005 theatrical? All good, in their own ways. The BBC version is just perfectly 80s and the costumes are amazing (because they are costumes! they did all the monsters by sticking a guy in a big costume and I love it), the cartoon version captures the fucking whimsy of a story where SANTA SHOWS UP AND GIVES EVERYONE PRESENTS and the first person to offer any serious lore about the situation is named MR BEAVER. And the 2005 film has the big battles and CGI and Tilda Swinton as the White Witch which is... so much. I love them all.

But the best book adaptation is the 1990 BBC The Silver Chair. Hands down. It's got Tom Baker's Puddleglum, Warwick Davis playing an owl, 0£ BBC budget greenscreened giants (MULTIPLE TIMES), a group of people discovering IT'S A COOKBOOK and one of them being offended by the cookbook saying they don't taste very good, the bad guy turning into a giant rubber snake. a witch trying to gaslight some humans into believing the sun is a myth, and the ultimate salvation of Eustace Scrubb: a boy who almost deserved being named that.

And since I can't not list basically everything Narnia ever made, BBC's 1989 Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is pretty good too. It's a fun "road movie", in that it's an odyssey into a fictional Mysterious Ocean of Here There Be Dragons.

Lotta hits in that one. It's also got a "collect the macguffins!" plot where they're trying to collect the Seven Lost Lords.

But yeah, it's like... the first Island gets them a lord and they get to end slavery. Next up, Dragon TF island (The dragon is Greed... but it's also just a literal fucking dragon). Next, Gold TF island. Gold, it turns out, makes you go insane in your lust for wealth, even if you're already a Prince of a whole country. The gold is Greed, but it will also just fucking kill you because you'll be turned into gold.

Then it's the island of the ugly invisible one-foot guys and it turns out they cast a spell to turn invisible so no one could see how they're ugly but they're not ugly, they just think they are? and then it goes "HEY LUCY COMPARE YOURSELF TO YOUR OLDER SISTER" and she's like "I'm ugly.... unlike her. Maybe I should use magic to STEAL HER BEAUTY?!" and it's like, wow. Is there maybe a theme here about self-esteem in your appearance? and Clive Officemax Lewis is over there going I'LL NEVER TELL.

Anyway it's got the good line about how the Wizard in charge of the ugly invisible one-footed pogo-idiots is that how he eagerly awaits the day that they can be ruled by wisdom, instead of magic. It's a fun approach to magic: it's something that is a shortcut, a crutch, and it's a poor replacement for Wisdom, even when used by "the good guys". Tell me, Mr. FedexKinkos-Lewis, do you have any opinions on the complicated relationship between Christianity and magic? oh, you do? I never would have guessed!

They also find The Island Where Dreams Come True. They don't land there, they just fish a screaming man out of the ocean who is trying to escape it. The sailors hear it's The Island Where Dreams Come True and are like "wow, I could have my own ship!" and he yells no, you fools, not dreams like your wishes and imaginations, your actual dreams come true on this island.

and everyone agrees: Get us the fuck away from this island and lets never return.

Anyway I'm not gonna talk about THE ENTIRE MOVIE/BOOK but it's got a great weirdness at the end where they reach the end of the world (which is flat. It's okay, this is Narnia, a completely different world with different physical rules than Earth), and it's a waterfall, but a waterfall going up?

It turns out Heaven is on the other side of it. They turn around, but the anthropomorphic mouse is like "ehh, I'll take that journey" and becomes the Elijah of Aslan's Country, their equivalent of heaven.

Narnia, won't you?

[space-blue]

A true off my chest bit about Jinx

It's a little critical of the show, but not hate posting. Just my feelings regarding the handling of Jinx.

I just feel like Jinx's death shows the writers hand in a bad way.

To me act 1 sucks because it felt the most rushed and like it needed to pad and set some things in motions, and most importantly they needed to delay Jinx's suicidality.

By all accounts Jinx should have broken after Silco's death. She should have buried him in the Pilt, walked home, set the place on fire and killed herself.

Instead she needs to be delayed, and she needs to have a reason to be in Stillwater with a lot of Zaunites, so that Singed can do his hiring bid demo with Warwick and score a new employer in Embessa.

It's convoluted, but basically Jinx needs two things :

temporary sanity

a reason to completely blow up later on

And they do both via Isha, the worst character in the whole show as far as I'm concerned.

She's introduced in a bad music video that does a weird job of introducing "sane Jinx". Then she seems to immediately be part of the team, and her attachment to Jinx, with zero set up, made it super out of left field.

It was blatant that she was being set up as a mini Powder to calm Jinx down, and when she blows herself up it's not gratifying if you know she's just a crank/lever being used to flip Jinx into dark and depressed mode.

IMO this could have been handled better (and I'd change a lot of the Zaun situation in Act 1 alongside), but then could have still led to Jinx being "saved" by Ekko.

Instead, I feel like the writers, maybe pressed for time, maybe unwilling to keep the "loose canon" as she was in the new state of the world, chose to kill her off.

Her death is Vi's fault, and I can't help but feel it's manufactured.

I feel like the writers broke Jinx an extra time just to tilt her over the edge and have that emotional scene with Ekko, but then couldn't see how to "excuse her".

