#Was it trying to help Viktor without understanding morality?

[wlwitchofwhitestone]

Oh. It's not just a metaphor. Viktor isn't hallucinating Sky as some kind of moral guide. What he had to offer wasn't enough. The hexcore likes him, is bonded to him at least, for better or worse. It took Sky as payment. Used her as a resource in his goal. She's literally a part of him.

[hypostatic-oath]

OVERSEER BRAINROT

(This is like. Me rambling. This is poorly explained and my grasp on the canon lore is iffy but this is just how I imagine/will write the Overseer - aka the player - in SAGAU. This perspective will likely change as I understand more of the lore, but for now, here's some crumbs.)

Overseer whose role is, more than simply observing, to keep the canon going.

Experiencing the story, and that includes collecting characters and learning of their lore, exploring the world, building our teapot, etc is our reward for playing our role - and our role is to push the story forward. It doesn't progress without us. We're not Teyvat's creator, but we are the one making each of our worlds move (we're the mover we're the shaker we're the headline maker). If we did not take action, the twins never would've been separated - they would've stayed forever in that choosing screen, held permanently in that moment. If we had not chosen to walk forward and touch the statue, the Traveler would never have gotten the Anemo elemental powers. Would've never helped Dvalin. Signora would've never taken Venti's gnosis. Rex Lapis would never have "died". Every single other major event wouldn't happen.

The player is the being that makes the Canon Events happen - not directly, but through making sure that the story progresses. (Miguel O'Hara theme plays in the background.) And this can happen at whichever speed we decide.

Now, while the fact that we are the ones making the story go by could be used to argue that the Overseer would be the one to make the passage of time, that is not quite true. The days in Teyvat do not depend on the story progression. Months can pass before those two Fatui in Mondstadt (I love them) have any new gossip to share about current events, or they can pass through five new topics in a span of days, depending on how fast the player runs through the quests. Time is not the deciding factor in these characters' fates. It doesn't matter how long it's been since Signora died - Viktor (the Fatui guy at the Cathedral) will not be stationed at his new post unless the player finishes his comission. Teppei's condition won't worsen with time, either. If we don't continue the quest, we can stand next to him for weeks in game before he passes. Thus, I propose that the Overseer is more of a god of Fate (not to mention, the god of time position is taken). To add to this, the things we use to pull for characters are called Fates. Intertwined Fates, Acquaint Fates, both circle back to the same idea. Hangouts can be seen as a sort of exploration of this power - with the ability to choose one of five or six fates for that character (if only Character Quests had that too). It is, however, one of the few times we have control over which version of the story is told. Otherwise, we are mostly the energy that moves it along.

It's not just that it's a canon event and we cannot interfere - it's that it is literally our purpose to make sure it happens, even if we don't like it. We're here to witness and progress the story - and bad things can happen in stories, regardless of what the characters in it want. So right now I am having some Villain Overseer brainrot, not because they want to be evil on purpose, but because some character decides to pull a Miles Morales and say "I'mma do my own thing" and mess up the story's flow. For someone trying to change the course of the story, the force that pushes events forward is obviously Not Good. I can see Fontaine characters seeing the Traveler's arrival as an ill omen, a sign that the prophecy will come true. They're divided, because on one hand, the Traveler has a good reputation, someone helpful, kind, a hero. But the Overseer's attention signifies that events will inevitably unfold. So Lyney invites them to be part of a show. Furina threatens to arrest the Traveler. Navia asks them out for tea. As long as they can keep the Overseer's attention on other matters, the event they dread won't happen. (I won't talk much abt Neuvillette rn becayse spoilers)

Enter eventual Arlechinno boss fight (it hasn't happened yet, but I do hope we get one) - she's the one who tries to fight the Traveler head on, to personally put a stop to it once and for all. Perhaps the Overseer has no ill will, but that doesn't matter. Not when their presence means that the clock is ticking faster and faster every day.

Now for a more lighthearted thought, Isekai'd Overseer who doesn't really have a concept of urgency. No important event will occur without them present, so they have no qualms in arriving on the day after the scheduled date, confident that as long as it is between 18:00 - 23:00 the reservation will still be placed and people will be at their seats as if it was always meant to be that way.

So the Overseer walks into a bar, with a face too fresh for someone who hasn't slept in what the people of Teyvat percieve to have been months, just coming in from the Spiral Abyss, and asks the bartender where their friends are.

"I don't know? Master Kaeya usually shows up at this hour, but the rest of your usual group is probably tending to their affairs."

"Odd. They were supposed to be here by now. We had a big dinner planned." The person in front of him, who Charles is more and more sure definitely looks somewhat off in a way he can't quite pinpoint, seems confused. "There was a reservation and everything. In Kaeya's name, I believe."

"Well, I'm sorry, but the last reservation Master Kaeya placed here was a month ago."

"Again, weird. He said he was going to place one. Oh, well. When the others get here, just let them know I'll be on one of the big tables upstairs, alright? And you can put everything on my tab."

[a-libra-writes]

hi hi, sorry for not answering, I had a busy day😅

to answer what you said in the tags, I feel like the more people to read the more I can improve by the constructive criticism yk, so I wouldn't really mind if you posted my rambles lol

YEEEHAW LETS GO. I put a cut for those who are also interested! :3 Im gonna copy and paste bc tumblr acts up and hates me personally LOL

Angst ahead !!!

would it be morally wrong to be romantically attracted to Viktor even though he has a wife and daughter that he probably misses very much?

like, I could even picture reader finding out about this and then understanding why he doesn't reciprocate your feelings as much as you'd like (even though the two of you have great chemistry and he clearly has feeling for you as well) and so, the reader proceeds to distance themselves little by little, mainly out of guilt bcs like "damn, I am trying to get with a man who's married and has a daughter" and out of insecurity that you would never be like his wife in any way, shape or form for him to love you back (even though he already does but they don't know that).

