#who even likes to see the show for the lore??

[balsamfir-fics]

I generally agree with most of OP's analysis, but less so for the Season 2 write up and the implications that aviktor has some low sense of self-worth emotionally. I'm not a subscriber to the genius cold loner camp either as I am fully on board with the S1 analysis, but I disagree that he has self hatred or loathing in S2.

pretty much until Jayce calls Viktor out in those last 10 minutes, there's no indication that Viktor has internalized self-loathing. Rather, from S1 to the crumbs we got in the earlier S2 episodes-- and even some themes from his confusing LoL lore, his Arcane character reads more to me as resigned rather than self-hating.

In my perspective, he fixed his leg more so because he had nothing to lose and was struck by scientific eureka, and there was no time like the present to runify his leg. It gave us the running scene, which I think is so impactful and freeing because it shows Viktor experiencing what he was missing out in terms of bodily strength and stability, but we see that it's short lived because even with his Arcane leg he's back on crutches afterwards.

Up until Jayce' last pitch to him I never got the impression that Viktor internally saw himself as unworthy of love. perhaps to a small extent subconsciously, but that's what therapy is for. I do agree that he was probably genuinely surprised by the extent of Jayce' and Sky's affection because he was a little blind to it before. But personally I don't see that as internalized self-loathing or feelings of unworthiness for love.

that being said, my disagreement comes at the risk of sounding like i instead am in the "he's a misunderstood cold genius who doesn't need it" camp. rather, I think the truth lies in between.

I've always read his character as optimistic and hopeful, even with his personal relations. he approached jayce fiest. yes, it was motivated by the interesting science, but the way he approaches jayce is fluid, displays high EQ, and is extremely charismatic and witty (and bear in mind he talked Jayce off the cliff kindly and with humor). so I think he understands affection and is more than capable of giving it. what i think actually happens in S2 to reconcile what ahayce said and what OP's interpretation is is that Viktor is the kind of person who will get married to his work/carried away *if not gently reminded to take a goddamn break* but I think he in fact can be coaxed away from it to enjoy receiving affection. so I think the issue is more that he IS confident and so excited about his research that he gets carried away and simply needs reminding from time to time.

plenty of geniuses come off as cold but I don't think it's necessary out of feelings of brokenness. jayce' quotes at the end jarred me at first because I didn't ever get the impression that Viktor felt like he needed fixing per se. I think his desire for perfection came out only after experiencing the Arcane (which we know twisted his thoughts away from his humanity). so, Jayce' speech makes sense to me only with respect to him talking to Viktor the Arcane-corrupted machine mage, as an appeal to the Viktor he knows is underneath. And what he says to Viktor is necessary to break past the Arcane layer in mis hind and to remind the internal Viktor that he is as perfect and worthy as he always believed he was beforehand.

so tldr Jayce' words are a reminder to Viktor, not a epiphany or comfort words.

Something that supremely bothers me is the fact that many people fall back into common stereotypes in their interpretations of characters when a property actively works against it.

Case in point, Arcane. We have Viktor, a brilliant inventor and scientist. But unlike the common stereotypes associated with these Tropes, this man feels things intensely, has an immense amount of empathy, and is kind and considerate. Characters like him are usually written as cold, detached, and emotionally stunted. Not Viktor, though. Despite his scientific mind, he is a complexly feeling individual.

I'm just setting the groundwork here, because my topic of frustration really regards Viktor and his outcast status as a child. I have been noticing a worrying trend of interpreting Viktor as having no interest or time for friends because he's too focused on inventing things and is too smart to relate to them. And sure, that can be true to a point.

^ But this is not the face of a kid that has no interest in socializing with his peers. He locks eyes with Sky several times, obviously making sure she is watching and that maybe if she finds his invention cool she will join him. This is a boy who wants friends. But he is rejected. Time and time again. And spoiler: it's not because he's smart.

Viktor's isolation and lack of friends as a child was not due to him being 'too smart' or 'too focused on inventing', it was due to him being disabled. He didn't really have friends because kids are mean and being kids, they judge a book by its cover more often than not. It is something so many disabled people face every day. You are either treated as invisible or as if you are made of glass.

And his lack of close relationships as an adult most definitely stems from being isolated as a child and being frequently sick. And that's another point, as well. When Jayce mentions that Viktor just disappears sometimes, it's obvious to me that he is pulling away from people he cares about so he doesn't attract further attention to his failing health.

But yeah. I thought Arcane deconstructed that stereotype beautifully; that Viktor truly wants to have friends, but as a child he was given serious barriers to entry. And as an adult, his introverted habits persist due in no small part to the fact that he was looked over so much when he was little, coupled with that he does not want to burden people with his chronic health issues.

Arcane takes such a tragic, yet nuanced approach to this and it works so well. Just wanted to get that off my chest. Thanks for reading!

[swoleas]

Since Veilguard was released, there is this genre of Dragon Age fans popping up who are explaining Dragon Age lore, who have been talking a lot about Qunari lore. Disappointingly, they've just been taking Bioware's qunari lore at face value for every single game, no matter how much the Qunari lore for each game retcons the lore from game before it.

