#meanwhile jayce has the worst fucking time

[theskyexists]

Episode 6

Issha always too good for her own good

Mercy kill.... Protecting Jinx.

Why does Jayce always fuck everything up. Always.

That last bit with Issha...

The watercolours with Vi and Jinx and their mother

The fact that Caitlyn was already calculating how to get rid of Ambessa (but, once again, non lethally). Saw her chance.

Them working together so beautifully. Ah they were almost there

Episode 7

That was the most beautiful episode I've seen to date. What. WHAT.

I forgive all absence of Ekko before this point.

Oh. Jinx. Powder.

Where did it diverge????

Vi got killed by hextech. I think she stopped Milo from getting blown up? So, Mel and Viktor never lent their support to Jayce to develop it further? There was no incursion by Enforcers because they never escaped and because of that, Silco never...Vander managed to de-escalate the situation by being so heartbroken?

But Vi died. Jayce was probably disgraced. Viktor is probably already dead or dying. Caitlyn...who knows. Never met Vi. Will always be without her...

Is the implication at the end of this episode that Jinx may try to develop hextech? She has more blue shards...

God that dance scene, god. It was so beautiful. The kiss. Wow. Fav het ship top three in one damn episode. What. And then she sees the alternate universe Ekko...his real face

But she gets to keep hers.

THAT HEXTECH DESTROYED WORLD WAS SO AMAZING SCARY AND CREEPY OH GOD

[sometipsygnostalgic]

still only 4 minutes into s2e4 but...

i refuse to say arcane s2 is "bad" because queer animation is being shot behind the shed right now, we're not going to see anything like this again in a very long time. but of the three and a bit eps ive seen so far, it's all been... Things Happen, instead of characters driving events.

the jinx scenes have been incredible, she's definitely the highlight, i love the warmer approach they've taken with her and the other lady working together, it feels natural, but everything involving the other characters feels so rushed and hollow.

specifically it seems every cait and vi scene has a budget of nothing. half of it is fairly cheap montages and everything seems to be exposited instead of naturally shown. like yeah they did a good job of showing why cait so desperately wants to shoot jinx. and i thought the reveal that the previously shown poison gas was the cops was great! but since then it just seems like we're not allowed to get into their heads.

like, why does vi NOT want to be an enforcer? why is it then enough for a couple of nice cops to talk to her? though i can infer she feels responsibility for the attack that ambessa the other underground gang performed on the event later. also who the fuck is the cop with the shield? what is his deal? but we don't get time in vi's head. we don't see her revolving all these thoughts around, she changes her mind about stuff in split second moments because there's no time.

and cait. she is the worst offender by far. her reactions seem very extreme because they need to be, not because being extreme is any sort of established part of her character. I am constantly comparing Cait to Glimmer from She-ra, but that's because everything Cait's doing here is exactly how Glimmer reacted after the Horde got her mum killed, except Glimmer had all that darkness as a pre-established part of her, and they spent a long time showing it being encouraged by Shadow Weaver. Meanwhile with Cait, a good hearted cop who has shown NO desire for corruption or power thirst... she's turning on her friends immediately, and we are TOLD that Ambessa is leading her astray, we are never SHOWN this. It's very clear this is because there needs to be a plot, not because any care is being given to Cait as a character. It's very disappointing.

i do love that scene in s2e1 with jayce carrying viktor to the room to save him. the way that was shot, with us watching present and immediate future jayce react to viktor's body, it was amazing. that is a great example of cinematography and storytelling without dialogue - he was so terrified!!!

i have no idea what's going on in viktor's head now though. we've spent very little time with him. to me it seems like he's being brainwashed with an image of the assistant who was killed, a lot like the one guy from Scavenger's Reign who was brainwashed by the fat alien with a hallucination of his dead wife. but we only get a 3 second glimpse of this whereas Scavenger's Reign spends many episodes on it.

Ekko may as well not exist at the moment.