I feel like Viktor would notice their sudden change of behavior but I don't think he would do much about it because he'd think they found someone better for them than him, or they fell out of love with him after he opened up a little to them (these are the insecurities that he has and now he thinks it's actually coming true).

and so, the two of them would be silently yearning/longing for each other but now with an invisible barrier between them and if he ever confessed to reader they'd be like:

(this has been my roman empire ever since I found out about his estranged family 😭 even though I am a pessimist by nature I still want a happy ending to this)

it would take Ivy and Mitzi to help them guys out because out of everyone they were the ones rooting a lot for them to end up together and for their ship to sink lol (in this scenario Viktor hasn't confessed and reader didn't reject him)

Mitzi (pretending that she doesn't know that you and Viktor are getting distant with each other) "casually" talks to you about how much happier Viktor has been ever since they've entered his life and how much he needed for a good thing to happen in his life, how she never saw him smile as much as he did with them, and so on.

Ivy, on the other hand would be berating the shit out of Viktor like "what the hell is going on?? you guys were so cute together and now I barely see you two even talk!" he'd reluctantly and begrudgingly say what he thinks is going on, that you found someone better, that you are better off without him but Ivy would say that that's nonsense, she knows you'd never do that without even saying something about it and that's what brings her to ask "did you even talk to them?" and he'd stay silent. after talking with the two of you, lvy and Mitzi would have to get the two of you alone to talk and sort things out. Mitzi would place a letter on your nightstand telling you to meet her at the garage (where Viktor would be) when you get there and your eyes lock the air is filled with an awkward silence, you quickly find out that Mitzi and lvy set the two of you up for this after Viktor asks where's Ivy bcs she told him to meet him there.

after you explain to him that they planned this you say that it's unnecessary and you don't

even know why they'd do this (obvious lie) you start walking out but Viktor stops you by gently holding your wrist, and then you see it in his face, his furrowed brows (they were almost always furrowed but never like this), the longing in his gaze (you don't remember seeing him look at you with so much emotion before), the bags under his eyes (he hasn't been sleeping properly), the silent plea for you to stay (who are you to deny him when he looks at you so lovingly like this?)

you two spend hours talking and explaining how you feel in the verge of tears, leading to a confession of both parties. the two of you end up holding each other in a long and warm embrace, whispering sweet nothings in each other's ear.

(that's it for now, lmk what you think)"

[funnyscienceman]

my favorite favorite favorite part about the singed = corin reveck thing is the fucking nier shadowlord of it all. the fact that it would mean singed had a hand in the creation of not one, but *two* characters whose stories are about doing good or trying to do good and losing (or risking losing) their humanity in the process.

orianna not giving two shits if going down to zaun might hurt her. not regretting it one bit, just immediately working her ass off to save her own life, and then just giving her dying dad the last piece of her physical humanity —her HEART — whether he wanted it or not.

viktor not giving a damn about piltover, about jayce, going fuck it all even if it might hurt. going through with the glorious evolution, turning himself into a fucking machine — to save himself, to help others. the fact that he was SO READY to throw in the towel and let himself die after what happened to sky.

it's the idea that SINGED played a pivotal role in these two's formative years — singed, as in the guy who'd burn a person's home to the ground and kill their mother just so he could experiment on them. the guy who'd torture his test subjects half to death if they didn't cooperate. the guy willing to keep a dying animal on excruciating life support just for his own research. it's the fact that he can do, has done, and will continue to do all these horrible things with not even a *shred* of remorse — and also still pick up a child's lost toy and return it to them, asking with genuine interest, "you built this? why aren't you playing with the others?"

i really don't know how to articulate this without going in circles, but like. the fact that he's only in it for himself is EVERYTHING. how people just keep going to him for help and he is NOTHING but unequivocally honest. he'll do the thing. he'll give you the drug, or save your dying daughter, or whatever the hell else. he'll warn them, and then leave them to make their own decision.

"Sometimes death is a mercy," he warns Silco. Silco says back, "She can take it," so alright. If you say so. Not my problem.

"I must warn you, if you take this path, they will despise you. Love and legacy are the sacrifices we make for progress. It's why I parted ways with Heimerdinger."

"Jayce will understand," Viktor says.

Singed doesn't even rebuke him, put him down, nothing. Just a simple, "Perhaps." An, "Eh, maybe. Only one way to find out ig"

(He doesn't even make Viktor pay him back, btw. He doesn't say a thing about him running away all those years ago. Unless for some fucking reason that was omitted, but i'm choosing to take s1 as-is here, disregarding s2 entirely)

He DOESN'T CARE about anyone else, is the thing. He could not give any less of a shit beyond whatever he or they have obligated to each other. He doesn't hold Viktor running away against him. He doesn't fight back against silco holding a fucking knife to his neck beyond glancing between him and it and just plainly answering his questions. (He has his pinkie out when holding stuff like bottles and i think that's the funniest piltie shit ever)

So like it makes PERFECT SENSE and also NO SENSE that he's significantly responsible for possibly the most moral Piltover champion (Orianna) and the most moral 'bad guy' from Zaun (Viktor). Both of whom are humans-turned-machines, while — possible chem augments aside — he himself is still pretty much entirely human. The fact that he's the most inhumane among the three of them.

It's like Vik and Ori took after the 'going all the way to the ends of the earth for your goal' part of him, the 'i am well aware of the circumstances and have decided fuck it we ball' part of him, and disregarded his apathy entirely. acting *against* it, sometimes, going behind his back to help a chemical disaster in zaun, even if he's already forbidden it. shutting down all of your own efforts to save your life after it kills someone who isn't you.

giving him your heart, even if he quite possibly didn't want it. Not even giving him room to make a choice, never talking to him about it, never bringing it up. Ori realizes there's no other option and just. Does It.

