#just imagine how devastated Ekko would be

[lazy-sixteen]

'Unconditional Love' - Jayce's feelings towards his partner

Thinking today about what made Jayce' and Viktor's relationship so extreme, Romantic, so oh-shit these two nearly ended the world with their Divorce Arc, and from Jayce's end I would say it is that he took the concept of "Unconditional Love" and really cranked it to the high-setting then welded the dial there.

Let's start at the end.

ii. Love

Jayce loves Viktor. No one (at least in these more enlightened days of post-Season 2) is arguing this. He's drawing the guy in his diary/research journal, he's loudly proclaiming Viktor the co-inventor of his life's work, he's throwing a city founder and respected mentor off the Council, and simultaneously making both Orpheus and Dr. Frankenstein look like pussies with his resurrection antics. There is so much great meta and analysis that points out how much he loves Viktor, and the more details you examine in the show the more evidence you find.

I think the only point I'd like to add here, is that is really is genuinely love motivating him. He's not obsessed with his imagined idea of a perfect partner nor dependent on Viktor as the more confident half of their partnership, it's all love.

The obvious example of not just wanting a 'perfect' or easy version of Viktor is Jayce's speech about always respecting/admiring him with his imperfections their mind meld at end, but I think the bridge scene also counts. While they do argue about it, Jayce never wants to change who Viktor is. When they fight at the bridge about Zaun, Jayce apologizes for saying something classist/insensitive immediately instead of trying some bullshit 'well, you aren't like the rest of them'. He's not perfect about it, but he'd chose to learn and grow as a person over trying to erase where Viktor came from because he loves his partner as a whole person, not just the parts that are easy for him to understand/love.

Additionally, when Viktor leaves him (after Jayce basically vomits up his heart on a rambling silver platter, lol), Jayce is so obviously emotionally devastated - but he does respect Viktor's decision and is able to continue functioning. For the first point, Jayce doesn't try to physically stop Viktor from leaving or follow him after Viktor makes clear he wants space. Afterwards, while Jayce is obviously an emotional wreck (sleeping in the lab), the second Heimmerdinger and Ekko turn up he's able to pull himself together enough to Problem Solve and muster the emotional energy to genuinely care that the Hexgates might be polluting a community in Zaun. Jayce is definitely a wreck after Viktor leaves, but he respects Viktor's decision about leaving and is able to function independently.

( Of course of note, Jayce didn't respect his promise to destroy the Hexcore - so you could say that the respecting Viktor's decision to leave now is either a case of Jayce trying to learn his lesson and grow in regards to respecting his partner's choices, or a you could say the situation wasn't equivalent since Viktor asked him to promise something that would lead to his partner's death while Viktor was obviously very emotionally compromised after Skye's death and Jayce had just stopped him from committing suicide - i.e., Jayce didn't honor that promise bc to him, it appeared to be an extension of Viktor's suicidal intention.)

Anyway, the point is, it is about Love for Viktor as he is, not just that he's important to Jayce's success or caring about the easy parts like his intelligence. Jayce just totally and completely just loves his partner. Onto...

i. Unconditional

And, here's where Jayce gets absolutely freakishly, unhealthy do-not-try-this-at-home with it, there is absolutely nothing Viktor can do to himself, to other people, or to Jayce that will make Jayce love him any less. It is beyond 'would you love me if I was a worm' and hits 'would you love me if I killed everyone you loved, desecrated their corpses, then killed you?"

(Jayce, said 'Yes, obviously. Also if you did that more than once and let me be tortured for several months. Anything for you, baby.")

On the first point (nothing Viktor can do to himself) in Season 1, it was remarked upon by Singed that Viktor using very illegal drugs and trying to alter his body with an unstable dangerous magical artifact might freak Jayce out/make him leave. Viktor verbally disagrees with this sentiment, but he also hides what is doing from Jayce. While some of that could be to protect Jayce if his experimentation gets discovered (see, very illegal drugs obtained from exiled mad chemist who worked/works for a drug lord), part of it is likely intended to represent hesitancy or fear that Jayce might be disgusted at what Viktor is doing.

Contrary to Viktor's/Singed's predictions, Jayce simply does not seem to care. We never seem him react specifically to the metal arm/leg, but given that he used Viktor's research notes (Which would include fun, savory details like 'carving runes into his flesh' and 'injecting Shimmer') to resurrect him into a completely purple, metal, magic immortal creature and then reacted to Viktor's horrified "What am I?" with a adoring, love-sick "You are alive." complete with half-naked hug and nuzzling - we can safely assume he would not have loved Viktor any less for the purple-metal arm+leg.

This continues on, Jayce is fully willing to kneel/try the power of love confession at the fully metal and horrifying split-face looking Machine Herald. In fact, I think his speech at end works so well because it is given to someone metal and removed from humanity - he loves and respects Viktor both as he was with his disabilities and on the other end, as someone who had removed every weakness from his body to the point of becoming closer to a machine-god than a human.

