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bettyshoweduptotheparty · 14 days

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Reputation to Midnights and Final TPD Predictions

With 4 days until the Tortured Poets Department and two lines of lyrics we have so far, here are my thoughts on how we got here over the last 5 albums and final predictions for what's coming on Friday:

2016 changed the game - reputation era and long-term bearding

Many people might disagree, but I think the year 2016 changed a lot of things for Taylor. Without going into detail about snakegate, a possible failed coming out and scrapped album and the presidential election, her music has had a different tone ever since reputation (and I don't just mean sonically). As someone who writes a lot about love and relationships, the way she was writing about them changed from fairy tale love, pining and heartbreak to forever/long-term love, commitment/endame, 'us against the world' sort of love. And I do think she wanted to put that album out in 2016 but can't really do that when you're newly single and writing about wanting forever with someone... so in came Joe Alwyn who became the free pass for writing songs about long-term relationships, marriage and kids for the next six years. But LWYMMD (the song and the mv) made it pretty clear that this was not her first choice. Whatever happened, she had her agency taken from her, and she was mad about it. She may have made one hell of a comeback, but rep Taylor was on a revenge mission, and she has been ever since. Now, add to that the very same people foiled her coming out (possibly) a second time in 2019, I can well imagine the tortured poet that Taylor became during the pandemic with all that built up anger and misery pouring out into the folklore and evermore albums. And my guess is that with the plan to re-record the first 6 albums came an idea of how she could possibly get her revenge after all, which brings us to Midnights and TPD.

Midnights and Tortured Poets Department - Reflection and melancholia

Midnights had a similar tone to me than what we have seen of TPD so far: introspective, sombre and looking back on happier times and missed opportunities (hence the whole '13 nights throughout my life' concept). There is a lot of wondering about what ifs and regrets and always with a sense of vengeance in the background, which shows how Taylor clearly holds a grudge and has a hard time letting things go that have hurt her. And this continues in the two lines we have seen from TPD so far. The 'full eclipse' gives me love blackout vibes and this line

is so similar to many folkmore and Midnights songs where she talks about not being able to move on from a traumatic event (failed coming out *cough cough*). So, this album clearly continues the theme of reflection, regrets and vengeance, but with an additional touch of reckoning or impending judgment. I've seen some people say it seems like Taylor is putting someone (else or herself) on trial, and both the evidence file esthetics and the legal language she has been using in the hidden words puzzle on Apple Music have been feeding that theory:

She told us back in February she'd be entering all of her defenses and her muses into evidence, so is she the one being trialed and we are the jury? Or is she presenting evidence in her defense and accusing someone else? I initially thought the former, but now I'm thinking it could be either or both.

The songs will tell the story of the most painful times of her life and we will be able to decide if she chose her suffering or if the context/industry is to blame. My favourite swifties pointed out this morning that the ‘un-recall’ lyric is a parallel to CIWYW “I recall late November”. So what is she trying to forget? The 2016 election. The start of the love blackout. Much like the ‘full eclipse’ lyric. They almost had it all but then her plans got foiled and Tr*mp was elected which forced them underground. And where did she run off to? London. And what’s track 5 called? So long, London…

So, a lot of this album so far gives 2016 vibes. And I’ve said in a previous post (here) that the visuals seem very rep-inverted. Black vs white and the half yin-yang ☯️ in the logo. It’s looking likely that this is going to be the reflection on that time where her vendetta originated before she goes for revenge. And I’m not trying to clown but the rep parallels haven’t stopped:

This QR code mural in Chicago is very rep-cover coded and leads to a website that has the same 321 error message as the TS website the night of the Grammys. The message then was red herring. And not to sound too crazy, but I've said from the start that something feels off with this album. The absence of proper promo or merch is still weird. And would an entire album as a red herring be too crazy? Probably. But is she a crazy woman? Definitely! 😉

#tortured poets department #tpd #reputation #midnights #final thoughts and predictions

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randomminty · 7 months

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Enchanted by akatsukis princess carryisms

#art tag #enstars #wait can i tag akatsuki. what if thats naruto.#keito hasumi #souma kanzaki #kuro kiryu #i like posting non pokemon stuff here than twt bc of the tagging system </3 feels safer #waiting for akats climax event is like pulling teeth i really thought theyd be next i couldve never predicted 2wink #GOOD for them tho i love 2wink. yutas finally free from 5 star jail #i love posting a buncha pokemon then a random non pokemon thing im unpredictable. i keep you guessing. i draw the same 3 enstars characters #i only scheduled this bc i just posted smth i feel like i should let it breathe first #ok thats all. gotnight #edit i forgot to make it as clear as possible the only thing i ship within akats is kurokei </3333 i dont like shipping souma w them #which is why kuro and keito get a whole 3 drawings together. spoiled

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luck-of-the-drawings · 1 month

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so REVENGE, HUH? or justice, if that makes you feel better. it tastes the same when cooked just right. 'I REALLY WANTED A BROTHER.' such a shame to burn a bridge you so desperately wanted to keep, especially when it wasnt even you who started the fire. especially when you hope that not a single fragment of that bridge ever washes ashore.[MAY IT ROT FAR FROM MY SIGHTS] an unfortunate loss! atleast he has his friends.

#jrwi fanart #jrwi show #jrwi prime defenders #jrwi prime defenders spoilers #jrwi pd spoilers #jrwi pd #william wisp #vyncent sol #THIS ONE IS FUUUUCKIN OOOOOLLDD RAAAHHHHH i made it like. a year ago. but didnt finish it for so so long bc i just wasnt happy w it.#BUT LIKE A CENTURY EGG the decades of being encased in salt n lime n ash have done WELL to bring out the flavores of this piece #i sorta recently cleaned it up and posted it onto twitty. didnt tag it bc it was SO OLD AND SCUFFED(i see so many MISTAKES NOW)#that i didnt want to expose it to the open air just like that #if i show smth to my small circles then it shall only be understood in those small circles.#open air and open interpretation from minds i cannot predict are NOT something i enjoy the thought of. usually. i am brave tho #BUT EVERYONE ON TWITTY WAS SO NICEEE i was like damn... i guess it IS good enough to be enjoyed by the masses...#lets work on being nicer to our art together. THAT BEING SAID. i really love my colors here HELL YEAHHHH #FIRST TIME IN A WHILE COLORIN THESE BOYS.... i dont use proper color enough..I ALSO RLY LIKE MY BACKGROUNDS HERE #i LOVE when the bg is hyperrealistic (i frankestiened stock photos) and when the subjects are all flat colored n cartoony #recently rewatched Making Fiends and they do that similar thing!! soft shading! lotsa details! almost painted? ill paint one day #ive already rambled so much abt the art im runnin out of ROOm to ramble about WWWIILLIAM GODDAMN WWIIIISP. its been a minute since i saw-#-this episode..but i DO remember the funny smoke trick that will did to his funny brother. EVERYTIME U GIVE AN ORDER. THAT BRINGS HARM-#-INDIRECTLY OR NOT. YOU WILL HEAR THOSE SCREAMS. YOU WILL FEEL THAT PAIN. OHHH WHAT A COOL PUNISHMENT THAT IS #its still an olive branch in a sense! a final chance for big bro bell to show that hes NOT an irrideemable piece o shit. and if not #well. to the wolves of psychosis with him!!! i really think william did the best he could here. if i was in his shoes i have no doubt i-#-woulda done the same. IM ALSO GLAD THAT VYN DECIDED TO STICK AROUND N SUPPORT HIM! thas character development baybe!!#i loooove prime defenders.. its been so long since i watched any eps of it but i KNOW it still has such a grip on my heart..GOTTA rewatch i

