#because honestly if Graves and Diana are Sentinels

[thatgaiagirl]

Hello yes I made an entire new Twisted Fate design in like a week instead of focusing on other things because brainrot, and now I’m gonna make a long-ass post about it

TLDR; He doesn’t look enough like a pirate so I tried to make him look more like a pirate whilst sticking to the spirit of his OG design because it’s not BAD, I just feel like it isn’t Bilgewater enough. Also forgive the lack of rendering and basic-ass spell effects I was more focused on the design aspect so. Flat colours it is. And my art style is very different from the League style so there may be whiplash there too but I digress. And, of course, this is all based on my personal opinions and biases in what I think looks good, your mileage will vary.

Ok now for more design specifics so click if you want the full low-down on my thought process here.

- Each individual aspect of Twisted Fate’s original design can equally be replaced by a more ‘piratey’ version without significantly changing his silhouette or general design: riding boot to pirate boots, cowboy hat to a tricorn (even though this hat isn’t actually a tricorn but shhhshsh), duster to a pirate coat, etc. I also (obviously) took some elements from Cutthroat Twisted Fate - makes sense as it’s both a lore skin for a younger version of him as well as an honestly great example of Bilgewater fashion.

- The shoulder pads are a common element in Bilgewater, especially in the Ruined King game with characters like Malik and their Miss Fortune design, so I emphasised them on his coat with the characteristic gold detailing that ties them to the Bilgewater aesthetic. I also continued the gold detailing throughout the rest of his coat and on his boots, for a reason I shall elaborate on below

- Twisted Fate is explicitly written as someone that cares about his appearance and appreciates the finer things in life. He’s found success and is a little bit materialistic about it with a fine coat and a ‘dandy’ hat etc etc, so the gold is meant to look a little ostentatious since it’s associated with riches and luxury, but also… I don’t know about y’all but I think having braided and decorated hair is a MUCH better visual expression of effort being put into your appearance than base Twisted Fates hair. So, I struck a middle ground between the Cutthroat braids and base twisted fate by having his hair partially braided. The half-up half-down style is also because I just. Like it. Looks nice. LOOK I AM NOT IMMUNE TO DESIGNING THINGS BECAUSE THEY JUST LOOK NICE. This is also the reason for the red sash around the waist - not only does it tie him better to the pirate aesthetic but it’s a little bit of showy finery - it’s not practical, but it looks nice and it’s a fine piece of fabric, so of course he’s using it for fashion purposes.

- He’s described as having tattooed hands in his colour story so I expanded to full tattooed arms because tattoos rule. I started by mimicking the style of his cards (something that’s still there in the wrist detailing and the eye design), but the final style that mimics river water just felt better to me. As a character, his past as a river nomad isn’t really addressed, but to me it always felt like he’s still connected to his past life given the fact that his literal calling cards were inherited from his family on the river, so the tattoos can be a visual element showing he still has a connection to the river by getting those designs permanently inked on him

- Yes I blatantly stole the better card designs from the Legends of Runeterra cinematics, I could NOT find a yellow card design for the life of me (even though I thought there was one, idk if I Mandela Effected myself or what) so I took a crack at it. It looks e n o u g h like the other two, and I did my best to incorporate the eye imagery into it, but I was just driving myself insane with it and eventually I went ‘good enough’ and just left it. Feel free to make a better one yourself, please, mine is just… passable. Same with the back of the card - The weird-ass ornamental card hand thing on the brim of TF’s original hat just didn’t work with this version (not a Tricorn, I went with a hat with a shape closer to his original in the end) so I settled on a card tucked into the brim. At first it was explicitly a Blue card, the implication that TF is carrying a get-out-of-jail-free card on him at all times visually speaking, but I though it made more sense for someone like TF (who IS smart at cards, and literally only cards) to hide his intentions and hide what the card is. Now it entirely depends - is it a blue card? A red card? Gold? Is it some new special card he’s saving as a hail-Mary? Or is it completely ordinary and used for decoration alone? Only Twisted Fate knows, and a writer can 100% use that to their advantage and wring a bad-ass or tense moment out of forcing Fate to use that card

- Finally I did end up adding some smaller details like the little sun spots because he is running around Bilgewater chaotically in the sun all day, and even if he’s wearing a hat now he wasn’t back in his Cutthroat days, and the earrings because 1) self decoration makes sense for him and 2) further boosting the pirate aesthetic.

