#but that's genuinely the only part that was better than s1 lol be so fr

[spicyycarrot]

back in S1 I really gave the writers the benefit of the doubt, choosing to believe they weren't libs or centrists. that they didn't really think Vander collaborating with cops was good for Zaun, that they knew characters like Jinx aren't fundamentally broken and irredeemable but a result of trauma caused by systemic oppression.

I believed they knew about and understood real life systems of oppression but very cleverly and subtly told their story, trying not to spoon-feed the audience & shove political messages down anyone's throats.

but then season 2 being so rushed and fast-paced really showed me where their priorities lied, what they chose to focus on and it wasn't insightful social commentary or exploration of any character's psyche or whatnot (aside from ep 7 which was peak) - it felt like they were trying to elicit emotional responses out of the audience more than anything. Isha gets introduced and oh I'm sure they'll subvert expectations and keep her alive & give Jinx hope that she can change for the better and isn't a Jinx to the people she lov- oh nvm Isha's dead. oh Vi has a mental breakdown after betraying everything she once stood for, becoming an enforcer and subsequently falling into a depression & self-harming for possibly months, I'm sure they'll explore this inner conflict in more detail after this montage- nvm it's LITERALLY JUST THE ONE MONTAGE? ok this Maddie girl is sleeping with Caitlyn but she doesn't seem to have any logical reason or motivation to betray he- never fucking mind??? I guess there was just no reason?????

whenever I thought they'd subvert expectations, they just kept doing the most. fucking. obvious. thing. it felt like the writers were constantly really insecurely asking me "are you crying yet????🥺🥺🥺 isn't this sad omg🥺🥺����💔💔 ARE YOU CRYING??? OMG THE ANGST🥺 TRAUMA🥺🥺🥺"

it felt like they were very trying way too hard and trying intentionally to replicate S1's organic feeling of loss, longing for "what could've been", palpable and relatable pain, empathy for fleshed-out and human characters.

and also, whenever something kinda obvious would've made SENSE, they didn't do it. e.g. Vi & Jinx reconciling in the end would've made for such a beautiful finale where the story comes full-circle, but they chose not to do that because framing their relationship as "doomed" is more tragic😔💔 I guess? despite the fact that we see them getting along like they used to and Jinx saying "I'm always with you, sis", they still make her (supposedly) stand between Vi and her happiness so they make Jinx, the suicidal character, fucking FAKE HER DEATH??

hey remember in S1 Act1 that one scene where Vi & Powder look at the skyline and Vi says "one day, this city's gonna respect us" and in that moment it feels hugely impactful and like it's setting up something important for later down the line and then NOTHING EVER COMES OF IT? by the end of S2, the former GOAT Vi is washed and a lapdog to her oppressors and Jinx is branded an irredeemable terrorist and as far as anyone knows, she died as such.

the creators/writers have always said they knew from the beginning how they wanted the story to end but I find it hard to believe this is the exact outcome they wanted. Arcane was always the story of two sisters in conflict, framed by a larger conflict between the Sister Cities. neither of those stories felt like they came to a satisfying resolution or natural conclusion. S2 abandoned the heart of the story in favor of the eponymous "Arcane" storyline and you can really tell that it made this season weaker.

what makes this all particularly upsetting to me is that I expected better of Arcane of all shows. I guess it's on me for having such high expectations but I wish season 2 hadn't been as disappointing as it was.

No actually I need to add on more to this. Arcane very unfortunately suffers the same issue that a lot of "progressive" shows suffer in Western media, where they go like "here are some real, systemic issues that exist and look at the consequences of these issues", and then either (1) forget to continue with the theme, and/or (2) don't do anything about it beyond slap on a half-hearted Band-Aid solution that never addresses it.

Caitlyn gassing civilians; lack of accessibility for Viktor which created barriers for him due to his disability; enforcers as oppressors, going hand in hand with Noxian imperialism; Jayce weaponzing hextech, and him already having killed a child because of it; not a single moment is really spent on any of these in S2. If anything, the enforcers are really flattened at the end of this season with little nuance, the complexity that shone in characters like Marcus and Grayson disappearing. Many Piltovan characters do not get even a single second of introspection as to how their actions actively contribute to the oppression of Zaun.

