#he was the worst dad in arcane

[lucyskywalker]

People who wants to paint Vi as a villain, please, dni.

I don't wanna hear your takes.

[wishfulsketching]

Silco and his terror of a daughter

[sweatandwoe]

the more I re-watch Arcane

the more I like Vi

the less I like Vander

[snobwhimsicality]

hi chat (crashes hatsane miku car down a staircase of a long story building) here have this offering

[tgcg]

an open fly walking

i didnt like this one but i thought id finally air it out since its been sat in my folders for months now

TG: hey karkat

CG: YEAH?

===

TG: you ever noticed you like

TG: walk weird

CG: WOW, OKAY.

CG: HAVE *YOU* EVER NOTICED THAT I DON'T GIVE A SHIT?

TG: pff

===

TG: no listen because i got my ears scoping that shit im like a scouter for dude activity

TG: ok maybe me mentioning it to you is gonna fuck up your ecosystem or something but

TG: you have the heaviest feet of the century man

CG: I DO???

TG: just thrust them straight down into the ground like youre trying to homebrew a san andreas fault

TG: viciously tamping on tectonic plates hoping for top score on the richter scale

TG: waging war against solid particles and the basic flow of gravity

TG: i could ID those footfalls out of a million i mean it

CG: SERIOUSLY?

===

TG: i mean theres nothing wrong with it but

TG: yeah

CG: I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU'RE FUCKING WITH ME RIGHT NOW.

TG: im not fucking with you striders honor

TG: when have i ever lied to anybody about anything

CG: NOT UNPACKING THAT QUESTION WITH YOU TODAY.

CG: BUT SHIT, HOLD ON. LET ME SEE.

TG: yeah take the umbrella go over there and just walk to me

CG: ON IT.

===

===

TG: see you just kinda slam em straight down dude

CG: THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY RIOTOUS FUCKING JOKE OF A LIFE.

TG: dont your feet ache

===

CG: MOOT POINT. THIS MIGHT SOUND INSANE BUT I'VE ACTUALLY HAD MY STRUT PODS FOR A WHILE. ANY KIND OF PAIN THIS WOULD'VE BEEN CAUSING WOULD BE TOTALLY FILTERED OUT OF MY SPONGE BY NOW AS BACKGROUND NOISE.

TG: damn i didnt think that through

TG: my shades

CG: ALRIGHT, GET BACK UNDER THE SHITTING UMBRELLA AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME.

TG: look ive fucked myself over here too i dont have shit to clean these with

TG: ugh

===

TG: guess its karma

CG: HOLY FUCK. HOW DID I NEVER NOTICE THIS BEFORE?

TG: i dunno but im gonna assume having a dad thats a literal crab monster is probably a contributing factor

TG: im guessing thats not a great role model for this kinda thing

TG: just conjecture i mean

CG: YOUR ENVY IS OVERWHELMINGLY OBVIOUS DAVE. AS A DISCLAIMER, HE WOULD'VE ABSOLUTELY KICKED YOUR ASS.

TG: yeah probably

CG: THAT'S PRETTY MUCH ALL THERE IS TO SAY ON THE MATTER.

===

TG: but see bro had me stringent on feather feets

TG: i bet i could slip across a bike horn warehouse with nary a fucking toot

CG: HAHA. ASSUMING YOU DON'T MAKE A TOTAL ASS OF YOURSELF, AS PER USUAL.

CG: IF YOU WEREN'T CONSTANTLY RUNNING YOUR GASH ABOUT EVERYTHING AND BEING AN INIMITABLE CLOWN I SERIOUSLY THINK YOU COULD BE ON PAR WITH YOUR CUSTODIAN.

CG: THAT IS A MONUMENTAL "IF".

TG: well look at it this way

TG: im basically doing you all a favor by being a dumbass

TG: never gonna get caught off guard by the bozo patrol

CG: WOW. GOOD POINT.

===

TG: also screw this can i use your shirt

TG: this stupid hoodie is just smudging my lenses up

TG: i cant see dick

CG: UH

CG: SURE, I GUESS.

TG: cool

===

TG: so yeah i could be prowling around like a goddamn verbal assassin sniping convos left and right

TG: but no ive got the decency to go bunp in the night

CG: YEAH.

CG: IT'S DEFINITELY COMPOUNDED BY THE CONSTANT INANE RAMBLINGS.

CG: BUT

CG: IT'S ACTUALLY PRETTY RELAXING, Y'KNOW? IT HAS ITS OWN RHYTHM.

TG: see yeah i sound it off and

===

TG: wait really?

CG: YEAH

CG: I DON'T KNOW

CG: FUCK. HOW DO I EXPLAIN THIS WITHOUT WANTING TO CRAM MY FROND DOWN MY PROTEIN CHUTE.

===

CG: IT'S LIKE

CG: A SALVE FOR MY AGGRAVATION SPONGE.

CG: YOUR VOICE IS THE HUMAN EQUIVALENT OF ASPIRIN.

