#mel: it's nothing personal silco

[420technoblazeit]

so fucked up that we're only 3 episodes in and literally nobody is doing okay right now. vi has to deal with her sister becoming a terrorist and her girlfriend turning full cop in a military dictatorship and saying that she wants nothing to do with her. caitlyn's being manipulated by ambessa, who's taking advantage of her grief and need for revenge to ensure a war between piltover and the undercity. jinx literally begged vi to kill her because she can't take the guilt of accidentally killing silco and literally every other person she's ever loved.

viktor woke up from a coma to find out that his mind and body's been permanently changed by the hexcore, the technology he never wanted to use ever again, and he's hallucinating the dead assistant he accidentally killed with his experiments. jayce was just abandoned by viktor, found out that the hextech he created to help the city has had disastrous consequences on the fabric of reality itself, and he's about to find out that his girlfriend's been kidnapped. oh yeah and mel was desperately trying to keep the peace but terrorists attacked the memorial and her mom wouldnt stop meddling in political affairs and now she's been taken by a witch. everything went wrong SO quickly

[wlwmedarda]

I'm honestly just looking to rant and this might be long depending on how fast I get irritated the more I type so if this isn't coherent or well written I apologize in advance. Since it looks like Ambessa will take on a more antagonistic role in arcane season two, I would like to unpack the fandom's antiblackness that you guys are either blind to or aware and too pussy to call it out as my gut is telling me it's gonna increase and if no one is gonna start the difficult conversation then I sure as hell will.

Sevika:

Mel:

Starting off strong with the definition of "you guys want complex female characters but can't even handle her". Mel Medarda is in quite the predicament seeing how she's morally grey, a black woman, AND "gets in the way" of a mlm ship so she was kinda screwed from the start. A cunning politician disowned for her pacifism who acts as a sort of bridge to Noxus' slow introduction, and is THE ONLY CHARACTER IN THE SEASON 1 MAIN CAST SPECIFICALLY CREATED FOR THE SHOW. She's treated like satan incarnate or a Jezebel (highly suggest looking into that if you don't know what that is), GOOD character analysis is rare, and when she is talked about positively, it's so often chalked up to appearances that I'd rather yall not talk about her at all. Oh you love Mel? Then can we talk about her relationship with her mother? Unpack her dynamic with Jayce? Maybe more fanworks centered around her? I've seen yall's fake asses dropping the shittiest fucking takes about her only to turn around and gush over how pretty she is, and yall think you're slick about it and you're not. I would say I prefer the ones who are loud and proud about their hatred but that'd be a lie, they're two cheeks on the same ass; annoying and couldn't give a decent break down of her character if a gun was pointed at they head even she's perfect to dissect. I could talk about her more but we'd be here all day and so many black women even from outside the fanbase have already talked about yall so there's no need for me to add on 🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️.

Quick question, have you guys ever tried to talk about her in a non sexual way? Yes, Sevika is undeniably sexy and you could argue that true stans of hers talk about her outside of horny time, but a good half of the fandom is a different story. In a similar case to Mel's, deep dives into her character are rare to find which is crazy when she acts as Zaun's own "kingmaker". She's loyal to her city and the cause, never to a specific person and will not hesitate to betray you. She could be your right hand man one day, and the next she might find a better kingpin to follow and stab you in the back like it all meant nothing. "Were you tempted?" "Not for a worm like him". Simple and subtle and probably my favorite Sevika scene; she comes to realize Silco is no longer the best leader for Zaun, but he's as good as it gets for now and so she sticks by him. I remember a YouTube comment breaking down how she's essentially the quintessential Zaun: a brute warrior molded by her environment, who defied Vander's peaceful ways and embraced Silco's cruelty. Her mindset and goal is interesting and you'd think it'd result in some fascinating meta or exploration of her upbringing when we got a hint that she potentially has some daddy issues right? Obviously, but what do we get instead? White sapphics treating her like nothing more than a sexual object. How delightful!

Ekko:

This might partially be Riot's fault because — and I hate to sound like a league lore nerd — Ekko is quite underdeveloped compared to the richer origins of his former pre arcane self, but I'm gonna hold off on that till the season finale to see how they handle him. Anyways, at this point the fandom clearly sees him as Jinx's trophy husband. When you talk about him, she is brought into the convo 90% of the time. That's exactly why I prefer black timebomb shippers over the nonblack ones because I trust they actually love Ekko as a character on his own. Even though I have my complaints regarding how's been written so far, I still know he's too good to be reduced to Jinx's loverboy. He fights and cares for his city, the only character that you can confidently say is pure of heart, and is the revolutionary leader Zaun really needs. He's just as smart as Jinx too, he is literally going to create TIME TRAVEL. Why does no one wanna talk about that? Can we be excited for his character development and arc not just for the timebomb scenes you'll get out of it?

Ambessa:

Can't even deny this woman is awful but her presence on screen enthralled me after a couple of rewatches and I also love bad mothers in media so I've settled on a love/hate relationship. Yes, she's definitely gonna have some influence on Caitlyn, which makes sense since she has now lost her mother; she's vulnerable and as we have seen, naive. She's practically free real estate for Ambessa. My recent worry though has been how the fandom seems to be willing to put all of Caitlyn's actions on her as if Cait isn't a grown ass woman who can make her own decisions. Of course being grown doesn't mean you're immune to manipulation, but I've seen some Silco and Jinx comparisons and it is NOT the same. Mind you we haven't even seen the first three episodes; we don't know how far Ambessa's manipulation is going to go and we can't really tell what the dynamic is gonna be like based off of clips and trailers that are likely shown out of context on purpose to throw people off. I'll never defend her actions, hell I'll join in on the lashings, but my black ass is also not gonna sit here and let yall talk about her weirdly or pin all of this on her.

Some might say I'm overthinking this, but I've been here since November 2021 and have sat back and observed for 2 years. You don't have to write deep, philosophical conversations 24/7, I'm sure it's not all in bad faith and I won't act like I don't thirst over Sevika or marvel at Mel's beauty. I'm not saying you have to like these characters and that you're racist if you don't. My frustration comes from the lack of nuanced conversations and hypocritical opinions surrounding black characters in this show. When you try to say something about this, you're hit with excuses; it reminds me of how man obsessed fujoshis act when they're questioned for not giving two fucks about female characters. They're either reduced to one character trait, only admired for their looks, or only discussed when it's about the white character they're connected to. Do NOT under ANY circumstance be black and morally ambiguous, you WILL be held to higher moral standards than everyone's wittle blorbos who can do wrong and are defended from all sides when you dare to take the rose colored stan glasses off and criticize them. What's really ridiculous is you hear the "complex characters" bullshit every two to three business days and some of you have the nerve to boast about this series being diverse while simultaneously ignoring the complexities in the characters of color. This is the main reason I took a step back and with season two around the corner I thought "Hey, maybe it'll be better this time!" and it was a mistake. Good to know yall still have an underlying racism problem you don't wanna address but with some extra classism thrown in. "What will we do once Arcane ends?" hopefully get a job, touch some grass, and reflect. Lord knows yall need it. The faster yall sizzle out the better. I'm done that's all I have to say lol goodnight 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽.