Anyway that was my extended explanation, obviously I could’ve pushed this much harder but I honestly chose not too because his base design isn’t actually bad in my opinion, just unfitting for the region he’s supposed to be a part of. Part of this is because he’s an OLD champion who’s Visual Update focused more on refining his original design and bringing him up to speed than re-orienting him in the games lore - there was a balance to be struck there and in the end he just doesn’t look Bilgewater enough in my opinion. Graves has the same issues, but honestly he’s far less egregious IMO - a few small changes to his coat (maybe add a big collar on there?) and he’d look perfectly Bilgewater. But, I just wanted to convert Twisted Fate’s design as accurately as possible to pirate fashion, and I think I did that well, so. Enjoy!

[infinite-xerath]

Thoughts on Sentinel and Ruined Skins

Alright, I plan to give my full thoughts on the entire event once it’s over, but for the time-being, I wanted to give my general thoughts on each skin so far. I’ll be putting this under a read-more for convenience.))

So I guess I’ll start by saying that I like the concept of the event as a whole, though I’ve got some gripes (as do many) with who was chosen to partake. I think, having played through the VN up to its current point, that they do a decent job justifying most of the characters who get Ruined/recruited. That said, it does annoy me that they didn’t even go all-in on the concept; one Sentinel and one Ruined champ per region could have been great, but then there are some regions that don’t even have one of each.

So yeah, in addition to giving my overall thoughts on each existing skin, I also wanna touch on who else I think could have been included.

Sentinel Vayne: In my opinion, the best Sentinel skin of the lot. Not only does it look good (arguably better than her original design) but Vayne is a natural fit for the Sentinels. She already devotes her life to hunting monsters and dark magic, so it absolutely makes sense that she would join up at least until the Ruination is dealt with.

Ruined Shyvana: I wasn’t so sure about this one at first, but I’ve warmed up to it now that we know how Viego’s possession works. Taking the worst aspects of someone’s personality and bringing them to the forefront? Yeah, go figure that Shyvana would give into her monstrous side and resentment for being persecuted almost every day of her life. You could argue that there were better picks, but hey, better Ruined Shyvana than yet another Lux skin, right?

Sentinel Olaf: While not my first choice, I can’t deny that it works in the long-run. The dude already has a history of fighting the undead in his endless quest to find a worthy foe capable of slaying him, and of course the Ruined King seems like a suitably worthy opponent for Olaf to go up against. That being said, I feel like we should have gotten a Ruined Champ from the Freljord as Olaf’s rival, rather than it just being Vex. I don’t mind Vex appearing when she did to have us encounter her for the first time, but she should have had a Ruined champ to help her, which leads me to...

Ruined Tryndamere: Come on, this one’s obvious. There are a few characters in the Freljord that might have fit the Ruined theme, but none more-so than Tryndamere, I think. The guy’s already got a whole thing about controlling his rage and trying to use it as a force for good in the Avarosa tribe. Imagine Viego corrupting Tryndamere and causing all of that primal fury to just explode forth. Plus, come ON Riot, Olaf vs Tryndamere. Battle of the Berserkers. Frankly, it’s absurd to me that Olaf hasn’t tried fighting Tryndamere already, given that they’re both too angry to die. He HAS to have at least heard about the Barbarian King, right?

Sentinel Riven: Honestly, this one is interesting to me. With the other Sentinels, we all kind of know/expect that they’ll return to normal once the event is over and go back to their status quo. Riven feels like an exception. As she stated herself in the event: she’s a wanted criminal in Noxus and it’s not exactly like she’d be super welcomed back in Ionia. She joins the Sentinels because she has nowhere else to go and no other cause to fight for once freed from Draven’s arena. Aside from Vayne, Riven feels like the one who’d most likely stay with the Sentinels once the event is over, even though I know that probably won’t happen. Still, I like her inclusion, all-in-all.