And I feel like, it needs to be understood that, Qunari were designed to be "Militant Islamic Borg" -- the intent behind them is to be this oriental technologically advanced people who are violent and expansionist savages and made specifically to contrast the rest of Thedas, meant to be White and European. They are routinely called barbarians and savages, real world slurs used against people from the SWANA region, by characters the players are meant to see as sympathetic and intelligent, like Solas. The lore starts and ends with this. And even with Gaider not working on the game, each bit of new Qunari lore introduced is built on 2 things: Racism and Vibes.

Trying to explain Qunari lore without even examining the deeply racist framework within which Qunari lore exists is inadvertently reinforcing the racism and the orientalism and xenophobia in the writing. You cannot separate them.

I have been seeing people calling Qunari society "inherently violent" or "teaching violence" and that this is why they are written as having had the Antaam branch away and go to the South and join the ancient Gods. And No. That is not correct in any sense. But if you rewrite the lore of the Qunari in every single game, of course that would be your takeaway. The real reason they are written this way is so you can have a faceless orcish brute enemy archetype that you can kill in Dragon Age: The Veilguard without any guilt. It's literally not deeper than that.

Why is it that Bioware is so resistant to having us go to Seheron or go to Par Vollen and walk amongst Qunari society and view them in a context where they are just living their lives? Is it possibly because it will draw attention to how alien and inhuman they are intended to be? Is it so they are not humanized in a way that makes every previous inclusion of Qunari seem jarring and uncomfortable to see?

In Origins, we meet Sten, and though he exists to expound on this group of people who exist in Thedas, the Qunari, and introduce us to this bit of world building which isn't directly relevant to the main story, but fleshes out the world beyond Ferelden. The writing was still racist (after all "militant Islamic Borg" refers to their Origins iteration), but you got so little information that you could infer that there may be some nuance there, especially given the way Sten is written in a way that humanizes the Qunari. Later lore shows him as being someone who cares deeply about the world around him and, as Arishok, about diplomacy. And all this not conflicting with his belief in the tenets of the Qun.

And in Dragon Age 2, the game pivots into making them one of the major causes of conflict in the story. This is the first introduction of Qunari as faceless brute enemy archetypes which you can kill without guilt, without explanation of why you can kill them without guilt--at least not immediately. You do not walk into DA2 knowing who Tal-Vashoth are and why they are attacking you--only that they're violent and they yell things in a foreign language at you.

The Arishok in Dragon Age 2 is stubborn, dogmatic, and violent when opposed or crossed. He shows up, sets up a military compound, and stays there for years. Your only representation here is a military leader and his subordinates, contrasted with equally violent mercenaries who the game promises are of a completely different ideology. All shirtless muscular men, who speak in a growling menacing dialect.

Then Bioware turns around and goes. Just kidding! Those weren't the real Qunari; they're a violent offshoot! We promise they are nuanced, you just haven't met those ones yet. They give us Tallis in Mark of the Assassin, but she's an elf, and one who had to pick between slavery and the Qun, and picks the lesser of two evils. Sure, she's sympathetic, but you get the impression that Hawke feels betrayed to find out that she's Qunari, and interrogates her on this--which, is partly, I guess, you, the player, clicking the dialogue options to learn more, but Tallis is on the defensive, trying to convince you Qunari are people, just like you and me.

Inquisition introduces another Ben-Hassrath, like Tallis, in the Iron Bull. And on the surface, his inclusion is quite a lot like Sten in Origins. They both showed up because there was an unknown threat in the South that they were ordered to investigate. Unlike Sten, though, you are given the option to convert him away from the Qun. Not only that, but the game drills into you how there is no free will under the Qun. But then contradicts itself with Bull telling you that under the Qun you DO have the choice to change your role under the Qun and that there is even a word for it, Aqun Athlok, which means transgender, but, in a society where gender is directly related to the role you perform in society, that implies less rigidity and more open-mindedness than every other character wants you to believe.

However, beyond dialogue with Krem and the Iron Bull about gender (and later Taash in the Veilguard), Bioware is not interested in exploring the implications of the existence and acceptance of Aqun Athlok in Qunari culture.

And in the end, if Bull becomes Tal-Vashoth, that's framed as the outcome that is overall most positive--the outcome where he can keep his romantic relationships (whether that's with the Inquisitor or with Dorian), his friendships with the Inquisition and the Chargers, and his individuality. It's reinforced in banter with his companions and dialogue with the Inquisitor. And it all sounds a little too close to how white savior types talk about Muslims who leave SWANA and leave Islam to come to the more enlightened and liberating West.