TG: uh damn karkat hold your hoofbeasts i was talking about the rhythm thing

CG: ALRIGHT, THAT'S IT. I'M TAKING US BOTH THE FUCK OUT RIGHT NOW. YOU HAVE REACHED THE BAD END OF THIS CONVERSATION.

TG: you think thatd be heroic or just

CG: IF I WAS STILL GHOSTING AROUND THE RUINS OF SGRUB'S ARCANE FRIGGIN GAME SYSTEMS, THE COMPLETE LACK OF SHIT AFOOT NOWADAYS WOULD BORE ME TO DEATH.

CG: LIKE. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME OUR THERMAL HULL LEVELLED UP, DAVE?

TG: hah

===

TG: but uh

TG: i mean we had aspirin on earth

CG: NO, NUMBNUBS.

CG: I'M SAYING YOU ARE MY ASPIRIN.

TG: oh

CG: YEAH, TAKE THAT TO THE BANK AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR 20-KARAT ASS.

===

TG: heh

TG: well get this

TG: i will literally talk at you forever for free

TG: you got lifetime priority seating for the davealogues

TG: never gotta go to the drugstore again you can just get doped up on my dulcet tones for the rest of time

TG: take that and some of this

TG: im packin punches

CG: OW, FUCK! NO! MY MIGRAINES!

CG: SWEEPS OF VEINCLOTTING AND NERVEFRAYING DOWN THE FUCKING GAPER. BECAUSE OF YOU.

CG: YOU ASSHOLE, THIS IS THE WORST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME.

CG: AND YOU'RE LAUGHING.

TG: chuckle up it only gets worse from here

===

CG: BE HONEST WITH ME. DID FONDLING MY SHIRT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET EVEN DO ANYTHING?

TG: barely but yknow sometimes you just gotta deal the cards youre given

TG: ill just be astigmatic for a while its cool

CG: PFF… OKAY MAN.

[swampgothing]

The thing season 2 of Arcane did the worst is its quality of characterization in both main characters and side characters. No, cutting to background characters doing things occasionally is not developing them. Sure, you can jump to piano guy and gert occasionally, but just showing us what they're doing does not tell us who they are. I could describe to you the character of Finn or Huck or Babbette or Caitlyn's dad. But who is Lest? Who is Loris? Who is Maddie? Who is Steb? They even drop the ball with this in regard to more central characters. What was sevika doing while Jinx was away? What happened to the firelights, and how did Ekko respond when he got back to them? What is Jayce doing pretty much ever? Characters being so complex is what people loved so much about season 1 its what made season 1 feel like a show that could stand on its own but season 2 truly just feels like a long league cinematic and its worse because of that.

[eichan2d]

OMG!!! I forgot I can actually elaborate here so...

I hate hate hate hate hate hate so much that Jinx called Vander "Dad" and I hate more that she never did it with Silco.

Since the first episode it is clear that Vi is Vander's favorite and actually his only child. Powder, Maylo and the other were just kids that he took care of. The same from Powder POV, he was just the guy who took her in.

When he mets Silco the first thing she did was hug him and he LEFT the dagger and hugs her back, he empathizes with her, became her guide, her rock, yes in a terrible way but it was there, he convinced himself that he only wanted her as a weapon but through the first season he little by little realizes that he made the mistake of loving her until the talk with Vander's statue where he says that he understands now how you can do everything for the sake of a daughter (the core idea of S1), once again letting clear that everything Vander did was for A daughter, not two, not four kids, only Vi.

So it is complicated to believe that Jinx sees him as a dad, they barely know each other while Silco see her through the worst and the best of her childhood-adolescence.

I would prefer her seeing Vi and Vander/WW from far, feeling envy because Vi had her dad back while she didn't and will never get him because SHE KILLED him, but from that culprit she feels she learns to respect and protect what her sister loves because her sister is the only person she has, but this involves a rewrite of the first half of Arcane 2 so whatever.

In conclusion, I would've like to see Jinx say "I miss you dad" or "I miss my dad" while broking into tears (ugly crying) in any moment she was remembering him.

Oc I don't think Silco and Jinx had the best and most healthy relationship, this is more about Vander wasn't Jinx dad, Silco was and we were robbed of seeing how it affected Jinx.

[justhereforsubsevika]

Actor Arcane hcs!

This is messy, mainly about gay shit and in no particular order, plz forgive me

-Sevika and Ambessa are best friends on set. They go out to smoke during breaks and reminisce on their past love affairs with women and, in Ambessas case, twinks.

-Vi is the worst for corpsing, but its only because she thinks English people sound funny. The mongoose scene had 17 takes before they realised theyd have to leave it to the next day because Vi had gone into a laughing fit.

-Sevika flirts with interns. It annoys everyone because it means they go through interns like nobodys business since they're too heartbroken to come back to set once Sevis broken up with them.

-Jinx is the polar opposite of her character! She's actually the most calm, she usually comes into set early to talk with the directors and make coffee for people. She constantly has her earphones in during break, listening to the music that will undercut her scenes so she can act through the melody.

-Sevi and Vander are proper true brexit geezers (shes WELSH okay live with it). They go down the pub after every other working day, playing pool and laughing way too loud at really unfunny jokes.

