#Vi never put Caitlyn before the Undercity

[evren-d]

Vi (presumably) being left out of the undercity revolution is breaking my heart. I don't want a Jinx redemption arc and I don't want the sisters to magically be reunited under the new faction, but this is all that Vi wanted seven years ago, to fight with her people for a better life, and for her to be outside of it now 😩

I'm seeing a kind of, "serves her right for choosing the wrong side" attitude and ????? I can't think of a single major choice that wasn't a vote for Powder and/or the Undercity, I never once saw her choose Piltover, unless I'm missing something? I know she's in enforcer uniform in some of the clips, but I don't know under what circumstances/duress/context/goals, so I can't judge that yet. What I can judge is her expression there and she looks like she's going to vomit in a shoe and hang herself in the barn.

Said it before and I'll say it again, if it's just about being sweet to Caitlyn (or not being happy to shoot her dead at the drop of Jinx's hat), catching feels from someone showing tenderness and who displays overall GOODNESS, regardless of class loyalty and proves their good intentions multiple times in life and death situations, is not the same as switching sides politically or turning a blind eye on the Undercity plight.

I can see the show characters rejecting her as a traitor, and it makes sense from their POV, heck, she rejects SEVIKA as a traitor to the undercity, but we can see the whole picture. I don't see where Vi ever acted in Piltover's best interest or expressed a desire to further their goals.

[ahhhsami]

What makes Caitlyn so compelling this season? An analysis.

Season 1 Caitlyn is why Season 2 Caitlyn is so compelling. This may sound funny, but let me lay it out as to why I believe this. As someone viewing media, we are only privy to what the creators show us. They determine our journey, just as they determine the characters'. But why does this matter when it comes to Caitlyn Kiramman? It matters because we didn't truly know her character in Season 1 and neither did her closest companion during that time, Vi.

Season 1:

Fish Out of Water We're introduced to Caitlyn who is a rookie Enforcer. She's figuring out who she wants to be in a field that is new to her. She's not a rich kid protected by her influential family name, at least not when she's part of the force. It's foreign and she's adjusting, but obviously struggling as seen by her treatment by other enforcers and Marcus. She's following her innate need to help and follow her perception of justice. An idea that she still doesn't fully grasp herself. And before we know it, she's thrust into the Undercity. This is when she truly becomes a fish out of water. She's in a place she's never been, surrounded by people that she doesn't understand, with a woman who defies every belief she'd been taught, and has no control whatsoever. We see Caitlyn completely out of her element. Thrown into the fire. We do get some glimpses of who she is when in Piltover such as her winning over a woman with ease in the brothel, her confidence in her own abilities when shooting Sevika's arm, and her compassion to Huck when saving Vi. But these are just glimpses and we as a viewer are still parsing together what exactly makes Caitlyn Caitlyn.

Not Like Other Girls I've mentioned Vi in the previous section, but would like to go into more depth about her influence on our understanding of Caitlyn's character through Season 1 as well. Vi as a whole is completely foreign to Caitlyn. She's brash, impulsive, sarcastic, straight-forward, rough around the edges, and even rude. She doesn't care about how others perceive her. But she's also loyal, kind, and street smart. She defies Caitlyn's own understanding of someone from the Undercity and forces her to change how she sees Zaun as a whole. But that also means Caitlyn is completely caught off guard. She's found herself in a position where she isn't in power. She's put into her place when she makes insensitive comments, she's on the back foot when Vi tells her she's hot, she's brought into a brothel where she's witnessing things she most likely has never before, and walking the streets that she's only heard awful stories about. And then Vi continues to surprise her by her commitment to do what's right. She's committed to catch her sister because she knows it's right. They both believe that they are aligned in what they seek. Both aligned even though they're from two completely different worlds. Vi isn't like other girls to Caitlyn (and Caitlyn isn't for Vi, but this is about Caitlyn).

Innocence and Naivety Caitlyn's flashbacks show that she's curious, fiercely committed to succeed, and also innately empathetic. But it also shows us that she feels she doesn't fit in. She feels like she's on the outskirts even though she's growing up with privileges most will never be able to experience. She doesn't follow what her mother and father want. She finds friendship in Jayce who is much older than her. We're painted a picture of what Caitlyn is when she's young, a picture that reinforces what we're seeing with Caitlyn as a fish out of water in Zaun. Reinforces how she acts around a spitfire butch such as Vi.

So why does this all matter? It matters because we didn't know Piltovian Caitlyn. We didn't know the Caitlyn we're now seeing in Season 2. And just like Vi, we're learning more and more about this woman and we as a collective audience are being taken on a journey to either enjoy her as a character even more, or for some, dislike her because our perceptions of her have been broken.

Season 2:

Piltovian Caitlyn is Piltovian. She was raised steeped in their culture and has ingrained viewpoints of the world around her due to their societal standards. But she's not a normal Piltovian. She's one of stature from House Kiramman. Her family has sway in every facet of Piltover, but also over Zaun in many ways. This isn't the thing that truly matters in this analysis though. What matters is that at her core, she is Piltovian and she knows how to navigate the landscape there. She's in her element. She knows exactly how to carry herself, how to present herself to those around her, how to speak to Piltovians, and also how to get what she wants when she needs it. The confidence we had only gotten glimpses of in Season 1 are now at the forefront because she has regained her power and status of being Piltovian.

Casanova Kiramman Caitlyn Kiramman can get who she wants and has. This defies our initial perception of her not fitting in and also her lack of confidence when being flirted with by Vi. Season 1 led us to believe she was awkward, but in all reality, when she's in Piltover and able to be in control, she's able to draw in the women she wants. Once the growing pains were over from early childhood, it's evident she was able to find confidence and date the women she wanted. This becomes even clearer with her relationship with Maddie. Maddie idolizes Caitlyn, whether that be because of her wealth, status as a Kiramman, her looks, her leadership, or her commitment to justice, she reinforces that Caitlyn is a catch for anyone that is from Piltover. And once Caitlyn is back home, she knows that. I strongly believe that Caitlyn had found physical comfort in others but wasn't able to find mental and emotional connections with people in Piltover. They saw her as the rich girl and she allowed them to see her as that. But with Vi that's different. Vi got to see her at her worst, mentally and emotionally. This meant that her relationship with Vi progressed in the opposite way compared to her previous relationships. It started as intrigue, to attraction, to bonding (a splash of trauma bonding), to truly loving and caring for her. It didn't get physical until later on. But just as Vi didn't know Caitlyn fully, Caitlyn didn't know Vi fully. So the couple and audience were thrown into a fragile, tenuous relationship that was never going to flourish at the place it were then. And because Caitlyn is in Piltover, it allows her to easily regress back into a physical relationship (the one with Maddie) that lacks the mental and emotional connection she so strongly is seeking.

Control Caitlyn Kiramman has been searching for control her whole life. As someone in a rich family that has to fit certain roles and expectations, she didn't have control of many facets of her childhood and then even early adulthood. Sure she defied her parents and became an enforcer, but as soon as it became too dangerous in their eyes, it was taken from her. She didn't have control while in the Undercity. Then lost even more of her control as she mourned her mother's death and sought vengeance. And then when she thought an opportunity had arose, she instead was puppeteered by Ambessa. Where she has had control is in her relationships with women. She's able to cater those to her needs, but in doing so has never found what will truly make her happy.

Conclusion

So why do all of these things matter? It matters because we're finally seeing Caitlyn for all that she is. She's soft and kindhearted, but at the same time she's determined and committed to justice. She's timid and awkward, but at the same time she's confident and well-spoken. She's patient and empathetic, but at the same time she's impulsive and calculated. She's all of these things and none of these at the same time. There's layers to her and just as a real person, not all of those are good. She's complex and to achieve such a feat with a character is extremely impressive.

The writers have been able to lead us to perceive this character one way and shattered our perceptions. They made us fall for a woman that was out of her element and then question a woman that made debatable decisions. They showed us a character that seemed put together, but was broken at the same time. They created a character that can be loved and hated within the same breath. And that's only possible because of our understanding of who Caitlyn was in Season 1. That is why Season 2 Caitlyn is so damn compelling. Because of the journey we've been taken on by the writers, animators, and every other person that worked on Arcane.

PS: For people who were devastated or had a hard time with Caitlyn and Vi parting ways, what I've laid out here is exactly the reason why they needed to separate. Neither of them knew each other fully, only knowing the best parts of the other. So when that bubble was burst and they both started seeing things that they didn't like, their fragile, quick to burn relationship scorched them both. BUT as they understand themselves (especially Caitlyn) they will surely be brought together stronger than ever.

[leth-writes]

yandere arcane x reader from the undercity

SUMMARY: yandere arcane x undercity reader

WARNINGS: 18+ as always on my blog, though the work is safe for work. Typical yandere shenanigans.

mild spoilers for season two in Caitlyn’s part, but I think I managed to avoid season two spoilers in every other part.

MASTERLIST: https://www.tumblr.com/leth-writes/757800060720496640/requests-open?source=share 

Requests are open!

SILCO

Silco’s job is made a whole lot easier by you being a citizen of Zaun. He’s able to pretty effectively track you around the undercity without much effort, hell, he might even sick Sevika on you just to follow you around and take notes, who knows.

He’s really obsessive about making sure you’re safe. Before you’ve met, he’s got someone on you constantly, taking notes and giving him a detailed list of everything you do. He also manages to bug your apartment. He likes watching you just putter around, it helps put him at ease.

I think he’d have an easier time rationalizing his affection for a darling from the undercity; his whole goal is to make the undercity sovereign, and if you share those goals, he’ll give you a little more wiggle room. You still won’t be able to leave The Last Drop, like at all, but you’ll definitely get a bit more space than he would normally allow a darling to have.

Since you’re so familiar with the undercity, collaring and tagging you is a necessity for him. He can’t have you running away, so he gets Singed to embed a fucking tracker. You won’t even feel a thing, it happens before you even gain consciousness that first day.

Spends a lot of time breaking you down so you never try to run away; everyone knows how important you are to him, and that puts a target on your back.

VI or JINX

She doesn’t really care all that much. It’s a bit easier to get her to open up, but beyond that, I think she just sees the undercity as like the baseline, she doesn’t even consider that she would end up with someone from the topside.

SEVIKA

Makes her job a hell of a lot easier. You already know her reputation, you’re never gonna disobey her. Don’t even think about it.

Makes sure you stay on the premises of The Last Drop, keeps you cooped up most of the time. SHe’s worried you’ll run away if she takes you out, though she keeps you entertained by buying you trinkets and takeout. You’re just amazed to see stuff from the topside, you’ve never been, and it’s easy to keep you busy.

You’re like a kid, staring at the snow globe she buys you. She genuinely thinks you haven’t moved all day.

VIKTOR

Also makes his job easier. As a person from the Undercity, you understand his backstory in a way someone like Jayce never would. 

It also makes it easier to keep you isolated. You do face discrimination as an undercity person when you’re topside, which keeps you running into his arms. He knows you could beat him up, it wouldn’t be hard, but you would have no way to get back home, and your quality of life has shot way up anyways.

Your relationship is actually probably the healthiest out of everyone on this list, just by virtue of him feeling free to take you around town, though he does use the discrimination to subtly remind you not to leave him. You might not even notice you’ve technically been kidnapped, he’s so subtle.

CAITLYN

Season one Caitlyn doesn’t mind all that much.

Season two Caitlyn treats you like a fucking pet. She acts like you’re… lower than her. She loves you so, so much, but she definitely doesn’t trust you the way she would trust someone from Piltover. You’re never leaving the house, and you’ll never return home. She plans on cleaning the place out, anyways, so it’s not safe for you down there.

She probably keeps you on sedatives. She views you as slightly dangerous, so she isn’t willing to take that chance.

You’re a lot more pliant when you can’t tell up from down, and she’s free to just cuddle with you without a worry in the world.

[chronicsyd]

the way i gotta be defending Caitlyn and Vi out here sometimes is Fucking Ridiculous! and the culprits bashing them are almost Always Jinx stans with ABSOLUTELY ZERO MEDIA LITERACY SKILLS to the point where I question if you even paid attention to what the show was Trying to tell you.

For Example:

NO, Caitlyn did not "brainwash" Vi; Caitlyn saved Vi's ass by letting her out of Stillwater in the First place, stays with her after being stabbed and traded her (probably) custom made rifle for the ailment to save Vi's life because she's a good person. Any other Enforcer would have probably left Vi to bleed to death for running off in the first place (if any other Enforcer were crazy enough to let Vi's ass out of Stillwater to begin with) Vi likes Caitlyn because she's good natured despite growing up with literally All the privilege in the world

With her marksman skills, Caitlyn could have Easily put a bullet in Sevika's head, but she doesn't. she aims for the shimmer device powering her arm, using a non-lethal way of taking her out (unlike a certain Other blue haired fanatic)

Caitlyn wants the cycle of violence to stop. she makes her objectives Very clear: Locate Jinx, Dismantle Shimmer, Neutralize anyone still loyal to Silco. with the grief over her mom she could have said she wanted to kill Jinx, but she doesn't. Neutralizing people still loyal to Silco, who mind you are still HORRIBLE people who, Like Silco have taken advantage of struggling people for power. and by dismantling Shimmer she's actually helping Zaun to recover from SILCO'S oppression and exploitation of them (remember people like Husk? the Children in Silco's shimmer facilities?).