By the Veilguard, the Qunari lore is already so wishy washy that sure I guess now we have to believe that the Antaam (literally just the Qunari military) broke away from the other Qunari because the other Qunari weren't expansionist and violent enough. I guess that's what we are going with. And that's the reason why, as a gameplay mechanic, we see the return of the Qunari as a faceless brute enemy archetype. And this time, instead of them clearly speaking in normal pitch but in a foreign language (like in DA2), they communicate in inhumanly deep, animal-like grunts and growls. Even when they're not being hostile to you, and you pass them by in Treviso just hanging out? They are still hollering and growling in monstrous deep voices, without a trace of a thought out and well-enunciated language. And how racist do you have to be for you to be more racist than the DA2 Qunari?

I don't even want to get into whatever scraps you get through Taash and their personal quest because it's so irrelevant and detached from everything it feels like putting a bandaid over a stab wound. Nevermind Taash introducing us to a brand new and innovative genre of Qunari who can sniff things out like hunting dogs. Thanks for that one Bioware -- "but nooooo, Nairuz, they're part dragon it makes sense in the lore" -- the ancient Elves can also turn into wolves and dragons and even monsters, but you don't see them growling and sniffing and prowling like animals.

All this to say. Stop trying to make sense of Qunari lore in a way that validates and justify the decisions Bioware made, when they made those decisions out of Islamophobia and racism and orientalism. I am tired of seeing this lore be uncritically parroted by Dragon Age lore accounts.

[foolsmask]

Voyager added so much lore to Vulcans and I love it. Not knocking TOS or TNG (they just didnt have the inclination, time, or interest to dig as deep), but Spock left me feeling like he was weird because he was half human and Vulcans as a while were truly emotionless. Yeah we saw the Pon Far but that was once, and I feel like they played up Spock's version of it as worse than normal. And when Sarek died he gave his memories to Picard, a human who couldn't possibly be prepared to handle having all that extra crap in his head, so it felt like his acting out was just dealing with the psychic trauma.

But Tuvok really gave us some good shit to work with. Vulcans were just as emotional as humans, maybe even more so, but they kept it under control. I was relatively young when Voyager was on (like early teens?) and this particular episode, and others dealing with Tuvok, gave me a lot to think about. I wasn't particularly traumatized or anything, but seeing this Vulcan admit he went through all the dark shit Kess went through, that I at least identified with, and still found a path through it gave me a sense of...not being alone? Granted Tuvok is a fictional character so it wasn't really him I connected with, but if another person wrote the script and the director and actor made the show it had to mean they all identified and understood what they were portraying. It meant I wasn't weird for being the way I am, other people felt the same way. That is a big part of why I love Star Trek. No Voyager isn't my favorite series, DS9 is, but Voyager really had its moments.

[90shaladriel]

I'm not blaming anyone, clearly the show made it a point to pivot Sauron to unredeemable in Season 2 when I don't think that is what they showed us in Season 1. Personally that it less interesting to me for his character and also the implications that gives to Saurondriel, but I realize that's not what the show is going to be about. That is fine!

I believe me & the other person above were saying Nenya can't heal evil like that, you have to heal that evil inside you yourself.

Well this is the debate isn't it? I am saying that Nenya CAN heal evil like that, as is proved by Adar's healing, so why not? Also given the sample size is exactly 1, nobody can make broad declarative statements about what it can or cannot do in show-lore because it's up to our interpretations isn't it?

Adar on the other hand, sees their existence & suffering, knows his involvement in it & instead of hating it & them along with it he chooses to love them, fight for them & try to break the cycle of abuse that perpetuates their plight.

But he doesn't extend that love and compassion to the men and women of the Southlands or the Elves of Eregion? The stuff he does or, by inaction. allows the Uruks to do is horrendous. I think what he tried to do in the very end with Galadriel is the only way they can break the cycle, but it was too little too late. But again that only happened after he stole Nenya and in the meantime permitted his Uruks to destroy Eregion.

Sauron may not regard the Uruks with much love or dignity, hard to dispute. The only caveat would be on the raft when Galadriel spoke of her quest for vengeance against the Orcs, Sauron made a point of telling her, "if you want to murder Orcs that is your own affair, but don't dress it up as heroism" he clearly cares more about them than she did who is the hero of the story. We only really have glimpses of what he might have done after Morgoth's defeat that caused Adar and the Uruks to turn on him, we only got Adar's account of this. I guess we can assume the worst for the sake of discussion but I could imagine it was more nuanced. Perhaps Adar sought to rule himself and seeded the rebellion against Sauron? We don't see Adar giving up his rule once the Orcs have a home in Mordor, nor does he act to create a democratic order of equality among them, he very much takes charge as a "Lord".

I think in an inverse way, we see Sauron time and again appear to hold the Men of the Southlands in higher regard than the Uruks. We didn't fully get the King of the Southlands as it was cut short, but up until his wounding he was saving people's lives. He continually argued with the Elves on the necessity to aid the men that he represented in Halbrand form. I think as you said :

This doesn't erase his crimes against the southlanders but those crimes also don't erase his genuine love for his children. 2 things can be true at once, this show is beautiful in its complexity this way!

Is very much true for Sauron. They are two sides of the same coin. He is full of contradictions!

Yes. Sauron let Diarmid perish. He also chose to forsake violence and revenge by turning away from the Uruks and Adar in the Southlands and following Diarmid.