Okay at this point, we can say that Jayce's affection is still sweet (and parts of it are good, touching, and healthy - if you love someone you Should be willing to grow as a person and try to correct your biases, you Should accept their disabilities and care for them as part of what makes up your loved one's life), but moving us closer to off the rails - there also doesn't seem to be anything that Viktor can do morally / do to other people/ do to Jayce himself that matters either.

This is best shown in the Hell Dimension - Jayce spends several months in a Saw Trap slowly going insane, in severe pain and desperate loneliness (seriously that level of 'no human contact' is enough to qualify as torture on its on). He see the world absolutely ruined, everyone either dead or transformed into creepy porcelain dolls (dead and having their corpses corrupted/puppeted/used). He climbs to the top of the former Hexgate, corrupted into a monument to his failures, sees his future corpse kneeling in defeat, and looming over it the Mage, who saved him as a child but also set him on the path to magic, made him in integral piece of the mechanism the ended the world, and is furious!! He's angry and accusing, and looks like he's about to start screaming or trying to fight!!

Until the mage, pulls back his hood and reveals he's older Viktor - then, oops never mind, Jayce instantly is no longer mad - just amazed and happy. To me at least, it is parallel to Viktor waking up transformed out of the magic goo and Jayce instantly hugging and exclaiming happily he's alive! Jayce meets Viktor's eyes over his own corpse in the middle of a world-wide graveyard, and instantly his mood switches from fury to joyful recognition. The next scene we see (chronologically, not story-wise) is him willingly kneeling and Old Mage's Viktor's feet like a warrior being knighted, taking the hammer from his own corpse, and promising to save younger Viktor.

(And to me at least, that is implicitly Jayce's and Old Mage Viktor's priority here based on how they phrase it, - not to save the world from Viktor, but to save Viktor from having to suffer the loneliness and guilt of ending the world).

Like holy shit, Jayce not only loves Viktor so, so much, this is an 'in all times lines, and all possibilities' he loves him. He loves Viktor so much it is a universal constant - with no limitations or boundaries (including such healthy ones as, maybe I should take a step back from a relationship I know is 99% likely to kill me).

AND, and!! This makes me especially insane - this is not a problem Jayce has in his other relationships. He is perfectly capable of loving and caring for other people while still maintaining boundaries, or pulling away from relationships that hurt him. This is 100% a Viktor-only thing.

We see Jayce pull-away and stop confiding in his mother after she hurts him by declaring him insane in front of the counsel (we never see them really talk one-on-one after that scene in his bedroom). He break-ups with Mel in the Counsel Room over both her using Jayce as an investment/puppet ruler (which she was, part of Mel's character arc is learning that conquering through manipulation/politics is still conquering) and his own survivor's guilt that she saved them and not the rest of the Counsel (not her fault, she did in instinctively with a power she didn't know she had). And he maintains that distance, he's comforts her a bit later when she reaches out about feeling used, but generally remains physically and emotionally closed off.

(Sidenote rant about how I actually really love Mel and Jayce's tragic, doomed bi4bi romance cut for time)

Like Jayce has limits, he can love people genuinely but pull away when he feels they are hurting him or he's hurt by what they've done. Just, only for other people.

In conclusion, Jayce loves Viktor unconditionally, in all timelines and all possibilities: whether he's his human and dying lab partner or an eldritch magic-machine god, whether he's saving Jayce life or killing him - that love is truly unconditional

[thenationofzaun]

A Dark Vi in Season 2:

I'm hoping for a darker take on Vi in season 2. Imagine if Vi takes up a bitter attitude towards Jinx that's similar to Ekko's before the bridge fight - "Powder's gone, all that's left is Jinx." I say before the bridge fight because I think Ekko had a moment of growth there in his view of Jinx, where he was forced to confront the truth that Powder and Jinx are the same person, no matter how much he tries to divorce them to make it easier to kill Jinx.

Back to Vi, it's possible that in response to Jinx's rebuff of her, she bitterly disowns Jinx right back. Not immediately, no. I think Vi in the immediate aftermath of the finale would still be self-blaming, devastated, and confused. But after a while, when Jinx continues to demonstrate her disinterest in reconciling with Vi and her zeal in warring with Piltover of her own accord, even in the absence of Silco, Vi's view of her sister would have to change. I could see anger and resentment creeping in after a while. Vi would have to accept that her sister willingly rebuffed her and chose Silco, willingly ditched Vander's side. Vi might give in to that petty, indignant anger of a child upset with her sibling - "she left me, she is not my sister anymore!"

I can imagine her taking up an attitude like "I don't have a sister. My sister died a long time ago." Kind of like Ekko including Powder on his "wall of the dead" mural. It'd be growth for Vi, just not a positive one. She'd finally accept that there's no "bringing the old Powder back", but she'd pivot all the way to the other end of the spectrum with "you know what, fuck Jinx, the Powder I loved is dead and gone." This would be doubly sad and ironic considering her words in episode 9 - "Are we still sisters?" "Nothing is ever going to change that."

Imagine her telling Ekko "you were right" as she finally agrees with what he said to her in episode 7, but Ekko just has mixed feelings because he himself has since realized he was wrong in saying that. The Powder they loved is not dead, has never been dead. She's still here. She just made choices they disagreed with. She chose to join their enemy. And that's a much harder truth to live with than simply insisting she died and calling it a day.

