10Blue10

The paperback is now live! I repeat, the paperback is now live!

@chaifootsteps @nocturnasnadderaneas @nartml @xavmaldonian

@thecosmicmap @arourallisreborn @wardenaristraith @nightfury-2001 @moniquill

I want to open this by saying I understand people who are upset that there isn't more Piltover/Zaun conflict and resolution in S2 of Arcane. However, I'm going to argue here that the reason it's not in S2 after 2.03 is because the conflict is over. Piltover won. There is no more Zaun anymore as a potential political player and, ultimately, this comes back to haunt Piltover in their hour of need.

Overall, while I am invested in the Piltover/Zaun conflict, especially in S1, I'm less focused on Caitlyn and Vi's story which is our main lens for the conflict, or rather the end of the conflict, in S2. Still, I hope to offer my more Arcane worldbuilding-focused perspective. And just to get it out of the way, here are a few things I had trouble with:

I too was puzzled that anyone from the Undercity would join Piltover in the defense of the city.

I also thought it was strange to have Jayce focus on the threat that Viktor posed with his robots while soliciting help from the undercity, instead of on Ambessa, the more clear and understandable threat that would have made a better rallying point and allowed for a final discussion about the Noxian occupation of the undercity and how Noxus turning on Piltover was just them reaping what they sowed.

I was certainly taken aback when everyone was given Enforcer uniforms for the final fight.

That said, I believe there are answers to all three of these. From there, I want to dive into what exactly happened in S2 with Piltover vs. Zaun, to my eyes. Short version: there is no more "Zaun" as a potential nation or political player by 2.03 when the Chem Barons are taken out by Cait's forces, but it really died before that with Silco, who was already in a precarious negotiating situation himself and he knew it.

From a Doylist perspective, I think there are 2 important points:

The show was always written to highlight the relationships between characters in the game League of Legends.

The story of the oppressed lower class rising up against their rich oppressors is old and done, and the story of Arcane is not.

To point 1, the creators always set out to make a show about the characters of LoL, not about its locations. And they absolutely did! The relationships between and among these people are what makes the show compelling. It's why there are thousands and thousands of fics for a whole slew of ships with fun names.

To point 2, I think it's so incredibly valuable that they didn't simply write Les Mis, But With Magic. Sure, you want to see the oppressed underdog beat the rich, powerful overlords. Feel free to watch Les Mis, or The Hunger Games, or Mad Max. That story can be great when done properly but it has definitely, exhaustively been done.

A much, much less common story is what we got: a messy, chaotic fight that culminated in a victory not through physical or mental or even magical prowess, but through enduring, unwavering love. An entire world's destruction and salvation built around the fact that two people couldn't accept being apart from each other. Wins for a whole bunch of underdogs, and a message that says, "It's never too late to try to do better."

I know a lot of people were disappointed by S2, and I understand those feelings (you have no idea). But personally, I loved it. I think it's very clear that the show was headed toward the finale it gave us from the very beginning, but it's also so original it was never predictable.

As someone who is ALWAYS down for a story about the oppressed rising up...I personally would have been disappointed if what seems like generations of inequality had been magically (ha) solved in 18 episodes. I don't think there's a way to do that without it feeling cheap and fake--even if any of the show's other plotlines were sacrificed to give the class struggle story elements more screentime. I also think that expecting that from a show called ARCANE is setting yourself up for disappointment. Magic was always going to be the main plotline. The inequality between the two cities is a backdrop for stories focused on the characters and their relationships, as @thetardigrape says. And given that (in my understanding) that inequality still exists in the world of the game, it seems unrealistic to expect it to be resolved in the show.

Sevika taking her one (1) token Council seat for the Undercity under the stink-eyed gaze of all the old money Pilties was a great moment, actually. That's fucking real, man. It's gonna suck so so much for her both politically and personally and I tend to think it will be nothing but ineffective and frustrating as a strategy for change, but that door toward more equality between the two cities has been shoved open a tiny bit and someone's gotta stick their foot in the gap. Within the world of the show, a tiny, imperfect and resentfully acknowledged crack in the status quo honestly feels way more real to me--and consistent with the tone of fragile hope that most of the storylines end on--than a more decisive political victory would.

And within the world of the show...I mean. Class struggle is never over. As long as there is inequality there will be new rounds of social upheaval, and there are many forms of struggle in between fighting the police and becoming a politician.

I do think that Silco's (and young Vander's) framing of the conflict in nationalist/separatist terms seems to be a very small minority position in their time, and that specific political project dies (for now) with Silco. I have a lot (like a LOT) more to say about this but it does not seem like most residents of the Undercity think of themselves as having a shared national identity. Maybe there is some vague sense of a shared class identity but there is certainly no sense of unified class power. (Again...a lot more to say about this that really deserves its own post.) In general, people's group loyalties seem to be to (1) their families (both bio and found) and informal networks of mutual support for basic survival, (2) gangs and networks of criminal enterprise, which can overlap with (1), and maybe in certain limited senses (miners, probably) to their fellow workers.

i wanted to see them all together 💛 days 1-7 of kiss week.

✨🎁 HUZZAH!! it's posting time for the Jayvik Holiday Gift Exchange! 🎁✨

And I just- you don’t understand how much it gets to me that their undertones mirror each other so beautifully.