[space-blue]

You know what time it is: Arcane trailer dissection time!!

Just your old Arcane obsessed terminally online person reviewing the most interesting screens (biased) from the teaser that just dropped.

Mamma Medarda just looks DOPE as FUCK in this mask, nothing else to say. She seems to be speaking to Mel, which would indicate she survives, which I hope for. We're clearly dealing with a soft Noxus invasion given the prevalence of Ambessa's troops.

Very interesting to see these troops activating. You have to wonder if they're a failsafe to Silco dying, or if they are being activated by Silco loyalists.

Not doing our girl any favours with that one.

VERY interesting to see Singed getting arrested in a teaser, because that hints it'll happen early on. I figure then that Warwick's escape would probably happen early as well. We may be looking at Singed and Heimerdinger old pal reunions weee

Gotta wonder if he ACTUALLY gets captured though, because Warwick might be a great get out of arrest card.

SEVIKA!!! WITH!! jINX'S GUN!!! I first though for SURE she must have stolen it, or found it, but do you know what?? She has a custom made Jinx arm!!!!

It doesn't seem haphazard, even if it's ungainly. There's a non zero chance that these two are united by Silco's death, instead of split apart!

This strike is clearly showing Medarda's fist. Mommy will be VERY active in this early on.

The previous fist image with projectile launch happens right after those shots. I wonder if that contraption has anything to do with Medarda instead of Jinx or someone else, because poison (spilling from the mouth?) is also a very Noxian thing (thank you, Singed)

What's with Smeech getting SUCH a highlight? What a dope design. Also that shot is the same colours and location style as Sevika shooting with her Jinx augment, so I am wondering if Sevika won't be the one killing him.

Freedom fight Jinx style art? Wow. With blue haired minions behind her? Unexpected! I wonder what Ekko and his firelights think about this, and whether they'll take her in despite everything. This seems to be very Zaun vs. Piltover now.

Our only proof of Viktor in season 2. He's in the Zaun depth with caped figures, most likely shimmer addicts. I wonder if the explosion is him saving them and starting his machine cult, or him defending himself. Anyway, he survives, and I also wonder how many physical augments he needs to heal himself from the explosion, courtesy of the hex core?

Of course the only proof we need that Jayce is alive is that Cait has an Arcane sniper rifle. I don't see Viktor making her one after the explosion........

All in all, interesting stuff!!

[dissapointu]

you are so QUICKK 😧😧!! this is real talent! may you please do arcane characters reacting to their partner with a love for singing??

OKAY OKAY, ipersonally love this one Mamas.

Jinx

“WAIT. YOU CAN SING?!” Jinx immediately demands a private concert. She’ll sit crisscross on the floor, eyes wide like a kid, yelling, “DO THE HIGH NOTE! DO IT!” And if you’re shy? Oh, she’ll fix that real quick. She’ll grab your hands and start twirling you around like, “C’mon, babe, we’re making a musical!”

Also, she absolutely wants you to sing during her chaotic explosions. “Nothing says boom like a ballad, right?”

Vi

Vi finds out you can sing, and she’s floored. Like, totally stunned. “Wait, you never told me you were this good.” She’ll act all cool about it, but the second you start singing, her cheeks turn pink, and she’s just like, “Oh, okay, so I’m dating an angel now?”

She’ll tease you sometimes, though, like, “Not bad, babe, but I can definitely do better,” and then she belts out the worst off-key note you’ve ever heard.

Sevika

Sevika is the definition of lowkey obsessed. She pretends it’s no big deal, but you catch her watching you with this soft little smirk whenever you sing. “Not bad,” she says, but the way her eyes stay glued to you? Yeah, she’s in love.

Also, she’ll tell anyone who’ll listen. “Oh, yeah, my partner? Killer voice. Better than any of those Piltie performers.” If you ever sing her to sleep, she’s done for. Total simp mode unlocked.

Silco

Silco is SHOCKED. Like, he didn’t expect this at all. He’ll raise an eyebrow and say something like, “A hidden talent, hmm? Fascinating.” But deep down, he’s super impressed and maybe a little emotional.

If you’re singing in private, he’ll quietly sit and listen, his sharp features softening ever so slightly. He won’t admit it, but he loves the peace your voice brings to his otherwise stressful life.

Vander

Vander is SO proud. “You’ve got a voice that could stop a fight in its tracks,” he says with a grin. He’ll encourage you to sing whenever you feel like it, even if it’s just humming while you’re both cooking.

He’s also the type to suggest performing at The Last Drop, like, “C’mon, they’d love you!” And if you do? He’s in the front row, cheering louder than anyone else.

Ekko

Ekko is IN AWE. “Yo, how did I not know you could sing like this?!” He’ll immediately start making plans for you to perform at one of his Firelight gatherings. “You’d totally kill it on stage.”

If you’re shy, he’s super supportive. “Okay, okay, what if you just sing for me? No one else, promise.” And if you sing to him while he works on his gadgets? He’s melting on the spot.

Jayce

Jayce is your #1 fan. “Babe, your voice is incredible!” He’s the type to hype you up SO MUCH it’s almost embarrassing. He’ll make sure everyone knows you’re talented. “Yeah, my partner? Total rockstar. No big deal.”

He’ll also 100% try to duet with you. Spoiler: he’s terrible, but he doesn’t care because you’re laughing, and that’s all that matters to him.

Viktor

Viktor is absolutely enchanted. The first time he hears you sing, he just stares, blinking like, “That was… beautiful.” He’s not one for grand gestures, but he’ll quietly hum your songs while he’s working, and if you catch him, he’ll blush and be like, “You’re contagious.”

On tough days, he’ll ask you to sing to him, his head resting on your shoulder as he murmurs, “You make everything feel lighter.”

Caitlyn

Caitlyn is blown away. “Darling, your voice is stunning,” she says, completely captivated. She’ll encourage you to sing whenever you feel like it, even suggesting you try performing in Piltover. “I could arrange something, you know.”

She also LOVES when you sing to her while she’s relaxing. “You’re my personal lullaby,” she says with a soft smile.

Mel Medarda

Mel isn’t even surprised. “Of course, you’re a talented singer. Why wouldn’t you be?” But when you actually sing for her, she’s completely mesmerized. She’ll sip her wine, eyes fixed on you, and murmur, “You should perform for the entire council.”

She’ll commission a full orchestra just so you can sing with them. “You deserve the finest accompaniment, my love.”

Ambessa Medarda

Ambessa is so nonchalant about it, but you KNOW she’s impressed. “You’ve got a nice voice,” she says, as if it’s no big deal. But the next time you sing, she’s sitting up straighter, arms crossed, totally focused.