You could say that Adar did good here and there. But also Sauron saved Galadriel's life at sea when there was zero material benefit to himself and even possible risk knowing how powerful she was and that her actual mission was killing him! He purposefully gave his enemy a chance to live, nothing can take away that altruism he displayed, whether he did other rotten things or not. Going to fight in the Southlands, saving Elendil's life, sparing Adar's are all further of examples of this right up till the end of Season 1.

So by that measure, I do think even Sauron has parts of him that are good so I do believe there are things that could have brought that out externally, yes.

Clearly by the end of Season 2 they wanted to ensure that he was fully evil for whatever reason, he had plenty of opportunities to make other choices and didn't. That's all his blame. Talking about what Nenya would have done is just a fun thought experiment!

S1E1 of ROP sets up the theme of "Nothing is evil in the beginning"

This is a true to life imo & nuanced take on evil.

The show expands on it by showing us Sauron in his repentance phase where he is trying to return to his beginnings when he was still good.

S2E1 gives us the theme of the season "To be forgiven one needs to choose good everyday"

Again a very nuanced take on goodness, individual responsibility & willpower.

The show expands on it by simultaneously showing us Adar & Sauron starting on the same side & choosing different paths in the end.

This season shows us Sauron not choosing good, actively harming others and letting his decisions be based on greed & selfishness.

While Adar who's character's evil side was already established in Season 2 with the abuse of Southlanders gets his origins & motives fleshed out and then gets presented with the choice where he chooses good.

This show puts a lot of effort into nuances, complex topics like the cycle of abuse and dark characters that are very human & grounded in reality.

To imply that Magic Ring = Evil Eraser in a show like this imo diminishes the hardwork put into it & all its characters who have their own minds, motivations & challenges. (the very things we praise ROP Galadriel for having)

[hyperfixationcritter]

I personally would've been fine with Caitlyn pulling a bit of a Claudia from The Dragon Prince and staying a definitive antagonist. I think her turn to fascism in act 1 this season fit her character by falling back on her privilege. I still think that was a decent writing decision but they ended up not going through with it. If they did, it would also be an interesting way to show Caitlyn ultimately still doing her own thing despite her initial opposition against rogue plans because of the death of her mom. There's a lot they could've explored with Caitlyn not just falling back on her privilege but prioritizing her family above all else.

When it comes to Jayce, I like meljayvik so I got some bias, but I could potentially be ok with him also becoming an antagonist if it was done well and because I know he and Viktor have pre-established beef in league lore.

Alternatively though, it could've been an interesting plotline to have Jayce, given his development in the first season and even his regressions in s2 act 1, end up taking a definitive stance in solidarity with Zaun, starting with sabotaging any further use of hextech by Piltover against them.

There's a lot of parallels in Arcane but I don't often bring up the parallels between Caitlyn and Jayce as privileged people in Piltover who need to figure out if they're going to look beyond the one undercity person they know/are close with (Vi and Viktor) and take a definitive stance against the Undercity's oppression for everyone's sake or not. The Medardas also play a significant role in their arcs; Mel mentoring Jayce in s1, becoming equals and romantic partners who go through interesting character development together, and Ambessa very easily enabling Caitlyn's dictator arc in s2 for her own ends.

The other layer to Caitlyn and Jayce would be the fact that, while they're both privileged, Jayce was more middle class/lower noble house vs Caitlyn's family who were his patrons and immediately dropped him the moment he was put on trial in s1 act 1.

If Jayce were written to take a solid stance on the side of Zaun and against Caitlyn, though I see it starting out as him still being a bit wishy washy by trying to solely contain the use of hextech because he just resigned as a council member and wants to do science and needs to learn that he should be playing a bigger role in this because he can't separate his scientific ambitions from the political, it would also parallel him telling the other council members, but particularly Cassandra, that he doesn't care what they think of him anymore by fully rejecting his ties to house Kiramman. It would also make for some good "essentially big brother little sister angst" between him and Caitlyn.

It would also give the story as a whole a lead character who starts out in Piltover and chooses to grow and show solidarity with the oppressed.

As for Mel, she already canonically opposes Ambessa and sacrifices a lot to put a stop to things. In this plotline I think it would be interesting to see Mel grapple with how far she's willing to go against her mother at the cost of her place in Piltover. At the end of season 1 Mel already realizes she was channeling her mother by suggesting making hextech weapons and stays true to going against that from that point forward as shown in s2 act 1 whereas Jayce is the one to make weapons for Caitlyn's team without even telling Mel. I would've liked to see a conversation between the two of them about that and for the sake of this plotline idea have them figure out what they want to do as a team.

Mel already knows she's against her mom and Jayce already resigned his spot on the council but to see them both develop into definitively supporting the undercity, not just by extension of wanting to prevent war... I think that could be interesting and also delve more into them and Viktor being the trio that started hextech and see how that relationship with all three of them develops under these circumstances in a way that stays true to themes of classism and systemic oppression in the show. There could still be room to talk about the different types of magic/disprove Heimderginer's "all magic is bad" stance if the writing for Viktor and the hexcore was done differently and the story actually played into him and Mel's parallels in general but in this context, in regards to their magic.

