Look, there are some moments of great writing in Arcane S1, but I think sometimes (especially in comparison to S2) it got too much credit, or rather, fans overextend some beats to praise character writing that isn't fully deserved. My biggest pet peeve is that Silco somehow still seems to be considered a cunning operative and strategic grand master, when he is constantly playing chess against himself, his fear of irrelevance and loss (that tension is what makes him a genuinely compelling character with compelling, complicated, contradictionary, and relationships), consistently making the poorest tactical decisions on-screen, including murdering Vander. There was no point in interfering because Vander was already being arrested, and, since the Lanes were already boiling and raging (see the meeting at the Last Drop where Sevika confronted Vander about his passivity), and the arrest would prove Silco right and Vander wrong. But I already covered that strategic missed opportunity in detail. That combination of Silco as an ambitious tryhard with a proven record of success, and as a cringefail who prioritises his emotional urgency and comfort in his decisions (relatable, tbh), no matter how hard it bites him in the ass, makes him one of the best characters in the show (and with 'best' I mean 'most rich for analysis')
Take this dialogue between Silco and Sevika in S1, Act 3, when they inspect the damage in the shimmer refinery after Vi and Jayce raided it with the support of divisions of enforcers, slaughtering a child:
Sevika: Been a while since topside's gotten this bold.
Silco: Say what you want about the late sheriff. He had his uses.
Sevika: Too bad Jinx didn't think so.
Silco: We'll buy another.
I love that scene because, like Mel's flashback with Ambessa, I think it transports so much with so little. Silco is strained, brittle, and defensive. To me, that scene reflects how helpless and enclosed he is, and how much he depends on Piltover's cops to be operational and in control of the undercity. I think Sevika is too smart to go, "what a reliable and strategically proficient leader" after that interaction.
See, Marcus was not just Silco's guy in Piltover, interchangeable with any cop. Marcus is irreplaceable, even if Silco seems eager to recruit another one, and supplement their salary. No other officer will have Marcus's stakes in Silco's operations. Silco would have to build a relationship again and learn their vulnerabilities. Remember, Silco visits Marcus at his home and plays with his daughter. The turns necessary to cover up a shadow state are massive, right?
What Silco did to and with Marcus over at least seven years between S1, Act 1, and Act 2/3 is something I would call slow immunisation, where Marcus built basically a tolerance. As Silco's operations grew, so did the measures needed to cover tracks and movements. It probably started with micro-dosing, rising in increments, and backed by the weight of the consequences for all the things Marcus had done for Silco before.
To quote Sevika from my (unpublished) "S1 Act 1 & 2 from Sevika's POV" fic Just Between Us: "Silco can buy another badge, but he can't buy history."
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Trying to write fluff or whump right after one another is so hard because my mind has already adjusted to one of them.
So, I’m writing fluff and it’s going well and then my brains like **make him cough blood** and I have to just... woah, there buddy. No. He’s getting hugs and snuggles. Pack it up Mr. Doom and Gloom
Then I’m writing whump and all I can think about are hugs. No! He’s coughing up blood and angsty because he’s all alone. He’s not getting hugs. That takes from the point!
i said i was going to read more fic but what i actually did was read one (1) kiyaar one-shot from ages ago and then go back into the tiberius stone tag to reread a handful of fics in there... 7 times each
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His hands were shaking, absolutely vibrating. Laying in the rubble of the collapsed floor, shoulder torch beaming up into the black abyss, gasps emitting from his mouth.
He reaches his hands towards the wound; a metal pipe pierced through the lower stomach area of his suit, soaked with blood. So much blood.
“Virgil? Virgil respond! What happened?” Scott... it was Scott yelling at him through the comms. Having Scott yell at him through the comms wasn’t helping though, he needed him here. With him.
Virgil went to respond, but all that came out were little rasping sounds of air. He tried again. Nothing, but the suffocating feeling that no air was getting into his lungs.
Tears struck at the corners of his eyes, not from sadness, but from pain. His body wasn’t his anymore. His muscles twitched, his eyes stung and he couldn’t think. Tears streamed down his face, slowly.
Suddenly, a third hand joined his applying firm, needed pressure on his wound.
a background???? maybe?? i’m not so sure if i’ll end up w/ this version of it. pixel backgrounds are like... my mortal enemy. and i’m unsure of what lighting effects in engine i can do w/ parallax bgs, but then again i haven’t fully tried yet
i’ll add some lighting just through the natural way soon, i’m just. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
