#lulu watches arcane

[libraryleopard]

Jayce and Mel in s1 are funny because she’s like ah yes I will introduce the naive scientist to the ways of politicking and mold him into a perfect new councilor aligned with my goals and perhaps a little kissing will strengthen the bond while Jayce is like through the power of my earnest brown eyes I declare us boyfriend and girlfriend

[kazz-brekker]

i finished act 3 of arcane and am a shatter pile of emotions but i am NOT allowed to go on a blogging spree because i still need to hit my word count for the day

[starwarsgirlie]

We Belong To Death

Hi homegirls! Here's the second chapter of my Viktor X Reader fic!

The reader has female anatomy and goes by she/her pronouns. Further chapters will contain NSFW content! 

PLEASE comment on what you think or what you'd like to see! I love collaborating!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters besides Persephone. I used the Arcane lore and characters from Kander and Ebb's Cabaret for much of this chapter's plot!

Trigger warnings: Sexual themes, drugs, alcohol, and death 

Chapter 2 - Life is a Cabaret

"Lacey", the name of the cabaret you worked at... and grew up in. Owned by your dearest Granny Ray, this place became your home. The upstairs is where you lived with the elderly women and your sisters, other orphaned children she had taken in. There were seven of you: Fritzy, Sally, Frenchie, Helga, Lulu, Rosy and you. You adored your family, and they adored you. Fritzy and Sally were the oldest, 24 years old—both tall and adorning beautiful locks of brown hair. Fritzy was known for her cold demeanor but nonetheless showed her sister's love in her own ways. Being the oldest is a tough job, and she felt it was her responsibility to help Granny Ray raise and protect you all.

Then there was Sally, also the oldest, but don't expect her to look after anything. Despite having the sweetest heart, she is known to be impulsive, forgetful, and a little on the wild side. Frenchie- 20, in your opinion, was one of your most beautiful sisters, who was quite aware of her beauty's effect on others. With her green eyes and auburn hair her smile could get her anything she wanted. Helga-20, too, could get anything she wanted from others, but this was more through intimidation; with her short purple hair and muscular build, she was your protector. However, she was also very charming, making her and Frenchie unstoppable in getting what they wanted. Lulu- 18, was very quiet and sensitive to what was happening around her. Being able to read people's emotions and intentions, she was who you needed when new people came knocking on the club door wanting to do business. With her petite build and dark hair, she easily went unnoticed when lurking in the shadows, assessing those around her. Finally, there was your sister, Rosy, with her curly black afro and golden brown eyes; she was the face of mischief. Rosy-18 had always been curious and intrigued by what was happening around her. She snuck into air ducts, closets, and cupboards with her petite build, nearly scaring Granny Ray half to death most of the time. If you ever wanted to know what was happening in anyone's life, she was the one you would ask.

Now, this cabaret is different from what you think it is. It isn't some shady strip club or whorehouse; Lacey was where one could watch a performance that could match those of the theatres in Piltover. Sure, you had your drunks and men who would ogle over the girls performing, but as Granny Ray said, "We live in a man's world, girls. Unfortunately, no one holds men accountable for their behavior, so we might as well make money off it." And she was right; the money you and your sisters made off those dingy men was why you survived in the undercity. However, this didn't mean the men could touch the performers; no, no, no, Granny Ray was very strict that her performers were always safe and that any person trying to cause funny business would be dealt with, often by Vander himself. 

Vander was very close with Granny Ray as she often looked after his kids Vi, Powder, Claggor, and Mylo. Oh, how you loved them! Due to The Last Drop and Lacey being across the street from each other, you often spent time with them, which you loved because they were much closer in age to you than your sisters, as you were only 11. You were only allowed to be a performer at Lacey when you were 18, so while your older sisters performed, you worked behind the bar making "drinks" with Powder (Granny Ray made sure only to give you two fruit juices). This is how it went for years, all you kids running between the two establishments "helping" and getting a small allowance. However, it was clear that Vander and Granny Ray hardly gave you any actual work, instead just tasks to keep you busy. 

Oh, how you couldn't wait for the day you could join the cabaret; you'd been learning the dances and songs your whole life from your older sisters, especially Rosy; she was often the star of the show and one of the sisters you were most close with. Her grace and elegance were unmatched, and while you thought all your sisters were talented, you could understand why she was the star. 

As the years passed, you got more and more excited to join the cabaret until things took a turn for the worst. You were not told what happened; all Granny Ray said was Vander had passed away, and you could no longer see the kids. Only from Lulu and Rosey did you hear of Claggor and Mylo's death and how Vi and Powder had disappeared. You couldn't believe this and in a panic rushed to The Last Drop, and who you found was a man called Silco. He bent to your level despite his cold facade, "Hello, young Percy. I suggest you run back home, but not before I give you a message for Granny Ray; tell her that Lacey is under my protection and has no obligation to help sell shimmer." You ran home confused. What was shimmer, and why was he protecting your home? Upon arrival, Granny was furious. And you were forbidden ever to go there and talk to your friends again. Why do so many people expect you always to forget the past and those you love with little to no explanation? However, sensing your sadness and panic, Fritzy took you aside to explain what had happened more clearly. "My dearest Percy, I know you are confused, but you need to know that at this time, you have to stay away from there for your safety. Your friends have moved to another beautiful world where they are now playing together!" "But why did they leave me? Everyone leaves me." you sobbed, and the windows shook. All your sisters came into the room, knowing you were losing control. Before you knew it, they surrounded you, gently holding you in a group hug. You calmed down and looked up, "We will never leave you, Percy." Frenchie smiled. "Of course not; you're my favorite sister. Do you think I like these other bitc-OUCH?" Sally elbowed Helga in the side; don't swear in front of her. Everyone giggled, including you. "We love you, Percy, and we are here for you always," Sally whispered, kissing your forehead. 

You were sad for a long while, but with the support of your sisters and time, you began to feel better, and before you knew it, it was your 18th birthday. 

[azxremoon]

MEET YOUR HOSTESS

─────── "my name is elluka! so nice to meet you! ♡ "

oh, i love nicknames — as long as they're respectful, of course!! some common ones i've been called include lulu, el, and ellu!!

i'm twenty-one (22) + genderfluid!! i exclusively use she / they pronouns, please and thank you!!

i love, love, loveeeee horses and ferrets; my favorite mythical creatures are pegasi and dragons!!

i love a whole bunch of games — especially jrps, otome, and open-worlds!!

my favorite games include pokemon bw, fire emblem awakening, breath of the wild, final fantasy xv, persona 3 / 5, and mystic messenger!

i enjoy all sorts of different genres of animanga!! i primarily lean towards and love high fantasy, romance, and psych horror!!

i enjoy collecting manga and figurines!! my pride and joy is my chrom amiibo <3

i main wrio, neuvie, alhaitham, itto, furina, and kinich!!

mutuals are welcome to dm for my discord / genshin uid <3 fair warning, i'm a casual player who doesn't follow meta and is very bad at the game :')

♡ ─────── what's elluka up to?

i'm currently listening to...

black sorrow — studio lico

blink gone — studio lico

i'm currently playing...

fire emblem three houses (cindered shadows)

genshin impact

i'm currently reading...

mo dao zu shi (vol 1)

i'm currently watching...

komi can't communicate

kado: the right answer

my demon

arcane

[nbmahoushoujo]

A Guide to Star Guardians for Non-League Players

So... if you like magical girls and you’ve seen Star Guardians around, you might have wanted to see what it’s all about! The problem is, Star Guardians is a skin line in league of legends so the actual content for it is split up in different places and it’s not clear where to start if you don’t already know a lot about it. So I’ve compiled all the official Star Guardian content that I know of in mostly chronological release order, and I’ll offer explanations and context about each part where I can! Some stuff is links to videos and stories, and some is screenshots from the games for small in-game things. I might over-explain some things so I apologise for how wordy this is!

First of all, I’ll be talking about 3 separate games here:

League of Legends - The main game, has been around for ages, I’m sure you’ve heard of it, very toxic gamers, etc.

