#because then I think I could bridge the connection between that and this conclusion

[cultivating-wildflowers]

I cannot articulate enough how much I want to hear your thoughts on octopuses being capable of sin

I can't remember specifically what brought it to mind, but I think it was some off-hand comment the Sunday school teacher made about original sin and the curse and the ark being a transition out of that age of man and into the next one, with the rest of creation being dragged along with them. Sea creatures weren't obliterated by the flood like land- and air-dwelling creatures were (though I'm sure massive flooding and planetary upheaval wasn't exactly fun for them); they didn't come under Noah's immediate jurisdiction like the other animals. Combining that with what we know of octopuses generally being as emotionally mature and blindly vindictive as a six-year-old, and my opinion is that exclusion from the ark left them fully conscious of Original Sin and fully capable of still participating in it.

It's not theologically sound in any way, but it's wildly amusing to me.

[sniffle-bird]

so many people hate eurylochus to like. an insane degree. because they think everything he does are acts of self preservation and it’s NOT it’s preservation of the CREW because he’s the voice of the crew RRRASWRRRR

odysseus, polities and eurylochus were such good buddies and worked so well together because odysseus lead them, polities kept high spirits (this makes him sound like a cheerleader. but like idk how else to describe it? he like encourages whimsy. idk.) and eurylochus kept both of them grounded so they wouldn’t do anything stupid. and it was perfect until polities died.

without polities, the crew couldn’t find the positives in odysseus going up to the island to meet with aeolus. it was only eurylochus arguing his opinion, which is, “don’t go, it’s stupid,” literally, physically grounding him. obviously this was going to sway the crew in his favour immensely. eurylochus is like 10x more approachable than odysseus to the crew. eury’s their buddy. ody is the champion of a goddess and their king. so not only does ody then not have that extra polities voice in the argument to help lead ody to a logical conclusion which benefits everyone, he is instead clashing with eurylochus and subsequently the rest of his crew. this pretty much goes the same way for most of the other disagreements they have for the rest of the journey.

eurylochus is also forced to fill in the space that polities left in supporting odysseus as he’s their captain, but he struggles with bridging the gap between seeing him as his captain/king and seeing him as his friend. which is why he switches between calling him, “captain/sir,” to “odysseus,” to “ody,” during mutiny, and then back to “captain.” it’s a verbalisation of his view on odysseus.

so when it comes to opening the windbag, the crew is already on edge about it. he went up alone after fighting with the closest friend he has left in the crew, refuses to open the bag, the winions are all telling them it’s treasure. and there is such a blatant lack of trust between them that likely wasn’t present before; ody would rather stay awake for nine days straight than trust eury not to open the bag. and eurylochus, being naturally mistrusting of gods and mythical creatures in general, would not trust the origins of this bag. he would not trust his friend’s behaviour to be true. he would likely make the connection that the wind bag is making him act like this, so he takes it from him and opens it. not mentioning the insane pressure from the crew he’s likely been put under.

so yeah. people love to paint him as this evil-doer that was trying to usurp odysseus from the beginning but the mutiny only happened because everyone could tell ody was losing himself to this whole “monster” thing, which is what they needed to get home with as many men as possible, but nobody else is likely going to fully realise that unless you sit them down and explain to them the whole process of the journey and explain every little detail in everything that happened. much less eurylochus who is, as established, very stubborn, and very mistrusting of things he does not understand. he didn’t think ody was fit to lead anymore; it wasn’t that he sacrificed six men to scylla, it’s that he just did it and didn’t think of any alternative plan. he didn’t consult anyone else, he just did it. eurylochus could see he was driving himself a little crazy over getting home to his wife. like i’m sure there would’ve been some people who would have volunteered to hold the torches if they all held a big meeting.

and then the cow. how does nobody realise killing helios’s cows is a suicide attempt? eurylochus knew they were going to die, he did not believe they were going to make it home, at least with the cows he can control it and at least his crew won’t die hungry.

anyways. this is a huge wall of text. i know eurylochus haters HATE to see me coming, i’m his no. 1 defender and apologist he does no wrong.

[earthnashes]

SOOOOOOOO. Arcane season 2, huh? Now that a couple of days have passed for me to marinate I think I'm ready to share my thoughts on the season. This WILL contain spoilers though so if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend watching for yourself first!

So! Overall, as a standalone season I feel like there are things Arcane excelled at and things that have lost its way a bit. For starters and easily the best part of the show: it's visuals. I've heard some complaints about how much the show cost but like. Brother. When I think of super expensive shows, THIS is what I think it should look like. At no point did I question the budget because it's made abundantly clear every penny is used to best use it could possibly get. And it resulted in what I've been calling a modern greek statue: a marvel, an incredible tapestry of just about every art medium you can think of woven into something so beyond anything I've seen in animation I have a hard time finding the appropriate words to express exactly how much I'm taken by it. This is a clear example of what art IS man and jesus christ. It's mindblowing. I can't praise the show enough for that, like it's literally the best looking thing I've ever seen in media.

Same with the sound design and music, particularly in the battle scenes. Something about the energy behind the sounds, like the clacking of Vi's gloves as shes revving up for a punch, or the reverb of metal clashing, the sound of how blows connect. Even the little things, like the distinct difference between footsteps, or the glitch-like sound that spiders in the backround before shimmer or the arcane is utilized? Like CHEF'S KISS BRO. God almighty it tickles a part in my head.

Just the visuals and sound design is fuckin tasty bro. A solid 1000000000/10

So now Characters. Season 2 managed to take the existing characters and really built off of what was already there. In my opinion the characters, particularly the main players, received additional depth and evolution in a way that made sense in the long run, and the conclusions they reached in their arcs felt like a correct conclusion. However, it's how they got there and how fast they get there being one of my complaints.

For starters: the love triangle between Jinx, Vi, and Caitlyn. I didn't appreciate how, for the most part, it felt like it took a backseat in this season when it was one of the driving forces of season 1. It's not JUST them though: the relationships of every character kinda fell away to the wayside for the sake of getting through as much of the plot as possible, but we're on these three right now so:

-I feel like a PROPER recouncil between Vi and Jinx was sorely needed. There were hints to it, particularly in Act 2, but we were kinda left guessing and having to fill the majority of the gaps ourselves. One of Vi's driving factors as a character is her relationship with Jinx/Powder; her unable to accept that she's changed in her absence. Act 2 opened the door in allowing Vi to learn about Jinx as she is and come to terms that, even if she's changed, she's still her sister and there's a chance to bridge that gap. Vice versa to Jinx, particularly because of Isha's presence; I have to assume by becoming an older sister herself, she begins to get an understanding of Vi she previously lacked and that really could've been a stronger catalyst in her recounciling with her. Had the sisters actually got more on-screen time together and really let the hope between them breath, I feel like the ending would've had a much stronger impact.

-Cait/Vi, as much as I enjoy the pairing, felt a little too disjointed. Act 1 was the strongest showcase of their relationship; a sudden escalation driven by mutual grief and attraction and genuine care only to be torn apart immediately after because of Cait's blind rage. Cinema. Beautiful. But immediately after, we don't really see either character work off that much in my opinion. Vi does have a spiral that was very well shown, though I do wish we saw more of Pit Vi and her descent.

As far as Cait goes I would've preferred seeing her spiraling in her own way; with how the third episode of Act 1 ended, I felt like the show was gearing up to showcase how much she allows her hunt for vengeance cloud her mind and take over her life, to do things her mother would have not approved of. Like bro she was so SURE she wouldn't miss (immediately after missing every shot she took up to that point) that she was willing to potentially kill a child for it. Ain't no way she wasn't constantly frothing at the mouth for some time, wallowing in Vi's apparent "betrayal" and in the grief of her mother's death. I DO like how she is seen questioning her actions but it just feels like a tiny snapshot. Had they continued with showing her questioning what, exactly, the hell she's doing (while continuing to go on with her reign), then seeing not just Vi but also how her actions has widened the rift between Piltover and Zaun, her finally being able to break herself off would've felt more weighty.

"What are you shooting for, young Kiramman?" Grayson once asked. I can't help but feel like that line could have had some very strong carry-through into this season; not only giving a proper callback to Grayson as Cait's mentor(?) but also cement Cait's inner turmoil between blinded by revenge, but growing to dislike what she's turned into to get it.

And the sex scene. Particularly WHERE the sex scene occurred, immediately after Jinx heavily implied offing herself to "break the cycle". Vi isn't stupid. I felt like it was extremely clear what Jinx was alluding to, and it seemed like Vi understood that with how she asked "What are you gonna do?" She sounded terrified and desperate. She has SEEN Jinx be suicidal in this season first hand, was all but directly asked by Jinx to put her out of her misery herself. You're telling me she immediately bones the shit outta Cait right after Jinx scampers off and seems to forget it?? I dunno man. :/ I wouldn't remove the fuckfest, but in my opinion there were better places to put it.

And overall in terms of the characters as a whole, there was just too many gaps and too little time. Vander felt like he was underutilized, particularly his clear fight in trying to get a hold of his humanity; could've really used him to push the running theme of people can change, but they're still the same person at their very core.

Heimerdinger got shafted I feel like. He had such a strong impact in S1, only for his death to be... well. Forgotten.

Mel's storyline was way too fucking short. Love the powers she got but they ultimately felt unearned; I feel like we could've spent way more time on her learning to control it to some extent. Her whole shtick in being cunning and one step ahead of everyone (much like her mother) could've played a stronger part here too, particularly because I don't remember the Black Rose being explained much, so it would've been nice to see Mel put her strengths into play to find out for herself and give her a more active role in her ability to fight back.

Ambessa was anticlimactic and I didn't appreciate how she ultimately perished. I wanted her to die, don't get me wrong, but the war in general felt waaaaay too short and her death too easy. I appreciate they didn't go full evil with her, and made her an embodiment of Singe's quote of "doing horrendous things in the name of love", but it kinda felt like her initial plot of using hextech to fight the Black Rose (I could be wrong here but that is what it felt like she ultimately wanted) kinda got... forgotten?

Victor's progression is the only one that felt mostly natural in it's pacing. But again, with how unstoppable his robot pawns were, I felt like they really robbed the final battle of any significant weight to it; Zaun and Piltover, fighting as one against a common enemy. One of the biggest payoffs in the show... felt underwheming and, again, unearned.

And the new characters didn't really get much chance to do much of anything. Loris felt like an important parallel to Vander given how many times he was shown to look and sorta act like him. I felt like he had a bigger role to fill but just ended up bodied. Maddie, at least, had somethin interesting goin on but I feel like she could've been made more impactful in her betrayal.

Overall, a mid 5/10. It wasn't terrible, but it definitely needed more time to really flesh everything out.