Vi's view of her sister perfectly parallels her view of the undercity. In season 1 it was horror to find that the old version, the one under Vander, has changed so much in the time she was locked up. It was a refusal to accept this change, an insistence that the old home/sister can still be brought back, all she had to do was remove Silco's rule/influence and she'd restore her home/sister to the way it used to be.

They could continue this parallel in season 2. Vi could give in to anger and disown them both. Begin grieving Vander's undercity and Powder in tandem, while scorning Silco's Zaun and Jinx. She could fall out with Ekko due to this. Where he still wants to live in and help heal the undercity, Vi wants to leave it and turn against it. Vi could blame the undercity for allowing Silco's takeover and "not lifting a finger to stop him". She could take on a harsh view of her people, the Lanes in particular - "They betrayed Vander, they allowed the rise of Chembarons, did nothing to avenge my family in my absence. They're weak." She'd butt heads with Ekko over this, straining their relationship.

It would push her further into the arms of Caitlyn (and Piltover). She'd bury her pain in rage against all of "Silco's ilk". She'd want to wipe out all his loyalists and the Chembarons, since she couldn't fulfill her vengeance on him specifically. She'd think the best way to accomplish this goal is through tougher enforcement and punitive measures from the enforcers/Council. Basically the same thing she did in episode 8 but on steroids, eventually leading to her joining the enforcers. Imagine Ekko's reaction. He has spent the last 7-8 years feeling betrayed by Jinx for joining his enemy. Now Vi returns to him from the dead, and even she betrays him by joining another of his enemies? While the sisters are so preoccupied with feeling abandoned by each other, Ekko feels abandoned by them both. The game has Ekko admonishing Vi as a traitor so I'm excited to see it in the show.

But of course, Vi's elaborate talk of "Powder is dead and only Jinx remains" would just be her way of coping and rationalizing her sister's betrayal. Just like Ekko, it'd be her way of convincing herself she can fight and kill Jinx. But when it comes down to it, she wouldn't actually want Jinx dead. The conflict this would cause with Caitlyn and Piltover... imagine Vi is fighting Jinx and at the last moment, she can't bring herself to deliver the final blow. Jinx gets away and now Vi is disgraced by topsiders, who question her loyalty to them. "Of course we shouldn't have trusted a trencher on the force." Now she is rejected by both cities. Hated by Piltover for bigoted reasons and for her relation to Jinx, hated by Zaunites for being a class traitor.

She'd be a complete outcast, and from here, there could be a lot of character growth. Sometimes you need to hit rock bottom before finding your way back up. Maybe she could dig into Vander's past and find out about his falling out with Silco. Uncovering the past of her beloved mentor whom she idolized, she'd begin to see him for the flawed man he actually was. Realize that he'd have never wanted her to give in to rage. Never wanted her to help bring Piltover's wrath down on Zaun. She'd begin to understand not just Vander, but Silco too, and Jinx's love for him. Not be happy with it of course, just understanding. That's what I'm hoping for in the end - not a reconciliation between the sisters, just a bittersweet understanding. Accepting of each others' choices even if they disagree with them. Anyway, I'm interested to see what they do with Vi's character in Season 2, since I found her to be underwritten in Season 1.

TLDR: A darker, angrier take on Vi in Season 2 could lead to some very interesting places.

[melatonindeficient]

been thinking about the children of zaun

been thinking about how milo and claggor would've reacted if they ever somehow encountered powder as jinx; thinking about milo learning he was the most negative voice in her head and regretting every hurtful thing he'd ever said; thinking about claggor, sweet, strong claggor who's voice was a whisper to her, trying to calm her down, trying to hold her shoulders in the middle of a fit, stocky and gentle hands extended like a healer—she won't let him get close, he gets pistol-whipped because she thinks he's hallucinating him larger than ever, he keeps trying to reach her anyway.

been thinking about milo and claggor's dreams for the undercity. about all the things they could've accomplished. about what milo would've been like if he'd ever reached maturity, and what claggor would've created to help with the troubles of the undercity.

been thinking about deckard, who only ever wanted to make something of himself. deckard, who dreamed of vander or silco-like respect but knew he'd never be tough enough, especially when there was already vi. deckard, thinking the only way to be something was to undergo an irreversible transformation. deckard, who stripped himself of his humanity and independence because he feared a meaningless, useless life. deckard, who was a just a kid same as anyone else. i wonder if, as shimmer-vander gripped him by the neck, he had a flicker of clarity and realised that it had all been for nothing, and his worst fear had come to fruition.

been thinking about the jinxers. fighting the power, losing their idol. the battle ends, piltover begins trying to improve their living conditions, peace should be coming, but they are still so angry. they martyr jinx. they no longer know what they are fighting for.

been thinking about scar's baby; a baby who's going to grow up in the aftermath. a baby who is going to grow into a child into a member of the first generation of adults after the war, and more importantly after the very first attempt at peace. a baby raised in a world trying it's very best to not collapse on itself whilst also attempting to remedy the flaws in the status quo. sort of like our baby boomers; trying to navigate life in the wake of devastation and keep pushing forward, trying to reconcile issues from a generation they were too young to remember.

