#interactions. ximena

[gabbyellison]

This Christmas, Gabriela orchestrated little goodie bags for each of her friends. Within them are an assortment of hand painted and sealed bottles of (pre-purchased) wine, as well as an oil dispenser, and topped off with a four pack of home baked red velvet brownies. All bags are labelled and signed “Happy Holidays, Gabby x”

@tashamadams @anthwang @lucie-newman @owenryder @vincexmatthews @ximenaserrano @theobrowningfd @jake-fieldsrp, Jason Browning, @sunnynardelli

[angelsdvsts]

˖ ࣪ . ࿐ ♡ ˚ . ↪ closed for @drcamsx ˖ ࣪ . ࿐ ♡ ˚ .

"this is some sick joke, right? what could you possibly want from me?"

[soximena]

@allegraricci // cosmo bar

a night out was exactly what ximena needed after the long week they'd had. work had been monotonous as ever, and her social life was beginning to feel the same. tucking a piece of hair behind their ear, they shook off the pre-party nerves and pushed the door to the bar open, their party persona taking over immediately. a familiar blonde head stood by the bar and she made her way over, grin stretching across her features as she called out. "allegra! i was hoping i'd find you here tonight. shots?"

[jackalmeat]

Ximena Talis and the 'cue rulebook' of Arcane--

At this point, the fact that Arcane utilizes a consistent set of particular cues as markers to indicate other traits is a topic that's been talked more or less completely to death.

So, let's talk about it a little more. Just for shits and giggles.

One of the most obvious and broadly discussed examples of how these cues get applied is Viktor, precisely because the cues applied to him change over the course of the season, making his appearance a physical manifestation of his deteriorating relationship with Jayce and, by extension, Piltover itself. For instance, even in Act I when he and Jayce are wearing the same uniform, he's still clearly marked as 'out of place' thanks to both his asymmetry (he's visibly disabled and using a cane, his facial moles and slightly crooked nose throw off the balance of his features, etc.) and his """exotic""" accent. He's wearing the right clothes and almost looking the part of a proper topsider; but we can tell from the very moment he speaks that he doesn't fit with the people around him. And we implicitly know that everyone else can tell that about him too, even before he confirms his Undercity background to us with his own mouth.

All that being said, another character who exhibits a set of 'outsider cues' remarkably similar to Viktor's--

--is Jayce's mother, Ximena Talis.

Let's play a fun little game called "scan for cues that the series has established as shorthand signals for certain traits, and draw the subsequent conclusions":

⚙️ Ximena lost two fingers to frostbite when Jayce was a child, and now wears prosthetics on her affected hand. Prosthetics and body modifications (both as aids to living and as fashion statements) are associated with the Undercity. Her prosthetics also mark her with subtle visual asymmetry, bodily "imperfection", and difference in physical ability compared to those around her. All of these things possess Undercity coding per Arcane's own language of visuals.

⚙️ Her red waistcoat is fastened asymmetrically. (The outfit that we see her wearing during the Progress Day speech fastens in the same, off-center way.) Piltovans favor symmetry, while the fashions of the Undercity are practically defined by asymmetry.

⚙️ Arguable 'stripes' can be seen on her waistcoat and shoulders thanks to decorative seams in the fabric. If intentional, it's fittingly covert given her current station as the matriarch of a low house in Piltovan society. Stripes commonly make appearances in the outfits of Undercity-aligned characters.

⚙️ While far less outright than Viktor's, she possesses an """exotic""" accent. To briefly quote myself on a post from a different blog, Arcane plays loosely on English speakers’ learned associations with particular accents. “British accents” tend to belong to posh or highly privileged characters; “American accents” tend to belong to relatable, ’everyman’, or unpretentious characters; and more  ““““exotic”““ accents” tend to belong to characters who are in some way othered or perceived as fundamentally different from those around them. Viktor's accent, alongside certain visual cues he exhibits, mark him immediately as an outsider among Piltover's privileged and educated elite. Ximena's accent and physical characteristics suggest that she's an outsider in a similar way, but has been more successful at assimilating into Piltovan society.

⚙️ Lastly: between her distinctly diamond-shaped face, the mole on her right cheek, her thick brows, and her uneven nose--? Ximena looks so much like Viktor that, in conjunction with everything else, I really can't see their physical resemblance as anything other than an almost hilariously heavy-handed visual cue to indicate that she isn't truly Piltovan any more than he is.

According then to the 'cue rulebook' established by the show itself, Ximena's traits add up to the collective sum of "former Zaunite who's assimilated into Piltovan society, but isn't quiiite assimilated enough to completely pass as one who fully belongs there in the eyes of those who know what to look for."

[kusatta]

first row : likes to travel, likes the ocean, likes to cuddle, likes to swim, likes animals. second row : wants a family, kind / patient, taller than her ( 5'8" ), committed / loyal, easily adaptable. third row : someone who can handle themselves, someone who can keep up with her, free space, someone understanding of her past, someone who will collect seashells with her. fourth row : open to new experiences, willing to fight in order to protect her, confident, knows how to play an instrument, likes to hear her sing. fifth row : acts of service, words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, gift giving.

