#he’s already a caitvi believer i think i can get him there

[derrydeer]

got my dad to watch arcane with me this weekend while i was home from college, and decided to tell him about bbno$ being called into the principals office by riot, and he had very insightful thoughts:

old man got off a good one. i didn’t know he was hip like that.

upon further conversation, he treated me with this as well:

following that i introduced him to the idea of the hexstrap, which he was not as pleased by

[blazinginsquids]

Arcane and Macbeth, and what this means for Caitlyn, Ambessa, Jinx, and Isha Theory

Somebody on Reddit mentioned that this image from the season 2 intro of Caitlyn looked like a Macbeth poster. Obviously I wasn’t the first to notice this, but I did decide to make this post explaining what this means.

Caitlyn being in the position of Macbeth immediately tells us something- She’s in a position of power. One she feels guilty for being in- The guilt eating her alive. After killing King Duncan, Macbeth begins frantically washing his hands in water, and comes to a sudden realization that becoming king comes with the cost of guilt for the unjust way he obtained his power-

“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red” (Act 2 Scene 2) the literal meaning of this quote is that no amount of water can wash the blood off his hands and that his attempts to clean himself would turn the entire ocean red. Taking this metaphorically, he’s saying he’ll never be free of his guilt and anything he does to try and save himself would just poison the world around him.

I see people wondering if Caitlyn will have her own “pitfighter Vi” moment. I think the Macbeth symbolism is proof she will. Following the parallels, Caitlyn will act in ways to try to rid herself of the guilt she feels for hurting Zaun, and for hurting Vi. Whatever she does in an attempt to rid herself of guilt will backfire and hurt the people closest to her, and Piltover as a whole.

Based on LoL lore and the fact Caitvi are canonically together by then, I have a hard time believing Caitlyn won’t get an onscreen redemption arc, meaning her similarities to Macbeth end there. However I think this could still give us insight into how Ambessa, Jinx and Isha will fair the rest of the season.

I’ve already seen people compare Ambessa to Lady Macbeth, given that she’s the pulling the strings, the one who convinces Macbeth to kill King Duncan and take the throne. Lady Macbeth goes mad of grief throughout the play. Act 5 Scene 1 shows her sleepwalking and revealing the truth as she speaks. This could possibly indicate that Ambessa herself isn’t as unfazed as she first appears to be, and will reveal the truth through an unintentional admission of guilt. I personally don’t see Ambessa doing this, but I thought I’d mention it regardless since I’ve seen others draw parallels.

Now, something I haven’t seen mentioned at all is that there’s one key thing stopping Macbeth’s future lineage from becoming king: A vision that Banquo’s children will become the future kings of Scotland. After obtaining power, it becomes Macbeth’s mission to eliminate Banquo and his son- A parallel I think best suits Jinx and Isha. Jinx has become the defacto leader of Zaun and represents every bit of grief Caitlyn feels. By killing her- She solves “the problem”. But if Jinx became leader in place of Silco, her father figure, who takes Jinx’s role? Logically, a child who looks up to her. enter Isha, the stand in for Banquo’s son.

In the play itself, Banquo is killed, but his son survives. Do I think this means Caitlyn will succeed in killing Jinx, but not Isha? I can’t say. I feel as if these parallels exist solely to set up the way Caitlyn feels/reacts in Act 2 as opposed to a step by step instruction on how the plot will move forward (Hence why I’m hesitant to claim Ambessa revealing the truth as akin to Lady Macbeth seems like a stable idea- It does not). I do however think there is intentionality behind adding in Macbeth symbolism, and I fully believe that some parts of the play will parallel with the plot of season 2.

[toweroftickles]

Who are your favorite underrated ticklees? like characters you think should have more tickling art/fics about them?

Oh, now you’ve done it. You’ve unleashed a tangent. 😂 Buckle up, kids; this word-and-picture vomit is gonna take a while. All 30 slots gettin' used up on this one.

UNDERRATED LEES

Let’s start with Avatar. When the second movie came out I went through a bit of a phase…half the characters in it could go here. The whole Sully clan. The Na’vi are perfectly sculpted ‘lee material - their long bellies, the ribs, the feet - and NOBODY TAKES ADVANTAGE OF IT.

(Literally just think of all the tickle torture they get up to)

Moving on to anime, Studio Ghibli is packed with characters who deserve more tickle attention. My favorites have gotta be Ursula from Kiki’s Delivery Service (I really wanna see content with her, Kiki & Tombo together), Lisa from Ponyo, Fio Piccolo from Porco Rosso, and Young Kiriko from The Boy and the Heron.