-mel and jinx get on well, they're pretty much the only calm people in the cast. They sit together outside. Sometimes jinx gives mel an earbud and they rock a little to the music. When its cold outside the set mel wraps her scarf around both of their shoulders.

-Cait lowk has a crush on vi but is very defensive about it. When they had to film the sesbian lex scene the choreographer had to keep correcting her because she kept getting too lost in it.

-silco is the sets dad. He always leaves pills with Sevika and Vanders coffees because he knows they're chronically hungover. He always knows where to find missing bits of costume.

-Silco and Cait are friends! They talk about gay yearning.

-speaking of gay yearning! Jayce has got the FATTEST crush on viktor, making him a really shit actor in their scenes. viktor is oblivious because he thinks Jayce is always a really shit actor.

-heimerdinger is a cat that mutated and learned to act somehow and they throw him like a rugby ball when they're bored

[confused-cakepop]

So lately I've been seeing a lot of fanart of lloyd with long hair and the more I think about it the better it is!?

Something that's been repeatedly established about lloyd is the similarities he's had to his father and while its mainly focused on personality it's clear they look alike as well. I mean garmadon and lloyd have the same haircut and it's a hair cut lloyd has for a good chunk of the show making him look really similar to young garmadon because of it. It has also been established that lloyd hates the idea of being like his dad and even gets terrified when he sees his oni form in his reflection because of that fear, which connects it back into his appearance.

This leads me to believe that he'd want to look completely different so he wouldn't have to see his worst fear every time he looks in the mirror. Growing out his hair is an Easy way to do that and it can tie back to his days at darkleys where he presumably got his hair cut the same way every time and didn't have much of a choice considering all the boys got either the same or a very similar haircut.

Lloyd growing it out long goes against both his past at darkleys and his resemblance to his father. This also makes him look more like his mother as a result and while a lot of people hate misako in this Fandom I think the relationship between her and lloyd has a lot of potential and connecting lloyd to his mother's side of the family is something I really wanted to see.

Like imagine misako braiding lloyds hair for him just like the way her mother taught her how too. They quietly talk and catch up with eachother about misako's latest exploration or lloyds new training regimen. It ends up becoming a routine for them every time they get reunited. Because hair holds memories and they want to hold the ones they make together close.

He'll even look more like the FSM!!

Anyways long rant but long-haired lloyd supremacy. Rather it's shoulder length and well kept or absurdly long like jinx's hair from arcane is it will always be famous in my heart.

[thehollowwriter]

I think we should talk more about the mysgony when it comes to parents in media, and how fathers are favoured and praised for the most the most basic shit while mothers are demonised for making mistakes or being bad. This is gonna be a long one, buckle up.

I hate Mrs Rosehearts as much as the next guy, but it's unfair that Mr Rosehearts is not given similar criticism for allowing his wife to treat Riddle the way he does. I hardly see people bring him up apart from mentioning that Riddle's parents probably have an unhappy marriage, and some people say something along the lines of "poor Mr Rosehearts, struggling with a wife like that".

Of course, we don't know enough about his character to gauge how Mrs Rosehearts treats him, bit it's clear he just passively stands to the side when it comes to whatever Mrs Rosehearts wants to do with Riddle. That itself is very harmful and it's own form of abuse, imo.

The same applies to Alador Blight from the Owl House. He's praised for being a wonderful dad that finally came through and stood up to his "horrible wretched bitch of a wife" (who, if she was a guy, would probably have more people analysing her and trying to find ways to sympathise with her just saying)..

And while, yes, he did stand up to her and that's a good thing, the general consensus is he was a brilliant dad from the start that was held back by his wife's wicked ways. But... that's not true? His first appearance is him telling Amity to stop being friends with Willow. He ignores his children constantly, and, like Mr Rosehearts, stands passively to the side when Odaliah treats her children like her property.

He's a neglectful parent at best and just as concerned with image and status at Odaliah at worst. But... that stuff is just forgotten. Most people just say "we thought he was bad but it turns out he was manipulated by his wife". He is HIS OWN PERSON. You cannot just blame everything on his "evil manipulative wife" (which is also smt that sometimes happens irl when both parents are abusive). He is still fully capable of making his own decisions.

And again, it's unfortunate, but if Odaliah were to be given his treatment or if Alador were a woman, the general response would be "That's sad but not an excuse! I can't believe she was forgiven!"

The worst I can think of atm, is Silco and Vi from Arcane. Now ofc they're not married. But the circumstances are similar.

Silco is praised to the high heavens for being one of the best dads in animation (#1 goes to Doofenshmirtz ofc, which I agree with) and the reasons for this are because he... shows his care, puts Jinx first, and loves her. Wow. Fucking groundbreaking am I right. The bar is soooo high/s

The thing is, Jinx is a child soldier. She works for Silco, protects his shipments of Shimmer, takes out the enemies that need taken out, etc. He found her as a young child, and when we cut to the present, she's murdering people without so much as flinching, even delighting in it, and suffering badly from trauma and hallucinations.

Obviously, Jinx was not given the care she needed, and was instead trained to assist Silco.