been thinking about scar himself. he looks like an adult but for all we know he's a single, young father. imagining him entering the cycle of fathers and their children, same as vi and vander and jinx and silco. over and over again.

been thinking about deckard again. thinking about singed taking steady steps through that smoking building and lugging his broken body out, and into his little laboratory. thinking about how deckard was probably one of singed's failed attempts. thinking about how singed might've even managed to revive him from his meaningless death, only to put him through torment and kill him again. thinking about how he was someone's baby too, and imagining a parent waiting for their son to come home and seeing him become a monster, or never seeing him again. thinking about how maybe he was no one's baby, and his life truly did go forgotten. wondering which possibility hurts more.

been thinking about ekko and the firelights. how many of them were young people too. little revolutionaries trying to survive in a world trying to destroy them. little revolutionaries cleaning up after the adults meant to be protecting them. probably dying incredibly young. and all those little kids in the base growing up to do the same over and over again.

been thinking about sky, who probably had parents or friends or someone she told about a little boy in a ravine with a boat. not knowing that same little boy would kill her. thinking about a family and/or friends who loved her. thinking about how viktor probably never told anyone if jayce didn't know until season two. thinking about people who loved her waiting for her to come home, or, if she lived alone, waiting for her to reach out before realising it had been weeks, then months, since she'd last responded to their letters. thinking about how, with the battle, they probably just assumed that she'd been lost to the fighting. how they'd never know she'd been the very first casualty.

been thinking about little viktor, with a scientist's hands and crooked legs and grime in his lungs and a dream in his head—his heart. little viktor who found family in singed and rio. little viktor, who is not sure why singed did what he did, but understands that he wanted rio to survive. viktor, unsure of if the experiments were for malicious purposes or from a place of love. viktor, who runs away, but still assumes the latter and learns that you must do anything to ensure your own survival. no matter what.

been thinking about rio. poor rio. how rio might've looked before singed. the places Rio was allowed to go before it's world became a cave. thinking about rio falling sick, life slowing down as it prepares for its own death. thinking about singed saving it, chaining it, robbing it's of its right to die. thinking about rio seeing viktor, it's excitement about seeing someone new, and someone who appreciated it for what it had become now that it was no longer what it had been. thinking about the additional pain of watching viktor run away, because maybe what it had become was no longer worth loving.

been thinking about the children of zaun.

[thewistlingbadger]

In the Arcane fandom we've discussed in length about blame and fault and "where things went wrong." Over the years we've tried to pinpoint the exact moment "things went wrong" we've talked about all sorts of hypotheticals and we've come to the conclusion that the events of arcane were avoidable but inevitable. Silco would have taken Jayce's deal had it not been for the Jinx Clause in it, but Jinx is the only reason Jayce offers him the treaty in the first place. If Jinx didn't steal the hex gem, then Jayce would have never became a councilor, vi would have never gotten out of Stillwater, and she would have never met Caitlyn. We like to think that had certain things not have occurred, things could have been different. Maybe things would have been different had the kids not went on that job, had Jinx stayed home, etc. But ultimately, even if certain actions hadn't been taken, similar results would have been occured. Silco was going to strike regardless of what happened, tragedy would have occurred anyways. It's a devastating and beautiful truth of arcane.

Which is why I just can't get behind episode seven of Arcane's second season. Its nature completely dismisses this aspect of the first season that was a key part of what made Arcane, Arcane. Episode 7 not only ignores the fact that "actions have consequences", it ignores the potential avenues those consequences have, and it ignores the idea of choice entirely.

Episode seven explores an alternate timeline where Vi died in the heist that occurred in the first episode of the series. This is a possibility I don't think anyone in the fandom has ever considered, it just seems so random. This is a change in the universe that is based on the chance that Vi was too close to the explosion and not the choice that she made to partake in the heist in the first place. We then see that several things in the AU are completely different than the actual timeline of Arcane. We see that Mylo and Jinx get along well, that Jinx and Ekko are dating, that Zaun and Piltover are at peace, that Silco and Vander have reconciled. But we're never shown how these changes came to be, what inspired them. This is once again is an erasure of choice. There were so many AUs they could have given us to explore the potential consequences of the characters' actions and the characters themselves. AUs that would have probably been more interesting and more insightful and could have furthered character development and also, would have just made more sense. I struggle with the fact that episode seven explores a "everything is good" au and NOT a "what if" au, when there's so many potential "what ifs" season one established.

As is, it doesn't make sense that Vi's death would result in the positive reunion of silco and Vander or the peace between the two cities. But imagine if this was a what if au instead. What if the au we got was an au where Vander agreed to fight with Silco in episode three? What if the au was an au where Ekko never gave them the tip about Jayce? What if it was an au where Felicia never died, or an au where the brothers never split? Any of these aus would have been super interesting and would have made more sense given the results we see in episode seven.