Wild Rift - The mobile version of League of Legends, has only been around for a few years so it doesn’t have all the same characters/skins yet, sometime has unique skins that aren’t in league of legends

Legends of Runeterra -  A card game with the same characters and world but entirely different gameplay, in this game a “skin” is just different card art and sometimes a single different level-up animation, there’s no character model you play with to put a skin on

As this story universe is based on in-game skins as a starting point, new lore and content comes every time new skins are released, which is usually a new team of guardians. 

Since these characters are just skins, no knowledge of the regular characters in Runeterra (the name of the world in the regular universe) is needed! For example: many people will know Jinx from Arcane, but Star Guardian Jinx is an entirely different version of the character made for a different universe. Same goes for K/DA and True Damage members in the music skin universe who a lot of people know only in that context.

When I list new characters, I’ll link to their official character profiles which you can read to get to know them before watching/reading any videos/stories they’re in. Trust me, they’ll make more sense that way!

2016

New Stars - a short story

Now, this is only a few paragraphs long with some images but I can’t for the life of me find where it was officially published. Great start, you’ll have to make do with some screenshots of the same content on the wiki:

Skins released:

Lux (Was actually released before all of this, the whole skin line came from the success of her one-off magical girl skin)

Jinx 

Janna 

Poppy 

Lulu 

Burning Bright - Animated music video

Star Guardian Jinx Interactions

Jinx has something called a legendary skin, which is a more expensive type of skin that has more unique features than a regular one. The main differences are unique animations (normal skins have to conform to the animations of the regular character) and more importantly for the lore, unique voice lines. Star guardian Lux, for example, has the same voice lines as regular Lux which has nothing to do with Star Guardians. So this means that legendary Star Guardian skins have voice lines that can give insight into their character. Some will be generic things to say when performing actions in the game, but the lines they say towards other characters are at least worth hearing I think. They’re mostly not technically canon, but basically “what if this character met this one”.

For all legendary skins, I’ll link to videos by SkinSpotlights who kindly compiles them!

2017

Skins released:

Ahri 

Miss ‘Sarah’ Fortune (In the main Runeterra universe her name is Sarah Fortune but she’s referred to as Miss Fortune)

Soraka

Syndra

Ezreal 

A New Horizon - Animated video

Starfall - Short story

Star Guardian Ahri Interactions

Invasion - PVE game mode

This was only for a limited time which I wasn’t there for, but I found a video of the gameplay.

2018

This year’s Star Guardian skins were a little different in that they were just versions of previous Star Guardians in onesies themed around their familiars! They don’t have separate profiles since they’re the same characters so you can see them all below: 

Miss fortune, Ezreal, Lux, Lulu and Soraka

The Slumber Party Summoning - Short story

2019

The Twilight Star - Short story

Skins released:

Neeko

Xayah & Rakan* 

Zoe

*The character profiles don’t represent Xayah and Rakan at this point in the story, so I’ll link them later. For now what you need to know is Xayah and rakan were members of Ahri’s original team who were killed, revived and corrupted by Zoe. They now fight against the Star Guardians because they believe that their friends left them to die on purpose. Also they’re very in love, which is why they’re always paired together. Xayah’s Familiar is Saki (left) and Rakan’s is Riku (right)

Light and Shadow - Animated music video

Star Guardian Xayah and Rakan Interactions

2022

Yes that’s right, there was nothing new for two years, only for the biggest Star Guardian Event yet which is only just coming to an end! There’s a lot of content across games which means different stories lines were released simultaneously, so I’ll just be putting it in the order I think makes most sense!

Return to Valoran City - Short animated event teaser (worth watching for the pretty art and to get a feel for the setting)

Before looking at the new skins I recommend reading this first:

Twin Stars - Short story

It introduces a few of the new characters a year before they become guardians and their story starts, and sets up what’s going on with the previous characters currently!

Skins released in League of Legends:

Kai’sa

Akali

Taliyah

Ekko

Sona

Rell

Quinn

Nilah

(Star Nemesis) Morgana

(Star Nemesis) Fiddlesticks

Everything Goes On - Animated music video

This sets up the simultanious stories, with Kai’sa as the main character in League of Legends and Xayah in Wild Rift. Next I’ll list the League of Legends content, and we’ll come back to Wild Rift.

Another Sky - In-game visual novel

This is the meat of the content, it has 5 chapters including the epilogue for the main narrative, and shorter side stories for each individual member of the team. The visual novel is only available in the game client, and after the event it won’t be playable anymore, so I’ve linked a playlist of uploads to youtube. 

This does mean you can’t see all the different dialogue options, but I couldn’t find an upload that shows all of them so I’ll update this if any pop up. There’s only a few different lines after each different choice before it goes back to the same content. It’s not a “your choices have consequences” kind of thing.

The main story and character stories are mixed together weirdly in this playlist, but the video titles are clear enough. The side stories can be read in any order, before, during, or after the main story.

Shadow of a Doubt - Animated Video about Akali

Set around the middle of the visual novel, but it doesn’t really matter when you watch it.

Star Guardian Kai’sa Interactions

Star Guardian Akali Interactions

Taliyah Sessions -  A playlist of copyright-free music by a mix of artists with Taliyah as the face of them. This is something riot’s done with other champions, Vi and Diana, and it’s good music for studying and stuff like that! If you don’t listen to it I hope you at least watch the section with the song ‘SIDE 2 SIDE’ so you can see Taliyah’s cute little dance moves. She’s the best. I love her.

Skins released in Wild Rift:

Seraphine

Senna

Orianna

(Redeemed) Xayah

(Redeemed) Rakan

Wild Rift Visual Novel - In-game visual novel

This is the other main story, following Xayah’s newly-formed team and taking place at the same time as the other visual novel.

New Dreams - Vlogs by Xayah’s new team:

Seraphine

Orianna

Senna

Star Crossed - Comics adapted from the same story as the visual novel. It covers mostly the same events, plus Xayah recruiting the members of her team at the start which was not in the vn. In my opinion it’s the better version of the story!

Skins released in Legends of Runeterra: 

(Gwen is the only Legends of Runeterra exclusive, the others all overlap with the other games so I won’t bother linking to the same profiles again!)

Gwen

Jinx

Lulu

Soraka

Kai’sa

Quinn

Taliyah

Senna

Legends of Runeterra has less content overall. Each character has 2 pieces of art with flavour text, as their art changes when they level up. A few of them have unique level up animations too. Here I’ll share my own screenshots from the game to make sure the flavour text is included!

Star Guardian Gwen Level-up Animation

Star Guardian Jinx Level-up Animation

Star Guardian Kai’sa Level-up Animation

Additionally, Star Guardian Kai’sa is the only lor skin so far to have unique voice lines, but they’re really not much. Here anyway:

Star Guardian Kai’sa Voice Lines (Starts at 14:21)

Thank you for reading this! I hope it helped, I just had fun talking about the characters I love!

I’ll finish off with other related info/trivia and thoughts that I want to share:

Star Guardian ages are confusing. Some of them are teenagers who have just become guardians, while others are hundreds of years old and just pretend to be a regular human age. It’s not always clear which is which to be honest! Lux’s team is mostly teenagers but Janna is implied to be much older. Ahri’s original team seem to be a lot older, but I’m not entirely clear on her new team. Syndra, Zoe and Gwen are from the original first Star Guardian team so they’re the oldest. What confused me was that Xayah’s new team is made up of old guardians according to the comics, yet they all pretend to be high schoolers and then complain about high school as if they didn’t choose to disguise themselves that way??

A lot of people were really getting their hopes up for the return of Star Guardians PVE because apparently it was really fun in 2017, but alas we just got some other regular game mode that no one cares about. Apparently PVE doesn’t drive engagement enough for riot to do that anymore even though everyone wants it. Video titles that aged like milk:

Similarly, from the teasers a lot of people thought Kai’sa and Akali were going to be a couple in this universe. With all the hand holding and gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes, it was a little disappointing that they went with the ‘very close gal pals’ route. It would have been wild to make Akali canonically queer only to ship her with anyone but Evelynn, considering Akalynn was the biggest ship before Arcane came out.