Like what she's done is too fucked up, too dark (even if Cait served the city to Noxus on a silver platter, gased zaun, and faced no consequences lol) and she can't be made to move on from the horrors of it all.

It feels like they didn't have the time or will to break the cycle for Jinx. But it feels bad. It feels like it was an "attempt at redemption" death.

WW was an arcane creature by then and they all fucked off with Viktor and Jayce. They could have chosen to keep him innactive. They could have had Vi going with Ekko and relying on him.

The one person who can truly believe in the good in her, because he's literally experienced it in another version of herself. The one guy who could tell her again and again that it's not HER, it's the way the world made things, and that this can change.

I don't see why shy away from that, even implied, especially after Ekko managed to pull her from the brink.

It feels like Jinx is a "too far gone" rabid dog better put down than left loose in their setting.

And I don't really vibe with that. I thought true redemption would be her living. Leading. Her and Ekko could work to better Zaun while Sevika safeguards their interests in the Council.

And Vi could have still cried over WW's body.

[sticcmann]

Jinx and Orianna designs for a Sinco au where everything basically plays out the same except silco and singed have been together for 13 years as of season 1 act 3

Jinx is raised by both of them. She assisted Singed until she was 16 when she got her own lab and started working mainly for Silco. Singed is a man of medicine, so he actually gave Jinx antipsychotics regularly, and she recovered and stopped taking them 3 (more research pending?) years before act 2

The events of the show are mostly the same — Jinx has a psychotic relapse after she finds out her sister isn’t dead and does the shit she does, except Singed, when he got his hands on exploded Jinx, doesn't just let her walk out of there, and so no dinner party :DDD everyone lives. Silco and Jinx fire the rocket together after a heart to heart about Jaycies deal and the war between Piltover and Zaun starts. Mel, Ekko and Jayce still disappear, since those circumstances are not connected. Jinx is on the frontlines, Vi joins the firelights. Caitlyn and Ambessa are trying to navigate martial law

Singed still makes Warwick (feels immense guilt for it in relation to Silco, but its ultimately for his daughter) and he is used in the frontlines (kind of what ambessa wanted to do lmao). Silco finds out he is Vander eventually, and Singed has to show him the Orianna room! He visits herald Viktor (because he might be the key to reviving ori) but then Viktor gets killed by saviour Jaycie and Singed brings Warwick to save him. Then he takes some of Viktor’s newly formed cocoon fluid and injects it into Oriannas tube (like in og arcane in that one scene). Orianna is resurrected and Jinx must learn to live with a new little sister. Meanwhile war is still going on.

I have not thought of the evil mage Viktor situation for this AU yet since that is a big part of arcane season 2 but after the war is won and idk how long it takes silco and singed get married!!1!1!

Orianna in this au is also raised by silco and singed. She’s attending private ballet classes and learning mechanics (after the war lmao)

[whitestopper]

I think one of the reasons "Isha is a personification of Jinx's inner Powder" doesn't work for me is that Powder is, as Mylo might put it, a screw-up. Obviously, Powder was a child - possibly not even a tween - and shouldn't have been in the situations she screwed up. But the series basically kicks off because she ruins the heist (and has ruined numerous previous jobs). The big finale of Act 1 is her killing most of her family, further traumatising her sister, by accident. She instinctively kills Silco in the finale of Act 3, the one person who seemed to accept her as she is (read: basically made her uninhibited). Powder's mistakes came at a bigger cost to everyone else, and part of the tragedy/moral ambiguity is that she's a kid who's in way over her head (even now, Jinx is an incredibly traumatised teenager who's been groomed into being a killing machine).

Isha doesn't really have a moment like this. She 'screws up' Jinx's suicide plan, but is 1) keeping Jinx alive and 2) not preventing the gas diversion really a failure? She helps Sevika rally the Undercity together, it's not her fault that everyone gets caught or that Warwick decimated most of the prison population. She sacrifices her life to protect Jinx, which... first of all, why would anyone be convinced that a tiny kid with a tiny gun would protect Jinx from giant super-powered Warwick, even if you didn't believe that Warwick was a Champion and thus has plot armour? But moreover, it's a sacrifice where she's the worst-off for it. And while Jinx utilises Vi's own method of raising her (Jinx nonchalantly checking on Isha after Vi pushes her is basically Vi acting confident in Powder roof-jumping), Jinx is never brought to a point where she lashes out at Isha the way Vi or even Mylo ever did. Isha doesn't really have any flaws of her own nor does she bring them out in any other character (except for maybe Vi, but it's never really about Vi and Isha, it's about one of them and Jinx).