And finally, the plot. I personally really enjoyed the overall plot and it's opposing themes to season 1. Whereas s1 felt like "love is undoing" and veered into tragedy, s2 felt like "love is healing" and veered into hope; the sisters learning to accept one another, Vi and Cait mending the rift between each other, Victor and Jayce finding their way back to one another. Isha giving Jinx purpose and a new perspective on life, Vander returning and, even if briefly, managing to regain his humanity for his daughters, the list goes on. It's such a beautiful contrast to season 1, but that is part of why I strongly feel like Arcane NEEDED one more season.

Season 2 was too focused on getting as much story out as possible that it didn't allow the characters themselves to push it forward, and it was weakened for it. Had there been three seasons, Act 1 and Act 2 could have been the entirety of season 2, and Act 3 could have been the whole of a season 3, where we get to see the total climax of everything that occurred. Given the rumors of there being a strong interest for an animated movie (and I have a theory that it might be to continue the story of Arcane in some way), that might help with some of the contingencies if it's true, but that's only if the movie actually comes to fruition.

As it currently stands, my biggest critique of Season 2 was switching focus on making the plot drive the story, when instead it really should've continued the trend from Season 1 in letting the characters drives the story forward.

_______

My meds is beginning to kick in and I'm getting drowsy from it so I'll leave it here for now! TLDR: Arcane Season 2 was mostly good. I have my fair bit of complaints and thoughts on how I'd personally structure everything, but a a whole, pretty good! It's one of those shows where I would personally recommend everyone watch from start to finish to at least experience it in its entirety yourself.

Season 2 Rating: 7.5/10

[ezziedoodles]

Why Season 2 Of Arcane Felt A Little Off

Let me preface this by saying I adore this show, and I loved this season. I laughed, I cried, and I had a good time watching it. The art direction and animation is a masterpiece. This is probably my favorite show, but I think it's good to critique the things you love and this entire season I felt like I was waiting for something.

For a show titled Arcane, season one had remarkably little to do with the arcane. Yes, there was Hextech and magic, but the show was centered on this class divide between Piltover and Zaun and all the conflicts that stem from this. The very first scene of the show is enforcers killing citizens on the bridge, with Powder and Vi finding their dead parents' bodies. Zilco's reasoning for doing anything he did was because he believed he was helping Zaun, including raising Jinx the way he did. Vi was so passionate about her city and the injustice facing it. Caitlyn witnessing this injustice is what causes her to question the systems she is a part of. Viktor and Jayce (but especially Viktor) created technology with the intention of wanting to improve life for the undercity. Ekko is a revolutionary doing so much to give his people a community and a chance to live their lives. My point is literally every single character is connected by this conflict between the cities.

Now let's take a look at the second season. Where is this part of the story that was so essential to the first season? There's a brief revolutionary beat with Jinx and her followers but once they escape from prison, the show moves on from this and never touches it again. We see Caitlyn's descent into corrupt madness, becoming everything she and Vi wanted to stop. Eventually she realizes how wrong she was but do we see her make any reparations to Zaun specifically for the damage she caused? She gassed the city, poisoning the air even further (with gas that has been confirmed to make people sick in the long run), harming hundreds of innocent people. And Vi, a character so vehemently against enforcers in the first season, goes along with this for how long? Days? Weeks? And only stops when she can visually see the impact of Caitlyn's madness as she almost kills a child in front of her. These characters are flawed and I love that, but we see them get their happy ending without ever truly addressing or helping with what they did to Zaun.

Ekko sees an alternate universe of everything his city could be, everything they all wanted so badly in the first season. Equality, safety, education, food security, and more. He says he is thankful for the reminder and I fully believe he will go forth with this vision in mind, but do we ever see it? And that right there is the problem. We don't know what happens to Zaun in the end, we don't know if things get better. All we see is Sevika on the council but we don't know if that will fix anything since people have stood up for the undercity in council before and it did nothing.

I want to see Ekko rally his people and repair the damage caused by the war. I want to see Vi open up the last drop and make it what it was always meant to be, a place of community. I want to see schools open in the undercity in honor of Viktor and Jayce. I want to see the two cities heal from the damage done to each other. Fuck it, I just want literally any closure on this plotline! Just tack on a 2 minute montage of what happened to this city after the war and I'd feel a little better. But instead this part of the story was completely sidelined throughout the season and ignored entirely in the finale. I'm not someone that thinks every story needs to have a moral, but this show was trying to tell us something! The first season was screaming from the rooftops to beware of privilege, beware systemic oppression, to fight inequality, and I find it really sad that there was no conclusion for that.

I do wish there had been three seasons to give it a smoother transition form politics to magic but it is what it is. Nothing is perfect. This season gave me so much including the best depiction of soulmates I've ever seen in my life so you win some you lose some ig.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Y'know, it's unfortunate more people don't compare Louis and Violet in good faith.

Like, when I do see people compare them, it's usually through the lens of one is good, and the other bad. One is more canon than the other, and here's why. One is objectively better for Clementine, and the other is less impactful, worse written, didn't have chemistry with her, insert several insults here, etc.

I don't think it's inherently bad to express why you might not like one of them, or why you prefer one over the other. That's fine, that's a matter of opinion. It only gets to me when it becomes hostile, or passive aggressive... but even then, I've learned to just roll my eyes and move on. Some people make it very clear that they're not worth having a discussion with.

However, I wish I could read more nuanced comparisons of the two that didn't default to the "and that's why this one is better." At least some are kind enough to tack on a "for my Clementine" at the end.

You know how it goes: Louis is cute and he makes Clementine laugh, whereas Violet's boring, her love is shallow, she's still not over Minerva and she's using Clementine as a rebound. Violentine's a bad ship because Violet's actually a traitor, and they're practically the same person and that's bad.

Violet's loyal and reliable, whereas Louis is annoying, he never takes anything serious, he's a traitor for his vote, and he's nothing but a distraction. Clouis is a bad ship because how could any Clementine possibly like him after he voted her and AJ out? That's bad!

That's always the conclusion, right? One good, one bad.

This is incredibly limiting and it drives me nuts.

They're foils. They contrast one another, highlight each other's strengths and flaws, in such an interesting way that it makes Clementine's choice between them all the more meaningful.

One is not good and the other bad, they're different, and I think that's worth exploring.

Let's start with a common argument: Violet is the more impactful option due to her connection to Minerva.

Now, to be fair, I can understand why someone on Team Violet would believe this. Yes, it's true that the confrontation with Minerva is more impactful for a violentine shipper who has more investment in Violet as a character. Louis doesn't have as strong of a connection to her.

However, what they're failing to recognize is that Minerva isn't the only ghost to haunt this narrative. Violet may have Minerva, yes, but Louis has Marlon... and that doesn't just go away once Marlon's dead.

Violet's route has Minerva as her ex-girlfriend, and her bond with Tenn that all comes to a head on the bridge. Louis' route has Marlon's death and how that specifically impacts his relationship with AJ and Clementine, and the slow burn of forgiveness on all sides.

Marlon and Minerva are also reflective of Clementine's worst outcomes.

Clementine and Marlon were tied together through Brody's blood splattered on their hands and faces. They both killed a part of Brody, but only one of them lies about who killed her first.

After Marlon dies, Clementine gradually replaces him throughout the game; Rosie is her dog now, she uses his bow [which Louis gave her], she becomes the leader. Clementine gets them to fight back, and when three of her people are captured, she doesn't cut her losses. She does what Marlon couldn't; "we're getting them back."

When she chooses Louis, he does for her what he never did for Marlon: he steps up.

Clementine proves she won't become Marlon just as she proves she won't become Minerva.

After getting James to agree to help them, Clementine and AJ talk about what to do if she ever gets bit. AJ says he'd want her to bite him, too. He repeats this sentiment after she's actually bitten, telling her he wants to stay and they could turn together, peacefully.

When Minerva confronts them on the bridge, she's dying... and she wants Tenn to die with her. She doesn't care who she has to kill in the process. She's more monster than human at this point, and most times, she succeeds.

They're both bitten. Clementine could've become a monster like Minerva in the end. She could've killed AJ, and they could've become walkers together. But she didn't. Minerva wanted Tenn to die for her, and Clementine wanted AJ to live for her.

Also, I should mention she has Minerva's axe. She carries the key weapons associated with Marlon and Minerva throughout different points in the game, further solidifying these connections. She uses Marlon's bow to save her friends, and she uses Minerva's axe to save AJ, who in turn uses it to save her.

What's also so interesting about this is how Marlon's alive in episode one, and Minerva is thought to be dead. Louis has his best friend, and Violet's lost hers. But, at the end of the episode, Marlon's dead and Minerva's revealed to be alive.

Marlon becomes the ghost, and Minerva becomes the monster. Clementine becomes to Louis and Violet what Marlon and Minerva never could... how does that not drive anyone else insane?

So, no. One is not objectively better, or more impactful, because of a connection to Marlon or Minerva. They're different. It just depends on which storyline you personally find more compelling.

Actually, let's talk about that a little more.

In my opinion, the most intriguing point of comparison between Louis and Violet stems from their perceptions of survival, and how that impacts Clementine.

An argument I see made against violentine is that Violet's boring because she and Clementine are too similar. This usually comes from clouis shippers who prefer the "opposites attract" dynamic Clementine and Louis have.

On the flip side, there's the counter argument that Louis is reckless, that he doesn't take survival as seriously as he should and Clementine wouldn't want him because of that.

These are interesting to me because I get where they're coming from... but they ultimately miss the point.

The other day, I replayed TFS. Except this time, I did something a little bit differently. I played my usual clouis route, but then I had the violentine route pulled up on my laptop so that I could watch these scenes, comparing them side by side… and something occurred to me. 

Louis is about challenging Clementine's perception of survival, and Violet is about validating it.

Louis challenges Clementine from the very moment we meet him—he’s playing music. His initial philosophy on survival butts heads with Clementine’s. The fact that hunting with him and Aasim challenges your perception of “your choices have consequences.” These games have conditioned the player to think along the lines of, “Yeah, Louis is more fun… but if I don’t hunt with Aasim, we won’t have any food.”

Except that’s just it. I hate to say it, Aasim, but in the grand scheme of things… hunting with you doesn’t matter. It's actually less rewarding. You know why? Because in the next section, we get food from the train station. It would’ve been more beneficial to spend time with Louis over hunting, hence how he challenges you.  

This then primes you for the choice between choosing to follow Louis or follow Violet. I know people complain about how this is presented with Violet doing something productive [checking the walls] and Louis playing piano… but that’s the point. If you’re going through with Louis’ full route, you need to meet him at his level, and in turn, he will meet you at yours. You need to accept the challenge, the idea that Clementine isn’t entirely right about the way she’s gone about survival.

