Star Wars presents strong themes of duality throughout its narrative. The light and dark sides of the Force are ever at odds, yet complete each other. All wars have heroes and villains on both sides. From a certain point of view, anyone could be the real hero the galaxy needs. The setting of Arcane, the city-state of Piltover, offers a very similar narrative structure. The upper and lower cities, two halves of a conflicted world intrinsically tied to each other, represent two sides of the same coin. No matter which side of the river you come from, or which side you've ended up on, the role you play has both merits and pitfalls for the world at large. Who is your character in this fantastical city, where civil war is constantly brewing, and the bridge between magic and science is blurred?
That's right! The theme of this edition of What's My Fandom Again? is Arcane, the wildly successful spinoff show from League of Legends. There are two ways to go about participation:
- Depict a crossover between your own character and one of the named figures from Arcane. A bit of reflavoring to better suit your character, such as a color change or restyling an aspect of the crossover figure that generally maintains the same thematic elements, is allowed and encouraged! You will need to include this figure's name in your submission.
- Depict your character in an altered appearance resembling the look of a Piltover citizen, either from its esteemed yet viciously elite upper city; from its ill-regarded, tightly connected lower city; or as a member of one of its established factions (such as the Guard or the Fireflies). You will need to include a brief note of your character's crossover origins in your submission. Feel free to ask questions if you would like assistance with building up an appropriate appearance for the setting!
Submission & Scoring:
- Entries will only be accepted in the following formats: .jpg, .png, .gif.
- Scoring will be done in adherence to the Herald Graphics Grading Rubric, with an adjustment: Adherence to Theme will be increased to 30%, while Technique will be reduced to 30%.
- The top three contestants will receive Second Level Crescents, and all valid entries will be awarded Clusters of Graphite.
Conditions:
- Due to the thematic focus of this competition, submissions of stick figures or characters without identifying details will not be considered valid entries.
- For photo manipulation purposes, you are welcome to use backgrounds from Arcane, as well as any official iconography. Other uses of official imagery from the series, namely characters and their clothing or equipment, is discouraged for the sake of artistic creations and will result in a lower score, but it is not a disqualifying factor on its own. However, an image that is little more than a head placed over a screenshot from the show, or a photo manipulation submission of similarly little effort, may be subject to disqualification.
- Please avoid props and equipment specific to Star Wars. Failure to exchange an object such as a lightsaber or firearm with an Arcane-inspired equivalent will lower your score. However, creative styling in flavor with your character - putting a Mandalorian T-shaped visor on a mask, or designing a rune-imbued Hextech sword - is acceptable.
- Unlike props and equipment, you are allowed to maintain your character's original Star Wars species, even if it is an alien. Alternatively, you are also allowed to depict your character as a species represented in Arcane! It won't negatively affect your score, either way.