Ruined Draven: Honestly, not the one I would have picked. I mean, it’s just Draven. Absolutely nothing has changed from him being Ruined. Granted, I do think it’s absolutely hilarious that Draven’s worst version of himself is already just himself, an egotistical prick who craves attention, but there are way better picks in Noxus to see getting Ruined. I mean, the event teaser showed Darius getting possessed, and I think there’s a lot more to work with there. Also, am I the only one that thinks that Ruined Draven feels redundant when Soul Reaver Draven is already a thing?

Sentinel Diana: So this one I have some complicated feelings about. On one hand, it makes sense that Diana would join the fight against the undead for the sake of the Lunari. On the other, it feels like MOST of the Aspects should be getting involved with this. I mean, the VN has her say that the other Aspects ARE fighting the Undead all over Targon, but then you’d think we would wanna go and recruit them as well. Seriously, Taric? WTF are you, Protector? Also, Diana needing a Sentinel weapon is weird since we already confirmed that the Mist doesn’t like Celestial magic, but... Eh, the blade she gets is cool, I guess.

Ruined Pantheon: And here comes the controversial one... Right, so like many, I did not care for this skin. In fact, I still have reservations about it. I DO like that it is actually Ruined PANTHEON, because yeah, the Black Mist turns dead things undead. Go figure it could bring back the remnants of the war god lingering in Atreus. That’s a really cool idea, but there’s absolutely an argument to be made that it fucks with Atreus’s whole character arc and makes his seemingly indomitable will look like a joke... But hey, Viego himself said that he’d never be able to take a proper Aspect, which absolutely tracks, which kinda makes Atreus the only Targonian champion he COULD defeat and corrupt.

Sentinel Irelia: To be frank, not too much to say about this one. Irelia’s entire character motivation is defending her homeland against invaders, and... Yeah the undead definitely count as invaders. While someone like Shen probably would have been a better recruit for the Sentinels, Irelia works just fine.

Ruined Karma: And heeere’s another controversial one. Yeah, Karma is not the one I would have chosen. Honestly, just about anyone else from Ionia would have been a better fit for Ruination. Ruined Pantheon can be justified by the dead war god coming back and taking over Atreus’s body again, but Karma and her vessel Darha should have absolutely been able to resist it... And they kind of do. In the event, we actually do see Karma switching back and forth. She’s the only one we’ve seen fight back against Viego long enough to revert to her normal self, at least for a time. In fact, the implication that Darha is being corrupted while the entity of Karma itself fights back is neat. Still, I would have preferred Ruined Zed or something along those lines.

Sentinel Graves: OK, I love this skin. I don’t love the context around it. First of all, the fact that he’s the Sentinel for Piltover is dumb. Graves is from Bilgewater, and should have been the Sentinel we recruited there. I also don’t care for how Twisted Fate is completely missing and never even referenced from his story. Like, OK, Graves fled Bilgewater because it was already overcome with Harrowing. Fine. But... Did he just leave TF behind? If so, why does he have Fate’s blue card? There’s so much we’re missing here. I love that he’s joining just because he’s got a bone to pick with Viego, but Graves should have been the choice for Bilgewater. As for who should be the Piltover Sentinel? Well...

Sentinel Jayce: Think about it. Jayce is a character who’s had nothing to do in the Piltover/Zaun lore for ages. He already considers himself a hero and a defender of Piltover. Plus, imagine what a Sentinel version of his hammer would be like! Hell, Jayce’s whole conflict with Viktor revolves around their opposing beliefs around free will. Of course he’d have a word or two to say about the Ruined King, who’s running around and stripping people of their free will! On that note..