Particularly, I think it would have been very good to explore an au where Ekko never gave the tip. As is, we actually don't know much about Ekko and his character, who he is. Had they gone with this au, they could have explored Ekko's potential guilt for giving the tip. But as is, episode 7 doesn't actually explore Ekko's characters, despite the fact that he's the main character of this episode. We don't learn anything new about Ekko in this episode. He starts the episode wanting to go home and that stays the same the entire time.

Episode seven really just eliminates any choice in my eyes it just seems like things just magically click into place, which is so disappointing for a show like Arcane. This was the perfect opportunity to explore actions/consequences and instead they opted out for randomness and chance instead.

[sandraharissa]

So I’ve seen a take that this shot represents a potential future for Powder of being kinda like the Firelights leaving her as Jinx takes over. And I don’t think that’s a bad take, it just felt unsatisfying to me. I think the thing with this shot is that:

1) or there’s a completely alternate explanation cos the bug being inside her throat and crawling out is disturbing, and typically bugs on/inside a body are a source of horror in movies, so it’s weird that they’d attach this imagery to the symbol of Ekko and his gang. On top of that her eyes are closed until the firelight flies away, so again, weird imagery to show her “blind” when Powder, but awake/aware as Jinx.

2) or this is onto smth but I feel like smth is still missing. And so that got me thinking.

We know there was a scraped flashback scene between Ekko and Jinx. I think based on the concept art for little Jinx we can assume that it was created for that scene specifically and so the flashback would have taken place soon after ep 3 cos Powder looks exactly the same outside of the hairstyle. So in all likelihood that means Powder was the first person Ekko tried to rescue (like he did with all members of the Firelights), and if Powder went with him then she’d become the first of the Firelights with him before they would have found their other new friends. I kinda need this addition to be true cos then imo it makes this idea compelling, otherwise it’s kinda a tenuous connection. “Ekko is the leader of the Firelights and when he was little he was friends with Powder” – and that’s it, so we kinda need that scene that establishes that Powder was offered to become a Firelight but rejected it, so that the idea that “Powder loses /misses out on the potential future as a Firelight” would make sense.

Come to think of it and how the writers describe the scene as devastating/heart-breaking/smth like that, that would kinda count as a midway point for Jinx. We have the scene where Jinx is born, where her identity is solidified, but the Ekko flashback would have also counted as a devastating scene where Powder chooses to be Jinx and loses a loved one. So now I’m thinking that we’re missing quite the crucial piece of info cos of that scene being omitted. Obviously for Ekko but also crucially for the transformation from Powder to Jinx, which is kinda the main thing the show is about. I mean, we ARE missing the early Silco and Jinx dynamic, like, we can kinda imagine it, we know enough about her psychology and their relationship to put two and two together but it’s still interesting to think about SPECIFICALLY cos there was an alternative in Ekko but Powder days/weeks after ep 3 already prioritizes Silco over bonds/connections to her previous life.

A lot of ppl used to bring up the idea that even tho Silco is a flawed parent he probs still made Powder’s life better/safer than if she was an orphan, but Ekko somehow made it and we know he offered to help/rescue Powder so now I’m thinking the flashback might suggest the opposite, that Ekko found the tree really early on and that given a choice Powder picks Silco out of her own free will, even tho the alternative is just as good or even the better option. If the flashback was initially intended as the opening scene of ep 7 then that’d also mean the initial intention was to give the audience insight into why Ekko was so adamant that Powder is gone and that ‘she’s Silco’s now’. And maybe it’d also add context for their bridge fight scene (I feel like it’s needed).

And act 3 was also when the time for ambiguity passed and they started being really on the nose about the genuineness of Silco and Jinx’s relationship so this being the first scene of that act would be a really strong start, with it being shocking to the audience, communicating a shift in how Silco and Jinx’s relationship is portrayed and maybe even with it paralleling the last scene of act 2. If the scene was supposed to parallel Vi and Jinx’s reunion then that would show to the audience that ‘getting to Powder’ isn’t gonna be easy and therefore heighten the stakes for Vi’s future challenges.

[bichletmepickaname]

I really wanna go back to season 2 act 1. Because it was perfect. And I had so much hope for the series. Now I feel deflated. Like of course I love arcane still it’s just a little disappointing. And I would go back and enjoy some league lore content but that’s getting erased. So I feel really numb. I thought I felt numb from the ending because it was sad(which it was of course). But I think I really just feel numb because it’s so mixed.

I do really think I need to sit down and watch season 1 and season 2 all together and that will really be what ties it together and make it feel more whole. But I most disappointed for vi. This season she’s had no character development. People just develop more and more around her and she reacts.

Also the whole time travel Viktor thing could have been cut out and the Jayce and Viktor ending could have still worked. Imagine if Jayce went to that world and finds a devastated Viktor from that timeline. And he begged Jayce to fix it and told him how. The multiverse travel would have worked if he went back to the hex gates with the hammer from himself. Then the rest would have all made sense. Jayce would be initially dead set on stopping Viktor. But when he saw his Viktor it would crumble and he would stay. Getting the exact same ending as it had. Just without the stupid Viktor retcon.

And yes it was a retcon. Before it was shown it was supposed to be someone else.

