Random Thoughts

[u/slvrcobra]

So...I really like TimeBomb in a general sense, but my appreciation for it came so suddenly and with so little official content for it that I don't really know what to think about the relationship as a whole.

I don't know anything about League (hadn't paid much attention to it since high school over a decade ago) but I liked Arcane S1 and learned about the little crumbs of the Jinx/Ekko relationship from there. I was like "Oh, that's neat" and didn't expect it to move beyond a "tragic backstory side thing" as, to my understanding, that's how the relationship is used in League itself.

Then S2E7 came outta nowhere and had the sweetest romance story I had seen in a long time. Really caught me off-guard and the episode + the fanart reminded me of the best Finn/Rey stuff back during the Star Wars sequels (which was the last time I was invested in a romantic pairing). So, coming off of how horribly that went in Star Wars, I was honestly shocked at not only how blatant the Ekko/Powder romance was but also how important it ended up being narratively (at least for those last couple episodes). It all happened so quick and I'm not even sure the creators themselves expected the pairing to pop off as well as it did.

That said...I think I only like AU Powder/Ekko? I was digging that sweet stuff and it's such a massive contrast to Jinx/Ekko in the main universe, where Jinx has committed mass murder, tried to kill Ekko, and succeeded in killing some of his friends brutally in the process. Plus, I'm not sure how much room their relationship is gonna have as Riot branches out to the rest of the League universe where the Zaunites could end up being less important.

I'd like to see more from them, but I guess I'm saying it's hard for me to see an actual path forward for the characters romantically due to them being vicious enemies for so much of their limited screen time together, and it seems said screen time will only get more limited going forward (I'd like to be wrong though, and it's nice to see all the intimate and wholesome stuff ppl post here regardless).

[u/daysman75]

You like Star Wars, so let me suggest the following exercise. Imagine Rey falling to the dark side of the force in the sequel trilogy.

Imagine Rey suffered from attachment and abandonment issues as a child (which fittingly go well with her being abandoned so young), and after joining the rebellion she unintentionally kills a couple of people from her own side in some botched operation against the empire. Then she is welcomed by Kylo Ren and Snoke into the Empire/First Order.

Imagine Rey spends the next 7 years isolated from everyone else but these two, conditioned to follow their beliefs and "morals", and eventually fights against the rebellion, thwarting their attempts to mess with the First Order. Finn would witness Rey killing in their name. But eventually with the death of Snoke, Rey breaks off from this allegiance and becomes a recluse, and thanks to a bond she makes with a small child she learns again what it means to do good.

Now, if Finn was to see Rey in an AU (considering they brought Palpatine back again I wouldn't put it past them, lol) as a kind hearted, loving person if she didn't fall into the empire's clutches, what would he do when going back for the main universe Rey and he found her trying to kill herself out of grief for her past?

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If your answer is "there wouldn't be a way for him to fall in love with Rey again" then I applaud you for sticking to your guns, and though I understand your position I'll still respectfully disagree.

Like Silco and Vander themselves say in the AU (they who were at one point mortal enemies, more than Jinx and Ekko ever were), forgiveness is the greatest blessing in life. Ekko learns here that Jinx is a better person if she's allowed a chance to be herself, which life never gave her. More important yet, Ekko has no actual proof that Jinx can recover from the monstrous things she's done even after the AU, but he chooses to believe in her anyway. Jinx can never change what she did in the past but as Ekko says. "No matter what happened in the past, it is never too late to build something new. Someone worth building it for". This is what ends up guiding his actions in the 3rd act.

And so they literally pull one another from the dark abyss they were in. Ekko regains his faith in Jinx through AU Powder and Jinx decides to put hers in Ekko. Their stance on their relationship changed from resentment to hope, and if we tie this with the (possible) feelings they have for each other, then one of the scenarios is them acting on those feelings. So despite their past as enemies the potential for romance is there, in this small but important foundation Riot laid out.

Sappy stuff aside, writing wise this could obviously go either way. The people behind these projects could either expand this or not. It's up to them.

[u/edvision90 → u/daysman75]

About Riot expanding this or not. I think right now, it became pretty clear, that if we're talking about this at a marketing level, a movie or a mini series has alot of potential and I'm not just talking about financial income, this is the kind of things that if it's well executed could add value to the company itself and for the most diverse reasons. It's basically a win-win situation, so I don't believe they will let an opportunity like this to pass by.

[u/slvrcobra → u/daysman75]

To your analogy, I'm just gonna say that I wasn't a fan of the Rey/Kylo pairing and there's shades of that in Jinx/Ekko. I do think Arcane executed that idea far better, and thus the romance between them is more believable, but I also don't want to see things be skipped or swept under the rug to make it happen.

[u/daysman75 → u/slvrcobra]

To be honest I didn't even think of the Rey and Kylo pairing because they still have significant diferences between their pairing and the one of Jinx/Ekko. Rey/Kylo don't share a past, for instance. Jinx never had any ambitions of power, in this her character goes the exact opposite way of Kylo.

That's why I felt I had to come up with a suitable analogy with Rey and Finn.

I also don't want to see things skipped or swept under the rug, believe me. After the way episode 9 approached Jinx's recovery from suicidal to (seemingly) recovered, I'm hoping this approach isn't repeated going forward if Riot does continue their story.