#riot critical

[blood-starved-beast]

I don’t think the irony has much value. Or, I should say, I disagree that the irony should exist at all. Making Ionia such a sheltered, naive people who are violently brought into “modernity” by the imperialists is patronizing both to the imperialist and the imperialized. The former gets to pat itself on the back that it brought “the right way” to the “orientals” and the latter get their agency, culture, and history actively ignored in the narrative to center the primacy of the imperialists.

While I do agree there’s a Noxus bias in Riot in general (the Darius vs Zed video being the most egregious example) I disagree that’s what happening in Ionia per se, or that even a narrative centered on two sides of a conflict cannot draw comparisons or utilize irony therefore.

I disagree with the sentiment that having a different culture that doesn’t rely on industrialization is a “sheltered, naïve” culture when the lore even is explicit as to why the culture exists the way it does. It’s a land that is based on balance and any extreme measure is met in kind. There’s also the rather dicey implication in general that a culture in which there isn’t technology or certain advancements is seen as in the Western world these cultures are “primitive.” Like we’d have to go into the concept of “civilization” and “modernity” and the Western centric, white supremacist implications of the definition of what is “modern” or “civilization” vs “wild” and “nature” that “has to be controlled” and how “modern civilization is control over nature.”

I also disagree that this is happening here in Ionia. They are not throwing away their culture to literally become Noxus in another name. That certain characters such as Irelia (who literally says in game “Balance be damned, wipe them out!”) represent a new faction – which is the source of conflict in Ionia post invasion, does not reflect the entirety of Ionia itself. Heck we see balance as a discussion point in the Tales of Runeterra. If there was such as you say in the lore, this wouldn’t be a thing. Instead, Ionians would be too, trying to defeat the Land to use technology to fight Noxus. Irelia as such, refers to a certain faction emerging, and the irony comes from the fact that this comes in contrast to her guilt, and specifically how it relates to her family, and how they behaved different in contrast to Noxus, and died for it. Irelia and her faction meeting Noxus in the middle to fight them can be also said, ironically, as symbolically balance itself. Noxus behaves as such towards Ionia, Ionia and its people respond in kind. And we know Ionia had these technologies – the school of Wuju, Yasuo’s wind school, even Irelia’s style, are weaponized regardless of Noxus, or adapt very quickly. Suggests to me that balance isn’t simply about maintaining peace or wasn’t always so. (Case in point – the Rune Wars, the Titans War).

Which leads me-

The Meiji restoration is a good comparison but for the wrong reasons. The restoration was not the beginning of history for Japan like the invasion is treated for Ionia in the lore. The restoration was not some emotionally trauma response that Japanese couldn’t handle like the invasion is epicted in most of Ionia’s lore (in fact in Japan western studies were being embraced and calls for reform and rebellion against the shogunate were ongoing for decades at that point). For Ionia its history is threadbare, and its culture and identities are a bunch of orientalist, eco-primitivist caricatures that exist just to serve as a contrast to Noxus but not in a way that actually says anything particularly meaningful other than “Noxus did stuff so we’re doing stuff back at them. Isn’t this so tragic?”

The Invasion of Ionia isn’t the beginning of history for Ionia either. Even ignoring that we know a bit of history and lore about before (even Syndra exists from before then). That Riot doesn’t focus on before is a consequence of League tradition lore building – centered mostly around champions or skinlines (with the case of Spirit Blossom), and most of the champions are built around the Invasion because before Arcane/Ambessa novel, Riot when they added the champions would do so in a matter where they are latched onto the latest year of the lore. There is much to critique here, but I never got the impression this is the start of Ionia, only that Riot could do more to work on it.

Yes, you’re right about modernity and Meiji Japan; I did highlight however, that I was very much simplifying it. I do not get the impression this is Ionia’s first contact with Noxus or the outer world either either – Mel’s flashback speaks to as such, the Kirammans seem to come from there and maintain some contact – and they are not traditionally Ionian as such.

“emotional trauma response” – because they experienced a massive war where the land and people are destroyed, cities are leveled (genocides are even done with Wuju for example), people are left without much of anything, culture is lost – that they are not scarred by it? Scarred by the effects of the land? Do you expect them to get up by their bootstraps or something? Somehow not struggle with how they were before vs the things they are forced to be now, or even the factionalism as people come from a war differently – a war that was continent wide.