[sems-diarie]

hii can u post a review of the new jjk movie when u watch it? i watched it and ITS SO GOOD i wanna see what u think abt it:)))

jjk 0 spoilers (obvi)

buckle up bc once i start talking, i don’t stop

the opening sequence felt cinematic. and i love how they used music to structure it like an anime op. god i love it here.

i ADOREDDDDD how we got to see yuuta function as the mc to his own story versus just adding him to yuuji’s story, because it helps establish the world of jjk and how it’s existed before yuuji was apart of the bigger picture. fantastic world building. i’m so jealous of akutami and isayama as writers ☹️

jjk 0 also made me realize the difference between a backstory and an origin story. like i’d say yuuta’s backstory was rika, but his origin story elaborates on to the final parts of the movie—when he fights getou and sets rika free after actualizing his goals as a character. and the goal-identifying part is what’s significant for establishing an origin story.

s’like in the mcu, how spider-man has three movies and they all work to establish his origin story? yuuta’s backstory had multiple components to it; the movie didn’t just show us his tragic past, but it also showed us how he comes to be yuuta okkotsu, the legend.

also!! i really liked the scene when maki is pressuring yuuta into identifying what his goals are as a character. there’s something addictive ab the line “i want to make sure no one else gets hurt” (or a variant of that, i can’t remember the whole line, but it occurs after he and maki get trapped in the curse belly.)

that dialogue tag, specifically, really set the movie on fire and added so much to yuuta’s character—yuuta isn’t just a sorcerer because of rika, or because of some blood debt he feels he owes her. he isn’t just a sorcerer because he has this melancholic view of the world and wants to use jujutsu to brood over it. he’s a sorcerer because he wants to protect everyone else from experiencing that kind of pain ever again. his learned optimism is his greatest strength i love him :(

i also LOVE that we got that little flash forward to the present <333 i need to know what he’s been up to, and what he has to do w the narrative now. i saw that one manga panel of yuuta dragging yuuji out of ?? SOMEHWERE by his scruff and i’ve had an eye on yuuta since. so it’s nice to have a personality for a face i’ve been seeing for a year now 😭

speaking of character depth, it was wonderful to see getou’s actual personality LOL?? i feel like s1 gave us absolutely nothing so knowing getou’s motivations as the villain helps me understand s1 better.

that being said, his philosophy is GARBAGE LMAOOOO the most obvious flaw in his plan is that jujutsu sorcery is a naturally-occurring phenomenon. anyone can encounter curses, and just like that they’d go from being a “monkey” to a sorcerer. yuuji and yuuta, for example. i’m kinda disappointed bc i thought getou’s motivations were a little more calculated than this but i don’t particularly care for him enough to be super angry ab it

THAT being said, gojo’s relationship with getou will forever stay with me. even after all this time, gojo STILL TRUSTS HIM?? “he was my best friend! the only one i ever had.” my fucking stomach hurts. and the way gojo sounded so happy to call getou his best friend?? i know he might be keeping up appearances but there was sumn genuine in that fr. sumn wistful.

ALSO WHAT DID GOJO SAY?? WHEN HE SQUATTED DOWN TO TALK TO GETOU WHEN BRO WAS BEAT UP IN THE ALLEY WAY???

the fight scenes were fucking spectacular. maki and yuuta’s sparring session was so clean. also—they hyped maki up so MUCH in this movie!!!! i just fucking adore how everyone looks up to her 😭 she’s so influential and she doesn’t even know it. been that bitch, still that bitch LOLLL

gojo beat that poor man’s ass 😕 AND NO THEY DIDNT GIVE THE BLACK MAN A WHIP TO FIGHT WITH 😭😒

inumaki’s look in this movie is the superior look. panda was goofy as always <333

RIKAAA MY BELOVED!!!! she was the star of the show. when yuuta let her out and she tore that fucking curse apart ???? THE RAINING BLOOD??? i forget how easily jjk switches between child-friendly and… not. the gruesome scenes never disappointed, too.

anyways, back to rika—there was this one part where the screen goes black and then all you hear is rika’s, “it’s a promise!” i don’t know what facet of story telling / movie making that is, but the visual and auditory structuring of her narrative was fucking insane. I GOT CHILLS.

and she, herself, was amazing. i cherished every bit of screen time she had. her and yuuta’s relationship was very sweet. childhood-friends-gone-wrong is always a beautiful trope to display the corrruption of innocence.

i do have to say that rika’s face didn’t look babyish to me??? like it felt like they drew a grown woman’s face into a little girl’s body and that was so uncomfortable 😭😭 they might have done that to prep us for when she’s finally set free at the end of the movie, and looks to be older than she was when she died. but maybe i’m just tripping.

the yuuta obsession was also very much felt 😭 one thing ab rika? she gon go to war for hers! i did get so sad though, when yuuta snapped at her to put maki down and she was begging him not to hate her. i’m glad she’s set free from that bc it seemed like such a burden to be tied to someone so feverishly. exhausting for the spirit.

is there anything i missed 😭

NANAMI OMG. i moaned when he came on screen i’m not sorry ab it either. and that one scene w gojo switching from his glasses to his bandages. the kitty was purring.

lastly, my favorite scene is definitely getou calling yuuta a womanizer LMAOOO getou said verbatim what i was thinking, but it’s ok bc like yuuta said—“it’s true love!” he’s so annoying omg. i miss him i need to go see the movie again.