#I still ship lux ezreal

[questionablecuttlefish]

*clears throat* Well said, sir, and well you did ask to reblog...but you have hit upon my Special Interest so I apologize in advance. 😂In this essay, I will...

Star Guardian

History wise I think you hit the nail on the head, Star Guardian was certainly where Lightcannon either spawned or was popularized, specifically in the incredibly sapphic "Burning Bright" music video.

I'll also add that while Jinx fulfills the role of "the rival" in Star Guardian by being the hothead who doesn't care about the mission contrasting to responsible but uncertain team leader Lux, they're also canonically childhood friends in that AU, Jinx expresses jealousy as soon as Ezreal starts trying to flirt with Lux, and Jinx's bio explicitly states that while she scoffs at the Guardians' mission, she does believe in Lux and would sacrifice anything to protect her, so a common fanon is that Jinx accepted the Guardian contract in the first place to be by Lux's side.

Girlies, is it gay to accept a celestial contract locking you to an eternal magical girl war against extradimensional nasties for your childhood BFF you are totally not in love with...?

Wild Rift

So, Star Guardian is (probably) where it started, but my first exposure to Lightcannon and indeed to Jinx and Lux as characters came in the Wild Rift "You Really Got Me" trailer:

Wherein I was left thinking that Jinx canonically 'kidnapped a Disney princess' for fun and shenanigans as part of her story, and was waiting through all of Arcane for this other character to be introduced 🤣 "Well that was amazing and fucking sad, where is her blond friend though?" led me directly to Lightcannon fanfiction and then I was doomed.

This is probably where 'mainline Runeterra' Lightcannon got its origin story, though it may have simply spread naturally from SG-focused fanfic authors asking 'what if in the main timeline tho?'

Valoran Town

We got more crumbs in Valoran Town! They're adorably close there, Jinx inviting her to run away from home and move in together, Lux even admitting that Jinx is her best and only friend, and Jinx getting once again into pissing contests with Ezreal once he shows up (though also teaming up with him to support Lux in the birthday episode in probably the most adorkable chaos twinnies teamup I never knew I always wanted)

Arcane and Mainline Runeterra

As for Main Canon / Arcane...Would it work?

(About to touch on the canon brainbunnies that led me to writing my fanfic series, beginning with Ill-Omen's Light, to explore. SO. Some spoilers for that. It's basically "What if Arcane Season Two Was Lightcannon?" Link below, shill shill, on with the show )

So my thoughts on all of this in terms of the Main Canon are Below the "keep reading" line because I had a LOT of them, so, here we go:

As a Lightcannon fan and fanfic writer, I have to live with the simple truth that Riot will never make a meeting between these two canon in the main timeline and in fact someone up there may even regret having given the ship life in the first place. The two haven't shared a skinline since Star Guardian, Arcane S1 made Timebomb popular and Riot keeps cranking out Ez/Lux skinlines like it's going out of fashion despite the continuing weird refusal to give them any connection in the main story, so I don't hold much hope.

But it's still the most popular ship for both girls on AO3 and I think it's for a reason, because yes, it CAN work and when it does, it REALLY DOES.

As Skyen pointed out, both of them are subject to foundational trauma and rejection, both of them are pitted against societies that do not understand them and want to crush them for existing, and both have complicated relationships with an overprotective older sibling. While Garen and Lux may be on better terms than Vi and Jinx, poor Lux has always got to contend with the fact that the brother she unconditionally loves may one day find himself with orders to take her down for being an accursed mage, even after the events of the Mageseeker - I doubt Demacia's hatred of mages is 'solved' by the outcome of that story, after all, and her friend-not-friend Sylas isn't done...

But there's more. As of the events of the Lux comic and the Mageseeker, Lux has also inadvertently 'burned her world down', caused the deaths of bystanders, triggered a violent uprising, and had a complicated relationship with an older male mentor figure with revolutionary ideals who encouraged her to embrace the darker aspects of her power. Sound like anyone we know?

As to how they'd work as an actual couple, the friction between Jinx's erratic violence and deeply held insecurities and Lux's mostly optimistic, if grounded in bitter reality sense of justice and idealism is inevitable and delicious, but they once again have a stronger foundation than it would seem at first glance.

Because Lux is struggling to accept her power and the potential for destruction it has, but Jinx would love it. To Jinx, she's a living explosion, her light is beautiful, impossible, perfect, and it would anger Jinx that Demacia forced her to bottle it up and kept her ashamed of it, just like Powder was ashamed and afraid of herself once upon a time before she fell down that well and Jinx rose from her ashes.

And if Lux ever has to leave Demacia, if she ever finally accepts that fuck it, my homeland I love can never love and accept me back, or if she's forced on the run by her current precarious circumstances collapsing, Jinx would be only to happy to take this lost girl with the beautiful shiny BOOM inside her by the hand and lead her on a Thelma and Louise, Us Against The World adventure, across the twin cities, Demacia, or wherever she wanted to go.

So what happens if they do get together? Lux would get some eye-opening perspective on class privilege and the struggles of the wealthy and the poor in Piltover and Zaun, equal-but-very-different to the geopolitical strife between the Mageseekers supported by the ruling military and aristocratic class and the mostly commonfolk mages in Demacia, and Jinx would get someone loyal, principled, clear-eyed and most importantly someone who has no baggage with her past and never knew her as Powder; 'Powder' being a raw, open wound in her two most important relationships, Vi and Ekko, and a bridge she emphatically burned at the end of Season 1 of Arcane.