(I could watch that gif of Ursula wiggling her toes for the rest of my life)

I'm also a fan of this girl Pipirika from Magi: Adventures of Sinbad. Not sure why. I don't even watch the show.

Then there’s Suki from the other Avatar. Less-popular character in a popular fandom. Crowded out by the rest of the Gaang.

Victoria and Mr. Mistoffelees from Cats 2019. SHUT UP I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU THINK 😖

VICTORIA IS SO PRETTY AND SWEET AND PURE AND THE WAY THEY NUZZLE EACH OTHER AND THIS WHOLE MOVIE IS TICKLE-CODED

I'M NOT A FURRY

Vi and Caitlyn from Arcane/League of Legends. That show (and this pairing) is massively popular online, they are insanely hot together, so WHY is no one making tk content except me? HMMM? These bitches are ticklish as hell and they deserve this.

It’s. Not. FAIR. I am so thirsty for CaitVi content in the leadup to Season 2 the inside of my mouth looks like the Atreides family is going to set up a base camp and harvest exotic spice from the back of my uvula.

Art3mis from Ready Player One. Book Twitter has seemingly made it their life’s mission to demonize Ernest Cline and anyone who loves the novel/movie, so fan content is already a little thin on the ground as it is. But she needs to be put in a tickle machine, stat.

Ben & Gwen Tennyson. OG series; none of that reboot horsehockey. They fight and antagonize each other so much I’m genuinely surprised there was never a tickle torture moment in the show.

From the Nintendo side of things, Imma go with two underappreciated gothic sorceress baddies (Veran from Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Medusa from Kid Icarus Uprising). I'm also very fond of the various "hot ninja lady" iterations of Impa, particularly her orange-and-black ensemble from Skyward Sword.

And both Wii Fit Trainers.

Red Savarin from the obscure Tail Concerto DS game Solatorobo: Red the Hunter. Never played it; he just looks insanely ticklish to me. You know, some characters you can just tell.

Still not a furry.

Let's see now, Disney/western animation...Kida, obviously. Robin Hood & Maid Marian, especially the latter. (I love her giggle so much.) Mowgli is more childhood wish-fulfillment on my part: that insane Jungle Book tickle scene messed me up, and each time my prepubescent self rewound the VHS tape, I played a game with my mind. I kept desperately believing/wishing that this time, it would be different: Baloo would get Mowgli back, or their tickle war would resume later. No such luck. It's about him & Baloo specifically.

The 2004 iteration of Batgirl is my favorite one. Plus she's got a great laugh. XD

The Spider-Verse movies continue to be a Tumblr phenomenon, and yet I have not found a SINGLE solitary tickle post about Rio Morales. Can you imagine how adorable she would be as a lee? ❤️ ((Ticklish moms + older women in general warrant more appreciation.))

I also made this here list a while back. This community can tend to neglect characters who are canonically ticklish, perhaps because the question has been answered already.

********************

WHEW. Got all that outta my system. XD If any of you are still alive and still reading this, anybody on this list that you agree deserves more tickling fanart/fics? Any thoughts on underrated lees of your own?

[wren-galathinyus]

okayokay season two arcane has me feeling so many things right now and I know none of these are original thoughts but I have to scream them somewhere, so spoilers under the cut

-GRIEF AS A THEME!!! it is going to be Caitlyns downfall, in the first episode you see her clearly surrounded by a sketchy dissociated world, trying to not let it affect her, and as it goes on, she's part of the world again, and then finally as we get further she has her conversation with vi "don't change" but she already has so much! and that grief is driving her to do things! she shot at jinxs' new kiddo! she is going to go too far down that path and I'm not sure she can come back, but I'm loving how complex and nuanced this season is treating her. she's already to the point where she will hurt those closes to her (Vi) to get the revenge that she thirsts for. episode one and episode three Cait are two completely different people and the switch is so interesting to watch

-the animation is fucking phenomenal!!!!! there are so many brain fucks of different styles clashing while holding hands! rahhhhhhh!!!

