#i blame mel for all of this tbh

[pastel-peach-writes]

Hello! I adore your writing. Can I request a fic with female arcane characters when they have a touch starved gf? (Definitely asking for a friend ahah 😅)

RAHHH. ARCANE LADIES LETS GOOO. tbh, im not that in tune with Mel and Sevika as characters so they may be OOC. Thanks for requesting!

Arcane Ladies w/A Touch-Starved Reader | Headcanons

╰┈➤ PLOT: Headcanons of Jinx, Vi, Caitlyn, Mel, and Sevika with a touch-starved lover and/or discovering said trait.

╰┈➤ WARNINGS: Lower Case Intended (Kinda?), Suggestive Themes (Mel/Sevika), Not Proofread, Short

⍣ ೋ Enjoy!⍣ ೋ

JINX ᝰ๋࣭𝜗᭡

- In a romantic setting (or really any setting), Jinx is touch-starved herself.

- when taking hostages or messing with those in her way, she will often touch them such as stroking her nail along their jawline or grabbing their chin when they're hurt and on their last limb.

- now she does this not because she's a bit insane and wants to add salt to their wounds but because she's curious. "What would this feel like?" "What would happen if I do this?"

- Much like most things in her life, curiosity is the main thing that gets her into trouble

- in terms of touching, you're not exempt from her touching curiosity.

- she'll drag her nails along your spine. cup your cheek and chin, and squeeze you like the baby you are to her.

- it's not until you linger after a hug that she notices your touch-starved like her

– since that moment, she made a mental note to cuddle you, kiss you, or poke at you more

– even if you tell her to stop annoying you or that she should focus on her work and not mess with you, she'll continue to poke and hold you.

– why? well because you're smiling through your complaints and she can't get over that smile you try to hide when you let yourself melt in her touch

–––

VI ﾒ

– much like her sister, Vi is touch-starved herself.

– y'all saw how she acted with Caitlyn and when she reunited with Jinx. She was all OVER them. With you, she's the exact same

– With her, you're more reluctant with touch. You want to hug her, cuddle with her, cling onto her like the clingy thing you are but you're scared to.

– you didn't grow up in an environment where that was normalized so it was out of your comfort zone to go out and cling to someone.

– in the beginning of your relationship, Vi was touchy until she noticed you weren't super comfortable with it.

– when she noticed, she had a discussion with you. – "Hey, are you comfortable with me hugging you 'n stuff? I noticed you get kinda tense when I first hug you." She'll ask you on a random night in the living room. You were hesitant at first, wanting to immediately ease her insecurities and tell her everything was fine.

– But if you lied, even if the lie was more a half-truth, your initial reaction to her touch would be the same. Tense at first then ease seconds into the touch.

– So, because you couldn't do anything but bite the bud, you told her

– Since telling, Vi said she'll help you work on getting more comfortable with touch.

– She'll even tease you when she notices you're more hesitant than normal.

– "Oh, come on," she'll tease you with her arms squeezing around your torso and your cheeks smushing to another. "You know you love it! Ease up, Mufifn."

–––

CAITLYN ᯓ

- With Caitlyn, you literally CANNOT get off of her. Can't blame you though.

- 6' foot something to cling onto? YUM.

- Caitlyn didn't mind your touchiness. She assumed you were that way so she didn't think anything of it.

- It wasn't until she met your family that she saw that your touchy side is something you keep hidden from your family, if not the world.

- You were so stiff around them, uncomfortable dare she say. You kept to yourself, restricted that pretty smile of yours, and you wouldn't let yourself ease into her touch.

- At home, she brought this up to you and you told her that being affectionate wasn't something your family did. To them, holding each other, hugging, expressing hellos and goodbyes with kisses was weird. Unfortunately for you, you're a naturally touchy person so you had to keep that part of you concealed.

- Caitlyn didn't like the thought of you hiding yourself from your blood kin. You didn't deserve that treatment so at home, after the event, Caitlyn went out of her way to be more touchy with you.

- she cradled your head when cuddling on the couch, gave you kisses on the cheek, and when she complimented you on something or congratulated you, she kissed the top of your head while giving you a polite squeeze.

– being super-duper-mushy-gushy-affectionate wasn't something she wasn't used to but she'll do anything for you. Plus, a couple extra kisses and squeezes haven't killed her yet.

–––

MEL౨ৎ

- You didn't care about touch all that much before your relationship with Mel. At the start of your relationship, you and Mel were younger so you had fewer responsibilities. All your free time, literally all of it, you guys spent with each other

- walking arm-in-arm while shopping, resting on each other on hot Summer days with your feet in a body of water, and mindlessly playing with each other's clothes or hair during late-night talks.

- but as she got busier, you saw her less, and seeing her less meant fewer touches.

- Mel wouldn't call herself touch-starved but starved for your touch.

– She'll miss your lingering touches on her fingers while you lay in bed, your lips on her back as you held each other, and your face in the crook of her neck.

– In a way, you both were touch-starved for each other. Maybe even a different word but this is a PG-13 space LMAO.

– at night, you would wrap your limbs around her tight and in the morning, you'd cling even tighter. What do you mean it's time for her to go already? She just got in bed!! (it's been 7 hours.)

– with Mel, your touch-starving-ness doesn't go unnoticed. In fact, whenever there's a time she notices you're more touchy than normal, she'll make it up to you

– And you never once complained about her way of making it up to you.

–––

SEVIKA ⚠︎

- oh lord, where do i start with this one, hm?

– One, Sevika loves the crap out of your touch-starved-ness. She won't admit this out loud but she thinks its the cutest thing in the world.

- She'll see you go in for a hug or maybe a wrap around her arm but then decide against it because of your own insecurities.

- Sometimes she'll take matters into her own hands and wrap her arm around you, pull you into her lap, or sneak a kiss on your cheek but other times she likes to make you suffer.

– "Mm, what was that?" she'll tease with a smirk on her lips. "Oh, did you want to hug me? Kiss me? Cling onto me or something?"

- Tbh, if you're with Sevika, you gotta be a little bit of a brat, right? right. So, you'll refuse the allegations she put on your name.

- That is until she pushes and pushes and boom. Like a perfectly boiled egg, your shell has been cracked and peeled, and the softness of your personality has been brought to light.

– with embarrassment plastered along your body and face, you'll do what you were too shy to before. (Cling, hug, kiss, etc).

- Sevika plays a big game but she loves it when you cling to her because just like you, she's a bit touch-starved too. The only touches she gets on a day-to-day basis are punches, kicks, etc.

- When you swallow your pride at home, you'll pull her down to your chest and hold her tight. She'll ask what's up but you'll just ignore her and she'll melt into your body like you intended.

WC: 1,229

[waywardsou2]

Im listening to Marcus Skeens new album and I'm going to give my thoughts in each song

Strangers

Ok but seriously? It took me a second to pick who's perspective this was. But when I twigged it was Viktor's. Gods ok I almost cried listening to that line

Because it shows how much Viktor really did want Jayce. How clear as day it was and yet he was so sure he couldn't have it. He was so sure it was unconditional. And tbh the way Jayce looked at Mel (talking from the perspective of Infinity End) I can't blame him. Wow that's really sad but it was really beautiful. I liked how clear the guitar was as well. The scratch of the strings was a nice touch

Event Horizon

Oh I'm excited for this one based on title alone

Ok fuck I know a lot of people say things like "I'm literally crying omg" and usually I don't believe them so I get it if you think the same. But the way I tell you I burst into tears when I heard these two lines. Like instantly tears in my eyes and then running down my face...

Again took me a little while to understand who's perspective that was. But I think these are all from Viktor's perspective. Which is really interesting, but I would love to see him make a parallel album answering these songs from Jayce's perspective.

But holy fucking shit. The turn from "I wish you would lie to me and tell me you love me" to "Shit wait you might be serious and now I have no clue what to do because I've been pining for so long"

This honestly hit me like a slap in the face

This has to be my favourite by far. I do still have three others to go thought

Better

Just end me now. That one may be my second favourite but holy fuck.

The way I wanted to scream like Vi did in Jinx's final scene. Because that was fucking brutal

This...this is just Viktor all over. He thinks he's broken, he fully believes it. Jayce doesn't want him to say that he is because Jayce doesn't see him that way.

Him saying he wants to be better deeply parallels Jayce telling Viktor he's perfect the way he is. As well as hinting to the previous song. Now that Jayce's eyes are on him he feels unworthy because he is so broken.

Oh that really fucking hurts.