[godlygivenanxiety]

look, not to be a hater but the whole ekko/jinx alternate universe situation only proves that jinx was only ever loved entirely and completely by silco, that's kinda the point of how tragic jinx really is as a character,

vi either only sees her little sister out of guilt/sense of duty mixed with a desperate need to come back to something or as consequences to her own actions(taking away agency from jinx in the process);

ekko sees her through the eyes of an idealist which is exactly what he is and that's not bad by itself, but it makes her either A Problem or Someone That Needs Saving, that's what's going on in his head after that AU he transported to. he's comparing jinx to powder and he likes powder much better, so he wants jinx to be powder or to reignite the powder in her - basically, he thinks how vi used to think;

isha is a complicated matter because she did show kindness and affection towards jinx that wasn't equal to anyone else's, it was pure and idolizing, she loved what she knew of jinx.

the people of zaun don't love her, not by a long shot. she became a symbol to some(as we can notice in the reunion by vander's statue) and overall the assumption that she would get involved more after her attack and silco's death is a fair one; that doesn't mean they like her,

sevika maintains a connection to jinx through grief and a sense of helplessness along with familiarity, silco's death affected jinx's psyche but it also affected sevika's dream of zaun, they feel left behind by him;

vander... well, he only got to see powder and warwick quite literally just had the memories,

the ONLY character we see that meets her as powder and stays with her as jinx is silco; yes, he isn't a good guy and he does cause the whole separation, he sharpened her edges to make her into a weapon, he lied to her and manipulated her at times, none of these things exclude the fact he does love her so strongly, with zero conditions.

she fucks up in missions, she does as she pleases around zaun, she kills their people, she stabs him in the eye, has psychotic episodes and breakdowns, she kidnaps him, ties him down, SHOOTS HIM, she doubts him and his love, keeps running after the past when he's done everything to strengthen her and she was, at a point, the only thing keeping him from his dream of an independent zaun - none of these perceived sins and flaws made him wish for anyone other than her, as she is.

all silco wanted was to keep her, while everyone else either wants another version of her or none at all. that's the tragic part, even if she suddenly decided to be good, she would feel like a burden for not being entirely like people want her to be.

[octospace]

More Arcane facts for those who didn’t pay attention while watching TV, now answering wrong takes I saw online:

The Black Rose arc came out of nowhere!

Well, it was actually introduced in Season 1 episode 8 the infamous Oil and Water. I know Vi and Caitlyn breakup in the rain broke everyone’s heart but if you watch it again in the intro of this episode we see Mel and Ambessa having a dialogue about being the fox and the wolf and turns out they are at the same ruins we later see Mel being trapped by the Black Rose, we can see that the feud between Ambessa and the Black Rose dates from when Mel was only a child and Ambessa was responsible for killing everyone from that location they are at.

Caitlyn killed people as a dictator!

Oh but she didn’t, even though Noxus military force was brutal and applied violence to get information about Jinx the first time we see bloodshed after the martial law it’s actually when Warwick invaded Stillwater killing everyone in his way, Zaunite or Piltie

Mel would have solved all the issues between the two cities!

You might be into something amazing for a fanfic but Mel reasons were always pretty clear. She’s the richest person in Piltover but the poorest Medarda (Season 1 episode 2) her end game was to be richest than the rest of her family so she could prove them wrong, especially her mom.

Without Caitlyn Ambessa would never take over Zaun!

That’s my favorite! In season 2 episodes 1, 2 and 3 we basically see Ambessa plotting the whole thing to make sure martial law was the only option to bring peace, let’s do a short list of things Ambessa did even before she decided Caitlyn would be the person in charge:

- she enters the post bomb council meeting WITH Salo and he shared she was giving him directions of how to handle situations like that because she had the necessary experience. He do all the “we need to clear our basement of those demons” discourse fueled by Ambessa hatred

- she orders Rictus (her most personal guard) to go to Zaun and find the mom of the child Jayce killed and promised her revenge

- she was responsible for facilitating the memorial invasion

- she orders Salo to organize a meeting with all the houses with minimal power

- SHE ARRIVED IN PILTOVER (season 1 episode 8) DEMANDING MEL TO FIND A WAY TO WEAPONIZE HEXTECH! Come on people!

[thefrenchbat]

OK this is going to be a little long but I need it out of my head so I can function and who knows maybe someone will appreciate the analysis !

Big spoilers for the last two episodes of arcane. You've been warned~

The final of arcane was very beautiful animation wise and does close around two (maybe three) of the storyline started before. But, and that's my problem it completely throw out of the window any and everything about zaun and piltover... in the worst way possible for me.

And that's what we're gonna talk about here.

And now that I know the episode was supposed to be 1h30 instead of 50minutes it makes a lot more sense. Riot, give me at least the storyboard, or the scripts, or the unused voicelines, anything really. Thank you.

So. To put it simply. The entire final is from the point of view of piltover only and yes, that's a problem.

"But Herk, it's a greater evil ! We don't have to discuss about the zaun/piltover situation it's about unification !"

Let's deconstruct that statement shall we ?

First "the greater evil" :

Up until episode 6, Viktor got a thriving and peaceful community going on in a place that was a wasteland before. None of the people here are drones yet (yes they are eerily peaceful, yes it was the beginning of the 'evolution' but at that point they werent yet drones), as proven by vander situation itself :

We clearly see Viktor searching for his personality in the terrible work Singed did on him. And finding him while talking with Sky that this is using is very finite resources but it is worth it.

When warwick says "don't touch my daughter" it's not Viktor talking. It's vander.

He is disagreeing with Singed on using his method and we don't know at that point if people would have died with him if his death hadn't been brutal... which leads me to :

Then Jayce comes around and kills him, starting the chain of events that leads to the final. (Because "you can make me see the glorious evolution is not worth it" becomes "if I murder him it will stop everything." Instead of, i dont know, talking to him and saying "look in my mind". Dumbass.)