Regular Taliyah was originally intended to be trans by the writers/artists that worked on her, but as is typically the case in this game, they weren’t allowed to do that. In more recent content there’s been a clear effort to code her that way. When Neeko was released she got a voice line towards Taliyah that says “Neeko not the only one who changes”. Neeko changes because she’s a shapeshifting chameleon, so in what way does Taliyah change? 🤔 I think Star Guardian Taliyah has the most clear trans coding so far with her whole thing about wanting to figure out who she is, and feeling more herself when she transforms, etc.

On the topic of Neeko voice lines, Neeko was the first out lesbian champion in the game, I love her very much, please listen to her! I wish she had more Star Guardian content.

If you know Akali, Kai’sa, Ahri and Seraphine from K/DA, you may notice Evelynn’s the only K/DA member who’s not also a star guardian. It doesn’t mean anything, but there’s been a lot of memes about her feeling left out and a some really good Star Guardian Evelynn fan designs!

If you only know Jinx from arcane and wonder who that random blonde girl is that people keep shipping her with, that’s regular Lux. They’ve never met in Runeterra, but their dynamic in Star Guardians translates well to the base characters too. To sum it up, Lux thinking “I can fix her” and Jinx thinking “I can make her worse” is why they make a fun pairing in any universe! 

Ezreal is boring and he's the worst Star Guardian. This is just opinion but I’m right. /j

Gwen was a doll who became human, but her joke animation in league lets her transform back into the cute little dolly version of her. In Legends of Runeterra, you can have this doll as a guardian (little buddy who sits next to your cards and does cute stuff if you click on them) and there’s a Star Guardian variation:

If you’re interested in learning more about League of Legends lore and it’s alternate universes, check out Necrit! He’s known as the lore guy at this point.

If you’re interested in the character designs and animation you’ve seen, check out TB Skyen! He’s done some animation breakdown videos of Star Guardian Stuff and recently done a stream ranking and talking about the skin designs.

[the-ipre]

So we know that Lup could control the umbrastaff from inside (the L.U.P. and arcane core incidents) so it stands to reason that if, during that infamous countdown, Taako HAD reached zero, he could have waved the staff and had absolutely zero magic come out because Lup wouldn’t let him fire a spell at Lucretia. Just something to think about :’)

Four. 

Outside the Umbrastaff, her family have regained their memories, and Lup should be ecstatic. Taako should connect the dots, Lup should be free for the first time in over a decade, and they should band together to defeat the Hunger, once and for all.

Instead, Taako’s hand is tight around the grip of the Umbrastaff’s handle, almost shaking, and he is counting down despite Lucretia’s protests. 

Three. 

Lup wants to scream. After everything, after seeing her brother unfamiliar and closed off, after watching the Hunger approach without anybody seeming to realize, she wishes that she could do anything. 

Instead she is stuck, trapped by velvet walls that are beginning to crackle with magic that arcs across the indeterminate room she has come to know so well.

Two. 

Lucretia is close to crying, but she has been Madame Director for so long that her self control is nigh impervious. Taako is crying, a single tear tracing down his cheek. He always hated that he was an angry crier, and Lup can do nothing but watch something inside him bend almost to the point of breaking.

The magic of Taako’s intent strengthens, angry and splintering as it swells and fills the Umbrastaff.

One.

A flicker of flame streaks by and Lup takes hold of it, wrapping it around her skeletal hand because this is her creation. Taako might have been wielding the Umbrastaff for a couple of years, but she made it, she’s been living in it. The magic swirling around her might be directed by her brother, but it’s hers.

Lup won’t let any of her family be hurt, holding tight to the flames and drawing them close to swirl around her.

Zero.

Taako is shocked when no flame erupts from the Umbrastaff’s point, and Lucretia is as well, eyes wide behind the barrier of her shield. “Trust Lulu to make a broken focus,” Taako mutters, but his words fall with a dull thud in the silence.

Everyone is frozen, the knowledge that Taako would have attacked Lucretia if it were not for some unseen interference holding them still, and then the glass above shatters.

Lup releases the magic she has wrangled against a proper enemy, and what remains of the IPRE stand their ground.

[angel-caked]

Pssst @blue-batty-coco here's older goat bab

Lulu would still be chaos but, sneaky chaos and add in some pyro fuckery. She is an academic N E R D because she still loves doing math and dabbles in science for sometimes benefit means after watching too many Sci-Fi shows and gets into hella street fights ( usually wins ) because like Toni, she won't hesitate to box someone if she thinks she can. Probably torments @the-fallen-and-arcane-knight and @sinren the most with dumb pranks and pulling poor Jean Luc into her shenanigans.

She's probably about 7 feet tall not including her horns.

[castcharmperson]

are you going to continue fic about taako's glamour??? because my dude it is JUICY AS HELL and i'm SO about lup (and/or anyone else) finding out

hi ohmygod i love your work and i literally cannot believe you read my fic?? you’re like, a very cool person and i totally freaked out when i first saw this ask??? thank you????

okay okay okay okay, hear me out. First and foremost, this is, perhaps, the most flavorful compliment i’ve been given and i adore it thank you. The juicy drama shall only continue.

also im splitting part three into two chunks, sorry not sorry, part four comes out tomorrow!

This was her first winter on Faerun. Lup had sort of lost track of how many holidays their new home had, but that was fine. She got firewood with Magnus, decorated how Killian showed her, rolled around in the snow with Mookie just to feel how cold it was. She’d had her body for almost eight months now, but every sensation felt so new. 

“I’m told you’ve mastered Scorching Ray.”

She watched her brother retreat into the kitchen, Angus chasing after him. There were a lot of new things, she realized, when she couldn’t chase after him too.

Lup wasn’t stupid. Her brother was a world class liar but he couldn’t lie to her. At least, she thought he couldn’t. But everything was new and different now. The old Lup would have rushed in on that summer afternoon, pushed and prodded until Taako told her about every scar. The old Lup had never been as patient as Taako. He could hang back, wait years for the perfect opportunity if he had to, but Lup was made for action.

A decade in an umbrella had changed that. Now, she was patient.

Well, patient to a point. She waited while Angus left for school, waited while Taako got settled with his own school. She waited for months, had to be certain Taako wouldn’t bolt the first time she brought it up. She didn’t even bring it up today! Just hinted at it. She supposed it was foolish to hope he was forgetful in same way he had pretended she wasn’t perceptive.

So she had to wait. Again. That was fine, she tried to tell herself. The cheering had turned into drinking around the fire from the massive keg Merle and Davenport had brought, but Lup wasn’t really in the Solstice mood anymore. This wasn’t her tradition yet, still too new, just like everything else. Barry gave her a look as she passed by. She hoped her smile said enough, and it must have. He gave her a soft smile of his own, but didn’t follow her as she snuck in through the side of the house, not wanting to pass through the kitchen.

“You’ve been hiding a limp all day.” Angus sounded confident, voice echoing through the empty house in the same way he talked about his successful cases with the Neverwinter PD. Lup had planned to curl up in bed, but this… this might be worth waiting to hear. Taako said something, but she was too far away to hear it. Then there was shouting.

“It’s not bullshit when someone’s keeping secrets!”

“Watch your fucking language!”

Then Silence, powerful arcane energy that stopped her midstep, just before the doorframe of the kitchen. She saw Taako and Angus keep talking, but she couldn’t read their lips. The tension her brother had been carrying all day seeped out of his shoulders. Whatever was happening in there, she needed to wait to see its end.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been waiting, but the spell started to crackle out of existence.

“I don’t want that. You shouldn’t even know about this. No one was supposed to know.” Taako sounded just like he did when he told her everyone was dust.

“You should at least tell Lup.” Angus said. Candlenights was late on the calendar this year, but Lup was buying this kid every Caleb Cleveland novel she could get her hands on. She’d kidnap the author and gift wrap them for Angus if she had to.

