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a-gal-with-taste · 2 years

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The Afterparty (Oneshot)

Loosely, and less-humorly based on This Post. Enjoy, if you can~

Warnings: Canon-divergence, alt. Episode 9 ending, angst, sad-times, mention of breakdown/abandonment, open-ended/ambiguous ending, hurt/comfort, softness but still ouch-y

As bright as the red-moon sky is this evening, the remains of the warehouse seem almost pitch-black by comparison. It’s enough to have you, rather ridiculously, pull out your own lighter in order to guide your way through the twisted, mangled ruins of a rotting cannery.

Sometimes you’ll catch sights of decayed vines, shimmering only faintly in rotting violet from years and years previous. You press on, step a bit quicker as you descend further into the building. It’s a true resistance not to cut the time you spend in this creepy, abandoned place further by calling out, seeing if the one you’re looking for is even still here…

You’re glad of your ability to keep quiet, when you turn the corner and see haphazardly candles on a crudely-fashioned banquet table. Complete with chipped plates, broken glass and eight seats.

The one at the head of the table is facing away from the table, and though there isn’t a soul in sight - save for the candles still flickering in the breeze whistling through the dilapidated cannery - there is a creeping feeling crawling up your spine, that tells you that that chair, is still occupied.

You bite down hard on your inner-cheek as your fingers ghost over a knife strapped at your thigh, as your other fingers click the lighter off. Eerily, the melting candles on the table seem more than happy to illuminate your slow, caution steps into this… party room, of sorts. Glowing almost invitingly, it’s one of the most chilling sights you’ve experienced. And it’s made even creepier when you glance over to the other side of the table, eyes catching the crudely scrawled ‘JINX’ on one seat.

Fingers curl around the hilt of your blade, and you force yourself to pass the chairs containing limp wooden dummies. Thankfully, you do it without flinching, and even manage to prevent jumping straight out of your skin when you bump into one chair, and it clatters to the ground in a heap, the sound of it almost astronomical and echoing. Admittedly, it takes you a second to remember how to breathe again after the unnecessary addition to the foreboding atmosphere, and when you open your squeezed-shut eyes, they find the chair that's turned away from the rest of the table.

Eyes drop to the rope that's wrapped snugly around it, and finally, you decide to stop dragging out your self-torment by prolonging the suspense, and with your hand firmly grasped around your blade, you stride over, grab the headboard, and turn the chair towards you.

Blood turns to ice in your veins, and for a single, terrible moment, you think he’s dead.

The glow of the candles he now faces, does nothing to bring the warmth of life back to Silco’s face. With his head hanging low, the infamous flame-colored eye as dull as the blue, there isn’t even a flicker or blink of acknowledgement as you croak out your boss’s name, just once, before your eyes dart to the bound hands that they limp in his lap. Perhaps it’s the paranoia and the ultimate freaky-factor of the situation, but the only thing your mind can rationalize is that, even if he’s as still as a corpse, it’s… it’s just too bizarre of a sight that Silco is left, bound and helpless.

Your knife flashes in the candlelight as you take a knee before the nonfunctioning man, and carefully avoiding looking up to see if he really is among the deceased, your shaking hand rests over his forearm so you could begin sawing at the thick bonds around his wrists.

The fact that through his sleeve, Silco’s skin is still warm, isn’t something you actually register before his broken voice croaks from above you, “She’s still gone?”

You barely manage to save yourself from the mortifying act of falling straight back onto your ass in front of your own employer as you jerk back in pure shock, but unfortunately, the less-than dignified screech manages out of your throat. You try to maintain some sense of decorum by whispering as respectfully, and as quietly as possible, when the echoes of your startled yell finally cease, “S-sir?” His eyes are both still dull, but you can finally note a faint, almost invisible glimmer of focus on his hazy eye, which seems sightless as they both look at you, but seem to see right through you.

They look as broken as his next question sounds. “My daughter… she left.”

“Jinx is… gone?”

For a moment, Silco seems alive again, from the way his fully-intact eye seems to squeeze itself shut while his bound-body curls in on himself. It’s a far-cry from the dead-looking man you thought he was when you first saw him, but it’s far from an improvement - he may look alive, but from the agonized groan that seems to sound as if dragged from deep within him, Silco sounds like he wishes to be anything but.

It’s far from polite, but you can’t help but stare in shock. This… this is Silco. This, is Silco? The sight of a man more fractured and broken than glass, hair limp and looking almost in physical pain, despite having not a single scratch or wound on him… It’s inconceivable from the man you know. The man who is proud, uncompromising and forever-intimidating. The King of Zaun, in all but name except on an official paper. The most powerful man in the Undercity, the reigning High Chembaron, and he looks like he’s about to break into sobs, or into a million more shattered pieces.

And you can’t decide which is worse.