I. Have lost my mind over this fucking character fmekdjdjc (i am so worried for season 2)

[bringthekaos]

Your "Jayce is the one to banish Viktor" theory is a very fun idea to rotate in one's brain, but may I suggest another potential way that things could go down. Mel's weird back thing brings up a shield, that protects herself, Jayce and either partially or fully Viktor. What Jayce does in the seconds before, during, and after the explosion are probably going to be major plot decider for that side of the story. Being if he chooses to try and protect Mel or Viktor (I guess he could keep himself safe, but for plot dramatics I doubt that'll be what happens). If he goes for Viktor, then what I'm thinking kind of falls apart, but if he goes for Mel, then it can also serve as a parallel to him walking out on her to be with Viktor when he was diagnosed. In the chaos of the aftermath, Viktor has the time to slip away and begin to make his way to the lab. Jayce eventually follows him, and while I like the idea of Jayce using the Hexcore to save Viktor after he swore to him that he'd destroy it, I don't think Jayce is in the room when Viktor uses it, because as we saw with sky the Hexcore will just kill whatever life is in the room that isn't its user (be that a sign of it being aware and possessing some degree of want to keep Viktor alive, or not), but also I don't know what the Hexcore takes in the place of Viktor's life if he were to try and use it solo, so I don't know. But Jayce walks in on a Viktor with his Void augmentations on full display (Maybe he was too close to the Hexclaw while doing this and this is how it gets merged to his back), able to not only stand straight and unaided, but also walk. And Jayce freaks out, but doesn't betray Viktor, at no point even considering turning him in. I think he does end up getting Mel involved though, maybe without letting Viktor know beforehand because he isn't able to see that Viktor and Mel don't exactly get along or why Viktor may not want anyone at all to know what's happened, regardless of if Jayce trusts them or not. I think Mel's the one who ends up spelling it out for Jayce that as someone from the undercity Viktor is in massive danger, and maybe even the one who suggests aloud first that Viktor should flee to Zaun. It could be a great opportunity to give her some more moral dubiousness, the question of if she'd suggesting this because she genuinely wants to help Viktor, if it's because she understands Viktor as someone Jayce cares for and thus Viktor getting hurt would hurt Jayce, of if her motives are entirely selfish and she just wants to get rid of Viktor (much in the same way that if she's actually romantically interested in Jayce or just manipulating him for her own gain is kept obscure for the majority of their relationship). I could see Jayce wanting so bad to go down to the undercity to see if Viktor is okay, and when he finally has a window of opportunity to find him, he's met with a very different man to the one he last saw. A butterfly who has emerged from his metamorphosis, a magician having completed The Turn, taken an ordinary dying man and turned him into something extraordinary. Sorry for the ramble.

No no, keep rambling!!!

I love hearing everyone’s different takes on what they think will happen. I saw the “Mel golden shield” theory a lot in the early days, also that she is a Mage in hiding. And while there are degrees of legitimacy to all these theories, I just… really want her to live. From a story standpoint. We’ve already seen one female character fridged, and I’m honestly just sorta… tired of that storyline? We really don’t need yet another woman destroyed to progress a man’s character arc. Not just for Arcane, but like… in all storytelling. That plot point is so played out, it’s beyond stale and growing mold. So I’m just really hoping she lives.

So assuming she lives, this could be an interesting path to take, kinda building off the “Jayce is pulled in two different directions and trying to do both but not realizing he’s splitting down the middle” that they’ve already set up in season one. But this too would have to be done delicately, cuz we certainly don’t want Mel’s role to devolve to jealous lover. She’s so much more than that, she’s smart and cunning and wise beyond her years. I just don’t see her stooping to getting rid of Viktor purely out of romantic interest in Jayce. But perhaps it could be a culmination of things, say maybe if Viktor’s connection to the core starts to affect his sanity… it could be one of those “wrong thing for the right reasons” type deals—she thinks she’s helping both of them, but in the end it gets twisted by outside forces/misunderstandings?

There’s also Ambessa to consider. No matter what happens to Mel, I think we can all agree that Mommy Medarda is not going to take an attempt on her daughter’s life lightly (whether her reaction is borne of actual care for her daughter or a twisting of “care” into a more political/military opportunity remains to be seen). But either way, Ambessa wanted Hextech weapons for herself and for Noxus. So in the aftermath of this attack, Viktor’s voice for “we don’t build weapons” will likely get even smaller, and perhaps that is where the split starts to happen. Jayce even said “we have the knowledge to defend ourselves.” So I’m sure there will be a degree of guilt on his end, if he’d just built those weapons like Mel asked, this may not have happened (spoiler alert: it would have). But therein could be another opportunity for the split between Jayce and Viktor—this is the line they draw in the sand.

Anyway, now I’m the one who’s rambling. (Also sorry it took me so long to answer, the Holidays steamrolled me. But I always love to discuss these theories with you guys!)

[nodominion]

Rue Royale | Rose & Viktor | Vamptember Day 24 (Free Day) | Claudia Day 7

Rose wants to see Rue Royale to connect with her lost sister, Claudia. Viktor is there as moral support. Tagging this for Claudia Appreciation Week as well, though it does not have Claudia in it, it is about her. @claudiadelionlac

Like mortals, summer became a quieter time at the chateau, though their reason differed from the mortals. While mortals cavorted in the extra heat and sunshine, vampires were confined to shorter waking hours. Only the ancients or those with extraordinarily powerful blood could overcome the rising sun, though even they were constrained to a time limit. Rose was able to stave off the effects of the sun for a few extra minutes, giving her the chance to look over Viktor as he slept, smooth his hair, kiss his temple without him reacting, she still succumbed without fail. In the evenings it was Viktor who rose first, though Rose never had confirmation whether he was as affectionate as she was before drifting off.