Oh, and do I even need to mention the vote? The debate over Louis’ vote is exhausting. Often times, people tell on themselves in how they talk about it. It’s not actually about the fact that he voted against them. If it was, these people would have a bigger bone with pick with Mitch, Willy, Ruby, and Omar… and yet Louis is the one who takes all the blame as if he’s the only one personally kicking them out. 

Louis is reacting to the death of his best friend, and the complicated feelings that come with it being caused by AJ. He wants accountability, even if he knows something's wrong. You can either agree with him that it was murder, and set AJ on the path of atonement… or, you can double down and tell him to fuck off, AJ was justified. 

But here’s the thing… the vote adds to the appeal of Louis’ route. To someone who hates him, or at the very least is critical of his vote, that sounds mad or delusional.

Except it’s really not.

Ever heard of a thing called tension? Because there’s a lot of it in ep2 between clouis + AJ and it’s fantastic.

Yes, Louis voting them out is problematic because we need a problem to solve. We need something to feed the tension between him and Clementine. He stepped in front of a gun held by his best friend in order to protect her, forever changing their relationship… only for that to seemingly be taken away from us the moment AJ shoots Marlon. 

Yes, Louis’ route is about being challenged, but it’s also about challenging him. That he’s able to forgive them, that he’s able to question his own survival philosophy and understand theirs, that he’s able to apologize and actually change for the better… that right there is what makes clouis so damn good. 

He becomes hardened whereas Clementine softens. By the end of the game, they’re on a similar level now without neglecting their differences, and they can move forward together. 

That’s what makes Louis’ route appealing… and it’s also what makes it unappealing to people who prefer Violet. 

By contrast, Violet’s already on Clementine’s level when it comes to this perception of survival. She validates that Clementine’s on the right path.

They have other similarities in the way that they’re both female, queer, they both have a kid they look after, they’re not always great with other people, etc. 

People who prefer Louis might consider this boring, but I think to Team Violet, it’s comforting. It’s comforting to have a partner who takes this as seriously as you do, who wants to get shit done. They’re playing Clementine with a similar attitude, and don’t believe it needs to be challenged. It’s comforting to feel validated on something you already firmly believe in. 

We also see this if we compare the hunting and fishing scenes. You have to make an effort to choose Louis by choosing to neglect hunting, but the game makes you fish with Violet no matter what.

Violet’s prioritizing fishing because they need food. That’s what they’ve set out to do, so let’s do it. The game is letting you know that’s the case, and if you value that, continue pursuing her. 

While fishing, they discuss why things are weird with her and Brody. Violet doesn’t take well to Clementine’s blunt, “Because you make it weird. Brody tries and you just make fun of her."

That’s understandable because I think she already kind of knows why and is looking to have her feelings validated. She prefers it when Clementine suggests that it’s because Brody never said sorry for what happened to the twins. 

There’s also comfort and validation in the way Violet sides with Clementine and AJ after Marlon’s death. She votes for them to stay, vocalizing how much she disapproves of the results. There’s this feeling that I recognize from a lot of the sapphic romance I read; “it’s you and me against the world, I’ll always have your back, even if you’re in the wrong, I’ll fight for you.”

In our case, it’s violentine + AJ against the rest of Ericson, save Tenn and Aasim. Violet validates that AJ was justified because Marlon was a liar and murderer, claiming that AJ and Clementine did nothing wrong. Violet fights to keep them. 

The tension between violentine in ep2 is different because instead of one pushing the other away, they’re being forced apart by the vote and there’s nothing they can do about it. That tension is somewhat released when Clementine comes back and they’re reunited, working out a plan to best defend the school. 

It’s also why Violet’s presented as doing something productive when you follow her instead of Louis, and why she asks if you want to hang out after checking the defenses. 

All that being said, allow me to reiterate that one is not good and the other bad, they're different. These concepts of challenge and change/validation and comfort exist on a neutral road as diverging paths. It’s up to the player to pick what path they prefer, but that doesn’t mean the other path isn’t worth acknowledging or analyzing. 

I should also mention that they’re not exclusive; there is overlap with validation being present in Louis’ route and challenges in Violet’s. They’re just more present in episodes 3 and 4 after we’ve made our decision. 

There are several more examples of how this all fits together, buuuuut–

Ya’ll wanna compare some allegories?

Those familiar with my content might already know where I’m going with this as I’ve made a post about Louis and the piano in the past. 

You see, I believe that there are allegories for Louis and Violet’s hearts present in their routes: Louis’ piano, and Violet’s pin. 

I already have a thorough, in-depth analysis of Louis and the piano that you can read, so all I’ll say about it is that on the night of the raid, he asked Clementine to carve a piece of herself into his heart so that no matter what, their initials will be immortalized together in its wood…

And that makes me fucking feral. 

But I'm also so normal about it.

As for Violet, her heart is the star gazing pin she gives to Clementine. She gives it to her so she’ll always remember that night… but she doesn’t give it to her until after Clementine’s saved her, and that fascinates me in the context of it being allegory. 

Louis asks Clementine to carve herself into his heart right before the raid, cementing that from that moment on, he is utterly devoted to her. I believe this is part of the reason why Louis is still happy to see her if he’s the one who’s captured. Yes, yes, he’s also incredibly traumatized from having his tongue cut out and he’d be happy to see anyone, yada yada… but listen, if you romance Louis and he’s captured, his heart remains with her—that piano with their intitals is on full display. When he sees her, he’s still so devoted to her that he refuses to accept that it’s at all her fault. Even when she says it is, he shakes his head... and he so easily accepts her when they’re together in the end. From the moment Clementine puts knife to wood, he’s hers. 

Now, look… you might think I’m going somewhere not great with this but hear me out. 

I think after Clementine’s gone star gazing with her, Violet is fully ready to give her heart to her. Y’know, give her the pin. But, think about what Violet said about how people have left, but Clementine came back. Plus, with the impending raid to think about, maybe Violet should keep the pin until the right moment. 

I believe a key difference between her and Louis is that Violet needs one last thing to solidify that Clementine’s the one. 

Louis gives her his heart prior to the raid because of everything that’s already gone down between them following Marlon’s death. Violet needs to know that Clementine’s willing to fight for her the way she fought before. When Clementine saves her from the raiders, it’s solidified. Even after she sees Minerva again, it changes nothing.

It’s also worth noting that the pin is something Clementine wears. Like the piano carving, it’s a piece on display for everyone to see, to let them know whose heart Clementine has.

Violet literally handed Clementine her heart as a means of saying, “I’m yours. I’m devoted to you.” 

This is why romanced/captured Violet is devastating, and is why she behaves the way she does in the cells. She was so ready to give her heart away and then nope, sorry, Vi! You get knocked unconscious by raiders instead! 

If anything, you kind of deserve to be told to fuck off if you romanced her and then let her get captured. Just sayin’. 

Look, I have a lot of complicated feelings about the captured violentine route, mostly with Violet being as forgiving as she is after her eyes are burned—yes, yes, I know, her eyes are burned and Minerva messed with her head so of course now she’s not hostile, yada, yada. 

But I think it’s rather telling that you don’t get the pin in this route. Sure, Violet’s willing to forgive and possibly pursue this romance in the future… but she’s not ready to hand over her heart, not truly. Not after everything that’s happened. 

And if you want to get extra angsty about it, imagine that Violet made the pin right after they parted ways, but before the raiders came. Meaning that if she’s captured, it’s possibly still sitting somewhere, abandoned. 

Mmhmmm, very normal about this. I feel normal. My normalness about this continues... normally. I'm not losing my shit thinking about that. Nope. Why would I? I wouldn't! So normal.

Okay just let me talk about their reactions to Tenn's death and then I'll shut up.

This makes me want to gnaw my own foot off, I can barely handle it.

AJ shoots Tenn on the bridge because Clementine trusted him to make the hard calls. This saves Louis or Violet's life.

When Louis jumps across, he's completely silent as he watches Tenn die... and then he's pissed; "What the fuck?! How could you just shoot him like that?!"

AJ explains himself, that he did it for him, and Louis is so upset that he forces AJ to look at what he's done, to watch the walkers eat Tenn; "Tenn's dead. He's dead! Do you realize that?! Look! [...] He's... he's gone, because of you. Just fucking gone."

If Clementine says AJ saved his life, Louis says, "So what, we just cut him loose? Gun him down like he was nothing?"

If Clementine says nothing, Louis says, "Tenn was just a little boy!"

The reason Louis responds this way is because in this moment, he just relived Marlon's death all over again, but worse. So, SO much worse!

When Violet jumps across, she breaks down, begging, "Oh, my God! Oh, my God! No, no! No, no, no..." as she watches Tenn die... and then says to AJ, "No! What the fuck?! How could you do that?!"

AJ explains himself, that he did it for her, and Violet is faaaar from okay; "For me? I can't... Tenn is gone! That soft little boy who liked to draw, he's gone, because of you!"

If Clementine says AJ saved her life, Violet says, "You think that's okay?! Just gunning down one of our own?!"

And there it is.

Louis is hardened in this situation because he already went through this... Violet hasn't, not with AJ. She softened up throughout her route due to her relationships to him and Clementine... but this is the moment where she realizes that maybe AJ wasn't as justified as she believed, and this is the consequence.

This leads us to the ending where AJ asks if they're still mad about him killing Tenn, and I just... I'm biting my foot right now because the script has flipped.

Louis is forgiving and understanding. He's soft, he's sympathetic, he shakes AJ's hand to let him know that all is forgiven and they're okay; "I... AJ, I guess it's like... You saw something I didn't. About the situation, I mean. Minnie and the walkers and Tenn, it's just all this chaos in my head when I think back on it. [...] Clem says you saved my life? Well, then, that's exactly what you did. And how can I stay mad at anyone for doing that?"

Or, alternatively, "He was your friend, AJ. I know you are hurting just as much as I am."

As for Violet? She's understanding, too... but she's not quite ready to forgive yet; "The thing you said on the bridge...that he was messing up all the time. It wasn't something new, you know. Tenn got himself or other people into trouble all the time, long before you guys got here. He was always so lost. He lived in a world that just...isn't there, you know? And that's why I tried to look after him. But when I was pulling him away from the walkers, and Minnie, I could also see...he just wasn't there anymore."

"So you're mad, but sad."

"Can I be that for a while?"

And it's completely understandable that she's hurting and struggling with how she feels about AJ moving forward! She wants to be okay, she wants to forgive him, she just needs time.

Now, because I'm forever bitter, but I'm gonna mention this as well: whenever I see someone point at Violet's scene and say, "See!? This is how LOUIS should've acted in ep2!" like... they're telling on themselves again. Not just that they don't understand Louis as a character or his route, but that they don't fully grasp Violet's part in this either. Or time frames, for that matter.