As a foreigner, an aristocrat, a diplomat, and a person who loves her own family despite their actions, Lux actually has all the skills and all the motive to not only be "her Person" for Jinx in a healthier way after Vi and then Silco, but to help her mend her connections.

(Also, as basically a foreign fairytale princess from a Zaunite perspective, she's not going to trigger the same resentment from Jinx, Vi and Ekko as a "Piltie")

Lux values strong interpersonal relationships, she would see parallels between Vi and Jinx and her own relationship with Garen, she and Ekko as responsible community leaders protecting a vulnerable minority would see eye to eye on a great many things, and as an aristocrat struggling with the tension between familial expectations and her personal moral principles she would be able to offer Caitlyn an olive branch and meet her where she lives as well.

Jinx has to want it, Lux could not 'fix her' because that's not how that works, and Lux probably wouldn't try to, but Lux would also not isolate her like Silco did or smother her like Vi did, and she could be a terrific support for Jinx on her road to healing, even as Jinx encouraged Lux in turn to embrace her power and live her truth.

Within the Arcane canon, I actually see a potential Lux meeting as the best and maybe only hope that Jinx might have for reconciliation with her sister and a 'happy ending'.

Which is why ofc it'll never happen. Jinx might not even survive Arcane Season two to potentially meet Lux, but I wish with all my heart that they could at least coexist within the same world and timeline in the Arcane canon.

But even if we never get it, we'll always have our stories, our art, and our fan theories, and that's where our Lightcannon lives.

It's the Little Crack Ship That Could, and I love it, and them, with my whole soul. Thank you, this has been my Lightcannon TED Talk.

So, thoughts on the whole Jinx x Lux shipping popularity blowing up? Why it happened, do you think it can work, especially with the context of Arcane involved?

I don't actually know the history of that ship, so I can't tell you much about that (someone else please reblog if you have a good timeline!)

I know it certainly bloomed with the Star Guardian skins, casting Lux and Jinx SPECIFICALLY as opposites and bitter rivals who nonetheless come together when it matters because they are bound by bonds of deep affection and mutual need, which, in the context of magical girls which are sapphic as F*** at a baseline, obviously was going to set some things in motion.

Their dynamic also works pretty well just on the trope level. Lux is a optimistic, bright ray of sunshine who wants to see the best and the good in everyone and everything but struggles tremendously feeling inadequate to her responsibilities, and Jinx is a sardonic, detached, self-destructive force of chaos who aggressively refuses to take anything seriously, and whose carefree demeanor hides a deep well of hurt and sorrow.

That's in Star Guardians, mind you, Jinx is... a bit all over the map as a personality across her incarnations, but they generally work well together as contrasting opposites with something meaningful to offer one another.

In Arcane, I have no idea what Demacia would be like, but assuming it goes like it does in the main canon, Lux and Jinx certainly would share some foundational traumas, both of them on the receiving end of rejection and systemic abuse by oppressive hierarchies, and experiencing severe rejection and abandonment by parental and sibling figures.

[notoriouslydevious]

Wild Rift Crystal Rose Promotional Art 

[riza-hawks-eye]

Are you more Timebomb or Lightcannon? ive seen you share post about and was curious if you had a preference

I don't consistently have a preference but right now I really like lightcannon.

It's just a nice break from the darkness and sadness of arcane.

It's a great comfort ship for both Jinx and Lux, sometimes you just want to see Jinx and away from the crap of their regions and just happy and in love ya know?

I still love timebomb though but it's definitely the more angsty ship by comparison.

I either ship it as a very spicy and sexy enemies to lovers or as a sad, wistful childhood romance - what could have been in the words of Sting.

Sometimes I do also like to see Ekko in more wholesome pairings like with Ezreal or Zeri.

A lot of the time I just love timebomb content just cause I like seeing Jinx and Ekko hanging out more and not necessarily romantically. They just had such a cute friendship in the Enemy music video and they could easily take over Zaun together if they were still friends. So I guess I'd say they alternate between an otp and a brotp.

But look, I love Jinx so much I have a lot of ships for her.

Another ship I love is Seraphine/Jinx. I like the cinnamon roll/murder style pairings. I think with their different pasts with Zaun and Piltover they'd have a very interesting dynamic. Also Serapine's "I can't read your song at all - and I love it!" When she meets Jinx in-game is adorable.

I also like Kayn/Jinx in the odyssey universe. I like how unhinged Jinx's crush on Kayn is and I like how Kayn is low key in to her too and how they're both attracted to each other's violence. I like how Kayn gets into it the more unhinged he gets. I picture them having a Prince Demande and Sailor Moon dynamic except Sailor moon gets more dangerous than Demande when he kidnaps her and he gets kinda scared of her. I just wish there was more Odyssey. Content in general especially with this pairing lol.

But I think right now Lightcannon is where it's at for me. Especially when it's pairs up with Caitvi. If Vi gets a qt tall girlfriend then why can't Jinx?

[azuries]

I finally feel less crazy knowing I'm not the only person out here shipping Ezreal x Soraka and Jinx x Lux

oh HELL yeah you arent!! jinx and lux has always been a staple in this blog~ and while i dont draw as much of them rn anymore, they still hold a special place in my heart ^^ and also ezraka is just. absolutely adorable.. now THATS something i need to draw more of

[teeto-peteto]

hmm its been a while i have been invested in popular ships but i guess

CaitVi

Nideko (is that nidalee x neeko ship name? im not informed)

Graves x Twisted fate

Leona x Diana (classy)

Garen x Katarina? i guess its extended

Aphelios x Sett is strong one in the community

Ekko x Jinx, or if not Lux x Jinx, thats also very popular. Lux x Ezreal aswell.