-the entire notion of legacy and passing down trauma!!! Jinx is silco and Vi is Vander. they are at odds with one another, one trying to protect the innocent while maintaining the fight for the better, the other on a path of violence that they believe nessacery for change (even though it's not even quite about that yet, right now it's just Jinx being destructive in the wake of everything that's happened). but the directly drawn parallels to Jinx and Silco letting each other go unto the water. and then there's Isha (??) who's an imitation of powder who now idolises Jinx. she looks up to her and is to Jinx what powder was to silco that day in the rain, there is a passing down of trauma and violence

-CAITVI AKA PILTOVERS FINEST oh lord give me strength these lesbians are going to end me. the eye contact, the tension, the inexplicable ability for them to match and trust each other while almost completely being at odds in some ways. the kiss was everything, it was an I'm here, I'm not leaving, I'm not going to change, I love you, I promise. and the visible metaphor of vi letting down her guard (dropping the gauntlets) to fully embrace this statement, only to later see the complete betrayal and break down that comes with Caitlyn hitting Vi and quite literally abandoning her. she did change, it was not longer about bringing Jinx to justice, but having Cait stop at nothing to get revenge. (I also find it incredibly funny that lesbian heartbreak is going to presumably what gives us emo Vi)

-Ambassa Medarda the conniving evil sexy woman you are, that is all

-Viktor omg Viktor, the amount of religious imagery from him alone in his what, 5 minutes of screen time, but there is so much of him clearly lost to the Hexcore as he no longer *feels* human but feels a deep insight to others and wishes to stop pain and finally do good

-the teaser at the end of every episode for Dr Singed creating Warwick (I think that's his name it's been a while since I brushed up on LOL lore). I can't wait to see how his appearance later in the season is going to affect both of our girls

-also, speaking of vander, the fact that all it took for Vi to be like fuck it and put on the badge, was for her to hear someone say that they wished more people with her heart had badges, fuck

-another tidbit on Caitlyn is the fact that the Kirraman key she inherits tells us so much of her mother and family's legacy being the ones to assist clean air in the under city, and Caitlyn in her journey to avenge her mother completely undoing it by abusing to grey air to hunt Jinx

-Jinx saying its only right for her to die at her sisters hands!

-Sevika and Jinx being the power couple (platonic) that I never knew I needed. one begging to be lead and useful again, one need solace and something to fix so that she can fulfil some fucked up idea she has of herself

-another on Caitlyn. just the one scene at the end if episode one when she tells the council members to shut up and respect her? mommy? sorry. mommy? sorry

-Ekko and heigmerdinger are so precious and Ekko bonding with Jayce instead of just completely butting heads with him is actually perfect, but still I can't help but see the way they interact and recall the way Vi and Jayce interact in the first season. Ekko is Vi's little brother and you can't tell me otherwise

-oh yeah, and the new opening credits go hard, can't wait to see the impacts and foreshadowing they hold when the rest of the season releases

-and as a final thought, I'm actually really curious to see what sort of time jump is going to exist between all three acts, and how that mimics the format of the first season

[thewistlingbadger]

Not sure if any of these are *hot takes* per se but:

Vander being brought back was tacky, boring and made me less interested in the show (I don't care about Warwick lore or whatever, bringing him back when his death had so many consequences for Vi and Jinx's arcs actively cheapens their stories so much);

I struggled to care about Isha since the show put little to no effort into making me invested in her beyond "cute kid". It felt like she was more of a plot device to get Jinx to just be a quippy antihero rather than her far more nuanced and interesting S1 characterization. Also, I don't know why the writers thought her being a suicide bomber was a good idea.

Zaundads (Vander/Silco) isn't a good ship, I get the appeal but the Vander-Silco dynamic seems genuinely more interesting without the tired cliche of them being lovers who had a violent falling out.

Timebomb (Jinx/Ekko) was fun when it was potential subtext in S1 but just like everything else with Jinx and Ekko, the interesting parts died after the S1 finale.

On a similar note, it was a missed opportunity not to have Ekko confront Heimerdinger over his role in perpetuating Piltover's oppression of Zaun. Like the guy was in power for like 300 years let's examine that.

Ekko, Mel, Heimerdinger, and (to an extent) Jayce all being basically sidelined for huge parts of S2 made the world feel so small and static, especially after Mel and Ekko were set up to be much bigger players during the tail end of S1.

I liked JayceVik and CaitVi in S1 but I absolutely don't think either ship should've taken over the show like they both did. As a queer person, I'm seeing way too many people justify their poor writing as "oh well it's queer rep." Okay, we deserve WELL-WRITTEN queer ships as well.

