#with ekko learning how to travel back a few seconds in the process

[0vergrowngraveyard]

can i just say…

episode 7 was actually so fucking funny

ekko and heimerdinger are in this close to perfect reality. ekko and powder dance and hang out. benzo and vander and everyone (except vi) is alive and zaun is thriving! ekko is presenting something for an inventors contest and attends a party and heimerdinger becomes a musician

meanwhile, jayce fighting for his fucking life

[sarahshot1st]

Convergence hype made me finally write this idea down

“DAMMIT!”

Ekko collapsed to the ground as the portal spat him out. Jorkan was at his side in an instant, trying to help him to his feet, but Ekko shoved him away.

“No, no, no, NO!” He punctuated each repetition with a fist to the ground - imitating the way his big sister had dealt with her frustration without realizing it.

It didn’t seem to help.

“It’s okay boss,” Jorkan consoled, “we can try again - recalibrate some of the frequencies - you’ll get it eventually, I’m sure -”

Ekko cut him off. “Don’t you get it? There is no next time. This was our last shot, and I failed.”

The vastaya cocked his head, bat-like ears twitching in confusion. “But … you literally have all the time in the world. Remember?” He grinned hesitantly. The joke - one which the spunky leader of the Firelights himself had coined, and was fond of cracking - felt forced.

Ekko shook his head. “That was our best chance,” he repeated, “and it wasn’t enough. We optimized all the variables, and I still wasn’t able to make it back farther than a few seconds.” He shook his head in frustration. “Maybe with more practice, I’ll be able to ride the waves of space-time better, but -”

“I’m afraid that will not make a difference, my dear boy.”

They both turned to where a hooded figure stood in the shadows. The effect was intimidating - until you noticed the speaker’s diminutive frame.

“You will not be able to greatly extend the duration of your chronological jaunts, no matter how much training you undergo,” Heimerdinger said, pushing back the cowl of his cloak as he stepped out of the shadows. “A few minutes, perhaps even a few hours - but never as far as you would need to achieve your goal.”

Ekko finally rose to his feet, huffing in derision. “And how would you know? It wasn’t your fancy Piltie hands that built the Z-Drive.”

The former Councilor brushed aside the dig, recognizing it as a product of the boy’s current frustration, and not any resentment towards his heritage. A shared love of learning and discovery had helped bring the two brilliant minds together, just as it had brought together the founders of their society. But with the stakes as high as they were - stakes of a very personal nature - Ekko’s patience was bound to run thin.

Ah, lad, the wizened yordle thought, you are gifted for one so young. That, unfortunately, will make accepting failure exceedingly difficult.

Heimerdinger kept his voice calm as he responded.

“It is not a matter of knowing the mathematics behind the operation, but rather the principles. You are attempting to create a device that will allow you to change the past - and therefore, the present. You take the very fabric of reality in the palm of your hand, and toy with it the way a child tinkers with a set of gears. That is well - a testament to your remarkable ingenuity. Doing so, however, carries great risk. Place too much strain on the system, and the gears might just break.”

Heimerdinger placed a consoling hand on the boy’s shoulder. “What you have managed to accomplish already is truly remarkable - and I suspect that you will continue to find ways to perfect the process. But eventually, you will reach barriers - limits not even one such as yourself can break. The universe itself will restrain you, for reality cannot allow itself to be torn asunder. To do so would risk catastrophe.”

Ekko shook his head, face contorted nearly into a snarl. “Well, then the universe is just going to have to learn to play by my rules for once.”

Heimerdinger sighed. “And what would you do, my boy, if you achieved your goal? If you managed to travel back to that fateful day, and save your family from Silco’s machinations?”

“I - I would rescue them! And then - then, I’d finally get the life I should have had. A life with them in it!” He turned away, though not quickly to hide the droplet of water sliding down his cheek.

“And you would have no reason to ever create this remarkable piece of technology,” Heimderinger said gently. “You would have everything you ever wanted, and so you would have no reason to struggle against the hands of time. The person you are now would be gone, replaced by a completely different Ekko - one who would never found the Firelights, or create the Z-Drive. All the good you’ve accomplished would be gone, just like that.”

“They’re worth that!” Ekko suddenly burst out, spinning to face them. Jorkan backed away, but Heimerdinger stood his ground. “Mylo and Claggor deserve to be saved just as much as any of the people here in the Sanctuary! Just like Vander! Just like -”

He swallowed, suddenly growing very quiet.

Just like Powder.

Heimderinger was silent for a moment. This was not a time to offer contradictions.

After a long moment, Ekko sniffed away his tears, breaking the silence.

“I know what you’re going to say - that I can save far more people with the Z-Drive than I could going back to get my family. That I have to measure the good I could do for myself with the greater good I could do for my community. Well, I don’t buy that. If I go back and stop Silco, there won’t need to be a Firelights, because Vander will still be in charge. So there.”

“Actually, that’s not what I was going to say.”

Ekko arched an eyebrow, almost a challenge.