We have no clue what could have been (haha) if Jayce had talk to Viktor then. Maybe he could have severed his link with the commune in a gentle way, maybe not. But we don't get to see that. Because jayce jump-start the actual Glorious Evolution.

Now for the "it's about unification" part :

Pilltover has been keeping Zaun under dictatorship for months, wagonning people to prison without as much as a trial (but hey, they didn't use the _worst_ cells yet. Because 10 people in a room with no bed is very human. Fuck you).

Used the "grey" which is basically mustard gas in zaun's street as a way to "keep people safe". Do I really have to say thay it is bullshit or ? (Especially as we see victims of the grey beat up and left IN IT after the enforcers passage !)

And have the confirmation that pilltover is very aware of the gas problem in zaun (even over their enforcers having gas mask instead of. I don't know. Making sure the air is breathable without risk in zaun.)

And all of this for ? Ha yes, allegedly capturing one person. Again, not taking any responsibility in why this person exists in the first place (exploitation for decades > violent repression > murdering her parents > corrupt police making their money with gangs and not caring about it because what consequences? haha we are up they are down).

While using a foreign military to do so.

( "but Cait is grieving!" I don't care. It doesn't justify her putting thousands of people through fascism.)

And we see sevika and zaun trying to defend itself but with limited resources as always and an internal situation extremely messy because of the gangs that are left (chembarons who wouldn't have existed without the corrupted pilltover police doing their bread on it and the council not caring, as ever, just as a reminder).

Now for some details :

In the first two acts we hear "our people"/"our city" to talk solely of piltovians.

Caitlyn and her great "i keep telling myself you're different, but you have the same blood in your veins".

Great to remind us that she does still think people of zaun are not the same breed as her and are filthy to the core by their fucking blood itself no less.

Considering her mother was on the council when the last revolt from zaun happened and so she was part of the people that took the decision to kill all the protesters.. including vi parents. Her statement becomes very ironic on top of being atrocious.

And let's not forget how she forced her into an enforcer costume while saying "I understand your pain"... yeah you don't. Your mom died in a result of the decade of action and inaction of her own council, you're an adult and still have your father. Both vi and jinx parents died trying to get under the heel of their oppressors and when they were children no less. Fuck you.

Jayce and "we build the core of the hexgate in the fissures it's fine" and ekko telling him that they didn't think about zaun water and air supply that go through the fissure and would have been destroyed if the hexgate had a problem.

Because, as always, they don't actually care about the people in zaun.

And bonus point, he doesn't apologize for making the tree and everything else sick. It's just "we didn't thought about that". AGAIN, no ownership of what pilltover is doing to anybody else.

Now that the set is ready let's go back to episodes 8 and 9, through the zaun/pilltover lense.

Jinx is in prison. She does apologize to Cait for her mom.

Cait doesn't even apologize to Vi.

Cait doesn't stop officially the dictatorship or apologize to zaun's people for what she did and left be done to them.

Cait doesn't even take responsibility in giving grace publicly to jinx, no, she let's the responsibility of getting jinx out to vi.

Leaving jinx to be a fugitive still if she actually gets out.

That is NOT owning to one "bad actions". That is being a coward and a hypocrite. And making someone else responsible for whatever happens next (yes she gives vi the choice and leaves her jinx' vendetta in the past gnagnagna, it's still completely self centered and hypocritical).

Jayce, which just murdered a number of people and provoked vander and Isha's deaths, tells people that Viktor is a menace.

For all vi knows he isn't. She saw him help vander and people nobody cared about. There is no reason for her to help here. And there is no reason for zaun people either.

We do not see the inside of zaun, at all.

We get a few people leaving and a few enrolling in the enforcers because... yeah who cares that person beat the shit out of me for month we should fight side by side and die together as one. No. Just no.

For all we know, and is being said to us, Viktor and Noxus want the hexgate. They do not need to do anything to zaun for that. They can literally (and apparently that's what they do) just roll past zaun and go directly to pilltover. The only zaunites we see dead are the ones who fight for pilltover.

Jayce talks solely of pilltover and its "undercity" there is no recognition of zaun or what has been happening for decades.

At least in that scene we see sevika and Scar leave in a :

"Ho yeah ? Noxus that you used against us for all this time is now a menace to you? Tough luck."

"But Herk ! Jayce puts down the barbebwire doors around zaun !!!!"

And that makes it OK? It makes everything before it OK? "I let you out of the camp I made around you so you can fight for me". NO. Just no. Even less considering none of the people who actually took the decision to get the dictatorship running and those gates up owns up to having done it; again.

Side note : it clearly takes a few days between the beginning of ep8 and the actual attack of noxus.

Explain to me why jayce didn't shut down the hexgate at that point, keep using hexteck' weapons and a literal arcane hammer while preaching how bad it is ??!!! That man is stupid but apparently everybody around him is too.

(And Don't tell me "but the hexgate was getting people out" just. Don't. The ships could have just fly away on their own with the hexgate shut down. Come on).

Ekko and jinx have the beginning of a conversation (i love this scene tho) and then we are back with pilltover only.

