#not to say that this is why arcane is trending but

[aesthetic-uni]

Okay Arcane Season 2 Final reaction -Episode 7

I am freaking the FUCK out

In case anyone is wondering, Jinx is my favorite, I want happiness for her, don’t get me wrong I love all the others but if she’s not happy by the end of this you won’t ever see me again

Opening vinyl-I literally stopped breathing ID THAT EKKO AND JINX AGSJRBLDJ?!?!

My king Ekko, where have you been all this time. Please come home we miss you

EKKO?! And is that little drawing Jinx??

OH ALTERNATE UNIVERSE TIME BABEY so many fanfics are going to go off this I can tell

EKKO!! He looks so handsome and alive!!! (My hopes for these characters ARE VERY LOW AS YOU CAN TELL)

Jinx looks so cute!!!

BENZO!! Oh my fucking god is this going to be a Happy Universe that NONE OF THEM ARE GOING TO GET?! I’m going to throw myself off a cliff.

Oh my god no one ever address Ekko’s trauma with Benzo I’m so glad they’re doing it THAT WAS HIS DAD!!

This is cruel. This is just cruel how DARE they give us a happy au

No Netflix I will not skip the intro fuck off

AAAAW EKKO NOO SEEING EVERYTHING THAT COULD HAVE BEEN

God Jinx looks SO CUTE I need so much fanart of her

Ps I know this is technically Powder, I’m too lazy to constantly switch names so Jinx

Also does she have a pink streak in her hair? I don’t like the implications of that

Aaaaaw they’re partners :((((

MYLO AND CLAGGOR HOW FUCKING DARE YOU HOW DARE YOU HOW DARE YOU OH FUCK OH GOD

Wait omg “Trouble in paradise” TIMEBOMB?!

I have gotten through THREE MINUTES OF THIS SHOW

Oh that cute Jinxer is here woo! Lmao Mylo is so real.

Aaaw Claggor he’s trying to help the city and he cares about his little sister AND HOW FUCKING DARE YOU ARCANE

AAAW JINX TRYING TO HELP MYLO FUCKING HELL ARCANE

“WHAT WOULD THEY DO WITHOUT YOU” JESUS CHRIST ARCANE

Okay this isn’t funny anymore where’s Vi

Okay but is it OUR professor?! (I can’t spell his name)

IT IS!!

Okay but WHY what’s happening with Jayce?!

VI VI VI VI VI

OH NO JAYCE WHY CANT HE BE HAPPY TOO?!

Ooooh his HAMMER is why he got sent to the apocalypse au huh

Is that evil Viktor. Is that the Machine Herald? IS IT TIME FOR GLORIOUS EVOLUTION?!

Wow I was just joking with the apocalypse au but it really was it huh?

Aw I like that Jinx kept her workshop

Is that a heart. Around a picture of them. IS TIMEBOMB ACTUALLY CANON IN THIS UNIVERSE?!

Wait, is this THEIR WORKSHOP?!

FUCK I KNEW VI WAS GOING TO BE DEAD GOD DAMN IT

Oh this isn’t happy at all :(

OH FUCK THIS ISNT HAPPY AT ALL

WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU SHOW ME THAT HOLY HELL?! OH MY GOD THERE WAS NO REASON FOR SHOWING ME THAT

Way to hammer it in Arcane for no fucking reason other than MAKING ME CRY YOU PIECE OF SHIT. LIKE I GOT IT. VI IS DEAD IN THAT UNIVERSE. DIDNT NEED TO SHOW ME HER SIBLINGS REACTING TO HER DEATH

GLORIOUS EVOLUTION HORROR

Oh god not doomed Timebomb IN THE FUCKING HAPPY AU

Poor Jayce just has to fucking go through it huh

Wow that is an understatement.

Okay but MelJayVik crumbs ILL TAKE IT

YEAH THE PERSEVERE JAYCE!!!!

NO STOP MAKING ME CRY WITH THE HAPPY AU

There’s not much I can say with Jayce other than holy fuck this poor man

God they could have been partners. They could have been the brightest minds in all of Zaun. They could have been HAPPY. I fucking hate this show why would you show me this. I’m never going to recover

HE BROKE TIME BABY!!! FOUR SECONDS BACKWARDS LETS GOOOO

God they are so in love. God this is going to kill me

Oh my god the fanartists and editors are going to MURDER me with the “Do you think we together in every universe” trend aren’t they?

SILCO?! ZAUNDADS CANON?!

Ekko hold on. EKKO HOLD ON.

Oh my god this reference to season 1 episode 4 how fucking dare you

HOW DARE YOU MAKE TIMEBOMB CANON LIKE THIS?! AURRRGGGHHHH

Ripping my hair out. Clawing my eyes out. Beating my chest until it caves in. This is everything I could ever want. HOW. DARE. YOU.

I love them. I love them so much. Why would you do this to me.

IM GOING TO BE FUCKING SICK

[demidolll]

WOOO HERE WE GO!! REACTIONS TO THE LAST EPISODE!!! SPOILERS!!!

^ i feel like i'm gonna laugh at that later.

oh my god the stop motion is gorgeous

jinx why are you doing that

JINX

SILCO'S CHAIR??? THE LAST DROP???

JINX NO DON'T KILL YOURSELF. OH MY GOD THAT'S THE SAME WAY SHE KILLED MILO AND CLAGGOR. I'M UNWELL

EKKO!!! BOY SAVIOUR DEAREST!!! BEST BOY!!!

HSJAHHAA THE WAY EKKO KEEPS CANCELLING JINX SETTING OFF THE BOMB THING

"always a dance with you" after he just danced with her in an alternate timeline :((

and her hair is short like there too now :((

"see if i can talk an old friend out of blowing us up" when she already blew them both up in season 1 during the bridge fight. oh the parallels. arcane you make me sick

watching the intro again, blind, for the last time ever. not skipping this time out of respect. as it plays, let me just say that suicidal jinx is written so beautifully and so accurately i am actually worried about the arcane writers. especially with the "please let me go" lyric playing right before the intro, when ekko is trying to make jinx not kill herself (and him)

aftercare ❌ planning a fight that starts a war ✅

anyway in season 1 the writers used a deez nuts joke, so i am choosing to believe that whatever is going on with the vi pov flashes is their take on the "subtle foreshadowing" trend. i will die on this hill

oh my god the parallel between vi freezing up when she sees blue hair under the enforcer's helmet and jinx freezing up in season 1 when one of the firelights was a girl with short pink hair. arcane writers i will have your heads on SIGHT.

on another note, this show is honestly one of parallels. by that logic i am declaring my last prediction, five minutes into the last episode; the season will end either with an explosion or with a fight on the bridge. i'm thinking explosion

naurr ambessa what the fuck that was NASTY

not the noxians sniping the sniper.. foul.

is that warwick???

LORIS NO

maddie is so cute you guys i can't even lie i get why caitlyn went for her

poor vi man she always gets more trauma

HELL YEAH BLUE ENFORCER GUY

IT DID NOT JUST GET JAMMED. WITH A FUCKING SCREW. WHY NOT COVER SUCH AN IMPORTANT PART UP???

boss music playing when ambessa shows up was not on my bingo

THE MADDIE BETRAYAL OH MY GOD. I MEAN I SAW IT COMING BUT IT'S SO GOOD. MAYBE THAT'S WHY IT'S SO GOOD. OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS GODDAMN SHOW.

anyway as i was saying boss music playing when ambessa shows up was not on my bingo card but it definitely should've been. that got a cackle out of me

did ambessa just say the professional version of "i told you so". that's what vi told caitlyn to tell her. now caitlyn is being told that

HOLY SHIT FUCK YEAH CAHOLY SHIT NO CAITLYN DON'T GET STABBED

yeah bitch doesn't feel so good to get hurt near your hip and be left whimpering now does it. this is how vi felt you ASSHOLE

HAAA NOT MADDIE GETTING SHOT BY HER OWN BULLET. ICONIC

MEL MEDARDA FUCK YEAH

why is humming intensifying OH FUCK YEAH JINX HELL YEAH THIS IS SO ICONIC JINX I LOVE YOU

HELL YEAH ZAUNITES!!!

the parallel between us being shown jinx fighting the firelights on a ship in season one. and now jinx is on a ship fighting WITH the firelights. parallels will be my undoing.

mel is iconic that's all i have to say

the hexcore is HOLLOW???

oh Wish!jesus how did you sneak in

EHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU

OH MY GOD THOSE CREATURE THINGS ARE TERRIFYING

SEVIKA NO DON'T TURN TO JESUS

HAAA THE BITCH SLAP

THE JESUS CREATURES ARE SO SCARY

NO DON'T KILL VI. DO NOT KILL VI.

