#ppau jackeylove

[livikattt]

so idk how much you've kept up with lpl this year but for the first time ever jackeylove has a midlaner younger than him and sometimes when i watch them interact im like. you got that from rookie didnt you. like when creme said jkl is the only one willing to 1v1 him most of the time and how that's something rookie and jkl did all the time (and both of them admitted to knowing rookie let him win a lot of the time) anyways i am feeling very Normal about this as you can see

ROOKIE FUCKING WHATTTT

im crying. im crying. im crying. rookie really adopted this mf huh

[aryasage]

RISE—a debatable "analysis"

so, league of legends and the word alive just recently released rise (redux) as a celebration of the original rise, and it made me realise just how many versions of rise have been released over the years. and then, i thought, well. why shouldn't i go over all of them? it's not like anyone's stopping me :]

so, enjoy my thoughts on every version of rise that i could find! supposedly there was a nightcore version at some point but i couldn't find anything official so it will have to stay off the list for now. also jackeylove has some opinions to share from when each of these came out.

his text looks like this

my actual thoughts look like this

don't blame me for tumblr formatting options they all suck ok

RISE (2018)

youtube spotify

next year it’s gonna be me in the music video just you wait we’re gonna destroy this thing

nostalgia-wise, this isn’t my favorite worlds song. definitely not my favourite mv, but production-wise, i can’t imagine any worlds song that could top this one. although mako has worked on every worlds song since at least 2017 (i think 2016 too, but i can’t easily verify that) except for 2̷̨̫̫͓͕̀̓0̷̡̠̹̭͉́2̶̳͕̟̜̄̓̀͗́2̶̠͉͆̍, he absolutely popped off with this one in particular. the gravelly effect added to his vocals helps demonstrate the weight of the lyrics, and then when it’s taken off for telle’s RISE, it feels even clearer, like they’re breaking through all the barriers to go higher, to literally rise above it all. the bpm (177!) can be felt right at the start, a frantic pace demonstrating just how quickly you could lose everything, how fast you need to move, and the bridge has some of my favourite lyrics in all of riot’s songs. i love nearly all of the worlds songs, but the storytelling in this one is wonderful even without the mv.

RISE - Remix (2018)

youtube spotify

better than the original version no competition 

rookie looked over my shoulder while i was writing this and laughed at me because he says the rap sucks. well FUCK YOU i’m writing all this in voidtongue from now on how about YOU suck fucking music snob asshole why are you so good at singing

on a lyrical level yeah sure rookie’s right; half of it is product placement. however. sometimes noise is good. i usually don’t like remixes, but here it works, because more going on doesn’t take away from the song; just makes it more hype. i don’t follow bobby or ikon much but his flow here is really clean and it’s just a vibe. i think recently i’ve listened to this version much more than the original just because of how much more energy it has, and while it doesn’t have the same feel, i still really like it

RISE - Live (2018)

youtube

honestly don’t even care it was that bad. we got to laugh about it and then we won so if anything it was just a good luck charm

good thing we weren’t in view at the start of the performance though i think rookie was crying although from laughter or just how bad it was i’m not sure

okay yeah. mako completely threw this one i have no idea what he was on

HOWEVER. telle did great. and yk what once bobby came on mako sounded fine.

it’s still obviously. not good. but it could have been worse. my main problem with it isn’t even the performance it’s the fact that riot turned the mics way down for opening ceremonies after 2018 which is a CRIME LET THEM SING LIVE (it was a bit better for rise 2023 but the other songs were still very loud on the backtracks. i get that some singers aren’t great at the whole projecting thing but come on you can’t tell if you can’t even hear them over the backtrack.)

RISE - UNSECRET Cover (2021)

youtube spotify

yeah i can vibe to this right about now

i like this version a lot but out of all the official releases i think i have to put it fourth through no fault of its own but just because it feels like there’s something missing. it’s gritty and it’s definitely a vibe but there aren’t the layers of production that you don’t notice until they’re missing, especially with how flat the RISE feels. of course, this makes sense—it’s riot forge, and production is all attributed to UNSECRET, but it’s a shame that by any other standards it’d be an absolute banger but here it falls just short. fun fact though, this was the version i put on my playlist for when i was writing nmftg (and no i haven't forgotten about the behind the scenes stuff i promised. it's coming soon i swear)