Imperialism has impacts, sure, but riot’s frame of view has always been to flatter the Noxus for their paragon-like propriety while stripping Ionia of competency and, most importantly, agency. Even the war itself is framed as Ionia having to become like Noxus, but not in some sense like specific technologies or tactics (which are more neutral things), rather in the basic sense of emotional steadfastness, violence, and societal development itself (see Sett’s bio and how it emphasized how “Ionians now have a bloodlust they can’t sate so they turn to Noxian fighting pits”). Ho Chi Minh was a revolutionary for decades and fought many wars, but he wasn’t ruled by traumas he experienced in such a way riot really likes to lean into for the Ionian characters.

“Stripping Ionia of competency” man what does that mean? Ionia defeated Noxus in the war – by the way the Noxus fanboys hype it, it should not be. Certain factions became more like Noxus to fight it on their terms – I think it would be worse to adapt technology that Ionia does not need or does not fit the culture in question or how the land functions – to adopt technologies from Noxus. Those are not “neutral things” Imperialism isn’t just genocide and murder or laws in control – it is also about the forced loss of the traditional culture to adapt to the new one. Which Noxus attempted with attacks such as the genocide of Wuju and failed.  “basic sense of emotional steadfastness, violence, and societal development” – yes, because the technology was not needed, and in the case with Noxus, they had to fight violence to violence.

About Sett – setting (ha) aside the possibility that with the new lore changes his arc might be pushed forward in the timeline, kids who grew in war (like Irelia) and under Noxian occupation are going to grow up with values aligning with Noxus. That is the consequence of imperialism again. You will not see someone like Irelia or Karma or Ahri or most of the available champions sitting in those seats enjoying those fights, but it’s no  

Ho Chi Minh was not the only revolutionary, nor the only one to do it a certain way. That in of itself simplifying as you ignore the history and context as to why his regime ended the way it did vs say Imperial Japan whose Imperial values metastasized into a glorification for violence that there was death poetry and atrocities such as in the Rape of Nanking were being documented in newspapers like it was some sort of sporting event. Again, I’m leaving out a lot of details but I’m saying that you too, are simplifying. China’s “road to modernity” is also different from Japan’s, or Korea’s and so forth.

Again, I do think Riot focuses way too much on factions such as the Shadow Order or even the Kinkou in general that it ignores the other factions that must exist. Including factions like Irelia’s, heck Karma’s who is meant by Riot to be the more peaceful faction. This I think we can agree is a very strong shortcoming of Riot’s and gives an impression of Ionia that isn’t representative of the nation as a whole.

Given the way that Noxus is so poignantly western coded and Ionia an orientalist and anime mess of tropes, I’m just not a fan of the way riot treats the dynamic. Depicting imperialism is fine but riot went an extra weird way and overly leaned into Ionia not as a civilization to be explored but as a collection of trauma caricatures who exist solely to be brutalized by Noxus again and again (with this plot soon to be repeated with the 2nd invasion but this time with Swain in charge so riot can make him and Noxus seem like a “morally grey” character/place).

Again, the concept of “what kind of civilization” – it is one, the culture is not modern, but it is one. I do think there is more to explore here, that Riot fails to explore it even with the tons of champions involved (why again, the centralization on the ninjas or even Yasuo an outcast vs characters such as Karma, Irelia, Syndra, and so forth??). I do not think they’re trauma caricatures, but I think we can agree to disagree.

The second invasion is kinda lame as a plot point. If Swain feels like his needs to centralize his power somehow, I feel like doing the same thing as the first time and expecting different results (especially when Ionia has changed from the first invasion) is insane. It’s also lame from a story perspective and I almost get the feeling it was done to justify why so many champions in Ionia were in one place in “Awaken” and their inability to not tie Irelia to being a defender of Ionia (which is itself another problem).

That being said, I do think there is something to think about how Riot focuses so much on Noxus and giving it nuance and trying to make it complex and such compared to other nations Ionia included. (I would argue Noxus is not fully Western - case in point Ambessa and her coding is very much Western African, which has its own histories in empire and to say that is a product of Westerners is itself racist and ignorant of history. Not saying you are doing this here, but speaking in general - just saying that West African history did not start with the Slave trade). That there is a bias for it, especially when we can see parallels between Noxus and even say the US today or various other imperialist nations is definitely something to keep in mind (especially with Riot Tryndamere and his political leanings to say the least). But I think Ionia itself has more to offer than just stereotypes and "orientalist and anime mess of tropes."

