#arcane rewrite

[zoeylastrapes]

Before S2 came out I thought that Vi was going to be forced to be an enforcer because her sisters a terrorist and technically she's not supposed to be out of jail so they'd give her an ultimatum to be sent back to jail or be an enforcers until they catch Jinx. And I thought the conflict between her and Cait would be that Cait didn't stand up for her or try to find another solution. that'd be cool

[bumblebee-art-blog]

All of us Arcane critical people just gotta unite and team up and rewrite the entirety of season 2 of Arcane at this point

[limegreenbunny]

Vi and the final nail in the coffin of her sisterhood with Jinx

Much has been discussed about the controversial decision of Vi giving up on Jinx and becoming an enforcer in season 2.

I realized, upon deciding I would like to do my own season 2 "rewrite", that it was going to be important for me to strip back the layers of what Vi's real motivations are (as set up in season 1), why she would consider her sister "dead" and what should have been her driving goal going into season 2.

Vi's main motivation should ALWAYS be her sister, whether out of love or out of hate, and whether she would admit this to herself or not. That's the only way to stay true to the story and themes set up in season 1. I don't believe the writers of season 2 had a good handle on this.

So here's the big question: Why was the final scene of s1 (Jinx's mad tea party/rocket launch party) also the final nail in the coffin for Vi and her relationship with her sister?

[Note: These are thoughts I developed before s2 aired but I did know that Vi was most likely going to become an enforcer, and I will be addressing this question in regards to what season 1 set up, (not the motivations that we must haphazardly guess at based on what the writers of season 2 gave us). I want to get these thoughts down on paper in preparation for my own rewrite of s2.]

Let's explore some possible answers:

The reason can't be that she is upset over the actual act of launching a rocket on the council. She doesn't like the council or Piltover, to put it mildly.

Is it just the wanton destruction that bothers her? Vi has already seen this behavior from Jinx, and while each time it pushes her farther down the path of "my sister is gone," since this attack is, again, against Piltover, it falls a little flat that THIS one would be the last straw, even though it's the biggest in scale.

Could it all be for Caitlyn because of the the death of her mother? I think this could be part of her motivation, however while Caitlyn has made an impact on her for the short time they've known each other it's still been only a VERY short time. Not enough for her to go back on her lifelong dedication to her sister. (Yet this appears to be the only consistent explanation for Vi's actions in season 2 which just doesn't work based on what season 1 set up).

I believe there is a deep personal reason for this scene to break Vi's dedication to Powder. Vi's last interaction with Powder was to hurt her physically and even worse to confirm all Powder's worst fears about herself (when before she was always the one to keep these fears at bay). Vi became a monster to her little sister. This is indirectly explained in the scene where she tells Caitlyn about their childhood monster game (the "real monster" could apply to four different people in the scene).

Next, Vi is taken to prison. She states that the only thing that kept her going was the idea that she could get out and find Powder again, presumably to make everything right again, to live up to Vander's dying request, to reverse the moment where she became her little sister's worst nightmare.

However, prison ends up being the place where she descends into the monster again and again. The show addresses the fact that she is regularly beaten by the guards but barely touches on what is found in Vi's prison log in the Council Archives minigame, that she regularly fights with and beats her fellow prisoners in some cases beating them nearly to death. It's definitely possible that some of these people deserved it but at the same time it points to a troubling pattern of Vi allowing herself to sink to these extremes, drowning her pain in violence.

"If only I can get back to Powder I can make things right. This monster that takes over sometimes, it isn't really ME. I have a good heart, I'll prove it once I'm out of here, once I find her."

Violet's quest to save her sister is as much about her own sense of self-worth as it is about Powder.

That's the key to the final sequence. That's why the tea party, followed by the rocket attack, was what broke their sisterhood. After everything Vi tried to do for her, JINX rejects VI. Jinx can see the truth, that they can never go back, and snatches away Vi's shot at redemption and the foundation of her self-worth. Just as the old Vi whom Powder used to rely on is forever changed, the innocent little girl that Vi relied on to still need her is gone. Vi needed Powder to save her from her own inner monster. And Jinx walked away. In many ways these final moments are a parallel to Vi's "Because you're a jinx" to Powder years before. 

And this should have served as a foundation for the next chapter in their story, one where they are enemies.

[saga-ordsmed]

As someone heavily identifying with anarchist principles (anarcho-communism to be specific), the Jinxers are so funny to me. Latching on an authority figure/icon, throwing on her aesthetics like an uniform (am I the only one seeing the irony and relishing the narrative potential of this absurdity?) and pledging allegiance to the point of what reeks of self-erasure and full surrender of agency, waiting for Jinx to take charge. A cult of personality born, achievement unlocked.