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professoruber · 3 months

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Hazbin Hotel Season 1 Finale Thoughts (and a few hopes for Season 2)

Spoilers for Hazbin Hotel Season 1 Episodes 7 & 8

That finale was amazing. The season as a whole was amazing, even if it felt kinda rushed/fast-pace, which is admittedly most likely a symptom of the episode count they were given so I don't mind it too much. But still.

Anyway. the finale was great, and it does seem like its setting up quite a bit of stuff of future season(s). Between the exterminations getting cancelled, the successful fighting off of the exorcist army, and death of Adam, the deal between Charlie and Alastor, Lilith's role in all this and most of all....

MY BOY SIR PENT GOOD HIMSELF A REDEMPTION! GOOD FOR HIM!

Emily is (naturally) completely ecstatic at a sinner getting redeemed and ending up in Heaven. Sera meanwhile seems... crossed between confused, concerned and maybe a tad horrified (hard to say).

Honestly was kinda hoping for Emily to have been more involved in the finale or even go behind Sera's back to intervene in the extermination and/or help the hotel in some manner, but I suppose sneaking out to help is easier said than done.

Nonetheless; Emily is so adorable in this short scene that I don't mind her lack of presence in the finale too much.

I suppose part of my mild disappointment is a symptom of getting slightly invested in some of the theories and fanart which has been made over the past week. There's been a lot of discussion and fanart of her becoming fallen; based on her condemnation of Sera and Heaven during "You didn't know", her insistence that she'd figure something out to help Charlie and that Sera warns her of the possibility of becoming fallen.

(I've even seen it pointed out that Emily looks like she has horns here; which seems like foreshadowing so hm.)

So It does arguably feel a tad anticlimactic that Emily apparently wasn't able to do anything even after promising she'd figure something out.

So... I don't know; it did seem like they were setting up for Emily to do something but in the end she didn't really do anything. She was quite willing to very strongly call out Sera and Heaven via song, but didn't seem able to do much more considering that the Hazbin crew had to rely solely on themselves and other denizens of Hell.

But still, there's a lot of room her character in season 2 especially now that its been proven sinners can become winners.

As I noted above; Sera looks much less happy than Emily at Sir Pentious' arrival. Is this just guilt/horror that her 'necessary evil' wasn't so necessary after all? Will she change her mind or will she continue to be an antaongist?

Hard to say at this point; but considering how they spent time showing the cracks forming between the two seraphim; it feels like that probably has to build up to something?

Anyway, the hotel is definitely getting some credibility/notoriety now. Not only due to ending the exterminations and killing Adam, but also because one of their patrons did indeed get redeeemed.

On that note; if a sinner can become a winner, does that mean a winner can become a sinner? Because Adam's been committing a lot of sins in his every appearance, so much so that now that he's double dead he might go through divine judgement again and end up in hell as a sinner. In which case he could still be quite the problem (although if other demons work out who he is, he'd have a pretty massive target on his back considering all the exterminations). If Adam does become a demon, I wonder if the same would happen to the other dead exorcists? Hm.

Also there's her. Lilith.

...

Honestly right now I'm still not sure if I know enough to really make much of a judgement. She's been a mysterious and enigmatic figure from the start and the fact she's apparently been in Heaven and made a deal with Adam is... uh... I'm not sure.

Did she sell out her family/people for a life in paradise? Does she have some kind of grand plan? Are there more unseen forces/plots we don't know yet? Is she the one who owns Alastor's soul?

Who knows!

Alastor shows again he's not the all-powerful enigmatic badass he initially presented himself as. He narrowly escaped double-death at the hands of Adam and still has soul owned by another. Still, he definitely does appear to have some serious ambitions to rise in his station.

He managed to make a deal with Charlie for a favour (presumably freeing his soul?) and also talks with Rosie about how powerful Charlie is and how he'd like to be the one to guide her. So hm... I do think Alastor is aiming high, not only intending to free himself but also use Charlie as a vehicle to achieve even greater heights.

To finish off with some final few thoughts (this post ended up getting a tad bigger than I intended, but eh)...

Lucifer was great, seeing him go full King of Hell on Adam was amazing.

I mentioned it before, but Emily was adorable as always - Can't wait to see more of her, including her interactions with Sir Pent

I wonder if Sera will face any consequences now that its been shown the exterminations are not as necessary as she thought

Emily becoming fallen (either getting casted out or choosing to leave) was a really fascinating idea and I do still feel there was a bit much build up for it.

Lucifer apparently got together with Eve at some point. I'd like some more details on that.

Going to be interesting to see what kinda upheaval the finale has in Heaven and Hell; with redemption being proven and new threats likely emerging.

Even if redemption's possible, not everyone wants to be redeemed... and now that its been proven angels can be killed, that might lead to some ambitious figures (such as the Vees) making ambitious plots. Especially since Lucifer is an angel and that's why he's king (of course, Lucifer's probably not as easy to kill as exorcists).

There's other stuff I haven't really discussed, but these are my main fresh thoughts for now.

Can't wait for next season!