Jarvan and Shyvana is there but i dont see many people talk about it.

Lillia x Yone? some people say yes other people say no?

Lucian x Senna keeping it classy and shiny

Lulu x Veigar iconic

Lux x Sylas im afraid (not shipshaming though)

Fortune x Illaoi (not popular but i pray every night)

Rakan x Xayah also

There's that love triangle between Tristana, Teemo and Rumble, wich Riot seems more bent to ship Tristmo but its not that very popular.

Is Sera x Rell popular...?

Is Shen x Zed like... a thing still? or am i trapped in 2016

Viego x Isolde i guess

I dont know if Yasuo x Ahri is popular, have seen some big creators doing jokes about it sooo dont know.

Does anyone have a list of popular League ships? I’m thinking about making one of those “what your favourite shop says about you” posts?

[heckinhacker]

hello! i love ur writing and wanted to ask for a matchup. i’m a bisexual female who would take a partner from 20-25 years. i’m a filthy weeb and can’t stop making sexual jokes. i’m also an artist. i’m more of an introvert and prefer to stay at home but i do like to get fresh air and hang outside at times. i’m a sucker for cuddling and am a big fan of skin ship (it doesn’t have to be public tho). i hope this is enough info. thank you!!

I match you up with...

Ezreal! 

You never stated what fandom so I went with League, which was my main fandom I wrote for...~ 

match-ups are closed for now! It waited long before I closed them. ^^”

Ama be honest with you chef, not my first guess, but I tried to find someone really fitting age range! Ezreal is 20 :D 

My second guess was descripted “26+”, so nothing was sure. I don’t think it was fully canonical but still! 

Ezreal is really good option too! Like, trust me. 

I’ll start from introvert part. It might sound funny, but because Ezreal is a very, very adventorous, popular and narcistic, he was in search of some introvert to love. 

He wouldn’t like to have someone like him around for two reasons: he should be the best, that’s one, and second - it’ll be BORING as hell. 

Introverted S/O would show him good sides of staying inside, just...chilling. Calming down. 

He - on the other hand - would get his perfect someone on some wild (but safe) adventures. 

So when he met you, beautiful, quiet being, he almost died inside. 

Lux who? 

He started hitting on you right away. To see where this will go. 

He expected shy girl - he got a girl who makes sexual jokes. 

Well, big bomb of shock through his heart. After first joke, he just walked around red out of embarrassment and shock for half an hour. 

Not like he’s innocent, he just didn’t saw it coming. He loved that. 

I kinda see Ezreal as a closetted weeb too. Don’t judge me. 

Ezreal is a cuddling machine. You ask for a cuddle - you get a cuddling session! 

Kisses you anywhere he can. He really admires you. 

If you’d be scribbling something on a paper, he’s just peak his head and ask “What’s that?”

Any answer is okay, he’d just addmit he doesn’t get art stuff much but he can say it’s pretty impressive! 

Maybe you weren’t the ‘introvert’ he’d always imagine himself with, but man, did he found someone better?? 

He never regretted meeting you. Ever. 

It’s just hard to say “see you later” when he goes away for some really risky adventure. 

But he always gets back home. Maybe not safe, but sound. 

And you can’t glue him off of you for next week. Maybe two. 

Sorry took so long, I hope you enjoyed! 

[prodigal-ezreal]

ship bias!

Bby I’m not accepting anymore but I’m gonna give you 5 reasons Why I love Ezlux just because I love you:

I think the potential for growth in both of them is so??? good? I’ve talked about this many times already, but I just love it. I feel like the way to go with their relationship is to have Ez have a superficial crush on her, get rejected and called out on why, and he’s like ‘okay, I understand. Doesn’t mean I won’t try to change your mind, I mean some of that stuff? totally wrong.’ Like in Pride and Prejudice after Elizabeth rejects Darcy. So Ezreal tries to prove Lux he’s better than she thinks, making concious desicions to change how he presents himself to her and his attitude/actions, which end up helping him grow for real. Kind of like ‘fake it until you make it but don’t know you are making it’ lmao. I think her rejection would allow Ez to mature into someone she could love, because he ends up going from wanting to show her better to wanting to be better for her as his feelings deepen. Ezreal falls first, but he doesn’t rush Lux into the feeling. He wants to be closer to her, and while she’s a trusting person, I don’t think she trusts her heart as easily after Sylas. I feel Ezreal giving the first hints of vulnerability would help them both. It’d make Lux trust him and Ez would step out a bit out of his comfort zone, even if he’s still under Jarro’s name. For Lux, I feel that Ezreal brings a sense of freedom and carelessness that’s lacking in her high stakes life. When does Lux get to stop being a Crownguard and just be a young girl? When does she get to have fun and not have the weight of the revolution and her aunt looming over her? Ezreal offers a window, an excape from that. Maybe a few stories from his travels and his crossings to show her not everyone’s deserving of trust.

They are adorable, they would be so sweet together! They both love adventuring and are eternally curious, it feels like they’d just feed off one another and never get bored.

There’s a lot of angst potential with the whole Jarro thing. It’s imperative for him to exist, Ezreal himself is probably banned from Demacia or something. Plus, that layer of distance is what gives him the confidence to open up a bit more. But it is still a lie, and relationships built in lies are always tricky if not doomed.

I also feel like they are so impossible, at the same time. Ezreal would never let go of his dream of travelling the world and filling every blank space in the map, since it’s not only his calling but also the way he copes with his parent’s disappearing. While Lux would never abandon Demacia until she sees it truly transformed into the kingdom she knows it can be, she could never leave her people behind. Which makes them giving into what little middle ground they can find so much more meaningful to me. They can’t have it all, but they can have this. And while they have this, the rest is bearable.

