The visual story telling with Mel is one of my favorites.
Season 1: We are introduced to Mel when she is wearing white and gold, colors symbolizing wealth and status. It juxtaposes the black and red color scheme of Noxus and the Medardas. Hinting at her truer more softer self. Even throughout season 1 when she does wear predominantly black, there is white seeping through. Showcasing that while her actions may seem nefarious or shrouded in uncertainty with her motives, there is an altruistic angle she is taking. She has spent her whole life chasing the archetype of a Medarda trying to fit in.
Season 2: The white and gold that symbolizes her heroism and vision back during season 1 shifts. It now symbolizes rebirth and mysticism. Mel’s self discovery about her powers and birth charts her on a new path. She is now having to both reinvent herself and discover who she is again. This also came with the inclusion of the black bodysuit, but I already have a post about thatclick to see post.
Beyond Arcane: How in the new cinematics for this season of league Mel has been shown wearing red, a color prominent in House Medarda and Noxus. As she steps in as heir, she begins to claim a part of her self that was denied a long time ago.
Chosen of the Wolf: Ambessa’s book doesn’t go into great detail about Mel’s dresses other than she wears luxurious fabrics. The flashback scene during season 1 takes place at the beginning of Chosen of the Wolf, so we can assume Mel wears similar clothing throughout the book. It is interesting that blue was a prominent color along with her starburst at the chest. These two details could be nods to her Shuriman ancestry. Or the star could be a Medarda star. I don’t think it is because the Medarda star is more angular and it wouldn’t be hard to translate on to a dress just like her starburst. I think this was an intentional design choice to showcase that Mel doesn’t particularly “fit in” with the rest of the Medardas. Even Kino and Azizi are described as wearing red,black and white, along with Ambessa (obviously).
The notion of Mel literally sticking out from her family because of fashion choices that reflect her mindset that has her and Ambessa at odds is nice touch in visual storytelling for Mel.
Sorry this post is choppy lol.
Happy Birthday to Evening! They did a phenomenal job designing Mel!🥳
if sinners (2025) taught me anything, it’s that it IS actually always about race.
you can be oppressed, and still promote and maintain the very same systems of oppression onto other marginalized people. being oppressed in one dimension doesn’t allow you to be exempt from oppressing in other dimensions. the “villain” of the movie, remmick, being from the time period of the english colonization of ireland, all the while wanting to take a piece of sammie’s own culture from him, use him for it. and this plot point coming after remmick witnesses the significance of sammie’s playing within his culture, for his ancestors and how it would shape Black culture in the future.
even in today’s society, ive noticed that people treat Black people like a commodity. our worth is only as much as other people decide it to be, and that’s usually dependent on how much the oppressor can take from us. for example, the controversy of"internet slang" and how it is blatantly just AAVE with a bad disguise on
do you listen to Black musicians? do you watch Black movies? do you engage with Black creators? do you defend the racist tendencies you notice in your friends, in your family, or do you stay silent? do you listen when Black people tell you you’ve said or done something racist? do you actually care about not being racist, or do you just not want to look like you’re racist?
i just think people have a very specific take on what racism is, and that if they’re not committing KKK-levels of violence on people, then they’re not racist. or if you’ve experienced oppression in one form, you cannot possibly be engaging with oppression in another form. but the ways in which we interact with other people and the world will always be through the lens of race, because that is simply what it means for oppression to be systemic, especially in the US and our current political climate