Let me put it to you in simple terms... they react the same.

After Marlon and Tenn die, they're upset. They're pissed. They blame AJ and yell at him. After they've had time to process what happened [Louis after the two week time skip, Violet after time passes between the bridge and the ending] they share the same, "I'm still upset about Marlon/Tenn. Can I be that for a while and still be your friend?" sentiment.

The difference is that Louis is treated poorly for it because of the vote, and because we feel it first hand for longer... Violet got to grieve off screen and come back after she's sorted herself out.

It's a disservice to both of their characters because it's rooted in that same mentality that I criticized at the beginning: "This is why one is better than the other."

Do I need to say it again? I'm gonna say it again.

One is not good and the other bad. They're different.

There are so many fun discussions that could come from putting Louis and Violet side by side, and examining them. I haven't even covered the different ways they're introduced, or compared their ep3 dates to see what it says about them and the overall narratives! What about the cell scenes!? How they react when Dorian's about the cut off their fingers! The way they approach James upon meeting him!

That last one in particular is especially funny! They're all under stress about blending in with a herd of walkers to infiltrate a boat to save their friends, and yet Louis easily saunters up to the guy wearing walker skins with a smile, and makes him laugh by saying, "Functional and fashionable. I'll take two."

Violet approaches James like he's an injured wild animal that's going to bite her, and bless her heart, she tries with, "I, uh… hey. Hey there, James. Sorry about Willy." Then James gives her this judgmental side-eye, like buddy? She's not the weirdo here.

There is so much potential to dissect here, and I want to see people do it... but I want them to do it fairly, in good faith.

I want to get away from the idea of comparing them to "prove" which is better because there is no objective better. There isn't! That's a waste of time!

I'm so done with The Debate™; it's unhelpful, it's annoying, and it's boring as shit. I've heard it all before, and you probably have, too.

I want to put Louis and Violet under a microscope and study them with the thought process of, "one does this and the other does that... what does it mean!? what does it say about the narrative!? Oh my god, they have the same opinion on this thing, WRITE THAT DOWN!"

So yeah, that's my ramble for the night.

I'm gonna go replay TFS for further research.

[ohnoitstbskyen]

ARCANE season 2 is just one year away!

We finally have a confirmed date for Arcane season 2: November of 2024, just one year away. Riot posted this striking stylized rendering of Jinx simply walking away from camera while some music plays. It is barely more than a teaser trailer, and it would be completely absurd to try and divine meaning or predictions about the show from it. So that's what I'm gonna do! The teaser is accompanied by the musical theme of The Bridge, which Powder sings in the first scene of the show as she and Vi are crossing this very same bridge in the aftermath of a pitched battle, finding their parents among the dead. It is Jinx's foundational trauma, and the crossing of the bridge is a repeated motif in the first season of Arcane, representing the divide between the cities, between characters, between ideologies. And so in this teaser Jinx is crossing the bridge again, in the aftermath of having lost her third father, blaming Piltover not inaccurately for all her suffering. If this is the tone-setter for the show, then, it seems Season 2 of Arcane will be grounded in Jinx's war on Piltover, her attempt to do what Vander couldn't with his riot and what Silco couldn't with his political manipulation. Dear friend across the river My hands are cold and bare Dear friend across the river I'll take what you can spare

To expand a little bit beyond what I can do in a 60 second short - it is of course an obvious conclusion that Season 2 of Arcane would feature Jinx's vengeance against Piltover (there is only so much you can try and predict from a 15 second teaser), but I wonder about the structure that this will take. Will Jinx's vengeance be a feature, a concurrent storyline running alongside all the other storylines, or will it be the central axis that everything else is orbiting?

In Season 1 the show was very much structured around a handful of storylines all converging into the same, single, tragic end-point - for most of the narrative, characters like Jayce and Vi were not even consciously aware of one another, even as their actions had impact on one another. By the end of Season 1, the characters are much more closely acquainted and connected with one another, and maybe that requires a change in structure. Perhaps, rather than a handful of narratives all converging together towards one central tragedy, we get a series of stories exploding out from one central starting point?

Because I could absolutely see Jinx and her war being the anchor-point that everyone else is reacting to. Vi's primary quest is to stop her, so is Caitlyn's. The Council will want bloody revenge, Noxus is going to sense weakness and take advantage of a civil war, the Chembarons will be fighting among themselves to take Silco's place...

It's only really Viktor and Singed whose storylines I could see maintaining some degree of separation from Jinx's vengeance... but then, I do operate on the assumption that Hextech will be used to build weapons of war and that that will be the final breaking point between Jayce and Viktor - I don't think Viktor's moral compass would allow his invention to be turned on the undercity in this way, the very people he most wanted to help and protect.

In this way, I have a feeling he'll enter the war essentially on Jinx's "side," building augmentations and applying Singed's nihilistic philosophy of science to build something to defend the undercity which Jayce, in turn, will find too horrible to contemplate or forgive.

Also who the fuck knows what Vander/Warwick is going to be doing? Is the connection between Singed and Orianna going to... like is Ori going to turn up? I would like Ori to turn up.

[cursorcomets]

Re: The discourse

I really don’t want to speak over anybody, I just want clarification and believe discourse is necessary for justified understanding.

I am very confused with a lot of the discourse i’ve seen today, and this confusion itched curiosity which became answers which then lead to further confusion.

Firstly, I have nothing but sympathy for anybody unable to bridge their connection with dan and phil through their tour. It makes me so upset knowing there’s so many people (knowingly the largest areas of fans), unable to see them in person because of external factors, outside of their controls. My sympathy is shared with my privilege in my other hand.

If we act in good faith, we also understand this is also very upsetting to dan and phil, from what they have said regarding the unjustified barriers they’ve tried to get past. They want to meet their fans, we know this from the generosity they extend to these issues, even ones out of their control. If that means hosting the equivalency of two meet and greets in one day due to ticket mishap, or their willingness to sacrifice their own discomfort for the sake of transparent fairness. It would be questionable to claim they do not genuinely care about their supporters, and when able, demonstrate that to the extent possible.

Obviously they cannot and should not go without criticism. They have, and will make mistakes, holding them to their mistakes is also important, and their responses to most of community concerns demonstrates it matters to them as well. They don’t want to upset or offend us. I believe they value our opinion, hold our viewpoints very high and want to set some kind of example of these beliefs. Could they do more? of course. At the end of the day, it breaks my heart to acknowledge, they are middle aged white men from England.

I also think it’s so important to acknowledge the raw realities they have shared with us, being their humanness, authenticity and vulnerability they have given us access to for 15 years. In the face of the mass scale personal intrusion they have sacrificed for our benefit, we have to acknowledge they are at their core deeply human. This point sounds cliche but i fear the desensitising of it only causes harm.

As dan said in his most recent reply, “to some extent i think i should be allowed grace to process being told my existence is not welcome.”

He further goes onto explain the importance of being sensitive with his platform. This is what i feel is at the core of this discourse.

There is so much nuance within discussing the careful line between expression of his lived experience, and minimising the extent of these vocal frustrations against his responsibility as a lighting rod of hope for so many.

His original reply which initiated the discourse, in relation to touring in asia, “we tried but the governments said no homo”.

Although later clarified is true, caused a lot of upset to many people. I am in no place to invalidate those feelings, and do not mean too. Those directly affected by this comment are more than entitled to feel this way. I do not want to touch that issue, my confusion comes from issues that exist outside of the topic specifically.

More so, the power of assumption and trust. I acknowledge it may be easier for me to detach and adjudicate situations from the outside of an issue due to privilege. I have tried to consume most of the opinions from those at the core of the issue. It seemed there was an assumption this statement of his was decidedly the single and final statement regarding asian tour dates. If that was true, it would be deeply unprofessional and disloyal to those fans affected. His statement now reads as truth masked through frustrated tone in response to hurt at the expense of himself and asian fans. As he since explained further, this sentiment is correct. Where my confusion lies, is the immediate jump to action, the accusatory labels and immediate conclusion his intent was malicious, consciously or not. I do get it, we should not carelessly trust people we only know parasocially. His statement was no more embellished than the acknowledgment of a massive factor to his answer to the initial question. The tone of his reply is where we have to apply nuance to the real life implications. The reality is, they were subjected to censoring on the basis of their sexuality. This does not take away from the lived experience of lgbt people in those countries. He acknowledged and apologised for not clarifying sooner, however the discourse of the initial reply is swallowing the larger sentiment, this is deeply upsetting to both dnp and those missing out on the tour. To find malice in his personal processing of discrimination, when his initial statement at its core was coping at his own expense doesn’t make sense to me with these points applied.

I do not disagree with sentiments expressed by those affected by this, or saying that there is absolutely no reason for any critique. I want to listen, I want to support those affected, but i want to do this with total comprehension and understanding. I can’t thoughtlessly defend something without reason. I also take umbridge with SOME people weaponising their ignorance or purposeful incompetence to be bullies, whether to defend dan or attack him. It’s incredibly translucent the people that jump to the occasion in bad faith, taking away significance from actual well intended intelligent opinions. If you’re using this as an opportunity to be racist or regina george, you don’t care about the crusade your fighting, you are simply miserable.

If anyone disagrees or thinks im missing something please let me know! Im more than happy to have a conversation, its not your responsibility to educate me but Im more than happy to listen! Please be no meaner than justified haha.

Peace & Love,

Aimee

[icyowl]

You find out Vash is a plant

Pairing: Vash the Stampede x reader

Request: none

Synopsis: you find out Vash is a plant and suddenly all the heartache begins to make sense

A/N: There are a lot of transitions in this. Please let me know if its super confusing, but yeah, I had an idea that needed to stretch its legs.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

“So. I guess this explains a lot, then.” You said. Like any perfectly sane, positively normal person, you did, in fact, expect the unconscious man laying on the cot in front of you to reply. Maybe he would? Who knew what he could or couldn't do, now that you knew he wasn't a human. An independent plant as the older lady — Luida — had called him. Now, with you left alone in the room with Vash to digest what had happened on the Humpback, it began to make sense. Lack of food or hunger, legendary marksmanship, sublime strength from such a nimble frame, the ability to seemingly dodge bullets. . . maybe it also explained the more complicated interactions between the two of you. The tension, the escapes, the excuses—

“But it doesn't.” You bit out. He had kissed you first all those weeks ago after nearly getting himself killed. Desire was hot in your blood when you collided bodily into him after finding the idiot unscathed apart from bruises and scrapes. It had been hours since he had disappeared with a throng of vigilantes on his hide to keep you safe; his heaving chest, the grime on the bridge of his nose, a too-casual comment about you being safe now — you wanted to dive under the coat until no one could tell you two apart. You didn't, though. You controlled the hormones for his sake and comfortability. He was the one to grabbed you by the chin as only some lusting lover would and hauled you over to his mouth.