“The value of your own family versus the families of these present here is a philosophical dilemma you will have to grapple with on your own - one I dare not weigh in on. Regardless, I fear it is a conundrum not worth pursuing - for I believe it impossible for you to travel that far back in the first place. The strain on the continuation of casualty -”

“We already discussed the paradox conundrum!” Ekko interrupted. “We proved that I can change the past without breaking the timeline.” They had started off performing simple experiments, allowing Ekko to see how many bolts Heimderinger had placed into a sealed bag, then pulling one of them out - changing the outcome in real-time.

“A few seconds, yes,” Heimderinger agreed, “because we determined that the Z-Drive acts a focus for your time-travelling. But what happens if you travel further past the Z-Drive’s creation? You will no longer have a device to stabilize the space-time continuum.”

Ekko fell silent. For once he had no response to one of Heimderinger’s challenging questions.

“When you set out to create this device, you were determined to undo the tragic events of your past,” Heimderdinger said consolingly. “A worthy endeavor , if there ever was one. But in making this outcome the ultimate goal of your attempts, the foundation of your reasoning for creating the Z-Drive …”

Ekko groaned - a mixture of rage, frustration, and grief - bitter, begrudging acceptance, mixed with an unwillingness, an inability, to accept defeat.

“...I’m afraid you made that outcome the one possibility you will never be able to achieve.”

Ekko snatched the Z-Drive off the ground, slinging it back around his shoulder.

“You don’t know that,” he snarled, “and until I give up, you can’t prove it. Jorkan, fetch me the spare crystals from the workshop. I’m going to need more soon.”

Heimerdinger shook his head, retreating back to his corner. He didn’t turn around as a loud BWZING announced the device’s activation, followed a few seconds later by a string of curses as the frustrated boy collapsed to the ground once again.

Those two sounds continued long into the night.

[sylvanas-girlkisser]

Arcane Background Lore/Easter Eggs (Episode 7)

And we’re back, after I have had a day to process act 3; and definitely not cause I was busy writing caitvi fanfiction. Spoilers ahead, you’ve been warned.

The firelights symbol is an hourglass rotated 45 degrees to the right, hourglasses figure a lot into Ekko’s aesthetic (as does elements of hip hop culture), and I’m kinda kicking myself over missing this give-away for who was leading the firelights.

Animal people like this character have shown up a few times. They’re called “Vastaya”, and to cut a very long story short: They are the descendants of humans who merged with spirits thereby getting animal-like features and a natural affinity for (spirit) magic. A lot of Vastaya tribes have a tree as a gathering point at the center of the village which might be where Ekko got the idea.

The back of Ekko’s jacket appears to be inspired by the aesthetics of the  “Giants” music video (seen below).

Actually his entire firelights outfit might be based off his “True Damage” outfit (the one he wears in Giants), the silhouette at least fits very well.

The cannister Ekko carries the Hex gem in looks strikingly similar to his Z-drive from League – Basically it’s a gadget that allows him to travel about 10 seconds backwards in time.

I wanna give a shoutout to whoever decided to change Ekko’s hair from straight to curly, his mohawk looks so fucking good with locs.

In the “Seconds” trailer Ekko is protecting a mural similar to this one from a rampaging chemtech monster (similar to Silco’s goons).

Also, the character on the far left, might be a mashup of a bunch of different rejected concept arts for Ekko, but I’m not 100% sure on that one.

I might be overanalyzing, but the big flower in the background of the room where Silco meets with the chem barons, look very similar to the ones grown by Baroness Corina Veraza (Seen below).

Since Caitlyn’s nemesis is yet to make an appearance, this might (or might not) be a hint to who’s going to take oveer now that Silco is gone.

In League Ekko wields a cricket bat as his main weapon, however this sorta “gear shillelagh” actually showed up in more of his concept art than his bat did.

The flashback play fight is an (imo) very clever way to reference Ekko’s “Chronobreak” ability from League, without needing to actually introduce time travel as a plot element. As I mentioned earlier: in League Ekko carries a device  which allows him to travel short periods backwards in time. In the “Seconds” trailer, we see him use it just like he does here: try an approach, die, learn from his mistakes and try again.

Also Ekko and Jinx’ fight mirrors very closely how a fight between them usually plays out in League: Jinx tries to kill him before he can get close, Ekko dashes around her shots, and once he gets in close knocks her out within seconds. A duel between Ekko and Jinx is heavily stacked in Ekko’s favor, with clever use of her grenades being Jinx’s only real chance of winning.

With how much I’ve been hyping up Corina, it seems only fair I properly introduce her at the end of a post; even if she’s not playable in league. She’s a Zaun crime lord with a love for poisonous flowers. She made friends with Caitlyn and posed as an informant in Caitlyn’s own investigation of her, feeding her false leads to play her out against her rivals. Just think of the angst potential when Caitlyn inevitably realizes she has become to Corina what Marcus was to Silco.

If there’s anything I missed please let me know, I’m planning to do a breakdown like this for each episode.

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