OH MY GOD WARWICK LEAVE JINX ALONE

OH MY GOD EKKO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SAVING VI

AND THEN VI SAVES JINX. THIS IS THE GOLDEN TRIO I DON'T CARE

"choice is false" fuck you too viktor. i CHOOSE that you are a fuckwad

ambessa trying to stab caitlyn in the eye, jinx stabbing silco in the eye (with that needle). parallels

not caitlyn ending the fight with the blade that was INSIDE OF HER THIGH

"a wolf has no mercy" may be the most satisfying callback i have ever seen

...eh? mel sent ambessa to black rose but then took her back out?

"you are the wolf" do not make me cry. this is like "you're perfect" (silco to jinx) but with more context and layers and oh my god i'm gonna be SICK.

viktor you are NOT about to force corrupt jayce.

"i'm always with you" // "you were always with me; whispers on the street, hairs on the back of my neck" arcane writers i LOATHE you and that's a compliment

warwick leave my girls alone.

"dad?" i'm gonna CRY.

the way jinx just starts shooting again with no clear target. girl please remember what happened to silco

jinx + vi vs. vander and viktor vs. jayce was something i NEVER saw coming before i started watching season 2. i also did not expect to see it happen IN THE SAME SPACE.

the jesus follower creatures: *cutely tilts head at jayce*

oh my god viktor corrupted all my favourite girls. ekko do not get corrupted please i am begging

jayce is conscious within the jesus verse?

WOOO BOY SAVIOUR!!!

NOOO EKKO

YAAAYYY EKKO

NOOO EKKO

ekko how far did you just rewind

"that device can't be" ok and? yet it is still

viktor is losing jesusness? "losing my faith" moment?

"all i want is my partner back" jayce i WILL cry.

VIKTOR IS THE MAGE MAN IN THE HOOD THAT SAVED JAYCE'S MOM CONFIRMED!!! MY LONGEST THEORY HELL YEAH!!!

"in all timelines, in all possibilities, only you can show me this." you might as well have written him a love song, viktor.

viktor pushing jayce away like vi and caitlyn pushed each other away in the intro.

oh the art is so hauntingly majestic.

sorry did jayce just DIE.

holy shit it's raining bodies!!!

no i'm on jinx's side VI WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING

OH MY GOD WARWICK WHAT THE FUCK

poor jinx is being traumatised

OH MY GOD THEY'RE ALL DYING. IT'S BODIES BODIES BODIES UP IN HERE

"always with you, sis," i already talked about the always with x parallels but i think my heart just shattered into a million pieces and then got stomped on over and over again and the pieces were reassembled to spell out "FUCK YOU ARCANE VIEWERS" because WHAT THE FUCK ARCANE WRITERS WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK FUCK YOU YOU FUCKS??? WHAT THE FUCK???

oh my god that's jayce's mom right there :(

sevika is a councilor now oh my god i have so many thoughts

singed's daughter is alive??

fuck you black crow

omg is noxus mel's now

is vi okay???

vi!!! NO YOU ARE NOT SINGING THAT SONG.FUXJ YOU ARCANE WRITERS I'M GONNA SOB

(the series ending with the same song it started with being hummed. FILTHY. perfect circle, perfect parallel, i should've seen it coming, i didn't. i am ILL.)

vi resting her head on vi's shoulder after powder did the same with ekko in an alternate timeline. FOUL.

okay the episode just ended and i have absolutely nothing to say. this was. an experience. i am traumatised. what the fuck. this was beautiful.

30 minutes until arcane season 2 act 3!! i am not okay

predictions/bingo:

mel dies and/or loses autonomy (gets corrupted by black rose)

that golden thing on mel's back is magic

jinx starts doing shit again to honour isha

ambessa learns about communication & being truthful (but it's too late)

viktor lives (somehow)

warwick lives (somehow x2 maybe singed will save him?)

ONE (1) silly moment between vi and jinx. please just this crumb man arcane writers please

caitvi stick together again?

caitvi FUCKS (the buildup???)

uhhh what other characters exist

it'll be explained more thoroughly why jayce killed his boyfriend jesus

what other characters exist???

EKKO will reappear and save the day. boy saviour my beloved <333 i swear i have never seen a single hate comment on ekko he's so precious we all just universally love him

ekko will do something problematic (just because the writers like spiting us and we've all been on his side all this time)

ekko time power thing upgrade

jesus!viktor is the magic man in jayce's memory or something (you can't deny the similarities idc)

i have no clue what'll happen to heimerdinger so I'll just say he dies

lol i'm looking through the arcane wiki character list and basically everyone is dead fuck you arcane writers

sevika gets +1 arm again?? pls dude that poor woman

piltover + zaun vs noxus/black rose?

why is the hexcore listed as a character.

jayce mom returns and goes "son wtf have you done why did you kill a ma— a jesus??"

ekko's tree dies. i'm sorry buddy i don't see it living. unless ekko uses his new time power to reverse the damage or something but i don't think that's how it works

something happens with caitvi and they never see each other again

act 3 breaks my heart

act 3 makes me want to never draw and write ever again but simultaneously makes me want to make so much art

i will need therapy after act 3

YOU will need therapy after act 3

^ that will be all of us, everyone who watches arcane act 3

okay i think that was all. nine minutes left. may the lord (viktor, and also the writers) have mercy on us. lighting a candle and surrounding it with crystals for good luck. i have 4 earrings in and they all have moonstone. pls jesus (viktor, and the writers) go easy on us

[idkwhatimdoingbutslay]

Riot puts a tiny lesbian pin on Vi and suddenly Arcane is trending 🙄🙄🙄

We are gay, we are weak, and pandering keeps us fed

[lotusmuses]

ramblings about viktor:

viktor's "the final glorious evolution" and "i understand it now" (i'm referencing that tiktok trend where the guy fails, says that, and immediately does the same thing but perfectly after) he's about to lock in. i love his mentality devolving into the machine herald.

i just hope sky isn't gone forever now 😞 but she's not in game lore as far as i know, so she probably is?

i know people seem pretty split on whether that was her consciousness, the arcane manipulating viktor, or a manifestation of his guilt. i think the first two are both likely true, while the third doesn't make much sense to me (an extension of him? yes. his guilt? not so much). the arcane constantly recreates and destroys itself, so i have a feeling that it also destroyed/killed her and then remade her inside of itself.

it's kind of similar to the sci-fi cosmic horror movie Annihilation, by the end of the plot there's no distinction between the mc and the alien because of it's nature of turning things into it and also turning itself into what it comes in contact with.

she's sky and it's the arcane at the same time.

i don't think it's consciously manipulating vik either. his mindset hasn't changed all that much imo, but his goals now spread the arcane. i think when his blood came in contact, the arcane began to recognize him as part of itself, which is why it saved him, but also it means that it's actions are extensions of his own will and vice versa.

same with the people of the commune

less hivemind and more "singularity of mind". except the arcane is naturally dualistic "creating/destroying" so the other side of the coin is jayce.

[arcane-temp-fandomblog]

Season 2 Act 1 and where I think plot may be going next

I think it's fair to say that once Vi stood in Cait's way of taking that shot in episode 3 because of Isha - the whole killing off rest of the family plan by Jinx is off the table. I'm really amazed that the writers got the sister's to the death confrontation out of way before end of act 2. I think we will get reconciliation between Vi and Jinx by the end of the show.

Viktor probably feels he did more good by healing that one shimmer addict with magic than he did all these years being stuck in Piltover. Well by most measures that aren't producing wealth for the council, he did. It's good to remember these addicts can't even find safe heaven in Firelights. I think being away from Piltover is going to be great for him and the Machine Herald phase most likely will be a good development after he revisits his stance of non-violence, but for now I also really liked how he just left the moment he saw Jayce's hextech rifle plans on the desk.

Still while Viktor never wanted to make hextech weapons, I envision the moment shit hits the fan in Zaun vs Piltover - that stance will have to be heavily reconsidered by him.

I'm also interested why so many people think hexcore is steering Viktor by using Sky to idk. nefariously heal people no one else cares about? Instead of continuing the trend from Season 1 that Sky and Jayce are the only people that ever cared for Viktor's life and wanted to see him succeed. Then there's also whole contingent of people claiming he doesn't feel anything anymore, but idk. his face seems pretty sad (disclaimer, I have problems reading people's faces).

But who knows, I wasn't around for the leaks.

Cait has accepted the same deal Jayce did in Act 2 of Season 1, so being catapulted to position of power for someone else's gain. For Jayce it was Mel and council, for Cait it's Mel's mom and upper class of Piltover. My prognosis is that she will have as much fun as her 'not-brother' navigating the socio-economic political landscape. So none. Good luck girl. You'll need it.

On downside I thought it would be Heimer who will bring on downfall of Firelight hideout, but it may be Cait - they're the only two piltovians who know where it is.

Salo has grown on me, when he summed up Cait's squad escapades as just whimsy people eat up because of Kiramann name. He's not wrong thou not like he's any better. Loved the avengers like intro of the squad... and they fail.