“I can’t tell Lup.”

A decade in an umbrella, a year of listening to her brother and not being able to say a thing; Lup had patience now, but only so much. Coming out from behind the door frame, she threw on a smirk she didn’t feel and finally rushed in.

She wasn’t really sure what she expected. Taako’s Dex mod used to be higher than hers and she was never really good at Stealth rolls anyway, so it was rare that she could surprise him. Even now, he didn’t jump, didn’t squawk and yell at her the way he used when she and Magnus could prank him. He froze and didn’t even look at her. He looked at Angus.

Lup thought she’d seen every emotion cross her twin’s face, the thousands of matching expressions they shared, but she’d never seen this. It wasn’t anger, wasn’t even surprise. He looked almost empty, filled with nothing but bone deep betrayal. She could almost see his “I trust no one and nothing except Angus McDonald” crumbling to dust in their kitchen and she felt sick.

“He didn’t know,” she said before thinking twice about it. There was a flicker of something and then the hallowed out look of loss was gone and Taako was smirking at her, make up perfect and a hand on his hip.

“Ooh, so you were eavesdropping?” He clicked his tongue a few times, shaking his head. “Davenport would be so disappointed you didn’t pay attention to his Boundaries In Close Quarters powerpoint from cycle seven.”

He was waiting for her to take the bait, to point out the only reason they had to watch the powerpoint that cycle was because of him. As the seconds dragged on though, she could see his smirk falter. The silence stretched further and she still couldn’t speak. Now was her moment, this is what she’d been waiting for! There was so much she needed to say and yet the only thing that came out of her mouth was a broken, “Taako.”

“Nope.” He turned right around, picking up a spoon and furiously stirring something.

“Sir, should I go…” Angus started but Taako just picked up the potato peeler and handed it to him without looking.

“You are staying right here and peeling those potatoes, Agnes.”

“Taako,” Lup tried to say something else but that’s all that could be said. She took a shaky step forward but her brother still wouldn’t look at her. “Taako, please, I know something’s going on.”

“Uh-uh. I am not doing this today, Lulu. I know you’re new to this planar system but this feast is– oof!” She nearly knocked Taako into the counter as she collided with him, wrapping her arms around him in a crushing hug. “Lulu…”

“You’re soft. Need soft.” She murmured into the back of his sweater. When she first got her body, they spent days like this. Taako let her feel every fabric he owned, his softest silk blouses and his most scuffed up leather boots. She ran her fingers through his hair for hours. There were still some nights when she’d sneak into his room, shove Kravitz out of the way, and hold him close just because she finally could. She hadn’t had a bad night like that in weeks, but maybe Taako forgot.

“I can’t do this today, Lup.” He whispered, seeing right through her in a way she used to be able to do too. At least he didn’t push her off, slowly stirring whatever mixture he was working on for dinner. Angus had the peeler on a potato, but hadn’t moved.

“Tomorrow?” She asked.

The silence that followed, she could truly see her brother again. Angus must have seen it too. He relaxed and got through two more potatoes as they both pretend not to watch Taako run the numbers. Could he fake a school emergency tomorrow? What were the odds she’d believe he had the flu? Maybe if he Blinked enough times in a row, she wouldn’t be able to follow him. Anything to get out of this conversation. He slumped a little and Lup tried not to laugh. He couldn’t avoid her forever, they both knew it. At least not everything was new and different.

“Fine,” Taako surrendered. “But I seriously have to get cooking.” She didn’t move. “Are you just going to hang off of me all day?”

“Maybe.”

Taako gave a full body sigh, shuffling them together through the kitchen to put something in the oven. Angus laughed and Lup was pretty sure she could feel Taako smile. “Fine.”

[ardent-apprentice]

Sol, The Ardent Apprentice

A short story by:  Ominous_The_Unknown

I

In the magical world of Runeterra, mountains move, forests come alive, the dead assault the living, and reality sometimes fractures to give a brief glimpse to the horrible Void beyond. But even though the arcane energies course through all the nations, there is no other place quite as whimsical like Bandle City, the central hub of Yordle life. Across the lands, these short creatures are seen in a multitude of different perspectives. Forest fae-folk, mischievous imps, urban legends, valiant warriors, and heinous villains, Yordles always seem to be synonymous with some kind of outstanding trait that makes them outstanding in their own right. 

During their early, formative years, young Yordles quickly come to find what makes them unique from one another and once they do, they soon set themselves down the path to honing their skills to try and become the best in their craft. Of course, not every Yordle specialized in entirely different things. It was common for some to be gifted a knack for tinkering and invention much like the great minds of Heimerdinger, Rumble or Ziggs. Others were given more physical, combative skills like Tristana or Teemo. And of course, there was the occasional magic user like Lulu. But what happens when your talent doesn’t manifest when it should? What happens when the people around you develop some kind of magnificent skill when you are left with nothing?

Sol was forced to ask himself this question many times over when he realized that the other young Yordles around him were attaining their unique abilities whereas he had none. In the beginning, he was assured that he would find his niche soon enough, but time passed and he still found himself left in the dust. He would watch as others were able to conjure small balls of energy, create phantasmal elemental displays, briefly summon ethereal aurora-like creatures, or even infuse machines to give them extra vigor. It wasn’t long before the older Yordles decided to properly study him. A few of the more astute researchers of the city came together and performed a few tests on him, hoping to find the answer.

Then, to Sol’s horror, he was finally given the bad news.

Unlike the others, the charcoal gray yordle was magically inept and lacked a mana pool to draw the necessary arcane energies do anything noteworthy. At that very moment, it was as if the weight of Mount Targon was set upon the Yordle’s heart. The information was a curse that forced Sol to watch helplessly as his close friends became apprentices to some of Bandle City’s champions while he was subjected to a mundane and unfulfilling life. Even at a young age, Sol felt that his dreams of becoming some well known Yordle had been destroyed. He grappled with the idea for a while and in the end, he outright refused to accept it. 

Bitterness and envy slowly slithered into the young Yordle’s heart, poisoning him ever so slightly, but instead of letting it destroy him, Sol used it to push onwards. Soon it became apparent that what Sol lacked in magical prowess, he made up for in tenacity, boldness, and creativity. Bullies would, of course, try to take advantage of him or tease him as they flaunted their skills in front of him. The name-calling, the minor physical altercations, the laughter, it stung, but Sol relied on the fact that they underestimated him so that he could beat them at their own games. 

If anything, his newfound strength despite his lack of mana actually made him stand out more because he would do everything in his power to ensure that no one looked down on him. He refused to sulk, he refused pity, and above all else, he sought to break the fate that had been cruelly handed to him. Within the Yordle, a sort of bullheaded attitude emerged as he sought to absorb as much information as possible to see if anything triggered some latent talent hidden within. Archery, crafting, smithing, politics, Sol would attempt to learn everything. Even when he didn’t become a master at it, he at least came away with some experience. Ultimately, this meant that Sol became known as a jack-of-all-trades. 

But once Sol became an adolescent, he realized that his accumulated skills still weren’t enough. Instead of continuing to study within the small confines of Bandle City. the abnormal Yordle made the decision to explore the world. Many people within the city knew that it was possible and that even some of the more famous Yordles had survived to become rather huge stars in other cities, but it was still a risky decision. The elders of the city said he was a fool and that without forging his own unique talent that he would quickly die without any ability to protect himself, but Sol’s close friends knew that because of his myriad of skills that he would forge his own path. 

The young Yordle quickly assembled enough equipment and other necessities and bid a fond farewell to Bandle City and its inhabitants before he journeyed outwards. He would find new mentors, make new friends and discover what was truly hidden deep within him. 

---------------------------------------------

II

There were many limitations to being a Yordle. In some places they were seen as normal living beings with rights, others they were a myth and in a select few they were abhorred and either cast out like plague bearers or maybe even attacked on sight. With that in mind, there were unwritten rules for traveling abroad as a Yordle.