NO Caitlyn did not maliciously interrupt Vi and Jinx's reunion in episode 6. Yes she and Vi did see the blue smoke but it's Very evident that Vi didn't tell Caitlyn what the hell it meant and just took off, and because she's faster than Caitlyn, Caitlyn spent the minute (or longer) of Vi and Jinx's reunion just catching up to her. she only looks up and see's the pair when she runs up the steps and stops, but Jinx had already heard her at that point and looked over, not giving Caitlyn enough time to make herself scarce before pulling out her machine gun. Vi Also didn't tell Caitlyn that Jinx works for Silco, despite having known that fact since her fight with Sevika.

Caitlyn didn't Force Ekko into agreeing with her. She even Says, "You'd be well within your rights to keep it, I wouldn't blame you." She offers a perspective that could help Both Piltover and the Undercity and Ekko trusts her on the condition that he's the one that gives the gemstone to the council (That is until Marcus and Jinx get in the way)

Caitlyn Tries to go about getting peace diplomatically, she doesn't manipulate the councilors into doing anything (despite them all being manipulative assholes themselves)

Manipulate: "control or influence (a person or situation) cleverly, unfairly, or unscrupulously." JINX is the one that does this when she kidnaps Caitlyn and Vi and forces Vi to shoot Caitlyn.

Caitlyn did not choose to be born into her family's power and wealth, and that's not something you can blame her for. was she ignorant to what people in the undercity have faced? Yes but that's because she's been cooped up her entire life, surround by people with prejudice towards the Undercity and never set foot into the undercity until she was with Vi, you can't blame her for that either.

Vi was a 15 year old CHILD who saw her adoptive family die right in front of her eyes. she was exhausted and overwhelmed by her situation. and her younger sister (who she had told to stay) had said she was basically responsible for it, Vi's known to lash out when she's upset and angry. and when her brain catches up to what she did, she's horrified and leaves to calm down and not to do Anything else drastic. but when she tries to go back when Silco shows up, Marucs kidnaps her. hating Vi for this is stupid.

"Vi runs back to Caitlyn when she left to go find her sister!" Vi heard a Gunshot and saw that Caitlyn was being held at Gunpoint. Vi had NO IDEA that Jinx was even watching the entire interaction go down, the shocked look in her eyes when she picks Caitlyn up off the ground is evidence enough of that.

NO Vi isn't selfish for not wanting to shoot Caitlyn. for one, being asked to shoot someone is ludicrous enough but Vi IS allowed to care about other people, which is why she proposes that the two leave as a substitute to what Jinx is asking of her. yes leave Cait behind, but she wouldn't be Dead (you'd think that Vi's seen Enough people she cares about in her life being dead but according to Jinx stans, Apparently Not!)

Being upset at Vi in S2 is Ludicrous because we have Zero context for Any of these scenes that we have gotten. we don't know Any of the specifics of her becoming an Enforcer, why she's saying "my sister is gone.", why she's fighting Jinx, ANY of it. Geez.

(See, this is why we need the "Why is the curtain blue?" discussions because apparently some of y'all don't know how to think. And No, I'm not just bashing Jinx's character, I actually really like Jinx's character but her fans are some of the most annoying people to interact with sometimes...)

[strawberry-shortcakey]

my defense of Caitlyn in wake of season 2

    Defending my wife rn 

    Lets get right into this mind you my spelling and punctuation are like non existent so yk

Starting off with the thing i feel people seem to not really understand is whats happening is shes being tugged in like 5 different directions struggling between her obligations to her family name the kiraman family is matriarchal this rests on her entirely she wants to maintain her mothers legacy yet theres the undeniable rage fueled by her mothers death and her feeling of failing all of piltover the feeling that if she had killed jinx before there wouldnt have been so many lives lost she feels ultimately responsible for everything in her life which makes that rage overpower her i mean most of the council civilians enforcers who she had been around her WHOLE LIFE. she feels all that weight in her heart and on her mind much like vi due to her trauma generalizes the people of piltover and enforcers cait blames zaunites and i feel its unfair to give vi a pass and not caitlyn shes trying to hold onto her morals she fights for avoiding innocents getting hurt until the memorial attack where it turns into more than an attack by jinx now an attack from multiples causing her to lose that part of her morals and the last pull is for vi caitlyn loves vi thats something i have never doubted for even a second i mean seriously she puts so much at stake for vi. People don't seem to see that her bringing vi before the council in season one couldve ended poorly for her it couldve reflected horribly onto her family if the council had decided not to hear her out. And on top of all of that shes trying to hold it together. We see her cry a few times but she doesnt ever really let it out i mean shes putting herself under that pressure part of her character has always been that she hates when things are just handed to her as we see in her scene with grayson when she gets upset at the mere idea of her parents paying off grayson to let her win and we confirm that stayed into adulthood when jayce offers her that job for him and shes offended at the mere idea and i feel part of her feels if she shows that pain shes in things are gonna be handed to her out of sheer pity something that would likely fuel her rage further and further.

Next topic is her being willing to kill isha if it meant killing jinx. Now i understand the shock of this how it feels “out of character for her” but it really isnt yes she has been openly against the idea of people getting hit in the crossfire but in her mind its 1 innocent for multiple innocents including her own mother. she also isnt the first character to directly or indirectly result in a child's death and she didnt even succeed so yk but anyway every single councilor is responsible for countless deaths of undercity children and families heimerdinger honestly the most responsible because yk like 200 years of  ignoring the undercity and can i also just mention vis switch up on her opinion season one jayce kills a kid when fighting at the shimmer lab and vi has the mentality “you did what needed to be done one life for like 100” yet when caitlyn finds herself in that same mindset vis all “whats wrong with you you're evil now” so uh yeah not an attack on vi just trying to expand on it throughout this i will make comparisons on how we excuse vi but attack caitlyn and why i think thats really telling of how people see her as a character only there for caitvi romance plot!! But anyway caitlyn had every fucking right in that moment mind you she also was running on adrenaline something that i feel a lot of people don't understand in that moment its often impulse you do the first thing to come to mind she was just fighting off sevika shes in that do or die mindset its kill jinx or people die people also don't understand how deep caits trauma around jinx runs we don't know what she was put through during the time between her abduction and the like final scene of season 1 also just yk the entire show. jinx is her personal trauma.

Now onto the caitvi argument in the tunnels lets loop back to the state of mind she was in shes pumped on adrenaline rage and fear. She feels a deep sense of betrayal much like jinx does when vi “picks cait over her” its that feeling of “oh so you care more about someone who deeply hurt me and a random kid than me.” that only fuels her rage/pain that is making her less and less of her core values. caitlyn gets on the defensive she makes a generalization Something once again we see vi do to caitlyn earlier with the oil and water speech which no doubt left a hole in caits heart something that will stick with her dare i even say that plays a part in why she no longer sees zaun and pilover as two sides of the same coin the person who helped her learn something so crucial suddenly saying “actually we are different piltover is all the same you're all horrible. We can never get along, you are not an exception” which no doubt shattered that view and helped cement the separation in her mind. The key difference is that vi didnt get physical cait pushed her and hit her with the rifle but like i said she's on the defense. Also ive seen people saying “oh well cait knows how shes traumatized by enforcers” to caitlyn that trauma is equal to the trauma of what jinx has done to her and honestly it is caitlyn has lost almost everything to this for the sake of what started off as her dreams of justice her need to prove herself has been what she feels like is the sole cause of the  downfall of piltover. Which is why i truly believe caitlyn is still herself that the development to her character logical and her actions fully explainable and defendable 

Little added thing it’s after getting compared to jinx that she hits vi I mentioned how that’s literally her main trauma jinx killed her mom and ruined her life I’d hit someone with a rifle over that too.

And thats all ive got for now lmk if i should cover more!! And i will be adding as arc 2 and 3 release!

[aldana-brillantina]

HERO OF MY OWN STORY, A VILLAIN IN OTHERS'.

Nobody is good in Arcane(maybe Ekko). If you watch the show you can take a side depending on who you empathize with the most or who you consider their reasons to be good and justifiable to a certain point. This is a story of sides, of perspectives.

Caitlyn is a good person, who has never had anything bad happen to her and lives in a perfect world where her city is an example of progress, she is a person raised in a peaceful environment and she never had the need to be bad or wish evil. That makes her naive, like a baby. That makes her even somewhat insensitive in very specific occasions like when she sees a reality that is not hers (You don't have parents? You're wrong) but it also makes her feel empathy because she doesn't conceive that someone can live like garbage (when she hugs that man addicted to shimmer, when she criticizes her mother and the council for the situation in undercity). But what Jinx generates is what I want to discuss. Before her encounter with her, Cait had never been in danger and bad things classified as horror movies had happened to her, that was in the past. That's when you start to think, she was good because she never had or felt the need to be anything else. Hate can warp a person, and someone like Cait who never felt it, really felt it, well. She's still a person.I think bad situations are the ones that really bring out some hard truths about a person. But also, do we all process trauma the same way? No, does that justify any wrong you do? No, it makes it understandable.I think people are very unfair to Cait, Jinx, Vi, and even Jayce. I think it's because we all judge them from one reality, our own. But they have many.

If we look at it from Piltover's perspective, the Enforcers are heroes, people who protect them from those who want to harm them and risk their lives all the time, that it is thanks to them that they sleep peacefully in their beds and that it is thanks to the council and their good management that everyone has what they need to live. If I grew up under that reality, the Zaunites are wild animals, less than them.Jayce did not belong to the elite in the beginning of the series, he really worked hard to reach the position he is in and he believes that with enough dedication one can achieve their dreams. That is not Viktor's reality, because no matter how hard he tries or how much effort he puts into it, he is a Zaunite and people will always look down on him. That is when two realities collide without letting the other be a lie. Because Jayce really tried hard and Viktor is still less.

Jinx is a killer, a monster in Piltover, the bogeyman who took the city of progress out of peace and balance. She is Silco's attack dog, his pet for most of Zaun. She is the daughter of her boss, for Sevika. His daughter, the representation of the city he always wanted and his greatest weakness for Silco. But I think the worst thing is that she is a product of a violent environment, an environment that never saw any other way to survive than by stealing like rats or kicking others, and this was Piltover's fault. How much of the damage she does is justified if we look at it from the Zaun perspective?

For Undercity, Zaun, Piltover's live off their blood and beat them in the streets since before Silco. How many of them lost families, friends and lovers at their hands? The protests are the result of rage, pain and hunger. My dad said that if there's one thing you never forget it's hunger, guys, this is a city that lives hungry and on crumbs. No, Enforcers are not heroes, they're boogeymen and it's been a reality for, if my calculations are correct, over 150 years (I'm guessing a bit here, taking into account Vi's birth date and Piltover's founding in the lore). So the Zaunite mentality is different, like, you slaughter us for a few when you slowly killed thousands over all these years? It's not right because I'm sure there are innocent people in Topside who live in ignorance of the cost of all the pleasures they enjoy and probably see them even more as animals after these "senseless" attacks. But this makes a lot of sense to them. And Caitlin along with Mel's mom, how many lives will they take, how many mothers? She would be someone else's Jinx.

I remember Silco, in his meeting to remind the chemis of their place, mentioned the mines and how they all breathed shitty air and did they remember it. They don't look old, they started young. Vander and Silco met there, young. Because, here I am playing devil's advocate, Silco despite being a shitty person did not invent child labor or all evil as some of us like to believe, he is a product and he grew up with it, it is normal for him. And yes, at some point, even before he died, he wanted something more, believed he deserved something more when many people simply continued to think they belong under the boot of topside. But he also poisoned his people and did not change the reality for younger generations, he only made it harder for them to prosper. Because in his reality, people who want to survive will do so at all costs, for him only the one who manages to reinvent himself deserves to remain standing, because that's what he did to live. Swim or you sink, there's no other option.

And isn't that the reason why Ekko and his community are still alive? They reinvented themselves, but by lifting each other up rather than tearing each other down. And that's their reality. They didn't need to leave anyone behind because they all contributed to the boat instead of swimming individually.

People who work for Silco, do they have families? Children, siblings. When you hurt someone, regardless of whether they're bad or good, it's someone's brother, someone's child, someone's friend. Someone always gets hurt, directly or indirectly. The Firelights are the good guys, probably the most well-intentioned organization in the series. That doesn't change that how much they screw up those Silco jobs (for good reason) they put other people in danger who may have children or family and they'll think, even if they're wrong, that they're the bad guys.

But did Silco have Vander and were leaders in their own movement for independence? Well, it didn't work out and they lost everything. That formed Silco. What would Ekko do if he lost everything? Even though he's done it once, can he do it again?

