fourwhateyeam

girl uses tumblr with little to no idea on how to tag, forgive me! about me!

[sweeetsh]

rinezha under the mistletoe

[cloudysonder]

yor's faith vs loid's mistrust

(god I love them so much, add them to the list of het ships that gay people love)

so we know that yor is a herbo to the core

She takes things at 100% face value, and never doubts someone else's intentions:

Takes her coworker's bullying completely straight-faced -- assumes they are pointing out her defects not out of malice, but because it's simply true that she doesn't belong in their world

Believes Becky immediately and completely when she said that she got drunk off of black tea in order to "flirt" with Loid

Similarly, believed Anya immediately and completely when she said she was sick bc she didn't want to go to school (recent chapter)

Believes that the shopkeeper is just "cleaning up" the country (we, as readers, still don't know how true that is)

Believed Loid when he explained that he was beating up people who were clearly thieves bc "concussive therapy"

Believes Loid's list of other batshit ridiculous lies

Believes Yuri's front for his secret police job

In yor's worldview, there are good people, and there are bad people. Good people would never do bad things, and thus should always be trusted and protected. Bad people always do bad things, and thus deserve to be cleansed. She is constantly unsure of where she fits on this scale -- all she knows is that she is some kind of Other, fit only for serving the Good People who shouldn't come into contact with the Bad People. (Maybe she isn't a good person nor a bad person because she isn't a person at all... she's a tool.)

Loid almost never takes things at face value, always doubting other people's intentions:

As a foil to Yor, he always doubts Anya's lies

Being a spy has taught him not only how to spot deception, but to expect it -- he's constantly constructing some kind of conspiracy in his mind about how his enemies are one step ahead, ready to kill/report him

Figured Yuri & Dr. Gorey out almost immediately

EXCEPT ☝️. For Yor.

He hasn't found it suspicious how Yor knows how to IMMOBILIZE A COW???? how to BREAK A STRENGTH MACHINE?? how her tennis swing is so strong it CUTS THE BALL INTO SHREDS?

On their first date she literally sent a guy flying

He's unable to read Nightfall's big old crush on him, always suspecting that she's aiming to double-cross him to climb the ladder, but he believes Yor when she says she wants to support him and be his partner through thick and thin.

He's mentioned before that he worries that Yor has made him soft... her total honesty and gullibility makes it hard to imagine that she'd ever be insincere. She's utterly selfless and (in Loid's view, as he still probably believes that she prostituted herself to support Yuri) has always put herself in the line of fire in order to serve others. How could someone like that ever betray him?

And just as Yor challenges Loid's mistrustful worldview, Loid similarly challenges Yor's belief that she is nothing but a tool. Loid constantly affirms her as Anya's mother, as a member of the Forger family, and as a person who needs friends outside of the family (women patriots society), and as a strong partner that he feels assured relying on.

They're such fantastic foils/opposites to each other, but the longer they stay together, the more they challenge each other's preconceptions. They're growing together, and I think that's beautiful

[fourwhateyeam]

#tearsfallfrommytwiyoreyes

[fourwhateyeam]

why does vander tell powder in the au to stop holding herself back?

Perhaps she's scared of change? If she is, why so? Because her sister died when they went somewhere different (Jayce's apartment)? Is that really it? Then why is Jinx in the current universe always pushing for change, even though most of her trama came with change? Or is she just happy with what she has now, which is why she wants it to stay the way it is? Truly very very super duper curious to know what the masses think.

[perchingominouslysmwh]

My theory is just that powder always seemed to be someone who needed to be told that what she does is worth doing- and while I do think that Vander and ekko and the others encouraged her, Vi was the one she always looked towards and in au, still seemed to be someone she can't let go of- so if she did go to piltover for uni, she'd be going to the place Vi died and chasing a dream (of being an inventor) without her support and that seems to be a painful thought though years have passed since Vi died (I think in part, that's the survivor's guilt speaking) (though it's pretty clear that it was powder dropping the explosive that killed Vi) (huge huge thing for a child to process really)

Though I do think she'll eventually go for it, in that world- the fundamental difference is just that powder's arc in that world is upwards, towards healing and growth and I feel like ekko would play a huge part in that, with time

[fourwhateyeam]

I get this! She doesn't exactly have a support system in our universe, so her anger outweighs her guilt. Or she does have a support system, but they (Silco) push her towards actions that stem from anger. Though in the au, her support system and surroundings allow her to heal in a healthy way, and it leads to guilt here and there. BUT, just like what you said, she will eventually heal and rid enough guilt to leave the bar :D

[fourwhateyeam]

why does vander tell powder in the au to stop holding herself back?