The first and probably most important rule is to never reveal oneself as a Yordle. Information travels slowly through Runeterra, and even though some progressive regions accepted all races that was not the case for the majority of the world. To socialize, most traveling Yordles were often given a magical glamour that would simply disguise them as short humans. There were some fringe cases of course, like the valiant Poppy, deranged Kled and estranged Lulu, but that was mostly because they were more than capable of defending themselves if they were ever threatened with violence. For other Yordles, physical altercations were best avoided.

Even with a rather large list of practical skills, without magical energy Sol’s friends and family knew that it would be best if he traveled prepared. Before departing, Sol was gifted an enchanted pendant that could accomplish such a task, but he soon discovered that his mana deficiency would cause issues. The glamour itself very slowly used up the wearer’s mana when being used, and in most cases, a regular Yordle could wear it for as long as they wanted since they would regenerate the energy just as fast as it was being depleted. So in Sol’s case, he could only activate the pendant for a few days before his body ran out of mana to power it, then he would have to travel as his regular fuzzy, self to recharge. There were many instances where that proved to be a huge disadvantage, but during his adventure, he just learned ways to work around it. 

Along with the stigma against his species, Sol also began to interact with various living creatures in the world. Some were warm and kind, others brave warriors filled with courage and honor, while a select few had bitterness and anger brewing within them. The growing Yordle had to observe and catalog every interaction as he started to develop his own set of rules to operate by when he revisited certain locations. His tome of rules slowly grew over time and he would openly share them with fellow Yordles that he happened to come across during his travels, for example:

 Never challenge a Noxian. Their hardy nature makes them competitive and their bloodthirsty traits mean it won’t take much until they lose their temper and draw a weapon.

If a Bilgewater pirate questions if you’re a Yordle, tell them you’re just small hairy and that they’re too drunk to tell. Also, always keep a few golden krakens with you whether you believe in their superstition or not, it may just save your life.

No matter how furry you are, always wear warm layers when traveling in Freljord and try to stay dry. Wet fur can turn into solid chunks of ice if you’re not careful.

STAY AWAY FROM THE SHADOW ISLES AT ALL COSTS

When in Piltover or Zaun, try to wear a magical glamour or at the very least wear a disguise. Both places demonize Yordles and have even imprisoned them. 

Piltover is nice, but there are many flashy hypocrites there who don’t know what they’re doing. However, you can always go to Heimerdinger at his laboratory for a safe haven since he’s a well-known researcher there. 

Zaun is dangerous for a litany of reasons, like roving madmen, and a bloodthirsty chimera wolf-thing and just rampant lawlessness. Also, be careful of friendly fire when traveling in Zaun, Ziggs is known to go crazy there from time to time. 

Sol’s notebook was starting to become an epic in its own right as it documented his travels day by day, carried numerous errata and inserted trinkets and drawings. His accumulated skills also made him a rather valuable asset in most situations as he was able to make himself useful in dire situations. Despite his short stature, Sol was able to repair a ship’s sail during a storm, cook meals for the less fortunate, and even help build makeshift shelters. Even though he wasn’t exactly perfect at the job, the mere fact that he would always volunteer to help and put himself out on the field made him very likable.  

He found himself partaking in many different adventures as he followed his heart and traveled all around the world. Sol had spent some time helping on a fishing boat, infiltrating bandit camps to save captured Yordles or even cavorting in ancient ruins to find treasure or long lost secrets. If anything, the exploration of it all appealed to him the most and he loved to dig deep into the history of long dead people and inspect the artifacts that they left behind. When he sometimes came into contact with ancient relics, they would flicker or light up as the energies bound within them were somehow stirred to life, but strangely enough, when he handed those very same items to his compatriots, the object would go silent. Sol would also discover old scrolls or books written in dead languages, but just after studying the strange iconography and hieroglyphs, he seemed to understand what they meant and in some cases could even pronounce them. Sol just attributed this to his litany of skills that he had built up though and didn’t think much of it. He never bothered to inspect the magical items further, since he knew that his minuscule amount of mana would never unlock the secrets within them.   

During one period, Sol had discovered a faded map of some ancient civilization in a nearby forest. He spent a week studying the language printed on it by reviewing what information he had and he deduced that there must be some kind of treasure hidden within. Sol gathered his belongings and started to move headstrong into the brush before he finally came upon his destination in a matter of two days. Using his uncanny ability to read the hieroglyphs and understand the ornate designs of the art on the walls, the charcoal black Yordle was able to avoid or even disarm most of the traps laid within the ruins before he finally discovered a hidden room with old leather-bound tome displayed on a plinth.  

Even though Sol was unsure of the book’s origin, he could at least surmise that it was important and the instant he set his hands on it, multicolored energy cascaded out of it in an aurora-like tornado. The book opened as light poured out of its pages and wisps of power trailed out into the world beyond. As the pages rapidly flipped in front of him, the Yordle looked on with confused awe as he realized that he was somehow barely reading the words as they flew past him. His lips began to move on their own as the energy within the pages abated and appeared to listen. But even then it was still too much. 

Sol had no idea how it was possible, but he could feel the energy pulsing through his veins before it started to become a searing hot pain that radiated through his arms and into his chest. The dark gray Yordle found himself unable to let go of the book, which brought a fresh wave of panic over him. He could feel his very life essence getting immolated from within as the foreign energies burnt to brightly inside of him. 

As he was about to pass out from the pain born of the immense power another aura entered the room. For a brief moment, a dark purple and green energy appeared before a bolt of arcane power shot out of the darkness and collided with the book in his hands. The force of the blast was enough to blast the book out of Sol’s hands before it spiraled away as a burning heap. Sol crumpled to the ground, chest heaving and his vision blurring as he barely registered a figure approaching him.

Clad in dark purple garb with a large wizard’s cap atop his midnight black fur, the infamous Yordle Veigar came forward and looked down at the fallen adventurer. Before Sol could speak though, the world around him faded to black as he slipped into unconsciousness. 

----------------------

III

By the time Sol woke up, he found himself in a candle-lit abode somewhere within some kind of intricate cave system. His body ached but he was at least thankful he could still move. He lay atop a creaky old bed, with some decrepit bookcases and drawers to act as furniture. Everything seemed to be secondhand, scavenged and mismatched, and yet whoever assembled everything at least took the time to clean the dust away somewhat. He could remember an infinite well of power being poured into his body. So much power that it was actually agonizing. 

Without any introduction, Veigar began to berate Sol for how foolish he was being. The dark master of evil wasted no time in explaining how the tome was cleverly hidden trap meant to entice any curious magic user into coming into contact with it all for the sake of burning them from the inside out. He then expounded that if it wasn’t for him, Sol would’ve been turned into a pile of ashes on the ruin floor. 

The only reason why Veigar had decided to intervene was that he noticed something strange about the trap that Sol had sprung. He explained that the book worked by manipulating a person’s innate mana pool to disrupt the inner balance within it. What he found interesting was that Sol didn’t explode as he thought he would and instead somehow started to read the text even though it was a long-dead language. Veigar then immediately began to question Sol’s identity and how he was able to not only read but speak the dead tongue but to his surprise, the dark gray Yordle could offer no solid answer.

“I just have a knack for it I guess.” Was Sol’s answer as he gave a nervous chuckle.

His answer only made Veigar raise an eyebrow skeptically before he let out an irritated sigh and reached into his coat. He then withdrew what looked like an old bone with odd letters scryed into it before he tossed it carelessly at Sol. The injured Yordle yelped as he just barely managed to catch it but the instant he saw the letters the gears began to turn in his head. It was another dialect vastly different from the ones he had seen in the book previously and yet there was some odd feeling of familiarity to them. Before Sol could ask what it was, Veigar also took out his short staff and began to focus malicious power into it. The Tiny Master of Evil then pointed the empowered end of the staff at Sol’s face before he demanded that he read the letters. 