Mel and her mom - wow. I love how the moment after explosion when Ambessa's mask falls as she's checking over Mel. And how stiffing Ambessa is because she will lead Mel 'to the right decision'.

Also Sevika and Jinx and Isha is the best. Jayce meeting Ekko and both of them sizing each other up with 'Hmm'. Love these non serious elements.

I like CaitVi development, it was very well set up in Season 1 on what are their blind spots and how their flaws actually can become problems when not addressed by each other. Especially Cait's habit to talk over people because she knows better. Love the writing and how logically it unfolds.

Also Cait using the ventilation her mom instructed to be build against civilians, and Jinx using the same airways to explode Piltover in colours. It goes both ways.

Ekko will probably come back from arcane acid trip with the chrono powers, no?

[peoplesrazor]

Lily Criticals you should watch Crim's new video.

CrimsonEnder goes into how and why he started talking about Lily and why he feels it's time to step back from that a bit. Rather topical given some recent discussions in the Lily Crit sphere of the internet.

Watch the video for a more detailed explanation.

I will add that Crimson has done some fine non-Lily videos and is well worth following for his other content. I'm looking forward to more video essays from him in the future as well as his call-in live stream The Inferno.

Myself, I plan to reblog more often from Lily's victims as well as thetepes posts on Lily's racism and ableism. I'll also start routinely posting Courtney's videos and channel to help them reach more people. I feel that's the least someone with only para-social interactions with Lily and her victims can do to keep the topic in focus.

I will still comment on Lily's media takes, for two reasons I feel are very important.

First, I feel Lily is very indicative of a current modern trend of anti-intellectualism. Because she sounds so authoritative when she speaks and with the way she frames her words, it sounds like the only way to view a topic. If she says something is fascist, a listener might conclude, then it must be fascist. It's absolutism at it's worst.

When things are framed this way, there is no room for discussion. No alternative interpretation of the source material. Not only is that dangerous, not only does that make people more susceptible to propaganda, but it's not as much fun.

Secondly, and more important to the current topic, I've found the more critically I examine Lily's videos, posts, and writings, the more I find clues to the kind of person she is. Take, for instance, her obvious interest in incest.

It's been, easily, 4 or 5 videos, likely more, in a row that she's mentioned incest in some manner. That's not including her harassment video. It's either a shot of a book title, an accusation toward a character, or a misreading of a situation, but it's always there in some manner these days.

Like her post about Vi and Caitlyn from Arcane. She hints that there is something wrong with Vi, because she thinks Arcane Jinx looks a little like League of Legends Cait. Those aren't even the same source material, Lily. * Not to mention that Vi hadn't even seen the current Jinx when she meets Cait and the attraction starts.

Either Lily's obsession with incest is so strong she can't help it slipping into her work, or she is trying to push an agenda to make it more mainstream.

And I, honestly, couldn't tell you which it is.

Of course, incest isn't the only thing you can find in her work. As mentioned there are clues to everything from her racism to her ableism to her limited world-views in her work. And I think that should be talked about sometimes.

But her victims deserve to have their voices be the loudest in this discussion.

*It took me forever to figure out how Jinx and Cait resembled each other even a little bit. I finally decided, that maybe, just based on hairstyles, and coloring, it was in game Cait and in show Jinx. I could very well be wrong, but they don't look like each other in the show at all. One way or the other this is major projection on Lily's part.

[raxistaicho]

Something I feel is key to any discussion about why Jeralt might have acted so severely when it comes to Rhea is his personal experience with the woman, what he thinks of her, what he feels he owes her, and what she did for him that she didn't do for others, including Sitri.

In the first support with Rhea we learn from her personally that Jeralt would likely describe her as "frightening" and that she sincerely doubts Jeralt would ever call her "incredible." She's also hurt by the truth that he never mentioned her. Jeralt himself wrote that he thought the world of Rhea, but there is also significant evidence to suggest that Rhea is not close with anyone but Byleth. Catherine's jealousy of Byleth, Rhea's admission of lonliness, and Archbishop Rhea's event in Fire Emblem Heroes all speak to intentional personal isolation. Jeralt was probably about as close to Rhea as Catherine was. They don't actually know her, just her authority, strength, and how she saved them. (Faerghus born. You do as your leader tells you and dedicate yourself to them fully.)

300+ years by Rhea's side. Garreg Mach has existed for nearly 1000 years. Sitri is attempt 11 at creating a vessel for the Goddess. (12 is a significant number in this game, as it also relates to the Nemesis having 11 Elites, 10 known and 1 secret, Edelgard having 11 siblings, 10 known and 1 step sibling, and putting Byleth at 13th for the vessels, which breaks the trend, but still maintains associations with the Olympians, bad luck, betrayal, and the Death tarot card indicating a need for change just like with Sylvain.) Thematic trivia aside, even at 1 vessel every 100 years, Jeralt was witness to 3 attempts, possibly 4 (Sitri) at using Sothis' Crest Stone to create a vessel.

We don't know too much about the others, whether their lives were akin to Sitri's or if they died at birth, or even if they lived full lives. Two of those options, and assuming Rhea got better at making vessels over time, means Jeralt likely met some of them. This was, as stated by Rhea, her mission after all. That and keeping Fodlan at peace so she could bring Sothis back to it.

Jeralt doesn't seem the kind to really give a shit about the arcane or experimentation in general. I doubt he knows what the hell has been happening the whole time he's been alongside Rhea. He just knows that she is something very powerful. He warns Byleth not to trust her, and granted this is right after returning to Garreg Mach after running away because he doesn't trust her, it's equally important to recognise why Jeralt went back after all this time. He knows he doesn't have a choice. Alois found him and clocked that he has a child. That guy has a big mouth and Rhea would absolutely find out. Refusing her isn't something within his power to do or he wouldn't have stolen away into the night in the first place.

He doesn't really object to what the Church is doing, he did it for long enough, but he knows that he's outclassed by Rhea and doesn't have the power to refuse her. That's why he faked Byleth's death and informed Rhea before leaving instead of just taking the kid and running. (We know Jeralt doesn't leave until after the fire has been quelled because he is the one to tell her the news of Byleth's death.) She would have stopped them.

So what DOES Jeralt know about Rhea and her experimentation?

Well, a big thing is that Jeralt is very aware that he should be dead. That he died in a battle as a young man saving Rhea from death.

Rhea says that Jeralt was mortally wounded, and we don't know enough about what (pure) Nabatean blood can actually do to a person to say either way if a person needs to be alive for the resurrection to work, but the Elites and Nemesis were definitely dead if that helps confuse matters. (I mention pure Nabatean blood to disqualify Seteth, Flayn, and Seteth's brothers. We know for a fact that Rhea is directly related to Sothis, but neither Seteth, his brothers, or Flayn state a definite relationship to Rhea like they do with each other, or state a direct relationship to Sothis as Rhea does.)

Jeralt feels like he owes his life to Rhea right up until the events with Sitri and Byleth. She did save him after all and Faerghus goes a long way to instill ideas of eternal loyalty to a ruler/leader.

He knows, personally and for a fact that Rhea can bring people back from near death. Mortally wounded. Something seen as beyond exceptional in a world where 1hp is fixed up with healing magic no problem and Miracle exists. It also gave him a Major Crest. Something Jeralt doesn't seem as very keen on mentioning and definitely didn't make him start acting like one of the Goddess' chosen. He likely knew something was up even then, but not what it was.

Coupled with 300 years of working alongside a woman who also doesn't age, perpetuates a history of Crests being granted by the Goddess, which contradicts his lived experience, and the knowledge that Rhea is essentially an arbiter on who lives and who dies even from wounds so fatal that Faith magic was a lacking intervention. He's probably asking himself...

Why is Sitri dead?

What the hell could have happened in there that the Archbishop of over 300 years, the Goddess' most dedicated servant couldn't use Faith magic to prevent? What happened in there that was so severe the method Rhea used to save him all those years ago wasn't viable? Why didn't Rhea save his wife? He's been her Captain for several centuries! Sitri was akin to a daughter to Rhea! (Something very uncommon.) What profane thing could have stopped *her* from getting her way?

Then there's the matter of Byleth's heartbeat, how they don't cry, how they don't emote or fuss, or anything at all. Not to mention the fact that Byleth might possibly have a scar over their chest.

What does "traded her life for" *actually* mean? He doesn't know about the Crest Stone, but he knows Rhea can do *something* to save a life. But why would that be necessary? The line sounds like the death in childbirth was the exchange, but that shouldn't have killed someone in Rhea's care. Not according to all the information he has.

She has to have done something. He doesn't know what it is, but Rhea made the choice to exchange Sitri's life for Byleth's and now she's covetous of the child, telling Jeralt not to worry and having them watched.

Jeralt mentioning how Rhea reacted to Byleth's death is also telling.

"Lady Rhea was in a state over the news."

Lady Rhea wasn't in a state over Aelfric's death, or Jeralt's. I expect she wasn't in a state over Sitri's not because she doesn't care about her as much as she does Byleth, but due to the circumstances of Sitri's death, it was a request out of love.

