#one fan art of caitlyn with body hair

[avelera]

So apparently, Fortiche shared concept art where Jayce's Hexcorization in the cave would extend all the way to his face:

And this is really interesting to me from a narrative perspective, here's why:

Much of S2 Jayce's arc is incredibly... punitive. Like, he is really being punished step by step for everything he did wrong in S1. From Renni terrorizing and almost killing him for the death of her son, to Viktor leaving him "for another woman" (the Hexcore as represented by Sky) much like Jayce left him for politics as represented by Mel, there's really a sense of the narrative not only tearing Jayce down to his bare essentials (something that's very common for TV writing to do, by the way, it's very common that you want to see characters reduced down to who they are for their "long night of the soul" moment before they learn the lessons of what they really stand for before going into the climax armed with those lessons), but Jayce's time in the cave really goes even further than that and not only does S2 take away his political career, his Hextech ambitions, his state as someone able-bodied, much of his strength, and certain other gifts, it looks like in this draft they considered taking away his beauty too.

I think it would have been interesting either way if they had, but I want to dive into the narrative structure of action and punishment in Arcane, why Hexcorizing Jayce's face might have been a step too far and not really addressed a lesson he needed to learn, and my thoughts on punitive character arcs in general in Arcane (or lack thereof), specifically with regards to Jayce and Caitlyn.

I've mentioned elsewhere that I always found it interesting that much of the hate directed towards Jayce by the fans was for his perceived incompetence in difficult moments, rather than at how naturally gifted he seems to be at everything.

When I first watched S1 on my own, I thought Jayce was a bit unbearable because everything comes so easily to him (after Viktor becomes his partner and Hextech takes off as a result, that is). He is naturally beautiful, he's built like a god but doesn't appear to do any sort of exercise routine to maintain this other than working in the forge, he becomes the Man of Progress and rockstar of Piltover pretty much without trying, girls are literally sighing dreamily as he goes by.

He's also naturally a genius, from what we see, revolutionizing multiple industries with one invention. Even his rescue as a child is a literal miracle and it spurs him to create an invention that makes him a rockstar. When he enters politics, he immediately dominates, to the point where he's able to get a unanimous vote to overthrow the founder of the city within weeks of going there. Even in battle he's naturally gifted and naturally lucky during the raid of the Shimmer factory (up until the death of Renni's son), even though he has no prior skills as far as we know. He also wins the love of arguably the most beautiful woman in the series, again, seemingly without trying.

Then, S2 doesn't just take all of this away from him, it seems to go a step further into actually punishing Jayce for how easy and miraculous his life was in S1.

I'm of two minds about the Hexcorization reaching his face, but I have a hypothesis. I think it would have looked fucking rad but, I kinda get why they didn't do it:

Because Jayce's good looks are not something he can control, unlike the other things the narrative punishes him for.

Insofar as he can control his looks, he gives up on the clean-cut, immaculate "Golden Boy" image. Even in the idealized astral plane, he keeps most of the marks of his time in the pit like his hair and beard. I think it's because Jayce likes who he became down there. The clean-cut version of him was always the mask of him trying to please others, Jayce's appearance after he emerges from the cave is him shedding the opinions of others (contrast this with how Viktor idealizes himself in the astral plane, removing all marks of his illness. This isn't a criticism, just an interesting point of contrast).

So basically, my theory is Fortiche may have pulled back on Hexcorizing Jayce's face on the one hand to soften the visuals a bit, but secondly because it keeps the focus on punishing Jayce for things he chose to do, rather than things he doesn't really have control over.

But make no mistake, the narrative comes down hard on Jayce in S2, for every little thing the fans could and often did hate him for in S1. He pays for all of them, arguably in excess of what he maybe deserved, since as he says he didn't ask for any of this. But he did go along with it, and there's where the hammer of consequence (quite literally) comes down on him, tears away all his privileges, drags him down to literally the level of Viktor when he first left the undercity and says, "You have to do it all again but now focused on what really matters, and it's going to be ten times harder than it ever was."

