#STARTS HAVING TIMEBOMB FLASHBACKS

[spaciebabie]

MY LIFE IS ENDING

[pellucid-constellations]

If It All Fell (8)

Pairing: Azriel x Reader

Summary: If it all fell apart—if you forgot who you were—would you love him again? Would the bond guide you back? Azriel doesn't know if that uncertainty is one he can bear.

Word count: 3.6k

Warnings: Angst, pining, injury

a/n: I appreciate thoughts and reactions more than you know!!! <333 Italics indicate flashbacks.

Series Masterlist (all parts ♡)

~~

The next two weeks were interesting. 

In the first few days after the accident—the ones filled with confusion and incorrect suspicions—you had spent most of your time alone or sleeping. Mor visited your bedroom every morning to share limited information about your past, but there was no routine beyond that. Everyone tiptoed around you, too afraid to set off the timebomb they assumed was your mind.

But Helion had disputed that assumption. 

You were allowed to know who you were, to become the person you had been. 

So, a routine began to form. 

Breakfast early in the morning, usually with a random assortment of the inner circle. Mor was always present, keeping up with her responsibility of telling you about yourself. Cassian joined more often than not—an early riser, he deemed himself. Azriel made it when he could. He was always busy in the morning. Doing… something, everyone told you.

Rhysand would join you after the meal, whisking you away for an hour or two to work on the powers you still could not call upon. He would have a different objective in mind every day and it was your job to parse out what it was. 

You failed. 

Obviously. 

He started bringing in random Velaris citizens instead, but you still felt nothing. It was nice to see the smiling strangers; they were all kind to you, all apparently knowing who you were. The vagueness surrounding them leveled the playing field more. They didn’t know your whole life story and you weren’t supposed to know theirs. 

“You’ve explained it to me before,” Rhysand had said. “It’s a vibration, sometimes a light or a color. You see it around them, feel it. You understand a deep part within them that they don’t even know they’re revealing.” 

Well, there was never any light or vibration or color. You could never tell that the fae were lying or that Rhysand was planning something big for his anniversary with his mate. None of this otherworldly intuition that the Night Court seemed to value so highly. It was all just stagnant. 

After spending some time failing with Rhys, you got to explore Velaris. You had insisted that you didn’t need a chaperone, and your family believed you—for a time. You had three whole days of walking around the city alone before that privilege was revoked.

Granted, it was your fault that it was revoked, but that was neither here nor there. 

It hadn’t been your plan to get lost, just as it hadn’t been your plan to get caught up in a street brawl over a cart of potatoes. But when you weren’t at the designated meeting spot for Cassian to bring you back up the house, and when he found you with a bleeding nose an hour later, what you meant to do didn’t matter. 

“Y/n?” you heard a voice shout, heavy footsteps shaking the ground beneath you. “Shit—y/n, look at me, you okay?” 

Warm hands enveloped your shaking ones, drawing them back and catching sight of the red staining your fingerprints. It was Cassian, you realized, with his broad wings cloaking you in their shadow. The General’s expression hardened when he took in your face.

“What happened?” he asked, voice low, comfort combatting fury. “Where have you been? We have about 10 people looking for you, sweetheart.” 

You grimaced—both at the pain in your nose and the notion of your family scouring the streets of Velaris. “I’m so, so sorry, Cassian. I got turned around and then I was in this alley and there was a boy—” 

“Hey!” Defeat washed through you at the sound of another voice in the alley, all hopes for a peaceful return home washed away. “Is your girlfriend over there gonna pay for the product I lost?” 

The Illyrian before you paused, body going still at the accusatory tone. Cassian’s jaw clenched and he turned, keeping you well behind him. You still caught a glimpse of the scene from between his legs, and the merchant—to his credit—had the mind to stop his taunting. 

And to look afraid. 

Really, truly afraid. 

“You did this to her?” Cassian growled, fists clenching at his sides. 

The merchant swallowed. “You’re—and she’s…” 

“Did you. Do this. To her?” Cassian asked again, words broken up by malice. 

A beat of pressing silence, only whispers of the street meeting your ears. The merchant took several, shaky steps back, but the movement damned him. His hands swayed with his backtracking feet, and red glistened on his knuckles. 

Cassian’s wings flared at the sight. It only took a small uptick of his brow for the smaller man to fall to the floor in a plea. 

“Please, please don’t kill me! I didn’t know who she was. Don’t turn me over to the Shadowsinger, I won’t make it! I have a family to care for—a wife! I was only trying to protect my crops and she butted in. I didn’t want to hurt her!”

The General hooked his chin over his shoulder and sent you a questioning gaze, one you were sheepish to answer. With a harrowing breath, you revealed, “There was a little boy stealing potatoes. He was going to hit him. I stepped in the way.” 

A tug at your chest had you gasping as Cassian turned back around. The feeling had been persistent the moment you got lost, increasing after you’d been implicated in the merchant’s conflict. It pulled and pulled, a desperate winding around your ribs that you didn’t know how to relieve. 

It had to have been fear. Or stress. 

Cassian eyed the man crumpled to the floor. “Is the boy okay?” he asked, the question meant for you but directed across the alley. 

“Yes,” you confirmed, pressing your hand to the blood running down your chin. “He ran away.” 

Cassian grunted, sent a harsh warning to the man, and then crouched back down to your place on the ground, shaking his head in frustration. “Let’s get you home.” And then he grumbled, “I might get my ass kicked but…” 

Cassian had not gotten his ass kicked when you got home, but many other things happened. Mor just about cried in relief, her arms thrown around your neck followed by a string of commands to never do such a thing again. Rhys rubbed at his jaw as tension lifted from the House. He also had a command—that you wouldn’t be traveling alone anymore. 

And Azriel… Azriel looked like he would vomit, his shadows flitting angrily around him before bridging a path to you. He had cleaned the blood from your face, eyes haunted by misplaced grief, and pure guilt replaced all else in your myriad of emotions. 

You agreed an escort would be better. 

Azriel volunteered. Every day. 

And so you got to know Azriel. 

Mor had described him as reserved, not one to offer the intimacy of touch or personal information so readily. That was not your experience with the Shadowsinger. 

Fleeting touches had become commonplace between the two of you, whether it was his hands or his wings or the brush of his thigh as you sat by the Sidra. You weren’t sure if he was doing it consciously, but you welcomed the familiarity. You found he did it most when he wasn’t paying attention—when he was deep into a story about your past or listening to your opinions intently. 

He was open, sharing pieces of himself you didn’t have to pry to receive. He told you about his mother, about his scars, about how he overcame them. He shared with you how important you were to him many, many times, slipping it into conversations so causally. A thread connected the pieces of his life, and you, it appeared, made up the spool. 

He did not speak of his mate, despite being prompted. 

A sadness came over him at any mention of her, one so achingly melancholy that you told yourself you wouldn’t ask again. 

He loved her deeply, but something had happened there.

You tried not to get too close. This was friendship, a deep familial love that he relied on. That you seemed to have relied on for so many years.

And Azriel was hurt. Even if he and his mate were no longer intertwined by their bond, he didn’t need the onslaught of emotions his amnesiac friend was suddenly overcome with. 

Because you were—overcome by emotions for him. 

It was wrong. 

You wished you had the context to separate those feelings. If you understood your history—if you had memories beyond the few weeks of sweet stories and brushes of his fingers along your hair—maybe you wouldn't be feeling this way. Maybe your heart wouldn’t beat painfully against your ribs each time he entered the room… each time his eyes met yours as if he could feel your admiration for him within his own chest. 

You wouldn’t be feeling this way, surely. Because no one had told you that you should be. 

You only had the recounts of your friends, and the three of them had made no insinuations about you and Azriel. 

You wished you could meet the rest of the inner circle. 

There had been plans to, but then you came home with blood on your face and a disorientation in your eyes and that was suddenly off the table. 

After your time exploring Velaris, you read. 

Mor would pile your favorite books beside you in the small reading room you had come to love and rave about how great of an opportunity this was for you.

“You would kill to be able to read these for the first time again,” she’d laugh. “So have at it!” 

Reading felt easy. 

Books did not pressure you to remember things you weren’t able to. 

You could see it all in their eyes, the way your family clung to each of your words for even a hint of reminiscence. They’d make a joke and hold their breath, desperate for the laugh that should be bubbling out of you. But you never got it, never making the connections that they did. 

Azriel was the only one who’d catch the shame you felt at your lack of deliverance. Although he was the one with the most torture in his expression, he was also the one with the most understanding. He’d lean his head down and whisper what you needed to know in your ear, and then you’d giggle—for show—and hope would return to the room. 

But nothing had returned to you. 

You were still a shell.

~~

“What do you think?” 

Cassian’s question blanketed the table, forks halting their movements atop plates. Breakfast had just begun and you were dressed for a morning in Velaris at the theater, this time with Cassian. 

“Are you sure that’s the best idea?” Mor questioned, eyeing the General beneath a raised brow. 

“Were you there last week when I brought her home all bloody? I think it’s a great idea. Rhys agrees.” 

“And Az?” 

Cassian continued his breakfast, reaching for his drink. “Cassian—”

And so you found yourself steps away from the roof of the House of Wind—no longer in the comfortable daywear you’d been sporting—squinting into the morning sun. Leathers fitted for your body were laced up at your back and waist, stretching with a groan as you reached up to block the light from your eyes. Although the pain in your head had subsided to practically nonexistence, it often flared up in brightness or in times of stress. 

Like when you stood atop a mountain and stared into the sun. Or got punched in the nose by a potato merchant. 

“This is where I go while you go galavanting around the city,” Cassian chimed in, a grin evident in his words. 

“Charming,” you muttered, still adjusting to the jarring assault of the sun.

The sound of grunts and clashing metal oriented you quicker, and as your eyesight settled you were met with the image of Azriel. He was bare-chested, leathers donning his legs as he pressed further and further forward, the knife you always saw at his hips hacking away at the metal dummy before him. 

He moved so quickly that it was difficult to track him, one swipe after another, so carefully skilled and practiced. Sweat beaded down his tattooed skin. His wings rippled and spread in time with his footwork. 

He was mesmerizing, a force of nature only halting as his shadows wound around his ear, whispering. Azriel whipped around, sheathing his knife at his side and staring out beyond the training ring with a narrowed gaze. He spotted you instantly, without looking near or around—a magnetic force. 

Until he wasn’t looking at you, instead glowering in Cassian’s direction. “What are you doing, brother?” he bit out. The back of his hand made a quick pass along his forehead. 

Cassian didn’t look the slightest bit sheepish, ushering you to the outskirts of the ring. “She’s going to train. Now that we know she won’t break at the slightest thing.” 

Hazel eyes slid back to you, a softness overcoming them as you quickly averted your gaze from the broadness of his chest. You were not ogling him. 

You bit into your cheek to stave off the embarrassment. 

“I thought we agreed—” 

“Az, come on. It’s been a couple of weeks now. We need to get her back in the swing of things.” 

A crack of defeat edged its way onto the Shadowsinger’s face. 

What had they agreed on? To wait it out? To treat you like glass until you were their version of yourself again? Something ugly licked up into your chest, something raw. 

For a moment—just one—you stood on the sidelines and felt pathetic. While the two Illyrians stared at each other, a silent conversation between eyes, you let yourself feel like an outsider. They had had discussions about you, but not really about you. About the you that they loved—the one with memories and reciprocation. 

“Will you be careful?” Azriel’s even voice snapped you out of the spiral you had initiated. His expression was uneasy, a hand pressed to his chest. “And tell us if you need to stop? If your head—” 

“My head has been completely fine for a while now,” you assured, hands coming up to grasp the rungs of the training ring. “Promise.” 

Azriel pressed his lips into a line but motioned you in with a nod of his head. 

Despite the conflict still raging within your mind, you smiled at Cassian, the two of you letting out a small cheer and high-fiving before the General lifted you by your hips and past the rungs. You regained your footing and stood before the spymaster, meeting his level gaze with your own. 

“Alright, sweetheart,” Cassian began, a loud clap resonating behind you. “Muscle memory is going to play a big role here, but I don’t want to risk you getting hurt, so you’re just with this guy for now.” He patted the shoulder of the dummy Azriel had been practicing with. 

You scoffed, dropping your hands to hang by your thighs. “What? I still have the same muscle tone from before and last I checked my face was beaten in by a real person, not a chunk of metal.” 

“And that will not happen again,” Azriel cut it. “Ever. But especially not when you’re… in this state.”

You ignored the unsettling remark. “Okay, well I think sparring one of you would be more effective in the prevention of that, don’t you?” 

“Cassian and I could hurt you.” 

“You wouldn’t.” 

“We can’t guarantee—” 

“I trust you,” you interrupted, your view of Azriel partially obstructed by the shadows that wound up your body. “I know you wouldn’t hurt me. Let me do this, Az.” 

