#the splashart is so pretty though

[anothertina]

Got the prestige, the things I do for him

[analligatorr]

opinion on the porcelain Graves skin???? I don’t hate it but I’m mad it’ll take another year or more until we get another one and porcelain is such a boring theme. Stick him in an interesting skin line for once riot.

Sincerely? I tried to like this skin, I really tried, but.. :/

Well, on twitter I compared Porcelain Graves with the WR exclusive skin Dragon Lantern Graves (not the special edition) I'll transcribe it here.

Let's start with splasharts. Wild Rift's Splash arts are generally criticized, many times I don't agree, some of them are of even higher quality than those of League, which is the case of Dragon Lantern Graves. Even though it's not Graves' best splash, or the best skinline splash, it's pretty and pleasant, my only criticism is that it's a little too static, there's not much movement

the Graves porcelain splash has some problems, at first glance it is.. pretty, but whenever you look at it, there seems to be something wrong, it really is a strange splash, and it's not the fault of the artist who made it.

Porcelain Graves Splash Concepts by Santiago Parra

in the end, they(riot) decided to increase the proportions and add a lot of texture, to achieve this result, so... yeah, it's not the best splash. but it's pretty

Dragon Lantern: 1

Porcelain: 0

About the VFX, let's be honest, they tend to do something very mediocre with Graves when it comes to visual effects, apart from his legendary skin (which it would be stupid of them to do something too simple) Graves' recent epic skins haven't received as much love.

Even though the Dragon Lantern skin has basically the same sounds as the base skin (i guess) the quality of the VFX is absurdly good (better than his legendary if you allow me to say). The Porcelain one.. is... mediocre.. ofc they couldn't put something cool like Lux and Lissandra's skins, right?

I can't post more than one video in a post, so here are the links so you can see the difference between the VFX of Dragon Lantern Graves and Porcelain Graves.

Dragon Lantern: 2

Porcelain: 0

Ok, let's get to the part that irritated me the most. The narrative..

Yes, we agree that Graves is not a big "important" character in Runeterra, he is not there to be a protagonist. That doesn't mean he can't cause real chaos, and set Bilgewater on fire just in an attempt to get revenge on his current partner. Why did I bring this up? because it is absurd to portray Graves as a pathetic and irrelevant character.

With that in mind, read Porcelain Graves' bio:

Not long after gunpowder was invented, the Zodiac searched for a new protector of the Dragon Relic. Though ancient and wise, the gods struggled to find someone worthy, so they settled for Malcolm Graves. Eventually his expertise in firepower was pointed in the right direction (away from all the breakable vases)

It's ridiculous, don't you think?

They are so fond of abusing the fact that Graves is, in some ways, a comic relief, that they make him the real joke, to the exclusion of everything else about him, and making him "unworthy". It's like they're saying "ugh, should this guy really be here? Who called him?". Whoever wrote the narrative of porcelain skinline seems to hate him, for real..

Now let's go to Dragon Lantern Graves' bio:

Graves, a free-spirited mercenary from a foreign land, can hardly wait to join in the fun at the gala. For this burly maverick, harmless ol' lanterns are no more than impractical ornaments—he much prefers filling up massive dragonflame cannons and setting the night sky ablaze with 'em booming explosions and dazzling lights!

1000% better, right? It's almost a delight. It's fun, brings out a little of who he is, and doesn't degrade his image :D

Dragon Lantern: 3

Porcelain: 0

AND WE HAVE A WINNER

[teeto-peteto]

Question: Has there ever been a champion that you've wanted to like, but due to one reason or another, gameplay, design, voice performance, it just couldn't get all the way? Does that make sense?

augh a lot of them sadly.

Briar is the most recent one, i already adressed it in a recent post. I dont like they just made her anime highschool girl shaped, i think her design would have been stronger is she was uncanny skinny, it would fit better on her 'failed experiment with terrible hunger' concept and its a lost opportunity to make a character creepy and unsettling as Fiddlesticks was on its release. Im very bothered by her body type (wich is not bad but you know, repetitive), and if your team picks her its an insta loose so let me tell you its also not funny to play with one, i dont think she's well designed in the abilities department. I tried to like her because well, she's ''''''unusual'''''', but the type of unusualness that turns boring after a few days and then you just realize that she's just another pretty girl with Patrick Star personality.

aside from that i think i have opinions that most of the community would highly dissagree on so, sorry.

Irelia's rework didnt stick good on me. And i wanted to like her very badly but there's things that i just dont like on her that make me go 'eh' and play or think about another toplaner. Aside from making all of her skins exactly the same (you know, exact hair lenght just put like buns or other minor additions to the hair, the exact same dress piece, etc). I appreciate the rework in the artistic department but... I think her old blade was way more interesting that what she has going on right now, i understand why her blades are like this now, resembling the floating stones and all the 'power of nature and flow' that Ionia has around... but, i just dont like it. Her new lines are an improvement though, i cant really remember any lines from the old Irelia so, it's interesting how she gets to talk about her family, war, etc. One thing that bugs me the most is the Ice blade Irelia splashart... You know exactly what im talking about. I just cannot wrap my head around it. Actually imagine going to the artist and telling them 'Hey we need this new splashart for this Irelia skin, but like enhance her ass the most cause fans really loved it' ...bruh.