So if Rhea is known to be hard to crack, and Jeralt believes her to be terrifying, and Rhea believes Jeralt should think she's terrifying, what other "states" does Rhea have? It must have been significant for Jeralt to be shaken and Rhea to understand that reaction even from someone who thought the world of her. It's probably nothing as severe as turning into the Immaculate One. But Rhea just lost access to her mother's Crest Stone. *The* thing she needs to bring Sothis back. The reason she's doing all of this! Echoes of "give it back" ring in my mind. She definitely did well to not degenerate right then. Possibly because Byleth's body would still be in Garreg Mach, and then later when she realised the deception, out there in the world guarded by the man who kept her safe for 300 years and loved his child enough to fake their death. The same man who cared for Sitri. Rhea would have needed to wait for Byleth to grow up anyway, and she, Jeralt and Byleth have nothing but time.

Back to Jeralt specifically. The veritable necromancer in his life didn't save his wife during a childbirth, seems to want to keep Byleth close, which can't be because they're Sitri's child otherwise, why not just save Sitri, y'know? So Sitri needed to die and Byleth is even stranger than their mother was.

Sitri also didn't emote to anyone but Jeralt (Crest of Seiros), but Byleth isn't emoting even for him. (*Heavy bias* but the trigger for Byleth was probably the proximity of another Crest of Flames.) So his child is even stranger than their mother, maybe even in the same way as the other vessels he incidentally met over the years.

Really the only conclusion Jeralt can draw is that Rhea did something to Byleth and Sitri. Traded their lives. Something beyond healing magic or whatever thing Rhea did to him. Something immense, beyond even the baseline be already has for her capable of granting an extended life and Crest. Something that might have been the reason Sitri could never leave the monastery. She was unwell, but Jeralt is a very capable man. Byleth seemed healthy, but the Church didn't seem willing to let them go.

It's not at all a stretch, even with the little Jeralt actually knows, to assume Rhea did something profound.

Not divine. At least not in any way she advertises.

Did she swap their souls? Something like that?

Did he find it strange later in life that Byleth didn't manifest his Crest of Seiros? Even if he didn't buy into the Goddess blessing, he must know through sheer exposure that Crests are inherited and that the further the bloodlines get from those originally "blessed" the likelihood goes down. As someone personally "blessed" with a Major Crest, Byleth not having one is an oddity itself.

Maybe that's what kept him away.

Jeralt didn't just leave. He stayed away. He stayed away for two decades, making the choice not to return every time he thought about it.

This wasn't just about whatever Rhea did, it was also about what Rhea might have done to Byleth, trapping them in Garreg Mach like she did to their mother, his wife.

And he was right. He saw the writing on the wall perfectly. Rhea actually giving such a shit about Byleth's "death" confirmed it in his mind. Rhea did something forbidden (confirmed by Seteth in FEH) and his child was the subject. He's even still fearful and that's why he lies to Rhea at first. "This is not Sitri's child. I know you care about them being Sitri's child. This isn't about me." Is basically what he's saying.

Make whatever excuses you will, but Rhea wasn't not going to try and have Sothis brought out in Byleth just because they stayed at the Monastery.

Imagine if Rhea had been the one to hear Byleth was dreaming of the war with Nemesis?

That kid is never ever leaving those halls. Jeralt be damned.

I think Rhea is a fantastic character, she's amazing, third only to Byleth and Edelgard in my mind. But don't for one second think her intention isn't Sothis first, Byleth second. That's why we went to the Holy Tomb.

Jeralt wasn't irrational. Rhea isn't suddenly "right" because the ritual with the throne didn't work. We actually don't even know if that's the case or if Sothis just beat Rhea to the punch and gave herself up to Byleth before the reverse was made to happen.

Her intention to have Sothis overtake Byleth was the thing Jeralt was detecting. The feasibility of that act is secondary to Rhea's sudden possible human sacrifice of the woman he loved. If someone looks like they're going to murder you, you don't say "let's see how this plays out." You take precautions, and his theory was validated enough by Rhea's reaction to Byleth's faked death and was enough to keep him away every day afterwards.

If the ritual at the Holy Tomb had worked, killing Jeralt might have been the Slither's most colossal fuck up, because he might have been the only person besides Edelgard to have enough knowledge to even think about intervening.

Bonus Jeralt theory. Jeralt doesn't align with any nation anymore. He doesn't wear any of their colours. However, the closest match is the Alliance. Why? Well, Jeralt was born over 300 years ago and served the Faerghus military, however, his homeland very well might have been one of the ones that broke off into the Alliance after he had already joined Rhea.

Since he then goes on to live in Remire, Jeralt could be one of the only characters to have relevant ties to all three nations.

The separation of his homeland from the Kingdom might also has served to make him disinterested in the idea of sovereignty or the idea that Fodlan even has nations worth mentioning since they can just *change* whenever. Again, something we see happen in the game itself as Fodlan reunifies in what would have been his lifespan had Kronya not cut it... long? Either way, it explains why he does not care where he was from or bother to explain anything to Byleth, it's all immaterial if you live long enough. (Which also reflects Rhea's view of Fodlan.)

(Apologies for writing you another novel. I hope you don't mind, I'm incapable of brevity. I just think the idea Jeralt overreacted with the amount of context he had about Rhea's abilities, especially since he was 100% correct, is silly. Also the Crest of Seiros is The High Priestess and that's all about trusting your intuition, which is what he did, and he dies soon after he second-guesses his decision. Theming!)

Nah, don't worry, that was all very interesting! :) Thanks for sharing your thoughts and analysis!

[devondespresso]

Writers 20 questions tag game!!

tagged by the beloved @eriquin 💕💗💖 i haven't been able to participate in a lot of tag games lately (as evident by this being at least a week late ahnsgdsynkd)(edit: its been way more than a week) but i still really really appreciate the tags!!

divider by @/saradika-graphics

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

7 !! I think i still need to put one up there but i haven't yet cause i wanna edit the ending a tad

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

10,746

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Stranger Thingssssss, and i think its fair to say the Steve Harrington fandom specifically gdnzngxngxgn

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Sweet and Spicy (the one steddie drabble tdnydyndny), My Sunshine, I Can Only Hope Now, Never Again, and Mr. Crayola Henderson

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes absolutely!! its usually a lot of heart emojis and keyboard smashes mixed in with my actual response zgnzgbzgnzng

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

uhhh itd probably have to be Never Again still, i usually like to lean positive with my endings, that whole love-being-alive thing, so whenever i don't its usually because the focus is a different strong emotion that'd conflict with blatant positivity.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

oo okay also hard to decide for the same reason, I'd say the ending that feels happiest is probably from either I Can Only Hope Now (the Claudia prompt) or Now That We're Alive because both go from sad to happy and hopeful for the future. My Sunshine ends on a good note but its less "aw yippee!" and more "AAAAAAAAAAAA". I like my drabbles (under 400 words) to end pretty fluffy so far, and stuff like Mr. Crayola Henderson stays a pretty consistent light and fun so I don't think the happy end hits as hard.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

no, thank god, not yet anyway

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

nopeeee tho Never Again has an E and M version it's not exactly fun enough to be smut i don't think

10. Do you write crossovers?

also nope

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that im aware?? I'd be pretty pissed if it was but also like. is it doing well? is it popular? 👀

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

not that im aware but i give full permission if anyone wants to

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

nope, most ive done is bounce ideas or beta, but I'd be down to try it!

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

i don't know if i have one?? just in general for stranger things i enjoy steve ships a lot. big fan of Vi and Caitlyn from Arcane but im not really in fandom for that show cause what would i change?? im very much a gen fic enjoyer and if i had to list all my fav platonic dynamics... we'd be here a while xgnzngzgn

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

oh irony my cruelest adversary. a few months ago i was happy and ignorant in my haven of only one active wip. Now there's a small handful, and unless i get possesed with the same emotions i was venting in it, i fear the short Robin-centric letter style thing won't be finished soon. its decent so far but there would be a good bit of editing trying to actually articulate the feeling in a realistic way plus fitting it to Robin's first-person writing style. I don't intend to drop it but lately it just calls to me the least, but that could change

16. What are your writing strengths?

i think its a strange mix of intuition and a technical understanding of writing that works really well for the way i think. Its very broad and basically has no rules, just a understanding of how my favorite stories work, how most writing rules are really trends that tend to work better and then you can dig deeper behind a lot of them to see the *why* behind it. that plus trusting the nagging feeling that something's off makes editing my most productive stage, i can vibe check the area and then start digging dgnxnhxngxng

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

god this changes every time i revisit this draft xumxhmxmxhm this time its probably character introspection. i love writing like a movie and having character action or dialogue or setting or symbols communicate things, but putting down what the characters thinking with similar tact is soooo harddddddd and especially in angst or emotion moments, i want my readers caught in the same thought process as the pov character, i want it to feel so real that even if they never experienced the situation the characters in and even if they know logically the characters wrong, they understand. and that unfortunately involves bypassing their stance as an outside perspective on the matter, which is uhhhhh very very hard xhmznhxhnxhm