Changes

Shit omg ok. Not as gut wrenching but still powerful. Not my favourite music but it's the message for me

Viktor is clearly very closed off, very reserved and as far as we know he doesn't have any friend apart from Viktor and we don't know about his family either. The idea that he's been hurt and has to learn to love again is heartbreaking but the fact that he wants to do it for Jayce is so powerful.

He's willing to risk getting hurt again because of how much he loves Jayce

The idea that Viktor feels like he darkens Jayce's shine. That because he is less standing next to Jayce he makes him look like less. As if he is a stain of some kind. That was fucking brutal. Just brutal.

Also calling Jayce lover?! Excuse me?!

Also comparing Jayce to a Renaissance painting? Hello? How gay can you be?

Oh love it

Until Next Time

Top 3. Fuck!

The fucking idea that Viktor had lost sleep, crying over the unrequited feelings he has for Jayce that he realised aren't unrequited...that hurts so much to think about

And and and I think this is from Mage Viktor's peresotivs. This feels very him. Especially with the "timelines" and "possibilities" lines. That has to be him.

It really is just song form of what he said to Jayce. No matter what they will do whatever they can do to pull themselves together. Jayce will always choose Viktor and Viktor can't stand the idea of letting Jayce go. They just can't.

But the fact that he says "you don't need to say it back" makes me think that maybe. Just maybe. Mage Viktor's Jayce never got the chance. Viktor turned him before he realised what he had done and Jayce never got to say it back...

And the emphasis on Viktor saying I love you makes me think he didn't either.

Oh this is so damn tragic. But it's amazing story telling

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please go listen to these songs for yourself. It's Marcus Skeens' Infinity End album on Spotify. I need to go kiss this man and then cry.

[bean-spring]

I've seen a lot of people talking about the Jayce/Mel conversation in act 3 and how Jayce is right to have snapped at her because she was manipulating him. Or how he is the most awful man alive for doing so and not asking how she is because she certainly needs someone too. "Mel's manipulative", "Jayce is selfish", etc etc etc.

But people fail to realize that they're two damaged people who have been through life-changing experiences all of a sudden with nobody else to rely on and they handle things differently and, although some of them it is wrong, reacting incoherently is pretty much understandable.

Mel has just realized she's always had this power within her she doesn't know how to control yet. They're choosing her own blood and fate for her, instead, when all she's ever wanted to do is to do it for herself. She unconsciously protected Jayce in the explosion and now she's being blamed for it, too. Now that she finally has the chance to rely on someone she loves and trusts, Jayce is out of it too. And it's messed up and she probably must've felt like shit, to put it plainly. BUT!

I can also see why Jayce would have snapped. Sometimes (and wow, it might sound wild for some of you) people say... Things they don't mean... Or fully believe!!! Jayce has been for god knows how long on his own going through the most traumatic experience of his life and dealing with his lonely, angry, depressing intrusive thoughts. So of course he wants someone to blame. Of course he needs to take out the anger somehow. And it's not okay, don't get me wrong, but I can see why it's Mel. Because after all, it's the easiest thing to do. And after all, they both have used each other (unconsciously. Perhaps on a deeper level and in the very blurry line between work and romance) and I think what Jayce says is true for him at that moment and he is feeling that way, but not really. And they end up making up and coming to terms with their relationship in the end. BUT! (again)

Mel also would have had all the right to snap at him for not giving a single fuck about her. She clearly had gone through her own hell too and he did nothing but attack her. She saved him, even if unconsciously, and now he complains about not saving Viktor too, as if she could control it. He mentions how she used him and Viktor for hextech but... That's her job. And it's not like Jayce wasn't taking benefits from the relationship either. Things got carried away when romance came between them tbh and "they both sort of used each other unconsciously for benefits (aka metaphor for science vs politics)" and "they truly loved and cared for each other" are things that can coexist. And not to mention Jayvik here but yes, even if you ship Jayvik and even if there were parallelisms and Jayce saw Viktor in her, he still loved her. For someone to be so confused and project these feelings there has to be some sort of love there, too, that theory doesn't erase the love they had.

But then again, going full circle, I understand why Jayce would snap at her because emotionally he was feeling like shit and honestly from his POV it's pretty much possible that he could see their situation as Mel being the one to blame at the moment. Even if she isn't and- [going in circles, going in circles...]

So long story short, I highly doubt there are rights and wrongs in this scene. It's just a damaged Jayce snapping at Mel for something he believes is true after going through a traumatic experience and Mel righteously seeking comfort after the same thing.

So if I see another take on this that isn't "they're both so hurt and they hurt each other in some ways and people just tend to act irrationally" I will riot

[jinxie-117]

i'll have to rewatch the season but it almost feels like the cait/jinx parallel was completely lost on season 2? what made these two so cool and their conflict so interesting was that they were such incredibly similar people, but there's very little of that in season 2.

at the end of season 2 they both lost a parental figure (and additionally, both of them blame themselves!!) that was incredibly vital to their upbringing and the way they are now as adults. season 2 should have been about the grief they both suffered after losing their parents.

have both of them spearhead their respective war fronts. caitlyn fights zaun through organised ranks and precision fighting with rifles, heck, even bring in the grey, etc (basically how she does it in the show). meanwhile, jinx fights piltover through random, unpredictable terrorist attacks and her sheer volume of followers throwing themselves at the opposition, with her taking an active role in rallying them to be as chaotic as possible. this would work even further to highlight their differences, showing how though they begin at similar starting points, they both lean into each extreme (while both of them might originally be closer on the spectrum of chaos to control, they both go to polar opposites during s2).

then, have vi stuck in the middle. too chaotic for caitlyn's almost controlling, dictator-esque agenda, but too controlled for jinx's reckless abandon. create the show's conflict here, instead of bringing in third parties and other unneeded aspects of the story. caitvi divorce because vi isn't 'committed enough to the cause.' jinx won't take her sister back because she's 'chosen her side' and hasn't proven herself to have changed since the tea party. linger in this conflict between zaun and piltover, cait and jinx, and express it through vi. you could literally express all of the differences between zaun and piltover and a possible route for peace through this one interpersonal conflict that has already been set up in season 2!!!!

this should be the main plot, same how vi + cait vs silco + jinx was in the first season (arguably s1 has so many important things to it that there isn't really one main plot, but the climax of the show is during the tea party which is the resolution to this particular plot. so i am calling it the main plot). THIS IS WHAT THE SHOW IS ABOUT!!! the story writes itself tbh. it's a huge shock to me that the writers didn't go with this.

the cait/jinx parallel, not to mention the countless other foils and parallels (which was what made the show so good!!!) are seemingly abandoned in s2 and that's why it falls so flat. connections are hardly drawn between characters. isha is SUPPOSED to be a parallel to powder, but the connection is visual, nothing more. isha possesses none of powder's original characteristics - in fact, she has no characteristics, because all she exists as is a plot device, a ticking time bomb to go off when jinx needs to have her emo arc! if you can draw any parallels that operate as well as season one's did, you are welcome to point them out, but imo none of them hit as good as season one, where we had silco and vander opposite to jinx and vi, jinx vs cait, viktor vs mel, sevika vs vi, i mean i could go on. these connections feel sidelined or even absent from season 2 - or at least are not the highlight.

for example, viktor and mel are both mages, and how they obtain this power is evident of their differences, but we do not spend near enough time on these plots to warrant me giving a fuck, nor are the differences stark enough - because yes, mel is more privileged and has a birthright to power, but a big part of her character is that she was exiled from noxus and had to build her empire in piltover instead of relying on her family. the difference needs to be more dramatic to drive the point home - in season one, they differ so much because viktor cares about what hextech can do for others, using himself in the process, while mel cares about what hextech can do for her, using others in the process. the development for both of them comes when the opposite occurs - viktor accidentally kills sky, and mel sacrifices her pride and her place within her family to side with jayce in his effort to reunite piltover and zaun. the parallel was on multiple layers and carried through their entire character arc. frankly, we don't see enough of mel or viktor (or at least, anything that showcases their motivations) to draw proper connections in season 2, which is why both of their mage arcs feel lacking.

what made the story work so well in arcane is that you could look up and see that absolutely everything was connected, right down to the last detail. they've forgotten that connection in season 2, and it's made the scenes, the arcs, and the conflicts feel completely detached from one another, leading to the season feeling stilted. it's like the writers forgot what they had done so well in season 1 and decided to just throw everything they had in their brains onto the page without any regard for the care that had been previously put into them.