Panic immediately consumed Sol as his eyes widened and he assured Veigar that he just had a faint clue as to what the letters meant, but he could already see that the pitch black Yordle did not believe him. Sol could feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest as the heat from Veigar’s magic staff brushed against his fur. He knew that reasoning wouldn’t work, so Sol looked down at the ancient bone and did his best to try and divine the meaning behind the letters. 

To his surprise, everything began to click for the charcoal gray Yordle as it seemed like the ancient inscriptions somehow morphed into the words and letters that he was familiar with. Unsure as to how it was possible, Sol didn’t care and simply began to recite the words on the bone, hoping that it would appease his captive. The more Sol spoke, the candles in the room began to burn brighter before they shifted into a lavender hue. He continued to read the words before Veigar finally snatched it out of his hands and snickered. 

Scared and confused, Sol asked the mage what just happened as Veigar just smirked at him. He was able to somehow divine the meaning behind dead languages before, but what he had done was on an entirely different level. Veigar then explained that somehow, someway, Sol’s innate trait was the ability to read and tap into the magic trapped within ancient artifacts. His lack of a large mana pool actually made him the perfect conduit for oddities and enchanted items to flow and mesh with him. 

To further prove his point, the pitch black Yordle went over to one of the nearby shelves and carelessly pulled out of the book before he threw it at Sol. He explained that many of the books that he had procured over the years were magical in nature and most were inscribed in foreign languages both living and dead. Sol gingerly opened the book up to a random page and to his surprise, he could understand the words in there as well. Next, Veigar took what looked like an orb of polished onyx and handed it to Sol. From what the mage knew, information within the book could unlock the true potential of the artifact and he asked that Sol read a passage to see if anything happened. 

Nervous, but now somehow energized at realizing his dormant talent, Sol carefully read the text before he slowly began to say the words. As he did, the orb began to vibrate and emit a low hum until it started to float. 

Giddy smiles spread across both Sol and Veigar’s face at the sight of the activated artifact before the black furred Yordle crossed his arms. He then gave Sol the opportunity of a lifetime by asking if he wanted to become his apprentice and help unlock and master the magic-infused within all of the items that he discovered. Feeling that he already owed the mage a debt for saving his life, Sol gladly accepted the offer and soon his real work began.

Once he was fully healed, Sol would spend hours pouring over books, scrolls, and engraved tablets while at the same time handling and coaxing the magic out of ancient artifacts and weapons. To both his and Veigar’s surprise, he was able to unlock their true potential fairly easily as the dead languages flowed from his mouth and further accelerated his learning. Sol’s arsenal of artifacts soon grew over the years as he and Veigar traveled around, collecting items and deciphering old script as the charcoal gray Yordle was perfectly content with being a lexicon of antiquated knowledge. 

[beanjuice-duh]

Infinity Times

a/n: I made a deal with @midnigtartist for every space themed Taz drawing she’d do I’d write a drabble so here we are. Some lyrics/ theme inspired by Sun from Sleeping at Last. Here is Lup. Summary: Lup goes through with her and Barry’s Lich initiation. She had underestimated the strain she forced herself into, her mind spirals as she desperately clings to the most important moments in her life. The moments that made her feel alive, all the while her lover and brother wait for her. w/c:~2.1k

Lup had no fears.

At least that’s what she told herself. Fear meant there was a moment she was unsure of herself. Unsure of her own prowess and if she allowed herself that moment of uncertainty…then someone would pay. Lup wouldn’t let anyone she loved pay for her uncertainties. She learned while being wild, young and on the run with her brother that life takes away so much. Family, home, security but Lup stopped worrying about the things life took and focused on the things love gave her. A twin whom she loved more than life itself, a boy she wanted to love for all her life, a group of friends that made up for a lifetime of dead-end family.

These bonds she built here, they built here. Were perfectly woven into her heart with golden strings. It was why she slept easy the night before her normal life would end. She slept well also knowing Taako would sleep none. He took on the burden of her woes, making an itemized list of what could go wrong and how many backup plans it would take to fix it. It was what he did best. Taako would weasel himself out of anything, death would be no different.

The morning came and Lup faced the day with a zeal, a glow to her as anticipation crippled most she pushed on.  She was doing this for something bigger than herself, which was how she was raised. Perhaps it was also the idea she had no idea what was going to happen. She had a rough understanding of the ritual but what to feel and expect were all just up in the air.

When the moment came, at dusk, she and Barry stood in front of the whale tooth ontop of the hill she felt it. The first wave of worry not for her, no she felt more than ready to handle anything. But Barry, her Barry, sweet Barry…she wondered how this task would weigh on him. Over the time they had been together, both officially and not, he had changed. What was once a weak willed constitution was replaced by something sturdier but even then she couldn’t help but worry for her bespectacled sweetheart. With a kiss she eased her worry and perhaps his, pulling away with a hand lingering on his cheek.

“You Ready?” She looked into his eyes and felt another nerve rip through her. If he wanted out, she would too. She’d back out for Barry…perhaps…she wanted to back out now too. “A-Are you sure you’re gonna be able to keep it together once you turn?”

Without hesitation Barry nodded, “Yeah” he smiled. “I got this.”  

There was a moment where Lup’s mind went blank. She didn’t remember what happened to her or what it looked like when Barry and her entered the runed circle. They touched hands and Barry channeled something strong. The moment she picked up on this spike of arcane power coming off him, the world went black.

Then it was like she was hurled into the sun. There was a hunger that consumed her. It seared every sinew along her body, it burrowed deep into the marrow of her bone. She felt hollowed out and replaced with power. Nothing but raw, hot power that ached and yearned to burst, there was no real description for what she felt other than chaos. Lup saw chaos and felt it swallow her whole.

Power this strong left her mind a barren wasteland, she was gone. Whoever she was, the person, the sister, friend and lover was gone. That Lup was free falling out of existence as the arcane power, as the lich ate her away. This was how she died. Not by the hunger that had threatened them from planet to planet but by the hunger in her, the hunger for power and lust for blood. In one brief moment, perhaps her last, of humane clarity she thought of what she was leaving behind as the arcane hunger evaporated her soul.

“Lup?”

A voice called to her, her facilities still impaired as her half eaten soul was slowly wasting away under the parasitic like grip of her own arcane power. This was an explosive, dangerous, all consuming power that she had no idea how to overcome. Lup had underestimated how difficult cheating life would truly be. But she had to fight, for this voice, this voice that washed over her. A familiar sound she couldn’t pinpoint from her nearly condemning state.

For a moment, she could breathe; her soul had some reprieve from this overwhelming darkness. She dug her fingers into the grove this voice allowed her, to pull her up, to have a leveled, fighting chance.

Thank the stars for that voice.

Now with a little more time, she began to combat the lich evil from taking over with the only weapon she had left in her. Her humanity, her life and all the loves she had.

With Barry, oh god, Barry. She squeezed her eyes tight and forced every moment from her best day with Barry from the moment they met, committing to memory every single moment. His smile, his stutter, the way his glasses fogged up when he flushed too hard. The way his hands fit so sweetly into hers. How impossibly simple it was to love someone, love them as hard as she did, and continue to love him at the end of many worlds.

Their once barren world, brimmed with life. Lup had long thought that her life had no room for love like that. Love like this, she has surviving, getting by, waiting for the next day but somewhere in that emptiness. There was room for Barry, just enough to make these years on the run something more than just survival. He made her feel like they were living. Every reset, every jump, Lup fell harder for him, every time she opened her eyes, he filled every inch of her with something the Hunger could not destroy.

Something the jumps between worlds could not reset. With space and time, taking these angry things, violent things and made them kind. There was a give to the universe, as if saying, this was not a lost cause. There was something here, there was hope and if it started with Barry then she would be damned to let him go.

Lup felt her hold on her humanity grow stronger; infinity times infinity times infinity.

There was a light in the pits of the swirling hell of pain, madness, chaos and power. The part of her that was gripping her with a hunger for strength began to loosen as light, love, and life spilled out of her eyes like tears of soft dewy stardrops.