RISE - Demo

twitter

hm. so maybe he can sing

there’s a reason i heap so much praise on mako. these are demo vocals and just the layers here give me chills, not to mention how much of a sucker i am for strings. i would pay so much for a full album of a full version of all of his silly little string arrangements for all the worlds (and other riot songs, let’s be real) songs he worked on. you have no idea. can’t judge it as a full song but if it were it would be very high on my list

RISE - Live (2023)

youtube

0/10 should have been ME at the top of the rift i would have kicked gumayusi’s ASS

look, i’m biased. but seeing mako’s redemption was everything (and if you haven’t seen the clip he posted, absolutely check it out) and the orchestral instrumental slowing it down instead of the more frantic opening and hard beat gave it a more serious weight that felt especially appropriate for the revival of the song and the ongoing themes of 2023 worlds, with the Glory and the previous winners looking for redemption (even though wbg were complete frauds). it’s a perfect rendition for that ceremony and honestly like. thanks for not doing a season start cinematic riot the rise redemption was a banger you can tell just how much being able to do that performance meant to them and the emotions brought me to tears watching it live

i am glad they brought back season start song for this year though :)

also mako’s jacket was really really cool look

Rise (Redux) (2024)

youtube spotify

this is my personal anthem no i will not elaborate

telle’s vocals on this track are just so full of emotion that i can’t not love it. add to that my soft spot for rock and you get just a beautiful song. i can’t say whether or not it’s my favourite, just due to how new it is, but it’s undoubtedly great, and you should listen to it :)

anyway, i hope at least someone enjoyed my somewhat random thoughts! i love talking about music, especially riot's, and ranting about worlds anthems is what got me writing ppau in the first place, so it holds a special place in my heart. if people are interested, maybe i'll do something else talking about the worlds anthems! or maybe no one cares and this is going into the void. oh well. it was fun to write, especially with jackeylove's little comments. love him.

if you saw a typo no you didn't this is a thousand words of pure brainrot and nothing else

[aryasage]

no mercy for the guilty

it's heeeere! jackeylove suffering part one is finally available to read! i have so much fun writing the best adc (his words. or maybe mine too. you can't prove anything) and i hope you all will enjoy reading about him :)

content warning for self-harm. there are places you can skip to listed in the beginning notes and there is a summary in the end notes.

link here gogogogo

[livikattt]

to celebrate the end of ruination station here are the descriptions for the which ruined summoner are you quiz

Baolan

After a short break, Baolan has returned to the Summoner life alongside Ning, one of his old teammates when he won the World Championship. Even after winning it all in 2018, Baolan wasn't sure he was worthy of the trophy or the crown that came with it. He desperately wanted to be of help to his teammates, and with JackeyLove already lost to the Mist, he was a prime target for the Ruined King.

Chovy

Despite being a fox shifter and needing to feed off others' life forces to survive, Chovy has never directly killed anyone. Similarly, despite being one of the best mid laners in the world, he has never won a championship. Years of defeats and the loss of his ex-teammate Keria weren't what did him in, though—it was his own hubris when he attempted to kill the Ruined King on his own.

Crown

With a Summoner name like that, it's no wonder that Crown was corrupted. Despite doing the impossible and ending Faker's reign in 2017, Crown hasn't been able to find the happiness he desires so fiercely. Such weaknesses only made him an ideal target for the Ruined King.

Deokdam

After joining the now world-renowned DRX, Deokdam found himself in a tough situation: he was left trying to live up to former DRX AD carry Deft's legacy all while having... disagreements with his new support. The Solari and Lunari have been at each other's throats for as long as anyone can remember, and Deokdam and BeryL are no exception. Strangely, even the ruined Deokdam holds no ill will towards BeryL, or towards anyone for that matter. He simply seems... tired.

Finn

Finn hasn't had the easiest few years—after leaving Rogue, he suffered through loss after loss with CLG before returning to Europe to join XL. Though he and his teammates managed to escape their seventh-place curse at long last, they lost a close battle to FNC and failed to qualify for Worlds. Years of disappointment have only made him a better soldier for Viego to control.