As for Mel. I just wished there was more with her and her mother. Or a scene where her and Caitlyn bonded over the shared manipulation. Hit god was the scene where Ambessa dies in Mel’s arms was tragic. And bitter sweet “you are the wolf” Mel doesn’t want to be the wolf. But in Ambessa eyes she’s validating her. And then Mel is really left alone. Without Elora, or the council, her brother, her mom, her boyfriend. I really wanted to see her just break down at the end. She really deserved to just let it out. But it is in character for her to not.

I enjoyed episode 7 but alot of Ekko and Powders plot felt like it didn’t actually affect the plot itself other then the time travel thing. And Himerdinger deserved better. I do see why it was added I just wish we saw more of Jayce getting chased, tournamented and traumatized by the thing’s in the Hexcore corrupt dimension. Then it would have made more sense why he was so willing to kill salo and especially Viktor.

Jinx dying is actually one of the choices that gets hated in yet I don’t mind. Dead or alive she escaped. She knew she didn’t have a life there anymore so she let it go. And I actually liked that Isha didn’t have to be mentioned once for us to know why jinx was acting the way she was.

Caitlyn’s plot was really the same as act 2. I just wanted to see more actual dictatorship. But her team up with Mel was one I was waiting for for along time.

It would have been nice to see more of Jayce and Mel. But I do see why there wasn’t. There plots were vastly different from each others. There experiences, world versions and experiences were different. Thats what made them so interesting in season 1. But there plots were very separated none the less. So them having a kind of bitter sweet what felt like last goodbye was something that almost brought me to tears.

All and all. I did enjoy it. There are just some things I would tweak. But arcane s1 was so amazing that I just knew s2 couldn’t live up to it no matter how hard they tried.

[oreo-oro-orero]

I've always sort of a morbid fascination with how Ekko's time travel would affect his mind. We all know it affects him physically but I imagine a heavy mental toll just by his constant usage of it alone. I imagine the more he uses it the more his mind sorta starts to become jumbled, maybe he slowly starts to forget things or maybe even forget where he's at. He could have instances where while he believes he is saying something, all the other person hears is basically gibberish or he just says words out of order without realizing it. I've always imagined a scene where Ekko after countless uses of the drive, his money is starting to get even more jumbled and Jinx in an attempt to help him remember is like

"it's me little me, it's Jinx, it's......me Powder"

And Ekko just looks at her with a look of confusion and sadness and says, "I'm sorry but..... who's.... who's Powder?"Idk I just think that would be devastating ig😭

[l1ve-l4ugh-lov3craft]

agh alphard as vander is a FANTASTIC idea!! i was stuck on who to put him as!!

with voldy as silco, i was honestly thinking you could even do a bit of canon divergence and rather than jinx’s loyalty to silco because he took her in, have regulus be loyal to voldemort not necessarily because he took him in, but more cos it was a way for him to get close enough to kill him?? idk if that makes sense?? but it could be a thing?? i dunno i feel like i have some sort of vision for that and idk how to explain it

okay okay okay proposition! snape as sevika, BUT THEN Peter as Marcus 👆and we do just a bit more canon divergence somehow that allows peter to have known james (even tho he’s the ekko character) cos i feel like the whole thing with him setting up and orchestrating the barricade, especially with it being the place that ekko and jinx fight and where ekko (so by extention james) almost dies?? it’s not ideal but it could be an option?? and then cos Minerva or Poppy (Imm leaning towards Minnie lol) would have known peter it would still hurt on that level?? idk let me know what you think

okay and here’s my essay on Ekko as James (though you’re SO right jayce is so james-coded). So ofc, that scene was a big factor when i was thinking about cos can you imagine??? just a lil canon divergence to have james and sirius have their iconic friendship, but after it all goes to hell in episode 1, they're split up??? and then the reunion they would have later in that scene??? DX Iconic. I would LIVE for it. And then also I think it would be really interesting to work with James and Regulus' dynamic as Ekko and Jinx equivalents?? Cos honestly, ideally I'd have James be Caitlin cos of the way Jinx got so jealous of her the same way reg did of james when he adn sirius became friends? But wolfstar is more important i'm sorry XD Unfortunately, I may have to forsake platonic moonwater in this au which is DEVASTATING cos I live for platonic moonwater QwQ Anyway and then i just think James fits a bit better into the scenes with Ekko than he does into Jayce's (even though it WOULD be a very neat take on james as a character to put him as jayce)

ANYWAY Lily as Jayce and Pandora as Victor??? PLEASE I'm obsessed that was SUCH a good ideaaaa!!! (and I'm a fan of jayvic AND pandalilly so things all work out whaaaaaaattt who said that) And I'm also a HUGE fan of putting Mary as Mel! Like YES! I love anything that encourages putting mary macDonald in more of a plot-heavy role in a story i love that woman (and the marylily content?? what???)

and of COURSE slughorn has to be heimerdinger oh my GOSH perfect idea 10/10, no notes!!