“The sister,” It hissed out like it’s poison, but the venom of it has long since expired. The pain, however, is still fresh. “I… she - I told her. A day, maybe two… but she still left…” He’s making little sense, at least from your point of view, and giving another gaze around these demented tea-party setup isn’t helping put the pieces of this puzzle together.

The only things that are clear are that Jinx is missing. The sister, who put Sevika out of commission not hours prior, which sent you on the manhunt for Silco in the first place, is also gone. And you did find Silco, or at least, what’s left of him.

Unharmed, and broken.

You still don’t know which you would’ve preferred, but you do know that you can’t stand to see him continue like this. “Okay, we’ll… Sir, things aren’t good downtown,” You admit, again reaching to cautiously brace a hand on his forearm. A motion he allows, and you appreciate, as you’re able to begin sawing through the bonds on his wrists without shaking too much. “After things get… stable, we can send people out, look for her, okay?”

“She’s gone…”

“I got that, but…Boss, Sevika got pummeled,” You report, and wisely decide not to mention who did it, and the last of the ropes on his wrists snap, before you reach to cut through at the ones keeping his torso pinned to the chair. “Topsides gone into complete radio-silence, even the border is mute. I… We need to get out of here, go back to the Drop, things are an absolute mes-”

The ropes snap, and Silco doesn’t slide out of the chair - he crashes from it, like it was his last tether to life. Left unsecured, you do indeed fall back onto your ass with arms suddenly full of a boneless crime lord, who you suddenly realize is shaking.

Not shaking from the chill, nor with rage - both of which your mind could comprehend. No, as your arms automatically still around the foreign weight in your arms, it’s almost as if the most powerful man in the entirety of this side of the Bridge, is cr-

No. No, you refuse to acknowledge it - not only because it’s unthinkable, but you know the two of you can’t stay here. “Silco,” You whisper, and another raw, tormented sound that makes you ache, sounds from where his face is consequently resting against your chest. You speak a bit louder, hoping to drag his attention back from whatever dark hole he’s in, and back to the reality of being in your arms, “We… sir, we have to leave. Things are… frankly, fucked and you… you can’t break now, Silco. We need you.”

At that moment, another broken sound slips from him. Your mind, despite the bizarreness of the fact, finally decides to acknowledge it for the sob that it is. Broken and in pain, blind to everything, it’s clear that Silco is deaf to what you’re saying as well. He couldn’t care less at this time, and you reason that it’s close to useless to even try to rouse him from the miserable depths he has fallen into, and so, you stop trying to.

Instead, with some remaining hesitance in case he takes a sudden, offended turn, your arms slowly move to more properly slip around his waist. One, even slower than its twin, creeps further up, and though a solid moment passes before you find the strength to make contact, fingers soon cart through the sweaty, errant gray strands of Silco’s hair.

And, there you are. Effectively hugging a broken man, in anguished mourning.

It’s… definitely not what you expected to be doing, when you first joined Silco’s crew. It was more practical to assume you would be doing the seedier, dirty work in the criminal underworld, not wind up half-knocked to the floor with Silco in your arms, in complete and utter despondency.

Despite that, you think you’re doing an okay-job with providing some semblance of comfort to the crestfallen man. Obviously, your typical job skills don’t exactly cater to providing comfort, but you allow your touch to stay soft as you slowly move your hand over his hair, soothing down the worst of it while the front of your shirt gets concerningly wetter and wetter.

You decide against glancing at the table for any signs of proper handkerchiefs. You don’t want to be involved in this room more than necessary, and right now, Silco needed your attention more than the remnants of a terrible tea-party.

Evidently, Silco didn’t just need your attention - he seemed to sag into it, craving it, fully sinking into it with his head tucked beneath your chin, and the moment you tried to settle back into a position more comfortable, you were suddenly locked in place. Not by actual shackles or ropes, but Silco’s arms might have been steel-bands around your body, with how fast and unyielding they wound around you, preventing you from movement…

Preventing you from leaving him.

“It’s… we’re okay,” You murmur, more than a little shocked. “You’re… you’re going to be okay, Silco. I have a secondary house here on the Alcoves. We can head there, try to figure things out…” Obviously, the Drop was out of the question. Stripping away the fact that going all the way back down to the Lanes was asking for an audience to the apparent breakdown of their ruler, what would happen if you actually brought Silco back to base in this condition? If the crew saw the Eye of Zaun, not just looking entirely despondent, but in tears?

You imagined The Last Drop wouldn’t clear-out fast enough. And with Topside gearing up for… Janna even knows what, a fallen leader wasn’t what was needed now.

It’s what you had, but hopefully, with a far, far enough distance away from this nightmare, the Undercity would have the man it needed for whatever came next.