The male before you faltered, his eyes darting quickly between yours. His chest, gleaming in the sunlight, rose and fell with strenuous effort. A clench of his jaw. Another pass of silence. 

“Okay,” he nodded, gaze roving over your features. “Okay, y/n. Get warmed up and we can spar.” 

You warmed up with Cassian, stretching and relishing in the feel of your body moving. He went over a few basic maneuvers with you, and you tried your hardest to pay close attention to how his feet slid around the ring. 

It was a rather hard task, seeing as Azriel had continued his blade work on the dummy. Still shirtless. 

After the General was satisfied with your progress, he passed you off to his brother. The Shadowsinger’s posture had softened a hair from when you first entered the ring, his wings coiled back and his shadows creating uneven shapes along the floor. He kept his hands by his sides, his feet relaxed—not a fighting stance in the slightest. 

“Come on,” you teased, cocking your head to the side. “You have to at least try, Az.” 

“I did not spar with you often before your memories were lost,” he admitted. “I do not enjoy the thought of hurting you.” 

Guilt immediately flooded you. You hadn’t even thought about what this would be like for him, too caught up in your own strife. Your stance dropped, the fists at your chin loosening and falling. 

“Oh, Azriel, I’m sorry. I can have Cassian—” 

“No.” He dragged his left foot back. A ghost of a fighting position. “Only me.” 

You took a painful breath in. 

He didn’t move, allowing you to lead. 

You shook your hands out and then your body moved of its own accord. 

You swiped at his legs first, unsurprised when he leaped back with practiced grace. The two of you fell into a dance of drawn arms and calculated shifts and you were almost unnerved by how your body moved without you willing it to. 

Cassian had said that muscle memory would play a role. 

It seemed to be the only thing driving you.  

You went for his knees, but in a way that maneuvered past his wings. 

You used his shadows as cover, taking advantage of their familiarity with you and cloaking yourself in their mist. 

Azriel swung a halfhearted punch at your shoulder and you bypassed the motion, grabbing his wrist and twisting at his back. 

It felt right. Your actions were not your own but they were ingrained in your being. 

This was your body. 

Something that remained unchanged. 

In your newfound joy, you missed the open palm Azriel carefully directed at your chest. The impact caught you off guard, stealing your breath from your lungs as you were pushed to the ground. As your back hit the floor, another shocking burst of air was ripped from you. 

You laid frozen for a moment before a shadow cast over your body, the sun no longer beating down on your skin. Through the ringing in your ears, Azriel’s voice flowed through. 

“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have—y/n, take a breath.” A scarred hand rubbed along your clavicle. “Breathe. You’re okay. Breathe.” 

A startling gasp of oxygen entered your lungs. You were fine, completely unharmed, only shocked and disoriented. Azriel bowed his head as you continued to circulate the air into your body, and it was then that you saw it. 

A chain hung between you, dangling from his neck and brushing against your chin. It swayed back and forth, a grounding point as you blinked back the tears lining your eyes. The ring glinted in the sun, rubbing against the golden chain, looking as if it did not belong there. 

Azriel tracked your gaze as he raised his head, looking down at the object of your attention. He sat back on his ankles and the diamond followed him, resting close to his chest. 

You raised yourself to your elbows. “Who’s—” You coughed. Azriel winced. “Is that yours?”  

A stupid question, but you couldn’t stop yourself from asking. A guarded look passed over the Shadowsinger’s face and you regretted it instantly. He reached up and clutched the necklace in a closed fist.  

“No,” he responded. “Are you okay?” 

He didn’t release the ring. 

“I’m okay,” you confirmed. “I’m not hurt. It just knocked the wind out of me.” 

Azriel nodded. A grim line formed between his brows. 

“Hey! She alright?” Cassian called. He had moved clear across the roof when you began to spar with Azriel, mentioning something about inventory or knives or something you hadn’t paid attention to. You had been too focused on the warmth you felt from being so close to Azriel’s skin. 

The sound of Cassian’s voice did nothing to break the hold Azriel’s eyes had on you. 

Another beat of silence passed. 

The wind blew a strand of his hair across his forehead. 

“I—” 

“I have a mission. I was supposed to meet with Rhys before midday.” He spoke the words apologetically but his hand shook when it lowered to his knee. 

The sun was already past the high point in the sky. It was no longer midday. 

“Okay,” you whispered. “I want to thank you for—” 

“Don’t thank me. Please, just—Be careful. I have to go.” 

A quiet collection of parting words fell from your lips and Aziel twitched, looking as if he would move forward but thinking better of it. 

But you had thoughts too, and they worked against Azriel’s

You raised to your knees and brushed the hair on his forehead back, a small smile gracing your face, trying so hard to melt some of the tension that had grown between you. Azriel’s breath caught as you moved, but you only doubled down, softly dragging your nails along his scalp. 

He shuddered, eyes falling shut for a brief, unguarded moment. 

His shadows consumed him. 

Azriel was gone. 

[shadyr4m]

REWATCHING SEASON 2 EPISODE 7 OF ARCANE

+ some of my highlights and notable moments that I enjoyed bc people can’t understand media anymore

This is mostly an infodump of stuff I can fit into a twitter thread/didn't rly want to make into a thread. I'm not great at words so I apologize in advance, I am sure there are many people much better at analysis than I.

I want to start off by saying I am heavily invested in timebomb so this is very much going to be a ship analysis. If you're looking for someone unbiased i am very much not the person for that 😭

FIRST OFF:

The disc on the music box is adorable!!! It features au Powder (who I am going to refer to as just Powder for the duration of my analysis) and au Ekko

Compared to the normal Disc

This is very obviously because it takes place in a different universe, one without Vi or "Jinx".

The first scene starts off with AU Ekko writing in his notebook. (Cute mention is Powder's doodle in his notebook!!) Then we see flashes of the wild rune. This is when AU Ekko switches to canon Ekko.

Also one of my favorite silly images from this episode is this one.. Powder is being so adorable and Ekko is just scared out of his MIND. it's so silly.

In the Last drop, Powder asks Ekko. "What is up with you? You've been out of it all day?". One thing I noticed in my rewatch is that i think Powder is aware this Ekko isn't HER Ekko. This is just one instance of many that makes me think this.

This hideout seems so much more vibrant and loved, similar to Jinx's hideout after Isha. It's colorful. There are guard rails that I like to think was pushed by Vander. We can see Ekko's art scattered around. It just shows how much more support and family Powder has compared to Jinx, which i mention a lot.

Id also like to note Ekko being shocked au him went to powder for help. In his mind at this time he believes Jinx to be all that is left, no more Powder. Through out the episode we see that change.

Notice how Powder gets upset at Ekko in this scene. However, she doesn't react explosively like Jinx would've. She handled it in a way that shows she had support. She told him to leave instead. Again, the main difference between Powder and Jinx isn't only Vi but also the existence of multiple support systems that Jinx simply didn't have.

THIS FLASHBACK! Oh my god this flashback. The fact it happened after he upset Powder? I think it shows just how much he truly cares about Jinx/Powder. He remembers VIVIDLY the day that he thought he killed her. Jinx was his childhood best friend, and I don't think that kind of feeling ever truly goes away. He doesn't want to hurt any version of her, not even the alternate universe her. We see that showcased more later on. Also, random probably insane note. He is interrupted by small children playing, having fun. This isn't a coincidence, it shows he does miss the moments from when they were kids.

While talking with Heimerdinger, we see Ekko look at Powder multiple times. Watching her laugh and be expressive, he smiles. When she doesn't return it we see him get upset. Once more this brings me to my point that he doesn't want to hurt her. Considering he hasn't known this Powder very long you can see where I gather my point that he doesn't want to hurt her in GENERAL. Any version of her.

THIS SCENE!! He is such a bad liar it's adorable. This brings me to my earlier point, Powder knows what's up!! She suspects something 100%. He is talking about this dream her like it was real.

"You aren't the kind of person who helps other people with their projects. Your ideas change the world. I can't shake the feeling that that's who you're supposed to be."

Are you LISTENING TO THIS? He is obviously talking about Jinx. You can tell this by the first sentence because obviously Powder IS that kind of person. He's starting to see that Jinx is just a part of Powder, one that is unavoidable and that he unknowingly appreciates in a sense. Like two sides of one coin he can't see Powder without Jinx and that is good. I think it is here he realizes truly just how much he cares about Jinx.

This whole montage is beautiful but I want to zero in on two things. Powder's reaction to the notebook and how she looks at Ekko after. NOW THIS. This is the nail in the coffin for her. She knows that this is not her Ekko. She has fully gathered that he isn't from this universe.

Also heimerdinger totally knows how Ekko feels you cannot tell me otherwise. Pushing him to go to the party? yeah he knows what you are.

THIS WHOLE SCENE. I AM NOT ANALYZING THE WHOLE THING HERE BUT IT IS GORGEOUS. I saw someone talking about how it was animated on 4's to signify the way Ekko can only go back 4 seconds and I honestly shed a tear. THE SONG TOO? I encourage everyone to look at the lyrics because they're beautiful.

Okay now for my favorite part of this episode so much to dissect and i'm totally going to mansplain but yk..

"I used to dream the undercity could be like this" — That sets the tone for the whole conversation and just what world he is talking about. The canon one.

"But somewhere, I got consumed by all the ways it wasn't. I gave up on it. Gave up on YOU." — Heavy emphasis on this line. Once more he is talking about Jinx. He is talking about how he got so consumed by the way that Jinx wasn't good, and he gave up on her. Believed she was irredeemable. Powder showed him that Jinx is capable of love and happiness, it's just under that tough protective shell. The undercity in the metaphor is Jinx, from my interpretation.

"I promise i'll never forget this." — Now time for my insanity. He doesn't forget this. That's why he saves Jinx from ending her life in the first place. He remembers Powder and knows that with the right support Jinx doesn't have to be the way she is. It's not that she "needs to be fixed" she just needs to be LOVED, like Powder. He sees that now. He sees how in the au the love that everyone shares for one another shaped the undercity beautifully, and made everyone in it much healthier mentally despite going through hardships. That is beautiful. People with mental illness are not unlovable they just need more support, it can't be cured, or fixed just healed. Mental illness is always there it is how you DEAL with it that matters.

Nothing too major to talk about with the kiss. It's sweet I love it, but nothing too notable for me to say about it.

Finally, Ekko leaves the au. I have seen people say that this is a sacrifice, he could've had everything he wanted and he gave it up to save the people at home. But i take insanity to another level. I see this as him appreciating his home. He knows he can never truly love this Powder because she isn't the version he fell in love with. He learned to appreciate Jinx even through her flaws, and that while this world has everything he could want and more he can have that home too.

I am experiencing HEAVY timebomb brainrot if you can’t already tell. I was tired of people taking things in the complete wrong way with this episode, if anyone has different views pls tell me I love hearing how other people took certain scenes. there are a few scenes I love but I would’ve made this post way too long..

[rowie264]

Why Timebomb shouldn't exist in s2 (part 1 - Ekko)

Let's start by analyzing his character. Don't you think there's something wrong here, to put it mildly? Of course, I'm laughing at jokes about the fact that you can't call any character absolutely good in Arcane except for Ekko, but… Don't you think this is a problem? Ekko has no flaws at all. If he didn't have difficulties as the story progressed (and there aren't many), he would literally be Mary Sue.

And okay, even though I find characters without flaws completely unrealistic and boring, it's possible to work with this. Let Ekko be a good guy. Just give him a good conflict and it will be enough to make him interesting to watch.

But there are problems here too. What conflicts does Ekko have?

Chembarons. It's clear with Silco, he died in s1, and this conflict is half gone. But only half, because other chembarons want to take his place. The development of this topic could serve as a good disclosure of Ekko's character. His confrontation with shimmer and Silco in the hope of changing Zaun for the better with his defeat will endow him with flaw - naivety (this is just speculation, because we don't know if Ekko knew that eliminating Silco wouldn't have changed anything - we can only see that how he sighs at this information in s2 ep2). But making him naive is good, because it would give him an opportunity for growth and an additional character arc, because the question arises - what will he do? Fight against the "bad guys" as before or change his approach? Will he get his hands dirty or will he find a "better way"? Perhaps he will try to unite Zaun? Maybe he'll become a chembaron himself, but as a good chembaron? Well, we won't find out, because thanks to Caitlyn for doing all the dirty work - this conflict disappeared on its own.

The Tree. Ekko's personal arc in the s2, which is just drained down the toilet. And no "he ended up in another timeline and then there was a war" is not an excuse, because his entire motivation in s2 is based on this conflict. He starts his journey precisely because of the Tree, but they brushes it aside for the sake of fanservice and a more global plot. Lack of timing is not an excuse for the same reason - fanservice in another timeline is not needed for s2. Exploring Tree and firelights would give a lot of information about Ekko himself. How did he become a leader? Was there anyone who was against his leadership? What personal connections does he have with firelights (friends, mentors, etc)? One such small flashback could reveal his character much more than the entire ep7.