[anakinskywalkerisfave]

#If a man gets to loud with me I will call the police #literally turn into a Karen #I don't have time to find out what an angry man is playing at #hello? 911! #try it #black women are women you annoying fucks

(tags via ambelle)

Okay, that's it! Time for the Viktor Mel Conversation Analysis (With a Side of Jayce for Comparison) from yours truly. This is what you have unleashed, anon.

M: It's been suggested that they may have found a way to utilize the Gemstone.

Her wording is cautious, using “suggested,�� and “may," neither of those words are absolute.

Idk if I can dissect it super well, but it’s the same way that I talk when discussing delicate subjects, it’s designed to be neutral and not to attack.

M: If we are to assume the worst, that would mean they've turned it into a weapon. J: Well, do we know this for certain? M: We can't afford to wait to find out. V: Wait. What are you suggesting? M: We should prepare our own countermeasures.

There it is. The line that every Mel hater likes to misconstrue to say shit like, “she hates poor people!” “she wants to commit genocide!*” (*yes that was an actual thing someone said).

She’s not making any absolute statements, since they don’t have enough information to do so, but she is wisely erring on the side of caution. It is better to prepare for the worst and hope for the best, so they won’t be blindsided if the worst does occur. She doesn’t even say “weapons,” it could be weapons, but countermeasures could also mean a Hextech forcefield, or something designed to disable Hextech. It could mean all of those things. We don’t know.

J: You want us to build weapons? V: Absolutely not. That is not what we invented Hextech for. [note: this is said in a notably aggressive tone]

You didn’t invent Hextech to absorb your blood and turn your coworker into dust either, but here we are.

J: We would shatter any attempt at peace. J: Heimerdinger would never go for this- M: Heimerdinger’s inaction is what brought us here. You said so yourself. M: The peace is already broken, Jayce.

THIS. Jinx broke into their lab, stole his journal and one of the gemstones, vandalized said lab, and blew up Caitlyn’s coworkers.

M: I’m only asking you to defend your people. If we’re lucky, we’ll never have to use it.

Since many fools cannot understand (or outright refuse to): Mel views war as a last resort. She says this multiple times.

V: [scoffs, sighs]

Look, I understand he disagrees with her, and that outbursts can happen (god i understand getting too heated in arguments). But I am so fucking tired of everyone twisting Mel’s words and motivations and actions to make her seem EEEEVIIIIILLL, and acting as if she needs to bend over backward trying to please a guy who isn’t even making the effort to have a civil debate/disagreement. She presented this in a very delicate manner, probably to AVOID any angry outbursts. Jayce, while also disagreeing (right now), is listening to what she has to say, and makes counterarguments (which is how a civil disagreement/discussion works), meanwhile Victor’s only contribution was saying “that’s not what Hextech is for!” and scoffing.

M: The decision is yours. V: [Scoffs] V: Ridiculous. You cannot be considering this.

It’s one thing to disagree with someone (if vehemently), it’s another thing to dismiss their EXTREMELY warranted concerns as “ridiculous”.

J: What if she’s right? Are we just gonna stand by while they attack us? V: We are scientists, not soldiers. J: We have the knowledge to defend ourselves.

 Another thing is that Jayce is on the Council, his job is to keep the city running and keep its people safe. Victor doesn’t have that weight on his shoulders. For Jayce, he feels if there’s something he can do to protect the city, then he needs to do so. He does so even before he’s on the Council, as seen in ep 4 where he was willing to shut down the Hexgates.

(Not going to go through the rest of the conversation, since this was about Viktor and Mel interacting.)

I feel like if Mel had talked to Viktor even once or wasn't always so cold and collected people wouldn't have assumed she was a bitch.

That's cool anon but the reality is people hated Mel because they felt threatened by her. Half claimed she was aggressive and manipulative and the other half claimed she was just here to be Jayce's soft supportive mammy. When people are set on hating you there is fuck all you can do. Especially if they hate you for being a BW taking up too much space.