#but thats besides the point!!!!!

[rexscanonwife]

WAIT A MINUTE HOW DID I NEVER NOTICE THAT MARGARET HAD TO SIGNAL MALCOLM FOR HIM TO EVEN /MENTION/ ARTHUR IN HIS AFTER-CHRISTMAS SPEECH???

[fairsweetlonging]

headcanon that shen qingqiu (yuan) once yanked his plate away when someone reached for it and yue qingyuan got all teary eyed about it because his xiao jiu still has food insecurities and the memory loss must have made it worse, and he keeps getting shen yuan snacks and treats that he can squirrel away because yue qingyuan knows what it's like to worry about where your next meal comes from, and he's trying to help by ensuring that shen qingqiu is never without

meanwhile shen yuan has never truly been hungry but he did have two older brothers and a younger sister who would shamelessly steal things from his plate when they grew up and the instinct to protect his food has never left him so he WILL bite someone when they reach for his protagonist-made spring rolls

[i-need-of-a-hobby]

james: mum, i- uh, i like guys. effie: was i not supposed to know that

[tectco]

Got really sick so I drew them to cope :3

[its-kinda-snowy]

Gotta be a part of your soul and of your heart all the time Nothing in the world that I do Means a thing, without you I'm just half alive in my struggle to survive without you

[mochasucculent]

I'm rewatching Arcane, and after my third time seeing season 1 I had a hot new reading on Viktor's scenes in episodes 6, 7, and 8.

Like a lot of other people, I felt it was weird and unsavory that Viktor - very close to death with a disease that affects his lungs - suddenly starts experimenting on his disabled leg. Those two things have nothing in common, save for the fact that the cause of both might have been the toxic fumes of the undercity, which could have resulted in Viktor being born disabled if his parents were also subject to those conditions.

So why does Viktor try to "fix" his leg when his main goal is to utilize the Hexcore to prolong and improve living conditions before he's gone?

Viktor in acts 2 and 3 is motivated to save himself long enough to make a difference in the world. Even though Hextech is revolutionary for Piltover, it hasn't reached who Viktor wanted to help this whole time, the disenfranchised in the undercity. In his mind, he hasn't done enough to change the world for the better, and he will be gone before he has the chance to do so.

After realizing the Hexcore responded to organic matter when it absorbed Viktor's blood, he experiments with plants, only to find that they wither and die soon after the Hexcore makes them grow.

This causes him to visit Singed once again for anything that could help him figure out how to use the Hexcore for magic that could save lives, one last shot at accomplishing his dreams.

Viktor parted ways with with him as a child upon seeing that Singed was willing to hurt Rio, his salamander test subject, in order to prolong her life. Viktor didn't understand that cost before, but he does now, being in the same position as Singed and Rio simultaneously, both the scientist trying to make a breakthrough and the subject he needs to save in order to do so.

Like Rio, Viktor is not his own end goal to his scientific pursuits. Singed is trying to save his daughter, Viktor is trying to help his people. He's his own means to an end, and is now willing to pay the cost of getting there.

Singed gives Viktor a variant of Shimmer to experiment with, the idea being that it will stabilize an organism while the Hexcore's magic affects it, hopefully allowing it to survive through the aggressive and sudden healing process.

Viktor injects the Shimmer into his leg, as well as carving runes into both his brace and thigh to channel the magic towards there before he offers the Hexcore his blood. It does Something to his leg which we don't see till the following episode.

The new reading I have of this scene is that the reason Viktor chose his leg specifically is not because he was trying to "fix" it, but because:

-He's not willing to put others' lives at risk and knows he's not long for this world, so the only test subject he's willing to use is himself

-He knows the organic matter he tests the Hexcore on might die

-Viktor's leg is a part of his body he's willing to lose if things go wrong and it rejects the transmutation (he also knows that he could just fully die then and there too and is willing to take that risk)

Obviously, the scenes involving Viktor's experimentation center his physical disabilities (shots of his back brace, the focus on his leg) and equate them with the disease that is literally killing him. The narrative lens shows us that Viktor "curing" himself begins with his disability, which sucks.

So while the boat scene undoubtedly is written to be "triumphant" because Viktor's leg is no longer disabled (shown by him dropping his crutch, the swelling music, the parallel to the scene where a child Viktor can't keep up with his toy boat), a different reading is that it's another experiment to him.

Viktor is stress testing the organic matter he infused with magic, and the scene is triumphant because he's realized his leg isn't deteriorating or weakening - it holds up. The mutation of the magic in his leg survived. It's a sign that maybe he can use the Hexcore on the rest of his body, keep himself alive long enough to do what he's always wanted to do: leave a legacy that changes the world for the better.

To me that's a much more in-character perspective for Viktor in these scenes than what is being said narratively through directing, framing, music, etc. Previously, Viktor had never expressed distaste for his disability as an adult, only commenting on it as a part of why he was isolated socially from Piltover. To me, him testing the Hexcore on his leg is merely an indifference to its current state, rather than a preference to have it changed. I don't even necessarily think it'd be a bad thing if Viktor did outright say "I would like to not be disabled", because I'm sure many other disabled people feel that way from time to time, but season 1 really does a poor job of pushing that framing of "curing" disability onto a character that did not express those perspectives himself at this point.

