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notoriouslydevious · 1 year

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J I N X by Hanlin Ye

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happylizard-21 · 19 days

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Baby Lavender🪻🥹

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mollysunder · 8 months

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Lunari Heritage in Zaun

This is gonna be a reach, but from the little we've seen of Vi and Jinx's mom and younger Silco, I'd guess they were both from the same ethnic group.

In a place like Zaun, where the people are left with scraps, any piece of jewelry sticks out. Vi's mom and Silco are both wearing similar pieces of jewelry. Silco's bracelet could likely be fitted as a necklace since it twice wraps over his wrist. Neither are wearing anything of high quality, but the necklace and bracelet in their respective pictures seem decently maintained if not worn. That's when I thought, these are probably heirlooms.

In fact they looked pretty similar too, but in smaller scale of the princess's own pendants. I wouldn't bring this up if it weren't for the fact that Piltovans prioritize elaborate art-deco aesthetics, the more elaborately geometric the better (Councilor Shoola). So you would assume even the simplest jewelry would be a square pendant or a straight line. But no, big plain circles, and then I remembered we saw that before, on the princess Ambessa killed. Big bronze circles.

And when we look at young Vi , you notice that she's wearing jewelry too. A simple necklace with a green (it looks green) gem. And I realized that the princess's necklace was also adorned green gems.

I'm pulling from scraps, but it's interesting that small things these Zaunites have to adorn themselves (though not for long with the time skips) are similar versions if not simpler version's of the princess's.

At first I thought this meant that many of the cast were actually of Ionian descent. But then in the Princess's scene a thought kept coming back to me, "Why is Mel wearing purple?". Mel, a skilled diplomat from a young age, typically wears the main colors of the nations she hosts and is hosted by. White for Piltover, Black for Noxus (Ambessa), and always with her signature accents of gold. So if Mel followed her mother to Ionia ,where green is a culturally significant color, why purple? It's because Mel and Ambessa weren't in Ionia, they were in Targon fighting the Lunari.

The Lunari are Rakkor tribal people in the Targonian region who worship the moon, and are persecuted for it by the Solari, the religious order that worships the sun. While technically Mt. Targon is influenced by Mt. Olympus and Greek mythology aesthetic, that's more the case for the Solari. Overtime the Lunari aesthetic has been mixed it's originally nomadic culture with East Asian influences. The prominent colors of the Lunari happen to be turquoise, silver, black and purple. It was such a little thing to remember but it made me see connections I hadn't thought about.

Suddenly everything starts to connect. The bronze coins represent the 3 moons that exist in Arcane's Runeterra. How do we know there are 3 moons, because the Valdiani piece Jinx stole was depicting their planet. In the Valdiani there are 3 orbits circling the Earth, meaning 3 moons (or satelites). Now the engraving on the gold of the princess's necklace makes sense, because it's supposed to resemble the gates at the peak of Mt. Targon. The pendant itself is shaped like the mountain with the gates fitted at the top.

Frankly, it works for the Princess to have been Lunari and waves of descendants of the Lunari to arrive in Piltover and end up in Zaun. In Arcane, Piltover was created as a safe haven to escape the Rune Wars 200 years from the start of the show. Even after the Rune Wars ended the shipping port has likely seen waves of migrant labor and refugees from the ongoing crisis that occur in Runeterra (*cough*Noxus*cough*). It's likely that many of the current generation of Zaunites are of mixed heritage of the various fleeing people's.

It creates a whole new dynamic of the ways in which Piltover's laws, their Ethos, strips the people of Zaun from their identity and reducing them to tools for the mines. Magic is inherently a part of religious ceremonies and religion in general in Runeterra, especially for the Lunari. How do you practice your religion in a place that has banned the means by which it's conducted? There must have been more people like the Lunari who didn't have a problem with their magic, their problem was that they were being persecuted.

The remnants of family keepsakes brought over as communities fled were clung to as best as possible especially as they had to let go of part their spiritual identity. But even that doesn't seem to have lasted either. Vi doesn't keep her necklace, her mother is dead, so lost is her necklace, and we never see Silco wear his bracelet. They could have been stolen, or at best, hidden for safe keeping, maybe Enforcers get suspicious at the hint of mysticism and suddenly they want to talk.