Am I denying Silco loves her? Of course not! He clearly does. But that's just not good enough. He's a loving dad, but not a good one. He's not the father that neither Jinx nor Powder needed.

Meanwhile, we have Vi. Vi loves Powder, protects her, cares for her, tries to keep her out of harm, stands up for her, and so on. She cares so deeply for Powder, and you can see it. The moment she got out of prison, her first goal was to find Powder.

However, because she hit Powder once, and shouted at her, she's apparently an abusive monster who never cared about Powder. Reminder, she hit Powder because her entire family was killed in front of her and then she learned Powder was the reason that happened. She was like... 14? And she immediately left to calm down. She did not abandon Powder, she left to take a breather because she realised she was too angry. And when she came back, she was drugged and arrested.

Silco is a grown adult who purposefully flooded the streets of the Undercity with a highly addictive drug, turned Powder into a soldier, and is generally a terrible person, even if he is a three dimensional amd well written antagonist.

Vi started the story as a teenager suffering poverty and discrimination just like Silco, had to deal with her own parents death, then her adoptive family was killed in front of her, and then she was forcefully taken from her sister. And yet, people are convinced Vi is a terrible and abusive sister who never loved Powder?

The only example worse than this, methinks, is Stella and Stolas from Helluva Boss.

Stella is a shitty mother who ignores her daughter, which the the audience is shown via a scene were Octavia is having a nightmare and she tells Stolas to deal with it. She frequently screams and swears at Stolas and throws things at him, with no regard for her daughter's presence or feelings.

This is pretty terrible, right? Of course! Everyone knows Stella is a horrible mother.

Stolas on the other hand, is praised for being such an loving and caring father, who tries his best. He even has a song with Octavia!

Well, he also: openly talks about having sex with Blitz and how much he likes it while she was right there, told her people want her money and her body, generally doesn't pay much attention to her either bc he's wallowing about Blitz not loving him back, and doesn't give her feelings much regard.

And yet, the misogyny extends beyond just Stella because people generally agree that Octavia is ungrateful and doesn't appreciate Stolas enough. They get mad at her for disliking the fact that Stolas is cheating on her mother with an imp who's been nothing but rude to her and ruining their family further, and even mock her for feeling unloved. Hell even Brandon, one of the creators, has allegedly recently called her a "cockblocking slut" which, frankly, is a disgusting thing to say about a 17 year old girl.

Idk man I'm just tired.

[riddlers-roulette]

Probably a bit of a hot take, and definitely petty fandom salt, but i’ve come to notice that in recent years, with most fandom spaces becoming puritanical in their efforts to ice out anything that can be labeled toxic, or anything that just doesn't fit the fandom’s prevalent opinions on a situation or character–a phenomenon that has only been exacerbated by TikTok and the overuse of “therapy-speak”--there seems to be a general lack of nuance and/or sense of media literacy in most vocal fandom spaces when it comes to a story that is not just black and white.

Arcane is one of the most recent example of this, with (arcane s2 spoilers ahead) characters caitlyn and vi being discussed pretty heavily with the terms like “domestic abuse” and “abuser apologism” particularly when it comes to caitlyn’s act of jabbing her rifle at vi’s side before walking away, leaving vi anguished. Now, i’m not saying domestic abuse is not real–i’m just saying, that in this instance, I don't believe that the act was domestic violence, nor do i believe that any of the parties that make up CaitVi are abusers.

Arcane itself is a complex story with heart shattering situations that the characters find themselves in constantly, often putting them at odds with their morals, the morals of their environment, and the morals of the audience. Do I think caitlyn was right to jab her rifle at vi? No. But we as an audience can tell that neither does Caitlyn herself. Neither does Vi. But when Caitlyn did so, it was when she was under immense emotional duress, her mother’s killer getting away, and she was blocked from taking vengeance by the person she trusted the most. When she said the horrible things she did, she was hurting and angry and lashing out–she was punching the walls like a woman gone. And why is it that we can offer characters like Jinx the grace to absolve her of her crimes due to her own psychotic breaks, but not other characters to their own actions done in moments of their own breakdowns? Vi punching Powder, for instance. An act that had Vi villainized by the fandom for a long time. 

Which brings me to another point–absolution. It is one the extremes characters tend to fall into when it comes to fandom, with the other extreme being amplification. A character’s sins tend to be glossed over, or explained away so that the character in question becomes an unquestionable angel and champion of justice, or, in other cases, tend to be overly exaggerated, making the character out to be the worst of the worst, the lowest of the low. Rarely is there an in-between, with multifaceted characters complete with riveting backstory and motivations and complicated characteristics inevitably losing a little of what makes them, them, all in the pursuit of woobification, gratuitous groveling from other characters, and victimization; it’s an apology fantasy on steroids. In other cases, and often, connected cases, if one character is getting the baby treatment then chances are that another is getting the villain treatment, becoming a sort of caricature of themselves. Motives and environmental factors and politics are all thrown out the window, and all that’s left is cartoonish, flat, oft one-dimensional portrayals. 