Since the summers at the castle were so quiet, they always took advantage of the time to travel themselves. Of course they promised to be careful, to be smart, to not arouse any suspicion. She would have thought that after almost a decade of them exploring the world that Lestat would have lightened up a little, but he was always so serious the night before Viktor and she were due to leave. This trip would take them across the Atlantic, far too long for them to fly on their own. While they were both skilled flyers, any ocean was a step too far. This trip Lestat himself offered to take them both, an offer so sweet that Rose couldn’t help but kiss his cheek. After that meeting she was sure that the only reason he suggested himself was because they were going to New Orleans.

Neither of them had been in the city, and with it holding so much history for their kind, their family, they both knew it was long overdue.  Louis had said nothing when she told him of their plans, at least not at first. But Louis was often silent during many of Rose’s ramblings, simply taking in what she had to say. She was flighty by nature, so perhaps he didn’t take her initial statement as seriously as she had been. It wasn’t until she and Viktor were confirming places to visit, venues to pretend to eat at, that Louis had rested his hand on her shoulder, quietly saying that they should try to have a good time, that the city was prime for youth and vitality, and that they ought to explore the city as it is now. The unspoken part of his words was not to go seeking the past.

But that was the whole point of the trip for Rose. Viktor was less convinced that they would find anything worthwhile at Rue Royale, but Rose was sure she would see a connection or feel something that explained so much of their lives. While he didn’t fully understand her need to see the house for herself, he was supportive of her idea, insisting that he join her when she visited the home. Rose didn’t overly like the idea of him feeling the need to look after her, but she was grateful that he wanted to support her. Viktor was often that way, with less ideas of where they should travel but with all of the encouragement in the world for her usual half-baked ideas.

They packed light, only what they could carry, and not very heavy items so as not to encumber Lestat. He would never tell them if what they brought was too heavy, but to save his muscles it felt better to be considerate. The trip to America meant that Lestat could visit Trinity, and Louis had already made plans to join them in New York after a few days. Let Lestat and Armand work out their pent up desires on their own. 

The hotel was in the French Quarter, but not one of the most popular. Smaller, boutique hotels often acquiesced to their strange requests better than hotels that had a larger clientele base. Especially with a few extra bills slipped in during check in. Lestat left them soon after, kissing both of their heads, telling them to be good and if they needed a tour guide he would be back in the city sooner than one could say laissez le bon temps rouler.

Viktor’s hand pressed on her shoulder, eager to begin their exploration. But it was Rose who tempered his excitement. After all, she couldn’t sense Lestat and if he was lingering in the city then only he would be able to sense where Lestat was. Rose wasn’t convinced that Lestat had left New Orleans, sure that he was hanging around, at least for a bit, to ensure that they were getting on properly.

So they became drunk college students for the night. Screw the fact that Rose was turned at 20 and Viktor at 19, they were able to get into every bar they wanted and order drinks for those they thought smelled divine. They got a little blood drunk and blended in with the mortals cavorting in the streets. It felt like the ideal cover to act so uninhibited. They were both careful with how they took blood, not a drop spilt, and if Lestat had still been spying on them all he would have seen is them acting their age. Nevermind that Rose turned 30 this year, and Viktor 29. They were being normal. Not preoccupied with events from centuries before. 

They waited a few days before they went in search of the past. Their nights had been filled with sightseeing and little adventures. They dined at the best restaurants, Rose sometimes biting a bit of the food only to be disappointed each time. If this were merely a simple vacation, they had done their best to have a wonderful time, both beginning to understand why this city entranced anyone who came close to it. There was an air to New Orleans wholly different from the rest of the South. Though she’d grown up near Miami, as far south as south goes, she and her aunts had gone on quite a few road trips to states their car could reach comfortably. She wondered if Lestat had instructed them to never enter Louisiana, but that hardly mattered now. The city and the outskirts beckoned, and they were both enjoying it immensely. From flowers that seemed to never stop blooming to even a pre-season football game that had begun just at dusk. 

But Rue Royale waited impatiently. Rose kept her hand tight in Viktor’s as they walked the street up to the home, certainly squeezing his palm though aware she could not hurt him.

“Do you think it’s just as they left it?”

“No, Rose. Don’t you remember? Lestat wrote of this place recently. How the furnishings were modern and it was maintained. They could turn it into a museum, most likely, but neither of them ever would.”

“That would be too much for them to bear. Our fathers. Well, some of our fathers.”

Rose never begrudged Viktor holding Seth and Fareed as his primary parents, and Lestat and Louis as his secondary pair. She understood that he grew up among scientists and labs and beakers and she grew up with luxury and excess and privilege. Their second daughter, however. Not that Louis had much of a say in the matter. But he loved her now just as Lestat did, just as they both did Viktor, and if their words were not enough, it was clear from the way they looked at both of their children, especially when they thought Viktor or Rose weren’t looking at them. 

The gate was secure and neither one of them wished to break it. It was lovely, with clear craftsmanship put into every detail, each swirl expertly wrought. They opted to fly over instead, landing gently in the back garden, a fountain gurgling nearby. 

“We did not think this through. We have no key. We cannot break in like a pair of hooligans!”

“Charming, did you think I didn’t come prepared?”

From her boot, Rose pulls out a key, waving it in front of Viktor’s face.

“I found the spare at the castle and made a duplicate. Put the original back before they ever knew it was missing.”

She earns a kiss from Viktor for being the one to actually think ahead for once. Using the key at the back door, there was half a second where neither of them were sure that it would work, but the door opened upon a back parlor. Rose tentatively stepped in first, an odd sensation passing over and through her. Not a chill, not like the way others talk of ghosts, but a sense that she was stepping into a place where she didn’t belong. 