I know its a unpopular opinion and that she is a fan favourite and anyone could stab my throat if i say it but... I cant stand Akali. Like, at all. And i desperately tried to like her, i tried to like her on K/DA but it never works out. I tried playing her trying to somewhat bond and understand her but it doesnt work out. Look, original Akali wasnt good. I admit it, she was a copy and paste of Jade from Mortal Kombat. But the rework... It hurted me. I just couldnt understand why did they make her so... bratty, so 'pick me' type of girl, this kind of 'im rebel blehhhh' kind of person... Wich isnt bad in essence but, they made her so utterly exaggerated that it annoys me. I dont understand why they made her fall off of the Kinkou that badly and make her relationship with Shen this father-bratty daughter that rolls her eyes everytime he talks it makes me want to peel my skin with my nails. Her model update was definetly a glow up that im thankful for and she looks amazing, but... she is a pick me girl. She's the 'im not like the other girls' 'im not like my mom' 'im not like the other girls in ionia who believe in balance' and it hurts. There's a lot of positive changes on her i appreciate and i applaud, i just decide not to test it on my own because i know i wont enjoy it. I tried liking her on K/DA cause WELL at least she's interacting with 3 more people (4 with Seraphine) without being a literal child in rabies. But yeah, didnt quite work, she's better, but i dont want her near me. Her glowup is good, her emotion on the lines is amazing, but her personality kicks my ass badly. And i just hate the way Riot makes all her skins exactly the same just like Irelia, almost always the same type of dress piece (literally no matter if she's wearing a suit like crime city, a witchy design like coven... its literally the same shit) and the same type of haircut, copy and pasted but with different colours.

If anything, i could never take Sona seriously, her voice lines were bad already and her update just kept being bad or even worse. I try to like her but again, sexualized and basic. Nidalee is in the same category, playing her its fun but would you sacrifice that to hear sexual innuendos every 10 seconds?

woah noticed how the champions i mentioned are female? gee i wonder why....

am i the 'mysoginistic' one because i dont like the female champions? Or are Riot the mysoginistic ones because they think making champion splasharts with special enhance on their bodies and private parts is okay and that they can make them cold-hearted emotionless specially women because making them feel a bit of emotion makes them believe that it doesnt fit what they think feminism is about but yet they decide to give them bratty/unhinged rebelious personalities so they can raise the cocks of the disgusting male fanbase so they can go 'oh bbygirl is a feisty one what a brat' and buy skins and then produce/pay for porn of these characters? hmmm....

[blood-starved-beast]

Actually now that it’s been brought to my mind again, Irelia’s not the Captain of the Guard. A lot of complaints against her being in the Sentinels of Light was that “she’s too important to be a Sentinel, Ionia would fall without her yadayadaya.” But that’s not her job. As far we know in the lore I will do a sweep of her modern stuff later but she’s not a captain. At times of war she rallies people to fight back and people look up to her for Leadership but that’s not her Job job. It’s informal, and in the Awaken cinematic it’s clear that she hasn’t made her own Guard/faction that needs her immediate leadership judging by what looks like a volunteer crew with all the farmers there.

Not that it could collapse without her presence but it’s pretty hodge-podge all things considering. If she were to leave especially in a time of extreme crisis where even factions and Noxus invading wouldn’t be able to do much such as in Rise of the Sentinels, the impact will would be in dissarray wouldn’t be that bad cause again she has a reason to leave. Anyways I still think Ionia’s hero was the perfect choice if anything based on this.

The other argument against Irelia being in the Sentinels is that her family crest was replaced. But again, where is the evidence in the lore that Irelia can only bend her family crest? That’s stuff from the old lore, where her soul is tied to her father’s blades. In the new lore, the Spirit of Ionia grants her the power to move blades, including the Trinity Force. That doesn’t necessarily exclude other blades. If anything, Rise of the Sentinels confirms she has some innate connection with blade-bending or something. I mean, this looks like metalbending to me:

Also another one of her lines in-game, prior to Sentinels has Irelia remark when she’s at the shop to “throw [B.F. Sword] in with the others, let’s see if it flies” seems to imply that Irelia at the least can manipulate some form of metal beyond her crest. And there’s also that little detail in the Polish promotion of Sentinels of Light that states that Irelia likes to collect knifes.

Irelia’s really under-explored in the lore it’s possible in the ten years since she sliced off Swain’s arm that she realized her powers are able to generalize beyond her family crest, but because of the sentiment behind them (and possible the familiarity, I mean, Ionians would be more likely to rally around Irelia with Trinity force) she uses them instead of random swords. Excluding the Ruination of course (though even then I feel like they could’ve idk, rationed out Irelia stuck the relic stones to her blades somehow, I mean in the splashart they have handles which her original ones don’t so...)