JackeyLove

JackeyLove is not a monster. He is not insane. But if that's what everyone thinks he is, if that's all they're willing to see when they look at him... it's not like they'll miss him anyway, right? Right? The Ruined King has found uses for JackeyLove's signature ruthlessness and his unnerving ability to control the creatures of the Void, and in turn, JackeyLove has found someone who truly appreciates him for who he is. Or so he thinks.

Jiejie

Having gotten his powers from the Ruined King in the first place, Jiejie was left with only one option in the face of the Ruination: join or die. At least being both a champion and a servant of Viego has its perks: Jiejie isn't just another ruined knight. He's a prince.

Keria

Keria never wanted this. He only let himself be ruined in order to save someone else from the same fate—Faker, a Summoner the world can't afford to lose. Keria's unique sacrifice may be the difference-maker in this war. Even now, while he's supposedly under the Ruined King's control, a part of him remains to fight back. He just has to make sure none of the other ruined Summoners figure that part out.

Meiko

For years, Meiko has served as the support of EDG, one constant in the ever-changing environment. He's seen ADCs come and go, some of which include the world's best like Deft and Viper. But after suffering alone in silence for so long as his teammates leave him one by one, Meiko's final straw comes when Scout and Viper leave EDG. Now there's nothing but hatred where his heart should be, and he will stop at nothing to rip those who dared leave him behind apart.

Spica

It was Spica, alongside his four teammates from 2020, that inadvertently freed the Ruined King while bringing Doublelift back to life. In 2020, Spica was left as one of only two survivors of TSM's disastrous Worlds run, and although he's gotten all his old friends back, the hole in his heart hasn't quite sealed. Which is kind of an issue when that's exactly what Viego is counting on.

Viego

HUH?

[aryasage]

look liv didn't promote chapter two of tsats but I WILL

go read it guma is there and so is the best duo in ppau

to convince you have a doodle from the chapter of jkl riding a wyrm

aaand a closeup for good measure

yeah it's not as clean as liv's doodles but yk what? pencil is better. fight me. (it also gets me to actually draw stuff instead of staring at a blank page for an hour before giving up so take it or leave it)

now go READ ABOUT THIS AMAZING SCENE or jkl and his horde of void monsters will hunt you down :D

[livikattt]

where the hunters get hunted

I published this two days ago but I was feeling lazy so I'm only getting around to this now. Anyway, here's where the hunters get hunted, the JackeyLove short that the prophecy foretold.

This is part of a mini challenge where I try to write something every day of February (disclaimer this is not going to last) using a song as a prompt. Except I ignored the prompt. But whatever! This one's song is I'll Find a Way, and I'm pretending it's relevant because it's technically the theme song of the entire arc. [copes]

[aryasage]

no mercy for the guilty CHAPTER TWO

IT'S FINALLY FINISHED WOOOOOO

it has perhaps some of the best jokes i've ever written and there's like a 50% chance no one will get them it's fine i'm fine

go read it heeeeere and then let me know if you're interested in some Bonus Content™

enjoy 4k more of jackeylove being jackeylove :)

[livikattt]

ppau's second anniversary!

it is i. ppau's second anniversary is upon us (like in a week) (well literally in a week that's why i'm announcing it now) and to celebrate i will be emerging from hibernation to drop currently unknown amounts of content on you all throughout the week. there are also some important milestones to celebrate, like 1000 kudos and 200 comments. to say that i wasn't expecting this when i published my 2am creation almost 2 years ago would be an understatement, but here we are.

so here's the plan for what i'm going to be posting this week!

team liquid '23 worlds cope series fic

crown character short

rekkles character short i wrote a long ass time ago in hawaii with no wifi

a shit ton of deleted scenes, alternate chapters, and unfinished bits including but not limited to the original draft of odywyh chapter 4, the og draft of dfwydk chapter 2, mid lane chaos, ls aka lost sanity, and WoW references

canyon and showmaker divorce era fic (first chapter or so, not that it's gonna be a long one)

POSSIBLY a little gift for someone who held a gun to my head and said ok write about na zoomers (also chapter one or so)

POSSIBLY a lunar new year fic about viper and deokdam with some unexpected guests

POSSIBLY edg reunion after worlds 2023 fic

POSSIBLY keria's worlds 2023 fic in which he fights a demon and also becomes elementalist lux

POSSIBLY a chapter of a jackeylove fic

oh also there's a website now. check out the ppau wiki if you want to see some easter eggs and sneak peeks!

thank you all so so so so so so so so (you get the idea) much for your comments, kudos and general support. i couldn't have come up with all this bullshit without you. happy ppau week and thank you for reading!