Viktor thankfully locked the door behind them, though it was unnecessary, it did help to ease her mind. The parlor itself seemed typical. The furnishings matched the time period based on her study of the years that this house had been occupied by three vampires. There were a few modern touches, but to her untrained eye they were easy to miss. Viktor didn’t remark on the decor either, instead making his way further into the home, to the stairs, flicking a light on, though their vampire eyes had been able to see properly in the dark. Some of the bulbs still emitted an incandescent light, and Rose reached up out of curiosity to feel the burgeoning warmth. 

“We should tell them to get those energy efficient bulbs. These can’t be good on their electric bill.”

“Or the environment. If we are meant to live forever then we must live sustainably.” Though Viktor’s words were earnest, even he knew that a vampire’s life inherently meant living unsustainably. There was a meeting once with the council with a group of younger vampires who had all grown up with climate change as part of their human education. The elders were not phased by their calls for the coming end of the world, as they could survive without humans if need be, and live only off of the blood of animals, or the prisoners far beneath the council chamber. 

As Viktor began to head up the stairs, Rose stayed behind. She was trying to picture what this room would have been like for her fathers and their daughter. Did they sit together reading, writing, playing small games? Were they happy? Could they have been? Even with both Louis’s and Lestat’s account of those years she could never imagine an average night for them. Their lives now were so much more complicated, with the court and playing host for guest vampires from all over the world. They all made time for leisure, but the nagging feeling of needing to get something done always lingered. 

She sat in one of the chairs, running her fingers across a table’s edge. Dust, but minimal. Vampire dwellings were never quite as dusty as human ones. Did her sister, the one she was deprived of ever meeting, sit in this chair? Did she see the way the moonlight filtered through the curtains in the same way Rose was watching it now? The brightest light in the night’s sky. They would never see the sun again. The sun had been taken from them, though Viktor and Rose had been given a choice. The one…

I’ve found her room.

Viktor spoke into her mind, rousing her from her thoughts. She was incapable of sending back a reply, but she rose from the chair, sensing out her mate through the house, taking note of the decor, the deliberate choices that must have come from a woman’s touch. 

The room instantly made her think of her own bedroom in the house she’d lived in the longest. With Aunt Marge and Aunt Julie and so much pink it felt like an explosion of everything feminine. Here, the pinks were muted, in tones that were achievable before modern methods of color fabrication. The bed was made, a doll sitting in the middle of the pillows, its blonde curls perfectly styled to frame the angelic face. The room smelled of nothing, disappointing Rose. She had hoped to find a perfume that had been left behind, or perhaps a scent that lingered on the sheets. But there was nothing, nothing to truly help her envision what life was like here. 

Sitting at the edge of the bed, she reaches down to caress the doll. How long had it been sitting here? Who had placed it? Was it as old as her fathers, or was it a new purchase? One for a daughter that was lost but never forgotten. 

The pain was unfathomable, as if all of the anger and hatred and suffering that existed here was coursing through Rose currently. To be underestimated by all, with little recourse to change how her sister had been perceived. If… but what could Rose have done? Lestat had wanted a sibling for the home in Antoine and that plan disintegrated. Rose wouldn’t have existed in that time to begin with. And if she had, she was sure that her existence would be looked down upon with the same harsh cruelty. 

She hadn’t spoken since they were downstairs, and Viktor was equally quiet, letting her absorb this moment. Rose looks back to him, taking his hand, kissing his knuckles. “Thank you for coming with me. Can you give me a few minutes? I’ll be down soon, I just want some time alone.”

He nods with such ease that perhaps he had been thinking of suggesting he leave her for a bit. Ever the gentleman, Viktor kisses her hair before vanishing, the room suddenly colder in his absence. 

Rose picks up the doll properly, setting it in her lap, combing through the curls with her fingers, though not to loosen them. This would be the closest she would ever get to Claudia. Until she herself died, of course. 

“I’m sorry. You don’t know me but… I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything to help you. I would… you could have my body if it was possible, but I… you deserved a chance to live. To live properly. I’d always wanted siblings. The curse of the only child. You… we could have been sisters. Claudia… I don’t know if you still hate our fathers. But I will try to love them for both of us. They deserve that, at the very least.”

With a kiss to the doll’s forehead, Rose arranges it back upon the bed as it had been, smoothing the sheets so no one would be the wiser that anyone had been here. Viktor was on the road already, smelling flowers that wove their way through the bars of the gate by the sidewalk. The moment he sensed Rose he opened his arms for her, and she ran to him, embracing him tightly. Though she did not cry, it felt as though she were releasing all of the emotions of the house, the home, the past that neither of them had had a chance to experience. Hand in hand they began to walk the streets of New Orleans, hunting for prey as had been tradition in this city for hundreds of years. 

[allisoooon]

Viktor and Allison’s s3 relationship road map

Sooooooo much of the discourse around Viktor and Allison this season has been blaming one or the other for how things fell apart between them.  It’s more complicated than that.  Viktor and Allison this season were a microcosm of this fucked-up family dynamic we’ve been following all along.

1. Allison improvises a lie that they have Marcus when they don’t.  It was done without thinking it through or discussing it beforehand.  This tells Viktor that Allison is a bit erratic right now, and I can see him wanting to involve her less because she is clearly overwhelmed.

2. Allison is verbally aggressive against the Sparrows at the end of 3.03.  Same effect as #1.

3. Allison goes to Viktor after torturing Sloane, smashing a mirror, and impulsively chopping off her own hair.  She badly needs to talk to her best friend and vent what’s in her head, but Viktor prioritizes Harlan and the needed conversation never takes place. CROSSROADS: Here, I very much understand where Viktor is coming from, but this is one of those places where a lot could have been done to prevent further deterioration of Allison’s state of mind and her relationship with Viktor.  Allison should have sought out someone else, but who?  Five and Lila have disappeared, Klaus is babysitting, Luther is busy guarding Sloane, and Diego is there for her, but in a way that makes it worse.  Viktor can’t be damage control to both Harlan and Allison immediately, but I think his reason for choosing Harlan is that he’s familiar with how to calm him down, since not everyone knows how to handle autistic sensory overload and their specific powers.  However, he needed to recognize immediately that Allison took “later” as a rejection, that Allison is deeply desperate and her saying “not okay” is a big cry for help, and ask her to wait somewhere specific and promise to be there right after this—and then follow up.  Viktor’s biggest mistake here is that he does not follow up.