“Live for Barry…” she whispered to herself hoisting herself up her uphill battle against raw power, against the dissolving sensation of becoming nothing.

Just as she felt herself climb up, she saw a darkness edge towards the cliff side of her consciousness and step hard on her fingers. A darkened, blackened silhouette of power and red, ribbon like flickers of lightening, it was her. Or the shape of her, expressionless, ominous and booming in a voice that made her mind numb, as if this shadow of Lup was speaking from the back of her mind.

“But don’t you want to be the strongest wizard that ever lived.”

That kind of power was painfully tantalizing. Never having to fear the hunger ever again, she would be far stronger. She wouldn’t even know how to feel fear. Only strength nothing but strength all the time. Her fingers started to lose their grip, her body was on fire again as her soul started to get eaten up again. Her images of Barry were slowly shredding away, grinded away by the promise of this lich.

If this was how she was to end, she felt pitifully sorry. That she was to die by giving up.

“Lulu?”

The voice had come back, she turned her head to the sound that had aided her before and through the black and red haze of her pain there was…Taako.

Taako stood there, looking up at this spectral form unaware of the war that was raging between Lup and this natural evil. He looked lost, worried, as if the psychic link they had shared as twins was truly severed for the first time and he was just as lost without her. There was a water forming along the corner of his eyes. Tears, Taako’s tears, Lup felt nothing but a twisted pain in what was left of her consciousness at this point.

“I’m so sorry, Taako…I’m not…”she watched as the light gently radiated through his glossy eyes as if he was somehow listening to Lup. “I’m not strong enough.” She clung tight to the wall and wondered how long it would take for everything to be gone if she let go. How soon would she forget it all?

At least she had the best day ever.

A day with her brother, her other half, a day of nothing but laughter and joy. He gave her that piece of solace, a small pint of light. If her best day ever was her last then perhaps this was it. This was time…

But why should it be? She had seen what light looked like. She had seen that even in a doomed planet there were moments of happiness among her friends, her lover, her brother. There was so much more to the life they were living that wasn’t suffering. There was promise here. Promise in a best day that more could happen, more best days were to come that were was more than a pint of light to life.

There had to be more light in her life that would go forgotten if she gave up now.

Lup reared her head to this darkened figure of hers and started to pull herself upward towards them.

“What are you doing!”

There was light on the other side of this darkness, just like there was light and love on the other side of the Hunger. There was more than pain and evil. There had to be, she believed that wholly. She was going to face this monster, this arcane fueled beast and own it. Because there was something on the other side of this cliff and it was waiting for her.

The beast roared at Lup as she scaled frantically, clawing at every beautiful memory she ever had. Clinging to the bonds of gold and light that she created, bonds she made, she had cultivated and protected and loved. “Let there be light” she whispered hopefully to herself. “Let there be light, let here be light” she pleaded as she drew herself nearer to the darkest side of this power. She pulled herself on to the top of it all and stood on what could only be described as the entirety of her power condensed like an unstable reactor core.

It was pitch black, with sparks of red electricity flickering off it. Her feet sunk into the darkness and crawled up towards her like tendril like feelers. Eerily similar to the Hunger the urge to run filled her senses. “Let me be right” she whispered as she slowly knelt down on top of this sphere, placed her hands on the top and took it all in.

The darkness.

The madness.

The chaos.

Her own hunger, she took it all in, all the wickedness in wanting more power, more chaos, more magic and at the end? White Light.

“Lulu?”

Lup opened her eyes and she was no longer in a dark place fighting for her soul. She looked down and noticed Taako had been standing there this whole time. She looked down and saw the grassy hill where Barry and her bodies were, and saw the lich Barry slowly return to his body. Had she…done it? She looked at Taako who waited tearfully for a sign his sister was still there.

She looked down at her arms and slowly forced this extension of her to extend her hands to the side as she dabbed down, eliciting a relieving chuckle from her twin before she slowly returned to her body.

When she opened her eyes a second time she was in her own body, she looked up and noticed two of the most beloved people in her life looking down at her, slowly helping her up. “So…how as…uh-uh…undying I guess?” Taako asked, curiosity mildly sparking in his still watery eyes.

“Yea…Lup how was it for you? Mine was a crazy trip…I don’t even remember half of it…”

Lup looked at them both and gently smiled. “There was…light.”

[libraryleopard]

btw when arcane s2 is done i expect the viktor video edit to “personal jesus” by depeche mode on my desk by monday

[lvdy4ixd-blog]

Music - Inspirations, Research, Background

What follows is not a write-up or reviews of albums/artists/mixes. Instead, treat it almost as a repository of the music I listened to for this project, that I felt I should share. Whether it be just background music, or something I connected to and felt inspired by. (in no specific order). 

[WARNING: MANY IMAGES. CLICK READ MORE AT OWN DISCRETION]

Format: Image Artist - Song/Album Link to stream Image Source

Colleen (aka  Cécile Schott ) at Big Ears Festival via RBR Stream: https://www.redbullradio.com/shows/main-stage/episodes/colleen-big-ears-festival Image: http://adhoc.fm/post/colleen-humming-fields/

Matana Roberts (Jazz composer, clarinetist, saxophonist, comoser, sound exerimentalist, multimedia artist) at Big Ears Festival via RBR Stream: https://www.redbullradio.com/shows/main-stage/episodes/matana-roberts-big-ears Image: https://www.timeout.com/newyork/blog/saxist-matana-roberts-discusses-this-weeks-michael-brown-memorial-benefit

Mary Lattimore (contemporary harpist) plays a selection of music she finds influential or inspiring, via RBR Stream: https://www.redbullradio.com/shows/headphone-highlights/episodes/mary-lattimore Image: http://nyc.thedelimagazine.com/category/bands/mary-lattimore

Tangerine Dream - Zeit Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjvF36gzLF8 Image: https://www.discogs.com/Tangerine-Dream-Zeit/master/13491

Zoviet France - Shouting at the Ground Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiGjkg3k650 Image: https://www.discogs.com/zoviet-france-Shouting-At-The-Ground/release/106038

Nocturnal Emissions - Spiritflesh Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a02dTvN7V0 Image: https://www.discogs.com/Nocturnal-Emissions-Spiritflesh/release/215700

Beardyman - Distractions Stream: https://beardyman1.bandcamp.com/album/distractions Image: https://beardyman1.bandcamp.com/album/distractions

M. Geddes Gengras’ live modular play-around for Fact TV’s ‘Against the Clock’ Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n3Sye0cLRI Image: http://www.factmag.com/2015/10/09/against-the-clock-m-geddes-gengras/

Murcof - Cosmos Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm9W83XJyGg&t=477s Image: https://www.discogs.com/Murcof-Cosmos/release/1030349

Murcof & Vanessa Wagner - Statea Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGGfLLkIoVc&t=883s Image: https://www.discogs.com/Murcof-x-Wagner-Statea/master/1061809

Amulets - Suitcase of Drone Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIiC0DSmLDE Image: youtube thumbnail

Vlsonn - Dronology Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4lW7-5YA3E Image: https://aufectrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/vlsonn-dronology-ep-2012-auf010

Pink Floyd - Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun (really, the whole album, but the title song specifically) Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OovgLbTLafw Image: https://www.discogs.com/Pink-Floyd-Set-The-Controls-For-The-Heart-Of-The-Sun/master/527597

The Taj Mahal Travellers - July 5, 1972 (low quality youtube stream...) Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3H4QIbcXpI Image: https://www.discogs.com/Taj-Mahal-Travellers-July-15-1972/release/3248859

Jeremy D. Larson - Undertones, Beyond Toru Takemitsu - exploration of japanese compositions with western influence, via RBR Stream: https://www.redbullradio.com/shows/undertones/episodes/beyond-toru-takemitsu Image: https://www.discogs.com/artist/115467-Toru-Takemitsu

Lulu Rouge - Landscape of Love Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzb909f87wI& Image: http://www.lulurouge.com/

Quintus Project - Night Flight Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGfBAk8UyPc Image: http://lexxmusic.com/quintus-project/