That's the litmus test for every character, who you are, what's left, after a great loss. You become like Jinx or Cait, who get lost in their grief and punish people regardless of whether they're responsible or not. Or like Ekko, who like a tree, resists blows because his roots are stronger.

[jynxd]

Continued from here @ferinehuntress

After the last encounter with Vi and Caitlyn, Silco was left fuming. Even more so at their attempt to take his life, a mistake that would cost them their life, or worse. However, they had properly distracted Silco from further pursuit, and as such he lost track of them. As such, even though he would not voice frustration to anyone but those whom he allowed to see a less than collected version of himself, he felt defeated. And yet it was a fortunate circumstance, that one of the addicts from the slums had pursued them, observing the incident on the tower from below.

That same individual had come to him bearing a price, the Kiramman girl in exchange for shimmer. Even in defeat, Silco had achieved victory and it was from there that he devised a plan. One that would rid him of a thorn stuck to his side, and lure all in one. The good doctor equally jumped on the chance, setting up a lab in the deepest pits of the undercity. Both would have their fun with their new test subject.

The room itself was barely illuminated by the time the Piltovian began to stir. The only source of which came from the glowing tubes of orange and purple, as well was a spotlight centered on her. This way intentional as Silco watched from the shadows, the orange of his eye was barely visible as well as his silhouette. And while she called out for him to come out, he instead stayed silent and watched as she struggled with her bindings.

"Caitlyn Kiramman, daughter of Councilor Kiramman. You know you should have stopped while you were ahead, now, you're all mine." At that Silco finally stepped out of the shadows, giving a silent nod to a figure not yet in Caitlyn's peripheral to come forward. "You and your little friend Vi have caused one too many problems and now, I'm afraid, you won't be returning."

Singed came into view with a set of tubes in tow, in which directly connected to the tube of shimmer. There seemed to be a silent conversation between the two before the doctor carefully inserted an IV in her arm to match the one already in the right side of her neck. Silco, for his part, kept a fair distance away to let Singed do this work, never taking his eyes off of Caitlyn.

"Now, before we start is there perhaps anything you would like to tell me? Perhaps what you know about my workings, here?" As Singed finished putting in the last IV, Silco approached her, officially standing fully in the light now. "After all, why break out a, oh what do you call us topside? Trenchers? Why bother, hm?" Of course he did not expect answers just , but it was a way to start. Before he would give the go ahead to start the flow of shimmer.

[writingforfun0714]

Sorry this took a while but here’s the next chapter of my Arcane female reader-insert Sisters of Mine. Thanks for being patient.

Warnings: POV changes, long (sorry I couldn’t trim it more than I already have), follows ep5 of Arcane

Recommended reading beforehand:

Sisters of Mine *all chapters*

Arcane Sisters of Mine

Chapter 6

Word count: 10, 101

3rd POV

“Who the hell are you?” Vi asks the rookie Enforcer, Caitlyn Kiramman. Cait looks at the young reddish pink-haired woman pacing her cell.

“I took a look at your file. There’s no record of you or your crimes. What are you here for?” Cait asks in response.

“My sunny personality,” Vi replies sarcastically.

“You attacked an inmate. Why?” Cait asks.

“Why not?” Vi asks back, walking in the shadows of her cell.

“He was a witness in an ongoing investigation,” Cait responds.

“Hmm, bummer,” Vi replies nonchalantly, not caring in the slightest.

“This was a waste of time,” Cait sighs and turns to walk away.

“Couldn’t have put it better,” Vi says as Cait starts walking away.

“Hey, give Silco a kiss on that winning eye of his, will you?” Vi taunts. Cait glances back at the cell at the name and sighs quietly before walking back over.

“Silco? The industrialist?” Cait confirms.

“Ok, this is getting old. Can you just send in whoever’s gonna kick the shit out of me, so I can get on with my night?” Vi asks. Cait looks at the shadowy figure. She cannot pretend she doesn’t know the brutality of Stillwater, but to hear someone subject themselves to such pain…

Cait glances down at the red warning line a couple feet away from the cell. Most enforcers know the rule and new guards learn fast. Cait. Cait weighs her options. Despite Vi’s demeanor, she mentioned a name, a person of interest. Someone only Cait had suspicions for because Sheriff Marcus wouldn’t listen to her.

Cait remembers a time when she was younger. After Jayce’s apartment explosion, she had begged her parents to explore any option she could for personal defense. Her mother disliked the idea of her daughter fighting in a boxing ring or doing martial arts, but Cait managed to convinced her father to try archery. She liked it but Cait preferred shooting ranges. Her mother was skeptical but once Cait showed a talent for it, her mother allowed her to continue.

Cait steps over the line, holding the file in her hands.

“Does this mean anything to you?” Cait asks, showing Vi the picture the rookie enforcer took earlier.

Vi stops pacing and glances towards the cell grates. She looks through the bars and her ice blue eyes widen when she sees a painted symbol of a monkey head. Just like-

Vi slams the cell bars and Cait flinches slightly.

“Where did you get this?” Vi asks.

“My question first. He worked for Silco?” Cait asks.

“Uh, they all do. How can anyone not know that? Where did you find this?” Vi insists, gripping the bars tightly.

“There was an attack. This is evidence,” Cait explains. I need proof if I’m to believe what you’re saying about Silco,” Cait says and Vi scoffs.

“I could get it for you. Just not from in here,” Vi offers. Cait snickers.

“In what mad world would I trust someone like you?” Cait asks.

“Someone like me? You Enforcers are all the same. Just asshole criminals in fancy uniforms,” Vi says, “You know what? Find Silco yourself.”

“I will, thank you,” Cait decides and walks off again.

“Hmm..Undercity’s gonna eat you alive.” Vi warns with a hint of smugness. Cait stops in her tracks and breathes deeply, knowing Vi is right. She’d never even stepped foot into the poorer areas of Piltover until she became an Enforcer, much less the Undercity. She keeps walking and once she’s alone, she pulls out a prisoner release form. She puts it on the wall and signs her name under ‘parole officer’. Under ‘Authorization’, she freezes and bites her lip. She lets the pen hover for a moment before pushing the pen down on the paper. She quickly signs Jayce’s name identically to how the Councilor would do it before folding the paper up and hurrying back to the warden’s desk.

Cait puts the release form on the desk.

“I’ve got orders from Councilor Talis, concerning Inmate 516,” Cait says.

“Not cooperative, huh? You, uh, you want us to have a chat with her?” The warden asks, slamming his metal staff onto the ground. Cait’s eyes widen.

“No-“ She gasps quietly.

“Oh.”

“It’s for her release,” Cait explains since the warden clearly hadn’t even looked at the form she put down on his desk.

“Huh. Since when’s he a Councilor?” The warden asks curiously.

“Since..today,” Cait says, knowing how that sounds out loud. The warden scoffs at her and reads the release form.

“How many ‘chats’ have you had with her?” Cait asks.

“You know, I never even thought to count,” he answers nonchalantly. Cait’s eyes widen at the unabashed way he talks about treating an inmate. It must’ve been a lot, Cait thinks.

Once the warden reluctantly accepts the release, Caitlyn walks back to Vi’s cell and unlocks it. Vi feels a twinge of pain in her right shoulder and rolls the joint, trying to alleviate the pain. She’s had that pain since that awful night at the cannery. When the explosion toppled the giant metal door on her. The sound of gears clicking gets Vi’s attention and the gate makes a slight banging sound before clanking open, a metallic sound echoing in the silence.

Vi looks over and see’s her cell is open. Cait’s giving her an unreadable, almost analyzing look before she sighs and walks back to return the key. Vi doesn’t take her eyes off the rookie Enforcer.

While Caitlyn is getting Vi released from Stillwater, Marcus is leading the funeral service for the Enforcers Jinx killed while stealing the hexgem.

“These brave Enforcers sacrificed their lives to defend the values of our great city. To some, they are mothers, fathers, sons…daughters,” he says, looking at his own daughter, Ren, who is holding a bouquet of white flowers.

“But to all, they are heroes,” Marcus finishes and the other Enforcers gathered hold their rifles and aim up, firing off a shot, scaring off the crows around the graveyard. Everyone puts a handful of dirt into the coffin holes, including the new Sheriff. Another shot rings out.

When the service is over, Ren tugs on her father’s sleeve.

“Are we leaving too?” She asks.

“In a moment,” he assures her before reaching his hand out. The redheaded girl grabs her father’s hand and he walks through the graveyard until he gets to a large marble statue covered in plant growth on the sides. He stops short of the statue, still holding Ren’s hand. She looks at the stone figure. A woman with short hair and despite the formal look, her eyes are kind. Ren notices that she’s wearing the same badge her father now wears.

“Who was this, Daddy?” Ren asks curiously. Marcus, who hadn’t been able to look at the statue yet, squeezes his eyes a bit before taking a breath and looking at the statue of Grayson, his former boss and someone he is directly responsible for killing by going against her orders all those years ago.

“A good woman,” Marcus tells his daughter. And he meant it too, wishing the older woman was still here to help with the situation in the Undercity…with Silco. Marcus has regrets and one big one is aligning with the ‘industrialist’. The thought of Silco makes Marcus’s blood boil.

After taking his daughter home, Marcus heads down to the Undercity to meet with Silco. Storming into the Last Drop, ignoring Sevika’s glare from across the room, Marcus heads upstairs and opens Silco’s office door.

“Ah, Sheriff Marcus, what can I do for you?” Silco asks calmly, still filling out paperwork, not even looking up to meet the Sheriff.

“We need to talk,” Marcus insists.

Silco’s POV

“We need to talk,” Marcus insists. I motion for him to sit before I slide back in my chair, grab a cigar, and get up to sit on the couch opposite him.

“You said you could control her. I lost six officers! Six!” Marcus snaps, standing up but my guards force him back down.

“She pushed it too far this time. The Council’s up in arms. I can’t make this go away for you unless you give me something to work with,” Marcus says as I grab the cigar cutter.

“Arresting her would be doing you a favor,” Marcus says. I use the cigar cutter to cut the tip off my cigar, cutting off Marcus.

“I don’t need favors. I need you to do your job,” I say, lighting my cigar and taking a puff.

“The Firelights have been a thorn in both our sides. They ambushed my shipment at the Hexgates on the same day as the attack. It seems to me the Council has its culprit,” I explain.

“Oh that’s tidy for you. What if I’m not interested in playing along?” Marcus threatens.

“We’ve accomplished a lot together, Marcus. Sheriff,” I emphasize, pointing at the badge before taking another puff.

“And there is more yet to achieve,” I say and lean forward, “I hope you can remain a part of it.” Smirking I look to the guard on the left. He grabs a sack of gold coins off my desk and shoves it into Marcus’ chest, just like how I gave him his payment in the alley all those years ago.

“For their families. From an anonymous, concerned citizen,” I explain. Marcus stands up and storms out, his hand clutching the money tightly, slamming the door behind him. I lean back and take another puff. Despite scolding Jinx myself, I knew I would’ve had to deal with the new Sheriff sooner or later.

3rd POV

While Marcus heads back after his dealings with Silco, newly appointed Councilor Jayce Talis and his partner Viktor argue over Jayce’s newfound responsibilities. Viktor believing they should stick to their original plan of helping improve lives in the Undercity while Jayce argues he has new responsibilities to the Council now. The corrupted Sheriff interrupts the two scientists to try and dissuade Jayce as discretely as possible, though Jayce is steadfast in his resolve to root out the corruption, worrying Marcus. While the two talk of the stolen gemstone, Viktor feels his lungs spasm and he turns to cough away from the two. He feels a warm liquid spray out his nose and onto the railing he supports himself on. His hand comes to rub under his nose and he sees blood. His head hurts and his vision tunnels, spiraling until Jayce puts a hand on the smaller man’s bony shoulder.

“Viktor-You ok?” Jayce had asked but Viktor brushed him off with a simple response of a headache, which is technically true. Viktor quickly dismisses himself back to his lab.

Down in the Undercity, Ekko keeps a sharp eye on Y/N the whole time. Having to lay low thanks to Jinx and her stealing the gemstone topside, Ekko has made sure to follow through on his grounding. He remembered when the older boys, specifically Mylo, would still disobey if Vander disciplined them.

Ekko’s POV

I watch Y/N from up in the tree. She’s working on the mural while Kiyi, a young disabled woman with a missing leg is sitting near by, talking with the girl. I sigh.

“Little Man?” Scar asks, getting my attention.

“6 Enforcers were killed during Jinx’s attack,” he tells me.

“The Sheriff?” I ask and Scar shakes his head.

“Fine. One survived the bombing as well,” he says.

“Where is he? What’s he doing?” I ask.

“I’m not too sure. Last sighting was towards the docks…to Stillwater prison,” Scar shakes his head with a shrug but my eyes widen at the mention of the brutal prison. Vi.

“Find him and report back to me. I’ll check him out for myself,” I tell him and he nods.

“Sure thing boss,” he says and glances down at Y/N. It looks like Kiyi is comforting the kid. I sigh.

