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klorophile · 1 month

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Arcane and food

There is a subject that’s been turning and turning around my head for quite some time now and that I really wanted to analyze because it’s just a detail and yet it gives me Feels Of Beautiful *o*, and it is: food in Arcane. But bear with me because we’re going to take detours that might be unexpected? (I want to mention air jails and pomegranates)

So, I’m not gonna teach you anything when I say: food is important. In real life obviously, but in fiction too. What I have in mind here: in real life you can’t survive without food, so it’s something that you do everyday, so it is a very mundane and daily thing… which is precisely why, in fiction, it can be very absent (the heroes have to save the world/prove themselves/find their identity/solve a big mystery/… = better things to do than what we do in our daily lives because it is a story to get us out of our everyday lives) or on the contrary very meaningful (ex: In The Lion King, Simba is a carnivorous lion but he accepts to get used to eating bugs when he meets Timon and Pumbaa and decides to live with them, it’s a symbol of him leaving his lion life behind).

Also, in the classical tragedies, there is the rule of grandeur: the main characters have to be princesses and kings and never your common citizen. And princesses and kings will not be shown doing stuff like peeing or eating in this genre, because it is too down to earth for the beauty that’s being displayed.

So, eating = down to earth, concerns your everyday living people ; not eating = what people that are more akin to queens and deities will do, celestial. And that’s a distinction that I really feel in Arcane…

Vi eats (like a pig) when she gets out of prison, and she very much says it: « we’re here because I’m hungry ». When she eats, she eats. She puts fuel into her stomach and that’s it, it’s a very earthy and mundane thing, it’s not a metaphor like tobacco can be (tobacco = power in the Undercity). Vi just eats like we all do and that’s it.

…Or is it? Well, at least that’s what she says to Caitlyn. Caitlyn was following Vi in hope of being led to important clues, and she gets pissed when she sees Vi stopping for food, because that is definitely not what Caitlyn got into the Undercity for… Because Caitlyn, as a Topsider, is not hungry. She had breakfast this morning, she will have dinner tonight, it’s whatever, her needs are met and she doesn’t need to think about it, and the viewer doesn’t have to think about it. But Vi is the opposite: As a prisoner, her needs depended on the decisions of the people in charge of her prison. She most probably didn’t get to choose what when or how, and most probably got the minimum and a look of disdain with it. In my head, I really like to make this cute comparison: you know how pet owners take their animals, like a dog for exemple, and they lift them above the ground when they have been naughty, and it’s « no, you’re in air jail now ‘cause you’ve been a bad dog so as a consequence you’re not allowed to dog anymore for a fitting amount of time » and it’s not a slap and not a hug and not a game, and the dog is just up confused with her legs dangling straight like IIII° <oh no what now? and they can’t do anything because air is not their element, the ground is, proven by the fact that they have all of four legs which is a lot of legs when you think about it and all of them want to touch the earth, so quadrupeds are like very ground dependent I guess. So the idea of air jail is that the pet can’t do anything and all that’s left is thinking about their existence and the choices they made and how it led them into not being able to choose anything anymore, and to be at the total mercy of their air jailer who happen to have only two legs that need to touch the ground, and two damned other that can remove you from your daily fulfilling life. And I might put a little too much thoughts into what’s basically cute a meme, but I think that is what is behind the air jail, and that is why it is so funny and cute when you do that to your pet (I’ve only seen it done with love), but yeah here is the thing: that is exactly what Stillwater is, but without the funny and loving part.

All of that detour to say that when Vi was in prison, she was basically in air jail. She wasn’t ‘just imprisoned’, she was removed from existence, and that aspect is accentuated by the fact that a) the prison is called “still water”, as in ‘you’re not allowed to move anymore’, b) it’s on an island that’s removed from both Piltover and the Undercity, and also: c) the time-skip.

The time-skip is very meaningful, because it makes us feel like everything was stopped and stuck from the moment Marcus took Vi away to the moment Caitlyn found an interested reason to get Vi out. We don’t get to see Vi in prison because it is literally a time out. It’s not her life she’s living during this time skip, it’s just her being removed for years and having no control over it.

When she gets out, she eats because it’s an earthy thing, and she was in the air all this time. She reclaims, not even her life, but just a life. This is why it is very important that we see her eat, because it shows us how she feels like she can finally move around and have an impact on the world. She is back.

At first she says to Caitlyn that she brought them here simply so that she could eat, basically to express to her that she is not going to just be used yet again by a Piltie, no, she’s here to reclaim something too and Caitlyn doesn’t have a choice in letting her have that or not, because Vi, as someone who grew up in the Undercity, is more adequate for this quest.

And then she gets the tip from Jericho.

Food is connection, both to the place and the people. Vi eats because that’s what you do when you get home.

And she does it like a pig because she knows that’s not what a Piltie does, and she’s definitely not here to please Pilties.

Silco

Silco does not eat. He is a “kingpin”, he is very close to a classical tragedy figure (I mean… Agamemnon and Iphigenia… That’s his conflict). But he also has a mug painted by Jinx on his desk, with a lid and all, for coffee and stuff. But we don’t see him use it (sadly). He only drinks alcohol, which is akin to tobacco: not necessary to live, on the contrary, especially for tobacco which feels the lungs with noxious smoke when there is already so much suffocating people in the Undercity; when a character takes to it, it’s a symbol of being rich and/or powerful in the Undercity.