She’ll casually mention it in conversation, like, “Yes, my partner is a singer. No, you can’t book them. They’re mine.”

Cecil B. Heimerdinger

Heimerdinger finds your singing fascinating. “The human vocal range is truly remarkable!” He’s full of weirdly specific compliments, like, “Your pitch is mathematically perfect in the upper registers.”

He’ll hum along with you in his adorable, squeaky way, and if you sing while he’s working, he’ll call it “a most delightful soundtrack.”

Salo

Salo plays it cool, but he’s secretly super impressed. “You’ve got some pipes, huh?” He won’t say much, but the soft smile on his face while you sing says everything.

He’ll also tease you sometimes, like, “I should start charging people just to hear you.”

Scar

Scar is HYPED. “You’re a singer?! That’s so badass!” he will demand a private concert and cheer like a maniac after every song. “Encore! Encore!”

If you ever sing while he is working, she will totally get distracted and start singing along, turning the whole thing into a random jam session.

Maddie Nolen

Maddie is your BIGGEST FAN. She’s recording videos of you singing, posting them everywhere, and hyping you up like, “Look at my babe absolutely KILLING IT.”

She’ll also try to harmonize with you, even if she’s awful, just because she wants to join in the fun. “Okay, I’m bad, but I’m here for the vibes.”

Lest

Lest is quietly enchanted. She doesn’t say much, but the way her eyes soften when you sing says it all. “Your voice suits you,” she murmurs, his tone full of quiet admiration.

She loves listening to you sing while you’re doing everyday things, like cooking or cleaning. “It makes the world feel a little brighter,” she says softly.

TL;DR: They’re ALL obsessed with your voice. Whether they’re cheering, bragging, or blushing quietly. you’re THEIR star.

[cruedxm]

𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐍 𝐍𝐒𝐅𝐖 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒

𝐂𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐋𝐘𝐍

𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐈𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄: Given she’s an officer and enforcer of the law, she’s bound to have some sort of disciplining kink. Her favourite thing to do (other than sex) is to spank you silly when you act out of line. Bonus points if you’re from Zaun.

𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐆𝐄: Caitlyn’s a freaky gal at heart. So a bit of bondage during sex is an almost must. There’s something about seeing you in handcuffs that gets her motor humming, and even more so if you’re playing the role of a criminal that needs to be brought to justice.

𝐄𝐃𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆: Again, this is part and parcel of the whole discipline kink. To punish you for being bad, she takes glee in edging you for hours, building your orgasm up just to stop and leave you high and dry. And when you’re finally good enough, she’s kind to grant you a mindbreaking orgasm that’ll have you trembling.

𝐕𝐈

𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐅𝐈𝐗𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍: Vi’s a service top. It’s in her blood to want to serve those who matter the most to her. So as her lover, you’re in for a lovely treat—head. And god, is her head amazing. She knows how to have you coming on her mouth over and over without it getting boring. She’ll gladly eat you out the entire night while she grinds against the mattress for any release.

𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐄: She’s a sucker for sweet words. Praise gets her going, in and out of bed. Good girl? She’s weak in the knees. My girl? Folded. If you want her to fuck you into next week a few praises sprinkled here and there will have her insatiably horny for you.

𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑 𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆: Vi loves hair. Not hers, she couldn’t care less about her hair. But your hair? She’s allll over it. Burying her nose in it, carding her fingers through the silky strands, it’s heaven. Especially when she’s tugging your hair back as you plead for more.

𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐊𝐀

𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐈𝐄𝐒: Sevika is a busy woman. She doesn’t have time to go the whole nine yards, so best bet her favourite thing to do are quickies. In her office (or Silco’s), any few minutes alone she can get something done with you. Hell, give her a minute and she could probably make you come. 

𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆: She is a person to be respected and feared. So nothing feeds her ego more than to gently wrap her larger hand around your neck and lightly press down. It’s a small gesture, sure, but it gives her power over you. Nothing satisfies her more.

𝐃𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐊: Best believe she has a filthy mouth. She knows all the right words to turn you on, so utterly debauching that you could come just from hearing her sultry words. When you two do have time to indulge in one another, her foreplay is just murmuring in your ear till you’re begging for her to touch you.

𝐌𝐄𝐋

𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒: As a high-ranking councillor, Mel has everything at her very fingertips. Call her spoiled, but she’s never really had to work for much, other than being a councillor. So what makes you think she’ll put in the effort to be a top? Besides, receiving is more her thing anyway.

𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐒𝐌: She likes it tender and gentle, being a woman of class. Mel is all for gentle lovemaking and sharing whispers of love and adoration, entangled with you in the sheets. She loves you and you love her, so take it slow if you must. She has all the time in the world…

��𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐘: She’s a high ranking woman in Piltover, of course she’s going to have an authority kink. Like Sevika, having power over people makes her pleased, you above all. She’ll tell you how to please her and make sure that it’s done right. She has standards.

𝐉𝐈𝐍𝐗

𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐘 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏: She thinks that she only knows how to ruin everything she touches of even comes close to. Not with you. You’re different. Let her worship you and your body like the unbreakable temple it is—you’re all she has left, anyway.

𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒: Be gentle with a traumatised soul like hers. Her visions scare her, and you must be her rock. Jinx is as fragile as glass, so treat her as such during lovemaking. Tell her you love her. Tell her you’ll never leave (you better not) and tell her that she’s all you need.

𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆: Jinx is a playful character at heart. Even through everything, she can find a way to joke around. Her favourite way to tease you is by suggestive touches, her breath ghosting across your skin. The more flustered you get, the more pleased she is.

[nylloth]

My opinion about Arcane s2 (mostly Viktor)

I'm trying to be neutral on this, but I'm upset with what they did to Viktor.

I was wrong about their relationship with Sky (but I had hope), you can see he never really cared for her and the animators put their all into conveying that. Plus, let's say Sky represents Viktor's humanity and Viktor himself gives up on her. And it's a lot easier for him to give her up than it is for Jayce, who he's trying to show this new “world” to.

They have a lot of gay moments with Jayce, I don't know why the writers call it “family”. It's really hard to see family in that. It seems like at some point they decided to change the plot, because at the end Jayce and Viktor just disappear and no one just doesn't care what Jayce has with Mel.

The thing I didn't like the most was how they changed Ryze, that now Ryze is Viktor, the all-powerful mage. We know from the documentary that it was Ryze at one point. That would make more sense than Viktor traveling through time and constantly dooming himself to a series of miseries. But then again, they added the “all for Jayce” aspect to it.

You can see it's supposed to be a different character, right?