Finally, maybe a little less related, it is interesting how prominent Piltovans and Zaunites take on day and night aspects. The sun shines over Piltover at their best, begins to set at times of uncertainty. While in the cover of night with moon above, the strongest Zaunites strike hardest. One more thing, it is interesting how Arcane's Jinx has taken on darker tones of purple rather than stick with neon pink. I always have to go back and look at a reference to remember that her pants are purple-er than I recall.

Update: I wanted to include that the large doodle Jinx made on her cup actually looks similar to the Lunari's sigil. And the sigil remains on the cup into the timeskip, also the center moon is made smaller within the crescent like in the necklace. I also noticed Jinx's cup later has more violent bomb imagery around it.

#arcane #lunari #zaun #silco #vi arcane #jinx arcane #mel medarda #there's a lot to think about #for everyone including mel #piltover #arcane theory #arcane meta #arcane speculation

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art-of-arcane · 11 months

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ARCANE | Various Background Matte Paintings | Geoffroy Thoorens

#arcane #arcane show #arcane netflix #arcane league of legends #arcane lol #zaun #piltover #lol arcane #matte paintings #background art #production art #fortiche

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amorphousbl0b · 3 months

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Arcane does a fun thing with its narrative Darkest Hour.

Or: yet another post about how insanely smart this show is and how absolutely genius its writers are (and how jealous of them I am).

For the uninitiated, the Darkest Hour is the moment just before the climax in which the heroes are at their lowest point. When the Avengers are scattered and Loki opens the portal in NYC, when the Falcon has escaped the Death Star but lost Obi-Wan, when the Fire Nation is set to annihilate the Earth Kingdom, when Frodo fails to destroy the Ring at the Crack of Doom. The heroes must confront their flaws and change for the better for a happy ending.

Arcane’s darkest hour is, of course, in Act 3. One might place it at the very end of episode 9, and that’s certainly where the story is at its most hopeless. But I’d contend it starts as early as the end of episode 8 and carries on through the entirety of episode 9.

After all, that’s when Caitlyn and Vi have separated, lost all hope, and Cait is kidnapped by Jinx. Jinx’s mind is fully gone and throughout the episode everything falls apart around her. Silco is losing control of his chembarons and may well have lost his daughter, the thing most precious to him, and is only barely keeping his powerful façade in line. Zaun has realized how ridiculously outmatched they are in a war with Piltover and the revolutionary cause has become almost impossible. Viktor has manslaughtered his assistant and may never be cured. Jayce has manslaughtered a child and finally realizes how quickly he’s losing his morals. Mel and her mother are fully separating and she is struggling with her warlike destiny. Sevika gets the absolute snot beat out of her and limps to an empty office without a boss.

So yeah. Lot of personal Darkest Hours going on.

“But what’s the interesting thing?” I hear you ask in my ear. I don’t know why I hear you. Shut up. I’m writing. Are you even real?

Excuse me.

Arcane’s interesting twist on the Darkest Hour lies in part of the trope that I didn’t mention. That’s in the villain.

Most stories with a clear-cut villain have a plot structure something like this:

Whether things are going well for one side is inversely proportional to the other. During the Darkest Hour, when the hero is at their weakest, the villain is at their most dominant.

Wait… isn’t Silco the villain of Arcane? Not to be too blunt, but he’s having a shit time. Things are falling apart for him just as badly as for everyone else.

That's the trick. Caitlyn and Vi are suffering. Jinx is suffering. Silco is suffering. Jayce is suffering. Viktor is suffering. Zaun as a whole is suffering. There is only one party in the whole story that isn't suffering, that actually is benefitting from this horrid state of affairs...

EKKO AND HEIMERDINGER

Kidding. They're not really a part of this dance. A big part of Arcane's theming is that acting to help people without an agenda is simply more virtuous than fighting for any invariably-flawed nation that innately perpetuates the cycle of violence.

No, the side that is doing fine is the other that is conspicuously absent from my two prior lists. While the characters that make up its leadership are experiencing personal Darkest Hours, the organization itself is essentially on top of the world, having just scored a huge victory and getting set to bring the war to an end before it even begins. I mentioned how poor the situation for the Undercity looks, but not its counterpart.

Piltover.