Piltover. Weeeeell, since we have been ignoring the topic of Piltover oppressing Zaun for decades, this conflict disappears by itself. We have more important things to do, like fighting an army of creepy robots and Arcane Jesus.

Jinx. Fucked up on all fronts. Cheap fanservice with alternative Powder instead of revealing his complicated relationship with our Powder/Jinx. I'll explain more later.

In total, we have: Ekko, a character who has not been fully revealed, who does not have depth like other characters (shown on the screen, rather than having to figure it out by ourselves) and whose conflicts either resolve themselves or are forgotten. It was more important for the creators to devote time to the fanservice than to reveal Ekko as an individual and close his personal arcs. Moving to another timeline cuts off the possibility of revealing his relationship with other characters besides Heimerdinger (yes, with Jinx too, but more on that later). But there's also a problem with Heimerdinger, because well, he's so small and fluffy and has a cool mustache, and that's probably why Ekko completely ignores the fact that Heimer was a councilor to the city who had been oppressing Zaun for decades (seriously, Ekko doesn't bring up this topic and has no complaints about Heimer, because creators deliberately omitted this conflict, forgetting that it is illogical for the character as Ekko).

Part 2 - Jinx Part 3 - Relationship

[vampirewuwu]

Is episode 7 really fan service?

I’ve seen people who don’t really like Timebomb claiming that episode 7 is fanservice because of the ship itself but is it actually? Now we know that Timebomb is a popular ship in the Arcane fandom along with CaitVi and JayVik, the ship got pretty big and, like CaitVi, got attention from the people involved with the show. Reed Shannon ( Ekko’s VA ) is shown to be very supportive of the pairing along with Amanda Overton ( Arcane’s writers ). So let’s go talk about the episode along with debunking.

So Ekko has not appeared in act 2 at all and we wonder as to why he didn’t show up, it turns out that he was in an alternate universe which being that what would’ve happened if everything was okay.

We see him countering Adult Powder, he got cautious around her until he sees Benzo being alive but it’s not only him being alive but the others as well. Ekko ends up running into Heimerdinger and has a conversation with him about going back to their own universe until Powder accidentally interrupts their conversation by telling Ekko that she’s going to visit Vi and invites him over.

This turns out that despite everything in the AU being okay, it ended up taking Vi’s life instead, Ekko being confused as to how she died ends up asking Powder questions that weren’t really the best to ask her, she finds it very insensitive that she refuses to talk to him. The scene cuts to Ekko walking but the setting that he was walking on was actually the bridge where him and Jinx fight on, he started having a flashback of him looking over her unconscious body before it ended. Now we see him and Heimerdinger having a conversation about finding a way back to the universe and notice how Ekko was scooting over for Powder to see him? Powder did see him, Ekko gave a smile but she looks away thus leaving him feeling bad about what he asked her. He ends up painting a memorial of Vi as not only a way to ask for her help but to apologize. Now during the heartfelt conversation of them speaking about Vi, we can see that he’s still thinking about Jinx when he was speaking to her but then we get this quote “Sometimes taking a leap forward means leaving a few things behind.”

Now during the scene where Ekko, Powder and Heimerdinger were building the time loop, I’ve seen people pointing out which I didn’t know but it started making sense that Powder knows that this was definitely not her Ekko because of her looking at the notebook and the look that she was giving him like she knows that something’s off but just chooses not to force it out of him.

Now going to the party scene where Powder and Ekko have this romantic moment of them dancing together, during this scene, we see them siting together while watching the sky. We had a heartfelt moment of Ekko admitting that he dreamed of the undercity to be like the alternate universe and Powder comforting him. Ekko did ask if she ever wish she could just stay in one moment to which Powder responded the same thing that Ekko had said to her, “Sometimes taking a leap forward means leaving a few things behind.” Powder was about to lean in for a kiss but due to this being Ekko’s first kiss, he hesitated and ask her if they can pretend that it’s their first kiss to which they did.

Now I’m not sure if Ekko gave her that necklace but it does have his and Powder’s silhouette but if he did, it was definitely something for her to remember him by.

When Ekko was ready to go back to his own universe, Powder comes in to check up on him to find an unconscious body of her Ekko. This is the moment where Powder first sees Ekko and what I love about this moment is when Ekko at first gave her a sad look but then gave a heartwarming smile, it looked like he was about to wave a goodbye when he leaves.

I’ve seen people claiming that Ekko doesn’t love Jinx but loves Powder, I will say that this is false and ridiculous to say because they are both the same person. If we are talking about AU Powder then I will still say that this statement is false because if he only loved her and not Jinx then he would’ve just stayed in the AU.

I’ve seen people say that Jinx hates Ekko or doesn’t care about him. This is later debunked by the official artbook of Arcane where we see Jinx’s doodles, when we see Ekko on the page, she draws hearts around him and there is this walkthrough event where along with her doodles, we see the “Ekko + Jinx” on the wall and if she were to hate him then she wouldn’t bother helping him.

So this all comes down to the question, is episode 7 pure fan service? I would honestly say no as Ekko wasn’t out of character in this episode. I know that people will say “But Jinx killed a friend of his” or “But he ended up hitting her on the bridge” and I feel like people forget that this pairing is a enemies to lovers troupe ( also Ekko was defending himself when she was about to shoot him ). Enemies to lovers troupe is extremely popular when it comes to pairings such as Batman and Catwoman as an example. I have also seen people say “Ekko all of a sudden falls in love with her” and I want to point this out that Ekko didn’t randomly fall in love with her, the two were childhood friends and it’s been hinted that Ekko has a crush on her when they were kids.

The one thing that I will agree with is that Ekko and Jinx need more interactions as we have been told that there was more interactions in Act 3 but it was unfortunately cut. It does make me disappointed since we could’ve had more interactions to show but from what Christian Linke ( Arcane’s co-creator ) said, he has stated that their story is worth continuing so maybe we might get more of their interactions in the future if they ever appear in the spinoffs.

[arcane-ish]

The s2 Silco/Vander/Felicia flashback

@lady-griffin stealing the conversation from over there, because we are already yapping so long on somebody else's topic.

If I was doing that scene, without completely rewriting or removing it – I would have made it less of a flashback and more of memory. Have things be disjointed or non-real elements included; Vander’s memories have been torn up again and again and again but Vi calling his name was enough for him to put them together and be cognizant enough to be himself again... but those memories are still broken up. It’s not 100%. Some possible thoughts - having flickers of other people being in the bar too (making it feel more like a community and not just three best friends) and then it just becomes Vander, Silco, and Felicia because those two are who he tried so hard to remember. Maybe we see the mom dancing with the dad, but he keeps flickering in and out and disappears altogether because Vander wasn’t desperate to remember him as much when he was being experimented on by Singed; but Felicia and Silco, his girls, his kids – he clung to those memories so they're more solid for him, but even they’re not perfectly remembered, because he literally can't. Maybe young Silco keeps appearing with his eye after the river or the barnacle version of him creeps through for a second or two.

You know, that's a really interesting point. I have issues with that scene and not all of them are really the writing. My thoughts here are bit disjointed, so I'll try to collect em.

I don't like the fated/connected from the start stuff

ie I don't care for the "Vander named Vi/Felicia told him first" stuff, just like I don't care about the "Jayce encounted Viktor as a child". It's just genuinely a trope I don't care for much.

I don't mind CaitVi just nearly missing each other at the heist of Jayce's lab. And I don't mind Timebomb being playmates as kids and that being the origin of their story.

But if like the show had instead given us a scene for Vander and Silco where let's say Vander flashes back to his parent and the parent suddenly drops a scrawny kid into his room and says "you gonna take care of him now". That would have been just about my least favorite turn of events. Even though they are my biggest ship.

It's not great as a "fated" type story

I don't like fated type stories in general but I can see when they work like JayVik obviously did for a lot of people. And you can tell those stories about platonic love.

But to me that isn't really there.

Because the flashback emphasizes Vander's connection with Vi (he named her) but most of the season emphasizes his relationship with Jinx more. Which I don't think is that unnatural, as season 1 is more from Vi's POV and season 2 is more Jinx's POV, it makes sense that those seasons would emphasize each main characters connection with him.

But that means it doesn't work as a tragic fated story.

He named her, but he dies with Jinx. And his last scene that we know of (putting both girls to bed, blowing out the candle) emphasizes both of girls fairly equally.

If his death had been more about him dying for Vi maybe it would have rung better, more poetic more fated. Or if him and Vi had gotten one proper scene chilling together, just about the two of them.

Like let's say the scene Jinx and Vi share at the place with their height measurements, if that had been Warwick and Vi instead, maybe their story would have felt more whole.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to change it, that scene was important for Jinx and Vi. But Warwick and Vi not getting a scene like that contributes to Vi and Vander's story feeling like it's been left dangling. (ie that Vi hallucinates Loris as Vander)

So getting a big "fated" type scene but then having the storyline feel like it's kind of dangling, doesn't really pull together. Which to me enhances the feeling that the scene feels cheesy.

Felicia's role is both too big and too small

I generally have a bit of an issue with how a lot of the minor s2 characters are written. That a lot of them feel less plausible/in the world. I have this with Isha, with Maddie and also with Felicia.

The art of season 1 was that everybody and their wants and needs felt very plausible within the world. A lot of the s2 characters (Felicia, Isha and Maddie spring to mind) feel more "plopped into the world to do their purpose and then fuck off".

Felicia before season 1 was just glimpses, dead body on the bridge, flashes in Vi's memory. And suddenly she gets this big fat scene that focuses on her and her needs and her ideas.

... and then she's pretty much gone from the story. Yes, she's not completely gone, you can argue Vi and Jinx have their bonding scene and that is the end of her "arc"/her fullfilling your purpose.

I just feel like a little bit more might have tied it together more.

ie Jinx hallucinates her and she tells her not to give up

or she shows up in Warwick's healing dream as a guide kind of like Skye

or she shows up in Vi's hallucinations as a comforting presence

or she shows up in Vander's final "putting the kids to bed" dream

or have her statement be more in line with the "message of the series" that is later voiced by Jinx's hallucination of Silco

Don't get me wrong, as I like Silco and Vander, I'm glad that that scene wasn't an intro to "oh great, now everything is going to be about her now".

But the imo relative lack of follow through makes it weird to me that the scene is like that (long, very focused on her)

The visuals are boring

I think you actually hit the nail on the head.

When wrote my review/reaction to that scene, I think I settled on this very early that my biggest pet peeve isn't what happens in that scene or is said, but that it feels off. They look too clean, too well fed. Why no dirt, no scars, no tattoos, no ripped clothes, hard muscles from work? Why not try to communicate more about the setting?

Arcane so far has been really good of really characterizing the different eras of the Last Drop. And it feels that just off that it's that empty and has that little personality. (ie if they wanted to emphasize that it's been freshly built and it's before the grand opening they could have had like tools lying around, brooms and buckets)

Or give me Felicia having the same dialogue, but have her actually be ragged, with bags under her eyes, ripped cloths, dirt on her cheek. Make them feel like proper young revolutionaries rather than like well fed students chilling.

That's why I personally prefer the little flashes of Silco in Warwicks memories as he runs through the mines. They communicate so much more personality.

Arcane has done flashbacks that felt very realistic, very plausible, like the Caitlyn or Viktor child flashbacks. And they have done flashbacks that clearly mix stuff that happened with like impressions (uninjured Silco floating in really deep water versus Silco being drowned by Vander in clearly less deep water). And then we have things like are like clearly warped, to the extent of having an off the wall style like the Remember Me video or the Isha montage.

The fact that the Drop is that empty makes it feel like a capsule in time. It doesn't feel like a realistic place that tells us a lot about the circumstances that they live in (even though it would have been super interesting to get a glimpse into the Zaun of the past).

Okay, so let's embrace it's not a realistic, scene, it's just Vander's memory. So what does it tell us abour Vander? Is it his happy place? Then why does the style look so different from other memories? Does it communicate that he cared a lot about Felicia? Then why not build on that again.

I guess the idea of the scene is to emphasize that Vander was connected and bound to the girls from the very start. And his love for the girls is like the only thing that keeps Warwick slightly tethered to thir world in s2. But I dunno, it still feels kind of off to me.

I naturally rag a lot about the writing (just because a lot of the time it's just so clear that they infused scenes with so much more personality and meaning with the animation alone, without any dialogue being needed). But that's really a scene where the writing is "okay", but the animation is kind of uninspired/they could have done more to give it personality. IMO it stands out as one of the more boring scenes of the show.

As for improvements in animation alone:

like you say, flashes of other things, to continue with the theme of Vander's memories being very fractured

make the characters more ragged, make them feel more like a realistic part of the world, imply something about how much work it was for them to get the drop

But that's kind of the thing too. I think the Remember Me montage suggests that Vi had a relatively happy childhood. Which in turn implies that period of peace between them getting the Last Drop and the Bridge.