#professoruber thoughts #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel spoilers #hazbin hotel season 1 finale #charlie moringstar #sera the seraphim #emily the seraphim #sir pentious #hazbin hotel adam #hazbin hotel exorcists #lilith morningstar #alastor the radio demon #lucifer morningstar #hazbin hotel season 2 predictions #hazbin hotel theory #hazbin hotel thoughts #spoilers

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ninelivesart · 10 months

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Part 22 of Drawing My Reads was Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

#my art #ninelivesart #art #procreate #digital art #art 2023 #drawing my reads #fourth wing #violet sorrengail #so I didn’t hate this book #but I also wasn’t wowed by it #plot was super predictable #also I thought violet was a brat at the end and it kind of irked me #I’m withholding final judgement until I read the second one tho #because I also didn’t care for the first acotar or caraval books #and ended up loving them #so we’ll see

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clfixationstation · 4 months

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I adore the Mikasa praying mantis symbolism

#cl thoughts #get his crusty neck #i knew from the shot what was likely to happen #me when i predicted the ending halfway thru s1 #eremika #the flavor I approve of #mikasa #mikasa ackerman #symbolism #mikasa analysis #aot screencaps #attack on titan #attack on titan analysis #aot analysis #snk #shingeki no kyojin #aot finale #attack on titan the final season

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roscoehamiltons · 2 months

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Silly Season 2024 Predictions

aka predicting how the grid will look for 2025:

red bull: max verstappen, daniel ricciardo

mercedes: george russell, fernando alonso (or alex albon, if fernando remains at aston martin)

ferrari: lewis hamilton(!!!), charles leclerc

mclaren: lando norris, oscar piastri

aston martin: lance stroll, yuki tsunoda (or fernando alonso, if he doesn't go to mercedes)

alpine: esteban ocon, pierre gasly

williams: kimi antonelli, alex albon (or valtteri bottas, if alex goes to mercedes)

visa cash grab rb: liam lawson, sergio perez (or yuki tsunoda, if he doesn't go to aston martin)

sauber: carlos sainz jr, nico hulkenberg

haas: ollie bearman, kevin magnussen (or zhou guanyu, if kevin retires)

thoughts, explanations (and a lot of babbling) under the cut:

red bull: maybe i'm delulu for thinking daniel to red bull will still happen lol but it makes perfect sense on paper-- daniel's already familiar with the team and works well with them, he has support from the higher ups, he's a marketing dream, he has a similar driving style and preference to max...

also i know there have been rumours about alex going to red bull again but i don't think he'll do it in the end.

mercedes: i want it to be fernando that replaces lewis bc it would bring the most chaos and drama lol, but it's also a decision that actually makes sense? swapping a world champion with another world champion, and one that isn't likely to want to stay long term (5-10 years)? i guess this is dependent on how both mercedes and aston do this year but 🙏 pls make it happen lol

alex is my second choice for the seat if fernando doesn’t take it. i started making my predictions before james confirmed that alex was signed to williams for 2025, but even with that news, i still think it's a possibility he could go to mercedes. there's been so many whispers in the press about alex wanting to either leave williams or getting offers from top teams, that i can't help but think that alex is trying to gun for a top seat.. and mercedes is his best choice for a top seat imo. not to mention that james did say that he wouldn't stop alex from leaving if he wanted to, and of course the ties with mercedes that james and williams have... it would be easy for them to do some negotiations and make it happen. also i'm sure that george would put in a good word for alex, if alex was interested.

also some honourable mentions, because there's a lot of possibilities to consider: everyone is talking about kimi antonelli and mercedes and i do think that they're going to try and push him into f1 as soon as they can.. i just don't know if they'll take the risk of putting him in the merc seat right away. i'm really interested to see how he does in f2 either way-- if he's as good as everyone says then the results will speak for themselves. i think esteban is a good option too; he's a solid driver (and underrated imo), and more importantly he has ties to merc and toto. if merc wants a more short term option then carlos is a good choice, though it's more likely he would go to sauber. as for mick, i don't think that he's merc's first (or even second or third) choice for the seat, unfortunately for him and the mick girlies. lastly, this one is a bit random but nico hulkenberg also came to mind as a solid short term option (plus, he's german).

ferrari: still can’t believe lewis is going to be driving for them.

mclaren: no notes, very solid pairing.

aston martin: i think the lineup will stay the same if fernando doesn’t want to move to mercedes. i suppose there’s a chance that the rumours about lance going to wec could be true but we will see.

if fernando does go to mercedes then yuki is probably the most obvious choice as his replacement. i also think it’s in yuki's best interest in the long term to leave the red bull family, and this would probably be the best opportunity to do so.

i was actually initially considering checo as the driver to replace fernando — they have history after all, and checo seems to love the team. however, thinking about it, 2023 really took a hit to his reputation as a driver and I don’t know if aston would want him back anyways? i think checo would absolutely reach out to them though if the seat opens up, i think he’s going to try and stay on the grid if it's possible.

alpine: i think both will stay, but if one was to leave it would probably be este (to mercedes?) rather than pierre. if he were to go then jack doohan would be the likely replacement, maybe victor martins if his results in f2 are good.

williams: like i said earlier, i think mercedes is going to try and get kimi into f1 asap, even if he doesn't win f2, and aside from merc itself, williams is the most likely option for that to happen. alex will stay if he doesn’t get the mercedes seat—the supposed red bull offer doesn't start until 2026 and i don’t think he would break his contract to go to aston or alpine.

as for who would replace alex if he does go to mercedes, i would love for it to be valtteri. i stole this idea from @velvetsainz actually, but the more i think about it, the more i like it... the idea of valtteri and james on the same team again tickles me and valtteri is a fantastic mentor (as evidenced by his relationship with guanyu). also i'm fairly certain that toto is back on valtteri's management team again so i can see toto mentioning valtteri as an option for williams in their negotations for the hypothetical alex to mercedes move. is this likely this is to happen, idk, because valtteri did pick sauber over williams in 2021 for a reason but a girl can dream lol

visa cash grab rb: this one was the one i probably struggled with the most ngl.. i think liam is definitely going to be in f1 in 2025 (and deservedly so) but the question of who's going to be in the other seat.. the three main options would be yuki, checo and daniel (if daniel remains at visa instead of moving up, either checo stays at red bull or yuki is the one getting promoted). i originally had the lineup as yuki and liam (and checo at aston martin) but ended up switching yuki and checo around in the end. if checo does end up retiring at the end of this year and yuki goes off to aston then i'm not sure who would replace him..maybe ayumu iwasa? i looked at their list of juniors and am not really familiar with anyone besides him tbh

sauber: this one pains me because i'm a huge fan of both valtteri and guanyu, and they're actually my favorite pairing, in terms of overall vibes and personality... but i would be (very pleasantly) surprised if they both manage to stay at sauber next year. i think it's a given that carlos is going to go to sauber now that he isn't with ferrari, especially with his ties his dad has to audi. i also think sauber/audi would want to start preparing for 2026 and they would also want a german driver to drive for them, hence nico hulkenberg (plus the rumours that they were interested in hulkenberg last year, but ended up renewing guanyu instead).

there's a chance that one of the current drivers could stay, which in that case it would likely be valtteri (with carlos as his teammate, rather than nico). they could also promote theo pourchaire to f1, but i think it's likely they would stick to established drivers, especially during the first couple of years that audi settle in.

haas: the new haas tp has spoken very highly of ollie and with the amount of free practice sessions they have scheduled for ollie this year, it wouldn't surprise me if they're trying to get him on the grid. i know some people think that kevin might retire after this year, but i think they would like to keep one of the current drivers since the last time they had two new drivers didn't go well 😬. on the chance that kevin does end up retiring, i think guanyu is a good shout for a replacement. it might seem a bit random but he's a consistent driver who rarely crashes and more importantly, brings a lot of money and sponsorship, which haas needs.