So, with the painted by Jinx mug, the earthy thing is here, but Silco decides to not be seen using it. It’s here and not here. And that’s because it’s precisely Silco’s story: It’s him trying to be all but a deity, the founder of Zaun, and fatherhood creeping up on him whether he wants it or not, to the point of him choosing to be a dad with a child instead of a divinity at the head of a city. He doesn’t want to be earthy, because to bring a city towards its independence you probably need to be more than human, but he is earthy and human in the end.

Jayce (and Powder)

In episode 1, Jayce had left two sandwiches on his desk next to his dangerous forbidden work. It has tomatoes and lettuce, it's fresh. It’s a sign of how easy he has it at this time, because he can just leave food around his work, food is not precious, he doesn’t need to eat it right away. Then Powder comes into the room, and she’s starving, so her eyes light up to what is a random sandwich to Jayce, but an out of ordinary meal for her.

And Powder eats, because at this time of the story she is just a child playing around. She is being earthy. She is not concerned by all the stakes yet, she lives the life of a human (we can't exactly say the same about Jinx, who is more akin to a spirit).

There is also very much a thing to say about how Jayce puts his stuff on his desk, and then Powder/Jinx takes it for herself. She did the same with Hextech. (Though, I note that Powder took a bite from the sandwich and didn’t say anything to the others, she didn’t share. While we can argue that her stealing Hextech is helping Zaun, she’s kind of sharing the power with her community. And I’m just here wondering…: Why didn’t Powder share the food? What does this mean about her? Was this done intentionally to say that she’s always been on the selfish side?)

Caitlyn

Caitlyn is nicknamed “Cupcake”. We don’t see her eat, but we see her being called the food. I see it as a way to make us feel how rich and privileged she is, and how Vi feels that and tries to make Caitlyn feels that too. I mean, of course “Cupcake” is a sweet nickname, and the most important meaning is that Vi likes Caitlyn (and also that it can be a reference to one of Caitlyn’s abilities in LoL), but still, a cupcake is a cupcake: a frivolous pastry. A cupcake is not food you get to survive, it’s something you can go without but you get it because it’s yummy. It’s superfluous, but someone from Piltover can afford them regularly. And Caitlyn is beyond that, she is the cupcake. She is a symbol of being rich. And people in the Undercity would want to eat her, but also Vi wants her for other reasons now…

Powder 2

In the « Enemy » clip, Powder plays with her food but does not eat it. She is distracted, and to me it feels like another sign of her being meant to turn into Jinx, a character straight from a tragedy. Something more akin to a deity or spirit of rebellion rather than a little sister. (The clip is all about the seeds of Jinx in Powder, which is why I feel like it is relevant to analyze that scene as one too.)

*big sigh*... Jinx

In the last episode, Jinx brings a cupcake to the table, with the gemstone she stole on top of it. And omg does it bear meanings.

First of all, there is the fact that there is only one cupcake when she invited 3 guests (Vi, Caitlyn, Silco), along with her two brothers who are always with her, maybe we can even count Vander since she did put a plate for him, and herself. With seven people and only one cupcake, we have to wonder: who is going to have the cake? This brings so much tension to the scene: all the people around the table, and only one prize that they have to fight over… And the twist is that no one wants the same thing (Vi wants Powder, Silco wants Jinx, Caitlyn wants the gemstone), and yet they can’t share anything.

Second, the fact that it is a cupcake. Of course it’s a cupcake. Because Vi calls Caitlyn "Cupcake", and it’s all about Jinx wanting Vi to choose her, her zaunite little sister, over her shining new topsider enforcer of a girlfriend. To Jinx, Caitlyn “Cupcake” is a big problem, and that is why she is going to put it on the table.

Third, she put the gemstone on top of the icing. And, visually, that’s what immediately tells us that the stakes are very high, and that we’re very much talking about both the past (the gemstone that killed Jinx and Vi's family) and the future (the key to 'progress' stolen on Progress Day), what we can keep from before and what’s going to have to happen next from that. Also, it feels very irreverent that Jinx puts the symbol of progress on a cute pastry. She is not scared of dirtying what is both a treasure, leverage, power, a weapon, … The gemstone is so much, and Jinx puts it into cream because she can. Because she wants to question it. Because she wants to be the one who decides what is going to happen with the gem. She makes a display of how this moment is a turning point, and how she is the one who is going to decide where we’re going from here. Basically, what is so scary about that episode is how much power Jinx has into her hands, next to how emotional and affected she is by every single word and eye twitch she gets from her guests.

Also, I might be seeing too much into it, maybe, but I still think that the reference is relevant: the cupcake with a gemstone on it is a pomegranate.

It does look like it: the gemstone is visually akin to a blue pomegranate berry, and it is on a cupcake that serves as the husk of an actual pomegranate that holds its berries. With the differences that in Jinx’s tea party the cupcake is the less important because it’s edible while the stakes are less about who is going to get food and more about who is going to leave with the gem of power, while in the pomegranate mythology it’s straight about whether you eat it or not, so the berries are the most important because they are edible (Persephone).

Also, in ancient Greek mythology, the pomegranate is related to death. It’s “the fruit of the dead”. And for Jinx, those magical stones are definitely all about death, since that is what she killed all her family with, whole family that she invited at her table. There is just this vibe around her gemstone crowned cupcake that I feel is the same around the pomegranates in mythology. It’s all about death, choosing to eat, staying underground (Persephone spending time in the underworld, Jinx shooting to make the Undercity an independent Zaun, Vi choosing Topside if we refer to her LoL affiliation). It's all very much about choosing underground/aboveground, and staying with the dead or not.