So maybe they didn't want the implication that life in the past was a constant struggle, to make it work better as a baseline of peace that Jinx and Vi can bond over.

I dunno, to me the scene just feels "off". It feels very "blunt" and kind of not very economic in both the writing and the animation.

Like, when I think of a scene like Caitlyn telling Jayce that she's upset about Jinx. The writing is very blunt and on the nose there as well, but the animation and the scenery with the wind, it tries to communicate something to us about what Caitlyn is feeling, how "stormy" it is inside of her. It's still a building scene "because Caitlyn feels this way, she will later do X".

Compared to that the flashback scene just feels kind of ... flat to me. Very uneconomic about what it communicates compared to the length. (and I don't mean that every scene has to be economic, like clearly Arcane will hold on a scene in order to wallow deeply in that emotion, where the emotion or a badass fight scene is the kill shot of a scene, but it's not that type of scene. Or if it was meant as a "wallow in nostalgia" scene it is outdone by the much more excessive Remember Me)

It's not the worst scene, I don't hate it. There are aspects about it that I like (I like Silco's diary, I like Bozo 1 and Bozo 2, I like the ankle biters). It maybe communicates a bit about what world/backstory the writers imagined (carved from bedrock) even though it does pretty much only in dialogue rather than also in animation.

But I think of scenes like Vi and Jinx walking into Silco and Vander's old hideout and Jinx touching the jackets and imo that does just such a better, more subtle job of communicating things on so many layers (communicate something about Vi and Jinx and their relationship to each other, their relationship with Silco and Vander, Vander and Silco's relationship with each other, something about the time).

I do wonder why it was that way. Like, they clearly wanted to show as a little about Vander and Silco's past. But why do it that way?

Did they throw in the "Vander named Vi" part because they think it's important or because they were worried some people might not get that it's the same woman from Vi's flashbacks? Did they want to set up "Felicia asked both Vander and Silco to take care of the girls" to create a bedrock to explain why Vander and Silco are together in the AU?

[thataromanticbisexual]

I have an arcane 'hot take'

I wish they ended season two off at the end of act 2—now stay with please just stay with me for a moment!!

just so you know this is a really long rant so i'm sorry in advance, spoilerss ahead ofc!

main focus characters mentioned + timebomb—

────────── ⊹ ⊱ ☆ ⊰ ⊹ ──────────

Most of us know (at least i think everyone knows) that arcane was originally supposed to be a five season show, i repeat a five season show. And i really fucking wish they kept it this way, or at least made it a season longer than it ended up being. But don't get me wrong, i'm happy (and maybe a little heartbroken) with the ending we got. I just wish they didn't condense it down into the two seaon show.

In all honesty, It felt a tiny bit rushed. And yes, maybe that was our fault for making so many theories, but either way, they introduced so SO many new themes, for non league players (like myself) an episode or half on magic on it's own, and don't get me started on the new characters. There wasn't enough time to explore all of their backstories, or their motives in only nine episodes. We needed more time, i'm sure we can all agree on that, right? Do you get what i mean?

To get a better idea of what I mean next I’ve provided visual representation, oh yeah

Personally think this would’ve been a pretty good ending for the season. The cliffhanger would leave fans pissed but it would do numbers.

So instead of cramming all of the seasons plots + sub plots into those three acts, they could extend it and explore those points in more detail and depth. We'd be able to develop a much better understanding of those plots.

─────────────────────────

An example of the extended plots i'd like to make clear is Maddie. She was iffy from the start. Sure she was cute and seemed sweet and all, but there was something off about her. And then we learn that she was actually working under Ambessa's wing, fuck we've already missed so much.

Why was she working for Ambessa? Why was she smiling like a bitch when she was abt to shoot Cait? Did she have ulterior motives outside of being a pawn in Ambessa's game? There's other points that i can't think of right now, but there's missing infomation. There is holes.

Then there's Enforcer Vi, Act 2 Caitlyn and Vi. Their arcs in the story were watered down DRASTICALLY. In a simple summary, we witnessed vi become an enforcer, the caitvi get together and divorce in the same episode. Then we saw the start and the end of Caitlyn's dictator arc from the 6 month timeskip in like under 20 minutes of screentime. And we also got 2 lousy minutes of pit fighter Vi from said timeskip. There was major external and internal struggle for the both of them during this time in their lives and it impacted them a shit tonne in different ways, and it was basically was skipped over like it was nothing. These experiences alone impacted their mental health heavily. We could’ve gotten so much more from this!! Be so fucking for real.

And then there's Jinx and Isha. We got flashbacks during Act 2 Ep6, but thats the thing, they were just flashbacks. We didn't get to experience the whole thing. We see this huge change in Jinx after the time skip, and it was all because she had Isha to ground her. And we see nothing of this. The character development was pivotal, and we missed it.

Same slightly goes for Ep9. Jinx lost Isha, and she's about to kill herself. Then Ekko steps in and saves the day. Next time we fucking see them they're in different outfits, they've got paint and doodles on each other, AND they've teamed up? Ugh! Again we've missed so much. And to top it all off, it was confirmed that they scrapped at least 30 minutes of timebomb footage between?? God damn.

All of these points could have been explored deeper if only we had more time. More of Maddie’s story, more of pit fighter Vi, more of dictator Cait, more of Jinx, Isha, Ekko.

Sometimes these things can’t be helped but it would’ve been so nice.

Got opinions? If you do I’d actually love to hear more theories from you people. I love to see your thoughts and stand points.

(and i also just want to point out that theres a FUCKING petition to relase the extended cut of the caitvi sesbian lex scene, which is so crazy and insane... anyway heres the link if you want it)

[monstress]

arcane s2 thoughts

prayinggg we get a no soundtrack version because while i do like a few of the tracks (yes even Enemy!!!), there are more duds than hits and they take me out each time

also obviously i'm a Jinx Is Alive truther because of the ending scene of cait staring at the air ducts to the hextech tower fiddling with a fragment of her bomb...come on. jinx has said in the start of the season that she wanted to leave piltover/zaun and with isha gone and her sister happy, she can finally do that

i am very invested in jinx and vi's relationship so when jinx without any hesitation chose to let herself go from vi's grasp and destroy warwick (both something that vi could not do) which in one fell swoop legitimizes her agency, protects vi from a monster, saves vander from eternal hell - i'm like yea...[sniffs] that's a redemption arc baby

jinx and vi. piltover and zaun. they'll always be sisters...yea....

i admire the open ending with the airship. but she did say she'll ride one of those things one day. yay.

maybe an unpopular opinion but i liked cait this season. finally some bite and controversy and trauma to her choices. she was way tooooo comfortable in s1. while she's still a cop, at least she's interesting now!

also ok....yelled and hollered when lesbian sex is finally happening. rejoice guys - i thought we will never get it

the writing pace of this show is bonkers and i understand they need to keep it tight because of animation budget but what the helllllll was that viktor machine herald speedrun. it felt like it needed a good one more season to incubate and i was overwhelmed with that + jayce's heel turn + mel's superpower reveal like hold on hold the fuck onnnnnn what does this meannnnnn

gay sex in hextech void deus ex machina goes crazy tho

like oh yeah i am cosmically tied to only one man in this world and he alone can guide me to the error of my ways in any universe

ok!

mel being the most specialest princess in the entire world seems right imo. i can easily be riled up to sycophantic fervor to serve in her army just say the word ma'am 🫡

let's not forget the tragic irony that Mel was exiled by her mother and has tried to carve her own path through diplomacy and peace in defiance but ends up finding herself sitting in her mother's steel ship in her colors with her army with so much power in her veins and now leaves the city she loved that her mother ruined too. mel merdada one of the characters of all time......

and i am a number one sap so!!!!!!! the flashback scenes this season got me hurting real bad. when i thought i was devastated by Remember Me...here comes s2e7 to punch me in the gut

the fact happiness and normalcy was possible for powder...the fact that powder will never use hexcore because of what happened to vi and it made all the difference. vi's death unknowingly protecting her sister (and the world!) from beyond the grave...i am sobbing my eyes out

also as a season one timebomb shipper, thank youuuu arcane writers i didnt expect this at ALLLLLLLLLL???? it was written like everyone knows they were an item except themselves??? i have done nothing to deserve this but thank you

UPDATE: i hv been informed that they are already dating in the alternative universe from background details. even more delicious

i am just happy to be here and prepared to be devastated

vanderco Real. like don't even waste your breath to say they aren't when they look like they are glowing in domestic bliss. what's some light stabbing and drowning between married couples amirite fellas

claggor and mylo!!!! i didn't expect to get emotional seeing them since idrc but seeing them grown up like ohhhh these are vi and jinx's brothers...and they'll never know this life...okay.....

the alternative timeline pretty much put a bandaid to the pain and suffering for the past 2 seasons and as contrast for more suffering. i love it. the writers are so diabolical

heimerdinger sacrificing himself for ekko is ok for me lol idc abt him goodbye cheesepuff

i still need to process the Ambessa vs MelCait fight. im quite sure there's some great parallels there

but Ambessa as a character is sooooo fascinating. while i hv qualms making a prominently Black character be an imperalist warlord (othering her with her accent too), Ambessa i fear is so so very cool and i was slightly rooting for her ngl like i can't hate a cunning ambitious woman it's against my nature!!!!!

i am gonna think abt mel holding up ambessa like repin's painting of ivan the terrible for a longggg time

side note: i love that sevika finally got what silco wanted all along - a seat at the (council)table. like that's my wifeeeeeee. lib ending i know i know since the best ending is a free state of zaun but like narrative wise it would notttt make sense at the point of time. but also since they never confirmed anything, i wanna say they'll have a go at dismantling the power structure that is oppressing zaun with sevika keeping an eye on it. not a perfect solution but i'll take it rather than leave it

so will i watch another show on LoL?

mmmm.......anyways guys watch Penelope of Sparta!

[kravchikfreak]

i hate ✨the power of friendship✨. i HATE it with my whole soul

and it's one thing this bullshit goes into some project specifically for kids or heavy kid-oriented one, but when something acts all serious and adult-oriented and then does a 180 and suddenly all you just need is to ✨forgive✨ and become ✨friends✨

fuck this shit genuinely

s2e7 will forever have a special place in my heart but i felt the physical need to vomit when silco just appeared behind vander hugged him and smiled something about the power of ✨forgiveness✨ wtf

it took me so long to talk about it despite this bullshit being my №1 disappointment with the whole season after arc 3 aired cause i guess i subconsciously tried to convince myself this scene doesn't actually exist cause it hurts my brain to even think about it and i feel sick already after writing about it for so long

i was already traumatized prior by arc 2 and its stupid flashback of silco potentially being a friends with the mom of the girl he tried to kill numerous times. the only thing that left now is

a) to be glad that stupid letter vander allegedly wrote was just for pushing vi and jinx on the path of becoming sisters again without making them actually try to resolve it among each other

b) the winning of the sparkly power of friendship was in fairytale au universe that existed just for giving timebomb-shippers what we want without trying to work with "our" timebomb situation too much

but in all seriousness, whatever s2 did, however bad the writing was (in my opinion), nothing even remotely as devastating as the stupid power of friendship message. and if this whole thing was actually what they've planned for the story from the start then i'm really sorry for myself that after watching s1 i've decided i found an actual mature project for adult audience

and it's kinda sad, cause all my frustration with this season comes exactly from that place - from me being confident i watch a mature show with mature delivery and themes. if it were any other show, if i expected inconsistencies, stupid plot twists and poorly developed characters then i might even like the season and wouldn't feel the need to hear from other people and discuss what problems exist in it

but… yeah, you just need to forgive, bro, and then literally

[thewistlingbadger]

Not sure if any of these are *hot takes* per se but:

Vander being brought back was tacky, boring and made me less interested in the show (I don't care about Warwick lore or whatever, bringing him back when his death had so many consequences for Vi and Jinx's arcs actively cheapens their stories so much);

I struggled to care about Isha since the show put little to no effort into making me invested in her beyond "cute kid". It felt like she was more of a plot device to get Jinx to just be a quippy antihero rather than her far more nuanced and interesting S1 characterization. Also, I don't know why the writers thought her being a suicide bomber was a good idea.

Zaundads (Vander/Silco) isn't a good ship, I get the appeal but the Vander-Silco dynamic seems genuinely more interesting without the tired cliche of them being lovers who had a violent falling out.

Timebomb (Jinx/Ekko) was fun when it was potential subtext in S1 but just like everything else with Jinx and Ekko, the interesting parts died after the S1 finale.

On a similar note, it was a missed opportunity not to have Ekko confront Heimerdinger over his role in perpetuating Piltover's oppression of Zaun. Like the guy was in power for like 300 years let's examine that.

Ekko, Mel, Heimerdinger, and (to an extent) Jayce all being basically sidelined for huge parts of S2 made the world feel so small and static, especially after Mel and Ekko were set up to be much bigger players during the tail end of S1.