“Silco, we have to go.” You murmured, gently as possible as you lightly tugged on the ends of his hair, catching his attention for him to finally raise his head from off your chest. It didn’t make it either to breathe, for something tightened when his eyes met yours. One is fiery-still, but has dulled to mere embers instead of an inferno ring in a black orb, and the other is rimmed in red. Again, you hesitate greatly, but there’s an unimaginable sheen of wetness on his unscarred cheek, and your fingers soon give into the urge to reach down and wipe at it. For his sake - though you imagine his dignity is the least of his concerns at this moment - you decide not to acknowledge the fact that his head tilts to follow your fingers when they leave his skin.

“We have to leave. We can’t stay here.”

“We?” He repeats, and there’s a note in his tone that quickly reminds you that yes, this is still Silco. It’s a demanding edge in his voice - but not quite an order. And when you see those mismatching eyes darting slowly over your face, taking in every detail and scanning every miniscule shift in your expression, you realize he’s looking for a lie. A trick, or something that proves deceit in your words, and that there is no ‘we’ at all. But you fear that, regardless that this is the last thing you ever expected to do, there’s no way you can abandon him now.

“We, have to leave, Silco.” And, the withering remains of a proud Industrialist and a lost father seem to catch the unspoken promise in your words, and there’s a sluggish, but understanding jerk of his chin in acknowledgement, and no shortage of relief in that red-rimmed blue-green eye.

You manage something close to a smile and, though it’s clear his limbs are largely acting on their own accord to keep you all but pinned to him, Silco allows enough release in order for the two of you to stand. You’re quick to shuffle an arm around his waist so that he can at least stand on his own two feet.

As much as he wants to, anyways. For it’d be clear to the blind that he leans on you in more ways than one but, at least on his own legs, you feel more comfortable than you had been half-sprawled onto the ground with a crying man in your arms. It’s less intimate, and gives you, however false, a sense that maybe things will turn out alright.

“She could be anywhere,” The Eye has a voice that sounds like he took his own nails to his throat, hoarse and awfully ragged. It strikes you that, as exhausted and quiet as he had been when you first arrived, it’s very likely he had been screaming for hours beforehand. More than likely, screaming after the last person to be at this tea-party. “We… I… she’s my daughter,” Silco chokes on it, but not from any other emotion, save for the simple truth of that statement.

Jinx is Silco’s daughter, and she has left him.

You realize now there’s no other explanation needed for this broken demeanor, with a fact like that.

“I know,” You murmur, and begin to urge him from the room, just as a breeze begins to take the dying light of the wax-candles out, one by one. “We’re… we can look for her, after.” The hand around his waist tightens when you stumble out with him, your other arm moving to grab a wrist and pull it over your shoulders. Truly, he’s drained emotionally and physically, leaving you to tap-in to some of your own strength in order to lead him out of the bowels of the warehouse.

“We?” He asks again, again seeking confirmation. And again, you are far from in-tune with the emotional state of Silco, but you can at least understand that the confirmation of your union with him, is all he has now. You don’t dare say he’s lost his empire - streets may be partially-barren with the potential Topside attack, but they still whisper the demise of an uppity Chembaron. But it’s a certainty that the events of the last week have shaken more than a few aspects of his life, and made him lose the most important thing in it…

After the loss of his daughter, if you could provide even the simplest comfort of support, Silco needed to cling to it like a lifeline. You imagined he had lost too much left to grasp on to, if he didn’t at least have you.

“Yes…” You assure him, stopping as soon as the roof, half crumbled and left open by an age-old fire, reveals a blue-streaked sky above.

It’s dawn, breaking through the haze given by the red-moon.

“Yes. We, Silco.”

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deltadex · 10 months

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They pulled a "Top Gear" on us

#arcane #arcane meme #arcane episode 9 #arcane finale

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isorottatime · 2 years

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arcane episode 9: dinner with the in-laws goes very, very badly

#.txt #shitposting #dkdjdjd #arcane #arcane act 3 #arcane episode 9 #arcane s1 #arcane show #s01e09 #caitvi #violyn

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im-okay-mj · 2 years

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us: our sweet sweet child, our baby who has done and can do no wrong, light of our life, completely innocent

the baby:

#i love her okay #arcane jinx #jinx league of legends #arcane episode 9 #bbg #like she’s not at all innocent but she’s my bbg

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chaoticvi · 1 year

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Arcane + TV Tropes Act 3 episode 9 "The Monster You Created" (insp.)