Also if Mel returning to Noxus is still endgame, her sacrificing her place in Piltover for a better future for the people who suffered under them (the Undercity) and to go against her mom taking advantage of the conflict would support that.

These are just my two cents tho but it felt worth it to make a post about it the more I thought about this.

[atlasrayz]

Ok hi time to rant abt hazbin/helluva because i will forever be upset about the outcome of those shows.

Indie animation has been on a rise lately, with so many different amazing shows being available on youtube.

I watched the hazbin hotel pilot around the time it came out, and it really interested me. The characters seemed interesting and the premise wasnt really something you see often. I was excited.

I kept up with Viv's work and got into helluva boss. I thought it had some good jokes and the bits of lore we got made me want to keep watching. However, the premise of literally every episode is the same. A bad ex or a bad dad. Its a formula, and it shows up in Hazbin too.

Viv has some obsession with daddy issues, and problems with characterising her women characters. Charlie is the *main character* of Hazbin Hotel, but she has literally no growth or development. Millie also falls victim to this.

The one episode where she actually gets some attention feels... wrong? It felt like they were mischaracterising Moxxie so that they can fabricate conflict between Moxxie and Millie. Moxxie loves his wife, and he has literally never once been shown or implied that he would try to upstage her. Yeah, he's definitely got some inferiority going on, hes constantly being belittled by Blitz. Hes the show's punching bag, but i feel like it had never been implied that he hated himself more than he loved his wife. I hate that episode with a burning passion because how tf are you going to mischaracterise your own fucking characters.

I hate the way they did Lucifer. He should NOT have been some wacky, silly guy who just doesnt know how to reach out to his daughter. He's not bad! He's just anxious UwU. His entire character is irritating. Having a wacky fun character is fine, i love characters like that, but Lucifer shouldn't have been that character.

In the pilot, it was implied that Lucifer hangs over Charlie and his influence puts a lot of pressure on her, but then we meet him and hes just. A guy. Who doesnt talk to his daughter a lot. Which makes absolutely no sense. You could argue that they retconned a lot from the pilot, which, yeah, its all new voice actors so, sure. But then, why wouldnt they remake it in some way, in any way?

Not to mention that all the characters feel flat. Even in Helluva. In Helluva we get filler and backstory, but even then the characters dont change or grow. Quite literally the only good thing out of Helluva is Fizz. His arc and story is the only one that actually breaks from the formula of bad ex bad dad and his character actually changes from the lessons in the episode. I love Fizz for pretty much that reason alone.

Moxxie and Biltz have an episode where they promise to be nicer to eachother *and then they fucking don't?* They stay the *exact same* towards each other. If you're going to do that, then don't make a story based show. Make one of those slice of life, 10 minute episodes combined into one 20 minute episode that shows no growth, and is just there to be fun. Those shows arent bad, they just have a different purpose.

I've been so upset with the results of Hazbin Hotel. The pacing is awful, the characters have no time to change or grow, and their dynamics just arent interesting. It sucks because I saw a world where this indie show got on amazon prime (!!) And was amazing and did amazing things and set the stage for other indie shows to finally get big and then all we got was poorly written, rushed slop that feels like a huge kick in the teeth to anyone who cared about the show. Or, at least, it did to me.

[the-heartstring-chronicles]

An Ode to the J/C fandom that raised me.

I was 21 when I logged on to the message board that would become my online home for the following three years and which still feels like home when I think about it.

The year was 2006.

Fandom Elders, welcomed me, taught me lore, encouraged my fledgling writing. Loved me as a person, wrapped me up in their support and care. Both as a fellow fan and an eventual fandom experience equal. Some even took me in to their real lives as a pseudo niece, sister, cousin.

Fellow newbies and I became friends or at least acquaintances, We celebrated each other's writing growth, cheered when each other got good feedback, especially when it was from writers we admired. Shared thories and perspectives, sometimes different from those of the elders

All fandom generations talked fandom news and current events togther. Small groups, chatted and ate dinners together over Skype and watched movies. We said goodnight to each other before bed in threads as a whole board ,

We celebrated birthdays and it was always fun to see which friend posted your birthday thread and who commented after saying they had wanted to do it. And it was fun to be the friend who posted your friend's birthday thread when it was their turn.

There were fic exchanges , run at a professional level, by fans for each other. And there was also the reality that we all knew each other well enough that we could guess who our match was most of the time.

There were fights, there were squabbles, there were sad times.

But we were a family, they still are famiy in my heart, all those people. They will always be, no matter how often we speak now, and though I have lost touch with some, if they reached out today, I would drop everything to connect or to help.

A couple of characters who love each other and love the stars brought me a extra home. And the fandom manners and skills that I have today.

My J/C fandom home was magical and I hope the light and love they showed me continues to shine in me and in all those who were part of it.