I liked JayceVik and CaitVi in S1 but I absolutely don't think either ship should've taken over the show like they both did. As a queer person, I'm seeing way too many people justify their poor writing as "oh well it's queer rep." Okay, we deserve WELL-WRITTEN queer ships as well.

A lot of the side characters in S1 felt like they had at least some kind of idea behind them. I didn't even know Loris had a NAME until I googled it. The writers in S2 basically just forgot to give these guys any sort of consistency or reason for the audience to be interested in them.

S2 misinterpreted "making things nuanced" as "making everything ludicrously overexplained and overconnected". The wizard being Viktor is dumb and unnecessary, Silco and Vander having known Vi and Jinx's mom makes their relationships and story arcs less interesting, I liked Singed in S1 but I didn't need anymore backstory or presence from him other than what was already there, and everything we got made me like him less, etc.

I know there's a lot here but I had a lot of opinions lol

WOW lots to unpack!! I'm gonna go one by one i think.

Agree. Vander was vital to act 1 s1 and he was needed to start the story. However by the time we get to season two, so much time has passed. In the show AND in real life. Vander had absolutely ZERO business in being brought back into the story as an actual character. I could understand including him had it been under some flashbacks that actually furthered the plot (not like the blisters and bedrock flashback) but otherwise he needed to stay dead. If we can bring back Vander who died at the start of the show, then who's to say anyone is really dead? If we can have Vander why not bring back Silco yk? Once you start bringing people back from the dead the threat of death is less heavy. While I understand that Vander makes a good fit for Warwick I truly believe that Warwick had no place in this story. He should have not been a character at play and I hate how much time he ended up taking. The only reason why Warwick exists in arcane is for the purpose of getting the sisters to reconcile without actually resolving their conflict. And that is incredibly frustrating. I also feel like if they were gonna go down this road it should have been harder. Warwick almost immediately reverts back to Vander and stays Vander for the rest of act 2.

Isha isn't a character in season two, she's just a plot device that's used to further Jinx's narrative. She has no real personality or desires outside of Jinx. I've heard people compare her to having a pet and unfortunately I have to agree. I never liked Isha because of this and also because to me it was so obvious she was going to die, even BEFORE act one aired. When they released the music video for Isha's song I was like "oh there's no way they both survive" and so I didn't get invested or attached to Isha at all. I think she's cute and her relationship with Jinx is cute, but I also hate it bc Isha's function in the story is to get Jinx to revert back to Powder, and I can't stand that shit. To this DAY I'm still trying to connect the dots on her death like I STILL don't understand why she "sacrificed herself" Jinx literally wasn't in danger??

All ships are valid so long as they're safe, but I think you were trying to say that you personally don't like Zaundads. Which is fair, I don't ship them either, though I do see the appeal. I think your reasoning is also very interesting I haven't thought about it like that.

This is an interesting perspective. I hope I'm interpreting your words correctly. I don't think I agree per say. I don't ship timebomb. I personally don't see the hype. However, I think the theoretical concept of two childhood friends finding themselves on opposing sides as they grow older is compelling and I think this is the base for timebomb. However they were literally never explored in the whole show. They never have a single conversation with each other. The only moments we get between them are the bridge fight and the attempt. The fact that we got a whole episode dedicated to a fake relationship between him and an AU version of jinx is maddening. So I think they could have been interesting but the show literally never commits to them.

Season two has a theme of just forgetting what happened in s1 and forgiving Zaun's oppressors. It would make sense for Ekko to criticize heimerdinger's inaction when he was a councilor. However when Ekko meets Heimerdinger for the first time he actually speaks with a sense of awe and admiration. It's important to remember that Ekko isn't an anarchist or a revolutionary. He's a teenager who is against any forces who harm the people of zaun. He's not necessarily anti-council (anti-piltover's government), he's not anti-statehood (we never get to see if he believes in Zaunite independence), he's anti-oppression. So do I think he should have criticized him? Yes. Did I want him to? Yes. Do I understand why he did not on a character level? Also yes.

Yes agreed writing off characters and then randomly bringing them back was a MAJOR flaw in S2. I wrote a post about how season two speed runs all the interesting concepts and then is forced to spend tons of time on shit that is boring and doesn't matter. Mel, Viktor, Ekko, Jayce, are all characters that we wanted to see more of but instead they got shoved aside to focus on...what exactly? Bc jinx reverts back to powder, we get no development from vi, and one day Caitlyn hates zaun and the next she's back with Vi. This is why I hate Warwick, because act 2 spends loads of time on Warwick when it could have been focusing on literally any of the missing characters. In Mel's case her story feels so isolated and disconnected from the main story of the season. For Jayce and Ekko they're reintroduced so late in the game there's no time to explore what happened. Episode seven tries to make up time but it ruins the whole pacing of act 3. Viktor is just a goddamn mess he is literally different EVERYTIME we see him. He's supposed to be a big bad but he doesn't start acting like an antagonist until EPISODE 8. It's all a fucking mess.

This one is interesting to me. I didn't really ship either caitvi or Jayvik in S1. Didn't see Jayvik at all and Caitvi just didn't do anything for me. I think it's important to remember that of the two only caitvi is canon. JayVik doesn't count as queer rep bc they weren't intended to be so (so in this context the "queer rep excuses bad writing" argument cannot apply to them). "Taking over the show" is interesting and I can see where you're coming from. ESPECIALLY JayVik they really did steal the show lol (but tbh I'm not upset at this bc they were what I enjoyed the most in S2). CaitVi definitely had some moments and it did feel like things were being ignored for the sake of the ship.

Yes. Every single thing in s1 had a reason. Why does Finn exist? To show that Silco has adversaries and that he's losing favor. To give Sevika some brief depth. Why does Ren exist? To provide Marcus with a motivation and to highlight how fucked up Silco is. Why does Therim exist? To show that even the most base level employees of Silco are afraid of Jinx. These aren't all the examples but they're probably the most obscure and they ALL served a purpose. Season two doesn't care about their side characters. They're just playthings to either further the story (Isha, Warwick) or to invoke an audience reaction (Maddie, gert, Loris).

Singed's backstory was interesting but not needed. Introducing it so late to the game felt wasteful. Even though the additional information we received on Vander and Silco and Vi's mom was unnecessary, I do like that we got it and I think it adds to the story of Silco and vander's falling out (I have a separate post explaining why on my blog). Viktor being the mage is not something that bothers me I liked the reveal in the moment, although I do recognize if you think too hard about it it falls apart lol. S2 relies on spectacle too much. S2 doesn't feel as complex or as nuanced as s1 because it is not. I can see where you would obtain the perspective of S2 feeling too connected and too explained (I think this is why you referenced blisters and bedrock and mage!Viktor). However to me there's so many things S2 didn't explain (why does Viktor act different. Why does mel suddenly have powers. What is the black rose. What was wrong with the tree. Was the anomaly a wild rune. Etc) and I feel like the story is too disconnected (bc of all the missing characters).

[darkryt]

Hopes and Fears for Arcane Season 2

So we're getting teasers for the best show adapted from a MOBA that you can watch on Netflix getting its second season and a release date of November 24. Just today we got a little teaser clip so here's my hopes and dreams and fears for Arcane Season 2.

HOPES

Vander being Warwick. Caitlyn and Vi relationship A logical progression for how Vi turns from where she was at the start of Arcane into how she is in League in a way that's missing from her compared to most of the other characters. You can watch Arcane and imagine how Jinx in Arcane changes into Jinx in League of Legends, or how Caitlyn does or Viktor does - you might have to make some inference and assumptions, but the arc is trackable in way that is just … not with Vi. How does someone hurt by Piltover's systems so much became a person who works for those systems? Someone who fights because she has to into someone who revels in violence and power? From a loving sister whose every motivation is reuniting with her sister to an Enforcer who just beats people up? The flashback they've mentioned in interviews of Ekko trying to rescue Powder from Silco because that seems like a formative experience for how their relationship is in the modern day. My girls Renata Glasc and Seraphine, even if it justs cameos. OPTIONAL: Vi and Jinx teaming up to fight or subdue Warwick and this allowing them to heal their trauma by proxy (but propbably too optimistic for this series). Exploration of Vi and Caitlyn's relationship. Ideally with kissing and or even sex. Just something that makes it unambigously clear they are gay in a way that bigots can't point to and say "It's ambigious!!!!" More story with Sevika. I saw a theory floated online that Sevika was concieved of as way to give Vi a big fight at the end without her fighting Jinx because the writers decided their relationship wasn't quite at the point where she and Jinx would have this all-out, dragout, knock-down brawl, and I'd be really sad if they spent as much time allowing Sevika to exist and to serve as a rival to Vi only for them to dump her in a closet or kill her off cheaply as the story zeros in on how Vi and Jinx become mortal enemies. Jinx hallucinating Silco the way she does Mylo and Claggor.

FEARS

Timebomb or Ekko becoming Jinx's boyfriend, and espcially not any sort of arc where Ekko's love redeems or reforms Jinx in any way Orianna being Singed's daughter. At first I liked this idea by after a blog-post by Orianna super-fan (here) I'm off it. Jinx getting a boyfriend at all, really. Her story has enough drama without a shoe-horned romance plot! Caitlyn and Vi being queer-baited and doing lots of yearning looks that look good in an AMV but not actually progressing their relationship in any meaningful way. Vi getting amnesia. In at least some versions of League story (and League of Legends has a … let's say loose relationship with things like canon and continuity), Vi's League story involves her losing her memories before mysteriously re-appearing as a Piltover Enforcer. This is an example of a broader trend of League of Legends' approach to storytelling that makes a lot of things ambigious or mysterious (cough, so they can make it up later or change their minds). But Vi losing her memories in Arcane would be such a lazy cheap way to effectively give her an identity death in order to force her to fit into the contour of League Vi without doing any of the character building or dramatic work to explore or explain how someone goes from poor orphan to collared criminal to an Enforcer and I just really hope they don't do it! Skye taunting Viktor in the form of hallucinations that egg him on towards his eventually fall and turn to robotic villainy. Not that it wouldn't be in-keeping with the series as it stands (both Vi and Jinx see people who aren't there), but Skye being oblierated was such an obvious fridging-manpain moment that I don't want to be reminded about it, and I've never really watched the reboot of Battlestar Galactica until it was doing re-runs on streaming but there's a character in there whose whole thing is being a hot sexy succubus projected into someone's mind (and remember that's a sci-fi story) and it was so stupid and tropey that I just don't want to see anything similiar. This may not be Arcane's fault but man. I don't want them to go there! Likewise on the note of Sevika, I don't want to see her just unceremoniously killed off in the first three episodes just to make room for the Jinx/Vi rivalry. Some sort of redemption for Jinx that involves her dying or sacrificing herself. It's 2023! 2024 when this comes out! Support women's wrongs! If you ARE going to let her have a redemption, don't take the coward's way out!

AMBIVALENT Viktor completing his transformation from sickly man seeking cure for his ilnness to a robotic terrorist who thinks everybody should become a robot. Shimmer being linked to the Void. This is a theory I've see floated around due to some visuals in the scene where Viktor introduces Shimmer to the Hexcore. I don't really care if this pans out or not. Some people might want to Whether Cassandra dies. It'd be strange for her to die but Jayce and Viktor to survive (and you know those two will because they are Named Characters) but for Cassandra to die in the same room. It'd provive angst and tension between Caitlyn, Jinx and Vi, sure, but Caitlyn already has reason enough to want to arrest Jinx even if her own mother doesn't die directly from the missile. Whether Camille shows up. Given the focus on conflict between Piltover and Zaun, it's a logical step to have the walking embodiment of Piltover's oppression show up, but I don't feel like she needs to be present.

[scummy-writes]

[CHAPTER 24 + PREM]

Two chaps left letsaaa goooo hahahahaha cries

-> opens up with her talking about his book. Its rehashing the same details.

-> i am in pain realizing that the books were also for him.

So now I am torn. Were these books something he wrote to console himself, because he thought he would never meet her, and he hoped these books were something she would take enjoyment in. A way of spilling his wants, old hopes, and dreams without directly doing so.

Or were these books made for her to keep having hope, to encourage her in his own way. To see if she would think more of herself, and feel treasured in an odd way.

Or both?

Argh. Im in agony and we're like 10 or 15 lines in.

-> in the meeting with luke and gil, she calls him out on how hes conflicted on his plan, since he wont give them the bullets just yet, and is giving her time to resolve this.

-> 'Flight of fancy' i like his word choices

Fyi, its a bottomless pit symbolizing his stomach. If you look closely, you can see the thousands of cookies she's baked (jk)

Why is he suddenly in his dressed down sprite?

The tantalizing touches of reminding you that gilbert's heart is a ticking timebomb

-> gilbert gives her until the end of that day to decide if shes gonna kill him

-> why does luke stroll in with a casual 'heya'. Im mad that we both say that.