And the gemstone is only one berry while there are always several in the pomegranate, but I would say that that’s precisely because what is at stake with the tea party is choosing a person over another (Vi choosing between Jinx and Caitlyn, Jinx choosing between Silco and Vi, Jinx choosing to be Jinx or Powder) in a case where one choice has to exclude the other. So it’s a pomegranate with only one grain, and that is what makes us go even more « oh no… », because it's all about choosing, and we know that the ending cannot not be a tragedy for at least one character (joke’s on us, it ends up being a tragedy for absolutely everyone ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ).

TLDR: Arcane is a tragedy, Vi tries to get out of it by eating greasy food with her fingers while Silco says he’d never do that while doing that, and then Jinx puts one single pomegranate cupcake on a table with seven people around it and waits for them to fight for it, but they all bicker about other stuff than the food she baked herself, so she judges that no one is deserving of it and she destroys the world as a logic consequence. Arcane is all about how easy yet complicated it is to eat.

#Arcane #meta #analysis #That's my type #I am trying #food #cupcake #Jinx #Silco #Vi #Caitlyn Kiramman #Jayce Talis #Powder #Zaun #Piltover #character analysis

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nerdasaurus1200 · 7 months

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@embershroud108 just reminded me of this last night

Look how Jinx looks up as soon as she starts to have an episode again. She’s looking up like she sees something…or someone. Like we know full well she’s having an episode, we can tell by the scratches. But the fact that she looks up as if meeting someone else’s eyes and reacting to what someone else is saying is such a dang cool detail.

#arcane #lol #league of legends #nerd talks #jinx #powder #analysis

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kate-rose-red · 9 months

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a lot of this is probably obvious but it's my first time noticing it so 😭 enjoy a deep dive

“Our Love”, the song that plays over the scene where Vi turns herself in, is, in a vacuum, a classic 50’s-styled love song - in an authentic enough sense that it’s easy to be mistaken for a real, licensed song. But it was made specifically for the show, for this very moment. And when taken with its intended context, the visual language of the scene positions it as something deeper: a narrative expression of Vi’s thought process as she prepares to give herself up to the authorities. And her reasons for doing so: her love for Powder.

The design of the record of Our Love itself even seems to symbolize this.

Two girls, potentially sisters, orbiting each other - either floating in mid-air, or about to fall into the hole at the middle of the disc.

The beginning of the scene first illustrates a morose Powder taking refuge at the bar, intermixed with Vi breaking into the tip-off spot, and the feet of marching enforcers.

(The captions say “man grunts” but, that’s definitely the pantleg of young Vi’s design, and that’s clearly Hailee Steinfeld’s voice grunting 😭.)

Powder’s mind is on her sister, in the form of the rabbit she gifted her before she left (which will go on to symbolize Vi, and Jinx’s relationship to her, in a more major way Acts 4 and beyond.) Vi’s words clearly worried her, and the effect of that reveals Powder’s own love for Vi.

As the song ramps up from its slower, moodier beginnings, the realization of the impact of this action falls over Vander, the audience, and Vi.

Cinematically, it turns into a long, slow zoom in on Vi - her demeanor growing from resigned and downtrodden, her head bowed and her hands clasped, to ready and determined - standing up by the scenes end.

The bridge between those two states being a cut back to Powder feels intentional. As do the lyrics;

And the apprehension in her eyes, even as she does rise to accept her fate, really captures the ultimate irony of them.

“With you.”

For all the lyrics both support and re-enforce Vi’s reasons for doing this, by describing Powder as someone who bolsters her strength,

(A subversion of the idea that Powder solely relies on Vi for strength.)

As well as proclaiming that through their love, they’ve been able to whether hardships like this in the past, and will continue to do so,

It also subverts them. She’s doing this out of love for her sister, but she won’t be there to love her sister, or vice versa, by the time this is over (at least, so she believes). And that’s a sacrifice for both of them. A lot of these lyrics can apply to both of them, in fact.

But I still believe the song is specifically from the perspective of Vi. Because she’s the one who has always forced herself to “move on”, to “stay strong” - and this song is an illustration of where that strength comes from. Love, and a desire to protect, specifically her sister.

Because, partially out of necessity, they’ve found in each other the one positive thing they could rely on in a society dedicated to their destruction and misery - and here, is threatened to be destroyed by that very society. By series end, it arguably has. But there’s still that love there. And we, like Vi, can only hope that’s enough.

#arcane #vi #jinx #powder #ramblings #vi arcane #jinx arcane #arcane league of legends #media analysis

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fantomette22 · 9 months

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Since when does beast blood crept up the right leg?

It came to my attention that some people missed a detail that was already in the base game concerning the thing about how the best blood "crept up the right leg". Apparently injecting blood in the right leg (and having consequences from it) is something that could have happen way before the healing church and the old hunters.

Like you might be aware (if you played the dlc) many old hunters have belt on their trouser & right leg (Like Henryk, Djura & the old hunters) :

Old hunter trousers that protected countless hunters from the beasts in an older age. A widespread belief of the period was that "beast blood crept up the right leg", and this led to the double-wrapped belt.

+ Gehrman is missing's the end of his right leg. (well we have 0 idea how he loose it to so... mystery not sure it's link but it probably didn't help in the collective imagery).

It seems to indicate that smt is going on with it right ? Could be just a belief but I think there's a bit a truth in this.