“Hey, you did the right thing,” Scar says, getting my attention. I blink and look at him. Being a father of a young infant himself, I know he understands the responsibility of raising someone.

“Grounding Y/N I mean,” he says when I don’t answer.

“Oh-y-yeah…I hope so,” I sigh, leaning on the railing on the wooden platform perched on a thick tree limb.

“Kids…they don’t understand that what we do..we do to protect them,” Scar explains. I nod and glance back down at the ground near the mural and see Kiyi managed to calm Y/N down and I release a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

3rd POV

Elsewhere in the Undercity, Jinx is in her workshop, looking over Jayce’s notes. She’s managed to make a generator that uses the gemstone to create power. Or…at least, that’s the plan. The manic teenager just finished it and is about to test it. She’s checking the notebook of research she stole to make sure.

“Boring…wow suuuper boring,” she says, laying down on one of the metal fan blades that lay above the mines. She flips the notebook pages and finds something interesting. She sits up and leans forward, focusing on the book.

“Here we go!” She says and looks at the metallic chamber.

“It’s all about these runes. They form this sort of math-y, magic-y gateway,” Jinx explains, showing the book page to the dolls of Mylo and Claggor, “To the realm of heebie-jeebies. And this…Turns it on,” she says, holding the perfectly spherical, glowing blue gemstone between her thumb and forefinger. She places the gemstone in and the device powers on. The wires glow blue.

“So..here goes,” Jinx says taking a breath and slowly turns the dial to the right, turning the power up. The homemade device whirrs and hums as the gemstone sparks. Jinx’s eyes widen when the spark turns to an explosion of blue in the blink of an eye, blasting the girl back. She yelps and groans tumbling a bit. The explosion rattles the dolls of Mylo and Claggor and the various items Jinx had nearby. Jinx’s eyes widen as she’s assaulted of memories from 6yrs ago. Claggor gets hit with one of the unstable blue hexcrystals in the head, instantly killing the boy. Blood splatters a bit just as Mylo gets pierced by a piece of pipe in the chest! The wild-haired boy slams into the wall, breathing hard, numb as he doesn’t even cry out in pain. He glances over at Claggor and his eyes widen when he sees his brother is dead. Mylo looks down in shock and sees a rusty metal pipe sticking out of his upper left chest. The boy reaches towards the pipe and when his fingers graze the pipe, searing pain explodes from the injury. A loud cracking sounds gets Mylo’s attention and he looks up just as the ceiling caves in on top of both of them, killing Mylo.

Jinx winces, shutting her eyes tightly as her generator sputters out, smoking. The blue light disappears and all that’s left are little blue flecks of light. Jinx sobs.

“No! No! It was a mistake! It was a mistake!” She cries as she scrambles to her feet and races to Silco’s office as fast as she can, leaving behind her stuffed rabbit toy Vi gave her that she calls “Mr. Bunny” and the flare as well. Electricity crackles in the air as the energy burst finally dies out.

Vi’s POV

I’m standing free for the first time in years. Well, not completely free. But the air is sweet and the sunshine feels almost hot to me. I look down and see the buildings near us and even the one I’m standing on descends so far down I can’t see the end. This is it. This is one of the passages to the Undercity from Topside. It’s close to how I took Powder and the boys during that botched robbery. I take a breath, hearing a train chugging in the distance. The train car pulls to a stop.

“I heard the bathysphere has a nice view,” that rookie Enforcer who freed me says, looking at the train car. An elderly person with a cane shuffles up the stairs to board.

“That could be a good way to get a lay of the land,” she tells me. I can’t help the instant ‘you idiot’ thought that races by but I have to remember that topsiders don’t know much aside from their privileged lives.

“Too risky,” I tell her, putting the hood of my shirt up. I jump over the ledge and move on the metal beam I landed on to get closer to a copper green roof. I jump and quickly stabilize myself on the slanted roof to jump over to another, then another! The movements, the action, the speed, it’s all coming back to me from my younger, teenage years. I catch the Rookie looking down at me from where I initially jumped from and see her shake her head slightly before deciding to follow me. There’s no way she can catch up.

Cait’s POV

“Too risky,” Vi, the former inmate responds to my rational suggestion of the bathysphere. I watch as she puts her hood up before jumping over the ledge! I gasp.

“What?!” I exclaim and hurry over. I watch and see the pink haired, muscular woman run down a metal beam, balancing perfectly despite the great height before jumping down onto an extremely slanted roof but doesn’t slip! I watch in awe as she leaps to another rooftop, then to another and another! Each jump she gets further and further away.

“Shit,” I shake my head and look down. I scoff slightly before sitting and sliding myself off the edge and look at the metal beam. It’s really narrow. I carefully slide my feet across, not daring to take actual steps because even doing this causes me to wobble slightly but I keep my arms out and look ahead.

3rd POV

Vi races down and despite the years confined in a cement and metal box, she remembers the movements needed parkour her way down into the Undercity. The pink-haired young woman leaps, pulling her knees in and her arms back as she flies by a painted mural of a woman with long wavy brown hair. She’s beautiful. Her flowing gown disappears right at her chest, making a ‘v’ shape. Vi feels the drop of gravity and flails a bit. She lands on the rooftop of another building and rolls to lessen the impact. Vi gets in between two close buildings and slides down, using a hand and foot on each wall.

Cait slides down the ladder and looks down. She barely sees Vi before the parolee disappears. Cait wobbles and clings to the ladder. Vi leaps over a short metal wall and slides down. Vi slows when she gets to a metal pipe that looks down on buildings crammed together, all bathed in a familiar green light. The Undercity. Vi pants as she looks around and finds a way down. She slides down a metal gutter and hits the ground. Once on stable ground, the young woman takes in the familiar but thick air of the Undercity before lowering her hood.

Nearby, an unsuspecting man with a red jacket whistles at Vi, getting her attention. He saunters up to her, his friend with him also approaching. Once he gets close to Vi, he crawls his fingers on her bare, toned shoulder. He flicks a piece of her dark pink hair. Vi smirks.

“Nice jacket,” she comments. The unfamiliar nobody makes a noise of confusion before Vi manages to knock him out with one punch. Blood splatters from his nose and mouth when he hits the ground. His friend looks at Vi and she quickly knocks out the friend as well before taking their clothes. Vi shrugs on the red jacket and quickly fold up the clothes for the Rookie so she won’t stand out more than she already does.

After taking a much longer time than anticipated, Cait slides down the side of a slanted wall and lands on the awning of the building beside it before nearly sliding and falling to the ground. She stumbles a bit, leaning against a building and pants hard when she hears a set of light footsteps near her. The Enforcer turns and sees it’s the old man from topside! It had taken her so long that he’d gotten here! Suddenly something soft hits Cait’s upper body, startling her a bit as she catches a pair of clothes.

“Welcome to the Lanes,” Vi greets, walking up to her.

“You almost got me killed,” Cait argues.

“One of my little sisters could do that when she was 7. All us fisherfolk can. Don’t you wanna blend in?” Vi asks, walking off. Cait hears a man groan and she turns to see an open garbage bin.

Cait’s POV

“Don’t you wanna blend in?” Vi asks me. I’m reminded of a shooting competition I was in when I just turned 16. I was running through a frosty wood, shooting targets, racing someone. Not just anyone though…it was Sheriff Grayson. It wasn’t just any competition either. It was the Enforcer’s test. A ‘competition’ to make sure all Enforcers are able to handle a firearm. I’d gotten to the last target. Grayson was matching me. We aimed. I had shut my eyes and took a breath and in that time, I heard a shift in the snow. I opened my eyes and fired. The bullet it the bullseye, flying through but I knew it wasn’t a true win. I looked over and saw Grayson aiming but putting her rifle down. She nods at me and I give return the gesture as good will. But I was upset.

I was so upset I accused her of bribery because I was so sure my parents had paid her to let me win. But she just gave me a small half-smile and explained to me that being an Enforcer means having the power to protect people.

“Which begs the question young Kiramman, what are you shooting for?” Sheriff Grayson’s voice echoes in my mind.

3rd POV

Back in Piltover, Viktor is able to control the Hexcore to an extent of turning it up, down, left and right. The runes on it glow blue. Jayce is standing in front of a board.

“You had a vision?” Jayce asks.

“What if we’ve been looking at it backwards? We’ve been trying to discover runes that invoke specific effects and then molding them to a useful function,” Viktor says as Sky, his assistant, walks over and hands Jayce a blueprint of the Hexcore.

“Tools, as you like to put it. But, but..if the legends are true, mages aren’t bound to single functions. It’s said the Arcane speaks through them,” Viktor explains as the Hexcore moves and rotates different pieces with Viktor keeping a watchful eye on it through lenses.

“I’m still not following,” Jayce tells his partner.

“They think. They adapt,” Viktor says.

“You think Hextech can…learn?” Jayce asks Viktor, approaching the Zaunite. Viktor turns his right handle and pushes in, locking the mechanism and the Hexcore suddenly emits a beam of light! The scent of electricity is in the air and zaps around Viktor. Jayce flinches away but turns back when it dies out quickly.

“Are you sure this is safe?” Jayce asks.

“Of course not,” Viktor answers as if it’s obvious, though he’s so absorbed in his work, he misses Jayce’s look of concern but he leaves for an opera he knows Mel will be at.

Speaking of concern, it’s the same look Cait gives Vi as she munches down slop that is considered food. Cait’s concern is mixed with disgust as Vi picks up a chunk of what appears to be fish covered in a vague, smelly orange sauce. Cait feels her stomach churn.

“Oh, Jericho, have I missed these,” Vi says, holding a fish chunk to the stall owner. He chuckles heartily as he chops up a fish. Vi notices the pair of clear blue eyes on her and offers the Enforcer some of her food. Cait looks at the colorful food and even if it hadn’t looked inedible, Vi’s hand wraps are covered in blood, dirt and sweat from new to finely aged from prison.

“No. Thank you,” Cait says.

“You’re missing out,” Vi says, eating the offered food herself.

“Are you going to question him?” Cait whispers semi-discretely by pulling on the hood of her stolen clothes. Vi glances at Jericho and the chef is unceremoniously scratching his rear.

“Definitely not above board,” Vi tells Cait.

“Silco. His connections? Isn’t that why we’re here?” Cait asks quietly but clearly frustrated.

“We’re here because I’m hungry. Do you know what prison food is like? No, of course you don’t,” Vi answers back cooly before finishing off the last fish chunk and licking her fingers.

“Unbelievable. I didn’t break you out of jail to eat…slop!” Cait hisses angrily, starting to pace anxiously, “I knew this was a terrible idea. You don’t actually know anything, do you?”

Vi finishes the bowl and wipes her mouth with her hand.

“Mmm, better than I remember,” Vi tells Jericho. The one-eyed chef chuckles and exchanges her empty bowl for a paper napkin. Vi lifts up the corner and sees the symbol for Margot’s. The two exchange a look before Vi walks off with Caitlyn following.

Ekko’s POV

I’ve heard the Enforcers are starting to get more aggressive. While making sure everyone’s been ok, I haven’t checked on Y/N for a while, so when Scar offers to take watch, I start walking around, looking for the little girl. I check our room first and don’t see her. Ok. Maybe the mural? I hurry to the adjacent platform and get a view of the beautiful painting. But no Y/N. Where is she? Who was with her earlier? Senna? No..no, it was Kiyi. I have to find Kiyi.

I find the young woman sitting with friends chatting when she catches my eye.

“Oh, hey Ekko,” she greets.

“Hey Kiyi, you seen Y/N?” He asks.

“I…thought she went home? She told me she was going home hours ago,” she says.

“She’s not in the storage house?” She asks me and I shake my head. Oh no. I race around and ask Scar if he’s seen her.

“You don’t think she left do you?” Scar asks.

“I think she’s as stubborn as Vi and can be as unpredictable as Jinx. Anything’s possible with her,” I say.

“Good point,” he admits, knowing how the young girl is. After searching the whole Sanctuary and even the areas surrounding us, I find no sign of the kid I consider to be my younger sister. I sigh.

“Dammit,” I say under my breath before starting a search party with Scar.

Reader’s POV

I know Ekko will be mad at me, but if I want to see my sisters again, I have to do it myself. Ekko just wants to protect me and I love him, I also still love Vi and..and Jinx. I want it to be how it was. I want Vi and Jinx to come back. They can live with us at the Sanctuary. I’m not sure how Ekko would feel about that but he’d do it if I convinced him. I left no trace of my leaving and make my way through the Undercity, being careful and alert like Ekko taught me.

3rd POV

Elsewhere in the Undercity, Jinx approaches the ruined arcade that hasn’t been touched since that day the Enforcers barged in on the kids. She carefully steps through the shattered glass window and the broken pieces crack under her boots. She rubs the dust between her fingers as she looks around. Everything is the same, covered in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs. Jinx walks until she steps on something metallic. She looks down and see’s the metal plate with Mylo’s face drawn on from the boxing machine.

“Hmph,” Jinx bends down to pick it up, brushing off the dust. It’s a weird feeling for the girl. Mylo’s been gone for 6yrs, but to Jinx, he’s never really been gone. He’s always with her, just like Claggor and Vi.