“You kissed me, Vash, and then you go and say. . .”

“Wait.” He had spoken after you had just begun to sink into the moment and take his insufferable sunglasses off. His grip was sure, firm, when he stopped you. The pause where he held you pinned beneath his gaze made it seem like he didn't know what to say. Seconds passed. His eyes searched your features for an answer to your questions and confusion. Somewhere, he found it. “They might have followed me back. I should make another lap.”

Lap around what? The impatience he'd just had to get to you, touch you, be on you, had been swallowed back behind his eyes. Pitifully, you did what you could to protest: “Wait, your wounds—”

“I'll be back in an hour. It's late, get some sleep.”

So you figured he considered the kiss a mistake — a moment of ferocity after the tension of near-death — and you backed off. Shorter conversations, less time in the same room, some of your own sad excuses in an attempt to create space, quash the giddy crush already rooted deep behind your heart. You tried to be an adult and move on like a big girl.

“I come to the conclusion,” you said to the sleeping man on the cot, god, you still felt the adoration for him deep in your marrow, “that you're not interested, right? Because you said nothing when I pushed you away. You did nothing. Okay. Fine. Then when I had an infection from the bullet hole you fished out of my arm, and those raiders held the entire town hostage for two days until you stormed in, and they killed that mom's newborn baby right in front of me, and we got chased out and I still had the baby's blood on my face and the infection was getting worse and we didn't think I'd make it through the night.”

You breathed to get the overwhelming feelings in check. “You wiped my tears, you kissed my forehead, you rocked me to sleep, you told me you loved me. I guess that could be, like, a platonic love, but come on! You can't blame me for reading into it!”

Despite you increased volume there was no sign Vash had stirred. The connection he had made with the plant must have really taken a toll.

“So at this point, I'm thinking you're interested, right? We've held hands a few times at this point, gone on, like, what I consider dates and stuff. Great. You're done being wishy-washy and you've decided to try this thing out. We go slow, I figured you're just a little nervous, but we're making out, and I make sure to leave your sunglasses alone this time, and then. . .”

Your lips buzzed faintly at the memory. Who knew what led to the tension this time, you couldn't remember, but you'd never forget the gentle care he took with you. Something about messing with his sunglasses was a trigger, so you left them alone and figured you'd just work with the rims pushing against your cheeks. He was showing you a caressing kind of affection that worked you open from the inside out. You wanted to give him everything. Every fear, every trauma, every blemish. He, too, seemed to let himself give into the raw feelings quickly bubbling up. His grip on you got tighter and pulled you closer. The kisses grew faster and their strength forced you to lean back. You could feel his abdominals quiver where you fisted his shirt.

His warm, wet tongue reached out and moved along your bottom lip, causing the faintest sound to break from your throat. Just like that, the moment shattered. Vash grabbed your shoulders and held you at arms length. He kept his face obscured, ducked down and away, but you could hear the quiet gasping as he struggled to catch his breath. You called to him only to be interrupted: “Have to - feed the tomas.”

He had made for the door without sparing you a single glance and he shut it just as quickly. You waited, processed the moment and your thoughts, maybe yelled or cried or punched something. He didn't return until the next morning, breakfast in hand and fake smile plastered too-clearly on his lying face.

Shifting bedding caught your attention. Vash moved a little in bed, bringing you back to the present. You didn't realize your hands were clenched tightly into fists.

“So by this point, I'm like, really confused. You let the kiss last that long, you go for the tongue, then push me away. Like, fool me once, but fool me twice? At this point, as I hope you can understand, I'm pissed. If I were meaner, I'd punch you in the stomach right now and wake you up. Then, last week, you're all protective when you have no right to be. Why you got mad, I still have no idea.”

Frankly, he had every right to get mad. No good, low life, dirty pricks had cornered you on the way back to Vash and co. after an errand run. If their sleezy gazes and crude humor didn't get their intentions across, the invading hands and the guy who tripped you and got over top of you definitely made things clear. Your scream was blocked by a hand over your mouth and nose, the thrashing was futile, and when your fear began to lock up every joint and muscle you had, the tables began to drastically turn. Vash's stark golden hair and whipping crimson coat brought such a powerful sense of relief to you that you nearly fell limp. Until the real fun began.

Vash didn't speak, or shout, no, he growled. Roared even. He used his cybernetic hand to punch and throw and strangle. Gone was the gentle pacifist you'd grown familiar with, replaced instead with a creature so potent with rage he'd become unrecognizable. The perpetrator was lifted up by the front of his shirt and smashed unceremoniously into the concrete building. He gagged when the cool nickel of the a gun barrel was forced into his mouth without hesitation.

It took you and Wolfwood using every ounce of strength — pulling on his arm, shoulder, coat, anywhere you could reach — to wake him up. Even then, it was only when Vash descended from his savagery upon hearing your cries that he let the guy go. For his part, Vash did seem ashamed to have done it after the fact, but Wolfwood was still sure to give him a lashing.

“What would you have done if you'd actually killed him? Huh?! Answer me!” He'd said, cigarette dangerously close to falling from his teeth.

“I wasn't going to shoot—”

“With the look you had, I'm not so sure! Look, I don't care what you do or don't do to get some action, but the next time you get caught up in your emotions, I'll be putting a gun in your mouth.”

You tried to get Vash's eye after the exchange, but he opted for averted gazes and brooding silence. Wolfwood made you think: did Vash get like that because of you? Your first instinct was scoff, think back on all the times he rejected your advances or backpedaled his own, but you had to admit, he had a talent for reading people. There was also the incident just a few days ago, after you'd been unconscious for more than a day following a nasty run-in with bounty hunters. Getting thrown off a cliff would do that to you.

Vash was gone when you'd come to. Meryl had send him away to bathe and rest while she took watch over you. She tried to keep you, she really did, but the near-death experience put fire in your veins; you weren't going to risk dying anymore without getting answers from him.

His door was unlocked when you threw it open. All spice and vinegar, you exploded into his room, intent on unloading every ounce of angst and confusion he'd caused you, only to freeze solid.

You noticed the minefield of marks on his back just as you took note of the pristine muscles underneath them. They flexed and rolled when he turned to you, locked up when he saw who it was. He bounded for you just as you stepped towards him. You'd only intended to pull him close, assure him you didn't care how he looked, enjoy a moment in life spent with him, but again, he was the one touch his lips to yours. Mmmm, maybe touch was the wrong word.

His teeth clanged off yours with the force of his advance. You didn't mind. You didn't have much of a mind with the way he grabbed onto a hip and pulled you impossibly closer to his body.

With difficulty, Vash contained himself enough to get a few words in. “You're okay - mhm - you're okay. Let me just - get a shirt, so you don't have to—”

“You thought I cared about scars, Vash? Oh god, I wanna see you, wanna feel you—”

At least, you figured his reaction meant his past rejections had been because he didn't want to show you his body. Foolish. One of your thumbs caressing an old knife wound on his abs and he began to put space between you. Like an idiot, you fought back. You called to him, pleaded, tried to fight the arms pushing you rapidly towards the door. What had you done wrong? What did you do to deserve this? Why was he doing this to you? You asked him all of it and got smokey replies in exchange.

“I just - I can't - not right now - just, you didn't do anything wrong. Please, I'm glad you're okay, but go—”

Wood slats and metal bolts slammed shut on you, knocking against your nose. It was like it shut out your emotions, too. All you could do was stare numbly, unmoving, at the wear marks and hatching staring you down when it should have been his eyes. A wave of desperation crested under your muscles. BAM. The door shook with the power of your fist. It stung now. It would throb later. You didn't bother to care.

“Coward!” You cried.

Vash's lonely sigh could be heard from the other side. You didn't move, knowing you'd sleep outside his room, ambush him whenever he decided to emerge, if it meant you could get him to answer for the thorns piercing your chest.

“I know I am.” He said, words warbled by the door but still distinguishable. “I am a coward. I'm hurting you and its the last thing I want.”

“Then. . . why?” You weeped.

“I'm not. . . I'm not what you need.”

“Is this because you think you're not good enough? Vash, you're the kindest, most compassionate person on the face of this planet. I want you. I want you.”

“You don't know that.” He cut in.

Your anger returned fearsomely. Didn't know? You didn't know what you wanted? This prick — this stupid, beautiful, arrogant prick, thought he could decide what as best for you after all the shit he caused. Intelligence: insulted. Feelings: disregarded. Autonomy: stripped. Trust: obliterated. He'd brought you in, pushed you out, then had the audacity to make it your fault for getting angry. Fuck, maybe he really was a walking calamity.

“You don't know me. Maybe you would have, but you don't. You won't, either.”

A quiet snore from the man sleeping in front of you broke through the memories. After what happened with the Humpback, Livio, the Bad Lads, and the plasma cannon, you didn't have the same coursing fury as you had just the other night. After seeing him with the plant, after seeing what he was, after learning so much. . . you were at a bit of a loss.

“I get it now.” You said to the empty air. “You don't want to be with me. Lust, hormones, they made you slip up, but you'll wake up, push me away, pretend it never happened, because I'm a human, right? Something like you would never want to be with something like me.”

The emotions took hold of your throat until it was hard to breathe and clawed at your eyes until they watered and you had to shut them tight to keep from having a complete meltdown. Near-death experience? Check. Unrequited love? Check. Felling the simultaneous crush of insecurity and self-loathing because you feel both inadequate for the man you're in love with and too stupid to have seen it sooner or looked out for your own emotional health before it was too late? Triple check.

Synthetic fingers pulled at your clenched fist to try and get your muscles to relax, to stop your fingernails from making painful divots in your beautiful skin. “I'll always want you.” Vash said.

You looked into his eyes taking you in with a soft affection you refused to acknowledge. No. Not again. He wouldn't lure you into a trap so easily this time. Seconds passed as you grew more mortified with the situation. Was he awake the entire time?

“How much of that. . .”

“I think I really started listening when you mentioned platonic love.”

Though it was a joke, the thumb casually brushing over your knuckles brought you back to the seriousness of the moment. You jerked you hand away hastily.

“You'll always want me? Stop kidding yourself. If you had an ounce of respect for me, you'd care about my opinions. You wouldn't push me away, string me along, put up this fake persona and act like everything's okay when you've hurt the person you say you care about.”

You stood to leave only for his flesh-hand to reach across to secure your wrist. “It's not because you're human, it's because I'm not.” When you turned back, surprised and mute, he continued. “I know I've been horrible to you, I know I don't deserve you or any second chance. . . but. . . I need to show you. If you'll let me.”