4. With Harlan as their only leverage, Viktor independently decides to help him escape.  Allison volunteers to help, taking Harlan somewhere safe, because “You would do it for me, wouldn’t you?”  This is a lot of trust for Allison to put in Viktor, but Viktor does not actually have a plan to make peace with the Sparrows after this.

5. While taking Harlan’s powers, Allison becomes terrified Viktor is being harmed.  She tells Viktor he can trust her with what’s going on.  Viktor suggests she leave instead.

CROSSROADS: If Viktor had told her the truth now, or better yet, earlier, Allison would probably have had a milder reaction. Compounding the revelation with the slap in the face of Viktor never trusting her made things that much worse. But also, Viktor really needed to talk to the family about this proposed solution because, for all they know, depowering Harlan could be a compromise the Sparrows would accept, so long as they could verify with their own eyes that it happened.  As it stands, Viktor had no plan to make peace with the Sparrows and save the world other than “I’ll figure something out.”  That’s a huge fucking problem.

6. Harlan confesses.  Allison realizes Viktor has been hiding something vital while risking all of existence to save one person.  This, after Allison put a lot of trust in him when she took Harlan somewhere safe.  At this point, Viktor loses the ability to de-escalate anything.

7. Allison kills Harlan, knowing this would forever put a crack in her bond with Viktor.  

CROSSROADS: She could have simply captured him and turned him over to the Sparrows, but no.  She had to be the one to kill him.  It’s like she was trying to burn that bridge with Viktor.  Obviously, it was something she saw as justice for all the damage Viktor has caused, because she has suffered a great deal more from Viktor’s actions than Viktor ever has.  I also get that there isn’t something morally different from killing Harlan herself as opposed to taking him to the Sparrows so they can kill him, but Viktor will always remember it was Allison who did it.  That can’t be separated now.

8. Viktor and Allison’s fight.  It’s full of cognitive distortions from them both, but especially Allison—and yet, they both have some really good points.  Viktor never had the power to bring Claire back, and Allison is constantly expected to swallow her own pain so she can be there for everyone else while Viktor gets treated with kid gloves, protected from the consequences of his actions (something Allison herself has been, perhaps, the most guilty of).  Viktor slides into a victim mentality.  Allison uses the basement in a verbal attack, something she knew would hurt him, and chokes him with a Rumor.  It’s an ugly fight, but it’s a culmination of everything that came before.

9. After a little wallowing, Viktor climbs out of the victim mentality and starts living what’s left of his life.  He tries to make up with Allison as a favor to Luther. She is not ready to forgive and rebuffs him cruelly.

10. Allison makes up with Viktor, seemingly as a ploy to get him to vote in favor of, you know, saving billions of lives, including their own.  Viktor promises her his vote.

11. Viktor votes against the plan anyway.

12. The misunderstanding of Allison’s involvement in Luther and Klaus’ deaths puts things at their most fragile point, but Allison tells the truth in the face of death: that she needs Viktor to forget literally everything that happened in the last few days and trust her.  This gets them on the same page at last—not because Viktor trusts her, but because she is being honest.

CROSSROADS: Finally, one of them does something that makes a difference in a positive way.  Between Allison learning the truth from Harlan and now, she was in no state to hear anything Viktor said with an open mind.  She really had to be given time, and probably face death at Viktor’s side.

13. Viktor nearly uses his powers to stop Allison from pressing the button. Allison asks him to trust her.  In a moment that defies logic in the most beautiful way, Viktor powers down and trusts her blindly.  Allison gives him a grateful smile, then presses the button.

CROSSROADS: Viktor trusts Allison here the way Allison trusted him when she took Harlan somewhere safe.  Allison is going to remember this.

With trauma, some people react by imploding (like Klaus and Luther), some by exploding.  Allison and Viktor are exploders, so it gets extra ugly between them.  And Allison has essentially been Viktor’s enabler this entire time, so that made it worse.  In a lot of ways, Allison resent Viktor for things that were her own fault—that he never faced true consequences of his actions—and that’s totally believable to me as a codependent.

[thescreaminghat]

arcane act 3 thoughts on accountability (in terms of viktor and jayce)

I like how Jayce and Viktor are forced to take accountability for their own actions as a result of what they do in act 3. There’s no silly drama where the two miscommunicate and then yell their ideologies at each other. Rather, the conflict comes from the two being put into positions where believable external influences are forcing them to challenge their own personal moral boundaries. Jayce is pushed to the edge by having to deal with the responsibilities of being a councilman while trying to do what’s “right” in his own mind, but his experiences as a relatively privileged person in Piltover and exposure to the violence done by Jinx imposes a lens of prejudice against Zaun as a whole, which leads him to group “all Zaunites” into one category without fully understanding why the undercity has this hatred for Piltover. Viktor, on the other hand, is also being pushed to the edge by his sickness and his frustration at not being able to take more meaningful steps to launch improvements for Zaun. This reaches a breaking point in his relationship with Jayce when he realizes that Jayce has become the one thing that Viktor, from his experiences as a poor kid from Zaun, has actively worked against: a reactionary willing to listen to a council of the rich and weaponize tech to hurt the oppressed. Both are being wound up by stressors to do stupid things and cause destruction where they least want it, and their methods are neither completely wrong nor right (though I do feel that Jayce has more of the responsibility for the consequences of his actions given his position of political power).