Arcane’s Silco is an example of the former, with the singular trait of caring for Jinx becoming twisted and emphasized until he is nigh unrecognizable. His harmful actions towards the undercity are erased and he is lifted up instead as something other than he was. He is transformed from the fascinatingly flawed, human depiction to something bland and uncanny. He is just a Poor Sad Betrayed Meow Meow who is also a Good Dad. But it’s okay because he also does crimes! Except wait, those crimes are also sanitized and cutesy, or horrific and without reason or logic. He has lost what makes him, him.

And for the other half of the coin, the unnecessary villainization, we have Jayce! Jayce was hated upon widely, especially after the release of Season 1, and his struggles were erased.

(and yes, there were struggles. Jayce was more privileged than those from the Undercity, that is unquestionable, but he was not as privileged as the other Council members or even most of his peers. He had the fortune of a patron, but that was something that had to be earned, and he could always risk losing. He was from a House, yes, but it was also a minor one, and he would have labored in his factories alongside other workers–he wasn’t a crazy wealthy guy. He staked his entire life on his research that he was actually going to take his own life when his dream was taken from him. His dream wasn’t to generate wealth by unlocking the arcane, but rather, it was to put these tools in the hands of the common man too. One of his first act as councilors was to immediately try to root out corruption. He was able bodied and from Piltover, and so, had more privilege than Viktor (who is my favorite arcane character) that is undeniable. But Jayce did have struggles, he wasn’t taken seriously by the Council due to his own status and had to go through them initially when it came to his own HexTech. Jayce had struggles,but Jayce is a POC and Viktor is a white boy, so Jayce’s problems are gonna be minimized by fandom but that’s a whole other issue–)

And yet, three years ago, the Jayce hate was at a total high, with every action of his being dramatized so as to make Viktor’s pain far more excruciating. 

I’ve derailed a little! The point of this post was to point out the “therapy speak” in fandom that often comes at the cost of lifting one character up and bashing the other, all while skipping over the context and nuance for the gray situations the characters found themselves in. All this to say–with fandom’s recent behaviors when it comes to relationships in fandom, it really makes you wonder if people have forgotten that relationships aren’t easy and actually require constant work and effort. That relationships change and evolve and grow with each obstacle that comes one’s way, and that sometimes things get rough, but that love is being able to understand and empathize with one’s partners–that not everything is black and white and that not every mistake is irredeemable.

edit: also, don’t really care enough to argue with ppl on this point in the notes. it’s tired and repetitive and half the time it’s like arguing with a brick wall. if this gets out of hand I will start deleting and/or restricting replies

[matchstickcosplay]

Since I've been seeing so many bad Arcane takes out there lately, I'm gonna ramble into the void about my analysis of it all and hopefully put some good out there. I'll start with some easy ones.

Ekko originally says to Vi that Powder is gone and she isn't coming back. Ekko is the ONLY person to truly understand her in this way, because he is completely correct.

Its so important that he saw the "what could have been" timeline. He saw a timeline where Powder was able to grow up with a family, support, and compassion. She had her two dads there, her partner, her friends, her support system that surrounded her. She still, however, had to live with the grief and guilt of Vi dying. Loss is something that always remains constant, but the support was different.

Jinx in the "correct" timeline didn't have the support that she needed - the people she modeled herself after didn't know how to accept all parts of her. Vi wanted Powder back, but that simply couldn't happen. Powder was changed. Silco wanted Jinx. So much, that he warped and molded her to fit what he wanted in a daughter, and not who Jinx was. He "accepted" her, but ultimately he never did anything to ease her suffering. He used Jinx as his weapon.

Ekko, however, has seen who Jinx could be; in so many different timelines. He saw the Jinx that was under Silco. He saw the Powder that was given support. He still went back to HIS Jinx; the one that needed someone to see her for who she ACTUALLY was, and not who they wanted her to be and not who her defense mechanisms showed her to be.

He showed up for her and sat there with her in her worst moment. He showed her again and again and again that he would keep doing it. He never put up with her unacceptable behavior, but he ALWAYS gave the real Jinx a chance to be better.

Its especially important because he could have just left her. She blows herself up, problem solved. He not only never has to worry about her harming people, but she's become a martyr. Instead, he sat with her and convinced her that she was worth it. Most of all, he specifically invited her to come fight with him.

Its so full circle; Jinx originally being told not to come on the Important Mission with Vi; finally fully becoming "Jinx" - "you're a jinx" and then Ekko having SO much faith in her that she could help during the most important part of the fight. The difference between "stay back" and "please come with me, I need you." Ekko accepted everything about her; he wanted her there. She finally became who she was meant to be.

[bwat5-blog]

**Spoilers for all of arcane**

Vi and Vander

I am continuing to see lots of talk about Vi not moving off of the platform at the end, which makes her vulnerable to “Vander’s” attack leading to Jinx’s sacrifice. People are blaming Vi like she was being stupid, or stubborn not listening to her sister. It is just so, so much deeper than that. I have already touched on this moment in another post, so will not go as deep. But man people are so badly misreading what happened it needs repeating. Before we dive in let me say none of the emphasis on Vi in this post is taking away from Vander and Powder’s relationship. Vi is just the focus here.