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thisisnotthenerd · 4 months

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as the fhjy premiere is upon us, i'm back with another edition of thisisnotthenerd's d20 stats. it's just the updates that are relevant, since relationship tracking is taking so long to do and i got sidetracked by polls for a few months. this will be sorted by the categories i have data for--you can look at the spreadsheet to find data for all d20 seasons. or you can read it on ao3. anyway:

player data:

runtime and episode data:

before the start of junior year, we have spent 88 hours, 40 minutes, and 14 seconds with the bad kids on-screen, including in oneshots. this is about 3 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes, and 14 seconds.

that's 41/221 d20 episodes, 22 of which were battle episodes.

we've spent 125 hours, 37 minutes, and 32 seconds in spyre as a whole, or 5 days, 5 hours, 37 minutes, and 32 seconds.

that's 57/221 d20 episodes, 32 of which were battle episodes.

cast appearances:

brennan at the top of the list, with 19 d20 appearances, 15 of those as a gm/dm.

next is lou, with 11 seasons as a player; 8 intrepid heroes seasons, 3 sidequests.

followed by ally, zac and siobhan, each with 2 different sidequests under their belts

second to last is emily, with 9, with acofaf

and in last is murph, with only 8. if aabria is in 2 of the 2024 d20 seasons, she's in the running to beat him.

seating preferences:

junior year tipped a lot of the intrepid heroes into a distinct preference, simply by setting them on one side of the table.

emily axford: strong left side preference (6/8), most commonly in L1 and L2. paired next to zac 5/8 seasons, and across from murph 5/8 seasons. fig sits in L1.

zac oyama: strong left side preference (6/8), most commonly in L2 and L1. paired next to emily 5/8 seasons, and across from ally 7/8 seasons. gorgug sits in L2.

siobhan thompson: weak left side preference (5/8), most commonly in L3 and R3. paired next to lou 7/8 seasons [doubled across 5/8], and across from emily 3/8 seasons. adaine sits in L3

lou wilson: even split preference, most commonly in R3 and L3. paired next to siobhan 7/8 seasons [doubled across 5/8], and across from murph 2/8 seasons. fabian sits in R3.

ally beardsley: strong right side preference, most commonly in R2 and R1. paired next to murph 6/8 seasons, and across from zac 7/8 seasons. kristen sits in R2.

brian ‘murph’ murphy: strong right side preference (7/8), the strongest of the intrepid heroes, most commonly in R1 and R2. paired next to ally 6/8 seasons, and across from emily 5/8 seasons. riz sits in R1.

character data:

given what the bts's have shown, there might be some changes to these that i'll update during the premiere, but as of now, this is a quick summary of the bad kids' data, including dnd race, class, level, highest stat, feats, and age. you can go through the thisisnotthenerd's d20 stats tag for my previous commentary on this data, or check out the spreadsheet.

i'm putting them at level 9 for now because that's what we left off with, but more than likely they're starting at level 10 or higher. we know about riz's respec, but there may be others that crop up during the season.

fig faeth: tiefling. lore bard 8, hexblade warlock 1. CHA. actor, lucky. 17-18

gorgug thistlespring: half-orc. berserker barbarian 8, artificer 1. STR. orcish aggression/fury. 18

adaine abernant: high elf. divination wizard 9. INT. spell sniper, war caster. 16-17

fabian seacaster: half-elf. battlemaster fighter 6, swords bard 3. DEX. sentinel. 18-19

kristen applebees: variant human. twilight cleric 9. WIS. human determination, inspiring leader. 17-18

riz gukgak: goblin. arcane trickster rogue 9. DEX. healer. 17

all of the bad kids have some magic now--the ladies are all full casters, while fabian is a split multiclass, gorgug is a 1/2 caster multiclass, and riz re-subclassed into a 1/3rd casting progression. still an even split of multiclasses and pure classes, though that may change. riz's re-spec has bumped arcane trickster up to the most common rogue subclass, with 6 arcane trickster characters, 4 of whom sit in R1.

and that's it! all of the intrepid heroes/bad kids data that i have updates for! see you all at the premiere of fantasy high: junior year tomorrow!

#dimension 20 #intrepid heroes #fantasy high #fantasy high junior year #thisisnotthenerd's d20 stats #brennan lee mulligan #lou wilson #ally beardsley #zac oyama #siobhan thompson #emily axford #brian murphy #fig faeth #gorgug thistlespring #adaine abernant #fabian seacaster #kristen applebees #riz gukgak #dimension 20 meta

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amorphousbl0b · 3 months

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Arcane does a fun thing with its narrative Darkest Hour.

Or: yet another post about how insanely smart this show is and how absolutely genius its writers are (and how jealous of them I am).

For the uninitiated, the Darkest Hour is the moment just before the climax in which the heroes are at their lowest point. When the Avengers are scattered and Loki opens the portal in NYC, when the Falcon has escaped the Death Star but lost Obi-Wan, when the Fire Nation is set to annihilate the Earth Kingdom, when Frodo fails to destroy the Ring at the Crack of Doom. The heroes must confront their flaws and change for the better for a happy ending.

Arcane’s darkest hour is, of course, in Act 3. One might place it at the very end of episode 9, and that’s certainly where the story is at its most hopeless. But I’d contend it starts as early as the end of episode 8 and carries on through the entirety of episode 9.