Thinking about Irelia and violence and how she both resents it and uses it as a balm for her pain. "Killing you won't bring them back, but it still felt good." She hates what she has been forced to become - something that goes against her family beliefs, but still cannot separate herself from it. There is a little part of her that enjoys it - the thousand pebbles to sink a warship line, the way she goads ppl into "dancing" with her - ie fighting. and so forth. She loathes it, but she can't help but enjoy it still.

And it's all a product of her being a soldier since she was 12. Something about the worse of one's tendencies being brought out in excruciating circumstances. And I say tendencies cause I still think of the line in Frostblade Irelia where she goes "Oh I just love the way blood pools on ice" which is just flat out unhinged, let alone violent. Not to mention her canonical anger issues, and there's always a link between anger and violence.

[infinitelystrangemachinex]

massages forehead So Ambessa hid Mel away because she was a weapon in the literal sense, a mage. But Ambessa came to Piltover for Hextech? And Ambessa had nothing to say to Mel about her powers having visibly awakened? Even when Mel offered to go with Ambessa, giving her the ultimate opportunity to make Mel a weapon for real? And Ambessa made no attempt to find or retrieve Mel - not just her daughter and the remnants of the family Ambessa professes to love, but also her ultimate weapon - when she disappeared? And Ambessa trusted Singed and Viktor on their home turf - neither of them hiding how insane and self-serving they are with every reason to take over Ambessa's soldiers or just blatantly turn on her as soon as it benefits them - more than she trusted Mel? While Caitlyn (and by extension Piltover) was visibly and clearly falling away from Ambessa's teachings before Ambessa's eyes? (as if getting rid of certain people allows piltover to get rid of fascism but we won't get into All That)

Not only do I struggle to be hyped for Mel's powers beyond how amazing and beautiful she looks, but I can't help but feel like Mel is somehow less powerful in season 2 than she was in season 1, and not in an interesting way. As if Mel's ability to bend all of Piltover politics and economics to her will in season 1 now means nothing in season 2? You can argue that Jinx's attack led directly to Mel losing ground in Piltover - because I expected Mel to have to claw back that power without being able to rely on people who are too easily seduced by Ambessa and authoritarianism, and she would have to get creative to go toe to toe with her mother. I expected pushback to her mage identity that she would have to navigate. But instead this went either unwritten, or was ignored or discarded. Instead Mel is removed from the main plot, cutting her off from what made her the most interesting - only for all of Mel's very real talents, her very real powers and abilities, to be not only translated but REPLACED with magical powers she doesn't know how to control, and by the finale, those magic powers are the only powers that are considered real. Mel takes a backseat to Piltover's governing and decisions, a backseat to Jayce of all people who was not only new to politics mere months ago but made poor governing, strategic, and diplomatic decisions when he had that power. In season 1 Mel stayed off the "throne" but she did pull its strings one way or the other, and she makes no attempt at this in season 2

In my least generous suspicions, Mel was gentled and quieted to capitulate to an agenda for other characters who had to be correct and heroic - or wrong and villainous - no matter what the leadup narrative said, given her powers to help sell the game and set up future shows, and was effectively ejected from the Arcane story with faceless soldiers and a role she doesn't want because she was inconvenient there

[fandomluver-101]

All the hate, making Arcane canon lore is the WORST thing to ever happen and I'm genuinely pissed every time I contemplating playing LOL (and not just because I'm always stuck playing Jungle).

Viktor the Machine Herald is an unhinged evilutionary mad scientist who is less "unrepentant evil" and more "pro human transhuman who means well." His fixation on saving people from suffering and pushing forward human evolution is legit why he becomes "evil" and yet he does in fact do a lot of good in Zaun (like making working in factories SAFE - and yes, that's a big deal). Dude gets CONSENT, ignores the cult that worships him, and saved way more people than he condemned (because Zaun sucks).

Viktor, Herald of the Arcane, isn't nearly as unhinged and that was fine by me when he wasn't canon. However, he is SO removed from Zaun that it's easy to forget he's from there. He has no interest in human evolution, just in saving himself. And then we get the "evolution" and he needs HELP FROM SINGED!? He makes his cult?

Og Viktor fixed his own damn problems, he is self-made LITERALLY. Arcane Viktor just gets magic from the hexcore and he doesn't build things, it just HAPPENS. The hexcore evolves him, nothing of his own will and actions! Arcane Viktor is legit a generic mage.

