#arane

Honestly it's when the clever snarky retorts stop and Viktor instead gives one very sharp "that is enough" or "stop it" or and generally his body language changes to something very closed off and defensive that Silco knows he's pushed it too far and will back down/back off.

Okay, time to talk a little Arcane, I guess.

I'm choosing one of Mikaila's posts simply because it's shorter. Both she and Lily, as well as some of their stans, are pushing this weird Oedipus thing. It's not only weird, it's not even true. Felicia, Cait and Jinx don't really look alike, the narrative doesn't do anything to support this, and it's such a reach, someone has to have pulled something going there.

I think what really gets me is there are some real issues with the show that you could be addressing, instead. Personally, I loved it; I think it was well done and most importantly, fun to watch, but nothing is perfect. Why not just join the discourse about one of the more common complaints?

Here, Mikaila and Lily, let me show you some examples. I'll pick some complaints I've heard from people who clearly watched it, unlike Lily, and I'll address them. For some, I may even offer a counter.

To be absolutely transparent and above board, I'll choose complaints that I either somewhat agree with, or can at least see the reasoning behind. I won't accuse anyone of poor media literacy, outright say anyone is 100% wrong, or try to make people feel bad. No easy dunks here.

Warning, this ain't short. It's totally possible to skip my attempt at discourse here and still get my point about real complaints. If you have seen it, I'm sure you have your own pro and negative thoughts on it. Just imagine the discourse around those. For those who want my thoughts:

The ending is centrist.

The show started out centrist. Sometimes narratives are. I'm very acab and pro-disruption/rebellion, myself. That's not always what a story is about. They probably pushed the pro-Zaun/ rebellion aesthetic too far, but they weren't exactly subtle about what they wanted to happen.

Look at Vander and Vi in season one. Vander has tried the civil war route. And it got people killed. He tried the violent route, and Silco rose from those ashes. Now he wants to find another way to uplift Zaun. If it means making deals, he'll make deals. If it means turning himself in to keep the enforcers from tearing down what he's built, he will.

Vi goes through the same arc. She tries to rob someone; it goes wrong, bringing the enforcers down on them. She tries attacking Silco's group in a rescue attempt; Vander, Clagger and Milo end up dead. She yells at and slaps Powder in rage and frustration; she ends up captured, in jail, and separated from her sister for almost a decade.

Less violent, but alone also doesn't work well for her, though.

Even just helping Cait investigate what's going on as a means of finding her sister ends up with her injured, Cait giving up her only means of protection to cure her, and them surrounded by goons. When going to the council doesn't work, she goes to Jayce for weapons. And Jayce ends up killing a child.

She tells Cait not to shoot Jinx when she has a chance to stop her, and Jinx blows up the council and kills Cait's mom.

For Vi neither peaceful nor violent seem to work as long as she's acting impulsively and on her own.

It's really not that out there for the Vi at the end of season one to join up in season 2. She just wants to end all this strife and is willing to try working with Cait and the enforcers. Like Vander, she's not looking to maintain the status quo, but rather, to move away from it however slowly and with as little destruction as possible.

Vi/Cait didn't get enough of an arc in S2.

Agreed, somewhat. They threw them both into a pit of despair and while I think they got them out somewhat okay, they didn't really show us enough of the climb.

We should have seen a bit more of Vi getting better after her pit-fighter/drinking phase. I don't think a hug from her dad would instantly fix that, though a reunited family might very well go a long way. Cait gets short-shifted in the growth department, as well. She either should have been more outwardly suspicious of Ambessa earlier, or we should have had more scenes of her catching on. She is, at heart, something of a detective. Just show us some signs she's figuring it out and playing her own game.

She seems to turn on a dime when it comes to this.

Speaking of:

Cait helps free Vander/Warwick just because she's reunited with Vi and Vi calls her Cupcake.

Not what happened, but first, let's address the nickname. Yes, Cait's eyes widen because it effects her, but that's not what's happening. Vi calling her Cupcake isn't sweet and endearing. Vi is reverting back to when they first met. It's flirty, but it's meant to highlight the differences in them. It's a defense mechanism.

As for Cait, she's already suspicious and turning from Ambessa. She's also following the same person as Vi. Secondly, she now finds out the beast they are supposed to be tracking is Vi's father. Maybe that's another hint that there is more to this than she's been let in on; maybe she she just can't take another family member from Vi and maybe it's a small way to start making up for the things she's done.

You don't have to love that story beat; I didn't particularly like the execution; but that is what happened.

Season Two had pacing issues.

It did. The only real counter I have for this is that I think it looks worse because season one's pacing was so pristine. That's not a compliment. We know they can do it. They just didn't do it this time. So, it's kind of worse, in a way.

I think I'm going to blame this on scope. They had such a big story they wanted to tell, but they had arcs to complete, ships to land, possible spin-offs to set up. It was too much.

I don't think they necessarily needed another season, but they could have really benefitted with one or two more extended episodes.

Too much symbolism, call-backs, parallels, and micro-expressions.

It's perfectly fine not to enjoy those things. It's also okay to complain about them in a story you otherwise like. I do take issue with calling the writers lazy for this or not recognizing that, like it or not, it was an actual choice they made when deciding how to tell their story.

First, it's not lazy. If anything, telling part of your story through these things takes more work. It has to make sense and it has to do what you intended. Making up with your partner on the same street corner you were on when you fought has narrative weight. Finding a twenty on that corner years later makes a lot less sense.

It takes effort to do what you want it to, is what I'm saying.

Secondly, this was a choice. Amanda Overton has confirmed that they made some choices in how to make the characters stronger. They added these little moments, not in every scene, but usually once or twice an episode where there would be something, an expression, call back, something, that would reward the viewer with just a little bit more information about the character. Could be as simple as the reveal of the back tattoo or as deep as Jinx's flying base having bunny ears. If you noticed, you got more out of that moment, if you didn't, you could still follow most of the story.

Again, it's okay not to like it, but it's not okay to pretend it was lazy, or to say it happened because of time limitations or something that happened on accident.

That's it for now.

Obviously there are others. People have issues with the jail scene. People feel some of the story got shunted for shipping. Some people didn't like Jinx dying/disappearing. There is a lot. There always is at the end of show.

And that's okay. As much as I call out people like Lily, I really am not effected if other people don't like a show I enjoy. Honestly, we all have things we love that we know aren't well done. I just don't like when people want to lie about it to get clout and rile up a fanbase and when they attack the creators simply because they didn't like their show.

I, myself, don't like every choice they made; I don't like some of the execution, that is not the same as saying the whole show was poorly written.

Labyrinth!SIlco can use the riding crop on me anytime 🥵 [full body line art with full body flat color]

You can blame @astudyincontrasts for this AGAIN (they are actually the devil in disguise) (a very sexy devil)