“Oh what’s the matter Mylo? You worried Powder’s gonna beat you again?” Claggor’s voice echo’s in Jinx’s head as she stands. She glances at the scoreboard when the sudden chirping of a crow snaps the girl’s attention in an instant. She grabs her pistol and aims right at the bird. It caws once and cocks its head. Jinx mimics the movement before shooting the bird dead. She blows the smoke off her pistol before twirling it and sheathing it back at her side as she walks up to the boxing machine.

Memories of a teenage Vi assault Jinx. She remembers how her sister would move with quick precision. Jinx examines the metal frame where the plate goes and puts it in, dusting her hands off. She looks around and finds a metal piece that’s supposed to go into the boxing machine. After eyeing it to make sure it’s ok, she blows the dust off before inserting it. Jinx flips a switch and metal starts powering up. She pushes a lever up which causes a yellow liquid, presumably gasoline to power up the machine. The lights turn on to illuminate the area as Jinx stands before the game.

“Vander,” Jinx hear’s Vi’s voice.

“Because you’re a jinx!” Vi’s voice snaps angrily. Jinx remembers her screaming, her sobbing and pleading for Vi.

“What makes you different makes you strong,” Vi’s voice tells her as Jinx remembers when Vi would love her, stroking her cheek and brushing the hair off her face. But it didn’t matter now. The pain of what happened tainted everything. Vi had slapped her. That night still fresh in her mind. A tender touch turned violent. Jinx’s eyes snap open and she starts swinging, hitting the metal plate with her unprotected fist.

Jinx remembers sitting with her sisters on the roof of the Last Drop that’s contrasted with Vi grabbing her face and yelling at her. Jinx dodges and hits again and again, dodging out of the way. She grunts a bit, remembering how a teenage Vi would move, though instead of Vi’s precise punches, Jinx was wild with her swings and kicks, something Vi didn’t do. The scoreboard changes, launching ‘Pow’ up the leaderboard.

Jinx attacks wildly, almost uncontrolled as she lets the trauma of what happened consume her. Yelling with each hit, grunting until she remembers being told to stay behind. She was alone in the basement.

“RAAAHHHH!!!” The memory of Powder screams.

“AAAGGHHH!!!” Jinx screams, unaware of the tears streaming down her face as she hits the old padding as hard as she can. The teen pants heavily, sweating as she hears the scoreboard change. She looks up and sees her name just below Vi’s #1 spot. She groans angrily before grabbing her pistol and shooting the metal plate.

Vi heads towards the Last Drop, a place she considered home for a good portion of her life. She stops on a metal bridge to look down at the glowing green sign. Different owner different color. Caitlyn approaches and looks down to see a brawl in front of the bar.

“Well, that place does look like it has bodies buried in the basement,” Caitlyn comments off-handedly, angering Vi. Vi’s grip on the metal rail tightens. That was the specific room where she and her siblings lived.

“You don’t know anything,” Vi growls angrily, shoving Caitlyn’s shoulder as she walks past the rookie Enforcer, who just gives her a look, not understanding Vi’s anger. Vi heads to Margot’s Pleasure House, the place on the napkin Jericho gave her.

Back in Piltover, Councilor Medarda has warned Jayce that by shutting down the Hexgate, he’s made an enemy of everyone else in the Council, so he must regain their favor by schmoozing. Viktor had opposed when Jayce talked to him but Jayce insisted he had to attend an opera musical performance, so Viktor merely sighed and told him to go. At the opera, Mel had pointed out who did what, and when Jayce questioned the legality, Mel had a…twist to it. She advised Jayce to offer something the other Councilors would want: to be Hextech partners (despite already having one in Viktor).

Having to make a split second decision, Mel had gotten the attention of an older Councilor who was particularly upset with Enforcers searching her home, due to Jayce’s new order of security. The musician plays solo on stage as they talk. After Jayce takes Mel’s advice and offers the Councilwoman a deal with all new hextech creations, the two shake hands.

“How can I reject such an auspicious offer?” She replies as they shake. He smiles and nods.

As the music swells, it’s all a blur for Jayce. He has to keep track of everything he has to say to these council members. Drinks clink together. Jayce shakes so many hands. Heimerdinger, having bought seat tickets to the event, is sitting near the front enjoying the show, completely unaware of Jayce and his dealings with the council members.

The music comes to an end and the musician bows and everyone, including the council members, clap. Mel looks at Jayce with slight pride. He’s learning his role as a council member, despite not wanting it.

Vi’s POV

We get to Margot’s and I knock on the door. The window slides open and through the metal bars I see the guard look at us. I look back at him and he sighs before unlocking the door and opening it.

I look down the dark hall to hear laughing. The only light are the few candles lining the hall.

“The one place all the secrets are spilled,” I tell her and walk in. She sighs and follows me. I hear a chuckle along with some others chatting elsewhere. I glance through a beaded doorway and see someone taking a puff off a pipe. The smoke is purple like Shimmer. We pass an open bathroom with someone actively bathing, enjoying someone else and the Enforcer peeks in before catching up to me.

“How exactly do you propose we go about this?” She asks me, stopping. Someone in a full body leather suit with a gag walks by.

“Let ‘em think you work here,” I answer obviously.

“Excuse me? I will not,” She says, clearly caught off guard.

“You know what your problem is?” I ask, walking up to the Rookie.

“Please. Tell me,” she replies sarcastically with an eye roll.

“You expect everyone to give you what you want. If you really want people to talk to you, you have to let them think you have what they want,” I explain, pacing around her.

“And what do I have?” She asks. I look her up and down before stepping into her space.

“You’re hot, cupcake,” I tell her and she backs into the wall, I put a hand on the wall next to her.

“So what’ll it be, man or woman?” I ask.

“Uhm-..” She stutters just as someone in a blue suit and white mask walks by. I grab his arm and pull him towards us.

“Hi, I-I’m Pim. What’s your name?” The man, Pim, stutters.

“Matilda. But you can call her whatever you want,” I say, glancing at the Enforcer. She her eyes widen and she gasps slightly before smiling.

“Ah, y-yes. M-Matilda. My parents named me Matilda. After my great-grandmother Matilda, the, uh..-“ she lies horribly. But that doesn’t matter. I’ll ditch her here after I go talk to Margot.

I slip down the hall quietly before getting to her office. I walk in and she looks up at me from some sort of paperwork on her desk.

“Would you believe it?” She asks, clearly not expecting me.

Ekko’s POV

I’m pacing around, waiting to hear from someone, anyone, when I see a streak of green light in the sky. It flies down and I see it’s Scar on his hoverboard.

“Little man-we don’t have confirmation, but we think there’s activity going on near the Lanes. Two guys who got beat up and robbed says it was a woman with pink hair,” he says.

“What? A-Are you sure?!” I demand and he nods. I look away, trying to think. It might not be Vi, but if it is…If Y/N finds out about her, she might want to tell Jinx—

“There’s something else,” Scar says, getting my attention.

“What is it?” I ask.

“There was someone else with her. A female Enforcer, ‘bout the same age,” he says. My eyes widen. All Enforcers work for Silco. None of them can be trusted. If one is with Vi, then that means she must work for him as well.

“Where’d they go?” I ask.

“Margot’s, not sure why,” Scar answers.

“Keep an eye on them. It might be Vi, it might not, but we have to know where the Enforcer is,” I explain and Scar nods.

“Sure thing boss,” he says.

“Any sign of Y/N?” I ask and he shakes his head sadly.

“She’s small and she’s quick. None of us could track her, she practically disappeared. I’m not sure where she went,” he says. I sigh and rub my temple.

“Alright, thanks for looking,” I say.

“We’ll keep up the search until she’s back,” he assures me. I nod and do my best to reassure everyone that overheard our conversation that the Enforcer is no threat to us. That we are well hidden and fortified in the Undercity so well that not even Silco has threatened us.

3rd POV

The industrialist walks into his office as Marcus, the Sheriff, twirls the same blood soaked coin from all those years ago in the alley where Sheriff Grayson and Benzo were killed.

“Sheriff, what a lovely surprise,” Silco says, walking over to sit down at his desk.

“The Hextech wonder boy is on the Council now, and he’s asking questions. It’s only a matter of time before he finds the truth,” Marcus says with a biting tone.

“What is truth, but a survivor’s story?” Silco asks as he opens one of his desk drawers.

“If I’m discovered, we’re both finished,” Marcus threatens. Silco pulls out a metal homemade grenade that’s covered in the symbol of the Firelight leader, but in Jinx’s classic pink and blue colors.

“Good thing you’ve located proof of the Firelights’ involvement” Silco says. Marcus approaches and picks up the grenade.

“This has gone too far,” he says, looking at the explosive device. It has a green light on it and metal things that look like teeth.

Marcus’s POV

For some reason, the chomping teeth of the grenade feels familiar to me, but I can’t place it. My eyes spot the pin and I thumb it. Silco notices.

“Hmm? Imagining yourself a hero? One final act to make you the martyr you’ve always seen yourself as?” Silco asks with a chuckle. I want to do it. I want to kill him. I could do it. I can do it. I pant slightly before screaming, pulling the pin. The grenade flashes pink and Silco’s eyes widen as we are enveloped in a fiery explosion.

“Then what’re you waiting for?” Silco asks, getting my attention. Just a fantasy.

I look at the grenade before sighing. I wanted to pull the pin. I wanted to so bad. But I couldn’t. We lock eyes for a moment before I walk out with the grenade, hoping this will stall Councilor Talis.

Jinx’s POV

Unbeknownst to Sheriff Marcus, I was up in the rafters the whole time.

“Ah, he’s faltering. You need to weaponize the Hextech soon,” Silco tells me. I shut my eyes.

“I can’t do it. Just…give it to the doctor,” I reply, trying not to succumb to the intense emotions.

“You’re the only one I can trust with this, Jinx,” Silco argues rationally. I have to tell him.

“I keep seeing them…that day,” I admit. I watch as he stands and glances up at me.

“Fear haunts us all, child,” he says. He’s told me before that we are the same. Both of us betrayed by a sibling.

“Come with me. I want to show you something,” he says and I obediently follow him out.

3rd POV

Silco leaves the bar with Jinx. Unbeknownst to them, they are being watched by Y/N, who is hiding in Benzo’s boarded up shop. She managed to sneak in through Little Man’s secret hideout. As much as Y/N wants to go after Jinx, she knows she can’t, not while Silco’s around.

Back at Margot’s, Vi is sitting in the brothel owner’s office. Vi’s fists are clenched lightly.

“Sweetheart, I was real sad to hear about Vander. And the kids. Just terrible,” Margot tells Vi. Her fists loosen a bit.

“By the looks of it, no one down here lifted a finger to stop Silco,” Vi argues.

“A few tried but Silco’s got the muscle…and the money,” Margot explains, “he took over the Last Drop.”

“I saw,” Vi says, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees.

“Things have changed without Vander looking out for us,” Margot says, taking a drag off her cigarette.

“Have you heard anything about Powder? I think Silco has her,” Vi asks. Margot gives her a sad look and shakes her head.

“What about Y/N?” Vi asks.

“The Firelights. She’d hang around with them,” Margot says.

“I have to find them,” Vi says, standing up.

“Silco’s number two’s a regular. I can have Miguel tell you where to find her,” Margot explains, talking of the ‘regular’.

“I owe you,” Vi tells Margot and walks out.

“It’s nothing,” Margot says after Vi leaves.

Vi walks back down the hall and passes a room where the Enforcer is. She giggles, getting Vi’s attention. Vi stops and glances over to see the Enforcer charming another woman and Vi smiles. Well I’ll be damn, Vi thinks to herself, scoffing lightly.

Reader POV

Since I can’t go after Jinx, I have to try Vi. I can’t be certain since I’ve only overheard mere words, but I think Vi might be in the Undercity. If I can find Vi, then together, the two of us can get Jinx ourselves and take her back to the Sanctuary. Then we can finally be a whole family again. I glance around and look for anything that might help. I search Uncle Benzo’s desk. I walk behind and-

“Agh!” I yelp in surprise when I see Uncle Benzo’s skeleton! Reddish brown hair clings to the skull and the clothes are dusty and ragged. Bits of muscle and skin are still visible around his stomach, chest and upper arms and legs. Not quite all the way rotted. Maybe in another 6yrs. So that’s what Huck did with the pawn shop owner’s body. I look around and spot a black book. The first page says ‘contacts’. First is Jericho but the second…the second one is Margot. Maybe she’d know something about Vi, since Ekko is so…stubborn about telling me.

Making my way out through the ventilation shaft to Ekko’s secret hideout, I hop from the rooftop onto the ladder and climb down.

Vi’s POV

I find Miguel and he tells me it’s Sevika that’s the regular.

“Sevika? She’s alive?!” I ask incredulously and he nods.

“She’s Silco’s number 2,” Miguel explains.

“Where is she?” I ask.