We have Jayce, who was shunned from his absurd idea of harnessing magic, and who had no one to believe in him after the explosion. Not Caitlyn, and not even his mother. We don’t see that he had any friends so we can assume that those two people, as well as the Caitlyn’s mother and father, were literally the only people he interacted with/had companionship with. (I’m sure the creators could have easily shown Jayce having friends that decided to cut ties with him after the explosion. Either by Jayce recognizing them in the council room, his friends giving him disapproval, or anything really. But they chose not to show his social life. So I’m inclined to believe that Jayce really only had a very small circle of people that consisted of a kid and that kids parents, and his mother. Heimerdigger as well because why not).

He has been shown to have a naive heart, he’s been shown to have a tendency to be happy and go with what everyone else is doing. Those traits are associated with happy go-lucky personalities. But Jayce is different. One of his first on present scenes is him almost committing suicide for crying out-loud. He doesn’t have the inner strength to persevere/follow through his dreams without the help/guidance of someone else. Yes, he learned how to be happy with everyone else and perfect the, “Golden Boy” persona, but there’s a reason why he made friends with Viktor, the outcast in Piltover’s society. (There’s a point to all this I swear. But now onto his eye color)

His eyes are a notable Yellow. I have no clue how to check but I’m inclined to think it leans more towards a topaz color. And there’s definitely a green undertone in his eyes.

Now, for a guy who’s whole wardrobe attire consists of reds, golds, browns, and whites you would think that his eye color would match this obvious theme going on. But it doesn’t. Or at the very least, Jayce would rather keep the Piltover colors constantly on him instead of what would heighten his features. Like how Mel does in her attire.

The only time he used clothing that matched his eyes was when he wore his green outfit. Which is honestly probably the reason why this is consensually the best outfit he’s ever worn. (I would like to credit @jaycetalisdaily for these images)

Now let’s look at Viktor. We have this man, who was raised with a prejudice upbringing, coupled with a debilitating illness, was on a Scooby Doo chase and run with death, and was stuck as an assistant who couldn’t do anything with his intelligence in a way he wanted/deserved respect for. He, quite frankly, should have held major animosity in his heart, (not saying he doesn’t, but they make it obvious Viktor holds more self hatred than the unfair hand he was delt with with Piltover’s Autocracy rule is that the right word?) yet he doesn’t. He only wants to invent contraptions that could bring humankind prosperity.

Despite what life has thrown at him, he persevered in his pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the world. He survived time and time again despite his illness, and despite his standing in society. In contrast to Jayce, Viktor has the unyielding willpower to follow through his convictions all by himself.

His eyes are also a notable Yellow. But they are so much warmer when compared to Jayce’s. There’s red and orange blending in with the yellow.

Now, Viktor has sparse clothing outfits. He has his academy attire throughout S1 and his slutty blanket outfit/jesus attire in S2. Which objectively makes sense when you think about it. Viktor’s from Zaun and he doesn’t care to keep up social appearances like Jayce does. Or he doesn’t have a deep ingrained sense of needing to dress appropriately for society. (Not to mention, he uh, probably didn’t have the money to buy clothing at first). He comes from an upbringing of blunt and honest people who couldn’t care less of politics and social standing. (Liars and scumbags became abundant from Silco’s rule imo. Vander was a trusted leader of the Undercity and had a strong community. Silco ruled under an iron fist and twisted deals to get into power.)

When it comes to character design, you typically want the design to represent just what kind of character you’re portraying. (Where they come from, their personality, their goals, their drive, and so on and so forth). Jayce has it all over his design throughout the show. With his wardrobe changes and growth as a person. Viktor, while he does go through significant changes as a person, I’m talking about the coloring design choices. His clothes share an almost exact color pallet with Jayce. So how tf did the creators give Viktor an undeniable darker/cooler color pallets???

Through the setting.

Almost consistently, we have only seen Viktor in places with shadow, low lighting, and darker places. (Key word almost because yeah I know there’s been times he was in warmer lighting but come on, I feel like there’s a reason Viktor is mostly seen in darker atmospheres than Jayce. And yeah, there was a reason why the Hexcore, Viktor’s personal creation, was purple and afterwards Viktor’s entire body was purple.)

Suffice to say, they have distinct color pallets in the show.

Now onto the point of all this, the point of singling out the minute facts of Jayce’s and Viktor’s designs, the opposing personality traits of each other, and the subsequent complimenting of each others designs,

Their eyes.

“The eyes are the windows to the souls”

We’ve all heard that saying before, and what if there’s truth to that?

What if I told you that these two men, who far surpassed their peers and found themselves alone, where one was an outcast because of his body and the other because of his mind, found their equal and compliment to complete one another.

Jayce found his other half that matched the cooler tones of his eyes.

Viktor found his other half that matched the warmer tones of his eyes.

Wintertime cuddles.

@travellingdragon​ and I took Iskierka on a trip to Drachenfels (”dragons rock”) and its castle ruin.

Here are some of the highlights of this trip:

And as a bonus: Iskierka wearing a gold coin as a hat.

oidingus drops another banger.

Well, we were explaining to a friend who was unfamiliar with the Odyssey why my partner found Matt Damon such a baffling choice for Odysseus, one reason being like… look at him. That is not a twisty turny man. That’s just some dude trying to get home, probably to watch the Red Sox game.

But then our friend asked, who DOES have a face in Hollywood that fits what we would prefer? Who just LOOKS like a twisty turny man?

I was stumped for a moment, but my friends, now I have it.

Daniel Ings - also known as Lyonel Baratheon in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and Freddy in The Gentlemen

THAT man has a twisty turny face, unlike Matt Damon. He looks like he’s got three schemes backing up the one he’s currently working on and there’s no guarantee any of them will work. He also can pull off pathos even while you feel like you can’t trust him as far as you can throw him.