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liquidstar · 1 year

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who's ready for a repeat of the heartbreak of round 1?

#alien stage #the main difference is that mizi and sua were actually in love in round 1 but ivan's love is one-sided...#is that more tragic or less? im not sure... but i think that till is going to be the one who dies #hear me out #if we get till vs mizi (which has been set up in a way so i can see it happening) wouldnt that be the same dynamic as ivan vs till?#one person going up against their unrequited love and all #but if we get ivan vs mizi then its different...#1. both of them lost the person they were in love with but more pressingly #2. ivan might presumably resent mizi as the person who the person he was in love with loved #might even somehow shift the weight of his death onto her just so he wouldnt have to live w the survivor's guilt #the way mizi does for sua #so thats my prediction for the till vs ivan round... i think till is getting exploded sorry till #as for luka and hyuna we dont rly know much abt them yet so hard to say but i think luka will probably will against hyuna #and then mizi wins against luka so its mizi vs ivan in the final #thats my bracket #i have other thoughts but ill leave it at that for now

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dazais-guardian-angel · 7 months

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flashback to the time Dazai's english voice actor made an armed detective agency joke about Kunikida's missing hands and accidentally prophesied the s5 finale........ Kaiji is simply too powerful

#bungou stray dogs #dazai osamu #for more context he was initially talking about how easily everything could be solved if the ADA actually used guns as their name suggests #and someone mentioned Kunikida using guns and then he said that lmao #and then it snowballed into this entire witch hunt after him for being ableist just because puritan kids in fandom now can't take a joke 🙃#which is depressing because it was really funny and kaiji is an amazing person who deserves the entire world #but anyway he accidentally predicted the fyodor hand thing and i can't stop laughing 😭😭😭 i can just see dazai saying that there #IT FITS TOO WELL #in other news though i've still been sitting and reflecting on my thoughts on the finale #and i'm working on a post based on that theory i reblogged #so stay tuned (idk who i'm saying this to. to anyone who possibly cares lmao)

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chidoroki · 1 year

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May 16th - Happy Birthday to Vanessa Enoteca

(with one Vanessa from almost every chapter she appears in)

#black clover #vanessa enoteca #rouge #bc manga #my edits #years ago a friend tried to convince me to watch BC & though i refused at the time he predicted that vanessa would be my favorite. fast #forward until last year when i finally decided to watch it and he was 100% correct. & im completely okay with it because DAMN she is #absolutely PERFECT! aaahh she's so gorgeous & i love her magic (& Rouge) and how deeply she cares for her family. her backstory gives me #some TPN vibes too. literally everything about her is wonderful & she's so fun to watch. i cant wait to see her again in the movie next #month. oh & speaking about timing..i almost forgot to post this because for some reason i thought her bday was next week?? i wouldve been #so mad at myself if i missed it. especially since i had this done months ago! literally started this right after i finished nozel's so this #has been chilling in my drafts this entire time. ooohh TotK definitely distracted me but it's still the 16th for me so it counts. huzzah!

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ct-multifandom · 9 months

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Forever lamenting that YTTD chapter 1 dropped during the Trump presidency because this meme wasn’t invented yet

Spent the entire Sara minisode going “it’s joever” over and over again in my head

#yttd #your turn to die #kimi ga shine #kgs #yttd mini episodes #yttd minisodes #he looks particulary salad fingers esque in this image #I know I usually make posts when new yttd comes out but I don’t really have anything new to add this time?#my only thought is whether Nankidai plans on making all the side content before releasing the ending chapter of the actual game #or releasing the ending whenever it’s ready and then making whatever else he wants after #the way the minisode select screen is laid out makes it look like there are only a few left so not one per character but maybe he’ll add #another menu and make more of them #I need to replay the game I feel like. I’ve been forgetting some stuff #might make a post with predictions for 3-2 at some point #it was good to finally see Ryoko tho damn I’d love to like play as her or something. there is another sprite of her she’ll probably return #maybe I’ll make a Ryoko post I want people to be talking about her more #yttd spoilers #your turn to die spoilers #kimi ga shine spoilers #kgs spoilers

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twelfth-dykector · 4 months

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WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT

#idk how i feel about it #like on one hands its ghosts so it's obviously the most perfect beautiful show ever #but on the other hand it was very underwhelming #(in my opinion) having betty be the centre of the FINAL episode wasnt great #like if it was any other episode it'd be great but for the FINAL episode i'd hope to see abit more of my silly little guys yk??#plus that fucking ending #im in shock #like it was very predictable but i REALLY hoped they'd surprise us #going abit (very) insane #i cant form a coherent thought rn #i have SO MANY THOUGHTS THO #but they do not make sense unfortunately #bbc ghosts #bbc ghosts spoilers

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polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup · 4 months

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It may have already been said somewhere and I just missed it, but how long was the partial custody for Megumi with the Zenins? I assumed it was once a month for a couple years, but I guess it also could’ve been every weekend (poor Megumi)

Maki remembered it as one weekend a month, but she was also like, six or seven when the Zenin still had partial custody, and whenever I have the memories come through that kind of haze of age, I always have them be kind of hit or miss in its accuracy. For example, Maki remembered Megumi as being five, but he was actually six when the arrangement started.

It started as one weekend per month at the beginning, which is how Maki remembers it--that was the number that the clan leadership brought to everyone else when they finally got Gojo to agree to partial custody, and the number that people bitched about and celebrated in turn whenever they were pissed that they only had him for a weekend a month or thrilled that they finally got some kind of time with him. If you ask Maki what the arrangement was, she would say it was one weekend per month.

In my mind, that's not an entirely accurate number. And it was mostly because the Zenin were constantly, constantly pushing their luck to get more time with him.

There was more than one time where they'd refuse to hand Megumi back over unless it was gojo personally come to retrieve him. Gojo was the only one who had the firepower to actually force them to give Megumi back--if he wasn't there and they wanted more time, then they'd just. Keep Megumi. And it wouldn't be until Gojo pulled himself away from his missions and showed up to personally pick him up that they'd suddenly cooperate again. If Gojo was out of contact or just too busy to get there--and the Zenin would ask their contacts in the higher ups to make sure he was--then they'd get a few extra days with him.

Which is another one of the reasons why Megumi's relationship with the adults suffered so badly during this time in his life. From his perspective, he was barely hanging on by a thread and struggling through each day with the Zenin, and he'd finally, finally get to the end of the weekend, and Naoya would come up and tell him that Gojo hadn't bothered to send anyone to pick him up and that they'd get to keep him all week. It would crush him every time.