“She normally plays cards with the scum that hang around, just past Jericho’s stand I think,” Miguel says. I nod.

“Thanks Miguel,” I say and he nods. He was in his mid 20s when I was 16, so he must be in his early 30s now?

“Your old man…he really was the glue that held this community together,” Miguel says and I nod.

“I know,” I say and we part ways. I walk out, leaving the Enforcer behind. It’s not that I want to escape, it’s that I don’t want to involve her in the fight I’m going to have with Sevika.

Reader POV

I make sure to keep to myself, my head down, though I make sure to look up occasionally to make sure I’m still going the right way. I gasp when I see a couple people that I know work for Silco, walk around. I turn and head the opposite way, making sure to stay clear of them. I don’t really know much about Margot other than what my older siblings told me 6 years ago.

“She’s a nice lady but she’s in a dirty business,” Claggor had told me. I didn’t understand at the time, being only 4, but now that I’m older, I understand it’s prostitution. A whorehouse. A place people go for drugs and sex.

I spot the building down the street. That’s when I spot someone. I see someone who looks from the Undercity…the clothes are non-descript and the jacket obscures the person’s upper body but the bright, spiky, shaggy pink hair sticks out above everything else and my eyes widen.

“Vi,” I gasp. I watch as the woman I think is Vi walk down the street and turn the corner. I can’t let her get away! I climb up a ladder and onto a roof. I hop along the close-together rooftops, the buildings practically crammed together, careful to keep out of sight, moving in the shadows. I feel my lungs constrict and vibrate slightly from the asthma I have. I slow down a bit, letting Vi get further away but I think I know where she’s going.

3rd POV

Back in Piltover, Viktor works hard in the lab while Mel and Jayce fall into their emotions. Sky tries to ask Viktor if he has plans after work, but he shuts her down, saying he will probably just sleep there. Sky tries hard not to take it personally, after all, Viktor is dying and has only a certain amount of time left. But she wished she could show him how to enjoy the time he does have.

Sky leaves the workaholic Viktor to his evolving Hexcore that now has multiple glowing blue runes on it. It moves up and down, left to right, turning, clicking…adapting. Viktor is desperate for anything but no matter the combination of runes, nothing works. He slams his desk angrily, shoving his chair back, making papers fly off the desk. He gasps a bit and looks at the Hexcore. His vision is starting to tunnel. Viktor stumbles forward, coughing into his hand, blood splattering on his fingers and onto the desk. All while Jayce his having sex with Mel, unaware that someone he’s close it is literally dying. Viktor slips off the desk and slumps to the floor, passed out, knocking his cane over.

While Viktor is out, the Hexcore starts crackling with electricity. Viktor’s blood on the desk is so close that the Hexcore starts to attract it. The red liquid slowly moves towards the Hexcore before a drop of blood rises up and fuses with the Hexcore!

In the Undercity, Silco has taken Jinx to the water where Vander nearly killed him.

“I almost drowned in these waters,” Silco tells Jinx.

“You told me a million times,” Jinx complains, rolling her eyes.

“Vander wasn’t the man you thought he was,” Silco continues.

“Right, he was like a brother to you, and he turned his back and blah, blah, blah. Did I miss anything?” Jinx asks bored. Silco snickers.

“I’ve got a new one for you,” Silco tells her, running his fingers in the cool, contaminated water. It drips off his hand and Jinx watches intently.

“That day, I let a weak man die,” Silco says before crouching down, dunking himself in, sloshing the water. He returns after a second and wipes his face and hair back.

“And another was reborn. Betrayal, that pain that feels like it’ll eat you from the inside out, can either break you or forge you into something greater,” Silco says as Jinx looks at him before looking away.

“You need to let Powder die,” Silco says, the old name making her look at him, “So the fear of pain will no longer control you.” He explains, offering a hand.

Jinx moves to take it and walks towards him, grabbing his first two fingers, much like she did as a little girl, when they first met.

“You’re strong now. Just like you were always meant to be. Jinx is perfect,” Silco tells his daughter. She steps to him and he gently cups the back of her head, still holding her hand with the other. He gives her a small reassuring smile before letting her lay down in the water. The teenager exhales and Silco gives her a look as if to say ‘ready, now,’ before letting her dip below the surface of the water.

Vi’s POV

I pull up my hood and walk down the street, unaware that I’m being followed. All I care about is finding Sevika. I thought she died. I swear I thought she died. I saw her…then Vander—the building—she was in there-but…if Margot says she’s alive…I have to get to her.

I walk past a few people, bumping into one who grumbles, calling me a bitch and flipping me off, but I keep moving. I stop behind a corner as it opens to a small courtyard between buildings. Sevika is sitting at a card table, playing with two guys. One of them, I recognize. She’s smoking a cigarette. I glare at her, fiery rage is all I feel when I see her for betraying Vander.

3rd POV

Luckily Heimerdinger was staying late and managed to find Viktor and get him to the hospital. The head of the academy also called Jayce to inform him of what’s happened. While Mel sleeps, Jayce slips out and joins Viktor in his hospital room. Mel wakes up and finds her bed empty as Jayce asks about Viktor when the man wakes.

“Jayce?” Viktor asks.

“Viktor—the doctors uhm..—they-“ Jayce tries telling him but Viktor sighs defeatedly.

“How much time do I have?” He asks as Sevika plays the Death and Magician cards in the game, winning.

“Rotten luck boys,” she says, putting her lit cigarette back in her mouth.

Vi’s POV

I race towards Sevika as she reaches to grab the pot winnings of the game and slam my knee into her cheek! Cards, money and Sevika’s cigarette goes flying. She drops to the ground and the two men playing her look at me with a gasp. The one with a prosthetic nose is the same guy from that street fight after the robbery gone wrong 6 years ago. I had to help Mylo with him by slamming a 2x4 of wood into his face, bashing his nose in. If he recognized me, he made no motion of it as the two run away cowardly.

“Vi?” Sevika asks as she gets to her knees. I storm up to her. She tries to backhand me as she stands but I dodge easily and grab the dark skinned woman by her ponytail. I turn and slam the older woman into the concrete wall, pinning her arm behind her and her head against the wall.

“You filthy traitor,” I growl.

“Vander had his chance,” she snarls back. That’s when I see a glowing purple light under the cloak she’s wearing. The arm I’m holding suddenly moves and when it does I hear a mechanical whirring noise. The arm moves unnaturally, breaking free of my grip. She kicks me back and I fall to the ground. As Sevika stalks up to me, she takes off the cloak and I see a mechanical arm! I gasp. I watch as a vial of Shimmer pops up at her shoulder and turns, clicking in place. The Shimmer travels down the whole arm, powering it up. She uses it to motion at me and I stand up. I shrug off my red jacket and take a couple of test punches as she blocks them easily. I swing forward and her metal arm catches and locks in place, trapping me!

“I see you never learned patience,” she says before head butting me and punching my stomach. I hit the wall behind me and gasp at the hard hit. I see her swing at me with that metal arm and I duck. I hit her ribcage but she tanks it so I swing at her face and she merely grunts. I dodge one of her punches from her normal arm so when she tries with her mechanical one, I’m able to grab hold of the upper area and and uppercut her face. She yanks back and tries again, but I dodge, moving to her side. I get in a quick hit to her side before punching her face again. She staggers back and I leap up into the air and swing as hard as I can, feeling my fist connect with her cheek. She goes down, panting a bit and sweating. The Shimmer canister raises and injects itself again. Sevika glares at me, her dark eyes now a sickly purple as she growls at me. She grabs a metal drum and tosses it up before punching it at me! I run to dodge but the Shimmer gives her incredible strength and speed as she bodies me into the wall! I yelp as her hand comes up to wrap around my neck. I’m reminded of the fight with Shimmer Deckard 6 years ago. I tried charging him and he caught me by my neck. Now it’s Sevika. She picks me up and slams me into a wooden crate, hitting the hard ground. I groan as she drags me by my neck and I try prying her metal hand off, but it’s no use! She picks me up and pins me against the wall, luckily she let go of my neck, but her forearm is pressed against my cheek. The Shimmer is hot.

Because she’s so close, I manage to knee her crotch. She grunts in pain and bends forward. I wind back with both fists and hit her back as hard as I can before grabbing hold of her torso and tossing the woman into the wall. She grunts, panting and I stagger a bit from the effort. I make the same ‘come get me’ hand motion at her that she did to me earlier as I breathe hard. Sevika grunts and gets up, trying to swing at me, but I back up, dodging and hit her. I lead her into a narrow area between two buildings. I uppercut her jaw before slamming her head into the wall. I punch her and slam her head into the adjacent wall before speed punching her stomach and grabbing her head and collide my knee with her face. I pant heavily, covered in bruises, blood, and sweat. We both breathe heavily as Sevika gets to her feet. I growl and see a wooden gate behind her. I race towards Sevika, jump, and kick as hard as I can, hitting the ground myself but I hear her body crash through the wood and hit the street behind the gate.

She coughs and spits some blood out but I manage to step on her metal arm as she rolls onto her back, unaware we are being watched by someone. Sevika groans.

“Where’s my sister? Where is he keeping her?” I demand, winding back for another hit as I hold Sevika by her neck.

“Keeping her? You mean Jinx?” She asks me. My eyes widen at the name and I glare at her.

“She works for him,” Sevika says and I gasp. Clearly caught off guard, Sevika takes the opportunity to shank my side, piercing my flesh. I grunt. Sevika comes to my ear.

“She’s like his daughter,” Sevika says of Powder before shoving me to the ground. I fall easily as I feel something warm and liquid run down to my hip. I groan as I try to crawl away, but Sevika walks up to me, grabbing my cheeks in her normal hand.

“I’ll give her your regards,” Sevika says, her metal arm winding back for a hit. Her shoulder Shimmer canister raises and when it does, a single gunshot rings out and shatters the mechanism, making Sevika recoil, letting me go. Sevika looks to where the shot came from to see the Enforcer I left behind at Margot’s, standing on a bridge, aiming her rifle right at her. The Enforcer gets another shot off, but hits Sevika’s metal shoulder as she runs off, getting away.

“Why did you let her get a way?” I ask on my knees on the ground as the Enforcer approaches cautiously.

“Do you ever say ‘thank you’?” she asks back, putting her rifle away.

“He’s gonna know we’re here now,” I warn.

“Whose fault is that?” She asks. I smirk half heartedly as I feel blood drip out of me.

“You’re an alright shot,” I admit.

“I’m an excellent shot,” she corrects. I want to tell her that I would know but I keep my mouth shut. I sigh.

“You gonna help me out, cupcake?” I ask, holding a hand up to her.

“Stop calling me that. My name is Caitlyn,” she says as she hauls me to my feet.

“But you’re so sweet, like a cupcake,” I tell her as I lean heavily on her, my arm draped over her shoulders, unaware we are being watched. Caitlyn chuckles.

“Shut up,” she replies as we walk.

Cait’s POV

As I let Vi lean on me, I can’t help but think of that shooting test and what Sheriff Grayson asked me.

“What are you shooting for?” She asked. At the time, I didn’t have an answer. But now…now I think I do. I’m shooting for Vi…for people like Vi. People that need help whether they be in the lowest parts of the Undercity or the highest seat of the Council in Piltover. I’m an Enforcer because I can help this city. I know I can.

Reader POV

I watch Vi’s fight with Sevika and resist the urge to call out to her. I wince with every hit Vi takes and when Sevika stabs Vi, I find a way down to the ground off the roofs but by the time I could get down, Sevika was gone. I saw no sign of her and after watching the Enforcer pick up Vi, I ran back to a side alley and that’s when my eyes immediately meet Sevika’s! I gasp and immediately run to hide. I can’t tell if she’s chasing me—I don’t think she is, but either way, I think I might have to tell Ekko since I’m pretty sure Sevika will tell Silco about me at the very least.

3rd POV

As Sevika rounds the corner, panting, covered in blood, she is shocked to see a young girl looking at her. Their eyes meet and the girl gasps and quickly disappears. At first, she appeared to be a random street urchin. But…the eyes. Sevika will always remember the eyes of those 3 sisters Vander adopted. Vi with her ice cold, tough eyes, Jinx with her thousand-yard stare and unhinged look and Y/N…Y/N’s eyes always had a brightness that never dulled, no matter how rough the Undercity was. She had the courage and bravery of Vi but the wild, unpredictability of Jinx and a unique light that was all her own. Despite all 3 not having the same eye color, you can tell they are related. And that’s what Sevika knew. She knew this girl…this girl was the youngest of the sisters. Jinx’s little sister!

As Jinx perfects the energy capacitor, Sevika manages to limp back to Silco’s office.

“You’re making a mess,” Silco tells Sevika as he applies makeup to his scarred eye. Jinx spins in her chair, watching her successful test as Sevika approaches Silco’s desk.

“The sisters…they’re back,” Sevika says and Silco’s eyes widen as he whips around in his chair.

“From the dead?!” He demands.

End.

[greenlightbulbonawire]

Misfits (yeah like the Arcane song)

XX.