"This is deliberate, glorious evolution" vs "Eh, glorious evolution just happens"

It isn't a "rework," it's a "retcon" and I freaking HATE it. Arcane Viktor should've been a legendary SKIN and nothing else.

Like, Arcane Jinx (season 1) as canon would make sense, same with Vi (season 1) and maybe even Caitlyn (season 2 because the beach party skin "likes to shoot people").

But LoL Viktor and Arcane Viktor legit have one thing in common - their names.

Besides that, Viktor didn't NEED a rework! Give him a visual update and move his story forward, rework Blitzcrank, work with the OG lore instead of ruining it all. Arcane being canon legit ERASES Blitzcrank from existence alongside all of Viktor's influence in Zaun. Glorious evolution legit SAVED LIVES! Bring back my Viktor!

[reilora-borealis]

M9 fans like "I can't wait to see this moment animated!!" no. I will simply pass away the moment I see the concept art for Caleb. I don't even need to watch the show at that point, I can leave the fandom entirely and die in peace

[sandraharissa]

Ok, I am NOT done talking about the flag

The thing is that it references ‘liberty leading the people’ and while Jinx would not fit into the role of a leader or a very ideologically motivated person she already in s1 came off as a personification of change, the acceptance and embracing of change, chaos, violence, choice, freedom, liberty

It would have been SO fitting, so fitting to have her be a symbol to the ppl in a revolution

But then they nix the whole plotline and even before then it wasn’t clear why the ppl even looked up to her and why they viewed her as a symbol. I know why I viewed her as a personification of change etc but the jinxers don’t know shit about her personal life or all the stuff she did. It would have been so easy to have them express the same sentiment that was already expressed in s1 that ‘the younger folk wanna fight’ and then have her be adored for blowing up the council but they don’t establish that. Instead no one reacts to that at all and then they have her attack Piltover with paint, a way less anti-Piltover act, and that’s the thing that makes her popular?

It’s so fascinating to see the writers’ hands in action moving the pieces, moving the adoration that Jinx should have gotten to a later date, after they have enough time to make Jinx do smth else that seems way less political in nature or destructive, AND THEN have her be adored for... smth. Idk why the paint attack would be so much more inspiring to jinxers than her council attack. There’s murals of the paint attack and her being compared to pacifist Vander but no murals of the council bombing?? Okay.

The paint attack initially seemed like it would be a unique stunt in a slew of many, but in retrospect it was the only thing Jinx did this season and it was for the sole purpose of replacing the council bombing with a more palatable type of attack for Jinx to be adored for, one where no one was killed, especially not enforcers or politicians.

[funnyscienceman]

"How much are you willing to pay for clean air?" My professor says rhetorically, discussing economic development and its relationship with the environment and human life, and as my brain is still stuck on arcane against my will i can't help but think about the kirammans apparently building a vent system for zaun but not doing shit about the industrialization that made the Gray in the first place, and then caitlyn using the vents to release that deadly gas in her hunt for what she knows is a deeply disturbed teenager + the gangs that ran the undercity, with no mention of the deal jayce made with silco a season before, nothing about how the gas weapon manhunt affected zaun. Cait gets to go back to her big fancy house as a like tragic hero or whatever with her mom buried in a grave she can still visit and her dad still alive and a girlfriend who'll go down on her no problem despite losing her entire family and turning her back on the home she used to do anything and everything to protect. No sign of remorse not a hint of reparations or doing anything about the stranglehold piltover has on zaun. Gee golly it sure is a mystery why so many people would be put off by this story, riot games company based in california usa with mostly white people in charge

[martybaker]

Oh my goodness I feel like my third eye was opened. Like I just upended an icy water bucket over my head and finally can see clearly

Please everyone disappointed with how the class struggle and Zaun’s fight for freedom were swept under the rug in the Arcane series,

and esepcially everyone who doesn’t play LoL and isn’t familiar with the game lore, please please watch this video

It came out BEFORE the first season and accurately predicts and warns about riot’s lack of interest in following a class conflict into a succesful revolution of the lower class

It gives examples of LoL stories and worldbuilding where clearly the message is to uphold the system and the rebellion is only an issue of a couple of bad apples causing trouble

We were never gonna get a revolution. Zaunites were never gonna get freedom, justice, equality.