Rebels who are defined through a parasocial relationship, obedience, fetishization, and conformity/imitation, refusing to take action unless ordered to. Strong. That seems like a sound foundation for liberation. (/sar)

The thing is, I've been involved and invested in activist and grassroots spaces long enough to know that this is a common, very real archetype: 'rebels' who wait for a savior/charismatic leader who thinks for them, while their contribution is worshipping and executing the gospel the savior issues. (and they make my blood pressure spike so hard, so, yes, I am biased here)

So, there is a lot of potential in forging ideological clashes and conflicts. The Firelights, e.g., seem like the exact opposite (and I leaned into it with my whole body weight in compiling my headcanons and personal lore). Sure, their masks are a security measure, protecting their identity and ensuring they can move through the undercity relatively undisturbed outside their raids the moment they take off their masks. However, it also ensures that purpose over person remains the center and focus of any effort.

I deem it very unlikely that Zaunites would rally behind Ekko because it makes sense to conclude that he isn't a public person. Outside of the Firelights' direct environment, people are probably like, "Who is this guy?"

And that is a strength of this approach! It doesn't hinge on the presence or mood or motivation of a single individual.

I have the time of my life writing Firelights in my rewrite/expansion of S2 who just can't take Jinxers seriously for how much their dependency on Jinx and consequent reluctance to organize unless led by Jinx helps Piltover. You can work with that setup and create something electrifying!

Yes, the Firelights are devastated and confused by Ekko's disappearance, but guess what? The struggle goes on, even if he's not there. And they've built their structures around the fact that each raid or any operation against Silco or enforcers could be their last (in my hc at least; I wrote so much Firelight lore that I keep forgetting there is barely any in the actual show). But their cause is more important than each one of them individually…

But I don't think big junks of the fandom can't stomach or process a "power to the people" over a "power to a face" approach. They claim to want a story of revolution, but they actually want another Chosen One Salvation story. I think they'd like Star Wars for all the reasons that frustrated me about the franchise.

[justakidicarus]

I just had a thought

So I’ve been scrolling through the Arcane critical tag recently because I want to see the flaws in the Jayvik storyline (because scrolling casually will only find Caitvi and Jinx stuff) and I had in interesting idea for a rewrite/framing of Jayce’s scene in the Commune.

Play up his Glitches!

Frame them as fragmented shards of every other Jayce who failed, all tied in to our Jayce by his haphazard travel through the Arcane and locked to this one goal by Mage!Viktor. Destroy the Hexcore. The mage isn’t certain that this will work, but Jayce’s world will run out of time if he doesn’t act.

Every single shard propels Jayce on this directive, guiding his thoughts and actions as he makes it to the commune. Jayce can barely think over the noise and brain fog, can barely focus on anything but that. Trying to do so only results in it growing worse, visable with sudden glitches.

It’s only when he sees Viktor that he realises what he’s about to do.

Suddenly every single shard is in turmoil. All of them know that The Hexcore Must Be Destroyed. None of them want to kill Viktor to achieve that. Viktor looks and sees Jayce, he floats down to greet his partner.

Jayce snarls out “Stay Away!“ as his hand grips his hammer and it begins to charge up the blast. He’s glitching heavily, parts of his body blurring and jerking out of reality as his pupils dilate and contract sporadically. He looks angry, furious even. He looks sad, tears streaming down his face in agony. He looks terrified beyond anything else. 

Viktor has no idea what is happening and quickly tries to approach. He offers gentle platitudes, careful reassurance, and a shoulder to lean on. None of its working and as the blast grows stronger Jayce becomes more frantic. All the shard are becoming louder and louder, but Viktor’s face refuses to blur. It’s too much, it’s all too much.

He tried his best to stop it. It’s not enough. For the first time in his life, Jayce felt like nothing more than a cog in a terrible, damning machine.

The blast fired.

He couldn’t do anything but watch.

He wanted to stay. The shards made him leave. Only back in Piltover did he finally have time to process what he’d done. Only then did he have the time to finally grieve for his partner. His Viktor.

[dykeasaurwrites]

Janna, Zaun, and Arcane’s Negligence of Religion in Resistance

A/N1: Stuck in church so I’m gonna ramble about how cool the idea of Zaunite religion was and how wasted it was after the temple fight scene.

In league lore, Janna was a Shuriman goddess brought to Zaun.

A/N2: Shurima is essentially fantasy SWANASA in league shh yes it’s orientalist it’s league man🫩

When some Shurimans emigrated to the budding city of Piltover on the continent of Valoran they took their worship of her with them.

A/N3: Now I’m still conflicted because, as of right now, Arcane being canon to League means that the lore around how Piltover and Zaun became separate is a hotter mess than before. The lore I’m going with is in some League articles, but may have changed so take this with a grain of salt.

There was a mining project either near or across the river Pilt that exposed a massive fault line essentially sinking half the city. The project was supposed to bring the city prosperity but was strategically planned around the poorer districts of the city in case anything went wrong.