[frogtender]

HI I WATCHED S2 ACT ONE

and i'm going to be rewatching it multiple times before the next arc comes out bc omg mama we have been fed so fucking good i am REELING I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH

i want to interact with the arcane fandom on here more!!! but please keep in mind my takes are silly and surface-level bc my knowledge of lore is not that good and i'm not that smart <3

my thoughts and feelings below the cut. 100% spoilers livetweeted to my girlfriend so it speaks to her directly in some places but i'm not about to type out any other thinkpiece about this omg

- vi come to our reality bc u would love King for a Day by Pierce the Veil and Kellin Quinn (2012)

- jayce was saying to mel "how is viktor like basically fucking Dead and i wasn't hurt at all??? it should be ME in there (the hex core bacta tank)" and mel was like "there's no sense in things like this it's pointless to speculate" which would be a true and meaningful statement EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT people speculate her shining gold metal back and arm appliqués stuff is a Solarian shield (idk jack shit about Solaris but it's a thing i guess idk) so there is SUCH a chance that jayce was shielded by it but not viktor... which like... would be a dramatic reveal if mel was like "yeah i actually didn't want him to survive so i chose to only shield you" but why the fuck would she do that??? but in the very first shot which is of jayce coming back to awareness he is already Standing Up and mel is standing right next to him while everyone else has been blown tf around so. i am pretty confident that she shielded just the two of them... i hope jayce finds out and resents mel for it while still resenting viktor's machine herald shit omfg what if he blames mel for viktor becoming robot king... like viktor told jayce "i was supposed to die u promised to destroy the hex core" so viktor blames jayce but what if jayce blames mel WHY CANT EVERYONE KISS AND MAKE UP COME TF ON....TOXIC THROUPLE TOXIC THROUPLE

- the important character development of s2e1 was cait being really scared and intimidated about filling her mom's shoes but then by the end she is Girlbossified and has a hextech rifle... with three sights on it??? like regular glass sights but there are three of them? i have no idea how that would be more effective than just a single sight with a really clear lens but i also don't know shit about guns LOL. anyway she marched into the council meeting at the end like "YES I AM A GIRLBOSS AND HERE IS MY PLAN" and ambessa was looking at her a bit concerned... if there ends up being a power showdown between ambessa and cait it will be so fucking wild bc tbh cait is NOT very scary lololol like she's angry and she's got a gun but imo she's still the kind of person who would hesitate before kicking someones teeth in

- ok episode 2 zaun is going full mad max AND steampunk w half people wearing bondage gear and the other half being top hat bespectacled steampunk gentlemen.. its like a chem baron fight for power thing except they all fucking suck and i'm excited for jinx to kill them all (she kills 1/3 of the remaining ones in s2e2)

- VIKTOR IS MACHINE BOYYYYYYYYYYYYY "WHAT AM I" YOU ARE MY PERFECT BEAUTIFUL BOY SON!!!!

- i am so sorry and so delighted to announce that viktor in this form has somehow reached PEAK PATHETIC WET MEOW MEOW HE LOOKS SO GOOD

- i can't believe VIKTOR is being the lead toxic in the yaoi WHAT DO U MEAN U HAVE TO GO... THE ONLY THING KEEPING U TOGETHER WAS AFFECTION.... BRO MARCH UR NEWLY METAL ASS BACK IN THERE AND SMOOCH UR BOYFRIEND HE SAVED YOUR LIFE‼️‼️ augh okay i guess viktor will be an emo cult leader now

- sevika is TOTALLY becoming a new champion she HAS to jinx gave her a really cool new arm... its very silly but very cool i think u will like its concept.. but sevika and jinx team-up goes crazy actually i am a Big Fan‼️‼️

- VIKTOR IS MAKING ALL THE SHIMMER ADDICTS INTO MACHINE PEOPLE..... and it completely heals them and makes them young??????? broski WHAT like that is cool as hell!!! they look super badass after The Transformation even if i wasnt a shimmer addict i'd want him to do that shit to me... no wonder he becomes a cult leader he's earned it

- another episode ending with a vander werewolf tease SHOW ME THE WOLF ‼️‼️‼️ SHOW ME THE WOLFFFF i know at the end of episode 3 these bitches are gonna release da vander and then i will have to wait a week to see him forreal augh

- okay its 1:52pm im terrified to watch this tbh but this is the last minute i can start before hockey game

- EXTREMELY COOL ANIMATIC OMFG AND THE SONG RULES HELLO.... babe u HAVE to see this you'd LOVE IT OMFGGGG ITS SO GOOD

- ooh the dead son is a real dead son and also that old lady with the too young voice (amara i guess) was in fact related to the scary goddess thingy people were hypothesizing??? i think??? but thats who the medarda family has blood feud with ig we don't know much else yet

- YURI KISS OMG CAITVI KISS YURI CONFIRMED YAAAAY THEY GOT THEIR LITTLE DRAMATIC FIRST KISS SCENE WOOOOOO YEAH i was worried they were gonna make us wait for that but hell ya

- omfg there is a CRAAAAZY furry design in this bitch hello... who is she and why is she such a queen

- okay maybe ur right jayce does look unnervingly human LOL there was a scene between him and ekko where he looked WAY too good

- TOXIC YURI TOXIC YURI vi stopped cait from shooting jinx and also btw cait has been on a Being A Bitch arc omfg they were making out 10 minutes ago now they are BROKEN UPPP!!! because a random child has trauma-bonded to jinx as an older sister figure HOW THE TURN TABLES and she shielded jinx w herself and seeing that a child cared that much for jinx made vi falter about killing jinx. who is reckless to an apathetically suicidal degree now

- also um. jayce and da scientists seem to have touched the arcane a little too close bc?? they got transported into a Nothing Dimension and then the very nature of reality started glitching in a CRAZY acid trip sequence while jinx vs vi and cait vs sevika fight was happening... it seemed very much like an Into the Spiderverse kind of thing... very interested to see how this will continue to manifest in the remaining two arcs

- mel was just kidnapped by the black rose (??? cult???) which are the ones ambessa is beefing with.. they better not kill her i love mel i want her back safe she's too beautiful to die

- ambessa is in War Mode and she looks extremely badass even if i think she's at least 70% evil

- also cait shot off jinx's middle finger

- in an EXTREMELY bold move, ambessa appointed CAIT AS GENERAL IN PILTOVER WHICH IS NOW UNDER MARTIAL LAW????? bruh cait is getting an insane arc this season.. she went from naive to vengeance-driven and impulsively violent in 3 episodes

- oh my christ cait is fucking queen of cops now... this is so unfortunate for her character arc and so unfortunate for lesbianism

- ANOTHER VANDER TEASE ARE U FUCKING KIDDING MEEEEEEEE I SAID SHOW ME THE GODDAMN WOLF BRO

- okay so it seems like ambessa has realized that she can use cait as a militant pawn using her grief over her mother's death, bc she sees a ruthless quality in her... srsly cait's arc is insane rn

[archangeldyke-all]

There’s so many things you noticed that I didn’t lol. I think that yes, the guy pulling the chain was ekko. He looks different cuz of no paint and new hairstyle but that him I’ve stared at it for hours.

Okay, I think I’ll just do that lol. It’s just that I prefer to talk with ppl person to person instead of like I’m groups with reboots and stuff. And arcane is going to make me sooo anxious? Excited ? Idk it’s gonna make my heart race and I want to rant about it really well knowing someone is reading yk ? I’m an anxious person and so many things happen in fandom that I barely interact when things are intense. I usually just wait for it to chill. But I can try that; watching as it comes out. It will be good cuz I also won’t be able to keep my excitement at bay hahaha.

This might be annoying, but I’m not a huge fan of Caitlyn, so I get what you mean by how she’ll probably be the character to annoy you the most this new season. I don’t hate her; I just really cannot stand her ignorance and naivety. It really irritates me how she really genuinely has not clue if he reality of things; while being overconfident in her opinions lol (like, “it looks like they bury dead ppl in there” when looking at VI’s home; or “what ? You don’t have parents ?”. Very small examples but the others are too long to talk about lol).