And Act 3 delivers on that. Jayce realizes, after accidentally shooting a kid with the Mercury Hammer, that it wasn’t the existence of the hammer itself that “weaponized” Hextech, but his own choice to act like a toxic “macho” anime protagonist and use police violence against a factory of poor and mostly child labourers. Vi also makes a great point in that for someone like her, this kind of scene is common - enforcers and the undercity’s toxic gasses are killing children every day, but people like Jayce never had to see the violence. So whatever attention is directed to Jayce’s emotional response to the child’s death is redirected to feeling for the people of Zaun; the scene essentially reminds us that Jayce’s feelings of guilt should not be the main focus of this kind of tragedy, because it erases the suffering of the victims. Rather, this should be a moment for learning and taking accountability. Jayce’s moment of development is thus well-balanced, because his personal guilt (still as a privileged man with power) doesn’t overshadow the violence that has been done to the people. 

Similarly, Viktor comes to realize that he has lost a part of his ideology of protecting and helping others by obsessing over the Hexcore. Again, I don’t think it’s inherently wrong to want to continue to live and cure yourself of a wasting disease---and the way Viktor cries out in both anger and relief after being able to run is something I will never be able to get out of my head---but in the Hexcore’s case, it’s coming at the expense of other people. Honestly Sky is such a sweetheart (and her adorable crush on Viktor is what 100% of the fanbase would experience if we ever got the opportunity to be in proximity to this man), and I understood her death not just as “Viktor losing an opportunity for romantic human connection,” but also as “Viktor realizes that even if he is tormented mentally and physically by his own death, seeing an innocent person die, even accidentally, as a result of his desire to live goes against everything he has worked for as a scientist, a human being, and a child of Zaun.” His desire has always been to help others, and I don’t think this ideology makes him a martyr; the opposite is true---he is an active, empathetic person who wants to work to improve and preserve life, because he knows he cannot control the failings of his own health. And to take away life and autonomy from others or put their bodies through that kind of pain and fear of death is the antithesis to his moral values. So when he reads Sky’s notes and cries in grief, we’re seeing the response of a man who realizes he did something that took away from the humanity he would otherwise die to protect.

And I think it’s so important that Jayce reciprocates the act of saving Viktor from suicide (beyond just the shipping aspect), because both of them realize in this moment that they have responsibilities on their shoulders, that they are still accountable for their actions, and that they still need to live and face those mistakes in order to fix and prevent them. When Viktor says that “in pursuit of the great, we forgot to do good,” and Jayce agrees instead of trying to justify or downplay the destructiveness of his actions, it shows an amazing level of maturity. These two are still good in their hearts, and they don’t see people as means to an end. They made stupid choices, but they realize that the choices were still theirs (which is exactly what I needed to see from the series to address the lack of agency that Viktor had in Act 2), and they will continue to live and work in order to correct those choices and meaningfully live out their ideologies. 

And it is even more tragic knowing that Jinx, someone who was so badly hurt by the systemic exploitation of both Piltover and Zaun, and the trauma of her upbringing, made a horribly destructive choice that will inevitably drive people like Jayce and Viktor apart and into more reactionary states of mind, thus leading them to make bad choices that, this time, may not be resolved with a unified turn towards humanity. 

[counterphobes]

WIP Abstract Key words for the types

1 💥🏛♟️🗞✒️☕️💢-Judgement, Competence, Perfection, Effort, indiscriminate, hypocritical, puritan, smiting, resilient, accountability, executive, strict, uptight, present, self-reliant, controlled and controlling, balanced, righteous, sharp, teaching, tight leash, don't waste their time, perceives ppl to be distasteful/disgusting, organized, structured, dissatisfied, punishing,

Examples: Helen (Ozark), Rei Hino (Sailor Moon), Doctor Carr (Mind Hunter), Levi (Attack on Titan), Maka (Soul Eater)

2 ❤🤝🌎💉🫂- Approval, Applause, superficial, Mother Theresa, charitable, people-oriented, caring, helpful, affectionate, wants to solve people's issues, betterment, highlights their own good traits, wants to be without flaws, inspiring, imposing on others, overextends themselves, passive aggressive, needs to be needed, wishes to be the person ppl turn to, diplomatic, prideful, condescending, infantilize people around them, competitive

Examples: Steven (Steven Universe), Historia (Attack on Titan), Katara (Atla)

3 ✨️🥇🎭🪞👏- Cockiness, theatrics, Acting, desireable, becoming someone else, competitive, Self-Pleasure, Extra, Confidence, need to impress others, show-off, Shiny, Vanity, egotistical, fears disappointing, admiration, pushing own limits, the best, convinced they deserve luxury, everything is an Imposition on them, want fans and fame, charming, two-faced, scandalous, first place

Examples: Roy Petty (Ozark), Wendy Byrde (Ozark), Steve Harrington (Stranger Things), Patrick Bateman (American Psycho), Louis (Beastars), Juno (Beastars), Jayce (Arcane), Pina (Beastars), Azula (Atla)

4 ☔️🕸🎨🥀🗣- expression, idealism, black sheep, tryhard, self absorbed, dramatic, nonjudgemental, relatable, understanding, cringe, acceptance, out of pocket, proud of flaws/doesn't attempt to hide them, whimpy, romantizing, poet, emo, outspoken, main character syndrome, need to share themselves, emotional baggage, contrary, calls people out on bs, brings attention to being upset/unsatisfied

Examples: Lapis (Steven Universe), Susanna (Girl Interrupted), Wyatt (Ozark), Sasuke (Naruto), Zuko (Atla)