I also love the trope of Confident Character Turns Into A Mess In Front Of Love Interest. Plus Lux is very sassy and a good tease, their dynamic would be so fun, it’d make her seem not so hairheaded as she appears in her VO.

@lightbcund

[keeper-n0t-hero-archived]

While o agree with you whole heartedly on that, flavor text is still canonical so please don’t just dismiss it :(

oh no buddy don't get me wrong the fact noxus cherishes a gay man as a war hero is fucking dope! i just... want more, y’know? I’m happy with this slice of pie, I just want the whole thing, especially with how many flavors of str8 are in the game. for better examples, xayah and rakan, lucian and senna, katarina and Garen, ezreal and lux (though let’s be honest here that only works in the runeterra verse. Lightcannon best SG ship)... just give me two gay characters who are soft and want to smooch...

[eboyezreal]

That would be such a good skin idea. I have all his skins as well but I'm terrible at him. Ok, ok so what are your top ships with Ezreal? What about a favourite ship dynamic?

// Now thats a topic i can get into. To be honest i got LOTS of ships. I can ship him with neirly anyone in one way or another.

Of course i still treasure the olden golden lux/ezreal as one of my first lol ships ever. People just seem to overexagurate the "sweetness" of it in my opinion. I like the thought of ezreal hopelessly pining after lux while she at first has no interest at all. Maybe even a little annoyed by it. Untill character development comes along and changes up the scene where she starts seeing hed not just the obnoxious stalker and he sees shes not just the perfect girl with the great reputation. Give them some /angst/ and /development/ and they could be majestic together!

With that said. My favorite ship dynamics are the /unrequited love/. /Flirtatious bastard+stoic and 'done with your bullshit'/. And /lovers in rivalry/.

My top ships are

pyke/ezreal (due to a v special roleplay that just works. The thought of ezreal leaning onto pyke for support and pyke tagging along on ezreals weird adventures while simultaneously crossing down his list and keeping his dumbass out of harms way seems like a perfect adventure duo. They both just need a companion even if pyke is less looking for it than ezreal.)

ekko/ezreal (the opposites attract. The teens. Zaun x piltover. Two boy geniuses. Trying to one up eachother. You get the drift. ((although im realy into jinx ekko too dont get me wrong- but were not talkong about that)) )

talon/ezreal (the piltovan explorer and the egdgy dangerously attracted noxian. An interesing rival and fits with the second ship dynamic. Noxians... I hate those guys...)

And recently added a VERY interesting pick with orianna/ezreal (also came to mind due to a roleplay. Orianna being a teenage girl stuck in a robotic body unable to feel human emotions. And who other to teach her harddrive the meaning of 'fun' and 'reckless teen behavior' than her very own friendly neighborhood rascal.)

Some honorable mentions though without much explanation are draven/ezreal. Soraka/ezreal (sg). Jayce/ezreal.

This is already a big rant. As you can see im passionate about this sorta thing. I can go on and on but ill leave you with this! Hope you enjoyed reading atleast. //

[the-faequeen]

Why do you ship Zoe and Kayn?

I’m THAT person who ships like … Edgy, grumpy/SIlly, nerdy or Loud sweet couples and the Tall/short type couples? It’s like a thing that really attracts me and junk?? I mean, LOOK AT THESE SHIPS!

Bakugo/Ochako , KIrishima & Bakugo, Kaminari & Jiro (BNHA) (If y’all don’t think that Kirishima’s a ball of sunshine, y’all lying to yourselves) 

Peridot & Lapis (Steven U)

Gajeel and Levy (Fairy Tail)

Xayah & Rakan, Veigar & Lulu, Trist & Rumble (LoL)

Pidge & Lance, Keith & Shiro, Allura & Lotor (Voltron)

Soul & Maka (Soul Eater)

Star & Tom (STar vs. Tfoe)

Luka & Marinette (Miraculous Lady B) (i mean… i still ship CHat and LB ofc bt damn Luka)

Terra/Beast Boy, Jinx/Kid Flash, Artemis/Kid F (Teen Titans/Young Justice)

Toph & Sokka/ Zuko/Katara (ATLA)

Marcie & Bubs (Adventure Time)

Taiga and Ryuji (ToraDora)

and llike don’t even get my started on the other few shoujo anime I’ve watched :’v It’s a very specific type I don’t know. For the most part, I like seeing edgy characters act a different way – or seeing how they can change or learn how to be around people. It’s always an endearing story arc for anyone who has that Edgy loner type trope – (in my opinion – Personally, I enjoyed Zuko’s and Keith’s arcs the most, learing to accept team avatar or team voltron as his new found family and all that shit blah blah)

Same goes for Zoe & Kayn. I ship them cos of that? Also cos I feel like Zoe is one of the few champions that can QUITE POSSIBLY MAYBE (just maybe) reverse what rhaast did (which is what i’m trying to do in my comic. I really love that). We can say hey yeah well the other aspects can do that too and aurelion and the other cosmic skinned champs. Well sure! Yeah ofcourse they can – i just chose zoe cos she’s naturally curious and she likes making friends. Among all of them, I feel like she’ll be the most probably one who’ll want to ask or even talk to kayn. I don’t really see leona, diana or Panth rushing to talk to some random shadow boy with a demon arm. COmpared to zoe’s who’s just off looking going on adventures, wanting to make friends. On kayn’s side. I don’t see him like bowing down to authority apart from Zed’s. He sees himself as the best and the only reason why he has this great respect for Zed was because Zed took care of him and in a way fathered him. IThey have a bond. A relationship that in itself, is respectable. Apart from that, i don’t see him bowing down to any form of authority. It’s another reason why I think he’d actually bother with Zoe? She doesn’t really blow off that “authoritative” aura figure that most champs might give or even demand. She’s just the “Hi, Hello, WHo are you? Wanna be my friend?” Casual champ. 