This, in my opinion, is why Jayce is so popular coming out of S2. It is a hell of an arc, it's a hell of a redemption! You gave the man everything any man could want, then you took it all away, and then as his crowning moment of showing he has truly learned these lessons and made up for his mistakes, he makes possibly the most loving gesture possible, puts his weapons down, and reaches out to the person he loves most and literally sacrifices himself on the altar of his mistakes to make things right and show Viktor he is loved, and to protect Viktor from the horrifically lonely fate of his future self. It doesn't get any more noble, loving, or self-sacrificing than that.

Because more than we like to see a character punished we like to see them learn from their mistakes and come back better. Jayce's S2 nobility is earned, perhaps even to excess, no one can question whether he suffered enough to make up for what he did in S1 but even the most uncharitable read of him in S1, his biggest hater, would have to agree his time spent starving to death in agony, alone in that cave for months, has got to be just about the worst punishment a human can face and live.

Which is one reason I must add that I find it a little puzzling that Arcane's creators didn't predict the hate that Caitlyn would get in S2.

Keep in mind, because this is very important, the Arcane creators did not make S2 in response to fan reactions to S1. S2 was already in production and the script was locked in and done before anyone outside their organizations saw S1. So nothing that happens in S2 is as a result of fan response.

But, the creators did understand that Jayce was going to need to suffer narrative punishment for what he did in S1 in order to be redeemed, whether they predicted how hated he would be after S1, they did predict that redemption would be necessary. And boy-howdy, did they give him a hell of a redemption arc!

But Caitlyn's S2 actions are almost in lock-step similar to Jayce's S1 actions, being manipulated (by a Medarda!) into accepting power, but maybe not having a choice in the matter, but still maybe expanding that power on their own because it is useful in its own right. Caitlyn also makes terrible mistakes. A child doesn't die but people in the undercity do get hurt during her rage-fuled raids, even if most of them are mob bosses and their goons. The narrative asks, does that make it right? Caitlyn like Jayce hurts the person closest to her who is from the undercity and uses bigoted language against the people of the undercity to Vi's face in much the same way that Jayce did to Viktor on the bridge, though in Jayce's defense, he apologized immediately after.

So, seeing how hated Jayce was coming out of S1, to the point where there's still barely any merchandise of him, I'm shaking my head rather ruefully that there was so much merch made for Caitlyn this time around. And I get it! Caitlyn and Vi were very popular after S1, they are intentionally THE main romance of the show and it was a very popular romance coming out of the innocence of their meet cute in S1.

But it's a romance that dearly needed a longer third act if you wanted Caitlyn to be as embraced after her mistakes as Jayce was after making up for his all through S2. You need to give her as long or at least as in-depth of a redemption act with as much suffering and acknowledgment of her mistakes if you want Vi and Caitlyn at the end to get celebrated the way Jayce making it up to Viktor is, because as much as I understand the choice to focus on pacing instead of exposition, and I do think Caitlyn's apology and realization of her mistakes are there on the page more than people complain, I do also agree that it is a bit "blink and you'll miss it" even if it's there. Jayce got a whole episode of being thrown into the Torment Nexus for his mistakes, real or imagined, if you didn't like him or his choices, you definitely got the sadistic glee of watching life kick the stuffing out of him for what he did in S1.

But besides her fight with Ambessa, which was a result of a confluence of many events in the story, not just Caitlyn's mistakes, Caitlyn doesn't really suffer much for the mistakes she made to those she loves. Her losing an eye to Ambessa didn't happen because she said bigoted things to Vi or became a short-term puppet dictator of Piltover. It was a result of Ambessa's actions and maneuvering more than it was a result of Caitlyn's personal mistakes to her loved ones.

In contrast, Jayce's time in the pit gave him the chance to reflect on and suffer for the the mistakes he made that led to the Anomaly that led to him being down in this pit, and what he would do to make it up to his loved ones like Viktor when he returned. Caitlyn never got a moment like that and from what I'm seeing of the vitriol directed towards her, so similar to what Jayce got after S1, it seems like she really needed it if we were going to like her to the same extent again, in a way uncomplicated by lingering questions about whether she ever truly learned the lessons her character needed to learn to grow as a person.

And it's just funny to me that a narrative that was so aware that this whole huge punishment arc was needed to rehabilitate Jayce wasn't aware that we'd need one for Caitlyn too, at least if they're going to move all that merch they made for her (please give us Jayce merch, Riot, I'm begging).

[meshugana1]

Girls being turned into braindead cosplayers at a local anime convention?