-> missed a comment about how gilbert is good at finding weaknesses, then poking and prodding until they....get angry and boom? Damnit

The wonders of having the confidence of Big Dick Is Back In Town will do.

Fuel for [censored] hcs

-> this is all one big hashing out of how she loves gilbert. Lukes having to point it all out.

Luke also points out that its not blind faith or trust, she still has her own ideals and willpower, so its still Her.

I am realizing gilbert probably gets huffy about the soldiers and such putting so much trust and such into him because some of them may be doing it blindly, and not going by their own willpower.

Which. Sounds odd since theyre lower rank and blah blah. But you know what i mean. He doesnt want just a nation of blind devotees.

Love that luke is mr perceptive here.

-> "No ones gonna ask someone they hate to kill them, are they?"

....

HAHA

Also imagining gil and emma having sex, and during the foreplay shes teasing him and going "oh? Is that it? Some villain you are" and gilbert kickin it into high gear HAHA

-> "mr.spy, are you there?" Emma i love you

-> love that lucien is.... like chev in some ways. Meanwhile roderic is only like gilbert in looks.

Nighttime town

-> I WILL KILL HIM

-> grey and clammy face as description

-> okay he didnt slink off here to die(?)

Shakes you shakes you shakes you shakes you

ARRRGGGHHHHHHHH

-> his grip is still somehow tight? Really is walking contradictions.

-> they did comment in chap 3 or smth that gilbert has a hard time controlling his force/strength since hes never. Really touched people caringly in Years.

IM BASHING YOUR HEAD IN

Fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you

[PREMIUM]

Holy shit its starts off with a flashback of walter explaining gilberts illness, and he describes it as a bomb HAHAHA oh my joke from earlier...ahah....still hurts

-> the lights are suddenly on in this place.

-> gilbert knew lucien was around, threatens her if she tries to call him, says he'll still have her killed

-> also says hes the only one allowed to do so.

-> i could kick you like a football in your current state, Gilbert

-> i am overcompensating with jokes so I do not burst into tears at how she loves him so much shes going to literally drag him to the castle to get treatment, and so she can still be with him if he dies along the way.

-> clannad moment

-> smart to strip the outerlayers so he wont have to try and kill civilians if the realize who he is

-> he must enjoy going into town and pretending like he is a normal person without having to worry about ending corruption. God damnit.

-> hard to move him, says he is heavy due to muscle. This twink.

-> motherfucker closed the door to demand to know why shes saving him outside of trying to save Rhodolite

-> mc he just wants to hear that you love him before he dies i am going to fuxking scream

PUNCHES WALL PUNCHES WALL PUNCHES WALL AAAHSJWBWKEHKSLWHSJSBDBDJWJYSHWJW ARHDGAHSHSGH

-> flashback to her first night in obsidian and hes getting jealous shes paying attention to his bookshelves and not him. Im going to go feral

-> "wow, you're as red as the sunset sky" emma you should have clocked that he was a writer from that line alone

-> yahoo hes shoving her onto the bed and teasing her for thinking he wanted sex. Cool cool. Meanwhile present day he is DYING AND I CANT ENJOY THIS

-> comes back to the present with realizing that he looked so sad when he said he just wanted to keep tormenting her forever, was because he was going to die soon.

-> i hate this fucking game

-> she points out in an inner monolog that she doesnt believe gilberts ever lived for himself

-> "i dont want to be lonely either" slams my fucking phone against a rock

-> why does lucien know walter

-> i hate this fucking game

DRAMATIC END - GILBERT ROUTE SPOILERS POST

Like the other notes (here), I am continuing my thoughts/notes on Gilbert's route. This post will focus on the dramatic end + premiums. His povs will be a separate post.

I'll be reblogging this post each chapter or so with personal thoughts and general screaming under a cut. I'll be having it in a format with the chapter numbered, and then a cut directly after where I'll be yelling. I already know some major spoilers with gilberts route, so if you have not finished his route yet, be wary.

I'll be using the tags 'Scum Simps' and 'scum plays gil route' for those of you who want to filter it out. Thank u!

[georgiaswarr]

lister bird - part 1 (part 2)

this is me trying - taylor swift

“they told me all of my cages were mental / so i got wasted like all my potential” starting this playlist off with a song that i feel definitely will come to describe lister’s mental state, especially during iana - he’s fallen behind, he’s dependent on partying and drinking, but at least he’s trying to get better

still learning - halsey

this song incorporates a fuckton of lister’s struggles - the pressures of fame, trauma, dealing with past mistakes, of course self-loathing, and much more

timebomb - finish ticket

and another self-deprecating tune !!! this one in particular addresses the connection between drinking/alcoholism and feeling like a fuck-up

the key to life on earth - declan mckenna

i could probably go into great depths to explain how exactly this is a lister song but suffice it to say, lister grew up poor and we mustn’t forget that. “holy smokes / you kids and your jokes / asking where we got our jeans / and where the hell we found our coats” reminds me a lot of meeting lister, him getting into fights and being “held back for after-school meetings”, etc.

new age meds - the wldlfe

“self-deprecation; / a new age medication / and you might need some therapy if / you're gonna live your life suffocating / someone who you're supposed to be” here we have the theme of self-hate again, used in connection with drugs and addiction, too, which is very lister

are you satisfied? - marina

another song highjacked from @kindaorangey, they did a better job than i ever could explaining it here

knock me off my feet - soak

“saturday night on the highest wall / settin' 'em off, all 50 fireworks / kickin' the cannons, we watch them fall / it doesn't exist, the law” lister starts living the high, indulgent life once he gets rich, which is a stark contrast from how he grew up. in the end, though, he still has people he can call his home.

narcissist - no rome

“stayin' late, i just wanna get stoned / telling all your friends that I'm never at home / and my face filling up with blood / but you're still the same living like a bourgeois” highjacked from alice’s 5 playlist, another song about partying and the like but also being painfully aware of your own flaws

big black car - gregory alan isakov

a song about feeling inadequate and worthless compared to another person, which is how lister feels about himself compared to jimmy and rowan

eventually, darling - declan mckenna

abandonment issues, lost hope, impostor syndrome, disillusionment and an almost nihilistic view on a relationship - this song has it all. i personally associate it with bicci and lister reassuring both jimmy and himself that it’s okay if he doesn’t like him back - after all, “everyone leaves eventually, darling”

swimming pools - lxandra

lister grew up poor and we mustn’t forget that part 2 - this is another flashback to his childhood, while simultaneously showing the stark contrast to his current life - i like to interpret the line “still the kids who don't have swimming pools / in their 40-million-square-feet mansions, ooh” in a “yeah, he’s rich, but he still came from almost no money and this has had a profound effect on him” way

mind - declan mckenna

according to declan mckenna himself, this song “makes me think of my friend matty’s party i went to on halloween 2015 after playing a show […] the song lyrically and artiscally kind of reflects the confused mess of my 16 year old self”. this is something lister can probably relate to, feeling emotional turmoil and an incoming existential crisis while partying

joan of arc on the dance floor - aly & aj

“at the stake, we don't fight the flames / are you born in vain if you die a savior?” first of all, joan of FUCKING arc metaphors, second of all the death motif and lister’s “die young” mentality, third of all another dark party song which is how this applies to lister in particular

why do you feel so down - declan mckenna

listerowan song !!! “i think you're one of a kind so i'll never like myself / i think you're older and wiser so i won't let you tell / i think it over and over and hope you're thinking too / i think it over and over and hope i'm over you” because angst

know me - the band camino

and yet another angsty listerowan song, gosh i’m really making myself emo over here

18 forever - maris

a) such a bisexual anthem, b) a song about partying and feeling forever young

house party no. 1 - blossom caldarone

“you want to grow up too fast / it's a race to see who is left last / from lemons to liquor to loving each figure / you're constantly wired up the wrong way / you'll be dead in a year if i wait one more day”. this is how jimmy and rowan see lister, as a party-obsessed “rebel without a cause”

sedated - hozier

a song about addiction and self-destruction. i could probably go through every line of it but imma keep it short and just trust all of you to understand the sheer levels and poetry of sedated by hozier as a lister song

shadows - ruth b

another song from jimmy and rowan’s perspective - they see that lister indulges in a lot of self-destructive behaviour, smoking, drinking, having sex, etc. in the first part of iwbft, they notice all of that in an almost accusatory way, which to me feels like the tone of this song - “kiss yourself another stranger / ‘cause you know you love the danger, don't you? / give yourself to someone new every night, is what you do” for example is them thinking he sleeps with everyone with a pulse

burning incense - skott

i talk about lister and his relationship to religion in greater depth in part 2 with preacher man but i think that theme appears in this song too. generally this song is very much about emotional turmoil, feeling unloved and distant from your friends, and feeling worthless, so very much a lister song

those nights - bastille

theme of loneliness and finding comfort in strangers (which i know lister doesn’t really do anymore but still)

sunday morning - matoma

“i probably shouldn't say this / should keep it all inside / but maybe i'm just wasted / enough to speak my mind” bicci bathroom confession??? anyone????

love like ghosts - lord huron

another beautiful bicci song about unrequited love and feeling so incredibly strongly for someone that it feels beyond the realm of the living - that’s also where the theme of death in iwbft comes in, which lister grapples with in particular

high hopes - kodaline

this song makes me think of the confession scene too - lister realising jimmy maybe doesn’t like him back, losing hope and all that, and deciding he needs to move on

mirrorball - taylor swift

theme of personas - lister has the Lister Bird persona which is there to entertain people, to make himself appear fun, aloof, approachable, almost like a clown, even though that isn’t who he actually is deep inside

much like myself - emma jayne

and another song about appearing happy on the outside despite the fact that you don’t feel much like yourself

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Episode 5

Flowers and a curtain at sunset, I think we’re back at Kamijo’s room. Or rather the hospital in general. Hey, we’re getting a flashback to Sayaka making the contract! I was hoping we’d get to see this, is there some sort of ritual or…? Hmph. Music’s a bit menacing, but this is a big step. I still think that Sayaka’s making the right choice and that it’s better to have the power, but I don’t think you can just change your mind later on. “Don’t worry, your wish is absolutely grantable.” And there we go, she ‘just’ wished for Kamijo to be healed. As you guys have said, we are being a bit unfair on Sayaka for not optimizing the Wish. She’s a middle-school girl, caught up in a life-or-death scenario, and her friend is in a bad way. And now that I think about it, if she had done like I’m saying and worked out a more expansive Wish, then she may not have gotten to Madoka in time. Urgh, just a bad situation all around. Alright, on with the ritual! Which is just Kyubey holding out his ears? Wait, now he’s reaching towards Sayaka and apparently into Sayaka, out comes a blue light and Sayaka falls backwards (understandable, the show mascot’s unlocking your Hidden Potential), the light returns to her and forms into what looks to be a Soul Gem like Mami’s, only matching Sayaka’s hair. And now she’s floating. Magical powers for the win! Once again the intro of lies. Mami… Ooh, I caught a shot of Food Girl Kyoko this time! Are there any other upcoming characters I’ve missed? Ep 5: There’s No Way I’ll Ever Regret It