A lot of the side characters in S1 felt like they had at least some kind of idea behind them. I didn't even know Loris had a NAME until I googled it. The writers in S2 basically just forgot to give these guys any sort of consistency or reason for the audience to be interested in them.

S2 misinterpreted "making things nuanced" as "making everything ludicrously overexplained and overconnected". The wizard being Viktor is dumb and unnecessary, Silco and Vander having known Vi and Jinx's mom makes their relationships and story arcs less interesting, I liked Singed in S1 but I didn't need anymore backstory or presence from him other than what was already there, and everything we got made me like him less, etc.

I know there's a lot here but I had a lot of opinions lol

WOW lots to unpack!! I'm gonna go one by one i think.

Agree. Vander was vital to act 1 s1 and he was needed to start the story. However by the time we get to season two, so much time has passed. In the show AND in real life. Vander had absolutely ZERO business in being brought back into the story as an actual character. I could understand including him had it been under some flashbacks that actually furthered the plot (not like the blisters and bedrock flashback) but otherwise he needed to stay dead. If we can bring back Vander who died at the start of the show, then who's to say anyone is really dead? If we can have Vander why not bring back Silco yk? Once you start bringing people back from the dead the threat of death is less heavy. While I understand that Vander makes a good fit for Warwick I truly believe that Warwick had no place in this story. He should have not been a character at play and I hate how much time he ended up taking. The only reason why Warwick exists in arcane is for the purpose of getting the sisters to reconcile without actually resolving their conflict. And that is incredibly frustrating. I also feel like if they were gonna go down this road it should have been harder. Warwick almost immediately reverts back to Vander and stays Vander for the rest of act 2.

Isha isn't a character in season two, she's just a plot device that's used to further Jinx's narrative. She has no real personality or desires outside of Jinx. I've heard people compare her to having a pet and unfortunately I have to agree. I never liked Isha because of this and also because to me it was so obvious she was going to die, even BEFORE act one aired. When they released the music video for Isha's song I was like "oh there's no way they both survive" and so I didn't get invested or attached to Isha at all. I think she's cute and her relationship with Jinx is cute, but I also hate it bc Isha's function in the story is to get Jinx to revert back to Powder, and I can't stand that shit. To this DAY I'm still trying to connect the dots on her death like I STILL don't understand why she "sacrificed herself" Jinx literally wasn't in danger??

All ships are valid so long as they're safe, but I think you were trying to say that you personally don't like Zaundads. Which is fair, I don't ship them either, though I do see the appeal. I think your reasoning is also very interesting I haven't thought about it like that.

This is an interesting perspective. I hope I'm interpreting your words correctly. I don't think I agree per say. I don't ship timebomb. I personally don't see the hype. However, I think the theoretical concept of two childhood friends finding themselves on opposing sides as they grow older is compelling and I think this is the base for timebomb. However they were literally never explored in the whole show. They never have a single conversation with each other. The only moments we get between them are the bridge fight and the attempt. The fact that we got a whole episode dedicated to a fake relationship between him and an AU version of jinx is maddening. So I think they could have been interesting but the show literally never commits to them.

Season two has a theme of just forgetting what happened in s1 and forgiving Zaun's oppressors. It would make sense for Ekko to criticize heimerdinger's inaction when he was a councilor. However when Ekko meets Heimerdinger for the first time he actually speaks with a sense of awe and admiration. It's important to remember that Ekko isn't an anarchist or a revolutionary. He's a teenager who is against any forces who harm the people of zaun. He's not necessarily anti-council (anti-piltover's government), he's not anti-statehood (we never get to see if he believes in Zaunite independence), he's anti-oppression. So do I think he should have criticized him? Yes. Did I want him to? Yes. Do I understand why he did not on a character level? Also yes.

Yes agreed writing off characters and then randomly bringing them back was a MAJOR flaw in S2. I wrote a post about how season two speed runs all the interesting concepts and then is forced to spend tons of time on shit that is boring and doesn't matter. Mel, Viktor, Ekko, Jayce, are all characters that we wanted to see more of but instead they got shoved aside to focus on...what exactly? Bc jinx reverts back to powder, we get no development from vi, and one day Caitlyn hates zaun and the next she's back with Vi. This is why I hate Warwick, because act 2 spends loads of time on Warwick when it could have been focusing on literally any of the missing characters. In Mel's case her story feels so isolated and disconnected from the main story of the season. For Jayce and Ekko they're reintroduced so late in the game there's no time to explore what happened. Episode seven tries to make up time but it ruins the whole pacing of act 3. Viktor is just a goddamn mess he is literally different EVERYTIME we see him. He's supposed to be a big bad but he doesn't start acting like an antagonist until EPISODE 8. It's all a fucking mess.