Here's an image of an half transformed Yharnamite in Yhahar'gul. Like the cleric beast & huntsmen it's their left arm who are bigger / seems to transformed first.

Why ? Well blood transfusion. It's where they got their blood transfusion.

Then what about the hunters legs ? Where could this rumors about the right leg come from ? Well were do we (the hunter) pass our time injecting blood vials to heal ? Bingo. The right leg. In that case, it made sense that some of the hunters who turned into beast would begin their transformation in this part.

Now there's another interesting details concerning the right leg thing. And depending on the timeline it's really interesting and confusing. It seems that the old Cainhurst knight were missing their right leg too. Perhaps for a similar reason? So that "legend" could be even older!

Take a look at the staircase that led to the Queen's chamber just after passing Logarius and before the room with Annalise.

Ok you see the statues? All the knights armors are missing their right leg below the knee.

So what does this status depicted? Well personally I don't think they're the Vilebloods we know when the beast plague strike Yharnam and when they were enemies of the church. but old cainhurst knight. Maybe a few centuries ago.

The following armor, really similar to one illustrated in one painting we can found in the chalice dungeons. It does look more akin to those missing a leg don't you think?

Ah yes Cainhurst went to war with Pthumeru and their pthumerians cousins it seems. But it's another story. (+ they got their ass kicked and that's perhaps why Gehrman just thought that using lighter clothes could be more efficient. old armors are bad.)

Also...Here's a cut content enemy that has supposed to be found in the chalice dungeons. The "Nameless Cainhurst knight"

He is missing his right leg too....

So...why are they missing a leg ? Using old blood before everyone? Hm who knows...

and yes I know moon presence basically take our left leg but a bigger part too

(I just wanted to show off the the knight armor on their horse! many people miss it apparently an I was advice to share it!)

#I mean no wonder cainhurst & hunters (powder kegs + gehrman) have ties with cainhurst XD with that and sharing designs and old weapons...#I thought the status at Cainhurst were oblivious but no I'm too used to rare and hidden lore essay XD #bloodborne #bloodborne theories #bloodborne theory #bloodborne analysis #bloodborne the old hunters #cainhurst #bloodborne cut contents #the old blood #bloodborne lore

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lady-griffin · 2 years

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You know what always, ALWAYS, breaks my heart.

The fact that Jinx truly doesn’t believe she is loved; yet she is one of the most loved people in this entire show. It’s just so fucking tragic that she can’t see that.

Silco and Vi love her so goddamn much.

The climax of season 1, boils down to these two fighting for Jinx to pick them over the other, to stay with with them, be their family.

Jinx has literally just kidnapped them and shown herself to clearly be a danger to their lives and general safety, and yet….

The thought of losing her is unbearable to both Silco and Vi.

Silco would never have given her up. Never!

This is a man who less than a decade ago, would’ve sacrificed anything and anyone for his cause; but now…

He would burn everything and everyone for his daughter. For her to remain at his side.

She killed him and the most important thing to Silco, in his last moments, was making sure she knew he would have never given her up, that nothing was worth her, to comfort her, and tell her she was perfect.

And Vi. My other poor, tragic and beautiful daughter.

I don’t know how anyone can say Vi doesn’t love her sister. Did you even watch the show?

I think it’s such a misjudgment of Vi’s character that people say because she freezes up and doesn’t try “harder” to reach out to Jinx that she doesn’t love her.

Because think about that for a second -

Vi who is this seemingly unstoppable force of nature, completely freezes when it comes to Jinx.

She is so scared of losing her sister, of saying or doing the wrong thing, of hurting her again.

Vi blames herself so goddamn much to the point that Vi, VI, who is absolutely defined by her fighter response, just freezes when it comes to Jinx.

These two love Jinx so goddamn much and it breaks my heart how Jinx can’t see that; or at least not until it’s too late.

Then you have Ekko. Forget romantic feelings or crushes; this boy loved his best friend so goddamn much and had so much respect for her; that despite her (from his POV) choosing to be ‘evil,’ still put her on his mural of those he’s lost.

Jinx has killed people on that mural; and yet there is Powder in the center of everyone that Ekko lost that one awful night. She is one of three largest portraits up there. That’s an insane amount of love and respect to give to her; especially considering how their relationship devolved.

And then you get to their fight and Ekko who has been fighting Jinx and Silco for years; who has lost many of his people to them. Who is so angry and filled with pain and hates Jinx...

God, the look on his face when he realizes who he’s hurting, who is underneath him. This poor, beautiful boy goes through like several different stages of shock, pain, and longing in a matter of seconds, when he actually sees Jinx.

Then you have Vander. I know we don’t have much between him and Powder, but I am baffled by the idea that people think Vander didn’t love her.

His last words to Vi were - “Take care of Powder.”

In his dying moments, Vander thought of Powder; she was that important to him.

Now, if he has a few more sentences I’m sure he would’ve also told Vi to not seek revenge on Silco, because he wasn’t worth Vi and Powder’s lives and their safety, as well as reaffirm his love and pride for Vi.

But he didn’t get more time; so he said what was most important to him in that moment - “Take care of Powder.”

Don’t even try to say that Vander didn’t love Powder.

And while we don’t see much of them; you cannot tell me that Claggor and Mylo didn’t love Powder. Yes, even Mylo.

Mylo was an insecure, young boy who took out his anger and frustrations on his younger sister; because she was even more of a weak link than he was and he wanted to feel better about himself.