I really didn't like how they treated Sky because obviously she wasn't an evil manipulative core. Viktor killed her twice for his own purposes. Once by accident, the second time on purpose. Look, you add a girl who is IN LOVE with a man, make her die twice for him, and show WHY he doesn't care. It's a dirty act. Amanda said she was “proud to write Sky”, I don't know what there is to be proud of. As a woman, it was painful for me to watch. You didn't have to do that. Did you mean to say the character is gay? You don't have to humiliate women to do that.

I always hoped Viktor wouldn't have any romantic innuendos because feelings, for Herald, are a weakness. But the fact that they're indulging JayVik fans makes it look NOTHING like that. Like, I'm not a fan of this ship, but even I don't consider what they showed as brotherly feelings. Especially from Viktor's side. He is literally too concerned with Jayce's opinion.

I also think that the writers largely emphasized the clips and fights, but didn't add to the story itself. I mean Silco's deep thoughts in the first season on political topics and the theme of family in general was shown much better.

Herald is essentially non-existent. It's a character for the last two episodes who is immediately killed off because of a few words from Jayce. Viktor returns and they vaporize somewhere. I take it this is starting a recurring time loop.

They kind of tried to put in Viktor's “here he's come to the realization on his own that humanity is bad”, but they did it SO FAST and literally because of one event that it looked bad. Yeah, it's not about hexcore. VIKTOR SUPPOSEDLY CAME TO THIS ON HIS OWN. Why? Because Jayce shot him, and then Jayce helped him realize otherwise. No, really, what was that?

I also didn't like the redesign. I was hoping the mask would look different, but it looks HORRIBLE.

It's supposed to give the impression that Viktor “shut down and withdrew into himself”, they also tried to make him a “deity”, but since it only lasted 20 minutes before he went back to his normal state, it didn't make any sense… Anyway… I sympathize with everyone who loved Viktor specifically, outside jayvik ship (happy for you guys). I know they are excited, but this is not Viktor's story. You see, Viktor doesn't have his own personal story now, he's too connected to Jayce. You could say he did everything and nothing at the same time. Because he keeps running this time loop, but he's running it because of Jayce's influence.

Waiting for his updated lore to read….. idk I'll read it and forget it like a bad dream.

[hextechmadelesbians]

Caitlyns path to destruction is really intresting in how it shows how people get pushed in to extremist thinking via grief and fear.

Historically speaking, the way fascist movements gain followers is by preying on those who have suffered recent tragedy or trauma (often as a result to social injustices or soical unrest) and basically use it to create a common false enemy. They take complex problems and emotions and say "all your problems can go away if we just get rid of those guys." This is particularly effective against dominate social groups who have almost always already been socially conditioned to think lesser of marginalised groups, whether or not they consciously realize it or not.

Caitlyn was learning the inherit injustices done by piltover and was trying to fix things by using her connections to the council. And even then when everything went to shit cause of jinx she still defended the people of Zaun. She even admitted to jayce that she understands why people are so quick to hate them all cause she was starting to feel that way, and at that point she was able to acknowledge and address it.

But then the attack at the memorial seems to confirm those negeative beliefs. For as much as caitlyn was sympathetic to the zaunites she seems to have had this idea that if you get rid of silco and jinx then suddenly all their problems will dissappear. But with an attack that had nothing to do with either of them, and with her preexsisting implicit bias, shes left with no one to blame but the collective.

Theres also the whole thing regarding the whole "i had the shot" issue. Caitlyn feels personally responsible for her mothers death because she didn't take out Jinx when she had the chance, all because Vi asked her not to. This mixed with her implicit bias becoming exceedingly more explicit, makes for a dangerous concoction for someone very open for extremist messaging.

(Sidenote: This isnt the first we've seen this in the show, back in act 3 Jayce did something very similar with the whole "you didnt tell me they were from the undercity" "im from the undercity" conversation with viktor)

This is also the thing that causes her to ultimately betray Vi, because once again she stopped her from taking the shot that she believes would of solved everything. Not only that but while Vi isnt necessarily wrong by comparing Caitlyn's actions to Jinx, saying it that way outloud was not the correct move qnd i think its what ultimately led Caitlyn to hitting her. Comparing Caitlyn to the person who murdered her mother, regardless of how true it is, was never gonna get a level headed response. Mixed with her growing fear of Zaunites now effecting how she sees Vi, it was inevitable she was going to do something impulsive shes gonna regret.

Cutting ties with Vi is also in itself going to bite her later because Vi was both her only remaining emotional rock and the one whos willing to openly criticise her. Vi will tell Caitlyn when she thinks shes wrong or doing something stupid which helps keep Caitlyn grounded. With her gone theres not really anyone who she trusts to stop her from doing something apprehensive.

This has all primed her to be the perfect target for Ambessa Maddarda, because shes emotionally impulsive enough to take rash action and vulnerable enough to manipulate, She now has access to the most powerful vassel she could hope to get (especially since Mel told her to fuck off). Ambessa has the power to manipulate the situation to make Caitlyn feel more and more justified in her paranoia of Zaunites and Ambessa can act like a yes man to all her worst impulses. Shes already fed into Caitlyns sense of personal responsibility for the council blowing up, immediately telling her that her mother will be avenged.

If im honest im not sure how Caitlyn is gonna come back from this one, i absolutely think shes gonna back out sooner than later much like jayce did. (Honestly she parallels S1 Jayce a lot which is why its kind of surprising to see people react to her going down this route with so much more vitriol than with Jayce.) Its definitely going happen but the question is if Ambessa will ever coerce her into staying in the hot seat or if she'll straight up try to kill her.

Either way this is going to be an extremely entertaining train wreck to watch.

[aingeal98]

More act 2 thoughts but I really do love how this show does generational trauma. The Medardas are the strongest example of this but it's also so clear from this act how Vi and Jinx inherited the worst parts of Vander and Silco respectively.

Vander was a community oriented man with a big picture focus and a dream of freeing his people from oppression until he lost one of the people he loved most and the guilt caused him to turn insular, to prioritise protecting the remaining family above all else because it's all his fault, all his responsibility. Vi started the series rightfully furious at Piltover, made one decision to steal from them, and the knock on effects from that decision left her with so much guilt that all she could focus on was her responsibility to her remaining family. All that mattered was Powder and then Powder died and there's a monster called Jinx in her place and it's still Vi's fault, Vi's responsibility, nothing else matters except fixing her family mistakes.

Except it doesn't work for either of them! By rejecting their principles and drive for justice they fail to protect their loved ones. You cannot sacrifice everything on the altar of protecting your family, not when you're from Zaun. You do not have that luxury and you never will.

Meanwhile Silco and Jinx are in the complete opposite situation. Silco is driven at first by that same community justice as Vander, his dream for a greater Zaun comes from collaboration with his loved ones. But then his loved ones reject him, Vander tries to kill him. And so Silco turns ruthless, amoral, rejecting the community that rejected him. Zaun is no longer a dream of uplifting the entire community but simply a dream of a nation with Silco in charge, no matter how much suffering he must inflict on fellow Zaunites to make it happen. His vision is self centred, focused only on himself, and it's never going to last. You cut yourself off and pretend you're too good to feel except whoops you have a daughter now and those emotions you've repressed will be your undoing.

