#weaponry.

[liishang]

hope you enjoy your shang moodboard! 💖

[ardorecordis-blog]

♠ HER SWORD DOES SHE LOVE IT TO BITS

[ SHE DOES SHE DOES 

I actually have a peculiar/particular set of headcanons for her sword >u> 

I actually kind of…. match but defy the ingame logic of the idea that she can rebuild her blade with sheer willpower alone (and probably also some kind of magic she learned somewhere). Personally, I think that the idea of that somewhat… cheapens the symbolic gesture of breaking it in the first place. “A sword mirrors it’s owner” in her own words, and while she can grow stronger than her lowest, she won’t be complete until Noxus is restored. As such, neither will her sword. I can’t see her having it restored until doing so is another symbolic gesture just like breaking it in the first place (ie she won’t restore her blade to it’s former glory until Noxus is too). As such, until the sword is restored she does not have access to the abilities that the enchanted runes engraved in it gave her access to. 

The sword was gifted to her by High Command to celebrate her talents and her standing, and I believe it’s the runes etched into the blade that give her the powers associated with it. For example, the motions that would mirror her ingame Q. That sort of thing would be exceptionally difficult to do for someone of her height vs. the length of the full blade. Also the stun (explained without game terms as a flash of emerald light). These abilities are unique to the runes and can only be tapped into by Riven alone. 

With the sword broken, however, the runes are too and she no longer has access to these ‘perks’. And that’s okay. Because Riven knows she’s strong enough to fight without them. She does, however, wear a shard of the blade on a leather strap around her neck, that tucks under her cloak or into whatever clothes she’s wearing to keep it hidden. This is as a constant reminder against her skin that she alone made the choice to break the blade and she alone has the responsibility to fix it. 

Before Coeur, she had the runes tattooed up her spine because she loved them and everything that they signified. She still loves the tattoos, and it causes her no small amount of distress that they’ve been distorted by the burn scars that are sporadic across her back. ]