I see their first meeting as kayn going who the fuck are? doesnt matter, gonna kill you now. Zoe evading his attacks and Kayn getting annoyed enough to run away from her,realizing she’s this crazy weird ass psycho that he should probably avoid. And zoe realizing oh he’s actually kinda cool … kinda cute too… he’s not scared of me? Is he trying to kill me or play with me? Oh i think he wants to play! Okay lets play 1234 ready of not here i come —– And here and there. Eventually gets used to her being around cos she just wont leave him alone and she’s not really doing anything wrong. And then one day rhaast took over cos he got too complacent, she tries to save him, not for the sake of saving him but for the sake of showing rhaast that she won’t lose to him and … and then so she goes on this crazy journey, meets up with lux, talks to yordles, hears what varus has to say and then (SPOILERS LALALA WAIT FOR THE COMIC TO FIND OUT THE REST)  For the most part, it sounds like puppy love and the way I see them is somehow like that anyways.

So yeah. Long story short, The two has a potential story to be told. Okay sure, not as romantic as say Ezreal and lux, Lux and jinx or xayah and rakan – but like, even as friends, they have some sort of story to be told and I guess that’s why i like it. They’re two vastly different and complex characters that are somehow similar in some sort of way and the stories you can create about them be it romantic or friendly or sibling-y — its nice. They have that going on for them. Pls honestly, they’re a funny pair. so comedy’s always nice to tell when it comes to ships. I don’t really care if the end game of this ship isnt marriage or a family. Frankly, I just enjoy creating content and stories about them as is. Every ship doesn’t even HAVE TO end with marriage :v FRANKLY LOTOR AND ALLURA ENDED IN DEATH :’V (yes I’m still salty about voltron season 8)

that’s it i guess? Haha i dont know if i make sense but this is the best way i could explain it, this is my opinion though, I’d respect yours if it aint your cup of tea, totally cool and thanks for asking my opinion about it! Im quite happy you asked tbh.

as for the age thing i’ve explained my side once. Short and sweet. I don’t see zoe as a kid. that’s it. If i was so into the idea of pedo shit, I’d draw zoe to be as small and childlike as annie or Kayn to be as bulky and stocky of a man as graves or braum (older in general). Frankly i draw zoe with curves and Kayn looks like a teenager when i draw him. End of story.

[chrcno]

          .// big ol rant about the ba skins (and other problematic rito things) under the cut.

so i get it. ezreal is riot’s poster boy for anime / shounen related things, i get it, but seriously ? LUX ?? over the literal shounen protag that Ekko embodies ?? the underdog, reluctant protag that invents a world-changing machine in order to save his friends and to fulfill his eventual ambitions of saving his city ??? all in order to PANDER to those who will buy ezlux canon stuff ??????? like u guys already tried to pander with self-insert types who relate and want a relationship with these two champions with SG and PAJAMA GUARDIAN, even their canon lines... how can a company make me hate this one ship (that would be cute enough if they had stopped shoehorning it into every moneymaking scheme they come up with). and people can try and explain this off with some defenses, but i have counterpoints. ANTI-DEFENSE ONE: “Ekko already has an Academy skin!” people defend it by saying that Ekko already has academy. sure, and Ahri already had POPSTAR but they still went ahead with KDA, along with Ahri ALSO having an academy skin. just hello ? what is this ?? League is very clearly open to rebranding skin lines, so explain that, please, as i sip tea. ANTI-DEFENSE TWO: “”Ekko got a skin in October for Trick-or-Treat!” and Graves got a skin literally this year (Praetorian). what’s the tea there? why does HE get a skin and not the literal shounen boy, Ekko? so yeah. im very upset. and this leads to a whole other problem i feel deeply with League: WHERE ARE OUR COLORED CHAMPIONS / SKINS ?

look at the shounen / anime based skin lines (SG and BA) and notice how NONE of those characters are color-coded at ALL. a cat ?? doesn’t count. i get that these anime-based skins are meant to refer to the asian beauty-standards (due to anime being a very asian-centric culture and the business of riot being very oriented to asian beauty standards), but how come they couldn’t fit like even ONE color-coded champion into this skin line. 

in other words: WHERE IS TALIYAH. she needs more skins, she only has TWO skins, TWO ! and one is a team skin, which hardly counts, and the other is her release skin. anyone want to explain that? she ALSO fits the battle academia aesthetic, being a young girl who is searching for some place to call home and to fit in (see Eri from BNHA, the series that this skin line is based off of) and she DOESN’T have an academy skin. so, riot, care to explain that?

WHY ARE ALL OF YOUR DEBUT SKIN LINE RELEASES NEVER HAVE A COLORED CHAMPION ? THEY SHOULD NOT BE “SECOND PLACE” OR “SECOND THOUGHTS” IN YOUR CHOICE OF WHO RECEIVES THE DEBUT SLOT OF A SKIN LINE.

even color-coded champions like Lucian and Nidalee ? have skins that blatantly white-wash their skintones. Lucian could have easily fulfilled Graves’ role as a marksman jaded professor (and i LOVE graves, but i think lucian or another champ deserves the skin more). Nidalee could have been your assassin. Karma??? could make a WONDERFUL teacher or principal.

im sick and tired of your bullshit attempts at diversity, rito. as an asian with colored skin, i want to see some anime-centric skins based off girls with brown skin. hell, how about you just RELEASE ANOTHER BROWN-SKINNED GIRL, huh ? 

anyways tldr; i don’t understand why graves, katarina, yuumi (as a release skin) and lux got ba skins. jayce and ezreal makes sense. the people who deserve the skin slot more are: viktor, kayn, taliyah, and ekko. thanks for listening to my ted talk.