It’s not a story Riot is interested in telling

[ohnoitstbskyen]

Beauty in Splash Art 3

League of Legends splash art is, on the face of it, perhaps an odd place to go looking for beauty. These are JPGs whose first and primary function is to hawk video game cosmetics for a free-to-play game, it's not exactly the sort of thing you expect artists to particularly flex their creativity for.

And true enough, a lot of splash art is fairly rote. Here's a character, wow look at their cool pose, don't you want to spend dollars to own this, and so on.

But sometimes, one of the artists working at Riot, or at their outsourcing studios, seems to get a bee in their bonnet, or maybe they just get excited about an opportunity to practise craft, and you get splash art that tries to do something more than simply sell the product, or artwork which displays a real flex of technical skill, often in ways which are functionally invisible at any of the common resolutions that the art will ever be displayed at.

There is genuine reward to be found in those pieces, in zooming in close and marveling at the level of effort spent. So let's spend about an hour doing that!

Splash arts covered:

Odyssey Sona - by Kelly Aleshire

Victorious Sejuani - by Francis Tneh

Aurora - by Jennifer Wuestling

Redeemed Star Guardian Xayah and Rakan - by Ina Wong

Empyrean Vex - by Horace "Hozure" Hsu

Winterblessed Diana - by Bo "chenbowow" Chen

Porcelain Irelia - by Alsie Lau

Toy Terror Cho'gath - by Fortune "Fortuneee" K

[amlugon]

There's no way some fans on twitter are saying Silco deserved to be drowned/murdered because he threw a molotov (at enforcers who were arresting Benzo at a RIOT no less). There's actual wrong doings you can focus on, my goodness, and non were done before the drowning. Some arcane fans think they're really progressive because they like the lesbian couple and then turn around and say they should have just co operated with Piltover 😭

[shitpostingsapphic]

First thing, if you haven't watched Arcane, don't have an opinion on it and broadcast it to the internet. That should be common sense.

Second, if you're only able to internalize the Piltover and Zaun storyline from s1, just say that. Don't say it was the main plotline, because it wasn't. There were several that ran together during the course of the first season. So if you're shocked that the show called Arcane was focused on the magical side of things in the 2nd season, I'm afraid that's a personal problem.

The Piltover and Zaun plotline is indeed important. Just perhaps not in the way you made up in your mind. So the ways it was addressed (and it indeed was addressed) didn't satisfy what you'd been hoping for. Perhaps the story being told wasn't the one you think you were being told. Rewatches help. Pick up details you didn't process before. There's no shame in that.

And keep in mind that with a medium like animation, YES, the little details tell as much of the story as the dialogue. Every frame is so much more intentional than live film can ever be. So if you resent the idea that you might have to rewatch something to pick up on miniscule details you missed upon first watch, perhaps animation isn't the medium for you. Especially with a show so detailed and painstaking and with as high a budget as Arcane. More has gone into this than most any other animation project.

Just rewatch the damn thing. And stop making a fool of yourself on the internet.

[endearing-dalliance]

Another Blow Against Arcane: Antisemitism

Christian Linke posted the original pitch for Arcane, and I'm starting to understand why so many people turned them down before they finally got the project funded.

There's a lot to unpack here, but I got stuck on "svengalis". I wasn't originally going to harp on about this since I had never heard the term before, but I read up on it and OH BOY

apparently Svengali is the name of the villainous character from the French story Trilby. It actually inspired the Phantom of the Opera, which I thought was neat. Many smarter and more eloquent people than I have labeled the character and author antisemetic af

His main role in the story was that he really wanted to train Trilby, a beautiful young woman, but she rejected him. A bunch of stuff happens to her romantically that made her leave Paris with her brother. He later dies, and Svengali takes advantage to sink his claws into her. He hypnotizes her into having a split personality, and in that state she becomes a successful singer like he wanted. Unfortunately, it is physically and psychologically devastating, and she dies because she cannot live without him.

his name has come to mean someone who manipulates or controls another person, usually a young woman, to further his own agenda. There's even the "Svengali defense" that portrays a defendant as a pawn of a more influential criminal mastermind.

his physical description includes a tall and bony middle-aged body, thick black hair to the shoulder, beady and heavily lidded evil eyes, long hooked nose, thin and sallow (yellowish or grayish) face. He wore red and a long cloak, and was described as effeminate and continually filthy.

