#freljord

And I do mean that. And part of the hype is for how it folds Arcane in, but it also kinda has me worried.

Like, with Arcane and its canon, the best approach to the timeline is to let all of the cuncurrent events that work in a comic-book like environment of connected but mostly self-contained stories (that necessitates that concurrentness given the scope of the stories and the number of artists working on different parts at any given moment) to be spread out into a much larger timeline. Where a strong narrative drive can be better explored.

And with the state of the Noxian invasion of Ionia, especially the Singed of it all, it would be, imo, the best interest of the story to make Arcane as early in this timeline as possible. Before the first invasion of Ionia, AT LEAST. Makes sense, right?

But we see Katarina going against the Black Rose. And we see them talk about the next move while teasing what seems like Riven's Blade. And all of that is very much post-invasion stuff. Like, Katarina has her daggers infused, which also means we're post J3's death and in the middle of the Mage rebellion in Demacia, which is something that with "The Arcane is waking up" from the show, would have fit much more easily into the Sylas is recruited by the mageseekers part of that plotline than being forced to be happening right now.

If Jayce Talis had a SO from Freljord

During the most fruitful years of their research Jayce and Viktor could possibly travel, broadening their knowledge, enjoying the rich connections, and visiting places that simpletons could only dream about. One such place they ventured to was Freljord.

While the monumental buildings, ancient statues buried in snow, and frozen lakes amazed, Jayce got smitten in a very mundane place. Passing through locations the whole party took shelter in a village resting in a snowy forest.

The folks were suspicious. News of Piltover, the Man of Progress and other whatnots weren't really any revelation here. They didn't know much because they didn't care much. The mass was more invested in the incoming hunt or any possible snow storms out there. That's why it took some time and a few vikings to warm up the multitude to the Piltover newcomers. Later, there was no end to the feast.

Jayce and Viktor stayed at the chiefs house, where they could eat, sleep and enjoy any company. Days changed into a week which later turned into two. All the while Jayce's gaze followed the chiefs daughter, when she combed her hair, swept the floor, shouted at the men, and bent her father's ear to no end. Jayce's favourite part of the day became diner.

She used to drop a plate filled to the brim with home made cooking, throwing a simple "eat". So he ate. When she asked "more?" he nodded his head. Jayce used to arrive in the dining hall first and leave the last, often lounging in the kitchen as she cleaned the dishes with other women.

When the party slowly trailed back towards Piltover, Jayce demanded they stop at the same village. This time he mustered up the courage and asked the chief to take his daughter to Piltover. She was a bit fussy at first, knowing damn well what the man had in mind.

While at home, Jayce was walking handsomeness, here, compared to a row of viking men with their bows and muscles, he wasn't such a heartthrob anymore. Yet she agreed, intrigued by his peculiar mind, stories about inventions, flying machines, and promises of seeing the forge.

In the golden city she considered her new place with the same sturdy spirit that she sported back home. She did what she knew best. Her man was always warm, fed and taken care of. Jayce melted in the attention, loving every second of the newly acquired cozy, homely corner in the clockwork city of Piltover. Her cooking felt like a trip back to Freljord, her attitude like a slap to the cheek, her hot embrace like a lighthouse for his one-manned boat on a stormy night at sea.

1. Leblanc, Mel and Vladimir. She wants to focus on that last gyph....something that scares the ancient vampire. Mordekaiser? Swain and the demons? Hmm.

2. Katerina is a fully-grown assassin. They will connect to Demacia somehow.

3. Darius is a natural fit for a third character. He will likely assist Mel against the Rose. He is nobility and the belief in Noxus personified. He will be the Ekko of the show. He's fighting a troll in the Freljord. Not Ninjas in Ionia. This mean the second Ionian invasion hasn't happened. The revolution hasn't happened. Noxus is still ruled by an emperor.

4. Swain will be a big part. Perhaps in the shadows at first. Guiding Mel against the Rose.

I mean, my favourite story set in any League of Legends thing by far is Arcane, but I suspect that's not quite what you mean.

Second to that is Ashe and Sejuani, specifically as their relationship is told in the Ashe: Warmother comic. It's a comic about the ways in which their relationships with their mothers shape them into the people they become - both of them consciously rejecting their mothers' legacies, and yet both of them utterly reflective of them.

Like, Ashe's mother Grena is this unflinching visionary, utterly possessed by a dream of ancient legacies, who is at once incredibly powerful and willing to sacrifice any number of lives for her vision, but also vulnerable, flawed and terrified of what her leadership will do both to her tribe and to her daughter.

And you see those qualities emerge in Ashe as she determines to become the protector of the weak in the Freljord, the champion of the Hearthbound and the vulnerable. She inherits Grena's steel-edged will and dedication to a vision of the future, even as she tries over and over again to reject her mother's obsession with ancient glories and mystical names.

Sejuani on the other hand is raised by... well, by a bitter, abusive drunk who sees her as nothing but a signifier of her own regrets and failures, and who projects all her own insecurities and weaknesses onto her child.

And Sejuani grows up both resentfully rejecting all the insecurity and pain her mother has been beating into her, but also inherits her mother's brutality and willingness to see the human beings under her command as disposable objects whose worth is measured in utility.

They are two reflections, two shadows of their mothers, and of the relationship they had to them, sisters by mutual choice and love, who are brought into conflict because their traumas have shaped them in irreconcilably different ways.

It is ENORMOUSLY compelling as a narrative about siblings, and as a framing device for the conflict in the Freljord - especially with Lissandra spooking around in the background as a universal mother-figure for the region, who in turn has her own traumas about being alienated from her sisters in ways that are similar to how Ashe and Sejuani were split apart.

The Freljord sometimes runs the risk of devolving into pop culture viking stereotypes and high fantasy pagan god nonsense (/affectionate, I love Ornn so much), but Ashe and Sejuani and their estrangement, especially as presented in Warmother, brings the thematic core of the region back down to some extremely fundamental questions about how to survive in an abusive environment - whether it be a harsh winter, or a broken family.

Spoilers fr EP8 of Pretend Like we can Touch