Hi It’s Me Jess! And I’m Asking For Your Help!!!

i wanna create a long ass post about how i believe Mel's trauma from her youth (her mother's reign through violence and death) culminated in Mel's politics being heavily conflict avoidant - to the point wherein, i believe, her decision of a free zaun came not from a desire to actually see zaun as independent, but more because she wanted to avoid the possible upcoming war ("you dont know war, Jayce - i do") - and how, if the writers continued the Zaun/Piltover conflict in season 2, it would have been so interesting for her to actually confront her mother (and not in a magical girl battle... Mel u deserved better than thee Black Rose plot istg) and show her that being the fox is NOT a bad thing, instead of making her (supposedly) turn into the wolf.

But also, like, have Ambessa confront Mel too, and have Ambessa point out that in Mel's desire to avoid direct conflict with the Undercity, her (and the fellow councilor's) decisions to suppress the Undercity only paved the way for more violence in the future and out of her sight ("you've always been a part of this; you just never had to look it in the eye before" type of convo with Mel would have been SO interesting. make her go through change and make her recognise that her avoidant politics still led through death and misery, but just outside of where she was directly confronted with it).

Just... Mel's season 2 arc could have so easily started from what was build up in season 1 - her fully distancing herself from her mother, her voting for Zaun indepence but not out of care for them, her slowly learning to open up (to Jayce in s1) - and turned into this beautiful story of an aristocratic incredibly smart politician who has always wanted to live up to the "power is important" standard of the Medarda's (richest person in piltover while people r starving yall) who learns that letting go of power and directly adressing conflict can lead to more safety instead of less, and who learns that she can not only be vulnerable about her past but also about her present and her current fears (with Jayce, and if i had it my way also with Caitlyn as i think they are very cool mirrors in how they react to privelege and power and mothers).

instead she got shoved to the side in a plot which is nigh impossible to follow/understand if you do not know any league lore and which, in the end, doesn't add anything to the over-arching plot of arcane except give Mel a reason to fight in the Big Finale Battle and which is only there to be a soft-pilot for Corporate Riot's next show. Mel deserved better and a plot that is more respectfull towards her as a character.

Irene | Monster (Middle Note Ver.) @ IRENE & SEULGI THE STAGE

wolf

the way we took ‘cancel’ and ‘woke’ from AAVE and turned them into caricatures of their original meanings is really the perfect testament to how none of you actually give a fuck about anything but your lil marvel movies and streaming shows

Season is a beautiful bicycling adventure where you explore & document a doomed world.

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i wish all the “traditional women” would follow their own teachings and not voice their thoughts and opinions

Dogs from Wii Sports Resort

Mel is a fascinating character.

We are introduced to her like she’s some sort of scheming master manipulator. But as the series progresses we slowly start to learn she’s not as in control as we thought she was. Things start to move too fast for her to keep up with and spirals out of control.

Then we learn about her lineage. About her mother. And the lofty standards placed upon her. And suddenly we realize that she’s been trying to live up to these standards in her own way. She was never a killer like her mother, but she still wants to be great and respected.

Then her mother actually shows up and throws a wrench into all her plans and everything starts falling apart. And she’s trying desperately to keep things together and figure out non-violent ways to keep the peace between the cities.

And then when things look the worst… she learns that she wasn’t even pure Noxian. That she’s the illegitimate child of her mother. That her birth was a calculated move to provide her mother with magical powers should the Black Rose ever come for her. She’s nothing more than another weapon for her mother to use against her enemies.

All that lineage, all of those standards she’s been trying to live up to… none of it was ever going to matter. She’s not just not a Noxian soldier, she’s also magical. A being with the arcane magic inside her all along.

She is essentially the embodiment of the magic she was chasing in Piltover this whole time. She never needed hextech to put Piltover on the map. She never needed to live up to Noxian beliefs and standards.

Mel grew up thinking she needed to conform to her mother’s wishes and ambitions and ends the series realizing her own self worth and power.

Lori Harvey for The Zine Magazine

I did some human bubbline edits! what you all think?