I won’t blame her for wanting to kill Jinx though. But if Ambessa really is manipulating her, I’ll never see her as anything more than a victim. An annoying victim lmao. I don’t know how to ignore abusive behavior, so it’ll be Ambessa then cait cuz despite being manipulated she’ll be doing some horrible shot that won’t help anything at all and it’ll be so frustrating to watch cuz that’s just one of the consequences of her naivety. (Also, how did you get the idea that Ambessa would ? I’ve seen ppl saying that too, but like I don’t notice all these small details all the time :(

And Viiii. There was this physical event organized by like RIOT or sth where they showed an exclusive sneak peak of Vi in her street fighter era (these are not the leaks since they’re official but it was a private viewing and no devices were allowed) and a YouTuber (schnee) that watched it talked about the clip and like made his predictions for the season. I’ve been so excited to see her since I saw his video (again, these are not the leaks but a sneak peak where the vibe was a you-had-to-be-there type vibe). I feel so bad for Vi, she doesn’t deserve anything that’s happening to her😪

I’m not a CaitVi shipper, but yeah I think I’d love to see their kiss too; or like, the start of their relationship being more than yearning. I don’t understand their ship fully but I’d like to see how they decide to be together after all this chaos. It would be very interesting cuz both of ‘em are entangled emotionally in a mostly negative way. What with the whole ‘my sister killed your mother and now you wanna kill her’ thing.

And ouuuu, I know Ambessa is hot but I hope she dies😞. She’s too obsessed with war smh. (I just thought of like, doing a character study on that lol. Like, why didn’t she think to actually do sth peaceful and productive? Why was her first thought ‘they’re must be war for peace to rain’ lol.)

Anyway, ppl were saying on the YouTube video that they aren’t showing Victor, Jayce and Mel to keep ppl in suspense or sth.

I really hope they don’t kill sevika off cuz I will actually also not want to watch much. Though I love the characters so I’d have to take a break if they do that. Even if they do, she’ll never be dead to me.

I don’t have any predictions for the season cuz I hate being wrong about them and wi to bathe way things are going, one can never be so sure tbh. I love your prediction though. It makes sense.

yes!!! i think the most fascinating thing about cait's character is her whole personality is trying to get out from under her parent's control, wealth, and influence-- but she's always falling victim to someone else's control, wealth and influence. whether it's by joining the enforcers-- piltover's military, essentially, where the lower levels are constantly controlled by their bosses, who are controlled by the council-- or by teaming up with ambessa!!! the writers are so fucking good at making characters make sense-- of course a naive rich girl would run from one system of corrupt power to another-- she doesn't know that they're all corrupt, she hasn't been hurt by them enough to see through the different facades because she's rich!! (but she will always have a special place in my heart... that scene where cait's out in the rain talking to jayce and she goes 'i suppose i've always been an outcast too' or something?? gets me everytime. tears streaming down my cheeks. that little lonely rich lesbian :( )

HAHAHAHA i agree with you 100% about ambessa, but i think unfortunately, she's the least likely to die this season. she's just too powerful and domineering and influential. but idk!! we'll see, arcane has a good way of killing off important, powerful characters.

i feel really bad for vi :( i wish she just had a few minutes to, like, breathe. she literally gets busted out of prison after 10ish years just to track down her sister, and the only reason she's not thrown back in is because of her relation to cait, which means she's indebted to her forever, but then cait goes and tries to kill her sister and her sister tries to kill cait and she's only been out of jail for like 72 hours!!! she needs a spa day. and some weed. give her a break omg.

i'm not a super big caitvi shipper either (mostly for the reasons said above, their relationship is so rushed and co-dependent) but i feel like i gotta root for lesbians life gives me lasjdflksa;dlfj. and i think it would be refreshing to see a show with writing like arcane's do a lesbian sex scene (or something intimate)-- because i have confidence the writer's wouldn't make it a cheesy lesbian porno hahaha

[hazbinsponsoredbyvee]

Tbh, I was 100% on the side of everyone just trying to get the RadioStatic Talk (tm) to happen in the beginning but then the Freezing Anon thing kind of developed a personality of its own. I've had a lot of fun watching events unfold and I really love the way that Mel depicted the fallout as something complicated and messy without the blame falling squarely on one person's shoulders. Your blog is amazing!

-Freezing Anon, OOC

Thank you so much! You added a super fun dynamic to it all!!

[spring-demonx]

Made it Through Charade Maniacs (finally)

I think it might be due to the repetative-ness of the prologue and having to skip a bunch just to get to the route, or maybe the route order I followed (Iochi>Banjo>Akase>Ebana>Futami>Chigasaki>Gyobu>Dazai>Haiji)

I started losing motivation to play and just wanted to move on to the next game I wanted to play. Maybe because I was only really interested in 2 or 3 of all the LI's? I genuinely couldn't care as much for the rest, but also wanted to know the truth what was going on, so I tried pushing through regardless〒▽〒 I couldn't buy into some of the romances either since it just felt too much of an afterthought in some cases on how to handle it? I don't blame though, the main plot really is to investigate and figure out how to make it out, really. But still;;

The true end didn't start as I feel it usually goes, with players having to start again from the menu once more. It was new and I didn't know what to expect, and I only realised that was the true end/The Truth™️ until I had finished everything, lol. I love how they gave valid points as to how each cast member is suspicious, and showing darker and more serious sides to them. Really kept mel guessing who the Producer and Sponsor were!

Ebana

Ebana's route I couldn't care for because I just didn't like his character enough to even pay attention and just skipped majority tbh. Though, I did manage to read some key info anyways.

Futami

WTF EVEN WAS THIS?? That was a dumpsterfire, and I was SO relieved that even Iochi was fed up with the MC, bc even for how naive or overly-trusting she is, she was absolute stupid and in denial even after everything that happened right in front of her. I'm glad it showed he wasn't willing to change through to the end, but I still hated and cringed at the "romantic" scenes bc I just personally could not get into it. Futami fans, you can gladly have himXD

Tomose

Honestly thought I was going to enjoy this since sucker for childhood friend trope, but this was not it for me

Dude literally forced himself on her (thank gods MC actually did smth and slapped him, much deserved)

I can do obsessive and yandere type characters, but this was just annoying and made me so frustrated for many reasons

Iochi

Enjoyed the storyline, didn't see the twist coming

The intimate/romantic scenes were very nice and had me blushing kjfksd

I love they never got answers or tried to categorise or make focus of Iochi's gender. It was very refreshing for these characters

the epilogue had me going "That's it?!" though, bc it rlly just feels like they skip a bunch just to exposition dump in these epislogues sometimes

Gyobu

I knew I'd love him, I was right. I loved him even MORE in his route, even in Dazai's (was that guy even present at all in his route?)

I loved his design most besides Iochi's. WE WERE ROBBED OF MORE PONYTAIL

He's so cute when he becomes all bashful

actually considers and works with (on equal stance) with MC and respects that she wants to trust others. "You do the trusting. Leave me the doubting". Other LI's tend to really chastise her (I don't entirely blame them, but they tend to completely shut her down)

I love his dynamic with MC, love that he's the multi-faceted characters who goes after the truth solo

I like his moto that 'the more you doubt, the more trustworthy you are' type thing

Dazai

Where to start? It felt like he wasn't around the heroine much in his own route. Gyobu appeared more and it made me miss him ToT

I get what they were trying to do, with the "we already had a pre-established (non-romantic) relationship together" thing, but there was just so few moments of bonding or anything to buy into

Was interested in seeing why he seems to be fan fav, he might just not be my cup of tea bc it was just...ok¯\_(ツ)_/¯

WHAT IS WITH THE STUPID GOLDFISH THING😭 That felt like that was supposed to be the most emotional bond moment for them, but it just felt so weak (and silly. like, "WHY should I care?") imo

Please actually SHOW there's emotional connection in these scenes? It's like, I know there's supposed to be because that's what's being told. But I felt none and it was practically only the same moment they kept bringing up over and over again, like they didn't anything else.

I would have liked to see more of Dazai's unrequited love, build more reason for me to care about the stakes and get invested in the pair

Haiji

Kinda obvious he wasn't actually kid bc they kept bringing up the whole "he looks too old to be" to not have any importance

I did not expect the direction it went

Chigasaki

This was a sweet route, I was interested in the character and why he's so apologetic and what exactly he feels guilty for

I slightly spoiled myselt from r/otomegames, liked how it went regardless

HIS HAIRSTYLE BACK IN THE ORIGINAL WORLD IS CUTE AND HE LOOKS AMAZING

I want to give this man a hug. He needs it, and deserves them all

Akase

Voiced by Saito Soma, how can you dislike?

I liked his energy

Felt a little OOC in a route or two

I honestly can't remember much from his route atm

His love for family and stuff very sweet

Really felt his hatred and anger w/ said family situation

[scrunkly-cherry]

Here it is! Some splatfest-screenshots and my overall thoughts!

(warning, I might sound a little cranky at the start, but ofc I'm grateful for the results and had otherwise lots of fun!)