   Morgan slide through the crowd as she usually did. Her slender legs gave no impression as to their direction between her long strides. Her dress drew the eyes of those lucky enough to catch a glimpse of her between blinks. Over the years going unnoticed came naturally to her, but in these places, it was only too fun not to make an appearance, no matter how brief. She could observe these places for years and never see the same thing. There were Deadpools beyond counting and more Thanos’s than the Avengers could ever handle. The unusual ones were her favorite. The Caskas’s and the Ryokos were few and far between, but they often had the most detail placed on them. That alone was worthy of her respect.

   But even more than the beautiful costumes that told stories all their own or the instant kinship two strangers felt if they wore complimenting uniforms,  Morgan loved the stories people brought with them. She had read signed editions of the original Ghost in the Shell and seen more Mobil Suit Gundam than even she could remember. She had no idea such vibrancy and beauty was out in the world. If she had, maybe she would’ve fought harder, perhaps so many things would be different.

   “Oh my God, Brandy! That’s so gross; you kiss him if you think he’s so hot.” Morgan heard as she, for the first time in a long time, felt a hard shoulder shove into her back. “Fuck, watch it, loser.” The tall woman said. Morgan laid on the ground, gasping elation from her open mouth. It has been so long since she felt anything, now a person had even spoken to her. So stunned by this miracle, she was that she nearly allowed her to leave. But as she leaped up and lunged at the girls arm her hand, as it had a million times before, passed through unhindered. Her heartbeat beyond counting for the first time since she read the first chapter of Dragon Ball.

   Caitlyn drew her hand up close to her chest, wincing at the sudden cold that passed through it. “Who were you talking to?” Miranda said. It wasn’t often she saw Caitlyn have a senior moment like that. “That little grey faced chick with the slit throat, duh? Now could you please tell me why we’re at this godforsaken place?” Caitlyn said. Her disdain for this sort of event was well documented. The odor alone was enough to convince many to stay away. “Because the food is awesome and cheap. Besides, there’s no entry fee if you have a costume.” Brandy said.“That’s what the name tags were for?” Miranda said. She would’ve preferred to simply pay the five dollars rather than argue as to what constitutes a costume with the ticket takers. Miranda glanced down at her “costume.” It didn’t vary much from her friends; all three wore a simple white name tag that proclaimed their assumed identities. Miranda bore the name “Aisha Clan-Clan” and had little to no idea of who or what that might be, she did hope that she wasn’t unintentionally appropriating something. Brandy’s tag proclaimed her as “Haruka Athena,” the only thing she recognized about that was the Greek deities name. Caitlyn had been dubbed “Mai Shiranui,” it sounded like the only named that actually might belong at this convention. “You better not have picked out something stupid for us,” Caitlyn said. “What do you care,” said Brandy, “we’re just here for the food. It’s not like we’re going to talk to any of these pathetic freaks.”

   Liars. These girls were all liars. How could they be so cruel to people they hadn’t even spoken to? To discard so much beauty and art and creation? These people could see her; they could finally see! How were they so blind? What had she ever done to deserve these frauds as the only people who could even interact with her? One of them had to be a witch, that or she had a lot of latent magical potential. Such a waste. But as Morgan stared at the girls, filling more and more with vitriol, a plan she had read in an old manga popped to the surface of her mind.

   "Pardon me,” Caitlyn heard a weak voice behind her say. When she spun about on her heel, she once again met the morbid little cosplayer. “What do you want, freak?” she said. She hated the culture surrounding the whole anime fanaticism, but she could still appreciate the skill applied in this girls makeup. It almost looked real. “Sorry, I just saw your name tags and I thought that was a clever idea. Very minimalist. Who are you supposed to be again?”“I don’t know; Brandy just got them off some website. What do you care?” Caitlyn said.“Oh no reason, I just heard you say you were here for food and there’s a ton of it over there for super cheap.”“Oh sweet! Thanks, kid,” Caitlyn said. The little girl smiled as she stuck out her hand expectantly. Briefly, thoughts of cooties entered her mind. But they disappeared as all the vitality seemed to vanish from within her as she wrapped her fingers around the girls. She felt her knees stake the floor and her eyes twitched in her skull. Her friends turned to see the color gone from her face. But when they approached her, her fit had ended. Caitlyn gasped for air and dubbed over, But she looked no worse for wear.