This one is interesting to me. I didn't really ship either caitvi or Jayvik in S1. Didn't see Jayvik at all and Caitvi just didn't do anything for me. I think it's important to remember that of the two only caitvi is canon. JayVik doesn't count as queer rep bc they weren't intended to be so (so in this context the "queer rep excuses bad writing" argument cannot apply to them). "Taking over the show" is interesting and I can see where you're coming from. ESPECIALLY JayVik they really did steal the show lol (but tbh I'm not upset at this bc they were what I enjoyed the most in S2). CaitVi definitely had some moments and it did feel like things were being ignored for the sake of the ship.

Yes. Every single thing in s1 had a reason. Why does Finn exist? To show that Silco has adversaries and that he's losing favor. To give Sevika some brief depth. Why does Ren exist? To provide Marcus with a motivation and to highlight how fucked up Silco is. Why does Therim exist? To show that even the most base level employees of Silco are afraid of Jinx. These aren't all the examples but they're probably the most obscure and they ALL served a purpose. Season two doesn't care about their side characters. They're just playthings to either further the story (Isha, Warwick) or to invoke an audience reaction (Maddie, gert, Loris).

Singed's backstory was interesting but not needed. Introducing it so late to the game felt wasteful. Even though the additional information we received on Vander and Silco and Vi's mom was unnecessary, I do like that we got it and I think it adds to the story of Silco and vander's falling out (I have a separate post explaining why on my blog). Viktor being the mage is not something that bothers me I liked the reveal in the moment, although I do recognize if you think too hard about it it falls apart lol. S2 relies on spectacle too much. S2 doesn't feel as complex or as nuanced as s1 because it is not. I can see where you would obtain the perspective of S2 feeling too connected and too explained (I think this is why you referenced blisters and bedrock and mage!Viktor). However to me there's so many things S2 didn't explain (why does Viktor act different. Why does mel suddenly have powers. What is the black rose. What was wrong with the tree. Was the anomaly a wild rune. Etc) and I feel like the story is too disconnected (bc of all the missing characters).

[crimsonxe]

Alright FINALLY got to see Act 3 of Arcane and so spoilers below the cut:

THAT is how you do a damn finale to a 9.9/10 territory (not only do I now believe in absolutes I do think there's some small things). These are scattershot cause I'm floating in a "been holding firm in socials isolation thinking about what could be in Act 3 and now gotten to see it and its even BETTER than I imagined"

I'm not a Timebomb hardcore, hell I can even say that to a degree I think their main timeline dynamic is a bit rushed (due to not having a lot of interactions at all outside of the bridge clash); BUT that isn't an issue cause fk it I'm fine with it cause enough was done in the alter world and beautifully done to build for it. Though admittedly I was having a nerve popping at the thought of them giving Timebomb their episode and not giving one to Cativi/Violyn at the time cause older media would absolutely have done that. But now I can legit say its up there, Caitvi is still top tho, especially with that damn song there is no way in hell I'm ever memorizing the name of that is in a shuffle loop with Fantastic in my head currently.

I love that they canonize a multiverse, like actually showing another different branchline akin to Full Metal Alchemist and Brotherhood.

Okay, here's a thing: how the hell did they make Mel HOTTER and even threw badass af on top of that? Like I thought she was already hitting the top, but then the writers were like "hold our beer" cause that new design is -drops to knees to a queen-

Now the big one: that fucking prison scene, FUUUUUUUUUUCK it was the perfect balance of showing what they were doing without taking it into fetishization territory and I love the convo that leads into it. Like GOD they did that scene so well. The only issues I'd have is Vi saying how she was wrong every time, cause she definitely wasn't wrong in shielding Isha & Jinx from Cait; nor was Cait right in going fascist-y for a time.