[prodigall]

In defense of the Battle Academy skin choices:

So, in wake of the wake of the new Battle Academy skins dropping I’ve seen a LOT of people getting mad about things like Lux and Ezreal getting more skins, their favorite champs not being in the skin-line, stuff like that. For the most part those complaints are all valid, I understand them, but I do think it’s not fair to get mad at riot for this specifically because a lot of their choices make a lot sense and the ones that don’t are really small, so, I’m just gonna...go over the list and state my two cents.

All the complaints basically stem from “these champions shouldn’t have more skins, it should have been somebody like Taliyah”  this is probably the most widespread complaint, and whilst its true, neither need new skins, it’s totally understandable why they got them.  First: Since Ezreal got reworked, he was always going to be getting a new epic or better skin soon-ish, without question. Every champion thats been reworked in the past 2 years got a skin some time after their rework, this isn’t a new practice, the day the rework got announced I stated that Ezreal would be getting a new skin soon because of it, then when Riot said they were making a skin-line inspired by Shonen anime I said “without question, Ezreal will probably get a legendary skin in this skinline and be the focal point of it.” To a multitude of people, Riot are on record as saying Ezreal was DESIGNED around Shonen anime tropes from the beginning, there are lots of ‘anime’ characters in League, like Yasuo and, yeah, Lux (we’ll get to that) but for what riot were actually trying to DO with this skin line? It was always going to be Ezreal, there was never any doubt in my mind. I know a lot of people think Pajama guardian counts as his skin but...no, it really doesn’t, its basically just a chroma, thats why it’s half price if you already OWN Star Guardian, so it doesn’t count. Second: Keeping in mind Ezreal was going to be the focal point of this skinline inspired by ANIME, all the characters around him needed to fit into anime tropes, because recently for their big ‘alternate universe’ skins Riot have been focusing more on a whole narrative to go with them rather than ‘oh this would be cool’, so they had more of a plan for the champs they picked keeping in mind Ezreal is the ‘protagonist’ (because he totally is). The ones Riot went for were:  Rugged teacher who cares about his students but isn’t super affectionate (Graves) Popular kid who is a best friend/elder sibling figure to the protagonist (Jayce) Principle who is a parental figure to the protagonist after some event in their past (Yuumi) Small scale antagonist who will later go on to be an anti-hero then full hero designed to be a prominent threat in early arcs to help establish characters (Katarina) And of course, the love interest (Lux) Keeping that in mind, Lux wasn’t just on the table for this skinline, she was GUARANTEED to be in it. Say what you want about EzLux, I personally am not that into it, but the fact is that riot like it, so much so that they outright made it canon in this universe, you can have your ships, you can like LuxJinx, you can Like EzSona, or whatever, but as far as riot are concerned , Lux and Ezreal are Riots golden couple (with Xayah and Rakan), they’ve been one of two pairings they EVER acknowledge in canon for basically their entire life span, and they do it BLATANTLY. It’s not surprising at all this happened. Third: The Narrative is actually pretty relevant to the choices they made here, and the big one that I think totally invalidates Taliyah as even a possibility is that this is a school of WEAPON users. All of the champions they picked have weapons of some kind and Ezreal states in his voicelines that they all use ‘god-weapons’ AKA the narrative of this skin-line is entirely centered around those weapons as of the moment, so that means EVERY champion who isn’t a weapon user were never eligible from the start. Would champions like Taliyah suit this skinline conceptually? 200%, I’d love to see it for the next batch if they make more and change up a few things lore wise, but given the fact they clearly have an overarching plot and concept behind this school at foundation level? she just doesn’t really work right now. Sorry.