But in reality, Nanami would be parked right outside of the Zenin compound, having arrived early to get him, pissed as hell and fuming on the phone through this endless phone tree of assistants trying to get Gojo on the line so that he could come back to get Megumi himself, because the Zenin wouldn't even so much as let him through the front door.

Back then, the trio were just young and easy to take advantage of and were honestly, really, desperately trying to make this somehow work. They had no idea how bad it was for Megumi on the Zenin compound and didn't want him to just. fucking hate this people that they assumed he'd build some kind of relationship with. They'd always downplay how fucking pissed they were at his family too, because they were trying to keep it together for the sake of the kid, who actually didn't want it together to begin with. So when they finally got him back, and Megumi asked why no one had come to get him, they'd never say "Your shithead bio family wouldn't goddamn give you back when we first showed up and Gojo had to threaten to rip Naobito's spine out his asshole so they'd let us take you home this time," it'd always be something like "You know, bud, your family really, really wanted to spend a little bit more time with you" or "Your family only wants Gojo to pick you up and Gojo was just really busy this time."

Eventually, Megumi stopped asking. He had already decided that they didn't care enough about him to come. He didn't need them to say it out loud.

In my mind, Megumi's pride is something that's always been very important to him. And I don't mean that he's prideful--it's that he knows what it's like to be kicked when he's down, but he won't give them the goddamn satisfaction of making him cry too. It's about maintaining dignity. He has no intimation about whether he can win every fight, but they won't get him to fucking beg for mercy when he loses it. Even when he was facing up against Sukuna, he never once begged for mercy or let him see him flinch.

In my mind, a lot of that was born during this time of Megumi's life. He was in a scenario where he was helpless and afraid. He asked for help, and he didn't get it, and that cut him deeper than anything the Zenin ever did to him. So he wasn't going to repeat mistakes. He wasn't going to ask for help that was. not. coming. So the Zenin keeping him past when custody was agreed to was another thing he just sort of started swallowing and not fighting on when it kept happening, which made the teen parenting trio think he didn't mind as much when it happened, which made them a little bit more lax when it came to the zenin overstepping. If megumi hated it there, he'd make more of a fuss when he had to stay longer, wouldn't he? He'd say something instead of just quietly getting in the car. And they were all so busy with missions that it was hard to die on the same hill every time pickup rolled around.

Like. Fuck. Gojo was staying up for a week straight by official design because he had so many missions that he legitimately didn't have time for sleep scheduled in it. This was the kind of mission load he got more and more whenever the Zenin's monthly visitation weekend rolled around, because the Zenin were pulling strings to keep him busy. Nanami showed up on time to do pickup, got turned away at the door, spent three hours on the phone trying to get someone to tell the Zenin to give him the fucking kid back, all while fielding hacked off phone calls from assistants trying to get his ass to go on his own missions. They had Tsumiki at home losing her goddamn mind because they promised her that her brother would be back today and he wasn't and they needed to figure out who was managing her while the trio were all off on their own jobs (because while they had somehow not died in a house fire when Toji left them on their own for months they all quickly learned that a seven year old really really should not be left on her own for a week), and forcing the Zenin to give Megumi back meant that they needed to make arrangements for him too. things slipped.

Like. I want to be clear, the teen parenting trio failed majorly around this time, but they failed because they were specifically set up to fail by adults who were dedicating all of their time to tearing them apart. There's this like, entire saga back then with how they were manipulated and how this got so bad that lives in my head that only comes in through as patchwork in the text of sea glass gardens itself. the audience only sees the effects and how bad it got, and in retrospect, it seems obvious that the Zenin never should have gotten any time alone with megumi, especially if they're pulling shit like refusing to give megumi back when their time with him is up.

But it's like this:

They each have twenty four hours in the day to use. Let's assume eight needs to be for sleep. That leaves sixteen hours in the day to fit in food, personal errands, missions, studies, hobbies, and taking care of Tsumiki and Megumi.

So the Zenin would say, great, make sure they have seventeen hours worth of missions on the day that they're meant to get Megumi.

Nanami wouldn't get quite the same treatment as Gojo. It would be more obvious with Nanami since he could never manage at the same level as Gojo, and he'd make sure that no one scheduled him for missions when he was supposed to be collecting Megumi.

But they would schedule him immediately before. And immediately after. And it's impossible to tell when missions end for certain, because it depends on how fast he finishes the fight. Now he's rushing to be there on time for Megumi. He can't just send Ijichi or Shoko--they're already refusing him half the time, they'll just laugh if they send a noncombatant to get Megumi--and there's already higher ups trying to divert his fucking car onto the next mission because he's late for that.

If they don't give him Megumi, that's hours of trying to get ahold of Gojo, because he accidentally destroys phones like they're made of soap bubbles, and it's fucking hard to figure out where he even is in the world in that moment. More likely than not, he's going to have to leave and come back tomorrow, where he has another fifteen-sixteen-seventeen hours worth of missions going on tomorrow. He already lost three hours to trying to get Megumi. With the seventeen hours worth of missions, that's twenty hours in his day gone, and he's got four hours to what--sleep? He hasn't even finished his commute yet, let alone getting food, showering, getting Tsumiki in order--

The Zenin giving him Megumi when he asks means he needs to get Megumi home. He needs to make sure there's groceries in the house. He needs to make sure that Megumi has his toothbrush and doesn't need any bandaids and drank enough water recently. Just chatting about Megumi's day with him represents resources--time, energy, mental space--that Nanami's on extremely short supply of.

Gojo, meanwhile, doesn't get seventeen hours worth of missions--he gets thirty hours worth of missions to cram into a twenty-four hour day. He's gojo satoru. he'll figure it out. And he gets that workload every single day in his week. There's a lot of curses, and only one him. They're desperate. There's a huge influx of curses, and a personnel crises, and if the ends don't meet then people die. He's the only special grade that even does missions anymore. People needs him to make it work, and he doesn't really need sleep anyway. He can handle the load, because he's gojo fucking satoru and can do what no one else can.

Getting the phone call that the Zenin refused to return Megumi again means he has to travel back from wherever the hell he is in the world, go to the Zenin compound, knock on the door, tell them to give him back his fucking kid, only for them to immediately return him with minimal grumbling when they were telling Nanami three hours ago that he'd need a tank and an army to so much get them to open the door. He's got a million and one things to do, and he knows that if he makes the trip all the way back to get Megumi, all he's going to be doing is walking him from the Zenin compound to the car. It takes the wind out of his sails. It feels like task that anyone could do even if they'll only technically cooperate for him, so it has this manufactured sense of being a waste of time.

