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On Art is Life, and blood

Over Innsmouth·11/1/2018, 5:22:50 PM·10 votes·8,540 views

So the new Vlad lores been out for a few days and I have to say I overall really like both the bio and the shortstory. Both were excellent pieces from talented writers that I deeply enjoyed reading, especially since it fleshed out and filled the void that Vladimir's state has been in since the lore retcon.

I love his new place in the lore, considering the sheer gravity of his position as an immortal who was not meant to live as long as he has, pulling the strings of Noxus since its inception and generally being one of the most well-travelled, well-read individuals in Runeterra. I love the presentation of his home in Art is Life, as well as the applications of magic that he employed to wow and amaze Maura into his service.

On that note however, I do have to ask something.

Where was the blood?

There was to my taste - and to the taste of more than a few of my peers - simply not enough blood. Considering that his old lore predicated his entire character on his fetish for blood (not stellar in its own right, but something I had hoped to see preserved while adding to his character), it's a bit jarring to see him being presented as he is without any of his signature blood arts.

It's not that he's been disconnected from it either, given that he's now the big bad blood boy of Noxus, with his own little cult of fans, and that the most notable of his achievements involve either learning the flesh-blood magics from his Darkin masters, or consuming them.

While the imagery of Noxus-emblem butterflies is nice, and the implications of not-quite-butterfly eugenics is enchanting, I can't help but lament the lack of blood as imagery and as a narrative element in a character whose identity was and is the blood mage of League of Legends.

As a fan can only hope that this is an aberration as far as presenting Vladimir and blood goes, and that future stories/content/potential VGUs will lean harder into being bloodier.

3 Comments

Noxxarian11/1/2018, 5:54:32 PM2 votes

I quite liked the eerieness of it and although there isnt much blood in it I think that there is potential for it to come in play. It was somewhat refreshing to me that the approach was quite different from the expectations.

Also if you enjoyed the story and want to experience it in a more vivid way, I am doing the story through audio in multiple parts with chilling ambient sounds and effects to bring it to life. Part one is out now. Part two will be going up in about two hours. I would love to hear your thoughts.

https://youtu.be/2yTTbX5Ll-4

RyzeTheSmurfMage11/1/2018, 5:48:37 PM1 votes

Probably his blood magic will start being shown when the lore moves on (after all champs are updated)

Pale Mask11/1/2018, 6:48:01 PM1 votes

I take it the point of the entire story was to demonstrate how Vladimir's entire existence revolves around his control over and need for blood.

Most of what he'd shown to Maura was due to his manipulation of the blood in her brain (I'm guessing that's how his mind control works), and the motifs of paintings (paint > liquid > blood) and immortality (Maura > sacrifice for immortality > fresh blood) further strengthen this.

There's also his playing God with the butterflies (which live briefly before expiring), representing scientific experimentation and his own nature as an immortal, which all tie into the blood theme he's based on. In the words of a famous ruler, "the blood is the life".

Of course, I'm a mere layman, so your best bet for a proper analysis would be summoning Blood Magicks.