And I hope any fan that loves anything finds the treasure that I did when they go looking for their community.

[unrelentingforse]

Some of y'all really can't comprehend the idea of visual storytelling.

Sevika being given a seat at the council is not a solution to the classism issue. BECAUSE IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE.

She was not accepted. Because classism can't be fixed within a week or a month or even years. But her getting a seat at the council was the first step in reaching that goal. Obviously not everyone sees zaunites as equal people. BECAUSE BARELY ANY TIME HAS PASSED!

Some of y'all hate the idea of an open ending and it shows. Did you want to see a sickly sweet ending where everyone is happy and alive, every issue was fixed and there were no problems anymore at all? If you really wanted that - you need to watch paw patrol. Because this is an adult animated show. Not a single issue in our world is fixed fully without any unforeseen consequences. Why wouldn't that be the case for arcane?

Also I saw someone being mad at the fact that class issue was not fully fleshed out in S2. Really? Was it? What about the whole security checkpoint thing? About the brutality of enforcers towards zaunites who were jinx's followers? About the way Gerd acted when she was supposed to be searched? About the whole jail thing? About how hesitant zaunites were to enter the enforcers to protect the city from Viktors cult? My point is - classism is still very much a problem in piltover and NO ONE IS DENYING THAT.

Yes, in a perfect world the whole council system would be dismantled and replaced with...something better for both of the cities. But Runeterra isn't perfect. Our world isn't perfect. And even if that were to happen - you need to destroy the whole system in every possible country and city of this universe. And for that you would need another 10 seasons. Which Fortiche didn't have. They literally had only 2 seasons to work with from the start. With 9 episodes in each. It's literally not possible to fit THAT many plot points into 18 episodes.

Might I add that this is a prequel for League of Legends? You know, what was before the whole plot of the game, how the characters came to be themselves? They wanted to show the history of piltover/zaun war. And in the current lore they have a council. Which is led by piltover royalty. And is corrupt. And this is bad. It's supposed to be bad to create conflict in a story.

Yes, in this day and age we desperately need stories about the fall of the empire, change for the better, and the resistance of oppressed people. We want that hope. I agree that this could be a good ending. But like I said earlier - it is literally not possible to fit that many events into 18 episodes when the story was always supposed to be about the arcane, the magic within it.

I would love for Fortiche to have the full creative freedom and unlimited resources to create a compelling large-scale story about our favorite characters. I really do. I understand people who are mad about the ending. But I'm begging you not to get mad at the creators. Animators, writers, sound engineers, character designers, voice actors, directors, showrunners - all of those people deserve nothing but the praise for the amount of work they put into our beloved show for god knows how many years. For the masterpiece they were able to create under such pressure both from riot and netflix.

[visionthefox]

I apologize for replying really late, I was busy with some stuff! And I understand! Its fine!

Basically, sun was laying on the couch because new moon forced him to take a break, just to see "moon" saying:"finally, I didn't think he would actually go to sleep so I could have control. Sun was- well, confused af- and well, he tried listening to him to understand what was happening- and "moon" said smt like:"of course you're chattering in your sleep. How about YOU SHUT UP and let me have control?" (I assume he was talking to sun when they havent yet seperated, because he was talking and looking at the ground.) so sun got up to see what was happening while "moon" continued saying:" let me have control of this body for 5 MINUTES."

And sun was like:" dont you already have your own body-?", "moon" quickly replied, "I WISH I HAD, BECAUSE YOU ARE ABLE TO DO STUFF, YOURE THE LIKEABLE ONE EVEN THOUGH YOURE THE MISTAKE" so sun was like:"excuse me?" while "moon", just said:"oh, did I strike a nerve?"

sun in confusion replied:"where did this come from?" though, "moon" said, "maybe from the fact that I NEVER LOVED YOU" (I found this part confusing, since og moon wouldn't think that, I think atleast. Sure, they had argurments and moon was like, if im gonna be honest, moon was abusive in different ways. I could make a whole list on why he is abusive. Though, he still seemed to like.. Care despite the abuse he has done? He confuses me so not sure) "Moon" continued his well, speech I suppose? By saying that he never cared, that all he wanted was to get away. Sun was.. Well, still confused telling "moon" he was just laying on the couch and didn't do anything. But "moon" said:"if you didnt do anything why did you feel like you needed to do everything? Why did you feel like you needed to do EVERYTHING in your miniscule little power to help me when you actually made it worse?"

then "moon" started saying how its suns fault on how he lost his memories, basically blaming him. Saying:"because you toyed with magic. Because you couldn't control yourself. Because you got ANGRY" while sun just quietly said:"what.. This is impossible.." realizing its just an hallucination like bloodmoon, and "moon" straight up said:"does it matter if im real?" and just started putting sun down like he always did. So sun started to rant on how he gets that hes not good as moon and all, but that it doesn't mean hes a mistake. Then "moon" dissapeared.what happend next? Suns hallucination of bloodmoon showed up.