After all, that’s when Caitlyn and Vi have separated, lost all hope, and Cait is kidnapped by Jinx. Jinx’s mind is fully gone and throughout the episode everything falls apart around her. Silco is losing control of his chembarons and may well have lost his daughter, the thing most precious to him, and is only barely keeping his powerful façade in line. Zaun has realized how ridiculously outmatched they are in a war with Piltover and the revolutionary cause has become almost impossible. Viktor has manslaughtered his assistant and may never be cured. Jayce has manslaughtered a child and finally realizes how quickly he’s losing his morals. Mel and her mother are fully separating and she is struggling with her warlike destiny. Sevika gets the absolute snot beat out of her and limps to an empty office without a boss.

So yeah. Lot of personal Darkest Hours going on.

“But what’s the interesting thing?” I hear you ask in my ear. I don’t know why I hear you. Shut up. I’m writing. Are you even real?

Excuse me.

Arcane’s interesting twist on the Darkest Hour lies in part of the trope that I didn’t mention. That’s in the villain.

Most stories with a clear-cut villain have a plot structure something like this:

Whether things are going well for one side is inversely proportional to the other. During the Darkest Hour, when the hero is at their weakest, the villain is at their most dominant.

Wait… isn’t Silco the villain of Arcane? Not to be too blunt, but he’s having a shit time. Things are falling apart for him just as badly as for everyone else.

That's the trick. Caitlyn and Vi are suffering. Jinx is suffering. Silco is suffering. Jayce is suffering. Viktor is suffering. Zaun as a whole is suffering. There is only one party in the whole story that isn't suffering, that actually is benefitting from this horrid state of affairs...

EKKO AND HEIMERDINGER

Kidding. They're not really a part of this dance. A big part of Arcane's theming is that acting to help people without an agenda is simply more virtuous than fighting for any invariably-flawed nation that innately perpetuates the cycle of violence.

No, the side that is doing fine is the other that is conspicuously absent from my two prior lists. While the characters that make up its leadership are experiencing personal Darkest Hours, the organization itself is essentially on top of the world, having just scored a huge victory and getting set to bring the war to an end before it even begins. I mentioned how poor the situation for the Undercity looks, but not its counterpart.

Piltover.

Wasn't it so that Piltover started this whole mess? Didn't their oppression cause the revolt that orphaned Vi and Powder's parents? Isn't it their actions that drive Silco to ever greater extremes? Isn't it their normalized political backstabbing that causes Jayce to sacrifice his principles because that's the only way to get ahead? Isn't it their corrupt police force that lets Silco operate his drug empire with impunity?

Silco might look the part. He might be the most personally evil character, might be the one who causes the most misery for our main protagonists Vi and Powder.

But structurally, the shining city of Piltover, its political machine, and its Enforcers are the actual villains of Arcane.

#arcane #darkest hour #writing #silco #piltover #zaun #piltover and zaun #heroes and villains #good writing #just realized this #still noticing new things #even two full years later #i love this show #has someone said this before?#long post

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callmearcturus · 2 months

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The Video Gaming Major Arcana

The latest patron episode of Into The Aether/@intothecast asked the boys to decide a video game for every Major Arcana card. They ran out of time on it and only got 2/3s thru

my ass was like "Challenge Accepted"

0 - The Fool - Dragon Quest (The Fool is infinite potential and is at the start of a long journey. DQ as a series is a long-running, is a bedrock of the medium, and has done its own takes on everything from pokemon to minecraft, and it either did it first or did it better.)

1 - The Magician - Metroid and Zelda (The Magician is the first person the Fool meets and is a guide for the journey. The Magician is associated strongly with teaching and with tools. Metroid and Zelda both are foundational works and they revolve around gating player process through tools.)

2 - The High Priestess - FEZ (The High Priestess is another guide, but sits before the veil, keeping guard over arcane, hidden knowledge and deciding when to share the secrets of the universe. FEZ is one of the Big Games that hide under layers and layers of mystery.)

3 - The Empress - Stardew Valley (The Empress presides over growth and cultivation of her kingdom, sitting in a field with wheat in hand. SDV is chiefly about taking care of your own domain, the farm and the wider village.)

4 - The Emperor - Civilization (The Emperor is the firm hand of government and can be an important navigator in chaos but also is angered by lack of obedience and losing control. Civ is all about steering every aspect of a nation and protecting it viciously.)

5 - The Hierophant - Pokemon (The Hierophant is a cultural, societal leader that gains power from people who believe similarly but subsequently is very set in their ways. Pokemon is a huge phenomenon that unites people of all ages, but also struggles heavily with innovation and progress.)

6 - The Lovers - Journey (The Lovers aren't necessarily smoochy-smoochy, but represent a Decision, joining hands with another person and striding into the future together. It's Journey. If you know, you know.)