Wasn't it so that Piltover started this whole mess? Didn't their oppression cause the revolt that orphaned Vi and Powder's parents? Isn't it their actions that drive Silco to ever greater extremes? Isn't it their normalized political backstabbing that causes Jayce to sacrifice his principles because that's the only way to get ahead? Isn't it their corrupt police force that lets Silco operate his drug empire with impunity?

Silco might look the part. He might be the most personally evil character, might be the one who causes the most misery for our main protagonists Vi and Powder.

But structurally, the shining city of Piltover, its political machine, and its Enforcers are the actual villains of Arcane.

#arcane #darkest hour #writing #silco #piltover #zaun #piltover and zaun #heroes and villains #good writing #just realized this #still noticing new things #even two full years later #i love this show #has someone said this before?#long post

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kingoftheu · 2 months

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Liking Arcane is this but for "One of the Best Shows In Recent Memory"

#arcane #caitlyn arcane #vi arcane #violet arcane #silco arcane #jinx arcane #ekko arcane #arcane series #arcane netflix #netflix #league of legends #piltover's finest #piltover #zaun #animation #memes #humor

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aurelion-solar · 8 months

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Piltover - Champion Illustration Summoner Icons

#caitlyn #vi #jayce #orianna #ezreal #camille #heimerdinger #seraphine #league of legends #league of legends champion #champion illustration summoner icon #piltover #league of legends summoner icon #summoner icon #official

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tbposting · 6 months

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it took a lot of asking but riot finally deigned to discuss the lore of their billion dollar video game franchise

youtube

i absolutely called it that riot was going to retcon the Brackern/Hextech connection out of existence, but i didn't call that they'd use Arcane as the excuse to do it with. i thought they'd just quietly retcon it away with the skarner update without offering much explanation.

they say they're going to give seraphine an update to fit the new status of hextech which made me laugh a bit because, like, y'all already retconned her lore to hell and back when it turned out you had severely failed to read the tone of her connection to the brackern and launched her with a story that essentially implies she uses slave labor to be a pop star. I remember fucking marc merrill throwing the writers under the bus on twitter about it like an absolute douchecanoe.

and then, instead of engaging with any of the ways in which seraphine's powers of empathy generation could be incredibly interesting when paired with the brackern narrative that casts them as essentially brutalized victims of colonization for Piltover profit, you just go "uuuuuh, no, wait, she can't hear the brackern actually ha ha ha whoopsie doopsie." like, literally just nerfing her powers, but doing nothing to alleviate the horrible implications. "oh yeah, no, she still uses the enslaved soul of a brutalized species to power her platform, but now she doesn't know she's doing that, which I think we can all agree means the problem is solved."

hopefully they actually give her a new story that engages with her abilities beyond just "she is good at being a pop star" - building on the LoR version of the character, I would hope - but I fear it's more likely they just do the minimum viable edit and just find-delete any reference to consciousness in hex-crystals.

as for skarner himself, well he's Ixtali now so they'll probably still square him up against piltover's colonizing incursions into Ixtal, but more in a "primordial protector of the natural world" kind of way than "lone avenger reclaiming his people's stolen bodies." which, y'know, okay, sure, why not, but I would very much like him to have a more compelling character motivation than "preserve the status quo because nature and balance or something."

my big fear is they'll use the update as an opportunity to make camille a good guy or more sympathetic. like, house ferros made its fortune by selling the souls of a sentient species as batteries, knowingly, and camille was a ideologically committed defender of that decision, and that made her an interesting villain. but they've been humanizing the living hell out of her and i am real worried they're just going to tip straight on over into "oh no the authoritarian enforcer for the bourgeois power structure is sympathetic actually, she's really nice once you get to know her, she's just misguided" and ffffffffff

just... please let camille be evil. let her be a villain, please for the love of god

#tb posting #league of legends #skarner #camille league of legends #seraphine #brackern #piltover #hextech #Youtube

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stephologyyy · 1 year

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Piltover and Zaun

❤ https://stephology.bigcartel.com/ ❤

#league #league of legends #arcane #piltover #zaun #vi #jinx #riot #riot games #league of legends art #fan art #illustration #digital illustration #postcard #drawing #artists on tumblr

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silcosentropy · 9 days

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Yes, it is here!