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Depends on the intent, i think it works best when the author speaks the language themselves, and especially with stuff like asl it helps clarify the grammatic differences. I think if its a language the pov character isn't supposed to understand then "said something in x language" works better for universal immersion.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Stranger things babeyyyyyy, i actually started writing the Steve Henderson au first, tho the first drafts of chapters are very different from current ones

20. Favorite fic you've written?

MY SUNSHINE!!!!!!! i am so open about my favouritism with that one, its the most contemplative and atmospheric and emotional and its short enough that i was spending time on every word, every line to make sure it felt right and contributed to the picture i wanted. they say its more achievable (compared to long fiction) to make a perfect short story and that's what My Sunshine feels like to me, the perfect little taste of themes I'm enjoying most in writing rn, specifically with the Steve Henderson au (my second favourite fic xgnxngxgn)

i forget how many ppl im supposed to tag so im gonna do 20, no pressure ofc!! @marvel-ous-m @acasualcrossfade @pearynice @imfinereallyy @tinytalkingtina

@klausinamarink @puppy-steve @queenie-ofthe-void @eyesofshinigami @stellarspecter

@dreamwatch @lightoftheseraph @withacapitalp @findafight @hbyrde36

@vegasol @carolperkinsexgirlfriend @lingeringmirth @momotonescreaming @sourw0lfs

[duckprintspress]

Why Query Letters are Good Actually 

Part One of a Two-part series of guest posts by Alec J. Marsh.

Hello, it’s me, Alec. I’m a new editor to Duck Prints Press and the resident corporate shill sellout. I love Duck Prints Press and their ethics (and will write an opinion piece soon on why they rock and you should submit to them). I also…. love traditional publishing. 

I’m sorry! I know this makes me a trend-following sheep. I know it’s a hot take in the indie pub crowd. Traditional publishing absolutely has its flaws, and I could go on at length about them. I’m still aiming to get my novels traditionally published. I want to be able to find my book at a Barnes & Noble and be nominated for a Hugo. Sorry not sorry. 

One of the worst parts of traditional publishing is the arcane hoops you have to jump through to participate. As anyone who has poked querying with a long, tentative stick knows, there are many requirements, and every agent’s website uses slightly different phrasing, and it’s a nightmare to navigate. It’s an extra nightmare if you’re neurodivergent and desperately seeking a clear, simple list of expectations. Unfortunately, the basic requirements are there for a reason. A GOOD reason. Learning the skills required to put together a good query package will serve you well, whether you want a ten-book deal with Tor, to sell hand-stapled zines at the local convention, or anything in between. 

So let’s get into it! 

The first thing you need in any submission process is a query letter. What is a query letter? In short, it’s a 3-5 paragraph essay about your book, yourself, and why a publisher should buy your work (and therefore why an agent should agree to represent you). You need to tell the agent the genre, the plot, and why this book is special. They are excruciating to write, because yes, you need to condense your book down to 300 words, maximum, and sell it at the same time. 

But imagine, for a moment, that you’ve walked into Ye Olde Barnes & Noble. There, on the end cap, is a cool new fantasy book you’ve never heard of. The cover has a sword and a snake on it, and you like swords and snakes. But how is it different from the 20 other books with names like A Court of Swords and Snakes that have come out in the last five years? The first thing you do is pick the book up, turn to the back cover, and read. 

You know what’s on the back cover? 

Paragraph one: In a stunning tour de force, ACOSAS takes you through the glittering world of naga politics… (A teaser sentence)  

Paragraph two: Princess Arya has always wanted to be a dancer. But when the evil northerners attack her kingdom… (A paragraph about the main character and the central conflict of the book) 

Paragraph three: Alec J Marsh lives in the Pacific Northwest and has never seen a snake in the wild. (A biography of the author) 

Guess what you just read? A query letter. In many cases, what’s in the blurb is actually pretty close to the exact query letter the author originally sent to their agent. Yes, really. Sometimes a query letter makes it from agent to editor to publicist to final copy.

They’re that important. 

But Alec, I hear you say, I’m not planning to get trad published! Why do I need to do this? Well, indie and self-published people—you will need to write cover copy for your book. And you’ll almost certainly need to write it yourself. The good and the bad part of self-publishing is that you do everything yourself. Less meddling (good!), but less help (bad!). And here’s the hard truth: absolutely no one will spend a single one of their hard-earned dollars on “sex babes get pounded by space aliens” if the back cover says “lol I suck at summaries, I promise it’s good :)” It’s useless, and it’s disrespectful to the buyer’s time and money. 

And that is why query letters are good, actually, for all writers, and are worth practicing how to create!

So go out there and sell your books, and you’ll accidentally write your query along the way. 

In Installment Two…now that I’ve convinced you that you should write a query letter, I’ll go over how to actually, you know, do that. Coming soon!

[jones-friend]

I PLAYED THREE MORE GAMES TODAY

I’ve just about caught up on my Gencon list now that I’m back to more regular game nights. Today I got three games in the very solid 6-7/10 category, all things that have interesting stuff going on.

Nexus Infernum, like Eschaton later on, are by Archon Games. Archon has a very defined sense of theme with excellent presentation. Even the rules are dripping with flavor text.

In Nexus Infernum players compete to become the most blasphemous necromancer by sending their skelemans to the portals for arcane energies used to commune with demos. Commune with two matching demons of the same tier to form a pact (unlock abilities on your mat) or even find an infernal patron to lend their efforts to your cause. Battle other necromancers’ skelemans to steal their blasphemy (victory points) and gather up energy for big turns or big points.

Nexus Infernum was delightfully light. It did not overstay its welcome. For its scope the game did exactly what it needed to do and was a delightful play for the spooky month. This game is highly influenced by luck. Its a dice roll to summon a new skeleman, its a dice roll to attack, its a dice roll to gather resources, its a roll to see what resources spawn. The game doesn’t have too many ways to mitigate luck, sure you can roll again with some abilities or “roll with advantage” but there’s not much for bumping up the value of a roll. Much of the game is rolling then making a plan from there. If you don’t like games with medium to higher levels of luck this game isn’t for you. If you are enchanted by the game’s presentation I recommend it!

I’m noticing a trend with modern games where they glue together two proven games. This isn’t a bad thing! Ruins of Arnak glues together deckbuilder and worker placement. Eschaton glues together deckbuilder and a Risk-like territory control.

In Eschaton each player heads a cult during the end times. They vie for power across the land searching for artifacts and infernal allies to bolster their ranks and grow their cult as events and omens are revealed. Each turn has four parts: Zeal (draw more cards), Divine (sift through the arcane deck for artifacts, infernal allies, etc), Influence (buy step), and Aggression (board actions like amass cubes and take out enemy cubes). Each region provides points should you have the most cubes there at the end of the game. Some cards from the arcana deck give points as well. Each turn begins with some event or omen (competing goal) to play for.

Eschaton, like Nexus, isn’t the most finely tuned game but it is very fun. Figuring out how all the game pieces work together feels good and since cards don’t have individual abilities just numbers added to each phase sifting through cards to add is never overwhelming. Presentation is also very strong here, I love that if the game ends in a tie everybody loses, someone must WIN.

Its expansion adds asymmetry and a neutral or npc faction. I liked Eschaton! Very grimdark and enjoyable, good theming, and the dominance and omen mechanics force a lot of change through the game to keep people from getting complacent. Its fun!

Decorum is the most passive aggressive cooperative game I’ve played. Each player is a roommate in a shared house with their own personal goals for what the house needs to look like, with the catch being you must be vague about your personal goals. You can say if you like certain changes but you can’t articulate why, showing a clue silently to other players during “family meeting” rounds. There’s multiple colors, types, styles, and kinds of furnishings you work together to set up.

Decorum is set up in campaigns and feels good as a cooperative puzzle. I don’t think the passive aggressive response quite worked out, but as a deduction game its good. Our set had great resin pieces and the game never felt unfair, and we solved our first puzzle with 5-6 turns to spare. For more intense puzzle game enjoyers this will be on the lighter side of things. For myself I had a good time.

[hexhomos]

I'm sorry if you've been asked this before but what are your thoughts about Arcane potentially being canon? I do not like it.

And if you don't mind answering another question, how do you feel about the way people sort of interpret Jayce and Viktor?

I don't think it's a good idea and it strips away many of the interesting things about these characters and the *universe's story as a whole* to exclusively represent the simplified, time-limited version of events that could fit the runtime of a TV show.