7 - The Chariot - Bethesda's Catalog (The Chariot is a tumultuous, potent card. They hold onto the reins of powerful beasts and drive forward, blazing a new path. But if they lose grip, everything goes to hell. Bethesda's works tend to have this incredible ambition to them, and when they hit, they HIT, but when they miss, it's dramatic.)

8 - Justice - Dark Souls (Justice is the system and its enforcement of its rules, whether they feel fair or arbitrary. I feel DS fits it well-- it relentlessly follows its own rules and is firm in them, which can either draw players in or seem cruel and unwelcoming.)

9 - The Hermit - Immortality (The Hermit is a wise person who gained specialized knowledge but through great personal sacrifice. They find it difficult to share their knowledge because they essentially traded that ability to communicate easily for the wisdom. Immortality has some deeply complicated concepts to communicate, but its methods and the basic mechanics it uses are to some people impossible to understand.)

10 - (Wheel of) Fortune - Spelunky (Fortune is the card of pure luck and the whims of fate and how you survive being caught in its spokes. Spelunky is a pure Rogue-like as opposed to a Rogue-lite and there is no knowing what the procgen will give you.)

11 - Strength - Undertale (Strength is specifically about emotional control and fortitude. It's not about slaying the lion, but holding it, keeping it from lashing out. Undertale is a game that asks the player to endure emotional struggles both against the mechanics and against their own inclinations.)

12 - The Hanged Man - Signalis (OH BOY ITS MY FAVE CARD. The thing about the Hanged Man is that it's a test, a gamble, a deal. The Hanged Man is not hung from the neck, this is not an execution, they are inverted. They choose to be inverted in the hopes of gaining some Insight into the universe, but in doing so risk madness or obsession or doom. Signalis is both a game about a protagonist going through this and also a game that will put the player through this if they aren't careful.)

13 - The Nameless Arcana - Braid (I'm not even personally a fan of Braid, but I believe it is one of the handful of Original Indie Games. The very existence and popularity of Braid and its contemporaries showed that games outside the big studios could hit big. Braid (or Cave Story for the PC crowd) altered the landscape.

14 - Temperance - Yakuza (Temperance is the melding of disparate elements that should not go together into something grand and new, and maintaining that balance. Yakuza manages to be genuine and profound not in spite of its strange mixture of tones and mechanics but because of them.)

15 - The Devil - Genshin Impact (I don't feel the need to elaborate on this one.)

16 - The Tower - Shenmue (The Tower is total upheaval and where it all comes crashing down, where ambition crumbles and brings an institution down with it. Shenmue is not solely to blame for the failure of the Dreamcast and Sega's exit from the console arena, but it contributed to it and is emblematic of that seachange.)

17 - The Star - Mass Effect (The Star is a beacon in the darkness, a distant light that indicates not so much a goal, but that the journey will continue. Mass Effect is a landmark title that maybe didn't execute on half the things it tried, strangled by its own scope, but it still showed what games could do, broadening the possibility space. It is hope for greater experiences and art.)

18 - The Moon - Metal Gear (The Moon illuminates the path through the darkness, but creates illusions in the reflections, demanding the querent move forward with care or they will go astray, go mad. Is Metal Gear really deep? Is it the closest triple-A games get to arthouse? Does it have meaning? Or is it a mess? Is it too Problematique to justify it's big ideas? Is it all just really, really stupid? Or is it genius?)

19 - The Sun - Tetris Effect (The Sun comes at the end of a long, arduous journey. It is the sigh of relief, the tears of release, the light to finally see how far you've come. Tetris Effect is the latest iteration of one of the oldest formulas ever, and it's brilliant and celebratory and invites everyone to take part in its joy.)

20 - Judgement - Pathologic (Judgement is all-seeing and all-knowing, the final tally and the reckoning. So is Pathologic. Few experiences demand so much from the player, and few games are so brutally honest in answering the player's decisions. In Pathologic, you will get what you deserve.)

21 - The World - The Outer Wilds (The beginning is the end is the beginning. Completion and totality and holistic understanding of Everything. It's gotta be Outer Wilds.)

#arc plays games

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hazelcallahan · 1 year

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ARCANE - SEASON 1 ↳ Episode 9, “The Monster You Created”

#arcane #arcaneedit #animationedit #vi #jayce talis #viktor #jayvik #silco #jinx #caitlyn kiramman #caitvi #piltover's finest #arcane*#**

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dilf-din · 9 months

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—Silco, Arcane episode 9

#HI I JUST FINISHED ARCANE AND IM PROJECTILE VOMITING #the last of us #the last of us hbo #joel miller #sarah miller #ellie williams #arcane #silco and jinx #jess edits

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soforgetsummer · 1 year

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jinx' hallucinations in arcane (episodes 4-9)

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valenshawke · 3 months

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Get to know you game! Answer the questions and tag 9 people you want to know better.

I was tagged by @captainhunnicutt (thanks!).