I know, coincidence right? Surely they didn't create, pitch, get funding for, and produce an updated version of a character that many people, including George Orwell, criticized as antisemetic. That subsequent adaptations have deliberately modified to be less stereotypical and offensive. This cannot be the character so many people enjoy and even admire at times, a symbol of revolution against an oppressive society that literally gases people.

Well fuck. On top of everything else, does this validate the Silco/Jinx shippers?

[arriettyspin]

yes I'm a huge timebomb fan yes I squealed and laughed and cried during their scenes in act 3 yes the au episode was my favourite and i am constantly listening to ma meilleure ennemie on repeat, and yes, i was disappointed that ekko's character had barely any development outside of his relationship with powder/jinx, yes i was disappointed with how his tree subplot never got proper closure and how the firelights and his community and trauma and other relationships were just completely neglected and continue to be both by the writers and fandom, we exist.

[bostoncreamdonut]

Jinx being apologetic for killing Cassandra Kiramman and it being framed as a bad thing like NO???? SHE WAS A RICH PERSON BENEFITING FROM AND ENABLING THE OPPRESSION OF ZAUNITES??? FUCK THE ENTIRE KIRAMMAN FAMILY???? FUCK THE COUNCIL?????

“The people of the underground deserve to be breathe.” Wow, she’s so progressive saying citizens deserve basic human rights xx love you Cassandra!!!

[fandomluver-101]

Talking with friends has made me realize something. I'm likely one of a small few that never liked Caitlyn way back in season 1. The moment she told Ekko "it's a misunderstanding," I hated her. Telling him he was wrong about how the Enforcers treat the people of the Undercity, how they're in Silco's control as well?

There is no defense for such naivety, not when she's ventured into the Undercity and seen what the place looks like, seen a glimpse of their suffering. "This city needs healing," but she had no issue POISONING the city because one person killed her mother. Caitlyn took her mother's work and used it for PURE EVIL. She proved exactly why Piltovans are irredeemable to me.

All of Piltover's progress is built on the lives of Zaunites, their castle is held aloft by corpses. Caitlyn's privileged lifestyle was only possible because of that and the moment she has an excuse, she adds to the pile of corpses with not a HINT of genuine remorse.

But oh, feel bad for her because she was betrayed (after SHE betrayed, abused, used, and discarded someone else)? Have her saved by the very people she saw no issuing brutalizing, poisoning, and oppressing when it suited her mood? Act as if this is a GOOD and TRIUMPHANT thing!?

The writers' idea that Piltover and Zaun are both wrong and set aside their differences against Noxus pisses me off the most. Please note that at this point, Zaun is not ZAUN - they are still Piltover's "undercity." They struggle to breath because of Piltover, they die enmass from lack of basic necessities because of Piltover, they are wrongly incarcerated because of Piltover.

Piltover has always been the wrong party, the bad and morally bankrupt side - even compared to SILCO of all people (in my opinion), Piltover is just the worst and nothing can redeem the. That badass entrance of Jinx and the Zaunites SHOULD have been them decimating BOTH Piltovan and Noxian forces without discrimination. It's literally what Piltover deserves for their actions!

As I told my friends, Zaun literally has NOTHING to lose and EVERYTHING to gain war. Freedom does not come without a war, a fight, a bomb killing the council and a terrorist killing the faces of their oppression (Enforcers). Jinx becomes a symbol of revolution BECAUSE of this. We as viewers love her BECAUSE of this (and her being a complex and sympathetic character in general).

Piltover had everything to LOSE if Zaun was independent, that's literally why they snuffed out any rebellions and have Enforcers to begin with! There is no misunderstanding, there is no moral ambiguity, there is one side in the right and one side in the wrong. And Caitlyn, to me, is the embodiment of that WRONG - she claims to want the best for Zaun until it doesn't go her way and now she will enforce her will and wants on them because she CAN.

She doesn't deserve to be portrayed sympathetically and Piltover did not deserve to be saved.

[incorrect-piltover-quotes]

Maddie: If you make a comment about my strength, I might throw you into the Grey.

Loris: You couldn't.

[funnyscienceman]

trying to meet s2 where it's at is so hard because on the one hand youre trying to engage with the story it's trying to tell and connect the dots of progression from s1 to s2, but on the other hand we know the writers have an egregious misunderstanding of all the characters and s1, so can you take any interpretation of s2 at face value? how many grains of salt should you take with what you can glean from it?