I didn't fight much, the first day atleast, since I was at a convention. I wore a little "Go Team Keyboard"-Sign around me 24/7 tho :D even ran into another Splatoon-Cosplayer! (Had a closet cos of agent 8)

I'm not sure if the complaints are still getting to me, but the amount of times I've lost to spawncamping made the first and ¼ of the second half... Not that much enjoyable. I got pretty heated, to be fair, but it's honestly just a silly squid game, so it's not that deep. I'm tbh a little embarrassed :'] Especially when you lose 3 out of all the 5 10x battles they gave you. It's just not fun to run out of your spawn and get instantly downed again, but it's not something I'd blame a specific team on. (And you shouldn't aswell!) I got friends on both Drums and Guitar (I was almost alone on keyboard :')), so GG to them ofc! Sorry if I got a little toxic in the first half :( (But just saying - having this kind of battle experience, then miraculously winning, only to come online to get insults thrown at your face because youre so "toxic" and "tryharding"... Less fun. But more on that below.)

Alright, enough with the negatives! Let's focus on the stuff I actually liked!

Walking around the plaza, as always, was very fun! I love almost all of the first half songs so much :'D (with the exception of City of Color, which I don't hate, but I love Tomorrows Nostalgia Today too much lmao). I honestly wish I could put more than one video in here.

In the first half I played as my side order octoling "Reed". Need a bit more lore on him. I had a few ideas but wasn't sure on going through with it. Second half however...

DUDE WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE YOU HAVE YOUR OWN SPLATFESTS TO HOST

I decided to cosplay as sury! It indeed made things a little more fun, although I had to choose Mel's weapon instead because I couldn't deal with the slow, large splatana :'D

Usually I make OCs out of my Splatfest-Teams, but using preexisting characters is even more fun! Let's see if I can use Mel in the future too :D

I don't have the oth amiibos

It was at the second half, but I did manage to win some 10xs in the end :] (Which means I've officially heard all three singular idol win themes in-game)

To come back to the results-thing, I expected everyone to be bitter as usual, but everyone was... strangely nice and happy for the win. At first I was kind of annoyed, but if it continues like this, I feel Splatfests might actually get excited for everyone again. (I was actually pretty optimistic and fine with every decision so far, but it's even better if I can actually agree with the fandom lol)

Again, good job to Team Drums and Guitar! And Overall, good job team! Excited for the next splatfest :D 🩷💚💜

[joker-daughter]

As for the people bringing up Timmy and everyone else. People are getting annoyed with them too! This is a Tom blog so I kept it to him. Because of the sequence of events in Tom's career, overexposure for him is different than them. As the others are overexposed, at least their projects end with good critical and general audience reception and awards. It's like how Statham was trending this week for always playing the same character and people were saying they love it. When it's the Rock, people treat him like he's the devil. The difference I think is rumored pay and attention.

With Tom it's been a ton of buzz and hype (and hope) landing in messes. I'm including R&J in that. However well it sold, it was not well-received. It's failings are coming up again with the problems with the Tempest and this engagement news. People are bringing up that the Tempest still wasn't as bad as R&J or that Tom's marrying a POC but wasn't vocal about the racism lobbed at R&J. Fans need to care about normal people. His $150M+ budgeted movies require a lot more tickets to be sold that the small R&J theatre. People bought tickets to that and Uncharted based on their love of Tom or their interest in him after SM3. Fans have to realize that he lost people coming out of those projects. Sorry. we fans aren't enough. He's just coming from a different place in pop culture than the others.

Thankfully, the most of the general population is still on board with the idea that none of it was Tom's fault. But he can't keep coasting on blame to his agent or bad directors and his charming persona. The Rock is obviously less talented but we can see that there's an expiration on that. Keanu was about to reach that point just before he got the John Wick movies. People are turning on Andrew G because he was silly on a red carpet, and that let people to the Mel Gibson quotes and the tone def LGBTQ+ comments from him. Showbiz is a fickle industry.

Tom has all of the parts to be one of our next true movie stars (outside of IP). He just has to have the stars align as far as script, director, cast, performance, and timing. I'll be holding my breath for the next two years to see if Tom can land where he should have been this whole time. I'm just being realistic based on the his history. Like I said, his people get paid a ton to manage his career and his image. If they think 18 months of WifeGuy wedding talk and Bero pap walks is what he needs, more power to them. Unless he secretly filmed something (and it's good), the rest is just going to be chatter about him from fans and misinformed locals. And that's a little scary.

this is a reasonable rundown tbh

[iminaworldofpureimagination]

the hate for caitvi compared to timebomb/ jacye vic feels so dumb and here's why.. in the main world not the au world Jinx tried to kll Ekko/Ekko tries to kill Jinx. Jinx has killed Ekkos friends. its not the perfect example of healthy hetero relationships.. Jacye kills Victor? Sorta?? and ignores him a lot during part of season 1 while screwing around with Mel . I cant blame him she's hot butw wasn't he also doing corrupt things in season 1? yeah he was.. him and cait really aren't that different if ya think about it. one was influenced by mel the other by mels mother.. both did corrupt bad things and its only Cait who gets all the hate for it while jayce gets a pass. and he's what in his 30s when he starts doing corrupt things.. Shes in her early 20s i think people dont realize how naive you are in your 20s but at 30.. he should actually have known better. . At some point timebomb jayce/vic had toxicidy on their relatiships but only caitvi gets heat only the woman ship gets heat.. .. and im not saying that ship is perfect and has zero flaws tbh i didnt' even like it at first but it grew on me.. and i find it rather frustrating how judgmental people are towards the one lesbian ship when the other ships aren't the most healthy rep either..

[faunastanza]

Shizukan's Test pt. 2

(part 1)

Prob says a memory was removed. She wonders why common would be connected to a CUT gesture. If you remember way back when, Mr. 5 had a knife that he could use to remove people from the story so, parallels.

The scene goes back to Beleth and the others at the convention. Shizukan looks irritated.

>Criticism is being presented. Accept / Deny?

Beleth starts talking as the prompt is accepted. They sarcastically say that dr. curse was totally asking for it except she wasn't, so Shizukan shouldn't have done that. Shizukan sulks about this, and Beleth says that dr. curse tricked her because she's stupid and still isn't considering Jupet. I'm done with Jupet tbh. I never cared for them in the first place and they felt inescapable back in the day. Their return is not one I'm enjoying.

Beleth commiserates with Shizukan, saying that they understand wanting to beat dr. curse up, but they didn't do it. Shizukan throws some threads around, and Beleth yells at her for acting on Beleth's feeling and blaming Beleth for it.

can someone push my eye back in

Beleth says that it wasn't just Jupet Shizukan wasn't considering again but someone else (not Beleth). They then ask if Shizukan thinks violence is funny and a joke, which is directly from Glip themselves as seen in Circlet of the Sun. Beleth's always been a mouthpiece of Glip's though. Beleth goes on to say that Shizukan got upset that Myandery thought she'd hurt Dead Air, but then she still does this? That's what this comic needs, high school drama and gossip.

"After you choke someone again?", Beleth says, and asks if Shizukan remembers. dr. curse abruptly gets up and says that if Shizukan thinks violence is okay, then control Stolas and make him kill himself right now or die. Again, this is about Sila in reality.

>dr. curse is probing "Beleth"; please list found KEYs in 5 turns or less, and no earlier than 3 hours from the time this message was posted. >Asynchronous.

We cut to that guy with the manhole hands, the Principal whose the most powerful angel ever ever, talking to someone named Gregoria, which creeps Prob out. Principal asks what the shortest route is to Hellside or to Althar. We then cut again to Mel the beecat and some weird spindly thing called Tempo.

i'm your fairy what-mother

This thing has some vague Andre-ish elements but honestly I'm not sure what it is or where it came from. Tempo says a problem is being deconstructed, saying that if you do not move perfectly, someone will die. Prob looks back at her terminal for prompts.

>dr. curse proposes HORTH 14TH to Shizukan. >Shizukan agrees. >Shizukan has until the end of HORTH 14th to work out a solution to the following: -Jupet dies. -Shizukan switches from KEY-20 to KEY-17. -an Entity is thrust from "Beleth". -"I HOPE HE DIES" -[Unknown] >dr. curse is counting the time. >Please state a gift to Shizukan and why in 5 turns or less.

Prob expresses disbelief that "the first race" takes place in only a single day. She wonders how Shizukan will tie this all together into one solution. She says this is when the timer started. She looks for the gift for Shizukan and finds that it involves the Prism.

The scene shifts AGAIN and we get a weird looking Shizukan saying she's going exploring and wondering "Do I exist without you?" with 1-7 near her. She thinks about wishes, it says, and she remembers the stars.

big star related? who knows

We get another prompt window.