Enter Powder/Jinx. They're in the exact same situation at the end of s1 act 1, a child who was rejected by the village and will now burn it all down to feel it's warmth. Only unlike Silco and his dream of Zaun, Jinx's only dream is to be valued by her loved ones. But she's the same as Silco when it comes to that insular, self centered drive. In S2 all of Zaun is rallying behind her and she literally does not give a shit! These people mean nothing to her, they never have. Her close personal bubble is all that matters. She pretends she doesn't care about anything to lessen the hurt of being rejected except whoops people are genuinely grateful when she breaks them out, sincerity that she doesn't feel worthy of and doesn't know how to handle. Also congrats you have a little sister now and those emotions you've repressed will be your undoing.

It's kind of fascinating how despite how Vi and Jinx made good progress towards healing in act 2, I don't think either of them have managed to escape the unhealthy mentalities their fathers passed down to them. Nor has Caitlyn escaped the unhealthily mentality her parents passed down to her, although that ones a little more obvious. All this to say shout out to Mel Medarda I'm looking forward to whatever you do in act 3 to defeat your mother. Break that toxic cycle girl you seem to be the only one capable of doing so right now.

[unluckiestmember]

Arcane Characters + Working at the Brothel

Summary: You finally got a job! But it’s at the brothel. Here’s how the Arcane cast reacts to it. 

Characters: Jinx, Vi, Caitlyn, Viktor, Ekko, Silco, Sevika, Mel, Jayce, Vander

Warning: None. Mostly SFW, some suggestive themes here and there though.

A/N: I personally would never work at the brothel. But if I did, you can catch me in the same room as the Brothel Girl ;)

Jinx

“You got a job?! That’s great news, toots! Where?... The brothel? Awesome! I’ll try and go there every week- No every day- No, no no! Every hour!”

Will literally be a super supportive girlfriend. She’s just excited at the fact you actually got a job after you’ve been complaining about being unemployed for so long. She happily goes to the brothel almost every day you work just to be your client. The visits are sweet, but also weird because sometimes she’ll pay you even though you both live together. But her actions are appreciated.

Vi

“Oh, you got the job? No way, that’s awesome! What’s the job though?... You’re working at the brothel? Huh. Okay.”

Honestly, Vi is okay with your line of work. Though she would lie if she said she wasn’t a little fearful for you. You are her lover after all! You mean the world to her and if she was to hear that someone touched you wrong or cussed you out for doing your job, she would probably kill someone. Luckily, her fear subsided when she spoke with Babette, who assured her nothing bad would happen to you. Sometimes Vi will surprise you at work when she’s done with her job early or has a day off. When she’s your client, you two will either talk for hours on end or use the many experimental rooms around you to your advantage. Wink wink-

Caitlyn Kiramman

“Congratulations on getting the job, darling. What will you be doing for work?... Oh. Um. Well, um. Alright. N-No, don’t worry. I’m okay… Why the brothel?”

Caitlyn is honestly against it. She might play coy and act like she’s alright with you talking to and doing things with strangers in Zaun, but she’s actually upset when you first tell her. She gives you a somewhat cold shoulder attitude for a few days until you confront her about it. It takes her some time, but she slowly warms up to you working at the brothel. She’ll sometimes show up and say she’s a customer to talk to you about her day. Be ready to have her visit you during hours if she’s had a terrible day at work.

Viktor

“Where will you be working now?... The brothel? Okay. Are you sure you want to work there though? I heard of the sort of things that happen there.”

Viktor is not against you working at the brothel. He just needs to make sure you’ll be safe. He knows Zaun can be shady with their business transactions, let alone that Zaunites can get handsy for little to no reason. If you assure him you’ll be okay, he’ll believe you. However, this doesn’t change that he will always be concerned about you when you’re at work. He’ll go to the brothel sometimes on his break just to check up on you. You can try and make him stay there for a visit, but he’ll politely decline. Besides, that’s not really his kind of setting.

Ekko

“The brothel, huh? What do you do there?... Oh, talk? That’s cool. So like therapy?... Woah. Woah! You sure you wanna do that?!”

Ekko will be super skeptical of your new line of work. He’s usually not a jealous guy, but when he hears that people will be paid to do whatever they want to you, he loses it. It’s not until you tell him that you have the decision to decline offers and choose what boundaries you have does he calm down a bit. He knows you are your own person, so he’ll let you stay at the brothel. But he’ll never tell you he has some firelights scoping out the area for your safety… Oops.

Silco

“You? Working at the brothel? I don’t think so, my love. I don’t think so…”

Silco is definitely against you working at the brothel. He knows about the kind of men and women that go there. Hell, he knows that Sevika goes there! You can try your damndest to go to work, but this man will use any excuse and obstacle he can find. Walking there? Oh no, an investigation was happening at the entrance. Got called in? Gonna have to decline because you had to go on a mission with Sevika. Because of his actions, you almost lose your job just as quickly as you got it. You know Silco’s secretly being a clingy boyfriend, but there’s so far you can go before your actions are borderline ridiculous.

Sevika

“... Wait. What?”

Sevika will be so confused as to why you got a job at the brothel. She’ll also become more cautious of going there. She’s a regular customer, so if she were to go one day and hear that one of the clients has been talking about her rendezvous to you? She’ll just want to crawl into a hole and die. After a few days of her avoiding you, she tells you about her visits. You’re understandably upset, but you forgive her as long as she hasn’t and doesn’t cheat on you. From that day forward, Sevika is still a regular, but she’s also your number one client.

Mel Medarda

“That’s good to hear, honey. Where will you be working?... Like hell you are.”

You can argue, you can talk it out, you can do sweet things for her, but Mel will never let you work at the brothel. She knows from her time in Noxus and through her mother how those kinds of places work. So the last thing she needed was to see or imagine you having one on one time with someone in an inappropriate manner for money. She doesn’t care if you can choose what happens to you, she will still stand against it. Before you know it, you’ve lost your job. But luckily Mel is quick to help you find another.

Jayce Talis

“So you’re working at the brothel? What’s that? Like a church or something?”

The poor innocent fool that is known as Jayce. He has spent his entire life in Piltover, never setting foot outside of the topside to explore the undercity. So of course he doesn’t know what a brothel is! He will think you have a sweet job helping people worship an entity or guide them in life. One day though, he chose to give you a surprise visit. And when he saw what you were actually doing? Well, let’s just say Babette closed the brothel down for a while when a bunch of enforcers came crashing through her place with a vengeance. By the way, you were fired.

Vander

“You finally got a job? That’s great to hear. So where is it, huh?... Oh, the brothel. You just gave me a reason to start going back there.”