But, I can’t imagine he would’ve ever wanted to be such a source of pain and torment for her, that Jinx’s Demon!Mylo has become.

And, while we only see a few interactions between them, just the way Claggor looked at Powder tells me that he loved and cared for her.

This girl is so beyond loved (and has been loved) but yet, she can’t see it. Likely because she doesn’t love herself; she has a hard time imagining that someone could love her.

Which again, is just heartbreakingly tragic.

#jinx #arcane #arcane jinx #silco #Vi #Ekko #jinx analysis #Vander #arcane powder #silco and Jinx #vi and jinx #ekko and jinx #Vander and powder #arcane vi

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kingpins-and-revolutions · 1 year

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"Someone Just Volunteered" screenshot breakdown

Since everybody liked my last screenshot analysis of Silco, let's jump all the way back to our first glimpse at Crime Dad alongside Dr. Malpractice

The experiment's end result:

He looks like he finds it rather unpleasant, hm? Despite being a violent and ruthless man, he doesn't seem to take well to expected deaths in a closed, scientific environment.

Initial surprise at the outcome, then with his darting eyes, I'd argue horror and analysis of the information/results

He startles ever so slightly when Singed asks if he has a subject in mind, almost negligible in movement. His shoulder raise slightly, his expression slides from shocked to pensive as he considers his options.

And when he figured out the volunteer?

Ugh, that smirk!

And this is all over the course of 9 seconds!

I love this show. Also these men are horrible, and tbh good for them.

#arcane analysis #screenshot analysis #silco arcane #silco #silco my beloved #singed arcane #Episode 1: Welcome to the Playground #The cannery #You know #I was just here to gather screenshots of the cannery for a fic project #Silco is going to be redoing the cannery as a large-scale workshop for Ekko and Powder #but nooo here I am being Not Normal about That Old Man again #anyways hope y'all enjoy

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dusty-daydreams · 1 year

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Little subtle things that touch on racism in young royals: the 17-18th century costumes for the valentines ball. Not only are the costumes hearkening back to an exclusionary ‘golden age’ the costuming includes makeup that makes the skin appear lighter. We see at least Wille and Maddison in. Having this kind of make up is so so exclusionary - because like the wigs that Felice refuses to wear, to engage with the activity properly non-white students are being tacitly encouraged to lighten their skin and white students are being tacitly encouraged to value whiteness

And yes it’s a fun dress up heritage activity that includes make up for the reenactment purposes - I get that heritage is literally what I’m studying BUT one of the big discussions within the heritage field is the ongoing question of whose heritage is celebrated and why?

For example - it makes no sense for Hillerska to host a 17th Century ball, the school opened in 1901, there is no 17th century heritage of the school, it’s imagined heritage that they are utilising. If the ball was a turn of the 20th century ball (the Edwardian fashion era in English parlance) that would make sense as an engagement with the schools heritage. This heritage may still be racially charged but not as racially charged as the imagined 17th Century heritage ball.

So why 17th C? Well I think the school is invested in training up nobility and royalty, individuals who do have heritage dating back to that period, who are likely to imagine that period as the golden era before the class system began to be (slightly) more equal. Hillerska despite having none of its own 17th C heritage is imagining heritage for its students to help maintain an increasingly shaky class and racial system that has it’s students at the top.

It’s therefore pretty significant that Simon is not in a 17th C costume. He has no 17th C noble heritage and unlike Sara (and Alexander, and Nils) is not interested in pretending that he does.

It is also interesting that Felice, who is on a journey of self acceptance and identity beyond her social climbing white family, only partially dresses in the pretence of 17th C noble glory.

Finally, it is interesting that Wille, desperately does not want to put this costume on, and is crying as he does so. He does not want this awful legacy, it keeps him from Simon and it makes him transform himself into something he doesn’t want to be.

#young royals #the show is about the class system #the show is about power #there is also a sprinkling of racial commentary #that I for one hope they increase #young royals analysis #this sprang to life as I was writing it #because I notice that Maddison had the white powder make up on and had a brainwave #Wilhelm #Simon #Felice #Sara

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stardvstbby · 17 days

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“it’s Jinx now, Powder fell down a well” i wonder if this is a callback to the whole baptism thing Silco has going on? Powder has to drown in her sin to be reborn as Jinx, and Silco was the one who pushed her under. keeping Powder drowning in sin helps preserve Jinx as the weapon he wants her to be. Silco sees himself in Jinx and because he can’t reconcile with who he used to be and how that caused him to lose everything, Powder needs to suffocate for Jinx to exist. he needs that dichotomy to manipulate and exert his power over her. i like this interpretation because it implies Powder is still there somewhere, she’s just buried beneath gallons of Jinx’s shame and expectations. it’s dark and she can’t see but she’s not dead and there’s hope for her to return, if only she receives a lifeline from someone she trusts

#jinx makes me inconsolable #i think in a twisted way he does love her #but that love manifests as a form of control #jinx arcane #powder arcane #silco and jinx #arcane silco #arcane #arcane analysis

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mad228228 · 1 year

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Hoooooboy I just finished Arcane and boy do I have some thoughts. Guess I’ll just start yelling things into the void.