>Shizukan is selecting participants. >Define participants in five turns or less. >Shizukan has traced the Chordincepts thread back to the first event. >Each event has been accounted for.

Prob expresses doubt at this. We get a shot of dr. curse looking up at Shizukan, Beleth, and one of those croissant headed Sample robots.

you came to the wrong neighborhood

Notably it's Beleth with the flower in their eye from Broken Toy. Prob speculates that the wishes are remembering Andre, then gets very excited. She taps on her terminal and a voice comes from down the hallway.

We then cut to the Art Pyramid outside the painting class where some pointy thing is sticking out the ceiling. Dude's name is String-Along and has a whole bunch of cables and strings over the ceiling. Endless parade of new pointless characters. String-Along says they got a packet of data that's very small but clearly indicates that something is wrong. They ask why someone is probing this and why they want to CUT.

String-Along looks into several potential outputs, gets annoyed, and pings several pieces of an angel on the Art Pyramid. The first one refuses to connect and gives back a map and a picture of Mel, who's marking out the path of bees. Someone pushes Mel to the ground, prompting them to wonder "why me? why now?"

>Shizukan is attempting to validate Mel's memory. Accept / Deny?

String-Along still seems confused and irritated by all this. The prompt is accepted and String-Along gets a whole bunch of ideas over the connection.

We get into black and white scribble territory as Mel recounts this encounter with Razca I think, although it's hard to make out with the scribbles.

we're playing twister

She says she's not scared of her, but is scared of what she's feeling and starts dissociating, as everyone does. She then says she lied and that she wasn't scared of her, but that doesn't mean she wasn't scared of herself. Razca says she likes Mel to her disbelief and she's freaked out by how this turns her on. She wants to have sex with her but freaks out about it and refuses to accept the thought. Razca says she wants her in her and Mel asks "in her heart?" like that Star Wars meme.

Mel does it but feels conflicted and is scared this might hurt their relationship or she'll disappoint her. She struggles with her feelings and says she feels disgusting, and she doesn't know why Razca wants to be with her subsequently. Razca says that this is often a couple activity in Zweitruity- Zwei. A couple activity in Zwei, like dating. Mel apologizes saying she didn't realize this.

Razca, awkwardly, says that sharing your thoughts and feelings is very intimate and she thought it'd be nice to do. Mel says something hurts but she doesn't know what, then says that sharing, touching, and liking things all hurt. Mel says she doesn't feel like she was meant to share things, just watch others, and that she doesn't know how to be this. Razca squeezes her and Mel says she's okay with Razca and not with herself, and being with her like this makes her very aware of herself.

all these scribbles here

So this means Razca "coiled" with both Mel and Stolas? Razca really gets around. Mel continues having her self-loathing crisis about how awful she is and how much all this hurts because she can't trust herself. She agonizes over her feelings some more and then we cut abruptly to Shizukan and Myandery. Did Razca and Mel RP out this whole weird sex scene in the discord? Awkward.

Shizukan and Myandery are watching something on a compact, and Myandery asks her if she likes it. Myandery pulls out a sheet of words and points at "like". Myandery thanks her and says that it's feeling emotional and liked her letter too, and that it felt like art to it.

Shizukan gives Myandery her word sheet. Myandery is touched by the gesture. Myandery says it got Shizukan a gift of some red ribbons since it reminds it of a dream it had about Shizukan and that the ribbons conduct spirit magic. Also because the ribbons would help Shizukan not be detectable as an angel.

you will be so kawaii

Shizukan, touched and teary, takes the ribbons. Myandery asks if she ever had gifts before, and she points to "for" and "see". Myandery guesses that means she only had presents to look at, but she shakes her head, and Myandery says it'll get more sheets for her. Myandery says its overjoyed in her company in a very similarly detached way as Deca did a while back, which makes me wonder if its another Pengo character. Myandery asks how she's feeling, and she points at happy.

We cut to Storgo (wherever that is) in Undertown where Shizukan is sitting with a needle and a tied up dr. curse in the background. The prompt window comes up again.

>Describe dr. curses's moves in 5 turns or less.

Shizukan looks over at dr. curse.

>What are the consequences of stabbing dr. curse? Describe in one turn only.

Shizukan goes over to her and holds the needle over her while dr. curse doesn't move. She doesn't seem to have any injuries though.

>Shizukan remembers the feeling of stabbing dr. curse. >There is a connection to Archibishop Razca in this memory.

Razca again! We get a shot of dr. curse saying a redacted paragraph with "There is a communication issue..." in the prompt box. We then get a shot of Jupet either tied up or under a blanket, it's hard to tell. "They pretend to be asleep, but it stops nothing" the narration says.

that better not be a double x

This is based off an incident in Glip's childhood with their dad, although from their account of it it did stop him. I don't think detail is necessary here. Sylvan doing something bad to Jupet has been alluded to before in suspicious terms, but it was never really confirmed to be sexual abuse. It still isn't but the implication/parallels here to sexual abuse is very clear.

Shizukan picks up dr. curse who just sort of dangles from their hand. They then put dr. curse under their... skirt? I'm not sure how to describe it, while redacted text leaves "Shizukan imitates living?"

There's then a shot of black and white Shizukan looking confused while dr. curse just lies there all dead-like.

are we back to vore again

We get a shot of Shizu, the original one, talking to Xenon, that sibling of Neon's with the giant headlamp. She says that if Sylvan ever did to Jupet what he did to her, then she'd kill him herself. Xenon asks how serious she is, saying that he's on a list of names to be exiled from Dewclaw, and that if she gets involved in trouble again, they'll start banning her in places. This is also based on a conversation Glip had with their mom about their dad. Again, I don't think any more detail is necessary here.

haven't seen shizu in a while

Shizu angrily says that if Xenon isn't going to help, then she should pretend that Shizu just said nothing. Some kind of creature looks aghast at this. I don't know who they are.

?????

We get a shot of Shizu saying a bunch of redacted paragraphs, great, and she finishes with "okay?". Xenon asks if that's a threat, and if she's threatening her. Shizu said it didn't sound like a threat to her, it sounded like a question. We cut to what might be the Principal and who might be Gaap saying "when is play allowed?". We then get a whole bunch off the prompt window.

>dr. curse has obtained removed KEY-20 moves. >Processing. >dr. curse is searching for removal options. >dr. curse is attempting a removal of Stolas. >dr. curse is attempting a removal of Andrealphus. >dr. curse has failed to remove Stolas. >dr. curse is searching for removal options. >dr. curse has found a point of entry. >dr. curse is currently observing points of connection between Shizukan and Myandery. >dr. curse is searching for removal options. >dr. curse is attempting to disconnect Shizukan and Myandery. >dr. curse is attempting to disconnect Shizukan and Myandery from TALwire. >dr. curse is connecting to River.

We get a shot of River with an infodump. If this is River talking then they sound a lot more sedate than they have before.

river flung himself in front of your monitor

TALwire apparently talked about how KEY-20 can truncate information when they think it won't be noticed. River says that this is what [] does and so do lots of other people who hurt him, and that's what he's playing against in his game, and he felt it here, with you, where [] gave lots of information on []'s feelings and reasoning and you zoomed in "to the paint" having caused an issue. Gaap apparently viewed [] as an issue without explaining why to River and others or considering their feelings. He feels like something bad and harmful is going to happen if you truncate here.

We get a shot of adult Stolas and River walking. Stolas asks what River wants to do, and he says that he wants to go see Mesund in the cells and ask it not to kill Roda, whoever that is. Stolas asks if River doesn't want Roda killed, and River's response is redacted. Stolas asks why River feels like he has to do anything at all, and River's response is redacted. Stolas asks what River is imparting if they're acting out of a sense of obligation, and if that's what care is. River's response is, again, redacted.

Stolas asks if River thinks that if he doesn't talk to the angel now, something bad will happen later. River's answer takes up half the screen but it's all redacted. What's the point!

charlie brown teacher noises

River goes down to talk to Mesund who looks like some kind of weird monster now. Didn't Mesund turn into Phesund in the Art Pyramid...? What is going on? Anyway, River asks if Mesund has the intent to kill, which puzzles Mesund.

just a big jumble of parts

We go back to the prompt window again.

>dr. curse has failed to disconnect Shizukan and Myandery. >dr. curse is swapping Shizukan's KEY-20 for KEY-38. >dr. curse is attempting to remove Shizukan's KEY-24. >dr. curse is attempting to disconnect Shizukan and Shizu. >dr. curse cuts Myandery and Shizukan's connection.