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Author's note: Twentieth chapter!! Yayy!! :]

Nineteenth chapter

Masterlist

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Vi dragged Caitlyn away and Ekko faced the girl, blocking her path.

"Oh look who it is! The boy savior!"

Ekko chuckled softly, pulled out a watch and started swinging it, both of the older kids were laughing sarcastically. It looked like they were playing. Then Jinx pulled out her gun and fired three shots. Ekko ran towards her, skillfully evading them. If he wasn't fighting for his live, you'd be cheering honestly.

He jumped and stretched the metal pipe, striking Jinx when coming down, he pinned her to the ground and started breaking her face. But then, out of nowhere he stopped mid punch, looking down at her. You caugh a glimpse of something she had in her hand, Ekko didn't. Your time to shine.

You flew out from behind the pillar, faster that you've ever flown. Ekko looked your way. The something started ticking. He turned to the sound. You grabbed him by his punch-ready hand, pulling him away at least a bit before the device exploded. You let him go, learning from your past mistake, and the explosion knocked you off your board.

You coughed and frantically looked around. One of your arms couldn't be moved, that's not important. Ekko was getting up from where you left him. Oh thank god. You stood up to, noticing that he couldn't put weigh on one of his feet. Your feet were fine and carrying you to his side.

"I have never been so glad that someone disobeyed my orders."

He smiled at you and pulled you into a hug. You hissed, the damaged arm hurt like hell. He quickly let you go, and his eyes set on your injury, growing wider with each passing moment.

"I'm fine, it's nothing."

You tried to convince yourself more than him, finally getting the courage to look at the arm, a bone was sticking out of it. What a beautiful sight. Ekko seemed to be frozen, you didn't blame him, you would've been too, but your instincts screamed at you to grab him and get the hell outta the place.

"No it's not. You have no business being here!"

You took his arm, the one that was on the same side as his injured leg, and put it over your shoulder by your healthy hand. You looked around, spotting one of the hoverboards, but his pipe was nowhere to be seen.

"You can scold me and yell at me all you want, but after we get the fuck outta here." You said and started walking with him towards the board.

"Leave it be."

"No."

He didn't argue further with you. You let go of him, crouched down and grabbed it off the ground, trying to start the machine up, but it was dead. You groaned and came back up, handing him the device and putting his arm around your shoulder again, making him use you as a crutch. You payed no mind to the pain radiating from the fracture. All that mattered now was getting him somewhere away from the bridge.

You settled down in a little hidden corned on Undercity's side. You layed the board onto the ground and Ekko took his hand off your shoulders. You turned to face him, letting out an exhausted sigh.

"Alright, go on now."

You encouraged the boy to talk to you, and by doing so, trying to take his mind off the whole situation. He just shook his head and pulled you into a hug again, avoiding your arms and holding you by your neck. You put your healthy hand around his waist and rested your head on his shoulder. He held you tightly for a few moments, before he pushed you away and gave you a stern look.

[mollysunder]

I think the writers of Arcane have a chance to really solidify an interesting dynamic between Caitlyn, Vi, and their greater relationship with Zaun. I'm specifically thinking about what happens when Caitlyn finds out that it was Vi and her gang that robbed Jayce's apartment and caused the explosion. While Vi learns that her and the gang were actually fleecing a Kiramman property.

Caitlyn spent so much of the first season pulling back from lethal shots even with Jinx. All for her efforts to lead to the death of her mother by Jinx's hand. Then Cait learns that Jinx has been responsible for so much destruction for so long that has specifically affected her family, might completely send her off the edge. Cait would view her inaction, not firing at Jinx, as a her greatest mistake and she can never let anyone or Vi convince her to back away from a threat. . I can already see her become more intolerant to any threat or possible deviance, and let's face it, Zaunite culture is inherently deviant to Piltovans.

The revelation would also implicate Ekko in the heist because he was the one that stalked Jayce all the way to his apartment to case the joint. I can only see Caitlyn and Ekko's relationship further souring, for Ekko it would be because her plan put him in the line of fire against enforcers he stated kill his friends. But Cait might actually see how messily connected the Undercity's criminalty is connected to its citizens and how early it starts, in her perspective.

For Vi, the writers would finally have more time for her to respond about her feelings of herself before and after her imprisonment. It would be one thing for Vi to say she regrets that she did it, the revealing question is really why would she regret it. Because she almost hurt Cait and Jayce, her new allies? That it brought enforcers to the Lanes? That it's the reason her life was completely destroyed beyond repair? And would she apologize for almost hurting Cait without her knowledge? Or is she only apologizing because, with Powder gone and Zaun unrecognizable, she's one left and needs to hold on to anything that might still matter?

I'd imagine in the midst of conflict Caitlyn and the Medarda team might try to spin this as propaganda against Jinx as the one true source of the war. Jinx, an 11 to 12-year old professional criminal and master of destruction. It might work on Piltover, but it'd be a misstep in PR to get cooperatives Zaunites because everyone remembers the aftermath of the heist. Everyone in the Lanes would remember enforcers flooding the place, casually brutalizing their friends and families. How Sheriff Grayson's men would smash windows and shoot at children, and for what? Some stolen trinkets? For an accident where nobody died in Piltover, but everybody in Zaun had to be terrorized for it.

And after all that, it's not like the Kiramann's suffered any losses from the accident, in fact, they came out of better than ever in the timeskip. And now they're hearing from the daughter of the very Councilman who made a fuss and pushed with the rest of the council to have Zaun flipped upside down for 4 kids. One of whom is standing next to Cait. All in all, the whole revelation will serve to further alienate Cait and Vi from Zaun. the other Vi because And maybe Vi could learn more details about the aftermath of the heist, like

[deaiustitia]

Ooc; this is something I need to put down into words before writing anything regarding Caitlyn's Commander's arc.

This is not meant to be any kind of defence or excuse for Cait. Actually, I'm here to call out my muse and give her a reality check. I'm honestly glad she was given this character arc to show us how privileged people react the moment their safety has been taken away from them.

There's a couple of points that I like to stress out for Caitlyn;

1. She definitely has a golden heart, she is kind and generous, and she is able to empathise with others, perhaps more than some other people could ever do. However, something vital to understand her person so far is that when she goes into the undercity, it isn't to help the people of Zaun. Her main goal was to find Silco, and she thought at the time that if he was eradicated, every problem would be solved. She never had the self reflection or an understanding that the root of the issue was the system itself.

2. Caitlyn is renown for bottling everything up and having an unhealthy way of processing her emotions. She is stubborn, she is a perfectionist, and she demands more to herself than anyone else. Failure and guilt are gnawinger at her bones to the core.

3. She never had to truly taste fear, sorrow, anger, and grief the way she is now. This is really the first time she is going through her world crumbling down under her feet. Even when she allows herself to cry for the first time with Vi, she only gives in for a couple of seconds before composing herself again, taking it back to point 2 of her bottling up everything.

With this said: is she extremely vulnerable and easy to manipulate in this stage? Yes, if you know which buttons to press, like Ambessa does. I also love the theory of Maddie being a spy for Ambessa and therefore keeping a close eye on Cait, knowing exactly what to say and ehat do to lure her even further into a trap of vengeance.

Is she blinded by grief and rage? By guilt of her own failure? Yes, definitely. Again, Cait has never tasted that kind of pain on her tongue before, the kind of sorrow barely allows you to feel anything else but anger, a suffering that weighs on her shoulder and pierces through her heart with a knife that twists and twists until there's almost nothing left to bleed. I'm not feeling guilty by assuming this is the most real and the worst hardship she had to ever face. She never had to witness true violence before, never knew what real fear for someone's life safety meant before the Arcane story began.

Is that an excuse to fall into martial law and a dictatorship? Personally? No, I do not excuse any of her behaviour. One life for thousands? Her mother was, at the end of the day, a symbol of privilege and oppression, and it doesn't matter she might have been the kindest between all the council members and that she did 'something' to help the undercity people aka bare minimum to "allow them to breath".

That was not enough. It was never enough.

So yeah, there's guilt, rage, and grief that build this new character arc, but despite how much I love Caitlyn I almost struggle to empathise with her. I do not judge her because honestly I have no clue what I would do her in situation but as she is fictional and I'm just a spectator, I find it genuinely fantastic the way Arcane is presenting to us a situation in which the minorities/forgotten ones have endured hell and had to put up with death every day, while the privileged could always ignore that suffering until it made their thrones tremble and suddenly anger is the easiest way to solve the situation rather than admitting their own faults that created that situation in the first place.

Anyway, love my cancelled wife <3 can't wait for her to realise the atrocity she was willing to do for her own personal interest that's going to be fun ugh.

[idkwhatimdoingbutslay]

Curious about what happened after episode three.

The whole reason both Vander and Vi wanted to sacrifice themselves is because Grayson and the council insisted that they needed a scapegoat to use as an example and to show that they were actually doing something about the whole blowing up Jayce’s apartment thing.

But instead of that happening, Vi is taken to prison (presumably without being publicly reprimanded), Vander dies and Grayson dies.

The Sheriff dies. How did Topside move on from that?

Plus, there’s a rise of a mysterious drug and the Firelights busting cargo ships.

Did Piltover’s just say that they put somebody (Vi) in jail and everything is okay now?

Did Silco somehow cover things up?

Also the contrast between Marcus’ deal with the Undercity and Grayson’s deal with the Undercity is interesting.

Grayson insisted on having a scapegoat because Piltover was breathing down her neck but this never happens to Marcus? Especially because, again, the busted ships, Jinx, shimmer and the attacks/ explosions.

Has everyone in Piltover just given up? Were they too busy with Hextech to care?

It seems that the Enforcers and Piltover + the council just seem to have such a massive disconnect while Marcus is Sheriff.

But that is most likely because Piltover because “The City Of Progress” and just decided to leave Zaun behind. But also, the blockade before Marcus’ death. They’ve just put Zaun on the back burner.

But now, the council was just blown up and they can’t do that anymore.

If Caitlyn is introduced as a new Sheriff, there wouldn’t be as big of a disconnect anymore. Kind of falling back to how Grayson was but less passive and “we’ve gotta just get by.”

[ferinehuntress]

◈　 ⇢  @shimmerbeasts　 ⋯　 Continued Ask . 　　　❝ Vi explains a sensitive subject to Caitlyn after the return of Jinx & examining a bone bullet. ❞

　⊰ ⸻ ⊱　The restlessness behind her made Caitlyn look over her shoulder and purred softly. "I'm right here, love, it's okay," Caitlyn offered in comfort. She had similar reactions when Vi left the bed if she woke first. The sensation of faded warmth and a body no longer near would easily stir the Kiramman awake. She had grown accustomed to the Zaunite being so close that even her scent soothed her troubled mind. She tapped her foot against the ground, a repeated motion to settle down her bafflement of this object. Jinx had returned, it had been almost three months since she last seen or heard from her but Caitlyn knew she was out there. As if biding her time and now she had struck at the heart of her home.

Again.

Fingers rested on her lap now, as Caitlyn started to massage her hand in a fashion to calm herself down. She didn't like the mark or the snow-white bullet. Human bones tended to be brittle and useless and yet this bone held up against the firing pin of a pistol. Just as her hand brushed up against the back of her neck in memory, she heard Vi's apology. She leaned backward, her head canting so she could look up at Vi. In this position, Vi looked upside down, and magenta brilliant hair gleamed from the sun that billowed through the window. Her hand reached up to brush against her cheek and her thumb lightly caressed her jaw. "It's not your fault, Vi," Never once did Caitlyn blame her. However, Vi carried her heavy guilt like Atlas and the earth on his shoulders. So Caitlyn always took time, quiet reminders, so that Vi would know the heiress didn't believe these things were her fault.

The choice had always been Jinx; she held the knife, cut the wound, and she shot the bullet. She made her own choices, Vi never once put the knife or gun in Jinx's hand and told her to do this. Moving her hand from Vi's face, she shifted to sit back straight and stared toward the bullet again. The eye of Zaun meant it was something important. It reminded her of the bullets she found on crime scenes that belonged to Jinx where the brass casings had the symbol of the monkey on them. So if the bullets with the monkey belonged to Jinx, then who did this bullet belong to despite Jinx firing it? She tried to settle her mind into Jinx's, to think as she would.

Vi's outburst caused Caitlyn's eyes to widen and disrupted her delving process to look at the tiger. "Careful, Vi, your face," She vocalized and reached over to place a hand on her back. Nails trailed down her spine, giving a light back scratch.

"Hey, it's okay," Caitlyn soothed through a wisp of her tone, gentle like a cool breeze. Her head canted sideways as her hair fell to the side. "Take your time, Vi. I haven't judged on anything I saw down there or seen before when you took me there. I know the undercity is far more different from the Piltover," It seemed Vi knew something about the bullet, something that hadn't been touched yet. Cait never believed she understood the whole culture of Zaun, there was much to learn and perhaps it might take years to know everything, but she always listened and absorbed whatever Vi taught her. Even if she didn't understand it right away, she always listened with non-judgemental curiosity.