Vander is supporting your work at the brothel. This big softy will literally pop up there occasionally to be your client for the entire day. He will take advantage of all the different rooms the brothel has and the services it provides with you by his side. Though you both have one rule; Never let the kids know, no matter what. Even if they question your line of work, keep your mouth shut. The last thing they need is their minds being blown when they hear what you do for a living.

Arcane requests are currently open! :D

Likes and retweets are always appreciated! I love you all, be safe and have a good day! <3

[sticcmann]

i compiled my season 2 thoughts

its just not that good! its really not that good! Compared to season 1 of arcane, it really is a downgrade, which is such a shame. It's too much crammed into one and I have some other points.

In no particular order, first I'd like to talk about the recontextualization of the relationships between Silco, Jinx, Vi and Vander. The Felicia bits were UNNEEDED!!! Silco adopting Jinx because he projected onto her and Vander adopting those kids because he realized his failures was so beautiful. The fact that Vander and Silco were their godfathers already does a great disservice to Claggor and Mylo.

The letter doesn’t make sense at all either. The way Vander says “there’s worse things than enforcers out there” does not say “yeah I kind of want that guy back” (+ Benzo being mad at Silco too) and so the good timeline au also doesn’t make sense. The two concepts of “oo yeah this guy is bad I don’t want to associate with him anymore” and “oo yeah what I did to this guy is bad” can coexist in Vander’s head seeing as he says that he can’t forgive himself for drowning Silco. Maybe I’m just reading too into it and Vander is alarmed about Silco because he’s hearing rumours of his uprising or something. The whole woman died I’m angry and this is our big drama thing is just not a good explanation still.

Second, the sidelining of the oppression storyline. That was easily the most compelling theme for me in season 1, and the fact that it’s resolved by a banding together to defeat the real enemy plot is lazy and frankly disappointing. I’m sure others can give a better take on this with more problems but I’m not qualified enough.

Third. Jinx’s self sacrifice. Jinx was such a good representation of mental illness, and it pained me to see her go. The arc leading to her death does not make sense! Was Isha’s death for nothing? Jinx learning to appreciate life and healing from her trauma only for her to never get the satisfying conclusion of a happy life is cruel. My personal opinion is that she was written off to eliminate problems for Caitvi.

Lastly, did not like how Ekko saved the day with the saving the day machine. Cheap.

Now for some personal takes which you can ignore:

Viktor’s new design sucks and they should have given him cybernetic shit for more robot. I like the cyborg mage a lot. Also he didn’t get to be evil long enough.

Warwicks design also sucks and they should give him the wolf head but I hear rumours they will so I won’t dwell on it.

Not enough dictator Caitlyn! She got redeemed too easily. Also caitvi happened too fast frfr like dude they had domestic violence? And gas? And the almost killing a child thing? And the jinx imprisonment thing? Jinx was literally about to end it all and these two are going at it in jail.

Ambessa is a weak villain. That’s it

Tl dr

Silco Vander and Felicia bits are not great

Sidelined oppression

Sidelined Jinx’s arc

Time Machine deus ex machina is not great

Viktor and Warwick look like ass but that’s just my opinion

Bad caitvi resolution

Ambessa is not interesting

Now I can only hope that they don’t mess up on the Noxus spin-off, because I’m really looking forward to that! Mel interacting with the hardened politicians of that region would be so interesting to see. Swain is one of my major favourites and I wonder what they’ll do with him.

[eerna]

Hiii I have some thought contributions to the Arcane symposium if you'll have me!

I see people understandably angry at how Arcane handles who is or isn’t a villain and I suppose my two cents is that I didn’t have any hope of them handling it right in the first place, even back in s1 there were always parallels made, always some “both cities have good and bad” nuance when one city doesn’t have air to breathe and is colonized by the other. If anything the beginning of s2 was more consistent in that the second Caitlyn is personally inconvenienced she goes full chemical warfare and mass institutional violence

Personally I thought it unlikely that they suddenly change narrative tones and resolve the plot in a way that was satisfying to me, and I knew the pacifist “choose love not hate <3 zaun and piltover arms in arms” both-sides ending was inevitable, so I’m glad they at least had that whole thing with Viktor and Jayce and the timelines to distract me from it

“they shouldn’t have made Viktor, a Zaunite, the villain” but Arcane always made the villain a Zaunite! Before Viktor there was Silco, Piltover chooses peace but Jinx blows the council up and now they have to do a whole “look what you made us do” arc. This was my beef with Arcane from day 1 (it wasn't emphasized enough, IMO, that the villain is Piltover's oppression and marginalization of Zaun, and that this context renders null any "both cities" comparison)

Also Vi was written so poorly this season what's up with that

All that being said I suppose it’s more complicated to discern “writer’s intent” from that kinda show than it would be in a book or an indie project where there are fewer people involved in the plot writing and less interference. Like one deleted scene or one line of dialogue omitted radically changes the message. But well, there's the intended message and there's the manifest message and as the audience we are allowed to criticize both

Of course we shall, step to the podium~ Truly, the "writer's intent" is truly so complicated here, because anti-capitalist messaging in mainstream art powered by capitalism is always a nightmare to get through.

Oh yes it's a good take, I remember the discussions from s1 era well! However, I still don't think the "both sides have good and bad" thing is a red flag in stories, simply because it's true IRL. A ton of people have trouble committing to a side in a conflict because neither is totally morally pure, which completely blinds them to the truth that NOTHING is morally pure and choosing the lesser evil is the way to go. Silco was a brilliant villain to me because he was an oppressor himself, as people in power are rarely anything else, but that didn't mean that Zaunite ideals were worth any less! After all, Ekko held the same anti-Piltover ideals, but he is morally pure and thus unable to become an influential politician. He can support a small society, but not a large one, because no one really can do that without resorting to some bad shit. Just because Silco dreamed of being the same as Piltover's elite and became a class traitor by forcing his citizens into another toxic work culture, except this time they made HIM rich instead of Piltover, doesn't mean we should just give up on trying to make things better. Zaun during Silco's reign is just as worthy of freedom and equality as Zaun during Vander's reign. It doesn't matter that there are terrorists living there now - that doesn't excuse Piltover's violent actions. And s1 seemed to be aware of that, considering how the Enforcers were depicted, and in the end it's the Piltover council who are forced to give up instead of the Undercity. And the choice of peace wasn't as morally pure as it sounds: the council opposed it and was forced into it by Jayce and Mel's combined power, even Jayce was resistant to the terms at first, AND it still left the Undercity in Silco's hands, fixing absolutely none of the sins they committed there. It wasn't an evil terrorist blowing up a bunch of hippies, it was a hurt Undercity girl setting in motion an event that has been brewing for a long, long time, against a system which gave too little, too late.