One of the main things that immediately stuck with me is how Arcane did the “character is conflicted between two sides due to misunderstanding/manipulation” trope. So many times characters will super sonic leap to conclusions after mishearing one thing and then immediately end up in the arms of a purely malicious manipulator. It’s overall a trope that I don’t like cause it’s tends to be done so poorly. The dramatic irony becomes unbearable and I can’t help yelling “what is wrong with you! It’s obvious who’s side you should be on! Just talk for 3 seconds and you’ll clear up the misunderstanding while simultaneously exposing the manipulation!”

What Arcane does is so fucking good. Yes! Vi didn’t leave Powder on purpose, but *she does* initially run away! Of course Powder is hurt, and vulnerable, and willing to cling onto the first person who comes around! Everyone she knew just died, and her sister told her it was her fault! And then the development of this, my god. Instead of Powder just completely hating Vi and being closed off to her, we get to watch such an incredible artistic depiction of her inner turmoil as the revelation that her sister is alive shoves a wedge between her and her new father figure while also shaking up her sense of identity. Having Silco coming to love her is absolute genius as well (which is a whole other aspect of this show deserving of a proper analysis). There’s genuinely so much going for and against Vi and Silco. It’s such a delicate balance, for us to not feel like there’s a clear side that Powder should take.

#arcane #Violet #powder #jinx #violet arcane #powder arcane #junk arcane #lol #league of legends #Silco #Silco arcane #analysis #arcane spoilers #arcane spoiler #my post

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kozzax · 2 years

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The thing about dl!Pearl is that like. She's uniquely alone.

Yes, previous seasons of the traffic smps have had their iconic loners. Joel the Wolf King and Scar the Wizard were Alone, in that they could not hold onto an alliance. In this regard they are the same as Pearl, the Demoness.

The core difference between them, the thing that makes Pearl's situation so much more heartbreaking, is that Pearl is surrounded by pairs who will win together.

Both Joel and Scar were surrounded by communities who would inevitably break up. Time after time they would see their enemies fracture into smaller and smaller groups. Only one person could win their games, and so everyone was alone, to some degree.

Pearl, though? Every member of her world has a soulmate, and a soulbind, and someone who they are uniquely tied to. None of them are alone at their core, because none of them will have to live alone at the end. Everyone has their partner.

Even Scott and Cleo are not alone, as she is-- they will inevitably end up alone, but they are not Alone. They have each other, for now, and they are devoted to each other.

Even Martyn is not alone in the same way she is. He chose to leave her, chose to move on and try to woo his soulmate back. He has partnerships; friendships; someone who's willing to take him in. People may not like his build, but they're open and accepting of his company.

Pearl, though? Pearl is alone. Pearl is alone, and she is Alone. Her soulmate refuses her any form of friendship. The person who should be her partner in the meantime, who dragged her away from her soulmate, turned her away. Everyone else that she's tried to befriend has banished her, has exiled her, has refused to be around her.

She is alone, and she is surrounded by those who are not.

#my analysis #pearlescentmoon #double life smp #i'm going to write a whole post on why pearl did nothing wrong later. because shes done nothing wrong #what about the powdered snow you may ask #and to that i say. did i stutter. shes done nothing wrong.

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roger-reblogs · 2 years

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Something cool about character design is that character design doesn’t have to be limited to the character model.

You can use the shapes and colors of your characters in scene design as a sort of visual leitmotif, and you can use contrasting colors and shapes to add tension and drama.

Let me use Arcane as an example because they did this stuff so well.

In this scene from act one of Arcane, Vi is stepping into a fight that will shape her as a person. The dominant color in this scene is a musty green, setting a backdrop for Vi with her hot pink hair.

If I color drop from this picture, we can see that these colors are on almost opposite sides of the color wheel.

This really helps to make Vi stand out against everything else and impress upon you the weight that this scene has for Vi’s character development.

Jinx is a character who, throughout all of season one, is teetering on the fence between to different personas. Powder and Jinx. Her costume design uses two main colors—Fuchsia and Blue.

But these two colors aren't limited to her costume. These colors are also used to paint the world around her, locked in a dance with each other in scenes surrounding Jinx, with one or the other color dominating in scenes where one particular persona prevails over the other.

You end up with scenes like this, when Jinx goes full berserk

And scenes like this, when Pow-Pow cries for help.

Don't limit your character designs to the singular models. The story is about your characters, so paint the world to tell their story.

#character design #analysis #entertaining thoughts #arcane #jinx #powder #vi #color language

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jfk555 · 1 year

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Arcane Analysis: Jinx and Caitlyn

I keep seeing people mention this offhandedly, but I have yet to see a long-winded analysis about it, so instead I will provide it.

Jinx and Caitlyn are foils

I’m a firm believer that if Caitlyn had been born in Zaun, and Powder born in Piltover, they would have turned out just like each other. Caitlyn and Jinx are cut from the same cloth, and are wildly similar. Both are considered misfits and don’t have any friends, both rely primarily on intelligence rather than strength, both are talented marksmen, and both are deeply insecure. (I also think both are autistic, but that’s a whole other thing). And there’s also the obvious of them being the two people who love Vi the most and are the two most important people in Vi’s life.

But where they differ is in morality. Caitlyn hates violence and despite being a sniper, steadfastly refuses to kill. Jinx does…not, to say the least. But she used to. In Act 1, Powder is a pacifist who seems horrified by the idea of killing. And then she goes through unimaginable trauma and makes some poor decisions and becomes almost a funhouse mirror of both Caitlyn and the person she used to be. Caitlyn is what she should have been, she’s the future she was robbed of as a child. She’s what Powder was always meant to be. And in a way, Jinx represents the same for Caitlyn: a possible future if she’s not careful. If their positions had been switched, (Caitlyn being born in Zaun and Jinx being born in Piltover), they would have ended up just like each other. Caitlyn does not have the skill set to survive in Zaun, just like Powder didn’t, and probably would have been faced with the same choice Powder was: die, or adapt. As for Powder, she definitely would have become a scientist at the Academy, but I could definitely see her being enchanted by the Enforcers the way Caitlyn was, and maybe she would have primarily made bombs for them or other weapons and armor.