It frayed their already thin nerves even farther, because Gojo started feeling like he has to do everything and Nanami felt frustrated with himself and Gojo because it's impossible when he does it but the Zenin comply as soon as Gojo flies back from the other side of the goddamn world just to do a custody pick up. And then all the other little things that are falling apart--like the fact that they need to get groceries, the fact that neither Megumi nor Tsumiki have done their homework for Monday and also they're out of toothpaste--build into a huge, exhausting burden when they'd normally be nonissues.

If Megumi's with the Zenin, he's in a secure location where they know he has food. They know that there's adults there making sure he's eating, sleeping, isn't running into traffic, etc. Fuck, the issue is that they're too attentive to him--they want to keep him and take care of him for even longer.

And Megumi doesn't seem to mind. He stopped asking them to pick him up on time weeks ago.

The Teen Parenting Trio were out of their minds with exhaustion, felt like everything was falling apart, and the fact that the Zenin kept violating the custody agreement just... almost seemed to solve more problems than it caused. If they fought it, it would mean endless hours of more work for them, when they were already too busy to even get proper sleep. If they just let them get in a few more days, then they knew Megumi was getting three square meals and had adult supervision. It means they don't have to pick up groceries, because they have enough for one kid but not too. It's less toothpaste they have to buy and less meals they have to prepare, and they were just so goddamn tired that they couldn't do that stuff to begin with.

The Zenin would sometimes get more than a weekend because they would bend over backwards to make the Teen Parenting Trio too overwhelmed to force them to give Megumi back after a weekend. On the weekends where they were set to get Megumi, they would just take all or most of their clan off the roster entirely and push their workload onto gojo and, to a much lesser extent, nanami. They would arrange circumstances to make them frustrated with each other and at each other's throats instead of showing a united front. They were a lot of very experienced, very manipulative adults putting 100% of their effort towards breaking a group of grieving teenagers, and they succeeded in a lot of ways.

Megumi just started shutting down after he didn't get help when he first asked, so the teen parenting trio didn't realize how bad it was for him there, but the visits that went long were always the worst for him. A part of him would always worry that they were never coming back. The Zenin would always tell him that they hadn't come because they didn't care about him or didn't want him because he had misbehaved, so he'd constantly feel like he was on the verge of losing tsumiki and being trapped there forever.

Megumi never, ever has admitted it to anyone, but he still has nightmares about being trapped in the Zenin compound without a way out, even with all the years buffering them. He doesn't want to tell Gojo or his sister. He hates that he's fifteen and still having nightmares of them. He always told himself that Gojo had kept his word and that there was nothing the Zenin could do to get past Gojo, so there was nothing they could do to force him back there.

This last week felt a lot like being trapped in one of those nightmares.

When Megumi was a kid, there were a few very rare times that Gojo let Zenin have him more than once a month. Which, again--in hindsight, he can't believe he ever did that. He hates himself for it sometimes. In the moment, though, it made sense. They'd always give him back to Nanami without a fight if Gojo caved and let them have him twice a month instead of once. It was less of a headache to give them a couple extra days in the month than fight them for a week about returning him on time. There were a few anniversaries and events that were important to the clan that they kicked up a huge fuss about getting Megumi for as well, and this was nominally supposed to improve clan relations. Fuck it, letting them have Megumi for the anniversary of whatever was the sort of compromise Yaga said they were supposed to be making.

For the most part, it was one weekend a month. That was the original agreement. that was what it was always supposed to be. But there were a few months that it was two or three times a month. There were a few times it was for a week instead of a weekend. And the Zenin were constantly fighting for more time.

I never set in stone a definitive amount of time that the arrangement went on. In my mind, it went on for around a year and a half before the Zenin overstepped and they had to go no contact, but I'm not married to it. It's nebulous.

#sea glass gardens #the zenin really really just hit megumi with all of his vulnerabilities at once #they really did hurt him in a way that is hard for him to verbalize #megumi spent his childhood stuck on that compound trying to run down the clock until gojo would come get him and terrified that he #wouldn't come or that megumi wouldn't make it that long #now he's fifteen and he feels like he's six again and he knows that he cannot run down this clock #gojo isn't going to get him in time. he is not going to make it.#he was so scared of dying in that fucking compound as a kid and he thought that it was finally happening #really the only thing that could hurt him worse than what the zenin have already done was to find out that they “love” him #he just could not take that right now #he feels like the monsters under his bed just crawled out and dug their teeth into him and the only consolation is that that's what monster #do. you don't expect more from them. at least it's predictable.#if you tell them that the zenin did it because they loved him all along it would just break him. they are the worst thing that ever happene #to him. they have hurt him more profoundly than anyone else alive. and they cannot goddamn tell him they did it out of love.

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eidrefangel09 · 2 years

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I remember when I said to myself that this would only be a messy doodle

Now guess which one of them I simp

#NO DON'T PFF #but seriously though I love these two #honorable mentions ALL OF THEM EVERY CHARACTER IN THE HIT GAME CUPHEAD #like I thought for once I finally have a bias/favorite but then I remembered each and every one of them and went gahdamnit #will I draw some of the other characters? perhaps #we'll see what my motivation thinks #I can't guarantee they will be as high effort as this but I can't even predict myself #I drew mistah anteater because I reacted more strongly to him than the other characters before I started appreciating all of them #HE'S SO BÊĒG AND FLUFFY AND ANIMATED SO WELL #the one I simp is Cagney GOOD TALK BYEEE #my art #cuphead #cuphead dlc #delicious last course #cagney carnation #moonshine mob #anteater don't got a tag shoot

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eddawrites · 2 years

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I’ve responded to this type of comment about a million times by now, so I figured that maybe I should save myself some time and turn it into a post that I can just copy + paste whenever someone starts repeating this mantra like it’s a billboard top record and they’re a radio DJ.

The rocket is not aiming for Mel’s back!

There, I said it. Now that I got your attention, let me explain why, with visual evidence.

First things first: the council chamber is not a tower. This might be obvious from the picture below, but some people in the fandom seem to be experiencing a bit of a Mandela effect about this. The chamber is adjacent a large building, so there’s plenty of room for the missile to explode and cause massive destruction without annihilating absolutely everything and everyone in the vicinity.

From the outside, the chamber appears to have seven windows (although the geography of the room is often fumbled to fit the scene, so that not all of the windows are ever visible at once in the interior shots), two on each side of the room, three opening to the front, overlooking the Academy Square; six in the shape of elongated hexagon and the one in the centre more intricately shaped, extending all the way to the floor - this is the window behind Heimerdinger’s former seat.

What’s more, the animators provide you with helpful foreshadowing of where the rocket is actually going to hit, first by highlighting said window with the red colour reflecting from the moon as pictured above, then with the blue smoke trail from the actual missile:

These two shots show that the missile is aiming for the window to the right of the central window (the one behind Heimerdinger’s seat) and this might blow your mind but...