We get a shot of Shizukan's head sort of melting while Beleth looks confused and horrified.

is that euphobia's head again We then get a whole bunch more text as dr. curse continues trying to hack the mainframe. I'm just going to post it as an image.

i'm in

It's mostly a bunch of impenetrable jargon again. Shizukan refuses to connect, then tries to connect to Stolas to store data in him (presumably). dr. curse's cut has erased Myandery from Shizukan's memory (referring to them as "node subgraphs") and now Shizukan can't use Myandery to traverse connections. Apparently there is a KEY-38 infection in Shizukan and Myandery's connection.

Looking closer at it, the infection is a composite and allowed Shizukan to travel to Myandery via the VOID in Stolas... I think. VOID used to traverse in Stolas gets converted to CLEAR structures. dr. curse looks into the nature [] and gets nothing. Shizukan's new mouth head vomits black stuff on the floor. Can't go a VN without vomiting! She seems to have Andre's wand.

>dr. curse observes the following about ENTITY SHIZUKAN attempting to connect to ENTITY STOLAS: -Connection is routed through KEY-38. -Connection is limited to information that carries a high probability (greater than the estimate of 90%) of degrading upon observing. >dr. curse observes the following about the nature of traversing connections that are not recognized: CODE 322 and CODE 413 received.

We go back to Storgo Undertown where Shizukan is holding what appears to be dr. curse's dead body.

>Shizukan has found a backdoor through the Bibliotechnician. >KEY-13 is validated. >Shizukan has obtained a move from Arcus.

That weird looking kiwiface from the World Egg comes back, saying that in the Clearing Tree, their word is the only word that matters.

what IS kiwiface

An eye on a stalk comes down that looks a bit like MALwire, saying that they wanted to let a desire of yours influence the world, but if you aren't ready for it that's okay. There's a real throwback as we get a mention of MALwire again, saying they've connected to Rule 7 of the Mask of the World: If something happens to me, something happens to you.

The shot of Shizukan holding dr. curse gets weird and turns into the version with the head mouth that was vomiting a bit ago.

>Shizukan is applying KEY-38 to dr. curse. >Shizukan is swapping KEY-20 for KEY-38 in dr. curse.

All this key swapping, a real key party am I right? Anyway, weird headface Shizukan says mine as she presses dr. curse into herself, starting to absorb her. We get a sudden cut to Stolas and River and shockingly, River seems to have his hat off.

probably the inevitable conclusion

River says he wishes he could get away from Stolas without getting hurt for it, saying Stolas would put him in his halo or lock him in the dungeon like with Shizukan and Mesund, respectively. Stolas says he wouldn't do that and he'd just put River back in his hand. Stolas here appears to be a full dragon adult like when he was with TALwire, so things aren't really going well for anyone here.

We get another shot of Shizukan eating dr. curse which definitely seems fetishistic. Goop and eating show up a lot in this comic and the scenes go on for a suspiciously long time.

those pigtails, weren't those on the skin shizukan shed before when she lost her collar?

Shizukan keeps on eating dr. curse and getting fat for a while before Beleth eventually screams at wtf are you doing at her. How long were they just sitting there watching before saying something? Shizukan gurgles something, being occupied with vore. Beleth says that Shizukan has no idea how that'll affect her, and says they wish Shizukan cared about anyone or anything at all while she looks ashamed. It's kind of funny on her weird goop form.

me sowwy

Back to String-Along, it says the connection is cut. "Just when it was getting good and just when I almost got it!" they say. I hear you buddy. String-Along starts looking around through the Art Pyramid, finds TAL and runs her coordinates through a KEY. It succeeds and manages to trace a path into TALwire and Stolas, and starts to retrieve the Chordincepts data from TALwire. That's the key! it crows.

We then get a whole ton of unattributed text of people (Chordincepts) talking. They're mostly gossiping about angels and how they're not trustworthy and should all be killed, worrying about spies, and speculating about whether or not Razca is a sympathizer or even an angel herself. As String-Along listens it says it gets maps of their soul signatures and KEYs.

After a while, it comes across another vulnerability of TALwire's. Before we can find out what we get more gossip. They point out the weird popped out eye of Beleth's speculating if that means they fell or got parasitized or something. There's more gossip about the angel menace and who's consorting with angels and such, with one person saying that they were selling angels on the black market.

it's a very opinionated infection

String-Along says it's there too, "organizing key concepts", and that this is all a lot to route. The voices continue gossiping, worrying about Stolas being corrupted and how he needs to get out of there and Arcus spies. The conversation turns to Teslic Yard, with someone saying it's filled with Arcus plants, sending out fake news that Dewclaw is better. Another says they've been suspicious about Teslic Yard for a while, saying that Rooibos had broadcasted about it months ago before communications went down. The broadcast was apparently about how Teslic Yard housed an angel that killed a kid. After giving the broadcast, Rooibos disappeared.

Talk continues about how angels must die, and then someone says it's a conspiracy by Arcusian spies to spread misinformation, and the real culprit behind all of this is the Witches Guild. Witches seem to get a lot more sympathy than angels as people are skeptical. Someone says they saw Razca with a Teslic Yard vehicle in Flower, which was mentioned by Myandery earlier, which makes people even more skeptical of her loyalties. Someone says she's nothing like her father. Talk continues about how evil and sneaky angels are. Some of them wonder if this is the end of the world.

Mention is made of Baphomet's attempts to destroy the source of angels to no avail. Someone tries to change the subject by mentioning a book about a foxbat they liked, although they say the series falls off later on. This is surely a reference to something but I'll be damned if I know what. Paranoia and anxiety ramp up, with someone saying the run a support group for people scared of angels in Althar and invites them to join. Then CONNECTION CUT.

String-Along says it finally pinches the Chordincepts and strangles the signal. ENOUGH OF THAT and it gets to work on its test. THE END. Good luck figuring out what any of that was about.

[bathtubbbbbbbbb]

I’m really hoping that Heimerdinger gets killed off at the end of season 2 in a sort of redemptive moment much like Silco at the end of season 1, so it draws that narrative parallel between Silco & Heimerdinger, so the message thats communicated is Heimerdinger is just as guilty as Silco & therefore needs to be redeemed/ punished like him. I have no clue how actually likely this is to happen, but I think it would be very appropriate as Heimerdinger is the father of Piltover, Piltover & Zaun are sister cities, & there’s an established pattern of daughters killing their dads.

As for the guilt of the councillor’s in the oppression of Zaun, tbh I thought that show pretty explicitly communicated they were the ones that were ultimately guilty — like they’re the last people to be punished, by ignoring the undercity for so long they “Jinxed” themselves, & most of them are framed as incompetent & unlikable — even Cassandra, like she seems more preoccupied with maintaining her families reputation as aristocracy than anything. The only people imo that are framed as competent in any way are councillor Shoola & to a lesser extent Mel (as she is easily corrupted by the interests of her mother & the pressure she feels to live of the her family name) — which I think is very interesting in terms of the implications & how they relate to real world politics & social justice.

The council are also the last people to be punished by the narrative, & some of the only people that Jinx ever directly & deliberately aims at, most of Jinx’s victims are either blown up or shoot with her mini gun, I think the only other people that she directly shoots are Marcus & the Firelight girl she thought was Vi.

As for Vi’s feelings about Caitlyns mom being councillor & how she doesn’t seem to blame her at all — this is literally established in the first scene on the bridge, little Vi is disgusted & angered by the violent scene on the bridge & the enforcers that occupy it, but when she looks up & sees Piltover, her expression changes to almost longing. I don’t think Vi is as politically involved or inclined as people think, she is motivated by her personal relationships, by direct interactions she has, she holds grudges against people not institutions or groups, the enforcers to her are faceless or all have 1 face so she groups them together as one entity & holds a grudge against that 1 entity — atleast thats my interpretation of her.

As for Ekko just being chummy & shit with Heim, idk man, I really dislike how they did that tbh — but if I’m giving the writers the benefit of the doubt I think that it’s supposed to be some sorta flaw in Ekko’s character as Ekko doesn’t really have all that many flaws. He overlooks Heimerdinger being the head of the oppressive government because Heim is first, a fellow scientist & second, is initially very friendly & helpful to Ekko, it still sounds ridiculous but whatever — I was also thinking that if they do end up killing Heim & making his death parallel Silco’s maybe they’re trying to flip Ekko & Jinx’s dynamic in season 2, Ekko & Heims relationship mirroring Silco & Jinx’s.