ADDITIONALLY to what you added, I also had the idea last night, if James is Ekko, to have the Firelights be called the Marauders? Kinda as homage to the marauders themselves?? Which is also why I'd love to have james and peter have more interaction even if he's in marcus' role, cos then once James takes Sirius and Remus to their hideout, all the four og marauders would be together and idk i just like it :)

hopefully this all made sense lollll XD

shoutout to @taleofapart-timepoet for this post about a marauders arcane au cos I’ve not been able to stop thinking about it all evening

I’d love to see a sort of looser based, slightly canon adjacent au?? a bit in the way crimson rivers was done where the big canon things do happen and there’s parallels, but creative liberites are taken

HEAR ME OUT

Vi - Sirius (obviously)

Jinx/Powder - Regulus (again, obvs)

Silco - Voldemort??? Maybe?? But I’m thinkin more in a crimson rivers tom riddle sort of way

Caitlin - Remus, of course

Ekko - Hear me out??? James?? and his and sirius’ dynamic is one that’s a bit different than vi and ekko’s in canon in a way i know but don’t feel like typing out so ask me if you want me to elaborate

Not sure who to do for the rest but SOMEONE PLEASE TALK TO ME ABOUT THIS I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS

[arcane-ish]

The Last Drop

What if in Arcane season 2 we see a flashback to the Last Drop when Silco and Vander ran it together and it's a mixture between Silco's taste in style and Vander's taste in style?

Of what if we see it and Silco's style is barely in it because either before the Drowning he hadn't fully come into his own style yet or he didn't have much say?

Will we get a fully redesigned Sevika!version of the Drop or will she aim to mostly preserve it the way Silco left it? (personally: I always got the impression that Silco designed the Drop more to the taste of his goons rather than his own anyway)

Or will some new power take it over and make it theirs? Or will we see Jinx go through a ruined, smashed version of it? (I could picture there being a ruined version and then it slowly gets repopulated in a "life finds a way" kind of way)

Will we get Warwick either walking through a smashed Last Drop or fighting somebody in a headquarters version of the Drop? If so, will he have a moment of recognition or will it actually be more devastating if he doesn't?

Will Jinx take it over or will her turbine room be her main lair or the cannery or will people/the manhunt drive her out of all of them, all the places she used to call home? Will Vi every make any attempts to take it The Drop? Or will Vi maybe visit another even more ruined and smashed version of it in an ultimate "you can't go home again" moment?

What if it becomes the location of a brutal fight showdown scene between either Vi and Jinx or Warwick and Vi or Warwick and Jinx forever "staining" the place? (while a fight between Warwick and Sevika there would probably be more normal)

But seriously, if Sevika keeps it mostly the same it could be a sign of how even with Silco gone she's still a follower at heart who doesn't really have her own style, while it would likely be a sign of emancipation if she puts her own mark on it. Meanwhile if Sevika is forced to abandon it it could emphasize how dire the situation is (though like a conversation of Sevika saying that it was always a shit location from a strategic point of view would also be interesting).

If there is a new big bad or big honcho in the undercity, it would also be interesting if they also try to make a headquarters there as a way of marking their territory, but I feel like most normal Zaunite badguys of meaningful power would choose a headquarters in the "fancier"/prettier parts of Zaun closer to the surface and it was just Silco and Vander's idiosyncrasies and ideological/emotional attachment that caused them to stick with it. I feel if it was ever abandoned it would always be taken over by somebody. I could picture it being taken over by a local gang, but like a big honcho mob boss/chem baron, somebody like Renata wouldn't necessarily bother with it. Urgot is like the only guy who I could picture moving into it, but him I imagine would likely choose something even deeper in the Zaun underbelly.

I could picture a version where Jinx goes there, finds it overtaken by random goons and going apeshit of them. I could picture a maybe super fluffy version where Jinx and Sevika are at peace/working together and Sevika promises that it will remain Jinx's home or that she is going to keep it in Silco's style. And I can just as well picture Jinx showing up, Sevika has taking it over and Sevika tells her to fuck off, she has no place there anymore.

I could picture enemies of Silco attacking The Drop and intentionally thrashing and marking it in their style as revenge on him. Now the Firelights moving in and making it in their creative style would also be an interesting development because of course Ekko would share Vander and Silco's way of being attached to the location trait. Though somebody nice from the community taking it over and maybe turning it into a safe haven, maybe in memory of Vander would also be touching.

(Considering how Fortiche loves to use symmetry and revisiting places and showing how they've changed, I'm sure we will see some glimpse of the Drop, with it just becoming Sevika's home base with only minor adjustments probably being the least interesting option)

[caitlynxviolet]

I really love your huge essays about CaitVi and Arcane <3 It feels like you can really defend a doctoral dissertation on this.

I wanted to know what you think about Vi's reaction when Jinx has a breakdown after Vi touches her. If you look frame by frame, you can see how surprised(?) and scared she is. Considering that Vi didn't see Powder's breakdown in episode 3, did she even know about them? I just imagine how much guilt Vi feels and how upset she is about all this, considering that it happens after she finds out that her sister is now calling herself Jinx.

(omg I’m so late to this I’m so sorry!! I was moving :/)

my huge essays askdnadsk im over here clogging everybody's dashboards :/ *expand* Thank you :') I'm glad you're loving these as much as I'm loving writing them.