For a quick refresher:

1. Vi and Powder’s birth parents are killed

2. Vander rescues them from the bridge and raises them, becoming their dad.

3. Vander teaches Vi the lessons that will become who she is:

A- He literally teaches her to box which is her whole thing

B- “When people look up to you, you don’t get to be selfish”: This becomes such a foundational part of who she is that it’s bordering on a flaw. She has SO. MUCH trouble putting herself first in any instance. That’s why her finally giving in and having sex with Cait was such a win (among many other reasons). Rather than chasing her sister running in circles again, she finally made the decision to be happy

C- “You’ve got a good heart, don’t ever lose it”: Obvious but come on. Vi spends the WHOLE SHOW fighting tooth and nail for those she loves, only giving up when she is at her absolute lowest

D- I can’t find the exact quote but when he speaks on the cost of war and who is she willing to lose. This talk is what leads her to try and turn herself in beginning a long cycle of always putting herself last and shouldering the blame.

There is of course more to it. He speaks on protecting Powder. On continuing to fight even though it doesn’t get easier. Not to mention he is a big, strong, protector of the people who fights with his fists. On top of being a loving and attentive father figure who validates Vi’s feelings while still teaching her responsibility, he is just everything she wants to grow up to be.

Now that being said. Time for the pain:

1. She watches her father/hero die shortly after her brothers, and after she herself narrowly survives a brutal fight herself

2. She gets him back in a completely mutated form that almost kills her

3. She watches as he seemingly dies horribly AGAIN, barely any time after they get him back

So when the time comes. When they seem to have defeated Drone-Vander for the last time, Vi just.. breaks. After being strong almost the entire show, fighting for her loved ones endlessly through stabbings, beatings, heartbreak and loss, looking down at her dad, dead, again, is just too much. We even see her flashing back to that first horrible death and she just can’t move. It seems like she doesn’t even hear Jinx when her sister calls. And when the Drone-Vander attacks that final time Vi isn’t even defending herself. She is afraid, and hurt, and just wants her dad to love them again.. and he cant.

This is a heartbreaking, human, fragile moment. I’ll speak more on the Jinx aspect of it when I write about her soon. But people are taking this moment and just dragging it through the mud in the worst way. The show and the character deserve better.

[oddp1ant]

A handful of loose reflections I wanna put down before time moves on, things change etc

One, Viktor. The biggest thing I'm feeling right now is grief. We knew he was doomed from the start, to lose parts or all of himself, but seeing it happen still hurts. I was unsettled during act 1, feeling so much of him was already lost with little fanfare - would the narrative just move on? I'm actually mollified by this second death, seeing it delivered with narrative and emotional weight, even if we haven't gotten the (Jayce's) reasoning for it yet. Plus, I'm fairly confident we've yet to see his final evolution. So again, he was already (mostly) gone, but now it's like the narrative has acknowledged it, too. Even less will be left off him in his final form, but by god, I hope it's his wrath. If he's truly left an empty shell for the arcane I think I'll cry.

Second, Jayce. What the hell man. Explain yourself. Ngl I love him so much, seeing him get cut up with a chainsaw and apparently run through the arcane autoclave was oddly satisfying. Both him and Mel felt a bit, idk, like they'd gotten a PR treatment in arc 1? Like I love the "my place is here in the lab with you" and "Viktor will return to us" as much as the next guy but both of these characters have been very shitty to Viktor very recently and erasing that feels too cheap. I'm glad to see Jayce return to making Big Swings in the worst possible direction. I only wish he'd said something to Viktor before. Well. Y'know.

Speaking of Mel, I absolutely love the arc she's getting. Even just the fact that she's getting an independent arc, tbh. Most beautiful woman in the world is also magic? Gays stay winning.

And it feels almost redundant to mention but. The sister arc. Suffice to say I'm chewing drywall. The scene in the glow mushroom tunnel. Vander. Possible Vi Jinx Cait teamup in act 3. Love me some natural character/relationship development!!!!!!

Side note: love the ambiguity whether Vander is actually at least Vi's bio dad. Get it, you dog.

I'm not ready to talk about Isha.

Finally, I'm feeling a peculiar kind of melancholy for the diverse but largely congruent Divorce Era fanon that sprung up in between seasons - the visions of Machine Herald and Defender of Tomorrow built from an amalgamation of League and Arcane, making a shared space for creators to play in that has birthed some of my very favorite stories. It's been so, so much fun and I'm floored by how much of it was really founded in shared fandom interpretation and imagination. Now that Arcane canon has set out its own, unique direction, I wonder if this nebulous genre and its characters - a Machine Herald that is neither of League nor Arcane but all our own, the meeting and friction points between Jayces Giopara and Talis - will fade into the past, a weird limbo between the solid pillars of canon, or if its grounding in league lore will keep it alive.