I know Heimerdinger's Christian Linke's favorite character, and I sort of tolerated it in s1, but now it feels like things are a little too indulgent. Heimerdinger gets to team up with Ekko to launder his reputation through Ekko and the Firelights. Heimerdinger gets the first narrative game and second character teaser in the promotional cycl. Heimerdinger gets to SING A SONG that's included on the s2 Arcane soundtrack (Spin the Wheel).

Maybe I'd be less annoyed if the show at least did more to acknowledge Heimerdinger's failings as a leader, but his character description can't even do that. This is how the official Arcane website describes Heimerdinger:

"Heimerdinger warned the Piltover Council about the dangers of using magic without tangible solutions for safeguarding its use. Learning from his mistakes with Jayce, Heimerdinger inspires Ekko to keep looking for a solution and works with him to solve the problem, instead of just offering advice."

That's not Heimerdinger's main problem! The problem is the fact he's the person most singularly responsible for the state of Zaun and Piltover. It feels like the show and the cast are just dancing around the fact that Heimerdinger technically has the highest body count in the show (Day of Ash, pollution, extreme poverty, etc). The one time someone puts him to task (Jayce), the show makes it seem like Jayce is wrong or overstepped, and yeah he did do it for Viktor's sake, but Jayce was right! Heimerdinger's bad at his job, he shouldn't be in a leadership position if he's a bad leader.

[souveniirs]

this is a god tier image.   three legends ??   in one photo ??   shook.

[nakedmonkey]

hello! just want to say i’ve been reading your work (and everything else tbh) in the barb x mel tag, and it has been filling my sad little gay void as i wait for the new episode 😭 your writing is so insanely good, so thank u for writing!! 💗 also if you’re still open to prompts (no pressure tho, and i understand if u don’t want to!), is it okay for me to request “you're my friend, but sometimes i wish you were more than that.” for barb and mel? thank youuu 🤍

oh my god, thank you so much!! That is such a sweet fucking thing to say <3 I am so touched! I will absolutely write this xox

**

Barbara finds Melissa in the parking lot. She isn't crying, but she's close enough. She's doing that thing she does when she's so upset that it radiates all around her, just pacing back and forth, hands in fists at her sides, clenching and unclenching. All the signs of a breakup are there. Barbara glances at the fruit salad she picked up for her and hopes it'll count for something.

"Hey."

Melissa turns around, startled.

"Oh, hey."

The briefest of smiles appears, but it's gone too soon.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Melissa quickly replies, shaking her head, gaze dropping to the ground as she adds in a whisper, "Not with you."

And that hurts. Barbara understands, but it hurts.

"Okay," She says. "I know I pushed you to date. And I shouldn't have pushed so hard. I'm truly sorry it didn't work out, but I'm your friend, Melissa. And when you're ready to talk, I'm here."

Melissa simply nods.

"You should eat," Barbara tells her and places the packaged fruit on the hood of Melissa's car.

"I don't blame you," Melissa says suddenly. "It's got nothing to do with that. I can't talk to you about it because this whole thing has made me realize that...you are my friend. But sometimes I wish you were more than that."

Barbara wishes a lot of things just then too. She wishes the silence didn't feel so painfully loud. She wishes Melissa wouldn't look at her like that. She wishes Melissa hadn't just said that because now it's stirred that thing inside her that responds only to Melissa, that thing she's been successfully avoiding for years. She wishes the damned cameras weren't watching it all play out.

The bell rings and this seems to jolt Melissa out of the moment. She glances up at the cameras and curses under her breath.

"Shit–I should get back in there. Thanks for the fruit."

And she's off. She leaves Barbara behind with a racing heart, and a camera crew documenting the whole thing, and she can feel the beginning of something huge unraveling.

[tahdashi]

🎉 NEW GAME: Introduce your mutuals to everyone and what do you think of them? 🎉

Hope you’re having a splendid day sayu!

ooh i saw a couple of my moots do this !! i'll do the ones i talk to the most bc it's easier for me mwah (i genuinely think i bother them on a daily basis, and if not daily, more than i should)

this is in no particular order !!! self-ship moment 🤕

@rindouphiliac [#yuris] ris (my bf yeah) is so precious to me <3 they're the main reason i started writing and i look up to them sm !!! and and and i love talking to them about anything and they don't mind when i rant so mwah extra points <333 i think we're really cute together and would do anything to be w them rn (don't tell rindou)

@skniven [#shoyu] shona's my gf :0 pls she's so precious and pretty and angelic and i love her with my whole heart <3 we already picked out our wedding song and everything. and i like when she calls me pet names bc i get flustered v easily

@sourstars [#sandora] pandora is literally my other half. my scary dog privilege. she's so creative and funny and can tolerate my ranting (which is a lil too often sorry bby) and i love hearing her stories, too. i think we'd get along really well if we knew each other irl bc we seem like such opposites !! AND she's such a good writer i'm always in awe when she shows me what she's working on :0

@atsumiye [#riyu] riya (aka owner of dad!hq) is who i wanna be when i'm her age. she's smart and funny and so so talented !! i love everything she writes and we're getting merch made for each other bc we're each others' biggest fans. ALSO i'm blaming riya for my baby fever.

@sugamintchocochip [#saia] maia my beloved <3 he's literally so precious bc he sends me sunset pics all the time :,) i love it sm and !!! maia always checks up on me and is so so sweet :( truly one of the kindest people i've met on here mwah

@bokutoism [#saryu] ryu my pretty baby !! ryu's the sweetest angel ever lemme tell you guys. every time they message me or pop up in my inbox i smile. wow their power !! and i have the urge to hold ryu's hand 24/7. kidding not really. also their works. oh my god. literally drooling at my screen every time i go through their masterlist.

@mysterystarz [#novyu] nova and i are a lot alike i think!! we both <3 keiji and suffer through school :,) (although i'm sure she's doing far better than i am) she's so sweet and intelligent and HARDWORKING !!! talking to her is like a breath of fresh air :,) and she reminds me so much of my high school self <33 i love her

@tetsuphobia [#hanyu] hannah's my wife. we had a halloween wedding we're getting married again in the winter bc i wanna kiss under the mistletoe !!! ok but fr hannah's so precious to me bc i remember freaking out when we became moots bc she's so TALENTED. and funny. and pretty. and sweet. and i love her. and and and omg she's so comforting i literally have a mental breakdown every day and i think of her sweet words all the time. also, she makes me soup <33 best roommate ever

@yutari [#savyu] sav's gonna be my first kiss i'm in love w her and she's also the best roommate ever <3 i also think i freaked out when we became moots bc hello. TALENT. and she's really pretty and caring and loving <33 i like when she tells me about iwa and ball they're so cute. and omg whenever i talk to sav she's so sweet i wanna cry i feel so loved </3 can't wait to give her a lil smooch !!!

@melsun [#melayu] mel's my angel omg he's so fun to talk to and i love hearing about his cute moments w mystery girl hehe pls i can't help but think of atsumu n sakusa when i think of mel. ALSO i love when mel checks up on me and pops up in my inbox he does a good job of making sure i feel loved <333 conversations with mel are always fun and he's so so so talented !! melsun supremacy tbh.

@titsuya [#yusar] sar is so sweet i love talking to her so much. our friendship is an example of how fan behavior works sometimes /j 😌 i was her #1 fan before i started writing and look at me now <3333 still her #1 fan. actually i was so scared to talk to her when we became moots bc i was like :000 intimidated but she's the sweetest ever and so relatable. (we're both hot, vegetarians, college students, and poc. the sexiest combo).

@fsrintaro [#honyu] HONEY my beloved <33 she's so cute and hot and i love her. she gives off the best vibes ever and we bond over tig biddies <333 as we should tbh. omg once she woke me up with the cutest message and i fell in love all over again. i'd do anything for my honey and i really hope i can study abroad so i can meet her and take her out on a nice date >:) she deserves it !!! smooches

@kiyelle [#isayu] ISABELLE my wifey !!! one of the first moots i started talking to. she's so SWEET and pretty i'm completely head over heels for her. not only is she incredibly talented, she's also so hardworking, smart, and angelic. (i think i always use the word angelic to describe her bc there's no other word !!! she's truly an angel !!) every interaction i have with her makes me feel so warm n happy and i'm so glad i started talking to her. i'd do anything for her i'm gonna fly to france rn just to give her a lil smooch.

@faetarou [#faeyu] fae my pretty bby. i love talking to fae and interacting w her. and she has such good hcs. pls. i think about them all the time. AND she's the most thoughtful person ever how can someone be that sweet and caring and loving??? she once passed on a note from keiji and i wanted to sob it was so cute i'll never get over it.