So yeah, in short, I don't interpret s1 as ever trying to question whether Zaun was right to demand more from Piltover by saying "well both sides are bad so nothing should change". It simply showed the ugly truth to any revolution: leaders are practically never good people, and those who get too close to it are doomed to very cursed lives. And yet, giving up isn't an option, because the system IS bad and the system HAS to be changed, and if that isn't gonna happen by the way of peace, then you can't help but sympathize with those who were wronged when they do something horrible.

That's why it only worked when it focused on individual characters - that way you can understand why everyone is acting the way they are acting, and you avoid falling into broad strokes. S2 instead focuses on the aesthetic of revolution and war and the characters get lost in the big picture, which absolutely sucks and completely negates everything I've been typing about here. In fact, who knows, maybe my opinion changes too after I sit with s2 for a while and contextualize s1 within it. Maybe I was just wishfully thinking and misinterpreting this whole time. I already feel like a clown for defending this show, so I can totally accept that I could probably be wrong here. But I just wanted to write it all out in the name of discussion and interpretation!

[ferociousmilfpope]

Nothing gets you into back into writing and creating quite like watching a good show. The first batch of episodes for season 2 came out today (November 9th, 2024) and I've binged it all without breaks, and here is all the thoughts I have 5 minutes after finishing.

They did not make Vi a cop. Read: she never accepts the lie of peace through violent 'peacemaking'. Her character was set up in such a way that she can't, and they stay loyal to that. Vi refuses the enforcers, refuses invasion, refuses shelter in Caitlyn's house to defy her, refuses the badge that would grant her everything she wants, refuses Caitlyn herself, refuses to take the easy 'violent' way out. Her cop art is two episodes long, and it involves her joining a small task force that does what would be considered minimal damage. All in line with both hers and the show's morals.

They made Caitlyn a cop. Read: in the push and pull of power, she chooses power. During the scene where Vi is talking to the 'good' cops the cute girl with the bright eyes mentions that Caitlyn bailed her by threating to withhold her families funding--she bribed them. It's funny. Vi acts as her control. She outright refuses and walks away from Caitlyn when she offers for her to join the forces. She talks her down from a full on enforcer attack to a small strike force comprising of herself, Caitlyn, the 'good' cops, and a poor alcoholic man off the street. When Caitlyn starts abusing her authority again when arresting some poor man left for dead in a vent, Vi cools her down again, deescalating the whole action further by telling her to call the rest of the strike force off now that they served their use. Caitlyn backs down again. Finally, when she gets so close to her goal of killing Jinx, and a final obstacle appears in front of her, seeing that the gun in her hand gives her the power to clear it, she decides to take the shot. This is Caitlyn's true turning point. When she shoots Vi, and then when she tries too shoot the at the kid and Jinx. The scene where they kiss is fits into this theme too: Vi begs her not to change, and Caitlyn tells her she wont. And she doesn't.

There is a difference between what a story portrays and what it says about what its portraying. All this to say this is politically, socially, philosophically conscious writing. For example, the beginning of episode two is a 'cool' montage of the strike force committing violence on the undercity. But it begins with the Kiramman ancestor's saying "the people of the undercity deserve to breath," and then cuts to Caitlyn using the vents to choke them. No matter how styling the montage is, the irony of the juxtaposition hits deep. At the end of episode two, Jinx mocks Vi for this specific fact, "you're poisoning us too now?" The

And therein lies their tension: Vi is never seduced by power or lofty visions. Caitlyn is, both to cope with her personal tragedy, and because it comes easy to her. It is all tied together by the motif of the vents and the smog. Finally, despite the depth of their interpersonal conflicts, and their personal psychologies and aspirations--there are the people of Zaun, and the poison they ingest. 'Janna's' wind blows away Caitlyn (and Vi) and all the smog, and redirects it towards the surface. And it is the perfect tie: scoping out from interpersonal drama to games of power.

Everybody is sort of pushed around in the aforementioned games of power. Caitlyn by the specter of her mother and her legacy (and love); Vi by her 'guilt by taint' connection to Jinx and love for Caitlyn, Jinx by her filial love for Silco, Jayce by his public expectations. Whatever their crimes and mistakes we can at least sympathize with their reluctance at their inclusion in the game. The active player in the first season was Mel--here, its Ambessa. And unlike Mel, her sights are on war and power at all costs. She moves all the pawn pieces: orchestrates the attack on the memorial, manipulates the sole remaining council member, and finally recruits Caitlyn as her mask, as a symbol to hide behind and maneuver with even more freedom. The scene where Ambessa calls out for war and invites Caitlyn, intercut with all the moves she made to get everyone here, is one the my favorite scenes ever. Ambessa you're so sexy pls become more evil.

The fundamental lesson: Summed up for me in the title of S1E3: 'The Base Violence Necessary for Change'.

The connective thread is betrayal of love for something greater. Ambessa abandons Mel in her pursuit of power (despite her claims to the contrary). Caitlyn abandons Vi in her pursuit of power. Victor abandons Jayce to ????. And, the central conflict of the show, Vi abandons Jinx in her adherence to her morals and self-ascribed protector role. Unlike any of them though,--unlike Cait who butts Vi in her old wound, or Vi does not manage to actually punch Jinx when she gets the chance. Maybe the greater good should include the things we love? Is it worth anything if it doesn't?

Arcane has an amazing team of artists and writers behind it. Whatever fumbles it has are directorial. Victor's arc continues to be this. I wanted machine herald, not arcane jesus. I can appreciate the 'close call with the void brought me enlightenment concerning the weakness of the human conditions', but that isn't how they've gone about it so far so. I don't think we're getting machine herald from this, and I hope I'm wrong.

Closing remarks:

It continues to amaze me that I got exactly the show I wanted, with exactly the characters I wanted, with exactly the region I wanted explored, with exactly the themes and politics I wanted explored. THEY MADE A SHOW ABOUT MY FAVORITE CHARACTER, MY FAVORITE LESBIANS IN LEAGUE, and my favorite geopolitical conflict in league. I tear up a little when I think about it. This show feels like it was made specifically for me.

The budged thrown towards this thing shows like in no other production.

The character designs are AMAZINGGGGGG. The chem barons are my favorite.

Them including Janna's story, especially with such an important thematic role, is very meaningful to me.