I've been asked this before and I always say this: Arcane is the MCU version of league lore; with the same strengths (improved visuals, the fast pacing of a cinematographic adaptation) and same biggest weaknesses (flimsy story summarizations that sacrifice a lot of the compelling narrative and kill entire characters)

I've been a comic fan for nearly as long as the MCU has been viral and I can tell you every attempt to retcon MCU events into the estabilished comic universe has not worked. It has the opposite effect of interrupting character arcs and stories people actually like and undoing pre-estabilished facts about the magic of the universe, driving away fans of the original medium while failing to attract the new movie/tv-show audience to check out the original, because those are completely different demographics.

It's even worse with Arcane, as we already KNOW one big joke in the fanbase is "even if you like the show, dont play the game. It's stupid bigoted redditor shit and it sucks" - there's an entire genre of arcane fan accounts who are militant about not playing the game and encourage others to never play the game. I don't think league's execs understand this, though, which is why we are seeing this current trend of a DRASTIC pullback in any and all lore-related content for league coming from higher-ups, and some of the old estabilished writers leaving the company while CEOs promise they're trying to find "an unified version of the narrative experience."

To stay on topic here and also answer your second question; ive rambled at length about jayce viktor interpretations in my meta tag. I reccomend you to look there! You'll notice i havent gone into specifics about what in arcane's narrative is weaker since its included on those.

I'd like to finish this post in another way though. In the long run, I don't think it matters that execs are trying to force narrative retcons despite the internal and external negative response to it. Fans will always like the specific thing they like, and in this scenario, start to define what versions of the universe/character they're talking about by release year or authorship, which is already happening in league. This is why the vikjayce codex exists and will not change, and this is why you see people using "2011/2016 lore" and "jayce giopara", etc.

Remember all these MCU retcons I mentioned? Whenever a movie is past its expiration date and the story element they tried to fit into original canon is considered a fad, it's just rewritten back to what it used to be. The newest marvel news this month is that CEOs decided to kill kamala khan ahead of her upcoming movie, as the MCU couldn't fit her signature elastigirl powers and they want to swap those out for the dumb purple magic the movies gave her instead. This will not last, as these never do. In 4 years she'll be back to normal, and in the meantime, elastigirl kamala will continue to exist in all her source books and videogames. The same way league's original bios are preserved and spin-off game content like the LOR comics or Convergence will continue to exist; I can't change any shortsighted decision from the CEOs, but fans as a whole have systems to define different universes and pick the version they like best.

Arcane has been called an AU by people who've worked in LoL's narrative, and is just the newest shiny thing. It is not "canon", as it never fit any part of the current game universe, and any future attempt to "make it canon" is just another permutation of an AU. I would encourage anyone who's nervous or anxious about retcons to not give a shit and disregard it altogether. If it doesn't work, you can always change it back.

[exsanguidus]

Moon Elves

Like all elves, the Teu-tel-quessir were tall, close to humans in height, but more slender and beautiful. Moon elf skin was pale, often with an icy blue hue. Moon elf hair was commonly black, blue, or silvery white, although human-like colors were heard of as well, though very rare. Moon elf eyes, like those of other elves, were very commonly green, although some were blue as well. All exhibited a characteristic best described as golden flecks speckled through the iris. Male moon elves were typically taller than females.

Of all the elven races, moon elves were the most impulsive, with a strong distaste for complacency or isolation. Moon elves longed to be on the road, traveling and exploring the untamed wilderness that lay between cities and nations. This extroverted quality was part of the reason why moon elves got along uncommonly well with other races and had come to the conclusion that the N-Tel-Quess were not necessarily as foolhardy or unworthy as their brethren might think. Moon elves, rather than feeling that interaction outside of their race diminished or weakened them, believed that interacting with other races, humans in particular, was the best way to spread the values of the Tel-quessir races, thereby strengthening their culture.

Moon elven society was often loosely organized and few moon elves stayed in one place for more than a season or two, preferring a nomadic lifestyle. Moon elves were generally comfortable living amongst other elves, particularly sun elves, as well as gnomes, humans, or halflings. Most moon elves organized themselves into groups of a dozen extended families or so, each ruled democratically, although often with de facto leaders whose say held more weight than anyone else's, an individual most often respected for either their age or their martial skill. Wherever they lived, moon elves were unassuming, with homes that were humble, if comfortable.

Although often light-hearted and at ease, moon elves could leap to action if danger came around. Like other elves, moon elves made sure that nearly all of their members were trained to wield a weapon and many also had some small skill in magic. However, even in dark times, moon elves tended to find something to brighten them up, a quality that could be valuable for maintaining morale.

It was not uncommon for a moon elf to take on the life of an adventurer. After all, moon elves were innately a race driven by wanderlust and the desire to learn or do good. Altogether, moon elves were individualistic and most believed sincerely that each person could make a difference in the world, for better or worse. Because moon elves had an innate sense of altruism and good will to others, most moon elven adventurers were heroes, rather than villains, though both existed.

Those who did turn to an adventurer's lifestyle commonly embraced the musical path of a bard; the martial lifestyle of a fighter, ranger, or rogue; or studied to become wizards. Some might also become, later in life, arcane archers or bladesingers and during the organization's existence, many also felt a calling to the way of the Harpers.

Generally, moon elves took things with little gravity, instead taking joy in the simple things of life, a trend that their music and art reflected, which were more often joyous than solemn. Moon elves were themselves very fond of art and had both a strong bardic tradition and a history of painting and sculpting. For entertainment, moon elves preferred to gamble, taking little risks as part of the fun. Similarly, drinking and reveling was an important part of moon elven culture.

Like most elves, moon elves preferred clothing of simple design but exquisite making, using the finest textiles and most beautiful weaving designs available but typically making simple cuts and measurements, finding showy flourishes unnecessary. Moon elven clothing was often flashy in other ways, however, with bright colors popular amongst moon elves who felt comfortably at rest and away from danger. Most moon elves wore their hair in braids or ponytails, decorated with wires or beads. Tattoos were not unheard of amongst moon elves and were frequently worn, though it was not an ingrained part of their culture.

Moon elves were fond of keeping pets, in particular, such animals as cats, dogs, falcons, or other hunting partners. Many also formed close bonds with self-aware creatures, such as blink dogs, pegasi, unicorns, or dragonnes. However, most moon elves did not keep mounts, feeling it important to walk on their own two feet.

Moon elves, like other elves, loved the learning and use of magic, in whatever form it took. Both traditions of arcane and divine magic were highly encouraged and those who partook in either were pushed to expand the knowledge of their race. This pressure did not bother most moon elves, who were outright delighted should they ever become masters of the Art.

Like other Tel-quessir, moon elves generally worshiped the Seldarine, that is, the elven pantheon, and most chose a particular deity as their patron. Of their number, the goddess Angharradh was most popular, whom moon elves identified as a composite figure made of Sehanine Moonbow, Aerdrie Faenya, and Hanali Celanil. Unlike other elves, who typically thought of Angharradh as little more than the god Corellon's consort, moon elves saw Angharradh as the Protector's equal. Regardless of deity, moon elven religious ceremonies were, like so many other things in moon elf culture, loud and joyful and even the most pious of the subrace couldn't deny that the festivals were often just another excuse to revel.

Moon elves were uncommonly tolerant of non-elves, spending as much time within other races' lands as they did within their own. While sun elves might wrinkle their nose at other cultures as inferior, moon elves typically felt that the diversity of Faerûn's landscape was wondrously enchanting. To a moon elf, the insights that non-elves often had was a strength that others of their race too often ignored. Rather than shunning outside ideas, most moon elves embraced them and made them a part of their own culture, which often caused other elves to look down on the subrace.

The reason their openness was frowned upon by some elves (namely, the sun elves) was because they believed that their moon elf brethren were too open and kindhearted to the N-Tel-Quess, thus making it seem a foolish attempt. The sun elves strove to help the moon elves to try to return to the proper elven path with very stern lectures and strict fatherly advice by trying to make them look down on the N-Tel-Quess as inferior, but for a moon Elf, these actions were nothing but a tactical weakness and therefore were a silly way to alienate themselves from every other race they encountered. Working and getting along with the N-Tel-Quess was the true meaning of friendship for the Teu-Tel-Quessir.

However, while moon elves commonly demonstrated a willingness to accept other cultures' traditions and ideas, they generally had little tolerance for cruelty, making them natural enemies of most orcs and gnolls. Likewise, most moon elves shared their kin's open hostility towards drow.

Moon Elves, Traits

Age: Moon elves reach physical maturity at 32, the elven understanding of adulthood goes beyond physical growth to encompass worldly experience. A moon elf typically claims adulthood and an adult name around the age of 100 and can live to be 750 years old.

Alignment: Moon elves are hyper focused on perfection at a profession or a way of life. This is viewed as a religious and philosophy by the moon elves were they dedicate their life to achieve perfection to gain enlightenment. The Moon elves are split between lawful neutral or lawful good.