FRIENDS ACROSS THE RIVER is a brand new Discord server with many custom roles, current news from several Arcane Twitter accounts and a safe space for everyone who would like to discuss their theories, headcanons, some of the more common ships, and anything else.

We are still small but welcome all. Grab a drink and sit down with us. Stream, chat, meet new people, share your art and fics or those by your favourite artists and writers.

WHO IS WELCOMED: * Everyone over 18 years of age - we do not accept minors for mutual safety. Please, if you're under 18 years old, do not join the server. If you do and it's found out, you'll be banned without a warning - no exceptions. The server might feature NSFW content (albeit it's protected by a role) and we don't want anyone younger than 18 to see it or interact with it.

WHO IS NOT WELCOMED: * Minors - no exceptions * Bigots and homophobes

Please note that certain ships are excluded from the server for everyone's safety. This doesn't mean that ship-shaming is allowed. No intolerance is welcomed but respect the wishes of the mod team and do not post or talk about the ships in question.

Also note that you have to verify that you've read the rules before you enter the server. If you're new to Discord, contact the mod team, which is available in the side bar of the server members list, and we will help you.

This server is for everyone, whether you like Cait and Vi or Silco and Sevika.

JOIN TODAY

https://discord.gg/6GxbMf45NV

**All design credit goes to the wonderful @muddiestpath. thank you, we love you!**

#arcane #league of legends #vi #jinx #jayce #viktor #mel #caitlyn #silco #sevika #vander #warwick #singed #piltover #zaun #server #discord #art #fanfiction #fanart

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fanfichellwithextrasauce · 2 years

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#arcane #silco #jinx #vander #piltover #Zaun #jayce #viktor

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melmedarda · 1 year

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The City of Progress

⸻ PILTOVER in Arcane (2021)

#arcane #arcane april #arcane league of legends #netflixedit #arcane netflix #animationedit #showedit #arcaneedit #arcaneedits #piltover #lol piltover #piltover arcane

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happylizard-21 · 1 month

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Doodles🧡🤍🩷

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lullabyes22-blog · 1 month

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Snippet - Sampling - Forward, but Never Forget/XOXO

A journalist finds themselves on the Eye of Zaun's platter...

(Run, you idiot. Run.)

Forward but Never Forget/XOXO

Snippet:

"Have you considered," you dared, as you both resumed your seats, now side-by-side, "finding a companion to share the burden with?"

"Companion? I trust you don't mean a spouse?"

Your cheeks flamed. "Are there so few suitable candidates in Zaun?"

"Suitable? Oh, plenty."

You found yourself leaning in. "But no one special?"

"Special..." He rolled the word on his tongue: languorously, as if savoring a peculiar delicacy. "In a manner of speaking."

He eyed the decanter, and seemed to debate whether or not to pour a second shot. He settled for a single finger. Yours, too, was devotedly filled. The atmosphere was beginning to warm: a clandestine coziness of blue-and-gold.

You'd not realized how much heat the Chancellor radiated, until he was a scant distance away. The shared settee felt like a private sauna.

"Who, then?" Your voice, coming from somewhere deep, had grown husky. "What sort of person could entice you?"

"Oh, a rarity. But Zaun has no shortage of those. We're a spirited folk, Mx. Goode. Our passions, our ambitions... they are not bound by convention." A hand lifted; sherry swirled in the glass. "They are not, in fact, bound at all."

You took a shaky sip from your own. "You seek, then, an equal match."

"A balance, not a scale." His chuckle rasped up your spine like a lit matchstick. "I'll admit I'm no catch. My faults are many. A temper to shame Shurima's blistering sands, and a stubbornness to rival their stone colossi. I'm prone to jealousy, and far too accustomed to getting my way. Then there's my taste for strong liquor and late hours." He tipped his head back, and downed the shot. You watched the tendons in his throat flex sinuously. "But, whatever else, I keep my vices within legal bounds." Wry: "Even if those bounds are elastic."

Your own glass was nearly empty. Your head spun: from the sherry, or the man, you couldn't say. "I have heard... rumors."

"The world's full of them."

"Your, ah, tastes. Are said to be eclectic. And your carte du monde..."

"Broad, as they say, beyond the pale." That low laugh. "You're curious?"

Breathless, you answered, "Very."