That’s actually the window behind Jayce. Albeit given the circular shape of the room, how directly behind him depends on the angle the scene is shot from. Either way, this window is still closer to him, not Mel. It’s also visible on the reflection in the window right before the rocket hits: the grinning face appears to be actually aiming between Jayce and Mel, if skewed slightly more towards Jayce’s side (you can clearly see his silhouette in the glass). It’s likely that the missile will not hit anyone directly, but instead fly to the other side of the room and explode there, killing the councillors on the far side of the room, thus giving our trio a chance to survive. Moreover, if it were to collide with either Mel or Jayce, we could safely say goodbye to both (and Viktor) because their seats are right next to each other.

Unless... but more on that in a bit.

Now, this should be evidence enough for me to call it a day here and call everyone dumb for not noticing or lazy for not overanalysing every single shot of this show the way I do, but... did you know that this was actually visually foreshadowed during the council meeting in ep. 8 already?

Here - with Jayce standing by Heimerdinger’s empty seat after his failed attempt to call for retaliation against the undercity - we can see Jinx’s grenade lying on the table between him and Mel, likely foreshadowing the path of the missile proper.

So, why such an emphasis on Mel in this moment then?

Right before the incredibly cruel, but kind of ingenious cliffhanger, the animators direct your attention to Mel, to her noticing something going on and looking behind her. Then, they remove the back of her seat and her dress to reveal the mysterious golden metal plates fused to her body lighting up with warm, yellowish light. This light is not being reflected as most of the “armour” is covered by her dress, nor is it coming from the spotlights used in the council chamber since those are actually of cold, stark white light - therefore this warm light has no possible source other the item itself.

Whatever the function of these metal plates, they appear to be reacting to the impending danger. Will Mel be able to use them to save Jayce and Viktor? Will she have to sacrifice her own life to do so? Will any of the other council members survive thanks to her efforts? These are the burning questions that we’ll only get answers to in a year or so, but let’s ponder them regardless. We know Jayce and Viktor have high odds of survival because they’re still a far cry from their League of Legends counterparts, so there’s more to do with these characters yet. And Kevin Alejandro has indirectly confirmed Jayce’s survival in an interview the other day. But more prosaically, Riot and Fortiche can’t just kill half of their main cast in the opening of s2, that’s not how telling a story works. Source: trust me, bro, I have a degree in this.

With that in mind, let’s address the biggest elephant in the room first.

The Question of Mel’s Survival

I’ve seen a lot of people claim that the finale would be cheapened by Mel’s survival as killing off only the side characters would mean there are little to no repercussions for main cast. But repercussions don’t have to necessarily mean death, the story can be just as impactful without killing off any of the main characters. Jinx has effectively started a civil war, whether she intended for it to happen or not - there will be consequences for the greater population of Zaun, some of whom probably just want to be left alone; it will fuel the bigotry of Piltovans, and with most of the council and Silco dead, both halves of the city are left leaderless. The main cast will be forced to grapple with the absolute shitstorm that will follow in the wake of this single action and I think that’s plenty of consequence for one season.

And personally, I’m of the opinion that Mel’s death doesn’t actually serve the story. Arcane often gets compared to Game of Thrones due to the characters suffering very real consequences of their actions - a rarity in today’s visual media, especially in the era of omnipresent superhero titles. But people often forget that this show isn’t the later seasons of Game of Thrones where characters started dropping off willy-nilly for sake of shock value (and the pettiness of the screenwriters) rather than cohesive story; the deaths - abundant as they were - in Martin’s books were actually always justified and made narrative sense. The characters made a fatal mistake from which there was no recovery (if you’re feeling fancy you can call this hamartia) and therefore met - frequently violent - end.

So let’s review the leading arguments for Mel’s death and debunk them:

Mel’s death will fuel Jayce’s turn to the Dark Side™

I enjoy a good revenge arc as much as the next person, but there are several problems with devolving Jayce into an Anakin Skywalker - one of those reasons being that we already have that type of character on the cast, encompassed in Jinx, but also the fact that we’ve already had one woman sacrificing herself to give male character trauma and angst (and hopefully I don’t need to explain to you how killing off two black women in a row might look problematic) in Sky and Viktor (#justiceforSky), and while Arcane likes its parallels, doing the same exact thing again would not be interesting. Also, might I point out that a revenge against the Zaunites would be disrespectful to Mel’s memory? It’s not what she would’ve wanted at all. She was the one to shut down Jayce’s suggestion to retaliate, after all. Moreover, there is absolutely no justifiable reason for him to punish the entire undercity for the actions of a single person, nor does it make sense within the narrative unless you’re aiming to create unnecessary drama with the rest of the cast. Caitlyn and Vi witnessed the entire thing and can testify as to what actually went down. Jayce trusts Caitlyn’s word and has a begrudging respect for Vi. He will want Jinx brought in. Nobody else needs to pay for what Jinx did.

What’s even more important, though, is that Arcane is a character-driven show. In order for a character-driven show to work, you have character interactions. If you send Jayce on a roaring rampage of revenge and have him kill not just the men, but the women and the children of Zaun too, you will completely alienate him from the rest of the cast. Viktor, Caitlyn and Vi would despise him for such a thing. They would cut him off. Meaning no more interactions could happen. In your hunger for blood, you will have written one of your protagonists into a corner you can never write him out of. So, congratulations. Good job.

Furthermore, this development would completely undo his entire character arc in s1 - he would have learned nothing. By the end of the season, Jayce finally starts to recognise that he cannot treat every problem as a nail and expect his one-size-fits-all solutions to work. That Piltover is directly complicit in the plight of Zaun and that its people are mostly justified in lashing out against them. In other words, he knows that he’s fucked up and he owns up to it. And although the deal with Silco comes with its own can of worms, Jayce tries to do right by the people of Zaun and recognises that - unfortunately - Silco is a necessary evil vital to that plan because without a unified leadership to negotiate with, there is no way of controlling the situation. To go back on this development would be extremely frustrating to say the least, and - in my opinion - bad writing.

Last but not least, and it pains me to say this: there simply isn’t enough people invested in Jayce and Mel as characters and a couple (many are actually wishing for Mel’s death because they deluded themselves into thinking that will make room for their preferred pairing somehow) for this to have a significant impact on the viewers. I would be sobbing (and likely quitting the show entirely), but I would be in a minority. Not to mention that having too many plotlines that involve grieving would be contra-productive, and ultimately Caitlyn mourning her mother would overshadow Jayce’s grief simply because Caitlyn is the more popular character of the two. That doesn’t serve Jayce’s story at all. He deserves the spotlight just as much and that is best served by giving him a different plotline.

Mel’s arc has been completed and there’s no room for her in the story moving forward.