His words gave truth to what you had seen: he wasn't human. You were hesitant; not because of what he was, but because of what he did. But you knew, above all else, you felt safe. When he had grabbed you, not a single cell in your body recoiled or shied away. Vash had never once given you any reason to fear him.

This kiss was far gentler than before, but felt even more intense. He took his time, pushing back the lust in favor of something more real, more permanent. Vash pulled you open in a way that gave you the chance to end it whenever you wanted. The back of his knuckles caressed you cheek. This time, your heart clenched in an entirely different way. When you finally got the self-control to pull back. . . the sight was surreal.

Abstract glyphs began to glow and pulse from under his skin. Back and forth, a winding mosaic deeply embedded, on his chin, nose, and neck and in his eyes. Even the pupils were lit with a soft blue light. When he brought your hand to hold his cheek, the light show shined brighter and pulsed more excitedly where you skin touched. “I didn't want you to see this. Normally the markings only show when I'm-” he paused to swallow “-in contact with another plant. They've never shown up around a human before. And I can't control it this time — I tried, when we kissed before. I can't stop it, and I didn't want you to find out the truth.

“I told myself I could have you and you'd never find out what I was. Dumb, right? I believed it could work if I did it just right. That's why I ran away or pushed you out. I was trying to keep it under control, but I could feel it coming to the surface. With you, I think my body feels some kind of connection.”

You were a little too awestruck by the bioluminescent spectacle going on to fully take in his words at first. When your hands moved down to hold his jaw, you could feel the intensity of his pulse under the fingertips skimming his neck.

“At least I'm not the only one.” You finally said.

Perhaps it was the relief, maybe it was that last wall of his coming down for you, but he knocked his forehead into yours and sighed in a powerful rush that had his whole body slouching into you.

“You have no idea how much I wan—”

“Come on kids, don't be giving each other diseases.”

You pulled away from Vash so sharply you would've fallen back off the bed had he not yanked you back to him. “Wolfwood!”

“So? Guess you finally grew a spine and told her about this whole plant thing?”

“Wait,” you stopped, putting the pieces together, “when did you find out?”

“You really think he'd sleep this long? Dude's been awake for hours.”

“What?!”

Your now-lover's cheeks darkened. “You weren't supposed to tell her that!”

[dragon-prince-6-3]

I do have a theory what aaravos plan is ( not some random thing, but build on infos we got from the other seasons )

His plan is to get dark magic and use it on the star council who killed his daughter. Killing all star elves which is in his eyes justice and a good thing for humanity. If the writers want him to be punished or be forgiven afterwards by the main crew is up to them.

How did I come to this conclusion:

Aaravos never used dark magic. He can possess others who used it but he himself never did it. When he possessed Viren he used fire and ice spells. When Viren absorbed zym it was Viren who was doing the spell ( even if the caterpillar spoke the words it is not aaravos, nor is implied that it’s magic got used only that it knows the spell ). Claudia performed all dark magic spells afterwards. So maybe aaravos only knows how to perform dark magic and teach it but not use it himself. He can however get connected to it which is why he is dark but not corrupted. This would make sense why he is so interested in dark mages before he got captured ( made the staff beforehand and set up a war ). It would also fit that humans are not born with magic but can learn any kind of magic as counterpart to elves who are born with theirs but unable to learn more. Aaravos could be born with all arcadiums or star magic is connected to them all, but dark magic is not an arcadium.

Aaravos needs dark magic since it could be the only thing that kills multiple star touched elves ( will be later his undoing because of callum ). After all stars can be absorbed by black holes. To archive this aaravos needs to be a black hole but lacks the ability to become a true dark mage. But he found a way to steal the ability of someone else. After all dark magic is the progress of stealing magic from something else so if he connects to the source he should be able to take over that magic for himself. Star magic is portal and connection magic so it is logical that he learned this part without having used dark magic himself. He was only able to possess dark mages throw their magic but not take it from them. Until Viren.

The ritual and creation of sir sparklepuff was never for Viren benefit. But to make a bridge between them ( Viren and Aaravos blood ). The plan was for the bridge to grow and than perform the dark magic to switch the ability. The progress of dark magic is finding a magic source what can be used for your needs ( caterpillar who started by being inside aaravos and started to grow after it was inside Viren ), kill the thing so the magic is inside the user ( even if Claudia killed it, it was connected to Viren so the bridge magic is inside him ). Than the user has to release the dark magic by performing a spell and the magic leaves his body. In this case once Viren performs any kind of dark magic it will all leave him and go to aaravos who can than grow it himself.

This would actually explain a few things. Why aaravos spent so much time bringing Viren back ( he was still connected and could not make a second blood pact with Claudia since the mirror was broken or unaccesable ( it needed a rune on both sides )). Why he only left katolis after Viren performed a dark spell even if he saw that all people where now safe ( he didn’t care about killing katolis people ). Nor why he didn’t check if Viren was alive or death ( he obviously survived the fire spell, aaravos is close enough to see him and others be immune to fire especially after he teached it to Viren himself, but he couldn’t know that Viren used his own hearth and will die anyway ). I think he didn’t plan to kill Viren but attacked specifically to get Viren to perform dark magic, if Viren lived or died afterwards is unimportant to him so he left. This is why the sun elves plot made so little sense. Aaravos wanted to get an army but sacrificed his forces in exchange to attack an katolis with no one important inside it. He even healed his arch enemies the sun dragon just for this moment otherwise he could have killed his weakened opponent after he was freed. It also explained why Viren corpse wasn’t corrupted. Viren true form is his dark form which he only hides behind illusions. That he was not in this form all along was because he was death ( freed from it ) and than didn’t use it except this one time beforehand where he rejected it. So now that he chose to use it for a second time shouldn’t the corruption remain ? It doesn’t because it got transferred into aaravos. Aaravos would have preferred to increase Viren magic beforehand ( getting zym or letting him rule over zadia where are endless resources) but it isn’t necessary. Now he got it and can start on his plan to kill all star elves.

It would make sense that if you want to absorb / kill something so strong you need close enough power dark magic wise ( a beginner can’t use dragon parts etc. ). That is why aaravos wanted to grow it beforehand but is willing to increase his new power on his own. And luckily for him there are enough magic creatures in Zadia to absorb from. Heroes be aware ore else you could end up feeding aaravos. He already tried this before by swallowing people but now he can actually absorb them. What do you mean he is a villain ? He only does what is necessarily to kill the evil star elves. There are always elves dying so who cares, he isn’t even touching humans who stay out of his way. It will be better for all if he gets the power up completed and than steals the rest power from the stars. His goal isn’t technically to become a god who killed a lot of innocent for his own power boost to get what he wants. You heroes just don’t understand that is all for the bright future of the world ( plus revenge ). Claudia can’t understand why her former friends desperately try to stop aaravos from killing more creatures, aaravos is nice and says the same thing as her dad so why not trust him ?

This theory explains a few things and can be finished in one season. Start explaining, go hunting creatures, everyone battles, aftermath. It is not what I would have wanted ( big conflict about moral questions ) but it is the only logical thing with set up I can find we could actually make work.

[krockdove]

You know, after watching the last batch of Earthspark, I was really disappointed for a number of reasons. I was angry about it.

But then I learned the producers were treated terrible by Paramount and had no choice but to end a lot of things in season one, now I'm not mad at them at all. I instead curse Paramount forever.

so....I'll write some headcanons I was looking forward to in Earthspark. I maybe do a series of related posts. Today is about one of the most important characters, Starscream.

Warning! This post contains spoilers.

Let me make one thing clear: I have no beef with his redemption. No, rather, I believed that Earthspark would do it as a matter of course. I never once doubted it.

The one of themes in Earthspark is "Second Chance". Starscream is the character in the Transformers franchise who most deserved a second chance, the character who could become the most dramatically three-dimensional with a second chance. Even though S1C was made under pressure to wrap everything up quickly, his redemption eventually came, which is what the show was meant to do from the beginning. The problem is, because the story had to be wrapped up in one season, all the dramatic plot points, connections between moments that should have been important, and characterizations were weakened across the board.

We are happy with his Redemption, but this is Earthspark. Not TFP. That means, we once had the opportunity to explore Starscream's character much more deeply. Not just in one episode, but a few.

Especially since I was serious about what was hinted at in the Warzone episode, I was disappointed that it wasn't used in the story.

I've seen several theories about that episode, the conclusion was that Starscream was caught in the Space Bridge explosion and was officially declared dead. I was actually pretty sure. That's why his appearances were low throughout the season, and he survives the explosion, BECAUSE Allspark revives him and fuses with him, right?

It makes it natural for Megatron to talk about the battle like that way and reveal his trauma, especially if he thought he lost both Shockwave and Starscream because of his actions. (This explains Soundwave's anger too.)

So Starscream was treated as dead, but actullay he was secretly imprisoned by the evil GHOST. He was unconscious when it happened, so it would have taken him a long time to figure out what was going on. He doesn't know that others to think he's dead. He sees his comrades locked the cell and thinks Megatron has really abandoned them.

This misunderstanding would have been a very important source of conflict when he was later reunited with Megatron. I even expected him to be the one to reveal the truth about GHOST.

I was almost certain that the GHOST and Mandroid plots would carry over into S2, so I thought it would be a conflicted ending with Starscream revealing the truth at the end of S1. It would have been nice if Starscream's character to be explored at the beginning of S2, along with his redemption, and the past war story.

And that would have made for some interesting drama not only between him and Megatron, but also with Optimus.

Imagine if that really happened. Starscream insists GHOST is wrong. How do you think Optimus and Megatron would take it?

Yeah, I can hear their doubts up here.

The point is, Starscream is seen as untrustworthy. Megatron would have a 50/50 chance of trusting him, but Optimus certainly wouldn't. From his perspective, Starscream would be seen as trying to drive a wedge between him and Megatron and reignite the war. In this situation, no one is lying, but someone ends up being unfairly labeled a liar. Optimus would compromise for the sake of the people he cares about, but they wouldn't include Starscream.

And I think this is the perfect moment for Hashtag to appear!!

Like, she's going to show up and be one who believes Starscream. If she believes in him, so do some of the Terrans – not all of them for now – but eventually the Hashtag and the Terrans believe in Starscream, and it would be really touching if that led to his redemption!

(also it inspires Terrans to dig into the truth of the GHOST themselves)

After it was revealed that he had an Allspark inside of him, he must have had an internal conflict. When he realized that the hope of his home planet and their people lay within him, could he handle it?

He struggles with it, but eventually does something heroic to help the Terrans. Maybe he uses the power of Allspark.

Terrans believe in Starscream when even Optimus doesn't, and it changes him, it would have fulfilled the show's message – Everyone deserves their second chance.