"I'm afraid, then, I must disappoint. Some secrets are best kept secret." A sidelong smile. His front teeth were finely serrated, and chipped at the center. Why did that strike you as attractive? It was mystifying. "I will say this. A wide platter is no promise of a full belly. Especially—" A pair of canines bared their twinkling points. "If one’s palate is discriminating."

The temperature had jumped several degrees. You felt, in a trance, your glass being taken from your hand. Heard the clink of the two, set aside.

When his attention returned, he was closer than before. You noticed the creases at the corners of his eyes, and the scar notching his left temple in its trajectory down to the jaggedly seamed flesh of his cheekbone. His mouth, too, had a scar: a tiny white nick near the upper lip. It was not unattractive. In fact, the violence in the topography of his flesh seemed only to enhance his appeal.

The imperfections were signs of a life lived fully. With passion. With vigor.

A Zaunite life.

"Surely," you licked your lips, and tasted the sherry, "you've sampled everything the city has to offer."

"I've sampled." He tipped a shoulder. "And been satisfied."

"But not fulfilled?"

Again, that equivocal shrug. "I'll be blunt. The city has a surplus of beauty, and no a shortage of brilliance. But it is the rare find whose value cannot be gauged. The Noxian boys, not to stereotype, are always greedy to prove themselves. Too greedy, in my estimation. Bilgewater's wenches are bold as brass, but insufferably spiteful. Ionians, I've a soft spot for. A study of elegance, in their way. But tender hearts can be fickle. And Demacians..." He gusted a sigh. "A pretty passel, but heads as empty as eggshells. If I crack one, its contents will likely ooze." A grin. "Unless it's a good fuck, in which case, I won't complain."

It was the first time he'd uttered a profanity in your presence. And his delivery—the way his lips lingered on the f and cut like a knife through the k—was undeniably filthy.

The heat spiked into a flare. Your skin felt slick, your pulse wild. His stare, that lazy-lidded blue eye, took in the effects.

There was the faintest of smiles, and no tell. His poker face was perfect.

"Have you considered," you fumbled, "searching closer to home?"

"Indeed, I have." Then, to your dismay: "The local Vekauran enclave, in fact."

"I—really?"

"I've no prejudice. They're a fine-looking folk. Lithe and lovely and dark as dusk. Their cuisine, especially, is a godsend. Have you tasted payasam, Mx. Goode? I detest sweets, but their use of jaggery is pure genius."

"Their dishes," you heard the pique in your own tone, "are a bit too spicy for my taste."

"Spicy?" The smile slipped into a smirk. "Or hot?"

"Is there a difference?"

"There is in Zaun. Spice has layers of flavor. It can be bitter, or sweet, or sour. But its essence is its bite." He lounged back, and his knee brushed yours. The blue and red eyes snared you with hypnotic intensity. "Hot, on the other hand, is a lasting potency. Does it sear, or scald, or swallow you whole? Only a brave tongue can tell."

You swallowed. The parlor was an oven. His knee, kissing yours, a branding-iron.

"Is that what suits your palate," you managed. "A little spice?"

"A little. Never too much. Just enough to get the blood flowing." His arm draped the back of the settee. You felt his thumb skim your nape. Gooseflesh bloomed. "Anyway, Vekauran beauties are best enjoyed at a distance. Praise one by saying she belongs in the kitchen, and she'll chop off your tongue and feed it to you raw."

You voice was nearly a shiver. "You seem... well-versed."

"I am, indeed." Another brush against the nape. You tried not to arch. "And I prefer my tongue in working order."

"For business...?"

"That, too." And, slowly, his thumb stroked down to the hollow between your neck and shoulder. "Speaking of which, are you enjoying yours?"

The words—the touch—were a dousing of heat. Your eyes fluttered shut. You were on the verge of a slip down scandal and into the inferno. A part of you screamed to abort, and flee to the safety of your suite. To cool down, and return to Piltover with a full report, and an intact reputation.

The rest of you—the real you—melted like candlewax under a flame.

You'd played with fire before. But never one as scorching as this.

"I think," you breathed, "we've done enough talking."

The Chancellor, smiling, closed the last scant inches.

#arcane #arcane league of legends #arcane silco #silco #forward but never forget/xoxo #forward (never forget)/xoxo #arcane zaun #arcane piltover #piltover #zaun #silco x reader

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thomas-jefferson-miku-binder · 7 months

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