Fast-forward to the fight and HO WAIT people of zaun arrive "to help" because its a greater evil ! It makes everything fine right ?

No.

And here the details of why for me :

We do not get any closure of the zaunites storylines : Sevika and Scar don't even have a single line together or with jinx and ekko.

Ekko and Scar have been making the tree and their sanctuary one the only safe place of zaun for more than 6 years.

Ekko has been missing for months and we don't even get to see him reunite with the firefights ?? Not even one second ?

Sevika was there for Jinx then Isha during the whole of act 1 and 2 of season 2. But we don't even see them talk or sevika being made aware that Isha is dead.

Yes. Jinx' balloons got elements in honor of Isha and her depression is about that part of her that died with Isha. Sure. And it's very well done _for HER character_.

But what about sevika ? She got a very good arc that kept getting better during the season 2 and suddenly she is a background character that doesn't even deserve to have any feelings?

And it's the same for the firelights. They are here during the fight, we can even spot a few other minor characters of zaun.

But they are props.

They have no feelings or emotions (except angry yelling of fight). You are not here to empathize with them because they don't even exist as characters in that moment.

If you like them already you'll be scared for them (I yelled when I thought sevika would die, not gonna lie) but nothing more.

Jayce and Viktor... very pretty, gay being unable to say I love you and all that BUT ALSO "I'm sure there is still a bit of you in there" / "why do you persist after everything I've done"

I... You KILLED HIM you absolute dumbass of a man. You murdered him and made him lose his humanity THAT HE STILL HAD and then you call to it !?? And then Viktor blames himself

.. I can't even. I know it's because he wants jayce to say he loves him but haaaaaaaaa !!!!

Jayve has always been an idiot but that takes the cake. Most toxic ex ever, Viktor must really love him because for fuck sake xD

Ekko saves the world.

Because jayce is so bad at this and being a self-fulfilling prophecy guy that he condemned the world (like in apparently all realities where that version of the story happens).

Do we see anybody acknowledge it in the aftermath ? Do we see any recognition of a zaunite saving the situation?

Nope.

"The battle of pilltover will long be remember".

Pilltover. Just Pilltover.

Ekko's action or any zaunite's deaths during that war that Pilltover fabricated all through its own action and decisions ?

Erased. Forgotten. Not important in the Grand History. It was only Pilltover all along.

"But Herk. You're unfair, we see the little paper scene at the end ! And sevika becomes a councilor !"

Yeah. We do, and it's still shown in the show that the situation is not actually resolved : just look at the new counsilors' expressions when sevika sits down.

They still think she is beneath them and shouldn't be there... BECAUSE nobody in pilltover acknowledge anything done to zaun. Still.

And I'm glad she is a councilor don't get me wrong. I'm happy we at least get one element for zaun by the end.

But its too little and still with not even a line of dialogue.

Also, why not Ekko or Scar too ?? Sevika was a leader of a certain group in zaun, but Ekko/Scar represent a lot of people too.

So zaun is still not fully there. (And ya know, not too many zaunites come on, one for the show but not too much).

And worse. Nothing is even acknowledged to the public. Listen to the two episodes and notice how nobody say "zaun" in them, it's only undercity/topside and pilltover.

The conflict is totally erased from the narration except for that one dirty look the councilor gives Sevika.

And don't tell me I'm exaggerating because I saw, in less than a week since the final, enough take on how pilltover was absolutely not responsible for anything/zaunites were the sole responsible for their hardships and any act of resistance from them was terrorism (thanks usa), that I know a lot of people sadly took that ending in the most stupidest way possible.

Also, a detail but... Nobody is there to put a paper for Viktor.

He will stay the "Villain" of the story, forever. Because people only got Jayce telling them he was bad and never knowing the actual truth of what happened.

And that's quite disheartening too.

Jayce the piltie was a hero. Viktor the zaunite was a villain. That's it. Who cares Jayce literally provoked Viktor transformation, twice. Who cares the fight happened because of pilltover and their hexteck...

Hell, even then we see Ekko being utterly alone. Thanks for saving the world from a piltovian manufactured war and losing all in the process my guy, nobody said ever in the show.

And Singed, who is a piltovian, gets everything his way while being the absolute worst. Which ya know, forces my respect but also i hate this guy.

Because in case you hadn't realised, even shimmer was made by someone from pilltover ready to sacrifice anyone and first zaunite lives for his goal.

And the final nail in the coffin ? The last sentence of the show.

"But but it's so romantic!!! Its vi saying she's choosing to stay with Cait !!"

Really ? You think saying you're the filth under someone perfect manicure, that no matter how much they wash they can't get out... is romantic ? Damn. I knew about dirty talk but that takes it to another level (this is a joke btw).

But no matter if romantic or not, Cait never apologized to her, zaun or anybody else. She didn't own up to anything she did the entire show.

(And do remember that the whole base of the show happens because of jayce lab having dangerous materials in the middle of town; and because a kiramman was there, the council needed someone guilty from zaun).

What it is on the other hand, is still a comparison between zaun and pilltover.

They are on top, clean, except for the filth that stays under them and they can't get rid of.

And that pisses me off a lot.

Because with those 40 extra minutes we could have had the characterisation of the zaunites.