[formerlycookierunauprompts]

btw made a loose timeline if you wish to see! Feel free to ask questions (also pertains to the “it takes two” au

————————————————————————————-

Note: (golden butter has been missing for a long time / presumed dead for a long time)

Letters: after the beginning of the fall of the five was well underway, Arcane egg had tried to talk or find out what was happening with them multiple times, but was brushed off repeatedly so she dropped it (which they regret to this day immensely). As a result they were hesitant to go on a diplomatic trip, but than got letters by the five others (they weren’t from them). And each letter in their own way were polite ways of telling arcane egg to “go fuck herself” with out right saying it. As a result she decides to go on that diplomatic mission both because they were upset but also to give them some time to cool down (note: witches planned this whole scenario for later explained reasons, arcane egg doesn’t find this out until she asks about the letters)

After The 5 beasts were sealed

Try and plead with the witches: they return to find their friends, family gone and sealed. She’s obviously very distressed so she goes to their creators to ask why? After the explanation she’s asks why they didn’t try to help or intervene, especially if their so powerful. The witches didn’t like that and as we learn saw arcane egg as a threat to the sealing and seal (which is why they staged that who diplomatic mission, it was to get them out of the way) try to crumble them. They escape but not before temporarily being weakened by them. Resulting in arcane egg fleeing for crispia after they saw the witches were on the hunt for them

The hungry ones: many many decades even centuries pass and arcane egg is only known as a folk tale, cryptid even (lol). But soon the hungry ones / a big portion of them get released into the world. Which is a result of a witch experiment gone wrong, they help fight this war but at some point end up dying. They are buried with their soul jam (which people don’t know us a soul jam) and thanks to the light of defiance comes back!… as a revenant, yay? They are quite emotionless and comatose as a revenant but help fight nonetheless. At the end of the war the wishes and defiance in the remaining cookies stirs her “awake” and she uses their defiance along with their wishes and her wishes to seal / banish the hungry ones back to where they came. This came at a cost though, the lives of those few present were lost or their memories wiped while arcane egg fell within a death like sleep, staying like that for awhile. This is why no one was aware of this conflict except through rumor. 

Dark flour war: their awoken by the defiance created by the cookies fighting in the war, their found by some hollyberrians and they ask them who they are. She’s still groggy and a bit panicked so they lie and say their lemon curd cookie (this begins the trend of her changing identities frequently) their brought back and begin fighting in the war. They soon rise to prominence as a powerful cookie and war hero, even end up meeting the ancients. (Note: arcane darkest moment happens here I recommend reading what I wrote for it, it can be easily found on cookierunprompts blog. TLDR though is they almost let themselves die!) the war ends and the ancients disappear

Gingerbrave and co: much time passes and their now “egg tart” cookie who is a well known mercenary / monster hunter. They than come across in my mind three tweens trying to run a kingdom, much to their confusion. And they accidentally become attached to the three therefore staying and helping them run the kingdom. The plot of the game ensues all which starts breaking them down at an even faster rate (doesn’t show it though)

Beast yeast: egg tart isn’t present for episode 1 or 2 their bust setting up a sort of base near by for the inn coming army (their trying to fight the cookies of darkness after all). They come back to the damage and are told what happened. They than reveal they used to be a ancient cookie as well, leading to some distrust and such

Golden butter is alive!?: they find golden toy box by accident and go through it finding golden butter in the process, arcane egg reunites with the long thought dead golden butter. Tears happen. Than that very angsty tea shop fic takes place except instead of butterscotch and egg tart it’s golden and arcane egg. Leaving arcane egg’s mental state to rapidly get worse

Rest of game happens: we don’t know what happens next, but this is where dark enchantress tries to get arcane eggs soul jam, which as you know backfires since the hungry ones only care about complete destruction!

That’s all I can really think of! Tell me if you need more!

oooooo, this is a very cool timeline of events! Tbh i imagined that the reunion with Goldie and Egg taking place before or in-between Beast Yeast, well, in terms of 'It Takes Two' that is. But other than that it's really interesting !!

[stageplayhero]

Continued from here | @blueheartedmayor

The way the other him insists this 'Mark' might have an involvement in this was doing nothing to change the Mayor's mind and bring a sudden sense of revelation. The Pied Piper could have caused this strange coincidence for all Damien cared. All he wanted to do was figure out why someone thought this practical joke needed to go on as long as it had.

And then the reaction the other him had to the date was so out of left field that Damien found that there was a bigger mystery on his hands. It did explain why the other suit looked nice, but didn't fully match the current fashion trend. He had assumed it was a mockery of Damien's own preferences, but if it was genuinely an article from a 'vintage' era...

"I assure you, the year is correct. Here." Handing over his phone would have been an unneeded culture shock. Fortunately, there was a small desk calendar that could be lifted and offered instead. It fit in the palm of Mark's hand, with a landscape painting on the top half, and the date written out in full on the bottom. While Mark examined that, Damien leaned forward in his chair, resting his left elbow on the sturdy desk and his chin on the hand.

"So you mean to tell me that you were going into your office, something happened, and now you're here? Something isn't adding up here..." Damien was musing out loud, though his next statement returned his attention to the stranger. "Are you implying that, somehow, there's a Mayor that goes by the name of 'Damien' a hundred years ago?" It would truly be impossible if they were the same person - Damien was a rather common name, at least. "I suppose I should remove the logical solution: would walking back out of the office return you to wherever you ought to be?"

Mark isn't panicking. He is definitely not. Well, maybe only a little. And the calendar Damien hands him makes it difficult to deny that the year has changed, for him. Mark accepts it carefully, as if it might blow up in his face, and squints at the date for longer than should have been needed.

"That's… concerning." It's terrifying. Everything he knows is gone, left in the past. He sets the calendar on the desk, and returns his attention to Damien. "I agree. None of this is adding up."

Yes. There was another you a hundred years ago. I don't know how you could possibly exist.

"I am. I'd like to say it's a coincidence, but it's strange that I would end up in your office, specifically." He rubs his eyes. "I'm not entirely convinced that this isn't a dream, anymore."

Walking back out of the office? "I don't know. It's worth a try, though." He stands, and makes his way to the door. It's obviously not his door, and the building beyond is not his City Hall, even when he crosses the threshold. A turn off his head, and - yes, there's the other Damien, still sitting at his desk. Mark quickly steps back into the office and away from the newer environment. Who is doing this? Dark? The Entity? Why would anyone-

"The logical solution doesn't seem to work." He places his hands on the back of the opposite chair to steady himself, but can't sit down, nervous energy spiking. "And I'm assuming if you had the technology to time travel in the future, you would have told me by now." Tapping a finger against the chair, he forces the next words out. "My sister was familiar with the arcane arts. It may seem a ridiculous suggestion that this is the result of magic, but I don't know what else to think."

[low-budget-korra]

I know you are disappointed with Bryke making a new show rather than continue with Korra and Aang. But I do think you are thinking about it and you are talking stuff that aren't true. Please stop. It's not good for you and I don't like seeing one of my favorite blogs losing its mind over nothing.

Bryke still loves both shows. These shows are their creations, their babies. But very much like when they brought Legend of Korra to the table and did it because they wanted to and not because fans asked for a sequel with no Aang, the new series will be that as well.

I know there's tons of past to explore, Korra's lifetime, Aang's lifetime, Kyoshi's longest lifetime, I wouldn't mind a series showing what Kuruk was really like, etc. But I suppose Bryke rather look forward than backward. Is that so bad? I don't think so. And there's still more Aang and Korra content coming for the years to come.

What will the new series? A tv show, some comics, and maybe a movie eventually. The same things the previous shows did. Nothing will seize to exist just because of a new show. What will happen when it'll come the time for Bryke to work on the nexr fire avatar? Will you think as well they are "forgetting about you"?

I rather see you work on posts about what you like of the shows you like than poorly criticizing stuff and people you don't know about.

I get what you are saying. I really do. When we are fans of something, we care about it right? What I, and many other fans are feeling is this, just worrying about what can happen in our beloved show.

Of course, as a fan I'm going through what Aang fans had been thought in 2012 or when Korra was announced. That's okay, it happens. Like you said, no one asked for Korra but much , including myself, just love her and her show (even more than Atla, speaking of myself). And the new show won't erase Korra or Aang story.

Now, as a amateur writer I think the decisions they are making are too risky for a new Studio that are starting in a market where the competition is remarkable. I like when creators take risks, even if I as a fan don't like some of them (as a example, as a fan it sucks that Korra lost her connections with the past avatars. As a writer, i love the ideia and how it fits the story and the context ) . Risks are what make tlok change television history.

But when they choose to go for Korrasami, assuming the risk that was putting there on air in 2014, Avatar was well stablesh as a prime media in their category and The Legend of Korra was already stablesh as a great show with a big fandom. So if they fail, they had something to hold them back together and also, the competition in young adults cartoons was different. Now they will compete with Rick and Morty and Arcane, among others. Also, a lot of avatar fans are now fans from those newer shows, so they have to take back those fans and there's a possibility that those fans will be harder to please.