Last song I listened to: "Ghost River" by Nightwish. Such conflicted feelings to this band. Admittedly, they were one of two that got me through grad school, but firing Tarja and Anette, losing Jukka and Marko... I don't know.

Currently Reading: Okay... so... how much I read is based on two factors. How much work is interfering with things and where my headspace is. And, uh... yeah. I'm really behind on 3 series. The last book I read was Unbreakable by Mira Grant. I need to catch up on the Wayward Children and InCryptid series by Seanan McGuire. And a whole bunch of others on my to-be-read pile (spreadsheet).

Currently Watching: In terms of anime, Nana. In terms of movies, this weekend if John Wick 2 through 4 and probably The Glass Menagerie since Sam Waterston is in it. Live action TV: I tried Bates Motel and I stopped after six episode. I'll try to get back to it.

Currently obsessed with: *gestures at mess of a blog* Arcane, Blue Eye Samurai. Pretty much been, "No thoughts, only Arcane/Blue Eye Samurai."

Tagging: @albatrossisland @radarsteddy @anisaanisa @blue-scorpion-king @claremikas @haxo-wolfie @s0lareuat @ancientrimer @wallowingnewt

#Personval #Val gets tagged #Was both shocked and honored you tagged me

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mag171 · 1 year

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"forgiveness. can you imagine?"

("slimecicle avenges his minecraft child" / qsmp fandom wiki / jo riglar's "the ballad of love distorted" / "how i'd kill" by cowboy malfoy / abu nuwas's "a daughter" / "slimecicle avenges his minecraft child" / "the monster you created", arcane episode 9 / "it's quiet uptown" from hamilton / child sacrifice wikipedia article / pages matam's "burning buildings" / "the monster you created", arcane episode 9 / "slimecicle avenges his minecraft child" / qsmp fandom wiki / "how i'd kill" by cowboy malfoy / jo riglar's "the ballad of love distorted" / pages matam's "burning buildings" / qsmp fandom wiki / "it's quiet uptown" from hamilton / johann botha's "to a daughter" / "how i'd kill" by cowboy malfoy / pages matam's "burning buildings" / "five nights at minecraft's" / "it's quiet uptown" from hamilton)

#cav's creatives #slimecicle #el mariana #juanaflippa #qsmp #web weaving #tell me how you like this one #i might be a little rusty since its been months lol

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regicidal-optimism · 11 days

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like a dead thing, like a promise || wilbur and the bomb that doesn't kill him

a collage for liza forever minelli by @irrealisms, made for @vhstapeworm for the @mcytrecursive exchange

#c!wilbur #wilbur soot #dsmp #grace dot art #continue in tempo ignoring conductor #imaginary gardens with real toads

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ravenkinnie · 3 months

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I'm so glad arcane s2 is is coming out this year cause every time I post about arcane, a show that has whole 9 episodes I'm like. people are thinking about that meme that's like okay grandma lets go to bed

anyways two things

a) its crazy how fandom now moves so fast, when I was younger (I've been in fandoms since I was 10 and I'm 27 this year so by my standards I'm an old hag) few years between installments was the norm. it's crazy that many people lose interest within few years (shout out to people who don't, especially @heroinejinx and @lullabyes22-blog I appreciate yall for motivation to work on your fics despite long hiatuses and whatnot it's very inspiring to me as well as I used to he a massive quitter hshshsj working on longfic projects is new to me and I appreciate yall for the inspiration and motivation you bring to arcane fic space. also shout out to @silcosentropy I'm enjoying the discord server a lot, ty for making space for 18+ arcane fans! stunning art too of course)

b) I've been offline for few weeks because I somehow became an adult with a job but yall. I'm ready. I saved my holiday days for s2 premieres HSHSHSHJSH I got my tattoo and my body pillows yall can't fuck with me

#im getting a jinx body pillow too #IM SO HYPED THATS MY GIIIIRL #mine #arcane fandom will always be dear to me because it really is how i started my writing journey and i came so far in so little time

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thenationofzaun · 2 years

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Why do so many Arcane viewers insist on viewing Powder and Jinx as two separate people and act like Jinx is just a brainwashed drone doing whatever her Big Mean Scary Dad ordered her to? It just seems like such a weird thing to do if you claim to love Jinx's character. Not only does she have a lot of agency and act of her own accord throughout the show and clearly isn't brainwashed, the narrative actively calls out this refusal to accept that Jinx = Powder as a mistake on Vi's part.

Jinx's problem isn't that she's been brainwashed by Silco's mind control and only does horrible things because she's under his spell. Her problem isn't that the "true Powder" is trapped somewhere inside her underneath all the scary evil layers and if Vi just peels them off her real sister will emerge. Her problem is that she is a severely traumatized and mentally ill teenage girl who suffers from extreme insecurities and paranoia, exacerbated by her psychosis. And that she then acts out in cruel, violent, selfish and destructive ways that just end up sabotaging the relationships she so desperately wants to protect.