"Would you like me to get you something to drink? I know you like the sweet teas I make," Caitlyn offered with a smile. She pushed back from the table and moved into the small kitchen (it was so quaint in her eyes) found a couple of metal cups and poured some of the tea into them. She grabbed a couple of cinnamon sticks she had left her when she knew that Vi liked the sweet spice. They dipped it into the cooled drinks and carried them over to the table. She set one down on the table next to Vi and then took a sip of her own. The sweet tea hit the right spot, wetting her throat as she let a little sigh escape her lips.

Setting down the tea, Caitlyn's hand moved back to touch Vi's back, a tender brush of her claws over her spine again til she knew she was ready to speak.

[hastyprovocateur]

(SPOILERS FOR ARCANE S1 AND PREDICTIONS FOR S2)

Now yeah yeah, I know what they say about Jinx being a shimmer-fueled, feral, quick-draw who's totalled Caitlyn Kiramman once but I'd like to bring your attention to the fact that Caitlyn was hindered by Vi's hopes that Powder was still inside Jinx somewhere as well as her own hesitation regarding killing as she's never killed before. But that changes when her failure to take the shot results in the death of many more, including her own mother. This is a huge gateway into the psychology of the Caitlyn we know. The larger possibility for season 2 I want to explore is how Cassandra Kiramann's veritable death is going to affect Cait because Cait so far has been pragmatic with little to no skin in the game but with her mom gone, she becomes the new heir to the Kiramman throne and essentially the next Council superpower who is faced with an undoubted, violent terrorist attack that can greenlight war. In the case of the older Council being obliterated, I do not doubt that aside from Vi's undying hopes of "changing" Jinx, Caitlyn will gain complete surety of Jinx's capacities for evil and lose faith in rehabilitating Powder and by extension Vi's attempts to reach to her little sister. Whether Vi chooses Cait's side or not.

Contrary to the calm, reasonable, open to learn and slow-to-react Caitlyn in Season 1, the new, Season 2 Cait could be a) Fueled by her beloved mother's assassination b) a fresh (possible) break from Vi (Depending on who's side Vi takes after the Council is destroyed) her lover and closest link to the Undercity who is partially the reason she couldn't neutralise Jinx in time, allowing her to shoot up the Council building using the Hex crystal powered Fishbones shot c) If radicalised, Cait has access to any and all resources through her family to declare war and participate actively in it to kill Jinx. Not to mention access to all sorts of Hextech weapons she can put her hands on. d) unlike Jinx, Caitlyn is not easily distracted by mind games and isn't self-destructive. With her focus and obsession to do the right thing, shooting prowess, and quick thinking, like Vi said "And I thought Powder could get obsessed" they are a combat match made in heaven. With everything we've seen before, we know that Jinx can easily be outleveled, by Vi, and Ekko, at least in her non-shimmer state. The only thing cushioning her is the memory of Powder for both Vi and Ekko.

Caitlyn however, can bring Hextech to Chemtech just as easily and care nothing for Jinx/Powder outside of knowing that she's responsible for her mother's death and for the lives of many in the war ensuing. Big weights in the scales are both Vi and Ekko and it all depends on if they still stick by Jinx which I heavily doubt they will. Ekko already lost much faith in her, the remnants she killed on the bridge by blowing them both up. Not to mention the number of Firelights she's killed and also framed for her own actions. It's on Vi now... because I know Vander's voice is a big factor in her being attached to Powder and hope to unite them but I simply can't see her sticking up for her sister after she blew the Council up after killing Silco. She also saw her attack Caitlyn so consider that. If Vi sticks by Caitlyn and Ekko sticks by Piltover, Vi, and Caitlyn along with Heimerdinger AND CONSIDER Sevika and the Chem Barons turning against Jinx for crushing their dream to buy Zaun's freedom and killing The Industrialist who was at the forefront of Zaun's struggle for freedom... Jinx is going to be on the run for a long while with no one by her side unless she decides to surrender or give up the path she's currently on. Which is tough because with the blood on her hands, that's like a self-decreeing her death because the people against her, unlike Vi or Ekko, don't care if she changes. They just want her dead and out of the way.

This whole scenario changes only if between Zaun and Piltover comes a third party that threatens Vi's life in essence, because I can't see Jinx choosing to reconsider or defend anyone unless it's her sister. Even after Silco's death, she didn't lash out immediately at Vi when she could've killed her to avenge Silco and with how instinctively she killed Silco to protect her sister as well as firing away at the Council, I just know that atleast in that sense, the Powder who would do anything to protect her sister, is not dead and will most likely never die. It is the same for Vi. I'm just musing here but if any of this comes true I WARNED YOU!!

[ravenkinnie]

hihihi i wanna ask your perspective do you think jinx actually has no agency?? i remember seeing comments like that and i disagree bcs jinx never felt like a passive characrer, but im a bit confused bcs agency is when the character acts not just reacts and has their own ambitions/goals. jinx doesnt have personal goals of her own so would that automatically make her have no agency? she does rebel against her superior's wishes and does as she please but is that considered acting or reacting?

im very sure that agency works in more complex ways that is used for jinx's character that makes her feel more alive and active than any other character, i just dont know how to put my finger on it

she does have agency, I think the two reasons people remove her agency by either describing her like a passive character or saying she doesn't have any are:

a) we know the cause and effect of her choice, why she does the things she does and who influences her, jinx is probably the character we examine the most closely in arcane. but the fact that she's influenced by people around her and things that happened to her doesn't mean her choices aren't hers

b) the choices jinx makes are irrational and impulsive and not very good but they ARE internally consistent

in general, when we speak about character agency it means actions that affect the story, decisions that are meaningful within the story. jinx is really the main catalyst of most events in arcane, and you can trace it to specific choices such as going to the cannery to help out and setting off the monkey bomb or the whole finale that was set off just by her own actions. yes, they were influenced by other characters because these storylines have to interact and character arcs should overlap instead of being separate elements of one story but that doesn't mean they aren't HER choices and that they aren't pivotal to her character. a character doesn't need to be active all the time either, you can have things happen to them - like jinxs and vis parents dying or jinx being brought to singeds lab - and have their reactions to those things set off chains of events

agency in storytelling is a broad topic tho because some stories might be more unconventional - litfic might lean more passive in terms of characters (think about books where nothing happens like my year of rest and relaxation or a little life where things just kind of happen to the main character) while commercial fiction tends to follow broadly the storytelling beats we all know from blockbuster movies and fantasy books and whatnot

a character goal can also be something that isn't very specific, for example jinxs character goal is to keep people from abandoning her and that drives her actions - its not a specific goal like silco wanting independence for zaun or vi wanting to get jinx back but it is an emotional goal which can also be a story beat.

if you think of two lines going through a story you will have:

one line that is the plot so just the actual events of the story that happen in chronological order - these can include physical goals like idk, look at caitlyn and we see that we set off on a journey to get the stolen hex gem back and we go to stillwater to investigate or whatever. this would be the line where someone might not see the exact cause and effect and goals in jinxs character

a line that is a character arc, these are the emotional story beats and goals so using caitlyn again as an example - wanting to prove herself, connecting with vi, wanting to help vi and undercity etc etc will be the emotional threads that go through those plot beats. this is where majority of jinxs goals and motivations operate as she very marginally gives a fuck about zauns independence or hex gems - these are also the story beats that are most likely to resonate with the audience because you probably aren't out there saving the world but you've been lonely or abandoned or whatever before and you don't just understand those motivations, you can feel them on emotional level. this is also the layer of a story that will most likely look like ASS in your first drafts and if you're working on edits and think this shit sucks it's likely that something is not working in this layer

genuinely, character agency is really hard to define and write shshjs

[duckprintspress]

Our monthly “created works round-ups” are Duck Prints Press’s opportunity to spotlight some of the amazing work that people working with us have done that ISN’T linked to their work with Duck Prints Press. We include fanworks, outside publications, and anything else that creators feel like sharing with y’all! Inclusion is voluntary and includes anything that they decided “hey, I want to put this on the created work’s round-up!”

Check out what they’ve shared with us this month…

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Hold it together by Era JM Couts

fiction || naruto || no ships, platonic or familial || teen & up || no major warnings apply || 940 || complete

summary: Hold it together had been Sakura’s mantra for far too many years. Existing for others, surviving a war, forcing her mind to endure just one more day, just one more mission, just one more battle.

But as Naruto and Sasuke fight their final fight, Sakura slowly has no more reasons to hold it together.

OR

Sakura’s pov of manga chapters 696-699. As per my view and poetic liberty.

other tags: Final Battle, POV Haruno Sakura, Angst, Chapter 696-699 (Naruto), Building anxiety, Sakura’s pov of the Final Sasuke/Naruto fight.

TUMBLR – AO3 – INSTAGRAM

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​I’d Call As You Climbed by Puck Malamud

fiction || arcane: league of legends (2021) || platonic or familial, f/f || caitlyn/vi (league of legends) || teen & up || no major warnings apply || 5,639 || complete

summary: > “You’ll have to excuse Vi,” the skinny kid with big eyebrows drawled. “She’s a punch first, ask questions later sort of girl.”

Caitlyn goes down to the undercity after Jayce’s workshop is destroyed and meets Vi and her gang. This doesn’t change anything. But then again, it might change quite a lot.

Written for Fandom Trumps Hate 2022

other tags: Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence; Alternate Universe – Different First Meeting; Arcane: League of Legends Season 01 Act 01; POV Caitlyn (League of Legends); Pre-Relationship; Pre-Femslash; Enforcers (Arcane: League of Legends) – Freeform; background Caitlyn & Jayce; Team Up; Privileged Character Unlearning Biases; Making Bureaucracy Work For You

TUMBLR – AO3

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​thinking (about last night) by Rhosyn Du

fiction || red, white & royal blue || m/m || alex claremont-diaz/henry fox-mountchristen-windsor || explicit || no major warnings apply || 18,743 || complete

summary: “I hope you know that I am literally never going to stop reminding you that you said that. I’m going to, like, take out an ad in the student paper. Maybe hire a skywriter or something. I am definitely telling Pez.”

“I hate you,” Henry tells him.

“Lies,” Alex says, still laughing. “You know you love me.”

Henry lets out a heavy sigh. “Well,” he says softly, “that’s rather the problem, isn’t it?”

“What, you think we’d be better off if we still hated each other?”

“I think,” Henry says slowly, “I’d be better off if I could figure out how to stop being so stupidly in love with you.”

It takes a few seconds for the words to really register, as distracted as Alex is by the heat of Henry’s breath and wondering how much it would cost to actually hire a skywriter. Once they do, it takes a full minute before Alex can move. Can breathe. Can think.

Finally, he forces out a whispered, “What?”

When that gets no response, he tries again. This time, his voice actually cooperates. “Wait, what?”

The only response he gets is a soft snore and Alex realizes that Henry, the utter fucking asshole, has passed out on his shoulder.

other tags: Alternate Universe – College/University, Roommates, Drunken Confessions, Communication Failure, Idiots in Love, Pining, Jealousy, Light Angst, References to Depression

AO3

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​Castles in the Sky by Shadaras

fiction || 全职高手 – 蝴蝶蓝 | quánzhí gāoshǒu | the king’s avatar – húdié lán || platonic or familial, queerplatonic f+m (just in case: this is distinctly separate from the platonic relationships!) || queerplatonic chǔ yúnxiù & yè xiū, chǔ yúnxiù & shū kěyí, chǔ yúnxiù & team misty rain || general audiences || no major warnings apply || 36,613 || complete

summary: Here are two truths and a lie:

Chu Yunxiu is Misty Rain’s captain.

Chu Yunxiu is dating Ye Qiu.

Chu Yunxiu is happy to have the Shu twins on her team.

Of course, a lie can become true if you believe in it enough…

(A Chu Yunxiu character study.)

other tags: Aroace Characters, Mostly Canon-Compliant, Post-Canon, Team Feelings, Women-Centric, Fake Dating to Queerplatonic Marriage

AO3

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Fledgling Bonds by Tris Lawrence/tryslora

fiction || teen wolf || poly (one gender: male) || derek/stiles/jackson || teen & up || no major warnings apply || 6,143 || complete

summary: When Jackson’s ambo is called to the building where he lives, he’s terrified it’s Derek. But no, it’s the guy next door, who has crowds of noisy people over all the time, and plays his TV loud enough to bother Derek into getting noise-canceling headphones. Jackson and Derek are more than a little surprised to discover exactly who that person is.

other tags: Panic Attacks, Canon Divergence, Future Fic, Polyamory Negotiation

AO3

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​All of this month’s shared works are fanfiction – so if you’re in the market for something new to read this New Year’s Day, why not check them out?

Who We Are: Duck Prints Press LLC is an independent publisher based in New York State. Our founding vision is to help fanfiction authors navigate the complex process of bringing their original works from first draft to print, culminating in publishing their work under our imprint. We are particularly dedicated to working with queer authors and publishing stories featuring characters from across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. Love what we do? Sign up for our monthly newsletter and get previews, behind-the-scenes information, coupons, and more