It gives off a big ol' "aw, poor Viktor, not only is he dying because of the political landscape that leaves disenfranchised people to suffer preventable diseases, but he's got a disabled leg too!" One of those things is much more problematic than the other lol.

Season 2 definitely hurtles Viktor very quickly into the Machine Herald perspective in which he thinks humans must evolve past ANY limitations of their original bodies, but to me season 1 Viktor just doesn't feel that way about himself. His primary concern has always been rooted in how to improve the lives of his people permanently, and it's only when he's actively dying that his secondary goal is to live long enough to see that happen.

It's something he drops completely after his experimentation results in Sky's death. He's immediately spiteful of the Hexcore and tries to destroy it - and himself.

Viktor now accepts that he will die before he's able to change the world the way he wanted, and hides the fact that he fucked with his body from everyone as he awaits his demise. "Fixing" his leg is not something he celebrates in and of itself, it's now only a reminder that the pursuit of his dream resulted in someone else's death.

The narrative does well in season 2 to frame Viktor's Glorious Evolution as a Bad Thing at least, and Jayce's speech at the end about Viktor never being broken is extremely valuable and important, but it's just weird to see him say this:

Cause to me now, that ain't what Viktor was trying to do at all! The writers may have retconned that to be the case, which is fine, whatever, but season 1 in isolation does not support that idea to me after this rewatch.

Overall, I think Arcane can have confusing directing sometimes that focuses on evoking feelings and themes rather than the richness of its characters, their dynamics, and the world they inhabit - to the detriment of all the above. In season 2, this resulted in a lot of scenes that felt emotionally unearned or muddy to me, like pretty much everything with Jinx, Vi, and Vander together rip.

It's for this same reason that I think it took me so long to really come to this reading of Viktor's season 1 scenes, because the directing bias REALLY wants to make you feel sorrow and hope alongside Viktor, even though it means he'll seem to randomly start equating his disabled leg to his illness. It just felt like a weird disparity to me until I watched these episodes again and was like "wait" lol.

Anyway peace and love on planet Earth I cannot stop thinking about Viktor Arcane

[caffichai]

Dr. Sussurro preparing for an extra long night shift following an extra long day shift

[heavysighing-dreamyeyes]

Fear

Red Hood doesn't realize the harsh reality that comes with his actions as a vigilante ~350 words

Red Hood inspires fear. It's something he thrives on. Fear of him keeps that mugger from pulling the trigger. Fear of him keeps that drug pusher from selling to a kid. Fear. Fear. It's the immediate reaction people have when seeing him.

He needs to scare people, needs to make them think twice about hurting others. But he unintentionally scares the people he's meant to help.

A little girl shrinks back from his hand when he's saving her from a fire. An elderly couple tries to give him their wallet after he knocks out the gunman threatening to shoot them.

Red Hood terrifies people. It's something Jason's learned to live with, to anticipate, to accept.

Knowing this doesn't make it any easier when he sees the fear in your eyes. He didn't expect you to run into his arms or even thank him when he beats the creep following you to a pulp. But he also didn't expect you to flinch when he went to check if you were okay.

The modulator in his helmet covers the way his breath hitches, when anxiety and unease spread across your face alongside the terror.

It's not supposed to be like this. He's not supposed to scare you. He's only trying to keep you safe, but there are tears pricking at the corners of your eyes, and the sight makes him stumble back.

Red Hood inspires fear. He just didn't realize how much until now. He shoots his grappling hook without another word. He follows you home from the roofs.

Later, you'll cry into Jason Todd's arms. He'll hold you tightly, whisper comforting words against your skin until you no longer shake. He'll stay with you until you aren't scared anymore.

You'll tell him all about Red Hood. His imposing figure, his helmet the color of the blood, the scent of death that seems to follow him with every step.

And when he goes out again, night after night, when he's brutal and efficient and soaked in blood, it'll be the memory of your fear that makes him soften for civilians. Your fear, that keeps him from shooting a lethal shot.

[claitea]

n's cute little hum from pokemas has Devastated me

[lowpolysonic]

if rgg wont make majima old then i will

[fuzzytheduck]

Modern Ashkenazi dialects of Hebrew just as valid as modern Sephardi and Mizrachi dialects of Hebrew send tweet

[void-bitten-ghost]

Okay I get that a lot of Rooks don't get along with Caterina (for good reason) but what about a crow Rook after many years of supporting her favourite grandson, gets to call her nonna

Maybe they made her tea/coffee, set it down without a word, and when Caterina spares a glance from her papers to say "Thank you, Rook," they're so stressed about some Crow business of their own they just go "you're welcome, nonna," and carry on to go do their own work

It's exactly once and once only, but they get away with it and everyone but Rook and Caterina are literally just *surprised pikachu face*

Teia mentions it later and Viago bluescreens. His??? Crow???? Called previous First Talon Caterina Dellamorte GRANDMA??? AND IS STILL ALIVE??? not for long he's about to whoop their ass

[wicked-gharial]

looks at u with my big ol red eyes

[its-kinda-snowy]

I'm calling it

[ace-does-stuff]

this is why you visit your girlfriend in spite of the agonies btw

[tiresomespaceplant]

mabel "i was tricked and got trapped in a bubble of my own escapism fantasy because i couldn't bear to face growing up without my brother" pines 🤝 martin "i got tired of being a pawn and was casted into The Lonely in my attempt to save the only important person in my life left" blackwood