Kind of a sub-bullet of that ^ but love that Vi's response to Cait saying she slept with "someone" (aka Maddie) was a "so what" "don't care" "we were separated its fine" dismissal, cause I bet Cait ran through a thousand and one ways of trying to dodge that bullet and it wasn't a bullet at all xD

I was a bit disappointed with what was the endpoint for Maddie, cause the whole honeypot angle is meh. I dunno I was hoping for her to be treated as a full-blown character with a complicated situation going with Cait and Vi who were clearly only really into each other; rather than a cheap go-to that eradicates anything between her and Cait. I'd have even taken having Cait tell a hard truth to her that with her it was just sex and comfort, not anything more then having Maddie dealing with that as an actual human character. And I can assure anyone just running across me with this post, I'm a diehard Caitvi/Violyn shipper that never wavered on them; but that doesn't mean I can't also want a character respected. Which is funny cause others want to compare this show and RWBY, where RWBY actually gave its 3rd wheel a proper send off with potential to return in the future as a friend to both of the wlw characters that are together. It didn't make him into a villain or honey pot. I don't know its not like a major gripe/issue, hell I even get why the writers may have gone that route (it takes way less resources and budget vs. having an actual full-on set of scenes fitting what I described or any others like it), just more of a "sigh".

I was on Viktor's side till he started going into erasing individuality and freedom over oneself. That turned me away quick, but not necessarily to Jayce who I still think went extreme mode.

Another gripe time: why the fuck did Jinx need to die? Like there was no reason and I don't mean like nothing around her, but she still dies. I mean as in narratively there was no reason other than to put edge and death in it (and there was plenty of that going on already). I'd love to see the new Jinx in future adventures but nope -.- I waited for the post credits hoping for an extra scene showing that she survived either via miracle or once again some shred of Vander protecting her; but nada.

Eyepatch-Cait = YES.

And now the other big one that I was worried about cause everyone kept bringing up the damn game, when Arcane was always primarily its own thing. So I LOVE that is actually has Caitvi/Violyn as a full-blown couple in the end with suggestion that they could show back up in one of the spinoffs.

[its-no-biggie]

anyway. some thoughts about season 2 in no particular order (spoilers ahead!!)

i was pleasantly surprised by the ending! wasnt expecting them to commit that hard

this might be controversial but. i kinda wish they had omitted the last 7ish minutes of the finale. you know the cutoff point im talking about. maybe im just a masochist but like..... that climax was SUCH a gut punch, and since they didnt use the last few minutes to really get closure on any of the Big Stuff, i think it wouldve had more impact to just leave it hanging. like. i cannot describe to you the high that i was on when it faded to black on jayces hammer on the roof and i thought the credits would roll. leaving it there would have left a gaping hole in my chest for the next 3 days, but then the ending softened the blow while still leaving things pretty open-ended. booooo 👎

i liked the conclusion to viktors arc a lot. the way eliminating pain and death goes against nature itself...... aughhh. i fucking love tragedy dude. people you love will suffer and theres nothing you can do about it. you cant erase the bad things that happened to someone without erasing the person they are today - even if it was unfair and it shouldnt have happened. viktor was blinded by his vision of a perfect world without suffering, and the only one who could help him see that was jayce...... you didnt need to be fixed....... and then!!!! putting everything back to how its supposed to be means accepting that they were doomed from the start. viktor was already dead twice over and the hexcore was only delaying the inevitable…… they suffered and died and their lifes work was all for nothing but they were partners to the very end!!!!!! im gonna be sick

also?????? going back in time to reach the only person who can save you???????? oh my god dude. oh my god. ill never be normal again

on a less heavy note. caitvi....... my god. im not a lesbian but i believe in their beliefs

jinx 😭😭😭😭😭😭 losing every single person who still loves her....... sacrificing herself for vi after vi finally accepted her....... VANDER....... aaauughhhhh. i just want her to be happy :((((((

also really funny going into the season knowing people HATE maddie but not knowing why. straight up thought it was undeserved ship war bullshit for 8 straight episodes and was completely blindsided by the betrayal. amazing

i love how half of the cast got a major design upgrade and the other half spent the entire season extremely disheveled. and viktor was somehow both

also really funny that ekko just. had all of that time-specific character design before he gets the time machine. nominative determinism to the extreme

speaking of episode 7. [incoherent sobbing]

actually can we talk about the implication that everything would have turned out okay if vi had died that day. how fucked up is that...... (well. okay for the undercity anyway. i guess we dont really see much of the pilties side except for the boarded up lab. so i guess the outlook isnt great for jayce and viktor...... but even then they obviously havent destroyed the world so. theres that.) kinda wish they had done more with that as a concept, but mostly im just glad that it wasnt powder who was killed to make everything turn out okay. that would have been genuinely really upsetting

and im so glad ekko got more screentime this season <3 i do really wish we had seen more of ekko and jinx together as kids though....... i looove timebomb but a lot of the appeal is their history together. what could have been........ obviously the alternate timeline provided some of that but they had no screentime together as actual kids!! just wouldve been nice to see that yk......

