Shouldn't be hard to find: Arc Symbol

There are a lot of recurring mysterious symbol in fiction so I wonder why this page doesn't have a pic. Deathly Hallows symbol would be an easily recognizable one◊ but there are so many examples (for some reason not listed on the page, dunno why) we could probably fill a very long book with just images of them.

Watchmen smiley face◊

Even better

Both of those are JAFAAC. A good image would have to show the recurring-ness of the symbol in question. A collage of all the hidden smiley faces in watchmen, for example.

Agreeing with Platypus.

My ideal image would be like some people examining the symbol saying something like "Look! It's that strange symbol again!" "Yes, but what does it mean?" Seen It A Million Times...

^Yep. This is one we're going to need speech bubbles for.

That or a collage of it appearing in the background.

This could be a cheap solution, but the internet is overloaded with compilations of NWO triangles. A montage of four different symbols (including the original) with a caption saying "They're everywhere, resistance is futile" should get the message accross.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP9epoUDFqM

Take this video for example.

edited 3rd Jun '11 3:35:03 PM by BTIsaac

I say the operator symbol from The Slender Man Mythos

edited 19th Jul '11 6:55:24 PM by DaemonBomb

Sounds like a perfect trope to go imageless, considering everything, unless done in a montage style, would be JAFAAC. Having not ever cared about Watchmen, movie or graphic novel, I wouldn't understand the importance of the smiley face.

Even if you did put up a montage, it would just look like "something seen a lot." You can't point out something that's "hidden" and still call it "hidden."

It's not hidden in the sense that someone is attempting to keep others from seeing it. It's hidden in the sense that it's right there in plain sight all the time but no one comments on it and it means something in the long arc of the story or is just a reoccurring thematic element.

So the point is that it is just a symbol seen a lot with no real meaning until later in the story when the character or the audience discover it's meaning. In the watchmen example it never has meaning in story, but it does have meaning to the audience.

I agree that it should be image less as the above is kinda a hard concept to demonstrate unless we get like 6 panels showing up in random locations and then a pic of like the big bad standing in front of it or something. Problem is we 1) Don't do +4 pictures most of the time 2)Good luck finding something that is not a spoiler and 3) Looks nice.

Actually that could be kinda fun. Putting a bunch of random scenes with the symbol at the top of the page and then in the stinger have a link to an external source, like photo bucket, that shows the big bad.

Sadly though something like that is to stupid to put into motion so yeah. Voting for image-less for now.

I vote for collage.

Hmmm, it would be easy to pick out a number of the smiley face analogues in Watchmen and put them together.

Wasn't the blob on the smiley face more of a recurring image than the smiley itself?

[1]◊

edited 19th Aug '11 4:22:59 PM by ArtemisStrong

Goddammit, Daemon Bomb, you ninja'd me. I saw the thread and immediately thought, "Slender Man!"

I vote either Slender Man (Marble Hornets comes to mind...) or Watchman collage, personally...

edited 20th Aug '11 5:18:44 PM by USAF713

I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes... I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes... I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes... I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes... I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes... I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes...

Ok enough with the mantra. The Laughing Man logo plays a pretty significant part of the first season.◊

If you're going for a collage, I suggest you use this among the examples.

Oh yeah, just FYI, this logo has become VERY well known among internet users, even among those who don't know GITS or ever saw the series. It ends up being used for censorship and other memetic reasons.

edited 19th Aug '11 8:08:08 PM by DRCEQ

Being hidden isn't a requirement of an Arc Symbol. An Arc Symbol is a recurring symbol with significance, that's it.

I guess you could look at it like that. It's most important on faces/face-like objects though.

Yeah, the blob without a face doesn't have the same significance and it's most notable on the pin. I do think a collage would be the best way to get it across. Like we did for Iconic Item.

It is the shape the two Bernies' silhouettes make when they get blown up real good.

Also, the triangle and circle come up often, notably behind the two Bernie's.

And in fact, silhouettes are a recurring image to.

And another recurring image is the graffito "Krytsallnacht", which is playing across the street from the Bernie's on the fateful night.

And considering where the Bernie's are at when they... you know... and under what circumstances... it's like all the recurring images are all rolled up in one in that one panel.

[1]◊

Maybe a collage of all the Watchmen visual motifs could be done.

edited 20th Aug '11 7:02:32 PM by ArtemisStrong

We don't particularly need an image, but if we had to have one, we could try to find something self-referential to the site, like an image with a highly noticeable askew lampshade.

The first thing I thought of was the symbol from Twentieth Century Boys, although again, we'd have to do a montage. It shows up freaking everywhere in the story though.

Again, I'm going to have to suggest no image, as many would be JAFAAC and no more iconic than another, and that we lock this.

edited 22nd Oct '11 7:10:00 PM by wanderlustwarrior

I'm thinking a bit of a real life example, such as the doomsday clock counting down to midnight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_Clock

Those with some knowledge of the cold war (it's still going on today, it was just more prominent during the more apparent threat of nuclear war) might be familiar with it. And it's featured in several prominent stories, such as the already mentioned Watchmen.

edited 25th Oct '11 6:18:07 PM by darthnazgul

How is that an Arc Symbol, in any way?

Real life, not being fiction, does not have a "myth arc". And even if we come at this from the Real Life page's approach of treating it as it was a work of fiction, I still don't see how the Doomsday Clock would be a symbol for the "cold war arc" or anything else.

I don't think the Doomsday Clock really counts for this.