[notcryingtoday]

so huge review about arcane, lot of spoilers and not at all constructed

please isha don't be dead I SWEAR AAAAH

SOMEONE SAVE MY GIRL MEL KFKZNS PLEASE

caitvi better f*ck in those next three episodes

actually if jinx dies too i'm gonna riot (you guys get it? riot)

viktor i know you're not dead don't come back even more emotioneless we already know jayce can't take it (i didn't forget that pathetic "and me" like stfu)

jayce defender until i die he wasn't exactly him and had his reasons i'm sure (genocide ain't it tho)

i was legit crying with all that sappy stuff about family and all those flash-backs between vander silco and vi/powder's mom (where are the au fics) and isha/jinx and vander vi and jinx and isha giving water to vander and AGGGGH

so it is jayce's fault but yeah

arcane is about love tbh (like almost every movie and show because it's so interesting) but i wasn't ready for the cult leader to be actually kinda nice and trying to do right in the strangest way possible and then being killed by robinson crusoe

sky not being a guilt tripping device used by the arcane was kinda cool? my theory is that she's part of the hive mind and since she mattered a lot to viktor (both in his developpment and as a person) it makes sense that he saw her, he's not exactly a "working alone" kinda guy and loved her ideas soo

WHERE'S EKKO AND THE FLUFFY OLD FURRY

if ekko was there none of it would have happened i swear (no but i will never be proven wrong)

actually ekko should just go back in time and never scam jayce

is mel x jayce dead? that's sad they had a nice buildup

AMBESSA AND MEL REUNION WHEN?

also cait becoming a good person again after seeing vi with nothing but BANDAGES as a top is so relatable

[givingblood]

Feeling stupid bc other than it being rushed as fuck, I didn't think it was bad? Kinda doubting myself rn

Don't stress dude you have the popular opinion, a lot of people agree with you.

I just feel like we spent a lot of time with characters we had already explored (silco Felicia vander) and characters we don't really have any reason to know (kino), we got black rose for no reason, I feel like Mel could have been such a great push back against Ambessa, let her outfox the wolf, let her be the mediating voice for Caitlyn rather then creating Maddy to pat Cait on the back and say "Ur a good person x"

Maddy has no value and having Caitlyn sleep with someone regardless of how little she seemed emotionally invested feels like lazy shock value, if Maddy was used as a stand in to show that Caitlyn is doing everything she can to stop thinking about Vi then I'd see it as a characte development but it wasn't, she was just there and then she wasn't.

Caitlyn was so under utilised, I thought I was going to see this new arc, where she decends into a form of jinx derangement, where she gets lost in her fear of jinx and have her slowly start to unravel the wool that Ambessa placed over her eyes, but that's not what we got. Caitlyn followed Ambessa around, and turned on her seconds after running into Vi. Also, the blue eye samurai part rubbed me the wrong way and by the trailer I think we are seeing hand to hand combat with Ambessa and God, please give my girl her rifle... please.

Vi, my sweet angel, I was told by the show runners that this was going to be her season, we are going to see her at her lowest, explore who Vi is when she has no one to protect, but we literally did not get that at all. Within minutes of seeing Jinx she is back on buddy terms, they have playful banter and they are cuddling Warwick. Vi was not given any development, she was just given a dog to protect instead.

Also, Vi was hit in the face twice by the people who deserved to be slapped and that upsets me just because lol.

Isha is lazy to me, she was given to Jinx to be a stand in for her younger self because writing Jinx as someone who has to come to her own senses by taking accountability is just not something the writers could do apparently. We needed a physical embodiment of her former self to get her to care about her actions and she was used to develop Jinxes empathy while the lives of the people Jinx ruined (vi, caitlyn, sevika, the undercity) crumbles around her.

Viktors arc felt like I was watching a different show, it felt uncanny, unlike Arcane and any time he went into his weird cosmos I cringed, Skye being there drove me crazy too, this girl meant nothing to Viktor, she didn't even call her by her first name. They were colleagues, and she had unrequited feelings.

Mel and the black rose felt like they threw Mel in a hole (literally) for 2 eps and brought her back because ??

Where is Sevika? Where is ekko? Where is heimerdinger?

((( I fucked with Jayce this act tho, he kept his word and he's seen the horrors, he's recalibrated to Heimerdingers perspective and it was a journey for him, he came back to fix his mistakes and he looks great doing it)))

I have so many feelings and I'm not the best at articulating them in a way that captures exactly what I'm talking about so I'm sorry if you didn't get much out of this.

It had an emotional weight to it because Arcane always delivers visually and musically, I swear if arcane directed a scene where I dropped my sandwich on the ground they could make that a masterpiece and the audience would be balling their eyes out, they know how to create atmosphere.

Arcane is the best show I've ever watched, I will always recommend it to people, and by the sound of it everyone else loved it, they got what they wanted and I'm so happy for them.

I think I just had my expectations through the roof because season one was a masterpiece.

Act 3 this weekend and the end of arcane, I'm nervous and I truly hope we all end up happy.

[argowrites]

Mortality, Chapter 6

She was eleven the last time Vi had seen her, eighteen now. That was an eternity. A girl could grow, marry, and die in that time. But Vi knew she lived. She had to. Otherwise all of it,  prison, Zaun, the ship, would be for nothing. She told Cait that once and Cait hadn’t known what to say. It was their second day down. They were huddled in the shelter of an alley. Whatever illusions Cait had about any romantic life below were long gone.

“We’ll find her. I swear,” Caitlyn had said, reaching to squeeze her hand.

Vi squeezed it back sadly. Sometimes, she thought it would be easier if she had left her behind in Piltover. She was a distraction. Cait was beautiful and kind and determined and all the things Vi had dreamed about when she was a girl. She had already decided to ask her to come with them once she found Powder. She owed her. It was her fault that she was stuck down below, far from the safety of her wealthy family and Piltover. The fact that neither of them had fallen ill was a miracle. Cait said that the illogical nature of it must be proof of God. Vi shrugged and said God had never done her any favors before and then Cait got that tender look on her face that made her want to touch her cheek or kiss her. But she didn’t. Longing looks and quiet moments were all they had so far, maybe all they’d ever have.

Now the tension between them was so thick Vi could feel it as if it were as real as the wool of her breeches, nubby and worn. Nearly two weeks spent with the one person she was pretty sure understood the parts of her she tried to sand down did that.

Fandom: Arcane: League of Legends

Rating: Mature

Chapters: 6/?

Characters: Viktor, Singed, Silco, Jinx, Ekko, Jayce, Mel, Sevika, Caitlyn, Vi

Relationships: Jayce/Viktor, Caitlyn/Vi, Singed & Viktor, Jinx & Viktor,

Additional Tags: Angst, Multiple POV, Graphic Depictions of Illness, Major Character Death, Black Death AU

[0xy--m0r0n]

i cannot WAIT for the caitlyn and mel parallels

like we see vi and jinx with vander and silco, how its the two daughters becoming their fathers

i think its a little different but mel and caitlyn both having their mothers being powerful people that they don't want to become (mel's case, she doesn't want war; caitlyn's case, she didn't want sit behind a desk and do nothing active for the rest of her life)

and i think it'll be super interesting just how they might twist it. because vander and silco both died, but in this case it's mel and cassandra that died. (as far as we know, sorry mel is alive truthers </3)

so instead of having the two daughts becoming (or not becoming) their mothers, it could be something to do with how ambessa takes caitlyn under her wing so to speak

i wonder how jayce will take that, too, (assuming he lives lmao) that caitlyn is becoming the person that mel could've been, but fought not to be

god s2 is gonna mess EVERYone up goddamn