It might seem that way to some, but it’s simply not true if you stop to think about the plot threads introduced in the last two episodes of the season. Mel’s story is only just beginning. She has cut ties with her family, she has learned valuable lessons, she’s prepared to do better. Her story going forward is redemption. She is going to be atoning for having neglected her most vulnerable constituents. Now, you might argue that Marcus didn’t get a shot at redemption either, but the difference is that the show was never actually setting him up for it. There is plenty for Mel to do and I have textual evidence to prove it:

105 00:07:26 --> 00:07:27 [Mrs. Medarda] We’re in trouble, Mel. 106 00:07:28 --> 00:07:31 The man who killed your brother doesn’t believe the score is settled, 107 00:07:31 --> 00:07:33 and his resources exceed ours.

Ambessa’s political rival who seems deadset on completely annihilating the Medarda dynasty still has a bone to pick with the family. And while he could easily do so without Mel’s presence within the story, I think this plot would fall flat with her out of the picture. While Mel herself is not a very popular character, Ambessa at this point has next to no characterisation of her own. We as viewers - and Jayce within the story proper - have no reason to care about Ambessa’s problems unless it directly affects Mel. She is a barebones character that can only receive characterisation through Mel, similarly to how Silco was chiefly characterised through Jinx. Moreover:

202 00:12:57 --> 00:13:00 I’m here to help guide you to the right decisions. 203 00:13:01 --> 00:13:04 -I don’t need your guidance. -We’ll see.

This simple exchange alludes to the future dynamic between Mel and her mother. A dynamic that strongly reminds me of Tyrion and Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones - arguably one of the best parts of that show. The story potential of these two brilliant politicians facing off is off the charts and as someone who enjoyed the political side of this show more than the actual A plot (which was still brilliant, mind you), the thought makes me giddy with anticipation. And with this show’s standing theme of parents jeopardising themselves to protect their daughters, I’m almost sure that therein lies Ambessa’s fate. After she receives due characterisation to make us sympathise with her, and even mourn her as many did with Silco. She has not been undone yet, and it would be wasted potential to do so right-away, when her relationship with Mel has not had a chance to be be explored in full.

And of those arguing in favour of Ambessa’s revenge arc I ask: what’s the point? Who cares? Where’s the story? If Ambessa could just walk into Zaun and start killing people left and right (for which she didn’t bring a big enough force to begin with), and if it just so happened that she did have Jayce’s support to do so, the season would be over in like three episodes. All Jayce has to do is arm the enforcers with hextech guns and Zaun is toast - he knows this, he tells as much to Silco during their parley. And if they did, the fandom would hate them both for it. There would be no chance for redemption, no sympathy spared for either of them. Arcane writers seem to be above such trite storytelling, as their continuous toying and subverting of the classic tropes and expectations should’ve taught you by now.

Jayce is just the worst and deserves to suffer.

No. Just no. And thank god it’s not you writing the plot because clearly character nuance is an alien concept to you. He’s just a fallible human like the rest of the cast.

What about the droid Jinx attack on the Wookies council?

What about the rest of the council, you ask? Well, for the plot to unfold and the eventual healing of the two cities, the old guard on the council absolutely had to go. They were bigoted, greedy, neglectful, rigid and unwilling to make the much needed concessions. That means that Heimerdinger, Hoskel, Salo (RIP, your nuts will be missed) and Cassandra Kiramman had to go. Furthermore, Cassandra’s death will throw an interesting wrench into Caitlyn and Vi’s relationship and give them new motivations to apprehend Jinx. Heimerdinger has already been removed and is presently picking brains with Ekko, hopefully leading to some eye-opening experiences. Shoola has proven rather reasonable over the times, but I don’t see her surviving either, she seemed too inactive even as she spoke pretty words. The show is setting up Jayce, Mel and Caitlyn, with Vi to guide them along the way, to be the the driving force of change in Piltover. With Ekko and Heimerdinger being the same for Zaun.

Notice that I conveniently left Councillor Bolbok out of my list even though he’s a rickety old thing with rusted hinges for ideas? Well, it’s because he’s the one council member I feel that has a chance of survival - although, admittedly, it would make for a delicious irony for his death to be caused by the same arcane forces that nearly wiped out his entire race. Nevertheless his survival is plausible, not only because he’s a robot and I assume his parts can be replaced, but also because he’s well... an asshole. But assholes are needed for the story to stay interesting - our protagonists need rivals to play off of and there is a precedent for Bolbok’s extremism going back to act 1.

So what will happen, Edda?

I’m glad you asked! Thanks to the game lore we have some inkling of what will happen - Caitlyn will become the sheriff, Vi will be her partner in law, Jayce will become the begrudging leader of Piltover, Zaun will eventually gain its independence, but its people will continue to be preyed upon by criminal empires. That said, changes will be made to the lore as deemed appropriate by the writers - plenty has been changed already, after all.

I think after the explosion, a provisional council will be appointed and if you thought the previous council members were bad, these ones will be decidedly worse. I think Amara will inherit one of the seats since s1 has already set her up as one of the major players in Piltover, I think Camille Ferros (before hextechiation?) will be another, possibly Bolbok if he survives as I expect. Ambessa will likely pick one of the new councillors to align with and continue fanning the flames of war. Jayce will reluctantly re-enter the political scene even though he’s effectively resigned on his position in the last episode. Him and Mel will try to deescalate the situation as best they can, butting heads with the rest of the council and Ambessa. While Piltover will be demanding blood - any blood - Jayce and Mel will be demanding Jinx specifically. My oddly specific prediction is that Jayce will order yet another barricade of the city, but this time to protect the Zaunites from the bloodthirsty Piltovan mob.

All of this will make Jayce and Mel extremely unpopular with the public. They might even lose their power. This will be impactful in Mel’s case especially, since agency is one of her core characteristics in s1 - she is the most powerful member of the council pre-explosion, always in control during the council meetings; she is the richest person in the city, she elevates and empowers Jayce every step of the way - it’s her go-to way of displaying her affection for him before they become a couple. Every one of these things is a show of her agency. To see how she grapples with losing something she clings to so dearly could be painful yet interesting to watch. And there is something poetic in Piltover turning on its Golden Boy, especially since the show has been toying with that possibility already...

Anyways, feel free to clown on me if turns out I’m wrong, but until s2 comes out these are my thoughts on the matter.

#arcane #arcane thoughts #arcane analysis #arcane theory #mel medarda #jayce talis #ambessa medarda #caitlyn kiramman #cassandra kiramman #vi #just my two cents on the topic #just kidding this is like a whole pocket of change #i was just annoyed by having to repeat myself after every bad take all right?#so here is the content of my one functioning braincell #explosive finale indeed #arcane predictions #arcane finale

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