Sevika learning about Isha.

Ekko reuniting with the firelights.

Zaun actually being shown in danger and why they would help pilltover (where again jayce brings no reason to. Its just his word against everything pilltover put them through).

We could have had just a beginning of acknowledgement from pilltover OR a call out about it not happening by the people of zaun !!!

Ekko calling out Caitlyn (and Vi too honestly) would have been amazing! And a call back to season 1 where she went on about how he should not continue the cycle of violence, the audacity of a bitch I swear.

It could have fixed the problem I have with the ending. And that's really a miss for me...

Even if I did like the episodes in themselves ! They were gorgeous (mind!herald be looking fiiiiine) and the noxus and arcane storylines got finished (arguably the sisters one too). But please gimme what's missing about zaun.

Well. Now that I got it out of my system... I'm gonna go live in ep7 ! XD where my fav characters are all alive and grown up !!! *happy*

Have a good day !!!

Ps : I made a few arcane fancomics centering on the 6years gap between act 1 and act 2 of season 1.

Focusing on claggor, deckard, ekko and the firelights~

Please don't hesitate to take a look if that sounds like something that could interest you ^^

https://www.tumblr.com/lapaduza/767502852257087488/here-comes-a-new-volume-of-my-arcane-au-where?source=share

[small-but-mighty]

Getting Dumped

Domestic small animals will NOT survive in the wild. The outdoors is no place for animals that get stressed when their hay is the wrong texture. Unfortunately, when shelters are full, people are overwhelmed, and feel there is no other way out, they take to abandoning their animals outdoors. The worst part about these situations is it's very rarely just one. I have countless stories of this happening, so I'll try to limit it, but I want to share the struggles these animals have gone through because of the actions of people.

In July 2023, numerous rescues found themselves at a rest stop on the side of a highway trapping domestic rabbits. There was probably dozens of them. The RISPCA took in 11 of them. I spent an entire weekend pulling ticks off young rabbits, never mind the fleas I found. The smell of these animals feces was horrible, their stomach flora was all kinds of messed up. That was the healthiest of the bunch. One of the rabbits, had a horrific head tilt, it could not walk straight or even stand up straight. Our vet suspected e. cuniculi. If you are unfamiliar with e. cuniculi, count yourself lucky. It's a parasite, which can affect a rabbit's nervous and renal (kidneys) systems, and if not treated soon enough, the damage it causes can be permanent. The parasite is also contagious to other rabbits through urine, which means that if all these animals were possibly housed together in the past, they all had a chance of contracting the parasite. Unfortunately, the treatment for the rabbit with a head tilt did not work, it was too late, and he passed away. All the other rabbits in our custody had to be treated however, and luckily nobody else began showing symptoms. Now it is unknown if the rabbit had e. cuniculi before being released, but there still is always the possibility that the rabbit contracted the parasite from the wild rabbits that it may have interactions with outside. I would also like to mention that the rabbits were not spayed or neutered, nor were they only a single gender. This means that there may have been even more domestic rabbits that may have been introduced into the elements had rescues not intervened. Following their medical treatments and spay/neuters, all 10 of the rabbits that survived were adopted.

Around the same time that the rabbits were found at the rest stop, someone walked into the shelter with a rabbit in a box. She said the rabbit appeared on her back porch. The rabbit's hind leg was mangled, basically facing the opposite direction of what it should of been... Now we have no way of knowing how or why his leg was that way, but truthfully it doesn't really matter. Our veterinarian opted that it would be best to amputate the leg. Today, the little guy (who we affectionately named Tiny Tim) is healthy, happy, and in his fur-ever home as a happy little tripod!

Both these events were in a span of a weekend. It's a reoccuring event though. To briefly just name a few more:

June 2023, nine female guinea pigs dumped at the end of our shelter driveway after hours

July 2023, forty-two Guinea Pigs dumped in the woods of Exeter

February 2024, seven rabbits dumped at the park in Warwick

This post mostly just address the events of large number dumpings, but even the occurrence of single domestic rabbits being found dumped and being picked up as strays but animals controls are continuing to grow in numbers too. So, please, if you are in a situation where you are not able to care for the animal you own any longer, contact a local shelter as soon as you know you are in that situation. The sooner we know you need help, the sooner we can ensure you get help. And don't just limit your ask for help to one shelter. We are all in this together, ask a few for help, one may be able to help sooner than others. Even if you are in a situation with large numbers, we are not here to punish, we are here to help.

[culturalcompasswarwick]

Etiquette, Manners and What’s the Point?!

What is etiquette?

In your preparations for coming to study here at Warwick, you might (or might not!) have heard talk of British culture being totally different from what you’re used to, and that you should act a certain way when arriving to study here, but what does all of it actually mean? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! This post and the next is your short n’ sweet crash course on what that politeness is, why we have to be polite in the first place, and what Britons consider to be basic politeness.

So, what’s etiquette? As stated by the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, etiquette means:

“The formal rules of correct or polite behaviour in society, among members of a particular profession or in a particular area of activity.”

There are many contexts where etiquette plays a crucial role in having smooth interactions with others, and maintaining an image of yourself you want to show to them. Since it can be seen in many contexts, etiquette can vary depending on cultural norms, social settings, and presupposed expectations of a workplace (or in your case, a classroom).