Perhaps she's scared of change? If she is, why so? Because her sister died when they went somewhere different (Jayce's apartment)? Is that really it? Then why is Jinx in the current universe always pushing for change, even though most of her trama came with change? Or is she just happy with what she has now, which is why she wants it to stay the way it is? Truly very very super duper curious to know what the masses think.

[fourwhateyeam]

now that timebomb is so beloved by the arcane fandom, is anyone interested in creating timebomb week... anyone? hello?

[beforetimes]

my headcanon about the alternate timeline we see in s2ep7 is that instead of ekko and powder being close friends throughout their childhoods who became lovers with no friction, it actually took a while for them to bridge the gap that vi's death caused.

when we see ekko and powder go to vi's memorial for the first time and ekko asks if she was the one who caused their death, powder very quickly retorts that it was ekko's tip that ended up sending them on the job that killed her. i think that this is important not just because the writers wanted to explicitly say that the chain of events that led to the original timeline hinged on ekko's tip but also because in how quickly she said it, we can assume that this is something that's come up between them before.

ekko already is seen as a character who carries a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders, mostly self-ascribed, which i tend to characterize as being born partially of guilt. i think guilt is a large part of his character and it would be somewhat irresponsible to shrug that off when speaking about his character in the alternate timeline that the original ekko drops in on.

powder is characterized as brighter and happier than jinx when she grows up in this universe with a support system, obviously, but she still has a tendency to anger. this is shown through how she tells ekko to get out before she does something she'll regret rather than rolling over in the face of his interrogation and insensitive statements. she also holds a grudge, as we see it takes ekko physically taking her to see vi's painted memorial in the firelight lair before she stops scowling at him in the bar and warms up to him again.

looking at all of these things, i think it's a fair assumption to make that following vi's death, there was a period of time where powder directly blamed ekko for what happened, and that ekko blamed himself as well. this, in my opinion, doesn't cheapen their relationship when they grow up into the people we see in s2ep7, but deepens it.

i think the act of forgiving is something that takes a long time, whether you're forgiving yourself or someone else, and ekko and powder's relationship being as comfortable and easy as it is in s2ep7 speaks to the fact that they had a long stretch of time to get to that space where they could move past the circumstances that led to vi's death. at least, they both do until original timeline ekko drops in and reopens that wound, which in turn leads powder to throw blame back in his face, similarly to how i assume she must have done directly following vi's passing.

the idea that powder and ekko in this alternate timeline had to move past anger, grief, guilt, and blame makes their relationship feel more heartfelt than if they were locked in since day one and there was no more work to be done. love as something that has to be earned and worked for even in a world where things seem mostly ideal shows that it wasn't just a fluke that they got together but a deliberate continuous choice to work through trauma to allow themselves to be together.

it also legitimizes the idea that original timeline ekko and jinx could hypothetically be together as well. not just because we see "oh, one version of powder and ekko can get together so this one can, too" but because both versions have baggage to work past before getting together, but the universe we see displays how this pair managed that with the luxury of a support system and a kinder environment that original timeline ekko and jinx unfortunately weren't afforded.

i think this also makes their team-up in s2ep9 more heartfelt because we can see ekko move past blame when he comes back for jinx to help in the fight, similarly to how i assume ekko in the alternate timeline had to work through his own to eventually get together with powder. both relationships hinge on the fact that they have to put effort in to get comfortable with each other following the consequences of the job that ekko sent them on rather than letting the alternate universe relationship ultimately act as a fluke that can't be replicated because of how drastically different that world is.

[fourwhateyeam]

I could go on and on about the similarities between these two...

[fourwhateyeam]

Miles is constantly drawing gwen on the walls of Brooklyn, and even though he usually draws in secluded locations, some are discovered.

A couple of posts with the drawings gain some traction online. So for a few days, there’s a little fan club dedicated to finding the pretty, mystery girl on Brooklyn walls…

"Explored Brooklyns subway tracks, n this girl is everywhere down here, damn." "She's really pretty, maybe a model? Or musician? Does anyone know who she is?" "Yeah, might have to stan!" "Nah, I don't think she exists." "Never seen her before."

"She's probably from the artist's dreams. Saw her once and now they're obsessed."