- Honorable mention to the fics where arcane-adjacent and league-ish versions of jayvik meet and fuck absolutely nasty about it. You're the real ones. I could (and have, thank you to my very patient, non-fic reading friend) talk for hours about the complexity and depth of character explored in robotfucking timetravel porn. And none of it, not just the stories but the shared framework and subtext they're based upon, would exist without the beautiful minds of fans! Thank you ily.

[jayviknation]

I have one person in my life to be feral about arcane with so I’ve decided to take up writing here again! Any comments or tips welcome 🥹

✨ Jayce Talis Headcannon’s✨

- [ ] Favorite Color-

Brown! Not just any brown; a deep sultry chocolate brown with a smooth wooden undertone (if you ask him he’ll say red because he doesn’t wanna defend himself for having the “worst” favorite color)

- [ ] Loner kid -

you cannot convince me this man wasn’t the kid that would let his friends pick on him just so he would have a friend group. (Think Thompson from Gravity Falls) He has forever wanted someone to connect to and cherishes Viktor even more for that reason

- [ ] Mommy’s boy -

This one is more self explanatory - he was just absoltuely running to his mom anytime anything happened to him as a kid

- [ ] Following with the family theme eldest sibling energy -

I couldn’t find anything that pointed to Jayce having siblings or being an only child but he just radiates older brother energy with everything in him (love his and cait’s sibling relationship 🙏🏻)

- [ ] Has a sweet tooth

I love to picture this man at 3 AM deep in equations with Viktor breaking the dead silence and concentration with the crisp snap of a Kit Kat as loud as possible (Viktor acts like he hates this but constantly buys him more)

- [ ] Love type - PHYSICAL AFFECTION

Another self explanatory but with romantic partners or friendships this man is a LOVER. Hugs, hand holds, shoulder taps, waist holds, this man needs his hands anywhere but his own body

- [ ] Loves Spiders - Scared of Bugs

I like to think that Jayce as a kid was terrified of spiders but was teased a lot about it so he started keeping spiders as a kid and helped developed a fascination and appreciation for them, bugs on the other hand? He doesn’t want anything crawling on him with that many legs ever (all his clothing is tight fitting so if something is under his clothes it’s about to be a battle)

- [ ] Diva about fashion

He absolutely dresses himself and Viktor but also owns many magazine catalogs about what’s currently in style for leisure reading (possible catalog names - Piltovers Fresh, Councilor Fancy, and my personal favorite Shimmering Hammer)

- [ ] HAIR

While we’re talking about how Jayce looks I just know this man has a detailed multi product process for his hair, no one’s hair is that shiny and sits that perfect without trying

- [ ] Little spoon

I don’t feel the need to elaborate here, this man is the little spoon - Man or Female

- [ ] Firm Sleep Schedule

Was educated very early on of the importance of sleeping for full brain function and gets at least 7 hours every single night without fail. Constantly lecturing Vik on his lack of a sleeping schedule

- [ ] Divorced Dad Rock

Has a guilty pleasure for divorced dad rock (nickelback, daughtry, buck cherry, creed) but will never admit it, catch him at the lab early in the morning (before 7 AM) and you can catch him in full breakdown mode over Linkin Park

- [ ] Can’t cook BUT can bake

Will burn any type of meat, potato, or veggie you put in front of him but will make you a Flan without a single dent without thinking twice about it

- [ ] Sleeps with stuffed HexTech Plush

Cait or Mel got him this as a joke but he unironically lays on it to relax and then will fall asleep with it in his arms pretty consistently

- [ ] Board Game Nights

Him and Cait have a weekly game night where Caitlyn just destroys him every single time (this makes Jayce very distraught because his parents let him win every time as a kid)

- [ ] Coffee

Has a very detailed intricate coffee order that makes any barista immediately want to quit and gets the same coffee everyday at 7 AM like clockwork. Will also get Viktor his coffee which is just a straight cup of black every morning but not without making a grossed out face every time he hands it to him 🤢

- [ ] Allergies

Has a slight allergy to random stuff like tomatoes or wine but is too nice to decline so he’ll just suffer in silence (the allergy just makes his throat numb)

- [ ] Gets Zoomies

Coming from a background with so much manual labor sitting around all day messing with equations and hex tech absolutely takes a toll on him. He’s constantly pacing, jumping around, or doing some type of parkour off of the furniture in their lab

- [ ] Hates Movies but LOVES documentaries

This man cannot stand long form content that doesn’t have new information he could learn but loves to watch the discovery channel put on a 5 hour documentary about bananas and how they’re going extinct for the second time

- [ ] Bad Driver

I don’t remember a single car in Arcane BUT if Jayce had a car he would absolutely be a shit driver. Curbs? Those shouldn’t be in his way where he can’t see them.

- [ ] Social Meetings

This man loves to act extroverted but is incredibly shy and nervous about every conversation and absolutely goes over every possible topic that could arise in the shower that morning before going out (bonus: he fully acts out scenes of imaginary potential stressful situations in the mirror to always have a good comeback in the moment)

Working on a Pt 2 because I could talk about this man for YEARS but lemme know any other characters you wanna see headcannons for!

[aldana-brillantina]

HERO OF MY OWN STORY, A VILLAIN IN OTHERS'.