So, why should it be important to you? Learning the etiquette rules of a new cultural setting has been academically proven to help students form positive relationships with those also in that setting. For example, research (page 4) has shown that experiencing the “local norms and patterns of [...] communicative practices” in interaction with locals can help students studying abroad to better understand the cultural norms of the place they choose to study, in turn making it easier to bond over those same norms. 

Manners vs etiquette: what’s the difference?

You might’ve heard the phrase ‘mind your manners’ before. This expression is often used as a reminder or a request for someone to behave appropriately or politely in a given situation, that they need to demonstrate respect and consideration of others, which is really important when you’re looking to form and maintain positive relationships with people. 

But if manners are also all about being polite, you may be wondering: what’s the difference between manners and etiquette? Whilst the two words are closely related, they do have slightly different meanings. Manners (also stated by the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries) describes a broader view on socially acceptable behaviours that reflect the consideration and respect expected whilst interacting with others, either in a society or a particular culture. They act as general guidelines for how we’re supposed to treat others, such as making sure to say please and thank you at expected times (see in The British Basics), or not speaking over others when they’re already talking. The concept of ‘manners’ doesn’t change in the same way that etiquette might depending on the context it may be needed in. 

Etiquette, on the other hand, looks at appropriate behaviour in specific situations or contexts, such as (what to wear) and email etiquette (how to write to specific people, which we talk about here). You won’t need to think of etiquette as often as you might your manners in general life off-campus. But when learning about each etiquette relevant to you, depending on your course and modules, it may take time to pick it up as each etiquette is specific and ‘specialised’ to its context. This does apply on campus, and you can find out more about classroom etiquette specifically, here.

***

All this talk of etiquette and practically no application… don’t worry, the next posts will get into some nitty gritty about what British people (including Warwick students) get up to when it comes to being polite, and impolite, in some cases! Have fun!

[shimmerbeasts]

So, I gave this situation a lot of thought and given that it is the end of the year, that marks the ideal time frame to basically reshape the way, I wanna handle the blog and my muses, going forward. These changes include how my roster functions, certain limitations I am going to give myself, concerning the amount of drafts I have, and changes in verses and some alterations on the ask box. Basically, quality instead of quantity is going to be the name of the game, so hopefully, I can better organise my hobbies and interests and hopefully also my eventual career as an author.

That means first of all: Every single thread I have is dropped. I want a completely clean slate thread-wise, however, dynamics, which we established, can absolutely carry over. I am not gonna flush all the hard work, I did with so many of you (you are all amazing) down the drain.

Now, onto what changes. Let's start with the formal bullshit. I am going to limit myself to twenty drafts and try to adhere to this limit. Those drafts will preferably be plotted. That way, I hopefully can avoid getting overwhelmed, but also really dig into the meat of our threads.

That does not mean casual stuff or crack does not happen. It can still happen, but it will occur with less frequency and those things likely won't carry over much. If I happen to send you an rp related meme, then please just have fun with the drabble. I will try to limit how much I continue those threads.

When it comes to my ask box, I will prioritise unprompted asks and scenarios over rp memes. However, I will always accept headcanon-related memes or memes for me the writer. Again, all these changes will be done to limit the effects of being overwhelmed and to keep my rps at a manageable medium.

When it comes to my verses, I am going to do a massive cut in what types of verses I have. Specifically, I am going to stick to the verses, which basically form a narrative throughline. For most verses, this will basically be the pre-canon, the default and the post-canon verse. Ergo the past, present and future of a muse. This is done so I can focus on what I wanna explore instead of spreading myself too thin. After all, it is better to explore an idea and its ramifications in detail as opposed to expanding and adding five half-baked ideas at once.

My muse roster will have a bit of an update on its purpose. Because of the fact that I will lean even more into the concept of storytelling and character development, the split between primary, secondary and tertiary muses still exists. Except, there is going to be a crucial change now. The tertiary muses will now be rebranded as supports and are not technically muses on the blog. Let me explain what I mean.

Because of my desire to be more story-driven, certain characters will serve as the supporting cast for other muses. These characters help propel the plot forward but also give your muse a different perspective on the muse they roleplay with. They might also reveal information, you would not get otherwise. Think of them a bit like NPCs but due to the big role, they play in the muse's life or what they represent for the muse, they have a bigger chance of emerging. Your muses might even meet them before they meet the actual muse. There will also be other classical NPCs, which your muse might meet under very specific circumstances.

Now onto the actual muse roster:

My primary muses (who will be focussed on the whole Zaunite lore and story) are going to be Silco, Jinx and Vi. They are the ones, whose plotting will come the most naturally and easiest for me. Their supports are Sevika and Warwick/Vander.

My secondary muses (who have different thematic stories and lore as they occur outside of Zaun/Piltover) will be Naafiri and Ahri. Writing them might potentially require a bit more plotting and forethought. Naafiri's supporting characters will be Nasus and Rek'Sai. Ahri's supporting characters will be Yasuo, Evelynn and to a lesser extent Vayne.