Ruined Viktor: Absolutely a perfect fit for Ruination. Under Viego’s influence, he could deem undeath as the next logical step of evolution, casting aside the limits of flesh and emotion for a spectral form where one’s thoughts were dictated by a single, “superior” consciousness. It would be a perfect contrast for Sentinel Jayce, and besides: we’ve already seen a ghostly version of this concept with Death Sworn Viktor. If Draven gets two undead skins, why not? Plus, we know that the Harrowing can effect machines thanks to Legends of Runeterra, so... Yeah. Ruined Viktor. Let’s go.

Sentinel Pyke: Another controversial one. While I like the general idea behind it, frankly, I would have just left Pyke as he is. We already have him fighting the undead in the Ruined King game, and we know Nagakabouros power can hurt the undead; there was no real need for him to pick up Sentinel gear. Much as I love the line “Wraiths, wraiths are on the list,” I would have just made Graves the Sentinel rep for Bilgewater and called it there.

Ruined Miss Fortune: This one just sucks. It absolutely sucks. The Sarah Fortune I know would have never gone to such lengths merely for power, especially when she already rules most of Bilgewater at this point. Her various short stories show her doing a pretty damn good job stamping out the warring factions challenging her rule, and even if she decided that she needed some kind of supernatural leg up on the competition, it’s not like Bilgewater is lacking in magic. Also, the design sucks, turning her back into the sex icon that they’ve spent the last 7 years moving her away from. Ruined Fortune sucks. As for who SHOULD have gotten the skin instead...

Ruined Gangplank: Now HERE’S a pirate lord desperate for power. He lost his ship, he lost his fleet, he lost his throne, he even lost an arm. Gangplank has been struggling to regain control of Bilgewater ever since Burning Tides, and while we haven’t heard much of him recently, it can be safely assumed that he’s not making much progress with how much control Sarah currently has. Gangplank is absolutely ruthless enough and immoral enough to bargain with the Ruined King for power. Plus, think about it: he’s already been “reborn” once, so to him, Ruination probably wouldn’t even be that big of a deal.

Sentinel Rengar: All things considered, I like this one. Rengar, I think, has one of the best justifications for joining the Sentinels. When Rengar’s jungle is invaded by wraiths, Rengar finds himself faced with monsters that even his skills cannot take down. Yeah, these undead are worthy prey challenging his reign as the apex predator in Kumungu, and if the Viego is their alpha, then he’s the target to go for. Now, obviously he’s still got a hunt for Kha’Zix that has yet to be resolved, but let’s be honest: we’re never going to see that rivalry conclude, and this is the most lore relevance Rengar has had in ages. I’m for this skin, though of course we do still have the issue of who in Kumungu would be a good Ruined rival for him. On that note...

Ruined Zyra: Alright, here me out. Ixtal as a region doesn’t have that many characters, let-alone good candidates for Ruination. Perhaps the best and most obvious candidate would be Qiyana, but I take issue with this for a few reasons. Firstly, accepting Ruination for the power to rule is already something we’ve done with MF/GP, and second, I don’t think the Shadow Isles aesthetic works super well with her elemental-swapping gameplay. I chose Ruined Zyra because, well, Zyra already wants to spread her plants far and wide across Runeterra, and the Mist would be a great method for carrying seeds, not to mention making her offspring harder to prune. Not the most deep, but yeah, I think Ruined Zyra would have been a cool concept to work with.

Lastly...

Unbound Thresh: A mistake. I’ve already made my opinions on Thresh’s lore abundantly clear in my rewrite for him, and this skin just destroys any hope for his character for me. This sexy E-Boy is unquestionably the worst thing to come out of the whole event, and whatever Riot is planning to do with Thresh in the future, it does NOT justify this design. Plus, the whole idea that an undead character can become “unbound” is just dumb. Like, when has it ever been implied that Thresh himself was actually bound in any way? He’s one of the few Shadow Isles entities that can freely leave the Mist, at least for a time! Yeah, this skin was a mistake, but Riot has to cash in on the simps, I suppose.

Anyways, I’ll give my thoughts on the story itself once this is all said and done, but for now, these are my takes on the individual skins. Hope you all enjoyed hearing me ramble.