how fun! /sarc

I wont go too deep in this part because then I would be writing a paragraph but basically, bloodmoon started putting sun down just like his hallucination of old moon and sun said that he would have loved to have another sibling but that bloodmoon couldn't be helped or smt like that. After some minutes bloodmoon goes away and sun is left alone, he goes into the castle thingy, idk what to call it, but basically where the rooms are, moons room and suns+plus the playhouse earth used to sleep in and he said:"I didn't enjoy killing them. I didn't enjoy hurting them. I know that- I know that moons not like that either, I just-.. What do I do..? How do I do.. They always keep coming back and talking to me about ALL THIS CRAP! moons different, I never saw him before and now hes just...sometimes I wish I was dead. Atleast MOON got a restart sort of.. I- I still HAVE TO KEEP LIVING WITH THIS! " he well, he started making noises like he was crying,probably trying to stop himself from that. And the last thing he said was:" im cleaning the barrels again.. Its the last thing that keeps me busy nowadays..Its the last thing that keeps me busy nowadays.." so basically, sun is using cleaning as a coping mechanism, because it keeps his MIND busy. And im guessing "og moon" is like, suns instrutive moon speaking because sun does blame himself and will never be free from the guilt.

If there are any spelling mistakes, please ignore them because I don't feel like fixing them and I'm in a bad mood 😅

it took me like 2 minutes to understand this ask sdsadsad I was sooo lost like - did they send me a first part? - then as I read I got it, this is from the show ! alas.. I can see this is just another emotional ep. I .. dont like the fact Sun carry this trauma and stress around, because it means things only got worse, he is now actually alone, at least Lunar would have listented to him, but now? Earth is not aware of the past, (even if! she looked at the whole vids, is not the same as livin the moment- plus im sure her small chip of a brain wont get it(im so mean)) and the new Moon, even if informed of the past, seems to not be aware of how to even relate to Sun, for what I get from your resume! Sun is alone to deal with this, because, who can understand him? who can actually save him? (Monty but the show wont let that happend-) and.. ehh.. idk, seems to odd, too cruel for no reason other that entretaiment, because, why else make a poor robot deal with two dumbass who cant help? meanwhile there is one last robot with braincells, but he's dealing with his own issues.. like dont get me wrong, I love me some pain, I love some cruel stories with Sun, or Moon even! I love to see him in dispair when I know there is some sense to that, the cruel reality of being just a robot, the uncaring humans around, I get it and I love it tho this show.. the lack of any sense in anything makes this just a cruel show of a suffering puppet for us to see.. like is Sun tied up to the plex? cant he just leave like Lunar? why not having actual vacation now that Earth is supposed to take his place? why not be honest to his "new family" ? or right, they are just strangers to him now, how... fun..? really now, his issue actually can be fixed, Monty is still walking around! and Sun damn knows the gator worked with Moon for years for a good reason!so why not go with him? or right "he doesnt like him" blah blah.. eh amma cut my rant here haha - thanks for your time <3

[sevenines]

i saw this tweet and found it interesting for two reasons. one is that some people base how good cartoon network would be to toh by how it treated su, and despite the fact that su’s treatment by the network was considered poor at the time, now its thought to be exceptionally good in comparison to modern shows.

two is how exactly su got impacted by a limited budget. a common criticism is how characters like connie, peridot, and lapis are left out of missions. but balancing a lot of characters is not only hard but also costly (extra animation, extra voices—it’s been revealed that the show is limited to a set number of characters per episode otherwise they’re over budget). animation mistakes are not uncommon since retakes cost extra. the entire reason the original show got cut short was due to loss of funding!

[h-didanart]

^w^

Let’s get to it shall we?

So, I have studied the drawing for a bit and ended up coming up with around six relevant things that are probably symbolism

First is the mirror- it is cracked though it mostly is intact, the cracks all originate from the same point in LBM’s reflection: their eye. Mirrors tend to be good for identity symbolism, showing a character’s reflection and all, so thinking about it like that and seeing the state this mirror is at we could come to the conclusion that it probably means LBM has identity issues. This will come back later

Next is the fact LBM is making a gesture of shooting herself, which kinda makes me concerned for his mental health tbh. I see this as potentially symbolizing LBM not liking themselves or at least holding some sort of grudge towards himself. Or maybe it’s meant to be like the past them is dead or something, idk

Next is the fact the mirror is cracked over the eye it never opens, which I’m starting to think is actually missing. Now, I don’t know how you differentiate your Bloodmoons but I have seen others and myself use the ‘two eyes-two twins’ method, so like one twin has one eye and the other the other, and if you do this as well then the implication here is that one of the twins is dead. Which I think is true actually because of the drawing you dropped when I asked you for lore the other day (which I saw but forgot to reblog :()

Next is something I’m not too confident on and am purely adding ‘cuz I think it’s funny. So the yellow stains yes? They seem to be magic of some sort, though their most notable feature is that they’re yellow, and according to the Bibble yellow is the color of betrayal. And deceit and illness in the negative side too I guess. Feel free to disregard this one :P

Next I want to turn to the background on the reflection. It’s all destroyed and there’s magic flying and stuff, which probably means LBM is in a really dilapidated place, or she lost her temper, or I’m overthinking, idk I’m not good at catching thematic symbolism

Next let’s look at the Lord’s expression. Vacant. Empty. I’d say maybe even melancholic. This just strengthens my conviction of one of the twins being dead y’know?