Nobody is good in Arcane(maybe Ekko). If you watch the show you can take a side depending on who you empathize with the most or who you consider their reasons to be good and justifiable to a certain point. This is a story of sides, of perspectives.

Caitlyn is a good person, who has never had anything bad happen to her and lives in a perfect world where her city is an example of progress, she is a person raised in a peaceful environment and she never had the need to be bad or wish evil. That makes her naive, like a baby. That makes her even somewhat insensitive in very specific occasions like when she sees a reality that is not hers (You don't have parents? You're wrong) but it also makes her feel empathy because she doesn't conceive that someone can live like garbage (when she hugs that man addicted to shimmer, when she criticizes her mother and the council for the situation in undercity). But what Jinx generates is what I want to discuss. Before her encounter with her, Cait had never been in danger and bad things classified as horror movies had happened to her, that was in the past. That's when you start to think, she was good because she never had or felt the need to be anything else. Hate can warp a person, and someone like Cait who never felt it, really felt it, well. She's still a person.I think bad situations are the ones that really bring out some hard truths about a person. But also, do we all process trauma the same way? No, does that justify any wrong you do? No, it makes it understandable.I think people are very unfair to Cait, Jinx, Vi, and even Jayce. I think it's because we all judge them from one reality, our own. But they have many.

If we look at it from Piltover's perspective, the Enforcers are heroes, people who protect them from those who want to harm them and risk their lives all the time, that it is thanks to them that they sleep peacefully in their beds and that it is thanks to the council and their good management that everyone has what they need to live. If I grew up under that reality, the Zaunites are wild animals, less than them.Jayce did not belong to the elite in the beginning of the series, he really worked hard to reach the position he is in and he believes that with enough dedication one can achieve their dreams. That is not Viktor's reality, because no matter how hard he tries or how much effort he puts into it, he is a Zaunite and people will always look down on him. That is when two realities collide without letting the other be a lie. Because Jayce really tried hard and Viktor is still less.

Jinx is a killer, a monster in Piltover, the bogeyman who took the city of progress out of peace and balance. She is Silco's attack dog, his pet for most of Zaun. She is the daughter of her boss, for Sevika. His daughter, the representation of the city he always wanted and his greatest weakness for Silco. But I think the worst thing is that she is a product of a violent environment, an environment that never saw any other way to survive than by stealing like rats or kicking others, and this was Piltover's fault. How much of the damage she does is justified if we look at it from the Zaun perspective?

For Undercity, Zaun, Piltover's live off their blood and beat them in the streets since before Silco. How many of them lost families, friends and lovers at their hands? The protests are the result of rage, pain and hunger. My dad said that if there's one thing you never forget it's hunger, guys, this is a city that lives hungry and on crumbs. No, Enforcers are not heroes, they're boogeymen and it's been a reality for, if my calculations are correct, over 150 years (I'm guessing a bit here, taking into account Vi's birth date and Piltover's founding in the lore). So the Zaunite mentality is different, like, you slaughter us for a few when you slowly killed thousands over all these years? It's not right because I'm sure there are innocent people in Topside who live in ignorance of the cost of all the pleasures they enjoy and probably see them even more as animals after these "senseless" attacks. But this makes a lot of sense to them. And Caitlin along with Mel's mom, how many lives will they take, how many mothers? She would be someone else's Jinx.

I remember Silco, in his meeting to remind the chemis of their place, mentioned the mines and how they all breathed shitty air and did they remember it. They don't look old, they started young. Vander and Silco met there, young. Because, here I am playing devil's advocate, Silco despite being a shitty person did not invent child labor or all evil as some of us like to believe, he is a product and he grew up with it, it is normal for him. And yes, at some point, even before he died, he wanted something more, believed he deserved something more when many people simply continued to think they belong under the boot of topside. But he also poisoned his people and did not change the reality for younger generations, he only made it harder for them to prosper. Because in his reality, people who want to survive will do so at all costs, for him only the one who manages to reinvent himself deserves to remain standing, because that's what he did to live. Swim or you sink, there's no other option.

And isn't that the reason why Ekko and his community are still alive? They reinvented themselves, but by lifting each other up rather than tearing each other down. And that's their reality. They didn't need to leave anyone behind because they all contributed to the boat instead of swimming individually.

People who work for Silco, do they have families? Children, siblings. When you hurt someone, regardless of whether they're bad or good, it's someone's brother, someone's child, someone's friend. Someone always gets hurt, directly or indirectly. The Firelights are the good guys, probably the most well-intentioned organization in the series. That doesn't change that how much they screw up those Silco jobs (for good reason) they put other people in danger who may have children or family and they'll think, even if they're wrong, that they're the bad guys.

But did Silco have Vander and were leaders in their own movement for independence? Well, it didn't work out and they lost everything. That formed Silco. What would Ekko do if he lost everything? Even though he's done it once, can he do it again?

That's the litmus test for every character, who you are, what's left, after a great loss. You become like Jinx or Cait, who get lost in their grief and punish people regardless of whether they're responsible or not. Or like Ekko, who like a tree, resists blows because his roots are stronger.