#so like viktor has that bandage on his hand at the end of the flashback in vol2 after it gets cut in the fight at the lodge right

[ursiday]

Doodles of Elsa and Viktor from a little while back that ended up going along with this small animation I did

[gloriesunsung]

Arcane Detail Dive: Story of Opposites

Spoilers for all of Arcane season 1.

Arcane is a masterpiece and I want to shout about all the things I've noticed on rewatching. So I am. Here is a breakdown of some cool bits from 1x03: The Base Violence Necessary For Change. Yes I am starting with episode 3, come sue me

When Powder is thrown from the blast, the blue colouring and slow motion of the shot makes it looks like she’s floating underwater. It’s such a good parallel for the shot of Silco in the beginning. Silco talks of that moment of peace where the water can almost convince you to let it in, let you drown. But for Powder, that moment is a rare one of triumph: she finally did something that worked! The sheer joy in her eyes is heartbreaking, because the viewer already knows the devastating results of her success. We know that the raging thing inside her that she will need to survive - to become Jinx - is still to come.

After Vi sees Benzo killed and Vander dragged off, she’s framed below a tiny cellar window in a way that foreshadows the Stillwater cell she'll be stuck in for years to come. She’s far from the camera and it’s the first time in the show that Vi truly looks small, diminished.

That window shape recurs at the very end of the episode, where Powder and Silco et al are framed by the gate and the camera pulls away from the scene, slowly turning upside down until it becomes blurred and unrecognisable. What a visual metaphor for the distance growing between the sisters.

The boys barring Heimerdinger’s door with Viktor’s cane. I just love this. The hextech explosion then shatters Viktor’s cane and there’s this wonderful image of it floating broken, electricity crackling between the pieces. Breaking the bounds of what limits him. This is the moment Viktor’s life changes forever.

On a rewatch, you can see how little Viktor relies on his cane compared to later. He stands up straighter and unaided more often than not in ep3 after befriending Jayce and taking on their project - and I don’t think it’s just because he’s in better physical health at this point. He’s been given something that makes him feel sure of himself and the mark he can leave on the world with the time he has.

I see Vander and Silco as two sides of the same coin, and boy oh boy is the coin-flip delicious in this episode. Even Vander’s fucked-up eye ends up on the same side as Silco’s.

(Not at all limited to ep3, but I love how Silco's left eye never fully blinks. He misses nothing.)

Oh, and Silco’s knife? The very same one he took from Vander in the drowning flashback. Silco has literally and figuratively been carrying that betrayal around with him ever since.

Vi truly breaks at the moment when Powder’s nose starts to bleed, when it’s her own sister’s blood staining her hands. A callback to Vander chewing her out in the first episode. And of course Vi can’t take it; she’s supposed to protect her sister. Vander’s body is not even cold and already in her mind she’s failing him. This little detail of the bandages gives so much weight to the crushing pressure Vi is feeling in that moment.

The swimming/drowning metaphors continue with the hextech explosion. The way Viktor and Jayce float makes them look like they’re in water, and the sound even muffles around them. (And the childlike delight in Viktor’s face when he gets to move so freely - UGH.😭)

You can see how quickly Viktor takes to it, how much more he moves around compared to Jayce. Here is another life-defining moment in which a person might either drown or thrive.

Back to the coin-flip of Vander and Silco. When he finds Powder, this time Silco is the one standing above the drowning person, the one holding the knife. But he wasn’t prepared for this girl. Powder launches herself into his arms, and the knife flies out of his hand. This broken little girl literally disarms him.

And when Silco embraces her, he is framed in almost exactly the same way Vander was when Silco questioned him why he couldn’t fight for the cause. He told Silco he was “not that man anymore”. Acting as a surrogate father has changed Vander — and these parallel frames gives us the hint that ultimately, that same thing will be what undoes Silco too.

In summary: GG, Fortiche. I'm sad now.