Ekko: *reading a book*
Ekko: "Ehh, I hate the enemies to lovers trope. It's annoying fr"
Jinx: "..."
Jinx: *sweating* "You sure?"
I know that the animation studio wanted to desexualize the female characters in Arcane as much as possible which as a radical feminist I can appreciate. But as a Sevika fan, taking away the chest tattoo boob window crop top combo is actually really fucking unfair to women
Ok I'm like grasping at straws here and not getting my hopes up but Kerri Maniscalco mentioning she would like recs for second chance romances gives me a tiny bit of hope that maybe we'll get the Pride and Claudia/Lucia second chance romance that I long for!! Hoping praying crossing fingers! I want it so bad!
Leaks of the cut scenes from the team up preparation !!
Source: trust me
So I read something the other day talking about how fans are making Ekko and Jinx's relationship romantic and not all male and female characters HAVE to be romantically involved. I agree with this. I'll go so far as to say that this is true for any character of any gender. In my own writing (with my original characters) I rarely have romantic undertones. Mostly just friends being friends. While I get the allure of the romantic chase, of most people we deal with in life we aren't connecting to them romantically. Friends are friends.
That said, this is not the case with Ekko and Jinx. From Ekko's release in 2015 there has always been some romantic undertones with Jinx. Riot has always been a bit mysterious about what his relationship is with Jinx. Ekko even has a line in the game where he says:
The foundation had been laid long before Arcane was released in 2021.
Between 2015 and 2021 (when Arcane was released), a lot of official art and such dropped hints about SOMETHING going on between them. Much like Jinx being Vi's sister. You have to remember that this was originally a secret. It was Ghostcrawler who finally confirmed fan theories, even though he tried to walk it back later. Oops! Ha, ha!
(An image from 2015)
To add to the mystery, on both of their official pages, Ekko is listed as connected to Jinx and Jinx is listed as connected to Ekko. However, at no point does Riot explain how they're connected. Their stories don't mention the other at all. So this means that some things were planned, but they weren't ready to reveal. I'm still of a mind that they were waiting to use Arcane as a vehicle to get into Jinx's history and how that intersected with Ekko and Vi. Before Arcane, we knew very little about Jinx and how she ends up the way she does.
Then, before Arcane came out we got this little nugget in Legends of Runeterra:
Remember, this is 100% from Riot themselves. Not the fans. Riot laid the seeds down and it was the fans who picked up on it and ran. I doubt anyone would have ever thought there was something between Ekko and Jinx without Riot dropping hints. By the time we got to Arcane Season 1, the train was already in motion.
Let's not even forget the insane number of Jinx references in the True Damage video they released in 2020. Generally it wasn't odd to see Ekko and there would be some sort of Jinx reference somewhere. That wasn't true for Jinx until recently.
After Arcane, Riot themselves has been dropping hints like crazy. Jinx has been putting Ekko's hourglass symbol on stuff. League Brazil did a huge Twitter AMA with Star Guardian Ekko and Jinx. Jinx goes to the Grammys with Ekko.
Another official Ekko and Jinx moment. Check out her shirt!
And let's not forget this one for the Billboard Music Awards:
They went to the event together!
So...while I see people saying that the fans were to blame for Jinx and Ekko being romantically involved, it should be pointed out that this is all Riot's doing. The best part is that the fans have been largely receptive to their efforts in promoting the couple. Riot has waited a long time to be able to say what they want to say about them.
And if there is any doubt about where they're going with them as a couple, let's just remember this cover for the art book for Arcane:
Another official piece done by Riot and Fortiche themselves.
Sorry for the long post, but I thought it was important to point out that it's not the fans who set this up. It'll be interesting to see where this all goes, but based on their track record so far, it should be clear where the end game is headed.
Thanks for reading!
so i just finished the duology……. GAHD THESE TWOOO PLS idk what to feel can somebody plss clear this out for me
Do you think we’re soulmates in another universe?
timebomb is literally so crazy like. i do not usually fuck with enemies to lovers as a trope but childhood friends to enemies to lovers just hits Different. and even when they were enemies they still cared about each other? ekko never being one of the voices in jinx’s head even when she thought she had killed him on the bridge? ekko admitting that he gave up on her realizing he never quite stopped loving her? fucks me up so bad. ekko surviving the bridge fight becoming the only person jinx has failed to kill ensuring he’s the only one who could have brought her out of her spiral, the living proof that she can be more than just a jinx… they fuck me up soooo bad
I will be perfectly honest, I somehow like every single detail about timebomb's lovestruck skins.
"It's all over the place", "too many clashing details", "seems like they couldn't choose what designs to put and then mixed them all together"
you see... that's exactly what I like about it.
IT'S SO THEM. AND THAT'S THE POINT.
the whole theme of "vibing, rocking, being in love 💞"
- leg warmers <--> jeans (we all joked about it at least once)
- Ekko now seems to sport the same side-bangs Jinx has
- spiky parts on their jackets are meant to form a heart
their accessories... oh... the way they match in all the little ways:
- Jinx's heart on her waist matches the heart Ekko has on his knee
- just like the heart on Jinx's left shoe matches the heart on Ekko's right shoe
- the cute round beads that imitate Jinx's second braid are also found on Ekko's pants... pants, on which he has very cute pins that may very sweetly parallel Jinx's jacket pins
- Jinx's half-a-heart necklace meant to form a heart with Ekko's half-a-heart knuckle accessory
Evangeline: *pretending she doesn't remember*
Evangeline: "Hi, good sir, do I know you?"
Jacks: "....."
Jacks: *starts crying*
Evangeline: "W-wait-"
Ah, yes, my favourite genre
timebomb documentary