Hitomi yawning! Rough night, huh? Still polite enough to apologize for the social faux pas, and I am so happy to see the NPC back to normal. Madoka and Sayaka act all innocent, asking about what happened, and Hitomi talks about some sort of mass sleepwalk. Huh, so non-potentials or MGs really don’t see or remember witches, then. The doctors said they all had a mass hallucination, then went right back to trying to figure out Kamijo inexplicable healing. You’ve got to feel sorry for the cops, scientists and doctors in these sort of shows, you know they’re in the background tearing out their hair in frustration over the mysterious cases. Well, Hitomi’s back to being her refined, overachieving self. And Homura’s back to sulking in the corner over her wrecked plans. Good. I want you to redeem yourself, Homura, but I didn’t want Zuko to catch Aang, either. You don’t get the territory and power, deal with it. Madoka looks sad? Later by a wind farm (go renewable energy!), Sayaka’s stretching and making content sounds, showing off the new ring on her finger while she does so. Seems becoming a Magical Girl comes with some nice energy boosts, probably better than coffee or the like. Madoka asks if Sayaka’s scared about making the contract, she brushes it off and points out how she took out the witch last episode. And when the alternative was losing both Hitomi and Madoka… well, she thinks that that’s a lot scarier. *slow clap* Ok, that’s a hero statement if I’ve ever heard one. Granted, I don’t think she knew about the two being in danger before she made the contract, meaning the real reason was still to heal Kamijo, but now that she’s got the power? Shot of Sayaka’s Soul Gem! And yeah, it’s like Mami’s but blue. She’s really getting into it, spouting off the one-liners and declaring that she, Magical Girl Sayaka, will protect Mitakihara City. … I want to believe in this confidence, I really do want to think that things will turn out alright. But we’ve got Homura and this Kyoko chick annoyed at the newcomer, and we’re not even halfway through the series. OH GOD DAMN IT. Sayaka mentions that she has one regret, in that she hesitated for so long, and we got a flash of Mami’s head (I see what you did there, show. *shakes fist*). And the broken teacup. Great, beyond this current bluster she’s clearly feeling guilt about not doing it sooner, since she “ended up doing it anyway.” That’s… argh. I want to completely argue with that, say that they could have died against the Clown Worm as well if they got involved, but seeing Sayaka fight the last witch… Looks like we’ve got a Spiderman situation here. Dude’s a fun character, but you’ve got to remember that his origin as a hero was after he failed to save Uncle Ben, his entire foundation is based on his perceived failure. Not going to get into Peter’s story, but I can draw the parallels to Sayaka here. “If I had become a hero sooner, this death would not have happened.” There’s no way to know that for sure, but conversely there’s no way to not know that for sure. Argh. And now the guilt's getting to Madoka, she’s thinking about the bridge scene (my poor ship…). And then Sayaka pokes her? Oh wow, this is rather understanding of her, Sayaka’s saying “it’s easy for me to say” because she’s gone and done it now. And yeah, given her combative personality I think she’s a good fit to fighting witches as a magical girl. But we’re back into iffy territory regarding her Wish being for something she wouldn’t mind risking her life for. She definitely has feeling for Kamijo, but I don’t know if it’s reciprocated. This could get ugly. Ok, aside from the ticking timebomb of her feelings to Kamijo, which I just know is going to be a plot point later on, she’s doing a good job reassuring Madoka, before heading off. Gee, I wonder where she’s going. Back at Kamijo’s room, he hasn’t been discharged yet because the doctors are busy freaking out over his mutant healing factor. Or rather, he still has to finish his leg… rehabilitation… Argh. Argh. ARGH. I’m sorry, Sayaka, but my optimization side is screaming right now. You’ve got a Wish that we have been shown was strong enough to heal all of Mami’s fatal injuries. But you were so focused on Kamijo’s hand that you apparently just wished for that to be healed? That is… you managed to both underutilize and overspecify a Wish! You could have said “I wish that the doctors would find a way to heal Kamijo’s hand”, or “I wish that Kamijo would be fully healed”. But no, you said “I wish that Kamijo’s hand was healed.” You knew his legs were still messed up, but… argh. Sayaka, I love you and all, but I’m going to hold this against you. Sorry. Ok, back to the hospital room, Kamijo’s being kept to finish up his legs and because they don’t know what fixed the hand. Which means all of the tests! For now, the working answer is “We dunno, it was a miracle.” Aw, Kamijo’s apologizing for his words last episode, Sayaka brushes it off, insists that he should be happy. Huh. I’m using the words “Sayaka brushes it off” a lot, aren’t I? That may not be the best of signs. Suddenly she notices the time and suggests that she and Kyosuke “go out for some air”. What are you planning? And why the roof? Hey, it’s the garden from the episode start! Wait. Wait no. Sayaka, do not do what I think you’re going to do. I know you like this boy, but telling him about Magical Girls? Transforming to prove it? That’s just asking for trouble! Wait, people? People clapping, mostly in medical scrubs? Oh, it’s some sort of “Congrats on mysteriously getting better” party. Then a man comes forward with something Oh! It’s his violin! And that’s his dad? Kamijo’s silhouette is just looking at the instrument now. Well. Ok, I get what the episode is going for, but from the perspective of a trumpet player? If I was laid up in the hospital and went an unspecified time without practicing my instrument, the last thing I would want to is for my first post-hospital notes to be in front of an audience. At least let the boy practice first! But then again, I’m a mediocre player at best, and Kamijo’s supposed to be a skilled player. Violin under chin, bow on strings, and he starts playing. ... I’m not going to sully the music by commenting on it. I’ll just note the title drop and move on. Wait, another building? Oh hey, it’s the Kyoko girl! And… Pffft! Ok, that is hands-down the best use of magic that I’ve seen yet in this show. Why spend money on one of those mundane tower telescope setups when you can just summon your own? Apparently she was spying on the rooftop performance to see the new magical girl. While eating, like last time. Hey, Kyubey’s there! So wait, we just saw him help Sayaka to become a Magical Girl, but before that he apparently summoned an outside girl to take the territory. And then he made the contract, we saw him tell the girl the territory was claimed again, and now he’s… just hanging around? Yeah, he’s hanging around this outsider who’s calmly talking about how Sayaka will be an easy hit (grrr). What’s going on, Kyubey? I thought you liked our characters. Sure, you seemed to walk off when they said they wouldn’t become MGs earlier, but now Sayaka is one. Why are you hanging around someone who want’s to stop that? Kyoko’s all confident about her chances, Kyubey warns her that there is another girl. Wait, what? “I’m not really sure myself.” How can you not know, Kyubey? Kyoko is as confused as I am. So what I’m getting from Kyubey dancing around the issue and calling her an “irregularity” is that he doesn’t know how Homura made a contract. Which raises some very interesting questions. I had assumed that Kyubey was the only contract-granter in the show, that Homura had contracted with him and then tried to kill him before he got any more recruits. If not Kyubey, then who? I remember I speculated about an anti-Kyubey who was making Witches, maybe she contracted with them and promised to take out the Rabbit-Thing. In any case, Kyoko welcomes the challenge. Kyubey doesn’t say anything, but for never stopping that smile of his I can just get a sense of “Oh, this won’t end well.” Back at the dining area of Fancy Mall, Homura is- oh, Madoka is meeting with Homura! Trying to Friendship her into not attacking Sayaka the new Magical Girl? Yup, Madoka stammering through trying to list her good aspects like being brave and helpful… which Homura immediately slams as being fatal flaws in her line of work. Light chanting music comes up again as Homura delves into a gloomy version of the Jedi’s “Fear leads to Anger” speech. “Kindness grows to naivete, and courage leads to being caught off guard. She also argues that being a magical girl is a thankless job. (So you’re basically saying that Madoka would be the shortest-lived magical girl ever, then.) “That is why Mami Tomoe lost her life.” Oh, low blow! I mean, true, but low blow. And off comes the top of her cup when she mentions Mami. I see what you did there, animators. Ooh, Madoka actually has some buttons apparently, she yells at Homura for casually dismissing Mami. But then she calms down and talks about how she’s worried about Sayaka being on her own. She can’t do anything herself, so...she’s asking Homura to become friends with Sayaka. Or at least not fight with her like she did with Mami. Homura’s thoughts: “Damn it, first the girl goes and becomes a MG despite my warnings, and now this civilian is trying to get me to work with the competition? Yeah, I’m not sharing.” Madoka raises a good point about if everyone goes together to fight witches it’ll be safer for everyone. Problem is, that doesn’t jive with Homura’s goals. Unless the girls working together could defeat enough witches to make up for the ‘one Grief Seed per witch’ limitation, then there’s no way she’ll go for it. Yep, dismissive Homura Hair Flip means that argument doesn’t work with her. But at least she’s honest, not making promises she can’t keep. For all my faults with her, I have to admit that Homura has some positive aspects. Unfortunately one of those is not tactfulness. “I’m telling you to give up on Sayaka Miki now.” Aw, look what you did, you made Madoka cry. (Feel bad. Feel bad.) This is an interesting trait of Homura’s. Initially I thought it was just about preventing competition for power, but she really does seem to regret not ‘protecting’ Sayaka from the life of a magical girl. I still firmly believe based on last episode that it’s better to have the defensive capabilities than not, but if Homura’s been doing this Lone Witch Hunter thing for a while then I can understand the bleak outlook. She really doesn’t think of herself as a villian, does she? And I’m not really sure I can call her one. Maybe antagonist, especially when she eventually summons Big Flying Thing. Yeah, she has no hopes for Sayaka to last long. “Just as the dead don’t return to life, consider her fate sealed.” That wait. wait wait wait wait. WAIT. Holy crap, I just figured it out. “Dead don’t return to life.” Normally, yes. But lo and behold, we have a Wish (once our Protagonist finally makes a contract)! It’s bigger than any Wish we’ve seen so far (heal fatal injuries, heal crippled hand), but we are so-far lacking in any rules against it! Calling it now: Come the finale, when the Big Flying Thing is messing stuff up, Madoka will use her Wish to bring Mami back. YES. But… we’re only on episode 5 of twelve? Argh, it’s going to be forever until we get Little Miss Rifle Company back. Ok, back to the episode! Homura continues to harp about how MGs give up everything for a single Wish. Madoka asks if she’s really given up on herself and other girls from all this. Homura just replies “Yes.” She’ll continue the fight (for power). She apologizes for wasting Madoka’s time, and leaves. Sayaka is standing in front of some mirrors, psyching herself up for her first night of Witch Hunting. Leaving the building with Kyubey perched on her shoulder, Madoka is waiting outside the door, Sayaka brags about how she’s going on her first patrol. Ally of Justice, away! Madoka’s worried if she’ll be alright on her own, Sayaka brushes it off (should I start counting all the times she does this?) by saying that Mami went on her own all the time!... maybe not the best example there, Sayaka. Madoka says she can’t really help, but if her tagging along wouldn’t be too much of a bother… Sayaka’s frowning? Then smiling? (The sudden cuts between faces can get a little disorienting at times, show.) She teases Madoka for trying too hard, then thanks her for asking. Oh wow, Sayaka’s doing her “putting up a brave face and suppressing emotions” thing again, isn’t she? She did it when walking to school after Mami’s death, and now she’s been putting up a brave front before embarking on the dangerous task of hunting Witches. Never discount the morale boost of someone supporting you! Have to admit, I wasn’t expecting the show to make the Best Friend the main fighter and the Protagonist the sidekick. Kyubey warns about taking a non-MG on a patrol, but Sayaka counters that if she actually did go off on her own, she’d probably be reckless and get killed. Ah, so Madoka gets to be the common sense of the duo! That works. But Kyubey telepaths to Madoka that she’s thought up her own plan? Oh. OH. Of course, if things get dicey then Madoka’s there to make her contract (and get Mami back)! Right, I keep forgetting that, and given how fast the ritual at the start of this episode went they could probably pull it off fast enough. Sure, Sayaka would probably be against it, and I can guarantee that Homura would not be happy. Ooh, and Kyoko would probably be ticked, too. Kyoko: “Ok, what gives Kyubey? You called me about some prime territory being up for grabs. I arrive, and there are three girls in the area!” But until the time comes that Madoka decides on a Wish (bring Mami back), then he’ll be waiting. Following the glowing Soul Gem, the girls reach a dark alleyway. Which suddenly is filled up with crayon and stars. Kyubey says that this is likely a familiar, not a Witch. At least this should be an easier fight for her first patrol. The familiar appears to be a crayon-drawn girl in a little plane on the wall, Sayaka springs into action and transforms into her MG outfit. Lots of music symbols and bubbles in her sequence, looks very nice. She proceeds to prove that, for magical girls at least, Throwing Your Sword Always Works, and the familiar is running away. Wait, what just blocked her swords? It didn’t look like it was part of the labyrinth. What the heck are you doing, Kyoko? You do realize you just let a familiar get away? Whoa, extendo-spear. Well, yeah, Kyoko. We do realize that was a familiar and it wouldn’t drop a Grief Seed. But if it’s left alone then it Whoa what. WHOA WHAT. “You should wait for it to eat 4 or 5 people and become a real witch.” Did-did you just say to wait for a familiar to kill people, just to be guaranteed a Grief Seed when you kill it? You actually are saying a familiar is a goose before it lays its golden eggs? ...holy crap. Kyoko is Homura without the cares about the innocents. We officially have a character who thinks of all this as a “food chain”. “Witches eat weak humans. And in turn, we eat those witches.” ...well done, show. First you make me hate Homura, then you show me that she has hidden depths and doesn’t want to hurt innocents (although she still wants power and will go to bad lengths to get it), and then you introduce a new character who is Homura without any redeeming aspects. Homura? I apologize, and while I am not quite ready to take you off the List, I will at least give you a chair to sit down in while you wait. Fire Lord Ozai, you can stop standing in the corner and take a seat as well, I think I just found someone to take your spot. Oh crap, she’s been walking towards Sayaka this whole time while I’ve been freaking out, suddenly a red diamond barrier popped up between the two MGs and Madoka. Wow, you are like the complete opposite of Sayaka, utterly dissing the ideas of justice. (Yes, I do realize that Sayaka isn’t completely pure of motive and all, but compared to this new girl she is a shining beacon of Good). Fight! Or just casual block of her sword. Yeah, Sayaka’s leaning into it and pushing with both arms (even her art style is flickering), but Kyoko’s just standing there, eating. Yup, gentle push back and Sayaka goes sprawling. I’m thinking that you might be a little outclassed here, Sayaka. Kyoko attacks (with the shaft of her spear breaking up into segments of chains, that is an awesome weapon), and Sayaka goes flying back and smacks some pipes. Well that was a quick fight, Kyoko’s leaving now. Then acts surprised when Sayaka gets up after a blow that “should’ve put you out of commission for at least 3 months.” Oh, that’s cool! So based on the wish of a contract, the MG gets powers from that? And since Sayaka wished for healing, she heals at an accelerated rate? Kyoko is pissed off, now. REALLY pissed off. Fast-paced Magical Girl Battle, go! But Sayaka is on the defensive, barely hold off Kyoko’s swipes. Aaand she’s in the wall again. “You don’t get it when I try to explain. You don’t get it when I beat it into you. Guess there’s not choice but to kill an idiot like you!” Ooh, Sayaka’s really getting into it now, meeting Kyoko’s spear with her sword and having an energy collision between them. But Kyoko’s picking it up too, smashing up the ground. Madoka’s left behind the barrier asking why they have to fight when they should be allies. Kyubey can’t stop them now. But… if only another magical girl could get between them now… Better make up your mind quick Madoka, Sayaka’s on the ground and Kyoko’s in shadow with a red glare where her eyes should be. “It’s over!” Madoka is going to- “There’s no need for that.” Homura has entered the fray. Hoo boy. Now we- *End episode* Oh come on! End credits, creepy silhouettes… End illustration of Madoka in her outfit, surrounded by chibi-versions of Homura, Sayaka, and Mami. Madoka’s talking about how this girl in red is a MG, like her. So why do they have to fight? Next time: Episode 6: This Just Can’t Be Right ...really, Madoka? You’re asking why she has to fight the MG who wants to wait and let innocents die so she can increase her own power?! No, it’s not right that there is someone with this power who acts such a way. It is right that those who can stop her. Can’t wait to see what happens next. How will Homura deal with a worse version of herself?