Fourth: Okay real talk Riot dropping champs that don’t need skins into new skinlines isn’t new and never has been thats just smart business. Lets say they put all these resources towards making SIX new skins, with a whole new universe to accompany them, with no guarantee it’ll be popular, and decide to put champions that need new skins in there EXCLUSIVELY.  Then, the new skinline drops on the main server and nobody likes them and they’ve wasted their time. The fact is for as long as I can remember, when Riot launch a new skinline they ALWAYS make sure at least 50% of the champions in it are the POPULAR ones they know will bring in profit regardless of if people like the skinline as a whole, This time it was Ez Lux and Kat, K/DA had Ahri and Kai’sa, Oddyssey had Jinx Yas Sona and kind of Kayn, Star guardians did it TWICE with Lux and Jinx (releasing at different times admittedly) then they did it a SECOND TIME with Ezreal and Ahri, its not until the second batch where they go for more out there less popular champions and thats been their business practice with stuff like this for as long as I can remember. I get why people are complaining but the fact is if it wasnt these champs? it still would have been 50% champs who don’t need it like Yi Fifth: The fact is that a lot the champions picked , as usual with large skinline drops like this, all fill a different role, thats pretty normal Ez: ADC Lux: Mage Mid/Supp Kat: Assasin Mid Graves: Jungler Jayce: Top Yumi: Support If we push Yumi to the side for a second, each champ fulfills one role in a game each. Riot for a while now have been making it so if a new Champ releases with a new skin line beside them, or an update to said skin line, they make that new champs on release skin part of said skin line for convenience sake, so we can probably assume that the inital skin choices were made not counting Yumi who might not even have been RELEASED by that point if she wasn’t done yet, and if she was done she’d be added. So it was probably a an intentional choice to make sure they didn’t overlap in roles until Yumi came out in which case Lux and Kat could probably overlap. With that said, and keeping in mind the aforementioned NARRATIVE role they were meant to fulfill, the pool becomes a lot smaller. The big one here being Graves, because he’s the one I haven’t fully accepted myself, I normally say Riot don’t like releasing multiple skins within a year for the same champion unless they were already making one when the worlds winners said they wanted another, thats the only acception, but along comes Graves like “second skin in 6 months baybee” which is kinda weird, so keeping that in mind, I did some research to find every jungler (cos this needed to be a jungler) who was also going to be able to fit into the rugged not nice but still cares teacher role they still had open, who ALSO had a weapon. (For reference here I mean actual jungle picks not your random off meta pick, I’m looking at you jungle Lucian, you don’t count). Not even COUNTING the fact they also had to fit into the character _archetype_ they still had open, do you know how many choices there actually were? 7 Max, and thats if you count Pantheon and Diana which not everybody does. The full list of choices with the role they still had open was  Graves, Jarvan, Jax, Pantheon (?) Diana (?) , Vi or Xin, when you take into account that they also had to come off as a bit more rugged, old enough to be a teacher, and serious and not in a nice way, its down to Graves and MAYBE Jax. This is one I’M still on the fence about, but with context I think that it being Graves isn’t...overwhelmingly shocking.  Kat is much more open and close, the roster for midlane assassins is pretty big so they just went with Kat cos out of all the assassin mids who was a WOMAN she’d waited the longest for a new skin (that yeah, she doesn’t need) and they just went with her so there was an even amount of representation between men and women in the skin line...that’s kind of it really. So, anyway that’s my two cents, I get that people will always be mad when champions like Ez and Lux and Kat get new skins, if it weren’t for the fact Ezreal is my favorite champion and shonen anime is like my favorite thing I’d probably be a little bit mad to but, as ALWAYS happens with new skinlines, the people who got skins for their mains will always have bias but I hope this didn’t come off as to apologetic? I really do hope that if these skins continue champions like Kayn Ekko and Taliyah and hell maybe Zoe get a chance to shine in it, but as it is now I find it really hard to really get mad about who they picked.

[notoriouslydevious]

Canon & Uncanon (Mainly Couples) Things In League of Legends

(Hetero): Xayah-Rakan Senna-Lucian Ashe-Tryndamere Exes:  Illaoi-GP *Viego-Isolde (like.. they WERE married but doesn’t she hate him for bringing her back to life? Like idk what their dynamic is. Divorced? Idfk) LGBTQ:  Vi-Caitlyn Leona-Diana Single Pringles:  Literally everyone else I didnt mention Single Fruity Pringles:  Rell (Bisexual) Neeko (Lesbian) Canon (Runeterra) Crushes:  Ezreal => Lux* (he also has a flirty lines with Xayah, “Well hello, Xayah. You should know I’m pro-Vastayan Rights.”  To Rakan, “So... Rakan, how serious are you and Xayah? Just asking.” Dont know if I’d consider that a crush though) Zoe => Ezreal Neeko => Nidalee, Shyvana, Xayah* (”Neeko might have a thing for birds.. and bird people) Ekko => Jinx (at least apparently he used to, “before she started talking to the gun”) Rumble => Tristana *Lux HAD a crush on Sylas... until he tried to kill Jarvan IV, Garen and then her for not joining his rebellion. (at least that’s how it reads to me) 

Canon Relationships in other Skin Universes:  Zed-Karma (Odyssey, they’re Exes) Ekko-Ezreal (Pulsefire)  Ezreal-Lux (Battle Academia) Yasuo-Riven (Dawnbringer/Nightbringer) Legends of Runeterra:  Garen-Katarina (have multiple interactions talking about secret rendezvous) Nami (Pansexual - Legends of Runeterra, writer confirms two of the cards are her boyfriend and girlfriend. Good for her ♥) Kalista-Ledros (lovers) Shyvana-Jarvan

