sunwarmedpebbles

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We have always loved and we will continue to love. Oh, the beauty of human connection!

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Idk I feel like making Maddie Nolen a traitor loyal to Ambessa does an extreme disservice not just to Maddie's character but also to the potential political message of Arcane. Had Maddie really, truly been earnest and kind and compassionate the whole time, and had she died in the battle, it would have done so much more for her, for Caitlyn, for the show. Here is a gentle character whose life and innocence would've been stripped from her because of war, because of imperialism. Here is a ray of sunshine who followed Caitlyn loyally through thick and thin, who shows Cait price of working with other oppressors.

But also: here is the bubbly character with a smile, the first to eagerly join in to a descent to fascism and martial law. Here is the "good cop", the gentle enforcer, who faithfully joins in a quest that involves gassing innocents of a city. Here is a kind soul, but also a soul who after expressing some doubts about the methods used, continues to work directly with and as the oppressors of innocents. Even the best of the enforcers is a part of the unjust oppression of Zaun.

Instead, she's written off as a spy, a mole, bad all along. Any nuance that her character could have brought is stripped away and she's killed and discarded without a second glance. The enforcers as a whole I feel could've been approached with more nuance, and she would've been a part of it. Instead, she's one-dimensional, a complete turncoat.

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No actually I need to add on more to this. Arcane very unfortunately suffers the same issue that a lot of "progressive" shows suffer in Western media, where they go like "here are some real, systemic issues that exist and look at the consequences of these issues", and then either (1) forget to continue with the theme, and/or (2) don't do anything about it beyond slap on a half-hearted Band-Aid solution that never addresses it.

Caitlyn gassing civilians; lack of accessibility for Viktor which created barriers for him due to his disability; enforcers as oppressors, going hand in hand with Noxian imperialism; Jayce weaponzing hextech, and him already having killed a child because of it; not a single moment is really spent on any of these in S2. If anything, the enforcers are really flattened at the end of this season with little nuance, the complexity that shone in characters like Marcus and Grayson disappearing. Many Piltovan characters do not get even a single second of introspection as to how their actions actively contribute to the oppression of Zaun.

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whatever the fuck these two got going on

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jayce enduring a symbolic rendition of viktor's trauma is so painful and so, so clever.

being stricken down and immobilized through sheer accident or, in viktor's case, a cruelly random quirk that caused his disability.

then physically dragging himself from the lowest level of zaun to piltover, much like how viktor spent his youth reaching toward the promise piltover offered, but only if he could "pull himself up by the boot straps" and get there on his own. socioeconomic forces working against him be damned.

i appreciate arcane reminding us of viktor's origins - the reason he is so called to help people and, eventually, save himself - and putting jayce through the ringer - the contrast between he and viktor's lived experiences is front and center throughout season 1. the writers send jayce, and the audience, on a grueling journey to contemplate those experiences and how they've manifested in these intertwined characters.

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something about vi never wanting anyone in her life to change. something about jayce not caring at all how much viktor has changed so long as he's alive. something about the way vi associates radical change with death, perceiving jinx's continued existence as a kind of necromantic horror—the way jayce would shatter fundamental laws of nature without a second thought in order to give viktor the best chance at survival, in whatever form that may take. transformation as rebirth vs murder, hextech vs shimmer. nature has made us intolerant to change, but fortunately, we have the capacity to change our nature. and then jayce, realizing that he hasn't changed at all, not really—that he is a scientist at heart, and he shouldn't have tried to be anything else. and then vi, realizing she has become someone unrecognizable—never thought my sister would turn bluebelly. and for both of them, it's too little, too late.

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Arcane Season 2 ‘s pacing is atrocious and nothing is ever properly followed up. Jinx being the face of Zaun’s revolution? Nothing comes out of it. Ekko trying to find a way to save his community from the Hextech infection and learn more about his efforts of saving Zaun? Dropped and he is absent from Act 2 until reappearing in Act 3. An exploration of Vi’s trauma? Unexplored to focus on her relationship with Caitlyn and Jinx. Caitlyn realizing the error of her ways? Skipped over so she can get with Vi. Viktor’s journey to becoming the Machine Herald out of his own choice? Sped over with Singed doing it for him. Sevika leading Zaun? Skipped over until the end where she is now a council member representing Zaun. Mel got a proper solo arc but her screentime was limited.

[sunwarmedpebbles]

having so many thoughts....... i need to stop and be productive. starting thinking about recipes boy!!

[sunwarmedpebbles]

was literally thinking about the jmart jayvik parallels

The fact that all they had to do to make me ship jayvik is turn them into jmart 2.0. I'm not really a big shipper so I never really saw the appeal of it in s1, but then! They made them so similar to the one ship I'm actively insane about. So now I'm insane about jayvik just by association.

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“Whether I’m pulling the pin or not, everyone who gets close to me dies.”

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a sufjan stevens sketch as this lyric has been stuck in my head for days in all its tender glory

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I'D TELL THEM PUT ME BACK IN IT

DARLING, I'D DO IT AGAIN

IF I COULD HOLD YOU FOR A MINUTE

DARLING I'D GO THROUGH IT AGAIN

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CGI animators should unionize next. normally, their jobs would be too precarious to strike, since studios would replace them without a second thought, but if it's part of this larger general film strike, they might finally have meaningful power to better their working conditions

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I do love the phrase executive dysfunction bc the image it conjures is of a bunch of people wearing business suits around a long oval conference table  arguing with each other to the point where they’re getting into physical fights, but in the background there’s just a big empty whiteboard with a To Do list with one item on it and that item is “take shower”

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girls with happy trails. you agree. reblog