In general - all of raster noton - but here’s my favorites:

Aoki Takamasa + Tujiko Noriko - 28 Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrn1K7GKUDw Image: https://www.discogs.com/AOKI-Takamasa-Tujiko-Noriko-28/release/514574

Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto - Vrioon Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYeP8a_Y_0A Image: https://www.discogs.com/Alva-Noto-Ryuichi-Sakamoto-Vrioon/master/9557

Ryuichi Sakamoto - Async Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk_lK6wvAxY Image: https://www.discogs.com/Ryuichi-Sakamoto-Async/release/10092906

AOKI takamasa - rhythm variation 06 Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AovB1kid35o Image: https://www.discogs.com/AOKI-Takamasa-RV8/release/4605993

Kangding ray - these are my rivers (and as a lover of pixel-sorting.. the video is incredible) Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-Q4qzeuV-8 Image: https://www.discogs.com/Kangding-Ray-Cory-Arcane/master/916688

Kangding Ray - Amber Decay Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO40CaFEG5Y Image: https://www.discogs.com/Kangding-Ray-Solens-Arc/master/657222

Senking - Serpent Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM3mvTrkVZE Image: https://www.discogs.com/Senking-Closing-Ice/release/7548341

Back to our regularly scheduled programming____

Jeremy D. Larson explores Steve Reich in Undertones, via RBR Stream: https://www.redbullradio.com/shows/undertones/episodes/stevereich Image: http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/steve-reich-master-minimalism

Nobuo Uematsu - Liberi Fatali. So many memories from this. Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9IkmZLFkFw Image: http://2p.com/960165_1/Nobuo-Uematsu--Kenji-Ito-Join-Oceanhorn.htm

Secret Frequency Crew - Ghost in the Bayou Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGyjuhx3Qdg Image: https://www.discogs.com/Secret-Frequency-Crew-The-Black-Moss-EP/master/23221

Ludique - Nightfall Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0kUij5QPoA Image: https://www.discogs.com/Ludique-Ludique/master/414950

Chris Clark - Slow Spines Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKX7Knen4BI Image: https://www.discogs.com/Chris-Clark-Empty-The-Bones-Of-You/master/75463

Oh Land - numb Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqgqm07tk4M Image: https://www.discogs.com/Oh-Land-Fauna/master/756466

Hans Zimmer - Interstellar Suite Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgDDRQNHNfw Image: https://www.discogs.com/Hans-Zimmer-Interstellar-Original-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack/master/761723

Mr Oizo - Flat Beat Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmsbP13xu6k Image: https://www.discogs.com/Mr-Oizo-Flat-Beat/master/64910

Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92 Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw5AiRVqfqk Image: https://www.discogs.com/Aphex-Twin-Selected-Ambient-Works-85-92/master/565

Anna von Hausswolff mix for Headphone Highlights via RBR Stream: https://www.redbullradio.com/shows/headphone-highlights/episodes/anna-von-hausswolff Image: https://www.discogs.com/artist/1724854-Anna-von-Hausswolff

Hypnos Hour with Chelsea Wolfe - Extasis via RBR Stream: https://www.redbullradio.com/shows/hypnos-hour-chelsea-wolfe/episodes/extasis Image: https://www.discogs.com/artist/2078470-Chelsea-Wolfe

Dorit Chrysler: Theremin Tracks mix for Headphone Highlights via RBR Stream: https://www.redbullradio.com/shows/headphone-highlights/episodes/dorit-chrysler Image: https://www.discogs.com/artist/265773-Dorit-Chrysler

Daina D. mix for Minimal Mondays, via Minimal-lt Stream and Image: https://soundcloud.com/minimal-lt/daina-d-minimal-mondays

Fnuf. Heard him live when together with the rest of GSA Sports I organized the Late Night Session at the Art School. Stream: https://soundcloud.com/fnuf Image: https://fnuf.bandcamp.com/

Kaito - Inside River (Beatless Version) Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qnqo-9SaDU Image: https://www.discogs.com/Kaito-Special-Love/release/101656

Boards of Canada - Geogaddi Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FGtd3oH_PQ Image: https://www.discogs.com/Boards-Of-Canada-Geogaddi/master/2129

Venetian Snares - Traditional Synthesizer Music Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YYzx5PJIrg Image: https://www.discogs.com/Venetian-Snares-Traditional-Synthesizer-Music/master/956897

All of the Desert Sessions. Like. All of it. Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=632yZzoy9TU Image: https://www.discogs.com/Desert-Sessions-Volume-IVolume-II/master/115471

Tsuneo Imahori - Permanent Vacation Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxadFKYwbEs Image: https://www.discogs.com/Tsuneo-Imahori-Trigun-The-First-Donuts/release/1060606

Gato Barbieri and Don Cherry - Togetherness Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlVC0fFR8K4&list=PL33A706DA9FCC109C Image: https://www.discogs.com/Don-Cherry-Lee-Gato-Barbieri-Togetherness/master/39918

Connect.Ohm - 9980 Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmxBoFzdqVI Image: https://www.discogs.com/ConnectOhm-9980/master/492032

Coming back to Life Guitar Solo in NASA Space Chamber - title says it all. Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdpc6KbT7qo Image: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/multimedia/imagegallery/if_80_spf.html

Ornette Coleman Double Quartet - Free Jazz (and oh my the stereo! Beautiful!) Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bRTFr0ytA8 Image: https://www.discogs.com/Ornette-Coleman-Double-Quartet-Free-Jazz/master/28578

D Tiberio - Jerome Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5gxzgHtqMI Image: https://www.discogs.com/D-Tiberio-304/release/5286376

D Tiberio - Make It All (Everything) Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZaO5UM9ABw

Hidden Orchestra - Spoken Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDzPfOUlcg8 Image: https://www.discogs.com/Hidden-Orchestra-Archipelago/master/474982

Hidden Orchestra - Seven Hunters Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBIsw5rtWjk

DJ Shadow - Bergschrund (feat Nils Frahm) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_e-HYgzd7A

Autechre - Amber Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFqFyyay87s Image: https://www.discogs.com/Autechre-Amber/master/1302

Dub FX feat Mr Woodnote - Flow Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhBoR_tgXCI Image: https://www.discogs.com/Dub-FX-Everythinks-A-Ripple/release/1864600

Mr Woodnote - Get Down Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8p5GB_jasc Image: https://www.discogs.com/MrWoodnote-Winter-Of-Woodshed/release/2391092

[libraryleopard]

jinx if she got transported to the good timeline

[libraryleopard]

jayce: hextech is evil and i’m gonna destroy it

jayce: with my giant hextech hammer!!

[libraryleopard]

i certainly had some mixed thoughts on arcane s2 though i haven't really engaged in any fandom conversations about that because the internet is bad at nuance and my thoughts are neither "this season was perfect and smart and you're all just too stupid to understand it" or "this season killed my children, salted my land, and was utterly unredeemable." that being said, i do think it's fascinating how much more discourse i've seen about caitlyn's descent into fascism in s2 than jayce's in s1. (hot take caitlyn's story is about how privilege enables a character like her to do fucked-up things in the pursuit of revenge disguised as justice and later whether she can atone or forgive herself for that though i think maybe the show was a little rushed on that second aspect and perhaps dropped by ball by handing off so much of the responsibility to ambessa.) like jayce is a complicated and interesting character but in some ways i do feel like people have collective amnesia about the time that he did a little fascism speedrun by joining the council, kicking the voice of caution against hextech off the council, setting up militarized checkpoints, and killing a child with weaponized hextech because he wanted to take personal initiative against silco. doing those things despite being someone who sees himself as striving for the greater good is what makes him a complicated character and yet i rarely see people discuss that. on a related topic one could argue that a flaw in arcane is the way that centrally positioning single character arcs in the piltover-zaun conflict like that does focus on the individuals responsible rather than the system but honestly i still continue to mull over that season and a rewatch would probably solidify my thoughts.

[libraryleopard]

jayce i understand the intentions behind your imperfections speech but the man was also fucking dying from a terminal disease caused by pollution and classism 😭