[crowzirawho]

People need to stop panicking and understand that Neil saying Good Omens S3 won't be gentle and romantic doesn't mean it won't fulfill your personal perception of gentle and romantic, or that it won't have sweet moments and moments that show the love between Aziraphale and Crowley. It's clear based on him calling S2 gentle and romantic.

He's right that it was gentle and romantic; in S2, the world was not ending. S2's main plot and biggest crisis was The Gabriel Mystery, which turned out to be all about his romantic relationship with Beelzebub, and that plot was connected with Aziraphale and Crowley trying to make Maggie and Nina fall in love - romance again.

The entire plot of S2 revolved around romance in a mostly quiet setting.

In addition to that, removing the last fifteen, Aziraphale and Crowley didn't have any tension between them apart from the first episode, which was resolved¹ quickly, and all of their moments were pretty domestic and sweet. Hell, Aziraphale was trying to figure out a way to show his feelings to Crowley by organizing a Ball.

The entire season that consists of all six episodes is overall quiet, gentle, and romantic, like Neil said. People obviously don't see it that way, because the last fifteen minutes that concluded this season went against the tone of the rest of it. The taste the ending leaves in your mouth is definitely not quiet, gentle, or romantic. Is it defining of the tone of the entire season? Not really. But everyone has their own perception.

Let's not forget that S3 is based on the sequel to the book, which is what S1 is based on, and S2 is merely the bridge to get there. We already know the context for S3 from the show: second coming, the world is about to end (again). So, even if we don't have S3, we know that it would be best compared to S1.

So, was S1 gentle and romantic? Absolutely not.

The world was ending, everyone involved was panicking, and the tension was over the top. The plot of S1 definitely did not revolve around romance in a quiet environment, like S2's was. On top of that, Aziraphale and Crowley had a lot of tension between them throughout the season, up to the bookshop fire. Then the fire happened, which was definitely stressful as well. S1 ended on a good, even romantic note for them, but it could not be described as gentle and romantic.

Did we get sweet/important moments between Aziraphale and Crowley, though? Of course we did. A lot of them.

Now, for S3, we will obviously have all the tension caused by the end of the world, and I don't think anyone expects Aziraphale and Crowley to have zero tension between them. It will be super angsty, even more angsty than it was in S1 because of what happened in the last fifteen. S3 has no chance of being gentle and romantic, whether you talk about the main plot or Crowley and Aziraphale.

However, that does not define the resolution of the issue between Aziraphale and Crowley and it doesn't mean at all that we won't get sweet moments between them or moments that will show how much they love each other. It's even more likely through the angst if you ask me (it's why I love reading angsty fanfics).

Conclusion because I ranted: When Neil describes a season, he describes the overall tone, not how we will take it based on the parts that hold extra weight to us.

1. not really resolved with the "apology" dance, but it's not important.

[hardworkandguts]

Negative Positive Angler

ネガポジアングラー

(Anime)

Fishing / slice of life by NUT

Era: 2020s

Rating: B

Plot: Tsunehiro Sasaki is not having a great time. He's heavily in debt after failed investments, stopped attending college, his doctor found out he has only about two years to live, and unknowing to him, his house is about to be torn down. One day, trying to escape from his creditors, he falls from a bridge, and as he accepts his fate, he's rescued out of the water by Takaaki and his group of fishing enthusiasts.

Length: 12 episodes

Thoughts: So, a show about fishing. Right. We're really starting to get into the “press random article on Wikipedia until a sport or hobby appears” phase of having too many shows. But here's the thing: when the end product is this solid, you could make a show even out of (tries method)... 1930s racing. Well, that's not hard, just hope you like characters dying in the most horrific ways. Anyway, This is a show I've picked out mostly out of curiosity, and it really paid off, arguably the best non remake I've followed during the Fall 2024 season after Acro Trip fizzled out a bit.

Like many of these shows, even if you don't know anything about fishing, it tries to fill you in with the basics with the main character acting as an audience surrogate, every episode has five minutes to go over some technique, equipment or basic knowledge, and you really don't need to know anything about fishing to enjoy this, you're not even forced to learn anything, more often than not those moments are used to connect characters to each other - by the final episodes, quite literally.

This is mostly a show where Sasaki gets to see his life through a different lens - he's really not in a good place at the start, but changes thanks to the kindness of those around him, starting with Takaaki who offers him a place to stay and to pay off his debt so that at least the loan sharks are no longer chasing him, and over time he also realises other people have problems too, there's an whole episode dealing with the Manager's estranged kid and his troubles connecting with him. What's more surprising about this show is how oddly upbeat it is for a show where the main character is dying. True he doesn't say anything, you just kinda forget... until reality comes knocking and things get real *fast* for the conclusion of the story, and indeed, other people have problems as well. Not really expecting a second season, but I don't think it needs one anyway - this is a fun show that tells a good story that ends in a good place in these 12 episodes, and you're probably going to want to rewatch it again in the future.

Character design is just great and the best I've seen this season. From Hana's blobby hair and Ice’s metamorphosis between her gremlin and model looks to Fujishiro in his permanent balding, chibi mode and Takaaki who kinda looks like a male version of Harako from FLCL (although with the opposite effect in the main characters life), everyone is pretty dynamic (there's a scene where Hana ends in gremlin mode and Ice in her model looks just because) and easily distinguishable.

Recommended to: anyone looking for a mostly chill slice of life

Plus:

Great character design

A chill time, very heartwarming

Minus:

Nothing big to report, but the final episodes can be a bit of a mood swing.

[atamascolily]

I didn't discuss Rebellion in my earlier post about anticipating plot twists in Madoka Magica, partly because I came to it already spoiled for both reveals, and partly because at least one twist plays by very different rules than those of the main series. While I can't speak to what I might have been able to guess had circumstances been otherwise, I can talk about the structure of these twists, and how they function in the narrative.

The first twist (Homura is a witch) is relatively straightforward, and I would argue, entirely guessable on first viewing approximately forty minutes into the movie. This is the scene on the bridge connecting Mitakihara to whatever is outside of it (answer: void), where Homura and Kyouko are being stalked by zombies who are wearing masks with Homura's face on them. I mean, yes, there are Kyouko masks, too, but let's be real, the symbolism cannot be more obvious.

Not only do the zombies peacefully disperse when Homura explains the situation--subconsciously responding to her will--Homura is awfully well-versed on the nature of witches, something that only she is in a position to know. This is followed by an incredibly surreal sequence as Homura "descends" into a landscape of blurry mosaics playing out various scenes from the original series--not unlike how the "paintings" in her apartment re-played her memories in the original series, or a witch's labyrinth.

At this point in the story, all of the major players have been introduced, so the witch has to be one of them--it can't be a random person we've never heard of before with no previous connections to the main cast. Likewise, we've seen Sayaka and Charlotte's labyrinths, so the false Mitakihara wouldn't be their style, Madoka is unlikely to be the culprit, and Kyouko isn't faking her confusion. The only other person besides Homura who might concoct such a fantasy of "everyone getting along and having adventures" is Mami, and yet the plot of Rebellion kicks off with Homura joining the team, (despite the initial fake-out that makes it seem like the film will follow Madoka's POV) implying that she is the central character. And while Kyubey could certainly be responsible (and is later proven to be involved), he cannot be the witch himself; he can only manipulate what is already there, not create from scratch.

Thus, I'd argue that it's entirely possible to guess the witch's identity from the bridge scene onward, with more and more evidence piling up in Homura's favor until the actual reveal thirty minutes later. However, the second twist (Homura becoming the devil) is structured very differently and deliberately to keep it from being guessable on first viewing. Despite the fact that it is foreshadowed well in advance in the famous "flower field" sequence between Homura and Madoka, it utterly fails what I call the "Vonnegut test" after this iconic quote from Kurt Vonnegut:

Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

Urobuchi and Co. achieve this paradox by doing what I call "the Unreliable Narrator technique"--they show us what is happening in the flower field sequence, but they do not provide sufficient context to allow the viewers to draw the appropriate conclusions at the time. Ironically, for a movie that takes place primarily in Homura's psyche, so much of her motivation and thought process remains ambiguous, precisely because of this method. Instead, we are shown Homura's moment of epiphany, but not what it means, which remains ambiguous right up until the moment of reveal.

It is technically possible to guess this particular twist in advance, but is it likely? If the last few pages of the Rebellion script were eaten by cockroaches and fans were forced to reconstruct the ending from scratch, do you think they would all reach that particular conclusion? My guess is probably not. This kind of twist is really only visible in hindsight, precisely because the audience isn't provided with the information they need to judge the situation correctly.

So, no, I'm not just salty because I would never have guessed this plot twist on first viewing in a million years. I'm salty because I'm not sure that anyone could--and if you did, my hat is off to you and I want to know your secrets.

(Urobuchi pulls a similar stunt in Thunderbolt Fantasy S3, and it drove me fucking crazy, because it was extremely clear from context that one character was not what he appeared to be, but the show hadn't given me any hints about when the switch had occurred, so while I could infer that something had happened, I had no way of knowing what or how, because I was operating in a complete vacuum! In this case, the creators took pity on me by eventually showing a flashback scene outlining the missing steps in great detail, as opposed to merely monologuing about it after the fact, as happens in Rebellion.)

As you can probably tell, I have a lot less patience for this particular kind of plot twist--at best, I think it's not particularly fair to the audience, and at worst, it can come off as a random ass-pull. As a reader, I like to be rewarded for close attention to detail, so the author yelling "PSYCH! IT WAS SOMETHING ELSE I DELIBERATELY DIDN'T EXPLAIN THE WHOLE TIME!" is not a fun experience for me. It's the sort of twist that I can't even feel bad about not being able to anticipate because the game is so steeply rigged in the house's favor.

I'm not sure I would call it cheating, exactly, but I do think it's disingenuous, and I can't help wishing the creators of Rebellion had opted for a different route and been slightly less subtle in their approach. Fingers crossed that they don't end up bringing this kind of twist back for Walpurgis no Kaiten.

[tocja]

Okay, I try to avoid this whole Eurovision thing since Israel is not banned, but something caught my eye.

I came across Polish entries, and first on the list was a song by some young woman in cheap babushka/stereotypical Slavic girl cosplay. And it made me irrationally mad. So mad, actually, that I started talking to myself about why the idea of a young blonde in red lipstick and a plastic flower crown makes my blood boil.

And I came to the conclusion that I hate the idea of 'vague Slavicness.'

There is this ideal that being Slavic means the same thing across borders, and as much as I can appreciate cosmopolitan sentiment in this statement, I have to also notice that this is exactly the type of narration which is used by Russia to deny us identity.