Jinx IS Powder. Powder grew up to be Jinx. Powder, the sweet little girl, an innocent child, who at the age of 9 or 10, was already gleefully making nail bombs to use on other people, particularly enforcers (which Vi encouraged). Who had already witnessed incredible violence and lost her parents to it. Who already dreamed of becoming strong and wanted to be a fighter. Who already had attachment issues and suffered mental breakdowns when she felt that someone she idolized didn't think she was useful. Who then went through a devastating tragedy that shattered her mind, giving her a severe psychotic disorder and fear of abandonment. She became 100x more unstable, cruel, and violent after act 1, but the seeds were already there in childhood. If a completely different child with a different background had gone through the same trauma in episode 3, they would not have become Jinx.

So many viewers mistakenly view the situation as if Powder, the good kind soul, is buried deep under the evil Jinx layers, and that she can still be "reached". That she's still "in there". Lol, in where? There's no secret "real Powder" hiding inside Jinx. Powder grew up, she changed as a person. And yeah, a lot of that change was negative. It's tragic and disturbing but it is the reality. Jinx is Powder all grown up. Jinx is who Vi's sister is now.

I'm just baffled as to why so many people misunderstand Jinx and her situation. It would be one thing if this change was just a minor, unacknowledged part of the show. But it's not. It's a MAJOR part of Jinx's turmoil in Acts 2 and 3, she desperately tries to get Vi to understand this about her, and then Vi is explicitly called out by the narrative for this misconception. It's acknowledged and hammered home within the actual show.

And Vi pays for this mistake greatly. Jinx ends up giving up on her. Vi's insistence on treating Jinx like a fake persona, a Silco-made shell that needs to be broken in order to retrieve the "real" Powder, screws her over. Jinx is far more aware of things than a lot of people, both the characters in the show and the real world audience, give her credit for. She knows how she has changed. She is acutely aware of how she is perceived by others. And that's why she was so insecure and nervous about how Vi would react upon meeting her, why one of the first things she says to her during their reunion is to warn her that she's changed. And then look how Vi speaks to and about Jinx. "She's still in there. I can reach her." "Powder, wake up! Remember who you are!"

Vi doesn't understand or accept that Jinx IS who her sister is now, who her little sister grew up to be. Hell, she even misunderstands the name Jinx. To Vi, the name is a mark of shame, and she needs to reassure her that she's not a jinx and that she can drop the name. But Jinx's new name is not a mark of shame, it's a mark of empowerment. To take a word that was used to hurt you and own it, wield it, make it your signature. And this misunderstanding hurts Jinx.

To be clear, I am NOT BLAMING Vi for this situation. The thing is, Vi making this mistake is completely understandable. Tragically understandable. After all, the last memory she shared with Powder, she slapped her and derogatorily called her a jinx after a horrific accident caused by Powder that killed their brothers. In prison, she stewed with the guilt and regret over that incident for around seven years. OF COURSE she wouldn't want to call her sister "Jinx" now, right after reuniting with her. Of course she would think that Jinx has been ruthlessly brainwashed by Silco - she, as a character in the story whose father was killed by Silco, whose life was ruined in large part by Silco's actions, who was in prison for around eight years and hasn't actually witnessed his interactions and years spent with Jinx, has no reason to trust him. She has every right to despise him, and it's fair for her to initially assume that all of who Jinx is can be neatly pinned on him. And Jinx tries to explain to Vi that this is who she really is now, and that she can't go back to being her 10 year old self, but of course, Jinx doesn't really do a very good job of it. She attacks Vi, shoots at her, scares her, threatens her, then kidnaps her and ties her to a chair. So hostile, violent and antagonistic, of course Vi would be even more freaked out and reluctant to reconcile this person with the memories she has of Powder. All this doesn't change the fact that Vi screwed up with this misunderstanding of Jinx. But at least she has all these very understandable excuses.

What are all your excuses? You all watched the show. Every part of it. You saw every characters' point of view, were shown the situation from all these different angles, heard several lines in the show driving this point home. Yet for some reason I'm still seeing countless takes about how Powder and Jinx are two separate people, that Vi needs to reach the "real Powder" in season 2, how Silco's death was great because now the "Jinx persona" doesn't have someone to enforce it, how "Jinx has DID". It's just weird seeing so many people miss the point so badly.

#don't think i'm absolving silco of any responsibility either he for sure screwed up by projecting way too much onto jinx #but that's for another post. this is specifically about how ppl in the audience still make the same mistake that vi was CALLED OUT FOR #anyway it's just so frustrating seeing ppl misunderstand one of THE main jinx conflicts in season 1 all while claiming to love jinx #jinx #arcane #arcane jinx #arcane netflix #arcane league of legends #vi #silco #arcane vi #arcane silco

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