[ofwinnies]

LOCATION: adult coloring club STATUS: closed / ximena @soximena

"okay, these coloring pages you picked out are SO CUTE. did you find them online or pull them from a coloring book ?" winnie places their sheet on the table in front of them. "also, are you planning on being color accurate or just doing whatever your heart tells you ?"

[fearhidden]

muses — sullivan reed & ximena garcia.

location — at ximena's apartment.

The thing about experiencing the kind of horrors that he had was that the aftershock never got any easier to manage. The click of a lock slipping out of place was enough to send him jolting awake, hands desperate to find some inch of familiarity, but he was met with nothing he knew by touch. Heart raced as he gripped tightly at the side of the couch, his gaze landing on a framed photo of a familiar face smiling back at him. How? He’d gone back into the bar for drinks and after Georgia had all but begged him to catch a lift home with her, he’d walked out to call a cab. Had he called her instead? The throbbing in his heart made it impossible to remember, but the ache in his chest from the fear he’d faced somehow felt worse by comparison. “Why am I here, Mena? What the hell happened last night?” He didn’t have to look up to know that she was lingering in the hallway. He’d clocked the padding of her steps after he’d realized where he was. That was another thing about constantly wondering when the next bad thing would happen — one never really stopped expecting it. He patted at the pockets of his jeans, careful to dig out his phone that was very much drained from the night before. “Shit.” Surely his parents were out of their mind. The last time one of their children hadn’t came home after a night out had been the worst morning of their life. “Can I use your phone? My parents are probably bugging out right now.”

@missmvrder​

[lunarrscribbles]

random starter for @fillyoursoulxx / based on this

"Hm?" Her mother had been taken but Winnie hadn't been paying attention, mind elsewhere. Or, rather, her mind was here but she was focused on the woman sitting across from her. Who was being couple-ly with her boyfriend. Her brother. Like they hadn't— No. She couldn't think of that right now or dessert was going to get real weird, but it didn't make this situation any less painful. Needing a break, she taps on her glass. "I'm just going to go and refill this," she said, ignoring her mother's insistence she could have more lemonade that was in the pitcher on the table. She definitely needed something heavier to get through the evening.

[nvrlcnds]

tag drop !!

stats + bio. character: ximena gutierrez. age: 31. occupation: fashion designer. sexuality: pansexual. fc: alexa demie.

[ofmajors]

LOCATION: something on a stick day @ town square STATUS: closed / ximena @soximena

"the fruit kebabs are tempting," he muses as he glances from stall to stall. "HOWEVER, so is the fondue table... what if we did the best of both worlds ? snag a fruit kebab and rush over to the chocolate fondue line ?"

[angelsdvsts]

↪ closed for @wstfl

"could you go any slower? i'm starving and we've been working on this all day."

[soximena]

@aetherfms // margarita day @ cosmo bar !

"i know it's stupid, but," they began, already shaking their head at themselves and smiling around their straw as they sipped on their second margarita. "every time i drink these now i have that stupid ass tik tok song in my head. did you know it started from a lady preaching on a college campus? we'll really take anything and turn it into a meme."

[ximenavoidgull]

Looking back at this and sayin'... impulse sees it.. same text, different font..

Take that as you will

Big fan of how impulse has kind of grabbed sneeg by the neck and been like hi we Will be friends now forever. I love you.

[ofwinnies]

LOCATION: national quilting day @ light year library STATUS: closed / ximena @soximena

it seemed silly, how excited winnie was to take part in the town quilt. they'd talked themselves out of it in years past, so they were excited to finally get a few squares in this year. and who better to do it with than ximena ? "do you know what you're going to put on your squares yet ? i definitely am going to make one a bit floral... well, i guess a lot floral. but i don't know what to do with the other two... should they all just be floral ? seems like kind of a cop out."

[fearhidden]

continued from here

If only he said even half of the things that crossed his mind. Fists closed tightly at his sides as his heart thundered against his ribcage. If he ran, he doubted she'd come after him. After all, he'd started the verbal sparring match, hadn't he? It was the one thing he was good at — pushing people away and being angry when they didn't fight it. "Yeah, well. There's a lot of stuff I never said." Forcing himself into a life of people had been difficult, but no one knew how lonely the world was until they were in a sea of strangers. Fear and adrenaline had pumped freely through his veins to the point of exhaustion. Mouth fell slightly ajar as he stared in her direction, heart breaking with every low confession she offered. How could he have been so selfish? How had he blamed her for something she'd already been blaming on herself? "No. Don't say that." He would have given anything to have his sister back, but at the cost of losing her? It was an unbearable thought, one that made his stomach turn with shame. Sully swallowed down the guilty knot that had formed in his throat and slowly trekked in the direction of the kitchen. He should have showered, but he'd never been good at timing or doing things as he was told. "I'm sorry." It was to the point, but it was as genuine as anything that had rolled off his tongue since he'd stepped back into town. "For leaving... for this. I'm sorry."

@missmvrder

[angelsdvsts]

˖ ࣪ . ࿐ ♡ ˚ . ↪ closed for @tattoocloud ˖ ࣪ . ࿐ ♡ ˚ .

"you've been ignoring me all night, you really think i want anyhing to do with you now that it's the end of the night?"