I also think this is part of why Vi falls in love with Caitlyn over the course of two days, because Caitlyn reminds her of Powder. She has all the qualities she liked but can no longer find in Powder. Vi herself even compared them when she saw Caitlyn’s conspiracy board ( which we need to talk more about as a fandom, because Caitlyn is canonically a crazy conspiracy theorist). “ And I thought Powder could get obsessed!” Vi sees it.

So why do they hate each other, and are they aware of this? Well, Jinx ruined Caitlyn’s life, so Caitlyn has every right to hate her. She also just doesn’t know much about Jinx and has no idea about this similarity. She would also be deeply offended and in denial if someone brought this up to her, so.

But what about Jinx? This may come as a surprise, but I say she is painfully aware of this. Would she ever admit it? Absolutely not, but she knows it. She hates Caitlyn for two reasons: the obvious one we’re presented with, that Caitlyn stole Vi from her or is manipulating her sister, and that she’s deeply jealous and resentful. She knows that’s part of why Vi likes her so much, because Caitlyn is a better version of her, and she sees Caitlyn as a representation of everything she’s lost. Not to mention the fact that Jinx hates everything about herself, but most notably her childhood self, so of course she’s going to hate someone who reminds her of her childhood self.

One of my biggest wishes for season 2 is that they explore this concept more.

#arcane #jinx #jinxarcane #caitlyn kiramman #arcane analysis #the fucking layers to this show is insane #should I do Jinx and Ekko’s relationship next?#also that line about Vi liking Caitlyn because she reminds her of Powder #not meant to be incestuous

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pinkrose1422 · 1 year

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So I just noticed something.

I just saw this point from ArcaneDaily and noticed something in the Enemy by Imagine Dragon music video; you can see this clip.

Now look at the character on the right side.

You can see Ran (cannon name) and Feathers (not cannon name. Name is unknown). You can also see Deckard (the one who ends up working for Silco and fighting Vi and the gang in the ally way).

Ran

Dustin (not the main focus) and Feathers (not real name)

And of course Deckard.

They were all friends. They hanged out and goofed around together. They were friends. They also seem to be around the same age so they all were in their teens, which is weird cause Sevika doesn’t seem that older than Vi in act 2 and 3 so now I think Sevika is just slightly older than Vi in Act 1, which means she was probably 17-19 cause Vi is 16-18 in act 1 (vi age was confirmed on twitter. Apologies, I don’t have the twitter link on hand).

This is mine blowing to me. They were friends. Sevika is only slightly older than Vi. They all knew each other.. they knew powder as powder before she was jinx. My mind is fucking blown.

#arcane #arcane league of legends #silco #arcane netflix #jinx #arcane silco #ran #Dustin #Deckard #vi #powder #feathers #background character #arcane essay #arcane analysis

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writingforfun0714 · 1 year

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I haven’t really seen people talk about this (like one other person tbh), so I figured I’d put in my thoughts/theories.

Warnings: Spoilers for Arcane

Important: Hexcrystal—regular, unstable crystals and Hexgem—are the perfected/stable version

Ok so when the kids rob Jayce’s place, Powder opens the chest of hexcrystals. There are 6 crystals inside and she takes them all. In her haste, Powder accidentally drops one and it explodes. She’s left with 5.

During her mental breakdown in ep3, she spills her stuff onto the floor and when the stuff spills out, we only see 4 crystals.

When Powder decides to ‘help’ the others and she puts the monkeybomb together, she uses 4. It took me multiple rewatches and pausing to see how many hexcrystals she uses but I found out she uses 4 hexcrystals total in her monkey toy. She puts 2 inside the body, 1 around the neck/in the cymbals, and, if you pause it right, you can see she put one inside the monkey head (it glows blue slightly before she attaches it to the body). This was the best screencap I could get, but you can clearly see in the head, a blue light glowing from a hexcrystal.

SHE HAS ONE EXTRA HEXCRYSTAL!! It’s never shown again and I’m sure the writers don’t do anything by accident. There’s no way that a crystal is just ‘missing’ or ‘gone’.

Now for the theories…

—Jinx will figure out how to stabilize the Hexcrystal into a Hexgem. She clearly figured out Jayce’s notes to power a Hexgem (the one she stole) so it’s not crazy to think Jinx would be able to learn to stabilize a Hexcrystal. If she figures it out, we could see how the Hexcrystals are obtained (since all we know rn is that Jayce just has them).

—Jinx will be able to fire her rocket (Fishbones I think it’s called) AGAIN, but she would have to stabilize the extra Hexcrystal (or risk the rocket not working right).

—Ekko will find the missing Hexcrystal. There’s no proof Jinx still has it, so it’s possible Ekko will find it and he/Heimerdinger will argue about using it. Heimerdinger would obviously try to persuade Ekko not to (cuz of Jayce/Viktor), but Ekko being the science boy he is, cannot resist.

—After some convincing, Heimerdinger reluctantly agrees and they figure out time travel w/ the missing Hexcrystal.

