I am still decompressing from the Arcane finale, and I will be for a very long time, but I just wanted to point out how important Arcane is as a show. Arcane is showing absolutely everyone just what happens when you put genuine care and attention into telling a story, and using the proper mediums to do so. In a media landscape that is saturated with lazy writing, endless parades of live-action remakes, bloated, uninspired CGI graphics, sexism, racism, misogyny, mindless, purposeless violence, hollow characters, weak or nonexistent character arcs, cliched backstories and tired tropes, Arcane has emerged as proof of what storytelling could be.
Arcane has already broken all of Netflix's records, both in the most-watched show on the platform, as well as the highest-rated, and that feels like all the proof we need of what audiences and individuals are starved for. It feels like a revelation of how all of our newfound media technology could and should be used. We don't want animation and CGI to be used just to recreate realism down to the fibers of a shirt or the individual hairs on someone's head. We want animation that is exploratory, revelatory, engaging - animation that shows us a new perspective, that breathes new life into the story it's telling - animation that tells a story in a way that no other form of media could. Beyond the animation, we want a story that means something. We want characters that have depth and nuance, that are morally fallible, even when they're trying to do what's right. We want heroes that are selfish and make mistakes, and we want villains that have a heart and an ocean's worth of depth behind all their villainy. We want stories that leave nothing behind, stories that care enough about the art of the telling that they follow every narrative thread, every character's journey, all the way to the end, bitter or otherwise. We want writers who fight for accurate and fulfilling representation.
And that's what Arcane has given us. I'm not exaggerating when I say I feel like this show has changed me as a person. Maybe that's a little dramatic, but I honestly think it's true. I am in total awe of what they've managed to do in just nine episodes. I am inspired and overwhelmed and hopeful that this is setting the precedent for what storytelling could look like in the future.
In her hand everything seems to become a weapon.
I HEAR THOSE SLEIGH BELLS JINGLING
RING TING TINGLING TOOOOOOOOOOOOO
COME ON IT’S LOVELY WEATHER
FOR A SLEIGH RIDE TOGETHER WITH YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
i can’t believe i’m going to see my emotional support criminals on screen in less than 2 months
Love how tumblr has its own folk stories. Yeah the God of Arepo we’ve all heard the story and we all still cry about it. Yeah that one about the woman locked up for centuries finally getting free. That one about the witch who would marry anyone who could get her house key from her cat and it’s revealed she IS the cat after the narrator befriends the cat.
Adrien Agreste has my full respect and love because his life sounds like a villain origin story:
Dead mom (?)
Neglectful, cold, abusive father
Girl he loves won’t return his feelings
Lonely and isolated rich kid
Powers based around rotting and destruction
But he’s not a villain. He’s not even the angsty, brooding antihero. He’s a pure, wonderful cinnamon roll who makes bad puns and is totally loyal to Ladybug and that’s why he’s wonderful.
me: wow i have so much work to do
me: *goes on tumblr*
me: *watches a movie*
me: *reads a novel*
me: *takes a nap*
me: *climbs a mountain*
me: *backpacks through europe*
me: why am i not getting anything done
Don’t imagine it.
Don’t think about Gabriel Agreste coming into young Adrien’s room when he is asleep and akumatizing his son.
Don’t imagine Adrien becoming akumatized over and over in his sleep so his father could “practice”.
Don’t think that this may be how HawkMoth grew so powerful; that he practiced the hypnotism on his son.
Don’t imagine that this is why Gabriel keeps his son locked up; that, even though it doesn’t happen anymore, Adrien was his first guinea pig. And will perhaps always be a back up Gabriel can turn to.
Because he trained Adrien’s subconscious to accept the akuma.
Don’t imagine Natalie watching and taking notes; because despite her care for Adrien, she loves his father more.
Don’t imagine Chat Noir flinching subconsciously whenever a corrupt akuma is released. And dont imagine Ladybug noticing.
Don’t think about Tikki being confused as to why Plagg is so attached to his chosen; he’d never been before.
Don’t imagine Plagg bonding with Adrien’s subconscious, and recognizing the akuma scarring, but there’s nothing he can do for his kitten. Plagg doesn’t know it was his father because Adrien doesn’t know.
Don’t think about the fact that Plagg would become so loathing of Hawk Moth, despite not knowing who he is because his chosen is scarred.
Don’t imagine Plagg trying to urge Chat Noir to be as close to Ladybug as possible; so that perhaps her purification could undo some of the adolescent damage.
Don’t think about Plagg being so afraid that Adrien will become akumatized again, that he tries his best to keep the boy’s spirits up through his teasing nature.
Because Plagg knows another akumatization could break his mind.
Don’t imagine any of it.
there is love in this story. even in its most brutal end. there is love in the story. how? where? here: here in me telling it to you, in spite of everything. because of everything.
*giggles cutely* im going to snap
[on the verge of having a complete breakdown] i need to make some kind of list or perhaps sort things into categories
words with 2 cups of glitter, a dash of existencial angst and 3 tablespoons of romantization. hopeless romantic, art hoe, pretentious ice cream addict and swiftie.
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