The Shuriman immigrants were also now stuck in the sunk half of the city and suffered, while Piltover still managed to extract wealth from the mines and bolster their industry from it. Stuck in the mines, Janna’s worship took on a new form, one as a goddess of clean air as the fault exposed deadly gases to the sunken half of the city.

As mentioned in the temple fight, the miners kept her worship alive long enough for Vi and Jinx to grow up on stories of her salvation. Religion as tied to the needs of the oppressed is a real world phenomenon that has had a place in multiple revolutions (Haitians and Voudou, Enslaved Africans in the US and Rootwork/AME Church and more). In the case of Zaun, the deprivation of breathable air for (I’m gonna assume) centuries necessitated belief in a higher power who would provide it.

There are temples built in her honor, though no mention of any sort of priesthood or clergy. And Zaunites worshipped her long enough to develop hymns devoted to her, though no mention of holy texts exist and any associated rituals aren’t known.

This is where the failure of the writing comes in because if Janna was important enough reference in Act One’s finale, she should’ve been important enough to discuss the possibility of some Zaunites drawing inspiration from her and carrying on her worship as a form of resistance to topside.

Imagine scenes of other Janna temples being used as meeting centers for organized revolt, or as distribution points for aid and community among the undercity. Imagine the temples being better kept the lower and lower one travels (arcane geography is a bitch hush) and worship being more intense. Imagine Janna being given power by belief and in turn only generations of those who’ve lived and died in the lower layers can consistently breathe there through an explanation that can only be magical.

Imagine Piltover co-opting or attempting to standardize worship of Janna. Maybe the lack of clergy is Zaunite resistance to any further organizing of Janna worship because Piltover tries to supplant her message of defiant deliverance with messages of quiet survival. Any “priest” who wasn’t raised and brought up in the fissures or lower would be severely mistrusted because of this. As a means of Zaunite identity and resistance, Janna's worship has to be small-scale and communal. Maybe it varies from layer to layer.

Maybe there are annual festivals where Zaunites adorn themselves in the remnants of Janna’s Shuriman roots, her memory stronger than ever as they dance down the streets singing songs of deliverance and fresh air.

Overall, there are so many beautiful places where Janna’s existence could've meant more to Arcane. Not as another League tie-in character, but as a symbol of Identity, Life, and Liberty to a people long suffocated by oppression.

[ceaselesswatchersspecialboy]

So I’ve started outlining a script-style rewrite of Arcane s2, and I’ve gotten down some rough ideas already.

Note: These are subject to change as this is just me scribbling down dialogue before I forget it, but as a whole, so far, I have the general outline for the episode one rewrite in my notes app. Not sure if I’ll ever finish this fully, but I may share some tidbits here and there anyhow.

Snippet of a scene between Mel and Viktor:

Snippet of a scene between Vi and Caitlyn

[tvckerwash]

okay hear me out: in an alt season two following the memorial attack what if the general public began to scrutinize the enforcers? the late sheriff was in silco's pocket, and considering the security that was present at the memorial it's only logical for people to assume others must be corrupt and disloyal to the safety and security of piltover as well since renni and her goons were either in the crowd or impersonating enforcers.

having the public question the security of piltover and it's policing force in such turbulent times is BadTM, so jayce, as the head of the council, decides to establish a task force (led by caitlyn) to investigate and remove any compromised enforcers from duty. the number of officers that were corrupt ends up being higher than originally anticipated (omg no way, what a surprise /s), and what was already an underfunded, minimally staffed force (piltover/zaun is the least militarized region in runeterra so I'm taking some creative liberties) has been completely decimated, and absolutely no one wants to sign up for the job because jinx has been murdering and/or severely injuring enforcers left and right with no one to hold her back.

with the situation getting worse by the day, drastic measures need to be taken. ambessa proposes that jayce and mel (the only two councilors to survive jinx's attack) enact martial law and initiate some sort of draft, and volunteers to have her troops take over policing duties while citizens are drafted and trained. jayce refuses a draft because he doesn't want to force anyone into being an enforcer if they don't want to be one, and mel refuses to let ambessa and the noxian soldiers take over policing because she doesn't want her to have any power in piltover. they debate for a while and eventually come to the consensus that they will let the soldiers temporarily take over, but they'll report to and be commanded by someone of jayce and mel's choosing (maybe mel herself? with caitlyn as a second in command? listen if they wanted to make mel a combatant there are way more natural, organic ways to do it than making her a mage out of nowhere. she IS a noxian and considering she was already engineering a theoretical puppet regime as a child I'm sure commanding an army is something she could do with relative ease, and it makes way more sense for fired rookie cop caitlyn to learn the ropes from someone instead of being given the role of piltover’s supreme military leader). they also decide to run a recruitment campaign for the enforcers and use the face of the man of progress for the ads (yay defender of tomorrow jayce! you go glamorize and romanticize the military industrial complex for the masses and be the propagandic heroic figure you're literally designed to be!)