Oof, yeah. Their reunion is heartbreaking in a lot of ways, but Jinx rejecting Vi's affection after being tormented by her own trauma is devastating for many reasons.

We've already established that Vi's love language is physical touch. She's affectionate with everyone she cares about, as we've seen in her relationship with Powder, Vander, Ekko and Caitlyn. This is important because that's how Jinx remembers Vi before physical touch was used against her. 

Vi is not used to having this type of affection denied. We haven’t seen a single instance of Powder rejecting Vi’s touch when she was younger. On the contrary, this is likely how Vi would initiate conflict resolution and attempt to defuse tension between them - through touch.

Powder loved Vi’s affection and she used to seek it too. She immediately physically comforted Vi in a moment of great distress. See how she melted in the palm of Vi’s hand there? Touch is how they convey their love for each other and how they comfort their loved ones.

So for Vi to reach out and have her method of conflict resolution denied is a pretty big deal. She doesn’t understand what’s going on with Jinx. Words aren’t helping. At this point, gestures aren’t either. It’s causing Jinx even more distress. Jinx’s sense of reality, her feeling of betrayal, and her trauma are blending together in her mind and nothing that Vi could do in this moment would soothe her little sister because she needs time out. 

Jinx would have needed space here. I need to think.

I truly think this is one aspect of Jinx that has changed significantly. Without Vi around and with a father figure as cold as Silco, Jinx didn’t have a person in her life to reciprocate that type of affection and she needs it. We see her seek Silco’s affection a lot more than we see her receiving physical touch as a form of affection from anyone. 

So now, Jinx is much more likely to fear physical touch and to perceive it as something negative. It hasn’t been reinforced as a powerful way to connect with the people she loves since Vi. She lost this means of comfort almost entirely.

It isn’t surprising that Vi would be taken aback when facing a reaction like this. I don’t think she’s ever seen Powder act this way. It hurts even more to think about how Jinx rejects Vi’s affection here specifically because she feels like it isn’t special anymore. It’s not their thing anymore, because she cares about the Enforcer too. 

[dragonshoard]

Ok but. Imagine if vander somehow survived but not as warwick. How do you think he'd react to jinx and vi?

oof Vander would be understandably horrified and upset, I'd think. He did his best to protect these kids from the world, to keep them from growing up to soon, and then he realizes that he failed completely. It's devastating!

I think he would try to help bring Jinx away from Silco's shadow, but at the same time I think all he can really see when he looks at her is Silco so he would eventually evolve into the same mindset as Ekko (though she doesn't act much like him, Vander sees where Silco's teachings have shaped the person she has become and that makes him extra guilty).

That, and I think he would want to focus on Vi and on helping her cope after having just gotten out of prison. It's one of those things that, I think, where choosing Vi over Jinx gives him the best chance for reconciliation overall (if he chooses Jinx, he loses Vi; if he choses Vi there is still a chance of Jinx one day coming back).

[tenspeed]

I have watched Arcane twice already and to spare my heart I am waiting a little longer for my third watch.

However I just keep thinking about how badly Vi, Ekko, and Powder have fucking suffered. They lost everything in one night and years later the gaps between them feel impossible to close but they are all they have left.

Ekkos mural having Powder who he mourned as much as Vi. Can you imagine how it felt to see her with Silco who killed Benzo and everyone else so he thinks. Watching him flood the undercity with Shimmer and turn the streets from a sort of family to a bunch of addicts and back stabbers. Having to be alone through all of that. How many times did he try and “save” Powder before he gave up?

Then sweet Vi sitting it a cell all those years knowing enforcers may come to beat her at any point. Thinking and fearing what happen to Ekko and Powder. Feeling like she failed to protect them. Everyday waiting and waiting for her chance to run to her sister. To find her! Only to see the trauma has ravaged her mental state. So much of episode 9 must have felt like slicing open her chest and just dumping a bucket of salt in. When Jinx says she made her that way. I know that sucked. I feel like Jinx doesn’t think Vi made her a monster only that she kept her going because of the “being different is what makes you strong” which Powder leaned into. However when she did it was like realizing her strength was being everything she is as Jinx. So I feel even if Vi had shot Cait Powder was never going to just be Powder. Also the “I thought maybe you could love me like you use to.” Doesn’t make me think Powder believes Vi doesn’t love her just that it isn’t the same way because she not doing something Vi approves of. With the visuals emphasizing that Silco accepted Jinx and Cait accepts the “new” Vi. Ugh punches me right in my soul.

Lastly Jinx. Would pay top dollar for her not to suffer. Her unintentionally killing and hurting the people she loves is like the worse possible bad luck anyone could have and I honestly can’t imagine who would be in a great space in Jinx’s shoes. Powder will always be there but Jinx is how she keeps going. I think trying to drag Powder back to center stage would be more destructive than simply trying to convince her not to murder indiscriminately. 😬 Silco, Clogger, Mylo, and Vander. She loved her family and loves Vi. I will stand and die on that hill. I don’t think they can be close like they use to be but I would love so deeply if they did not make them try and hurt each other I’d be real deal devastated.:/