[livikattt]

very late ruination station post

this is gonna be a bunch of ruination station thoughts and explanations and easter eggs and such. with no particular system of organization or anything. i will link the entire ruination station here to make up for previously mentioned lack of organization. all chaotic thoughts will be under the break

now I'll never be the same

look the fall in the eyes

where the hunters get hunted

now you're coming at the king

fire in our blood (but we're still cold-hearted)

the ones that are voiceless

(don't) fear what you don't know

take to the skies

the sinful and the saviors

also check out there's a part of myself i'm missing by aryasage. that is all.

spoilers below (obviously)

I had a thing going with the idea of your greatest weakness being your greatest weapon, as Meiko alludes to in the first chapter of the finale. For Viper, that obviously refers to his noctum, while Viego's is love. Or whatever he thinks love is. For the Sentinels, love can also be their greatest weakness and weapon, since there are multiple times when someone sacrifices themselves to protect someone they love.

Viego is kind of aware of his weakness being love, which is why he orders JackeyLove not to confront Rookie. Generally, expressions of love are what (temporarily) break Viego's control, and so he tries to avoid that.

Another one of Viego's weaknesses is his pride. He considers the Summoners beneath him, which kind of comes back to bite him, since Keria just has to flatter him a bit to get him to leave the rest of T1 alone. He also makes Chovy keep his mouth shut in the finale, assuming whatever he wants to say isn't worth listening to. Chovy was going to inform him that Rookie and Keria had switched places, so that's another mistake by Viego.

DK have a variety of code names, including Crocodile-Polar Bear-Showmaker-Alpaca-Bird (they sometimes call SM Chihuahua, which he doesn’t appreciate) and Kim 1-4.

The "because Faker" joke I always pull out when Faker does something vaguely impossible/dramatic has an in-universe explanation, as revealed in (don't) fear what you don't know: his wish to be unkillable. See? All planned. Everything Faker does is planned. Mmmm yes.

I fucked around with chess piece metaphors on occasion, like when Chovy sees himself as a knight on Viego's magic chess map despite being a pawn, or how the king is the deciding piece of the game despite the queen being more powerful, Viper telling the shadows he won't be their pawn, Viego using the white pieces to represent himself because he thinks he's the good guy and because he moves first (also because he's pasty af), Rookie telling JackeyLove he's just one of Viego's pawns, and Bel'Veth using pawns to create a queen. That's why Keria says "checkmate" after the Dramatic Reveal.

Danny says he "chose" to push himself past his limits, since the truth about Danny and EG hadn't come out at the time. Maybe in this universe, he was gaslit into thinking it was his fault. I wouldn't put it past... certain people. (EG management. I'm looking at you.)

The emergency self-destruct feature on Canyon’s spear Riptide isn’t meant to keep Riptide from falling into the wrong hands, since Canyon is able to call it back to him. It serves as a way to deal a devastating blow to a large monster, or a way to save Canyon from a fate worse than death.

There's a reference to Showmaker's streaming shirt in (don't) fear what you don't know.

Braiding Canyon’s mane is both therapeutic in the moment and very helpful later when Showmaker holds onto the braids in order to ride on his back.

The most consistent thing in this universe is that Flandre snores loudly.

Sarcasm counts towards Rookie’s lying quota, which is why he’s a sarcastic little rat most of the time.

Ning and TheShy weren't supposed to go with Rookie, but I couldn't resist the temptation of the Squad Reunion. (Except, you know, no Duke.)

Viper isn’t the most selfless person in ppau. That’s not to say that he’s selfish, by the way. Anyway, when he sees Showmaker try to sacrifice for Canyon, he starts to understand, and offers to fight dragon Meiko himself in order to protect them, believing Showmaker to be a better person than him because of his attempted self-sacrifice.

For JackeyLove reasons, he reacts much more to his real name, so when Rookie calls him Wenbo, he snaps out of his possession enough to order the Void monsters to leave him alone. JackeyLove isn’t a healer, so he can’t do anything but apologize to Rookie and keep him from being torn to pieces.

Don't ask me about the political implications of the Shadow Isles turning back into Taiwan.