'There is no Ukraine - they are just half-baked Russians';

'They are not Poles - they are Russians in denial';

'We are all the same in our Slavic brotherhood and we will be stronger as one' - and I've met my share of Slavic nationalists to know that for some people, those sound like promises and not threats.

If we are all the same, then it is not an attack - it is unification.

And Slavicness means a lot of things; it is not the same even within the borders of the same country. Seeing this idea of being vaguely Slavic, enough to be recognized as one, but not to the point of giving yourself any actual cultural identity - it seems extremely pandering, as if we are trying to show some sanitized version that could be easily sold to everyone. Everyone recognizes 'babushka,' and who cares if you don't even use that word in Polish - your Slavicness makes you semi-Russian by proxy.

And not to be misunderstood - I don't think that the mentioned singer did that on purpose; I am pretty sure she just wanted to make some cute folkish tune that could represent her country.

I just think that the aesthetic of being Slavic is so ingrained in us that we actually forget that this is a culture, not a box of Pinterest/propaganda prompts.

I am rambling; it doesn't have to mean anything. Maybe because I come from a part of Poland with a strong regional identity and work in a museum, I am uncomfortable with the idea of a 'universal Slav,' and this video just serves as an excuse to rant about things that were already bothering me."

Ok fking wait a second

I was just finishing, when i decided to check the video again. The description states:

Kwiaty" is not just a song; it's a heartfelt journey into Slavic, old-fashioned love. Dama's lyrics take us back to a time when gestures spoke louder than words—buying flowers, sweet words, and walks under the moon. The song contrasts this nostalgic ideal with the modern lack of effort in relationships. Dama sings of a Slavic girl's strength, bravery, and confidence, longing for genuine connections. "Kwiaty" becomes a bridge between cultures, inviting reflection on the essence of sincere, old-fashioned love.

what the fuck is slavic old fashioned love

I was saying that I don't think the singer meant anything bad, and well - yes she did, here you go, you get romanticized slavic traditionalist propaganda about GOOD OLD TIMES XDDD

The lyrics are crazy

So you want me but you won't open me door

So you want me but you won't walk me home

So you want me but won't pay on our date

So being with you and without you it's the same

As it is shown by the text above, I am not native english speaker, I make my share of mistakes, but I am pretty sure that some wonky english is on display here.

I have Slavic blood

I keep my head high

And my tears dry

So don't waste my time

Oh yeah babe, there it is, Slavic blooded girlboss.

OKOKOK i don't want to show more text as it is physically painful, but I couldn't find a better definition of ''vague slavicness'' even if I tried. Some '' Slavic dama'' singing about ''Slavic love'' What makes it slavic? plastic flower crown, white frilly dress and patriarchal views. Culture? Those things I mentioned are not culture?

I believe that slavicness can be genuine, historically informed, modern and progressive please please please don't let us fall into conservative superficial ideals, just because it sometimes feels like there is not much more to us and our culture. We are rich and diverse.

It took a turn lol

[ecenvs3000w23]

Scientific Communication and How Interpretation Can be a Bridge

After reading the contents for this week, I started to think about scientific communication. There are endless environmental crises that our generation and the world faces today. When mentioning this, most would likely think of things like climate change, biodiversity loss, and habitat loss. However, perhaps a bit lesser known crisis that we face is with scientific communication. According to Watson et al. (2014), we are seeing waning support for conservation along with decreasing governmental resources and policy failures. A major part of this issue, I believe, stems from an issue with scientific communications in which the public and governments are not well-informed (Hunter, 2016). 

The readings gave me an idea: natural interpretation could be a bridge to connect environmental scientific knowledge to the public. Throughout the course, I learnt how effective natural interpretation can provoke, enrich, and inspire all kinds of people in respect to nature. As a result, it can help people truly understand the beauty of nature and inspire many to help with the conservation/environment efforts from the challenges we face today (Beck et al., 2019). 

Just dry facts are typically not enough to interest a significant portion of the public on nature and all crises it is facing (Beck et al., 2019). In fact, this is told as something to avoid as interpreters because it can cause the audience to lose interest, since they are there for recreation, not a lecture Beck et al., 2019. Lecturing is also another thing to avoid. Rather, an ideal interpreter should help the audience absorb knowledge and enrich their natural perspectives (Beck et al., 2019). 

This is something that the area of environmental education has recently shifted to, where it went from dry facts and awareness to something that enables the public to create their own abilities to perceive environmental situations and make their own informed decisions and commitments (Wals et al., 2014). That sounds awfully a lot like interpretation. 

I think Wachira (2017), from his Ted Talk on birds, does a fantastic job showing the ability to bridge scientific knowledge to the public through interpretation. Without using fancy scientific words and encompassing all sorts of approaches (like using visual showings along with story-telling), he was able to tell the audience a story about birds in a very engaging, inspiring, and factual way. His story about nurturing a bird back to strength and the wonders birds provide to the ecosystem like with the vultures bring fascination to those that might not even be interested in birds (Wachira, 2017). He also connects the tangible birds to human intangibles, such as the feelings of freedom (Wachira, 2017). Judging from the reaction of the audience, many were deeply moved by his talk on birds. This includes me as well. 

Picture of a Magpie, my favourite bird. The unique behaviors and sounds of the magpie could make for an amazing interpretation.

In conclusion, I believe natural interpretation can be the bridge that links scientific knowledge to the public. By approaching environmental issue topics in a way that allows the public to be enriched by nature in order to come up with their own perspectives, it would allow the public to be better informed and thus increase support for tackling those environmental issues. Wachira (2017) showcases how effective this can be.

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2019). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For A Better World. Sagamore Publishing.

Hunter, P. (2016). The communications gap between scientists and public. EMBO Reports, 17(11), 1513–1515.

Wals, A. J., Brody, M., Dillon, J., Stevenson, R.B. (2014). Convergence between science and environmental education. Science, 344(Pages: 583-584).

Watson, J. E. M., Dudley, N., Segan, D. B., & Hockings, M. (2014). The performance and potential of protected areas. Nature, 515(7525), 67–73.

Wachira, W. (2017). For the love of birds [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/washington_wachira_for_the_love_of_birds.

[hadleyr]

I appreciate the thought process in constructing this, but I fundamentally disagree with the conclusions, both In & Out of Universe. As far as I see it:

In both the main universe & the AU, Jayce is the one judged responsible for the magical explosion, given the gems were his illegal creations. However, he dies in the blast (presumably along with Caitlyn), so he never gets to meet Viktor - which also means that Viktor likely dies shortly after, given there's no Hexcore/Shimmer to sustain him. Evil Cosmic Horror God Viktor either doesn't need to remember, or doesn't even look at, the universes where he dies before the anomaly comes into existence.

Grayson, being a more pragmatic Sheriff than Marcus would have arrested the kids not for the explosion, but for the Breaking & Entering. They didn't leave with anything, so even charging them with burgulary is a bit of a big ask. Given that their ringleader died in the process of the crime, the remaining kids likely get little more than a caution - especially with Vander's deal with Grayson; they'd probably negotiate some kind of resolution that day, instead of the protracted mess that happens in the main universe. Part of the reason things play out so badly in the main universe is the effort to hide what happened & who was involved - that manhunt never happens in the AU because the kids never flee the scene.

There's no guarantee that Vander & Silco's reconciliation happens as a result of the blast - could have happened at any point between Vander's attempted murder and shortly before the "present". It's not unreasonable to think that the cycle could have been broken at any point, the lack of shimmer production in the AU suggests Silco never turned to that as a means for power/revenge. However, if it is as a result of the blast, Vander's grief makes him seek out that old connection, and it's not ridiculous that Silco would be more accepting of a clearly regretful, humbled Vander, especially if they both can forgive the original grievances. The fact that Vi & Powder are the only legacy left of Felicia, and one of those is now gone, the two likely bond over her memory, and that helps rebuild the bridges.

As for Powder, yes, she carries a lot of guilt for Vi's death, but she didn't have the experience of her worst fears being validated (Vi calling her a Jinx - hell, Milo only calls it her in the show as a result of her losing the stolen goods; that doesn't happen in the AU) and believing she was being abandoned before being raised by a man who didn't understand how (or want) to help her heal from her trauma. I'm sure Powder blames herself, and still has work to do to address/recover from her trauma, and yes, her underlying mental illness maybe still be there, but everyone in her life is much more supportive and would be able to help her heal as much as possible.

Powder never lashes out at the council, because there's: 1) No loss of support network for resolving her trauma 2) No rising escalation between Enforcers & The Lanes 3) Reconciliation between Silco & Vander 4) No Hextech for her to even weaponise 5) No paternal figure encouraging her to lash out at the council in response for his death

Also, Caitlyn is also presumed to have died in that explosion too, in which case, Cassandra Kirraman might have even been forced to step down from the council (Jayce was sponsored by her, there'd be some social consequence there). So Cassandra might not even have died even if Powder were to attack the council.

No Hextech means Ambessa looks somewhere else for a weapon to wield against the Black Rose, so she doesn't ever engineer the circumstances to push Piltover to declare Martial Law, so no Dictator Salo/Cait (even if she's not dead). No Dictator means no strike team, and no genocide.

So no, everybody would not die, and not just because of "The power of love and friendship", though Powder having a life full of those things (rather than basically devoid of them) would make a big difference to her wellbeing & development/behavours.

It's not the writers forgetting things, it's them reassessing a lot of the instigating events of the series and looking at what happens if they play out differently. There might be even more opportunities for things to play out differently that you could spot if you went back through Season 1 Episodes 1-3 in more detail!

The writing in the AU episode is so weird.

Enforcers don’t care about arresting children and innocents. So in the AU Timebomb episode, am i suppost to believe that Powder blew up a rich guy's house and they...let her go?

Piltover has killed a bunch of children, they are not going to care about this two kids who were stealing things from them.

Jayce would be arrested for tempering with magic, regardelss of Vi dying or not, he would meet Viktor and he would convince Jayce to make hextech. He would become obsessed with viktor and fuse him with the hextech.

Evil cosmic horror god Viktor told us that! He said "IN EVERY REALITY HE LOOKED".

Guess the writers just forgot about that detail.

- Powder would definitely be arrested and she would have gone crazy with grief and guilt.

- Vander and Silco would not become besties 4ever after a murder attempt.

- Silco would still go after power and revenge.

-And Powder would hate Piltover for killing her sister and for the arrest.

Powder would probably hate Jayce and try to kill the council. Caitlyn's mom would die and Caitlyn would become a shitty dictator and commit genocide. Because she has a massive ego and has to make everything about her and make everybody suffer just because she is sad.

And without Vi around, guess she would never get her weak ass "redemption arc".

Everybody would die.

But i guess everything just got better with the power of love and friendship!