—Jinx has the crystal and Singed learns she has it. He asks her if he can use it to reanimate Vander’s body (causing Jinx conflict w/ her wanting Singed to revive Silco instead—but it being impossible w/ him).

—Jinx could’ve given the hexcrystal to Silco for safe keeping-not wanting to be around it. Silco wouldn’t have it just laying around on his desk or something, he’d keep it hidden/locked up to not traumatize Jinx. During the finale, Sevika is shown to be in Silco’s office when Jinx fires her rocket. Sevika could snoop around and find the crystal herself and use it to blackmail Jinx (w/ Silco dead, someone has to take charge and I def see it being between Sevika vs Jinx).

I suppose there is a TINY chance that the writers did just miscount the crystals and one is just missing/gone, but I really, REALLY doubt it. There are so many possibilities w/ having an extra ‘missing’ hexcrystal that I think the writers would definitely wanna expand upon. If it turns out that the hexcrystal really is just gone/missing, I’d be pretty disappointed.

What do you guys think? Will the missing hexcrystal be important going into S2 or do you think the writers just ‘forgot’ about that extra blue crystal? I’d love to hear your thoughts/theories regarding this as well (since it’s not really mentioned).

Thanks!

#arcane #arcane analysis #arcane spoilers #arcane jinx #arcane review #arcane hexcrystal #arcane hexgem #arcane powder

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aphantpoet · 2 years

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An analysis of the relationship between Vi and Powder/Jinx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKt6VHexxOk&t=640s

Arcane has officially rotted my brain and this video has pissed me off, now you all have to deal with it.

This guy alleges that Vi is a toxic and abusive sister to Powder despite all evidence to the contrary in canon.

First, this guy says that Vi “Took Powder to a battlefield” and “forced Powder to see countless copses, including that of her parents”. Nothing in the cannon indicates that Vi went there voluntarily, Powder also has her hands over her eyes and is happily singing. I will grant that we do see Powder seeing the scratch imagery but it is seen later during times of emotional distress to show trauma [which the creator even says]. We are seeing the scene through her eyes and the first thing we see is Vi. Powder’s mental illness and trauma is not Vi’s responsibility, especially when you consider that she looks as young as Powder during the heist later. He also blames Vi for being “too caught up in her rage to support Powder”. Vi is also a kid, especially at this point. The blame of their shared trauma should be placed on the enforcers and Piltover’s council for the slaughter.

He then goes on to talk about Vi taking Powder on heists with Mylo and Claggor and “teaching Powder that stealing from innocent people is just a totally normal and acceptable thing to do”. Granted this is irresponsible on Vi’s part, the narrative acknowledges this. Vander even admonished her later for this. He blames Jinx’s later actions while under the influence of Silco on this lesson. He also brings up her nearly falling while jumping as a point against Vi. That moment is intended to demonstrate to the audience both Powder’s timidness and Vi’s care for those around her .Vi encourages her and catches her when she slips. While Vi is not responsible she is a major support in Powder’s life at this point. Vander is the adult in the family, if Vi is irresponsible for taking Powder on the heist then is Vander not also at fault for not keeping a better eye on them?.

We then get to his next point, which is that Vi teaches Powder to use violence instead of diplomacy. Except that Vi is not a diplomatic person, while she is influenced by Vander at this stage of her life she is mirrored by Silco, both want to do more to fight Piltover. The fight was also not an avoidable conflict, Dekkard corners them. Vi’s tossing of the loot to Powder shows her trust in her sister as well as her understanding of Powder’s dislike of conflict. Powder’s lack of confidence is because she is a kid who is constantly being bullied by Mylo. Vi actually is seen giving her comfort in the screen grabs the user showed. “I’ve got these [her fists] and yo’ve got these [Powder’s bombs] (They never work). They will”.

Jinx’s use of bombs is also not Vi’s fault, Powder is the one who decides the use the nails. Powder is the one that built them. This also furthers Vi’s mirror to Silco and demonstrates exactly what Vander was trying to prevent in later acts. Powder is also still the one who uses the bombs when it kills Mylo and Claggor. Vi told her to stay home because she knew she wasn’t ready and knew violence was going to be explicitly involved.

Vi doesn’t have any plans for the crystals when they keep them secret from Vander, she keeps them secret because she is a mirror to Silco and Vander. Her choice to keep them secret is a Silco choice, her choice to rob Jayce is a silco choice but when she tells Powder to stay away from the fight, when she works with Caitlyn, that is a Vander choice. This dichotomy between Act 1 Vi and Act 2-3 Vi is her growth as a person.

Vi getting angry at Powder is an understandable reaction from someone who has just lost most of their family for a second time. She doesn’t abandon Powder by choice, she steps away to calm down and turns back immediately before she’s kidnapped. Both Vi and Powder’s issues are a product of an upbringing in a broken and oppressive system. Vi punching Powder is noted in the script as the first time she has hit Powder meaning that the supposed history of physical abuse he mentions is not canon.

The relationship between Vi and Jinx is fascinating and complex. They clearly love each other and season two will be interesting in how it expands that. To call Vi toxic is to diminish what makes Arcane so special as a series. Vi clearly has a lot of love for Powder and Powder does for her. There is quite literally nothing Vi could have done about their situation and the blame for it should rest squarely on the people responsible; Markus, Silco, the council and their enforcers.

#arcane #victim blaming #vi arcane #powder arcane #vi and jinx #analysis

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