actually i think all around the show couldve used more filler (as in, scenes that develop the characters and relationships without forwarding the plot). i wouldnt say the pacing was too fast, it didnt feel rushed or underdeveloped at all, but with such a huge cast it wouldve been nice to have some more time with them yk? and the pacing is definitely on the faster side so you could afford to slow it down a little. the character interactions that are there are VERY strong though so i really cant complain. like - i wish we had seen jinx and ekko playing together as kids, but the scene where they fought on the bridge established that dynamic as it became relevant and it was fucking AWESOME. i just tend to prefer a little more downtime personally

with how many posts i saw about the 'i just want my partner back' scene i honestly cant believe i avoided getting spoiled on how it ended

[oodlyenough]

alright i've seen arcane twice through now, here are my opinion patch notes:

jayce is hilarious i can't believe fandom hates him so much lmao... arcane boldly asks, what if steve rogers shot a child, and i think that's very fun and sexy of them

fr though i do think jayce is one of the more interesting characters precisely because he's -- well partly because i feel like he realized he's bisexual two days ago and is making it everyone's problem, which is already great. but also because watching the square-jawed hero complex guy make a series of terrible decisions and go mad with power is a satisfying thing to witness. the story seems very aware jayce is doing a bunch of fucked up stuff, and i appreciate that. unhinged bisexual rights

i was also more into the political drama once i was following it closer. i think it's handled with relative subtlety most of the time and i like that! i hope it stays that way in s2, please god. also how tf does the council work, are people appointed? i guess? based on status/wealth? it certainly doesn't seem to be a democracy.

also i love ambessa. can't wait to see more of her.

i feel like mel's writing is... kind of underbaked. her words and her actions don't always correspond (eg "i've never been able to give back!" says the single richest person in a city with severe wealth disparity who has been in political power for a decade). i don't say any of this to drag mel, because i'm very interested in who i think she is/could be, but i find it hard to decipher if this is nuanced writing or just the story not really knowing what it's doing with her -- i guess we'll see what s2 does. i'm still pretty confident she'll survive the finale, not so much because i think she'll survive the entire show (doubtful imo) but because i think if they're going to kill mel she'll get a solo death episode and the finale/fallout of jinx's bomb has too much else going on. fingers crossed anyway, lol, i think it'd be shitty if she's just dead now before they did much with her

i understand like 25% more of what happened with viktor and happy fun ball but ... still not a lot. lmao. i don't mind them keeping it vague i guess but i hope future sequences are less outright confusing to me. why did it eat sky? why did it change his hand? was that on purpose? we never saw him having issues with his hand, right? who knows.

still love that dinner scene with jinx/silco/vi. as i was watching with @firstofoctober i was saying how great it is that everyone in the scene is saying stuff they genuinely believe even if that stuff isn't factually true. i know there's Discourse over how genuine silco was being but i really do think all evidence points to him meaning it/believing what he's saying, even if *we* know vi isn't going to betray powder, etc. likewise vi obviously means it when she says she loves jinx and they're still sisters etc... but i really don't think she has a proper grasp of who jinx is now, she's projecting baby powder and expecting she can flip a switch. it's good and sad and i like it a lot.

coming out less flatteringly on rewatch:

ep 1 is so boringgggggggggg these are so many characters and i only have to care about two of them

caitvi moves at breakneck pace lol. slow down ladies it's been 72 hours tops

heimerdinger is just terrible on rewatch imo lmao he literally never does anything to help anyone or anything. i'm pretty sure jayce only deposed him for being mean to viktor, but he was still right. i GET that his whole thing is being immortal and blah blah but like what if: some guy with no perspective on human existence wasn't ruling a city full of mostly-humans. depose him again jayce.

and my least popular opinion: caitlyn i just... i tried man. i dunno. i mean she's nice and stuff... katie leung is funny sometimes. i just feel like she is so uncomplicated compared to literally every other character, with the least compelling arc. and i think the story treats her with real kiddie gloves too, which i find grating. everyone else fucks up and makes mistakes and is punished narratively for it, but caitlyn is always right bc she is a nice good cop. okay. whatever.