I hope that these changes I am making will lessen some self-made stressors. Again, I do apologise for basically dropping everything right now. I promise, I still want to write with everybody here. I just need to sort out how I wanna make things work. So please, everybody do not be intimidated by those changes. I promise, that my enthusiasm for writing and roleplaying remains unbroken.

[greetings-inferiors]

how did you pick your uni?

I searched up ‘mathematics university rankings’ and chose the top 5

I’m just kidding you can’t apply for Cambridge and Oxford.

In reality I did give lots of unis a go, the first and third in the country just happened to be one’s I really liked. Cambridge is, obviously, Cambridge, it’s jaw droppingly gorgeous, the maths department is the thing of dreams, the college system is literally my ideal living situation, etc. sadly I didn’t get an offer (I did get pooled however, which is literally the closest you can get to an offer without getting an offer. I was good enough to get a Cambridge offer, there were just more people who were better.).

My next choice is Warwick, which is only third in the country for maths 😭😭😭 also incredible! Its campus is the perfect size, has a really cool arts centre, its own cinema, its maths department is also really cool (such… high ceilings 🥵), and the dorms aren’t that bad, some would even call them good! It also lets you have a lot of freedom, for example as long as you take the compulsory modules you can take ANY MODULE IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSITY as additional modules. It means I can formally learn Japanese whilst studying for a maths degree. It also lets you choose to have a year abroad after you got your offer, which is surprisingly quite a rare find. Almost all unis have maths and maths with year abroad as separate degrees, but you can add a year abroad WHILE AT THE UNI, which is really cool since I’m considering taking a year abroad to Tokyo to study maths (I’d have to research it more as someone said that they don’t do Tokyo even though it says on the website but the website was pretty vague so - once (if? No. Once. (Confidence is key!)) I’m a student there I’m sure it’ll be a lot clearer.

My insurance is mathematics (oh yeah I should probably mention that all my applications were for mathematics) at Nottingham, it’s a really cool uni that isn’t as prestigious, still really good, and is a lot more hip and stuff. I like it for many of the same reasons, just less, which is why it’s my insurance!

Basically, I really like challenging myself, so I picked the hardest universities in the country. I also applied for Durham, which is (I believe) the fourth, and I got an offer but honestly I didn’t really look at it much, I much preferred Warwick.

[danmoorhouse]

Betrayal in the Wars of the Roses, Volume 1

By Dan Moorhouse

Reviewed July 21, 2023 by Kathy.

Disclaimer! I read many of the chapters in this book while it was still a work in progress.

Betrayal, especially in the history books, is often portrayed in basic terms of black or white, good or bad, right or wrong. Those who betray during times of civil strife, such as the Wars of the Roses, often suffer from this kind of two-dimensional thinking. However, the reality is much more complex and nuanced.

Betrayal in the Wars of the Roses, the first volume of a planned three part series, takes a deeper look at some of the better known betrayals in the Wars of the Roses, examining kinship, patronage, and loyalty, helping to put things into context and showing that good lordship was a two way street, with each side having obligations to the other, and if those obligations were not properly filled…well, then, that’s when things could get sticky.

After an introduction that sets the table, we are provided with chapters on the following “betrayers” – George, Duke of Clarence; Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick; Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset; Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland; Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers; Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby; and Sir Anthony Trollope. Not only are people looked at in this book of betrayals, the role of towns is also studied with a chapter dedicated each to Calais and York.

While a case can be made for each of the above men being guilty of betrayal, in just about every instance there were mitigating circumstances. And in several cases, it was the king (usually Edward IV) who handled situations in what seemed to me a clumsy manner, leaving me thinking, “It’s no wonder he rebelled!” I won’t go into detailing the information presented for each of the men above, but as an example will present the case of George of Clarence. And no, I’m not going to touch the case of umpteen times great-grandfather Thomas Stanley with the proverbial 10 foot pole.

Now George is often described as a petulant, ungrateful younger brother, never satisfied with what he had and always wanting more. Now, maybe that is true, at least in part, but it’s not the whole story. As a young man, George had seen his sister Margaret make a high-status marriage, while his own wishes for an equally prominent marriage were nixed by, who else, his brother the king. He was granted significant wealth but his proposed expenses that included lavish improvements to Tutbury Castle outreached his income. I think today we’d say that George liked living beyond his means. He was appointed Lieutenant of Ireland, an office his father once held, but later had his right to govern as his father had curtailed. There were other issues, but these will do for this example and will show that while some of George’s problems were of his own making, not all of them were, and if these matters had been handled differently by Edward, it is possible that some of the tragedies in George’s life might have been avoided.

In the end, the question of betrayal has to be looked at through the lens of family relationships, which were extremely important in medieval England, who one owed the most loyalty to (kin or king?), and whether the principles of good lordship were observed by all parties. And when it came to loyalty to the Crown, what exactly are we referring to – the institution of kingship, or the individual sitting on the throne?

This book is filled with enough details and quotes from original documents to satisfy the geekiest of history geeks, yet remains readable and entertaining, and it even got me to question some previously held beliefs. So while I may never completely forgive my great-great (etc) grandfather for betraying Richard III, I at least have a better understanding of why he made the choices he did.

https://mybook.to/Betrayal-paperback

https://mybook.to/Betrayal-paperback