   “Cat! Are you ok? What happened?” Miranda said. She grasped her friend’s shoulder as she helped her to her feet.“I’m fine; I guess it’s the cleanse diet I’m on. Where did that girl go?”“What are you talking about, it was only you here,” Brandy said. Before Caitlyn could work up her catty rebuttal, there was an airy feeling around her. In point of fact, all the girls felt a sudden chill pass near them. The chill was countermanded by a sudden warmth spending from Caitlyn’s stomach. “Guy’s, I don’t feel good…” she said. Her scalp began to tingle and she scratched at it furiously. Brandy and Miranda watched as Caitlyn’s blond hair darkened, and watched still as it began to shoot out of her skull nearly reaching the floor. Both of her hands scratched at her growing tresses but did not alleviate the itch. She flung her head back, giving her friends a clear view as her modest chest ballooned out, popping several seams on her shirt. Then every string of her clothes seemed to instantly dissolve, leaving her naked for the briefest of moments until they began to reform. She wore a red Japanese style that left practically all of her legs, hips, and ass exposed, save for slim thong and the giant loose flowing red and white cloth that dangled behind her. Her chest, now nothing less than an H-cup, was barely contained by a top that threatened to release them at the slightest wrong movement. Her hair then spun atop her head and ordered itself into a high ponytail. Caitlyn still scratched her skull; a fire burned in her mind that would not die. But then her tired fingers stopped, and her arms fell to her sides. “Caitlyn?! What the fuck just happened?” Miranda said. Caitlyn had a glassy look in her eye, but suddenly she struck a pose. She produced a fan that matched her outfit from seemingly nowhere and declared “I, Mai Shiranui of the Shiranui school, will punish you!”

   Mirada and Becky tried to rouse her but all they could get her to say was “Me bouncy!” Miranda was so distraught; she failed to notice as her ears began to elongate. They became long and not quite elf-like, then took on a brown furred color. Her scalp began to itch as her hair turned a whitish blonde shade and lengthened all there way to her hips and a giant golden ring formed at the end of her new single braid. Her brown eyes turned blue as the burning in her head became worse. Her proportions did not radically change, but her skin turned dark and became brown. Instead of dissolving like Caitlyn’s, Miranda’s clothes seemed to blur. As if they reformed themselves too fast for the human eye to see. All that was left of her was her mind, and that was burning into ashes. She was dark skinned, but she was mostly clothed. Her chest was the only visible skin aside from her face, and it was on full display. Her bustier was white and her new, very short dress was green. Her arms and thighs felt so much muscular than before, even as the last bit of will was burned away she could tell how strong her body was now. Bandy was in horror as her friends became freaks before her eyes. And as she locked gazes with Miranda, Miranda declared proudly “Ctarl-Ctarl! Ctarl-Ctarl!”

   Brandy had no concept of what happened, but she knew enough to run. She forced her legs to move even as the burning came into her skull. She knocked over a girl in a school outfit as she dashed madly for safety, not even aware of where that might be. Her shoulder-length hair retracted into her skull and turned into a bright blonde combover. Her lithe body became sturdier with study muscle obscured by a thin layer of fat. Her beasts inflated almost in step with her gasped running, creating a massive window of cleavage. The burning in her skull became too intense. She stopped, her breath ragged and desperate for oxygen as she changes were carried out in earnest. Her hips pumped, her clothing vanished, and her body took on a look of a very youthful middle-aged woman. What cloth remained on her body shifted, and a cape sprung from her new shoulder pads. Her plump nether lips were covered by a skimpy blue thong that couldn’t be seen from between her cheeks. The golden crest on her chest left little of her ample new breasts to the imagination as the created a window both above and below her erect nipples. There was no fight left in her as her Hamas fell to the ground. The crowd around her waited, then she leaped up and declared “Eighth Wonder is here!”

   From the outskirt of the venue, a small girl could be seen enjoying the show as three new cosplayers flung themselves into their roles, genuinely embodying the characters they had become. Blank smiles decorated their faces as legions wanted a picture with them. Morgan only smiled, now she had the power to ensure people respected these places, and she was going to put it to use.

The end. Hope Y'all liked it!