Unsure/Unconfirmed/Scrapped Before Release/ No Longer Canon: Shaco (bi): scrapped, journal of justice Pantheon-Leona: (scrapped, got retconned after Pantheon rework)  Twisted Fate-Graves (scrapped before release: they were supposed to be in a relationship before release but Riot censored it to just “partners in crime.” Community mainly considers them canon anyway.) Twisted Fate-Evelynn (old journal of justice relationship) Janna-Summoner (journal of justice relationship and “summoners” arent a thing anymore) Taliyah being trans (another instance of scrapping before release, but they still have the line with Neeko saying to her, “Neeko isn’t the only one who changes” so like??? make up your minds, rito???) Taric ..  Riot’s never stated his sexuality (but a lot of people like to headcanon that he is Gay or Pansexual). Seems like the Taric subreddit just thinks of him as a chad who’s too beautiful for anyone (so Asexual?). Fiora: So.. some redditors look at Swain’s line after collecting her soul,  "She's spurned so many suitors. A wonder they did not see why." hinting that she’s either lesbian or aro.  Syndra-Zed (he’s in the backing animation of her withered rose skin, old ship that really doesnt get any love or attention)  Varus: has two gay lovers in him but I dont think the champion in game is gay. Popular Uncanon ships:  SG Lux & SG Jinx Aphelios-Sett  Taric-Ezreal (dont see this ship too much these days though) Zed-Shen Warwick-Soraka Soraka-Ezreal Nami-Nautilus (according to my bf this was a thing waaay back in the day) Kayn-Zed Evelynn-Akali Kai’sa-Seraphine Ahri-Kai’sa Literally everyone in kda with each other, just a biiiiiiiiiig orgy fest Seraphine-Rell Nami-Jhin Sona-Jhin Coven Evelynn - Coven Ahri Coven Evelynn - Coven Morgana Sona-Thresh Sona-Mordekaiser Ashe-Sejuani Kai’sa-Sivir (thank @/ichiro-artosaki) Quinn-Darius Akali-Shen (apparently they didnt have as big of an age gap before her rework, in old lore she was the fist of shadow instead of now her mom?) Ashe-Draven (you can thank @/ask-le-ali-di-demacia for both of these ships) Sona-Lee Sin Sona-Kayn (also @/ask-le-ali-di-demacia) Sona-Ezreal Sona-Jarvan (sona is the katara of league and she’s been shipped with literally everyone at this point) Janna-Yasuo Riven-Yasuo Odyssey Kayn-Odyssey Jinx Heartpuncher Vi-Heartpiercer Fiora Talon-Katarina (ooooold ship that no one draws anymore)  Kai’sa-Ezreal (literally only because of the Awaken Cinematic) Sylas-Lux Zoe-Kayn Ahri-Yasuo Ahri-Yone Lillia-Yone Zac-Riven (apparently when Zac was released a dude, nielspeterdejong on deviantart, commissioned a WHOOOOLE bunch of riven-zac fanart.) Sona-Kayn (kinda because of Odyssey, Kayn searching the galaxy to find her for some reason) Shadow Assassin Kayn-Shadow Evelynn Kayn-Akali (though she does flirt with him in the Zed comic) Ori-Blitz bc robots Veigar-Lulu (I think this ship is absolutely adorable)  Ahri-Sona (saw this a loooong time ago, think it was when they were both like the poster girls of league) Neeko-Nidalee Nidalee-Rengar Kalista-Thresh Irelia-Kayn Swain-Leblanc (someone mentioned that there’s hints in their lore that they’re screwing but idk)  Swain-Lux (knew one person that drew this and I liked their art... sadly havent seen them posting very often since they were outed for tracing)  Viktor-Jayce Gwen-Shaco (Apparently some people were shipping them when she first came out?) Gwen-Viego Viego-Akshan Xayah-Sett Elise-Zyra (ooooold ship, I thought they were cute) Akali-Irelia Talon-Quinn  (BASICALLY literally every champion gets shipped with another at some point)

Adding in this take from Queens of League reddit & AphroQiyana on Twitter:

Source: Queens of League

Neeko’s sexuality was confirmed EVERYWHERE, just not in the client (because countries like China & Russia; wlw & mlm relationships are banned) 

Source: literally just google neeko lgbtq

Source: AphroQiyana Riot says they’re going to put more LGBTQ STORIES out there (can’t make more lgbtq champs bc China) but uk, it is what it is. 

AT THE END OF THE DAY, SHIP WHAT YOU WANT TO SHIP!~ So what if it’s not canon? THAT’S ALL I GOTTA SAY. (also PLEASE LET ME KNOW ABOUT YOUR GUILTY PLEASURE SHIPS!!!)

[riza-hawks-eye]

With all due respect, Lux x Ezreal is a very unconvincing ship on matter how hard Riot Games pushes it.

They have Ezreal allegedly having this big unrequited crush in the main League lore while Lux doesn’t even know who he is, he can’t flirt with her without stumbling over his words and I guess you could interpret it as this awkward cutesy crush on Ezreal’s side.

 But it can also be interpreted as comphet on his side. 

I mean, he deliberately goes after the pretty popular postergirl of league even though she’s distant from him and who doesn’t even know him. He’s conveniently going after someone who’s unattainable and it lowkey seems like he’s doing it so he can still pretend he’s into girls without engaging in actually being in a relationship with a girl. He knows Lux is a safe “girl crush” because Lux will never actually date him. 

His “crush” on Lux is just a cover up for the fact that he doesn’t actually like girls.

The more riot games tries to put Lux and Ez together, the gayer they become.

[piltover-prodigy]

I'm still on hiatus but...

HOLY FUCK! THAT NEW SKINS ARE AWESOME!!

YOUNG JAYCE GIVE MY LIFE, I USUALLY SHIP JAYCE & EZREAL, NOW I CAN DO IT PROPERLY, and Yuumi is the most cute thing I've ever seen (Lux is cool too, but you know, I see her and Ez like bros so yeah..)

[voicecflight]

Ezreal!

@elfreallightfeather\send me a champion and I'll tell you:

how much I like them (0-10): AHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHA OK THIS WILL SURPRISE YOU BUT I WILL GIVE THE BOY A SOLID 5. Like... I like his lore but I’m kind of eh with his kit, the rework helped me like him a bit more but still he’s among my least favorite adcs. And the adc I have the worse luck when I’m playing support because somehow I always managed to get the whinniest and most childish people playing him.mastery level: 3mastery points: 6895favorite skin: Pajama Star Guardian / Star Guardianworst/weakest skin: Frosted Ezreal.favorite quote: this one right here.if I like to play against this champ: Yes and no. I play as the support so usually I’m ok with avoiding his skillshots. My adcs... not so much.any ships?: ERRRR FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK I have a couple ones. Oddly enough I don’t ship him with Lux. I think it’s a forced ship so yeah. Add the ship with him and Taric to that list because no.... just no. I do like him with Sona or Soraka. Also Ekko, they seem like two boys who would get along well if you ask me.