And finally, what I asked about before, the flowers. Red Anemone Flowers have a plethora of meanings, as is standard for a lot of flowers, and thanks to your answer from a bit ago I could narrow the potential meaning a bit. First the slightly more unlikely one, emotional attachment and fragility, two of the Anemone’s meanings in Japan, tied to what we saw before and the fact a mirror— aka a very fragile thing —is in the scene we could get a somewhat emotional view at LBM’s state, seemingly missing someone who they cared for deeply. Then we have one I’m almost 100% certain you intended for, death and loss of a loved one, it just fits so well with everything else, LBM, the bloody god, thinking back on his past and mourning the (potential) loss of their twin, holding resentment towards themselves for it and the environment showing that. And lastly the thing you 100% intended for, the blood of Christ, I mean, I mean, c’mon almost all the art you’ve made for this guy has heavy religious tones, why wouldn’t you use the flower that represents The Christ’s death?

So, putting this all together, I think I can string together the lore that’s being implied here:

Lord Bloodmoon’s twin is dead, they might’ve died on their own terms or the Lord might’ve been involved someway, who knows, what matters is they are dead. And Lord BM, not being very fond of emotions but anger, doesn’t tend to show how much it affects him, mostly turning all the emotions into itself, maybe even having the feelings grow into self loathing stemming from guilt? It affects her, badly.

So yeah that’s my reading

I Am so sorry if I got it all wrong :(

Tbh I’m not very good at symbolism; foreshadowing and implications of the past and characterization are a lot more fun to play with for me personally, and I kinda sucked a lot at catching symbolism in school assignments, so if I got everything terribly wrong I apologize

Requests?!

Lord Bloodmoon Lore

Or uh, Lord Bloodmoon as a stained glass window? Anything Lord Bloodmoon

Or canon BM in a field of flowers I guess

Or your main in Dandy’s World?

pew pew

1/4

plus these goobers

i main Rodger and Finn (Rodger for public runs and Finn for solo ones)

i like extracting a lot, so i like Rodger a lot! in the future id probably end up being a Vee player tbh,,

Finn is just fun because hes fast LOL. dont think i could play as him in a multiplayer lobby because i tend to get a bit.... reckless with him pfft

2/4

[theaceace]

imagining a world in which Simon agreed to go with Edwin and try to escape hell, imagining Simon developing an immediate and very inadvisable crush on the cute guy that just threw a grenade at a demon and Edwin's reaction to that, imagining the reaction of Charles Overprotective Rowland when he finds out that the guy Edwin insists on dragging along with them is one of the guys that sacrificed him to a demon in the first place, imagining the Night Nurse's face when three dead boys pop back through the door instead of two

[satorisoup]

people will think im ordinary until they say one (1) thing about tmnt and all of a sudden im explaining the entire lore starting from the 1990’s movie & why donatello is the best turtle i fear… T^T

tag limit fights me… i must yap… please listen… SOB </3

[forcedhesitation]

why should it just be steve who has all the torturous purgatory realm fun?

[sweetandsourcookies]

lying here in bed and thinking abt how alienated out i feel in the cookie run fandom. and then theres a polish sitcom playing in the background from a different room.

[sqlmn]

Lightning, water, and fire! Like forever before the plot starts. By the time the plot starts, the lightning and fire deities have been subjected to punishment by the two gods that picked them.

Oh (the fire deity) is first to be punished. They basically decide that since they're going to live for a long time, gotta set some long time goals! And they opt to be the wrath of the gods since most of the other deities are too 'soft' in their opinion. So Oh just. Smites humans. This isn't really a /good/ thing and in their defense mentally, they do it to help Ymber since he's the softest of them all. So their punishment by the gods is to be split in two, effectively halving the power of one into two. (Now they are in a male and a female body and use both male and female pronouns apart since they together make they but apart it feels weird to be they. But prior to the split they use they/them. Also the split bodies go by the names Ohiwe and Ohime.)

Fulj is the second to be punished. She falls in love with a mortal woman and that is a crime according to the gods. Mortals and immortals are not to be together and it will only bring suffering to both sides. So her punishment is her memories of the woman are stripped and her body basically broken to the point she can't remain physical all the time.

Ymber, unfortunately, is the one who blames himself for the discoveries and punishments. If he had only tried to restrain Oh more then maybe they would have chilled out and stopped before being punished. If he had only tried to persuade Fulj to not continue seeing the mortal woman so often perhaps she wouldn't have been punished. So he's just increasing the guilt on his shoulders every day that he remains unpunished since the elder gods have both laid down to rest. They can't enforce their laws anymore and none of the deities are keen on harming one another at this point. They just want to continue existing in peace.