[superwolfiestar]

So when are you going to release a fanfic of the caballeros wedding?

Well, I am already done the first one, this is only for a sneak peak. But the rest of the chapters will be put on my fanfic with my other fanfic. But here is the sneak peak.

Today the day, Panchito and Jose are going to proposal their Donald and ask him to be their husband. They have been planning since they ask Scrooge McDuck(aka the richest duck in the world, aka uncle of Donald Duck, and aka great-uncle of Huey, Dewey, and Louie)for Donald hand in marriage. They be planning for this since Scrooge give them his blessings to let them marry his nephew Donald.

Flashback

They felt uneasy as they stepped into Scrooge McDuck’s parlor. As the door closed behind them, they wondered if this was a good idea after all. They had been so sure of his plan a few days ago when they had told Scrooge Mcduck that they would like to ask him very important.

“I hope he will give us his blessing,” Panchito nervously muttered beside him, arms across his chest in a gesture of impatience.

The fact that Panchito was in a nervous mood didn’t exactly help José’s nerves but it was kinda cute to see the a brave rooster is a scary chicken. “Try to be calm Panchito,” José said. Although he was slightly on edge himself Jose managed to keep the cool sound in his voice. “We do not want a scare Mr. McDuck with our nerves, we simply want to talk to Senhor McDuck.”

“I am calm,” Panchito growled, not sounding at all what he claimed to be. This nervously in Panchito had been like a timebomb that’s going to explode for days and now José was pretty sure that given the right circumstances Panchito was bound to blow like a timebomb.

“Just remember that we agreed that coming here was to ask him for Donald hand in marriage,” José reminded him, as well as reminded himself. They hadn’t told Donald of their coming to see Scrooge, mostly because both of them knew that Donald would probably pitch a fit if he knew and ruin the richest Duck blessing. José had felt a bit of guilt for being disloyal to their young friend but this matter wasn’t just about Donald. José was pretty sure they hope that Scrooge McDuck give them their blessing and they will finally be the husbands to their precious Donald Duck and ready for their next adventure but at least they could open the doors for some kind of communication…at least Jose hoped that would be the case.

A moment later the doors to Scrooge’s study opened and Scrooge’s butler came out. “Mister McDuck will see you now,” he announced. He held out his hand, “May I take your hat sir?”

“Obrigado,” José said, handing over his hat.

“And you sir?” Scrooge’s butler said looking to Panchito.

Panchito’s eyes narrowed a little but a look from José made him sigh and he handed over his sombrero. “Take care of it,” he warned.

“Of course sir.” Scrooge’s butler motioned towards some double doors. “This way gentlemen.”

As they were lead into the next room José gained his first glimpse of Scrooge McDuck and realized that Donald was right. Even though Scrooge McDuck was hardly a towering figure, he certainly didn’t look weak while he sat there in that large chair watching both José and Panchito with a hard studying gaze. José tried to smile as they approached in an attempt to not allow those eyes to make him nervous. “Bom dia Senhor McDuck,” José said.

“Hola!!” Panchito greet him in Spanish try to light up his mood.

“Sit,” Scrooge instructed, motioning towards the sofa. He waited until they had done as he had asked before speaking again. “I was told that you wanted to ask me.”

Panchito and Jose wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing, but they figured that it was best not to question Scrooge at that point.

“Tea?” He ask them as he pour his own cup. The two caballeros nodded their head as Scrooge put their tea and give it to them. They took a sip and Jose began to say. “Yes, well, you see um…” Jose can’t get the words out of his mouth.

“Señor McDuck, we’re planning to ask your nephew, Donald Duck to marry he and we are hoping for your blessing. Before you said anything, let us give you a reason why we want to marry your nephew Donald. You see, Donald has captivated me and Jose heart to such an extent that we have no alternative but to request his hand in matrimony. He’s a wonderful duck who inspires us to be the best person we can be. He makes us laugh and always understands what we’re thinking. We pledge our whole heart to Donald and will do everything in our power to provide for him the best life we can. We would like your approval to marry Donald.”

“Master Panchito and Master Jose.” His tone was clipped and formal, “Are you prepared to do whatever it takes to –”

“Make ourselves worthy?” Jose interrupted his sentence, fists clenched in resolve. “We do.”

“No, boys.” Scrooge’s voice softened. He stepped out from behind her desk. “You’re already worthy. You’ve been from day one.”

They blinked, taken aback by her honest intensity. Donald had told him many times that they are worthy, even some of the riches people had warmed up to him. But, he’d never heard it from Scrooge before. He had been friendly enough and taught him many things during the past two years, but they always felt that he needed further convincing.

They had never felt so happy about being wrong before.

“Thanks.” Jose felt himself relax. “You have no idea what that means to us.”

Scrooge smiled, a rare loving smile he only reserved for his nephew, niece, and his great-nephews. “You both are very welcome”.

Flashback end

Although today, Panchito and Jose wasn’t smiling. They hardly even spoke to Donald all day. Donald was slightly concerned. Donald had never seen his precious caballeros this nervous.

“So, you guys, what do you have planned for today?” Donald asked, hoping to get Panchito and Jose’s attention.

“Nothing much,” Jose replied all too hurriedly, “just a nice picnic on the bay with our precious Donald.”

“Oh,” Donald’s face fell. They are definitely up to something. Donald suddenly remembered when he had officially dumped Daisy Duck since he find out that she slept with his cousin Gladstone. He was so mad and angry and he throw out all of Daisy belongings out of his boat-house. He think that he’ll never find love in his life. But that until when Panchito and Jose came into his life, they give him all the love he deserves and they alway peck him very often. Donald swallowed hard to bite back his tears. Panchito or Jose is going breaking up with me, he thought.

When they finally arrived, Panchito and Jose led him past the waterfall, over the bridge, and to their lakeside picnic area.

Panchito and Jose looked Donald in the eye. “Donald, do you love us?” They asked him.

Donald’s eyes spread into looks of worry. “It’s happening,” he thought, “they’re breaking up with me.” “Ten years ago you two asked me the same question before the boys were born,” he responded. “And I told you both that I didn’t know what love felt like ever since I broke up with Daisy. Well now, I can honestly say that I love you two with all my heart.”

He waited for them to tell him that they didn’t love him in return, that they didn’t want him around anymore. But to Donald surprise their face turned to a smile. “Would you climb the highest mountain for us?” Jose asked him.

“Yes…” Donald replied not knowing where this was going.

Panchito continued. “Would you be yourself for us?”

“Yes,” he said.

“Would you be the husband for us?” Panchito and Jose both asked him, a smile dancing on his eyes.

“Yes,” Donald replied. Then his smile turned into a gaping look of shock. Donald looked at them with wide eyes. He started to beam now. “Did I just answer yes to your proposal?” Donald asked.

Jose and Panchito led their third lover over to themand they got onto their knees and Panchito hold Donald hand while Jose hold the other.

“Donald Fauntleroy Duck. We have know you for years and loved you for most of them. You have been happy, angry, joyful and loved with us. You are a wonderful duck, a loving family man, uncle, and a great friend. Your beautiful, sweet and a great singer” the two smiled.

“We know we have crazy moments and know you have to put up with us a lot but… Donald… Will you marry us?” They smiled, tears dripping from their faces.

“I do,” Donald smiled. They wasn’t breaking up with him after all. Suddenly from the bushes, the three caballeros heard a scream, followed by “Shh, Webby!”

The three caballeros walked over to the bushes and slowly pulled apart the branches. Donald found Dewey Lena and Webby inside. Panchito and Jose revealed Huey, and Louie.

Donald put his hands on across his chest. “Now what do we have here?” He said with a smile on his face.

The three caballeros laughed. “Happy anniversary Donald.” Panchito and Jose said.

The three kissed each other, resulting in loud applause from the bushes. Even if it was interrupted, Donald had the best proposal ever from the two birds he loved.

[thenixkat]

Static Shock notes 34

Episode 8 (34)

Part 2 of the crossover

An actuall recap that’s giving me Justice League flashbacks. I hate that show, not as much as Young Justice, but I do hate it.

Gonna go with Achi’s estimate of around 5 days for the time between events.

Maggie!

There is something clearly wrong and unnatural with that boy.

Richie got buff

He does own other shirts.

Just fucking puts the wrong shoes on the wrong feet. Brainiac is not trying to pretend to be a functioning human all that hard.

Virgil came to walk him to school.  Virgil is concerned about the sudden change in behavior.

*Richie hasn’t been patrolling, sleeping in all the time (Richie has been observed being up and ready for the day earlier than Virgil multiple times), and failing in the area of personal hygiene

Very monotone

Ok but the League look like dumbasses for forgetting about BacPac 

Did Flash fucking run through space to Dakota? Cause that transition was weird

Flash flirts with ladies

Brainiac!Richie’s tone throws off Flash. But he continues to try to be friendly

Richie’s motor scooter

B!Richie looks so annoyed

BacPac is strong. Nanite tentacles.

Welp, Flash is captured.

voice for extra menace

B!Richie didn’t even clean up the mess

Rude Martian

Will someone be proud of their shock voxs, they’re trying

An abandoned steel mill. How many abandoned buildings are in Dakota?

It really looks like Brianiac is trying to get fully operational as soon as possible.

Exosuit and Richie is now a cyborg. Given he didn’t have those plates when Flash was around a few hours ago, they are new. Nanites?

Also that is very low light conditions he’s working in. Can either of them see in the dark?

*J’on’s powers detect no trace of Richie, even tho Richie is def in the building and conscious.

 Holy fucking hedge Brianiac/Richie built all that in a week

Why didn’t Flash place a control disk on Hawk’s titties? Brainiac would not have given a fuck.

Static continues to resist all forms of mind control

Double voice for extra creepy.

Richie is a cyborg now

Brianiac is still using Richie’s glasses

Richie actually manages to break out of the mind control for a few secs. Was Batman able to do that when Brianiac had him? I don’t think so. He did not.

Static vs the Justice League

Static is faster than Flash

Electromagic bullshit

The only one Static can’t beat is Green Lantern

Hawk gives GL a concussion

Welp, the League has decided that Richie probably will die. Static is not ok with this.

Brainiac starts voring Dakota

The warehouse district is not fram from the junkyard the boys hang out in

GL just fucking drives the ship into a digitization beam

That is a big ass ship

Brainiac is wearing BacPac

Fucking nanites

How many nanites dooes Brainiac have here?

This is the second ep that BacPac’s remote has been fucking seen in

Robo tenticles

Brianiac uses slang now

WHERE THE FUCK ARE THE PLATES?! WHERE?! sHANNANIGANS

EXPLAIN SHOW. fucKING EXPLAIN. Did they get absormed into his body and there’s just a fucking ticking timebomb of Brianiac like with Lex Luthor? Fucking explain.

Its clear that Brianiac intends to keep Richie, unlike Bruce.

Static is a great shot.

Ok, they didn’t leave BacPac, my son is safe

Ok, they smashed the computers, but that ship is still plenty intact and full of nanites

“I sense nothing of Brianiac within him, he should be fine” Bullshit. Yo ass couldn’t sense Richie earlier, I don’t trust that judgement.

Virgil listens to lil Romeo

Static got invited to join the League.

I am now caught up with what i’ve worked on for my fic