[lastscoutstanding]

yordleassault

   Heavy artillery always needs a spotter if i’m right, just like any extremely long range units (snipers too) so he works 100% well with Veigar IMO. Tristana… well, I mean, she’s standing on a tank if I’m not mistaken… that’s tricky, but maybe he was their scout before the attack, or he just want’s to be with Trist. Fizz seems to be the equivalent of a submarine, meaning he’s taking out high value sea-targets and that works with His theme as well I think…  

…since Teemo does that too. (there’s a character limit here :V)    

About Veigar: Hey, you’re right. That works. Cool.

About Tristana: I guess it works?

Fizz is obviously a combat diver. Those guys are hardcore, and the story about combat divers training dolphins is pretty common. Don’t know if they actually do that, though. Combat divers swim miles through the ocean, work with underwater mines, etc. Teemo doesn’t look happy in the splashart, and the dolphin is carrying him, so maybe it’s just for safe passage/transportation, Fizz escorting him safely to another point?

[blood-starved-beast]

Redemption arc squad for the bingo (Acxa/Farnese/Zuko/Riven/etc)

Redemption Arc squad yes (Did not include Zethrid and Ezor cause redemption - for what? Doing hot girl shit?) To start, here's the original so people have ease of access to see.

Send me more asks if you'd like me to say more.

First, Acxa

Unsurprisingly, she's the one who gets the bingo. Excluding a few others in the fandom, people get her wrong like the amount of parentfication she gets in the fandom is frankly insane why can't fandom be normal about her (saying this, as I proceed to not be normal about her). Her arc is great, and one of the few in vld that made sense, surprisingly enough. Only reason I don't give her the best is cause Haggar/Honerva is there. Of course saying so would be hitting the wasp's nest. She definitely should've gotten more screentime, and they wasted the fact that she worked with Haggar in s8 especially. Keith knew she was with Haggar in the Kral Zera no one bothered to ask her anything??? We should've gotten a backstory flashback in act 2 in my opinion. The way she went around backstabbing people like 10 times but you know she wasn't planning this shit out is the funniest thing what is wrong with her indeed.

Next, Zuko

Zuko, I don't have much opinions about as he was written very good and I'm pretty much satisfied with how the writers went about him. I'd say he gets top spot in Atla for best writing cause Aang's near perfect arc was messed up with the dumb thing to have his avatar state reopened by some random rock. Especially when the world building established that it was an emotional-psychological-spiritual thing. In that sense, Zuko was consistently the best. Zuko's most popular pairings suck and I almost forgot to put this cause my atla fandom experience was literally ten years ago but then I remembered zukk@. Zut@ra I never liked which is rich coming from me who likes friggin Rivelia but my excuse is that my fandom experience was shaped by exposure to that friggin ship war from way back then and that spoiled a lot for me. Katara deserves better and she's not a fixer, at least, not for Zuko she would. Fandom woobification besides that, annoys me especially when he can get all toxic masculinity sometimes (this was a thing established at the Beach ep). His arc is one that I'm always referencing so you could say I'm pretty obsessed with it. If you'd ask me about him 8 years ago I feel like I'd say more but I'm long overdue for an atla rewatch so I'd have to refresh.

Now Farnese

Farnese has one of the more interesting arcs in media I've seen recently. She's a bitch with little freudian excuse and does a lot of horrific things to boot. And YET her redemption arc is so so good Miura was a master at his craft Rest in Peace. I think she'd benefit more from screentime but this is just me wanting a good Berserk adaption post golden age. Her best character work is when she works with Casca and Schierke imho.

Finally, Riven

Riven I love a lot but she hasn't reached Meow-Meow stage to get the bingo (for League, that award I think, would go to Irelia). Her fandom reception is weird though, but that depends on who you look to. The cismale fans are really gross with her, and the friggin battle bunny skin is atrocious. The original that is. Which was a fan-inspired skin by the way. That and her popularity among this cohort really messed with her characterization, even in the writers room cause I'd feel like she should be Butch, but cause of it has since seen a more femme-mization in her splashart and other media. As with most non-arcane characters she needs more lore. I'd like to see a Zelda styled game for example, where she tries to atone for her war crimes in Ionia by helping people etc. Besides that I could see her working with Rell, Irelia, others. Sentinels of Light did her so dirty worse than Irelia for sure (maybe not as bad as Pyke or Rengar, but still). There were so many ways to handle that but they did her and Irelia's arc in the most superficial way that I'm dog-bites-cage-rail.jpg all about how it could've been done better. Btw, her popular ships suck cause they are with Yasuo, who I don't really like, and *shudders* Zac. Rivelia is next on the list after that but I do like that, but I have ~ issues ~ with how it was handled but also most fandom content for it is not my cup of tea at all (WHERE IS THE SPICE???).

Thanks for the ask Cat!

For everyone else, here is the original post.