Why they would be hard to please? Is like make a Lion King 2 after making the memorable first Lion King movie. The expectations are too high. With TLOK they explore new things, and mostly they went well. One of the few things that still bothers fans about tlok is the technology, and now that has rumors that the next avatar show will be cyberpunk...like, get what I'm saying? They aren't just giving something no one's wanted, they are also giving something that bothers fans , something that is considered one of the weakest points in one of their shows. When they finish TLA there's a lot to explore, both past and future. They choosed to explore the future and brought us TLOK but choose to explore the future again...no one wants to see benders doing TikTok trendings or something a like.

I will not go any longer i promise this is already huge and I didn't even talk about Zuko movie, which i think is unnecessary cuz, for me, Zuko was the most explored character in Atla. There is other characters in Atla that deserves this solo movie.

My fear, all of my posts about it can be resumed as : I'm afraid that bryke is being too head over the clouds and not thinking it thought. I'm afraid that Avatar become the DCEU. Especially because when they write alone, we get the comics and the comics are mostly mediocre and today something mediocre, especially when you have two predecessor shows that made history, won't live long.

They should do the easiest thing first to stablesh themselves in the market again, bringing back those fans I've mentioned. And only them starting taking risks .

I really hope they have it all planned and everything goes well but as a fan and amateur writer, i can't help but worry about what is coming next since it can put some dirt in Avatar legacy

[basementdwellercreaturefeature]

Let’s talk about Silco’s parenting.

An essay. Because the internet is stupid. The meta is going to touch on the question of manipulation (a commonly raised but moot point), the concept of “good” parenting versus “perfect” parenting, his relationship with Vander, as well as a double standard I see with traumatized people both in fiction and in real life.

My employment of “you” below is addressing waves hand vaguely I don’t know, the unseen masses? Naturally, this isn’t any sort of pointed attack on anyone. It’s merely a meta commentary on talking point trends I have seen over the past couple months and common discourse on social platforms. First of all, the standard which Silco’s parenting seems most often measured against makes most questions of “good” and “healthy” irrelevant. This is not modern day current culture with access to therapy or education about cognitive reconditioning. This is fiction, there’s magic and fucking talking guinea pigs in government positions and this man is a crime boss who floods the streets with drugs to financially support weapons manufacturing. Let’s keep that in mind, shall we? His atrocities are part of him and I think they’re funny. Second of all, the argument I see often is that manipulation automatically means bad father. It doesn’t. They are not mutually exclusive. Do you know why? Well, I well tell you because I am so tired of black and white media analysis with zero question of ‘why’ for the characters within it. 

Trauma will often be the root of toxic behavior and unhealthy methods of coping. Even being aware of it, we have to actively work against it in ourselves. I was raised in a traumatic environment, I learned toxic traits. These needed to be unlearned with the help of a therapist over time. Because we are not measuring his choices against real life standard, we have to look at intention. That is ALL we can look at because how it manifests is a question of trauma response, a manifestation of genuine belief that stems from hostile experience and a broken sense of safety relationally and otherwise.

Silco’s primary source of relational safety brutally violated that safety.

When he tells Jinx that everyone betrays them, he means it. When he says it’s only them, he means it. It’s not about isolating her. It’s a desperate attempt to teach her what life has taught him through personal experience. It doesn’t matter if its true or not, he believes it is based on what he knows and he wants to offer his daughter lessons that he thinks will empower her to take agency for herself. Is it healthy to teach your child that the world cannot be trusted outside of your tiny family? No, of course not. Does he lie to her about Vi and claim that she is there for the crystal only? Yes! He does! Whether or not he believes that himself, truly, is subjective and I think both the interpretation of deception on purpose versus his active belief that Vi will abandon her are both perfectly valid. But that isn’t the pertinent question in the discussion of whether or not he is a good father, the argument itself is irrelevant on the subject of manipulation because the intention has not changed. He is afraid of losing her. He is afraid of what will happen if she is outside of his care. He’s scared. That fear manifests the way it naturally would for someone with his understanding of relationships.

And intentions do matter when we are dealing with people with this level of untreated personal trauma in storytelling, which is the lens were are looking through here. If you want to measure all fictional dynamics against a generalized standard of healthy behavior, then you’re missing the point. We, as people, try to maintain healthy dynamics in our relationships and to be aware. Stories are not real life and characters in Arcane, while realistic, have a different environment. So, on the question of using a prodigy to further his goals. Does he employ her skills for the sake of the undercity’s sovereignty? Yes, he does. The Nation of Zaun is everything to him. It is the point of his entire arc. The visuals, narrative, it smacks you in the face with his internal conflict at a constant: Jinx or Zaun. It might see a strange point to raise but I have seen it said many a time that his impressing on her the importance of the weapon, the crystal, all of it somehow makes it so that he doesn’t care about her. But that is... the point. That is his primary character conflict, the undoing of a dream carefully sewn for years all for the sake of her. He battles that continually during the second and third acts.

And do we see, very clearly, over and over again, a man that chooses this child above all else? Over himself, Zaun, without question? Yes, we do. You cannot argue otherwise, you really can’t. I’m sorry but that isn’t a discussion point with anything to stand on. The first glimpse we have is an immediate peek into how much he has prioritized her to the point of losing respect from his own people. He takes time away to ease her fear, he allows her into his personal space at a constant, this girl is precious to him and it shows. 

In regard to his operatives? Manipulation is all he knows, he lacks interpersonal skills, he has a cracked view of what it means to trust, and he is under-socialized. This occurs. This happens. This is human behavior. There’s default to manipulation as well as a default to violence. Based on how he was raised, the environment he was forced to grow up in, his experiences with those he loved (Vander) of course that is where he goes when he’s desperate.  Nothing Silco did surprised me in regard to negative tactics. It was all rooted in something I could easily understand and see from his history. But the lack of interest in the ‘why’ of characters with that kind of complexity is telling to me. It seems that characters that aren’t easily sorted in “good” and “bad” are hard to hold so often. So, we simply drop them. We reduce them. That saddens me. When Silco thinks he is going to lose the only person that he values, trusts, that loves him back and offers him a sense of purpose, does he use what could be described as manipulative language to keep her? You bet! Why the fuck would we expect anything else from him? That does not make him a bad father, it makes him a broken man who has a warped view of the world because he was bent that way. And that man loves this kid more than anything and even through all the cracks in his vision, he tries his best to be what she needs. THAT is what makes a good parent. It is not being perfect. It is the urge to try. I love this quote by Mitch Albom about the nature of parenting:

All parents damage their children. It cannot be helped. Youth, like pristine glass, absorbs the prints of its handlers. Some parents smudge, others crack, a few shatter childhoods completely into jagged little pieces, beyond repair.

The constant lack of empathy I see in ‘media analysis’ these days alarms me because it utterly lacks compassion while veiling itself as righteousness. A viewer casts judgement rather than looking at the human experience being displayed. There is no true compassion and understanding, there’s only performative, waving a proverbial flag of moral superiority. 

The unconditional love and support Silco offers Jinx is deeply profound. His desire to meet her, always, where she is with patience. His allowance of her taking over his life and his personal space, his constant marvel at WHO she is? That? Giving her that despite his complete lack of it in his own life? That’s so fucking beautiful. It doesn’t eliminate the other parts, manipulation, projection, etc., any more than those parts don’t eliminate a father’s extraordinary love. They can coexist. And they do. 

I believe Silco made mistakes because that is what parents do. But I also believe that man knew this kid, saw this kid, fostered her uniqueness and offered her a sense of safety in herself where she did not have one prior. Vander couldn’t do that for her, neither could Vi. He understands how her mind works, that she needs to know she is still trusted after she messed up. He gives her the injection tool as a physical demonstration of that continued trust. He takes her to the river to show her, using sensory experiences that she can hold, that he believes her to be good enough, perfect, loved as she is. She has another breakdown in the last episode and he knows that warm memories for Vi are triggers for her and he wants to stop it. Silco gets her. He sees her. And for a girl that needs to feel accepted, he offers it despite his own suffering. THAT is a good father.

Silco did his best with the tools that he had. And he died for her and he would do it on purpose as well by accident. If that isn’t perfect enough for you, good luck building healthy relationships with people that have trauma because we all have wounds that will manifest with toxicity despite our best efforts. It’s human.

People say they love a damaged character but then when that character demonstrates realistic consequences of that trauma, they demonize them for it. What message does that send to people that have similar struggle because of something that was done to them? That your worth is measured by how much you hide the less than savory pieces of you? That if you aren’t without negatives, you’re bad? We all have bullshit, we all have bad coping methods, some of us more than others but its part of recovery.  Like Silco, those of us that have trauma responses to things that manifest in negative behavior fight toxicity in our blood and our bodies and our brains. If you like the “angst” of painful backstory but reject the consequences, you’re fetishizing human pain. That’s all. TL;DR Silco is a good dad and I love him. A lot.