5 🤖🧠🎮💡🧪- Avoidance, robotical, breakthrough, locked in, spectator, nerdy, little regard for emotion, impersonal, don't admit to faults, monologing, spiteful, productive, innovative, obsessive, focused on work/interests/passions, neglectful of own and everyones needs, forgets others around them, immersed, dedicated, perceive everything as inconvenience to their plan, hermit, developed skills gain them respect,

Examples: Marty Byrde (Ozark), Joe Goldberg (You), Viktor (Arcane), Walter White (Breaking Bad), Rust (True Detective), Peridot (Steven Universe), Hanji (Attack on Titan)

p6 👥️️🍏🩹🏘📈📉- unsure, security/stability-seeking, doubtful, community-oriented, hard-working, dependable, wreck, morality, goodie-2-shoes, believes in doing the right thing, black/white thinking, anxious, goal orientated, wants to prove themselves, unity, getting along, uplifting, togetherness, enjoys being a part of the big whole, interpersonal

Examples: Ami Mizuno (Sailor Moon), Holden Ford (Mindhunter), Moxxie (Helluva Boss), Haru (Beastars), Armin (Attack on Titan), Pearl (Steven Universe)

cp6 👺🚨🗡⚠️🗯- Devotion, Restless, securing, protecting, backing, loyal, sacrificing, daring, guts, opinionated, volatile, guarded, easily irritable, tense, alarming, both impulsive and prepared, don't play by the rules, ruthless, ends justify the means, risk-taking, changes the game, hierarchy, interpersonal, clear guidelines, overlooking, straight to the point, transparent, little effort in trying to get along

Examples: Silco (Arcane), Ruth (Ozark), Eren (Attack on Titan), Arya Stark (Game of Thrones), Eddie Brock (Venom)

7 🎉🪀🍰🤸‍♀️🔫- Freedom, Escape, consuming, fleeing, playing, partying, Fulfillment, Gluttony, selfish, uncontrolled, adventurous, easily bored, hate negativity, spread positivity, mischievous, chaotic, emotionally raw, simple, hates rules/authority, distraction, childlike behavior, Enjoyment, Vacation, Speed, spending, wants no consequences/no accountability, can't handle criticism, jumpy, positive needs come first and are unfiltered, jokes

Examples: Jinx (Arcane), Amethyst (Steven Universe), Venom (Marvel), Blitzo (Helluva Boss), Spinel (Steven Universe), Usagi (Sailor Moon), Aang (Atla)

8 🔞🥩🥊🚬🗿- Taking up space, demanding, self-assured, presence, grounded, physical, physically enhancing, self-centered, bully, independent, emotionally stunted, leader, rough play, blunt, territorial, alcoholics, thick-skinned, Meathead, rude, barbaric, animalistic, gruff, bars, nightlife, poker, tough, shoot first think later, impulsive, angry, independent, strength

Examples: Vi(Arcane) , Sevika(Arcane), Billy Hargrove (Stranger Things), Lisa (Girl Interrupted), Tyler Durden (Fight Club), Jasper (Steven Universe), Toph (Atla), Garnet (Steven Universe), Bill (Mind Hunter)

9 💤⚰️😶‍🌫️🍃📺- Blocking, Stasis, unmoving, not fully there, sleeping, unreachable, overwhelmed, exhaustion, despairing, ignoring, uncomfortable with attention, averting, quitters, numbing, want to rest in peace, takes breaks, emotional outbreaks then act like it didn't happen, stay in their lane, compassionate in small ways, doesn't want to burden others, chill, lowkey, cut-off, avoidance

Examples: Jesse (Breaking Bad), Legoshi (Beastars), Jonathan (Stranger Things), Soul (Soul eater)

[oblivionhold]

Bit of a change from what I usually post, but I play League of Legends, and Arcane came out. The first three episodes anyway. And it is good. It is very very good.

Spoilers behind the cut.

Hello theoretical Twitch cameo. Poor kitty. Bingus is friend.

Hello definite Singed. Nice to know you were still an amoral mad scientist before the scars!

On one hand Vander is definitely dead. On the other hand I've thought 'Warwick is definitely dead right' before he comes back out of the jungle with full health far too many times to count that theory out. Plus, I mean. Who else would it be?

As it turns out, VI's 'punch first ask questions while punching' strategy is not particularly great for handling emotionally unstable kids who have just learned they inadvertently killed most of their family. Who'd a thunk?

Also I like Silco. He's a villain I can respect, if only that I'm not used to my villains getting trauma flashbacks.

RIP eyebrow kid and goggle kid. I knew you were dead meat so I didn't even bother learning your names. I apologize for thinking you were going to betray the group, eyebrow kid.

And, of course, poor Powder. She's traumatized enough even before episode 3 and that last episode will not help. Do you think she intentionally goes by Jinx just to insult her sister? It does sound like the sort of thing she would do.

Also yes Jayce and Viktor were incredibly gay in this my god. My god.

More seriously, I was worried that Riot was going to cheap out and both sides this so far, and it kind of does that, so I am still worried about the future episodes. But the real conflict in the first arc is primarily Piltover vs. Piltover, and Zaun vs. Zaun, with Piltover vs. Zaun only being an inciting incident, so it managed to avoid 'hey Zaun maybe you should try to understand your oppressors' so far. Vandar wasn't making deals with PIltover because he thinks it's morally right or that Piltover has some good people, he's doing it because even just wars get people killed and the last time he tried violence all that happened was that he got people killed without changing anyway. It's entirely understandable why he wouldn't bother with it again.

I would like to complain that all the Piltovians were saying 'magic is too dangerous in the wrong hands' and yet Jayce didn't even try to say 'but it's still in the wrong hands right now, and maybe Hextech will let us put it in the right hands too'. It wouldn't have worked, but still. It's an obvious counterpoint that I wish got brought up.

Anyway Arcane is good and I am excited for the next few episodes. The only real problem I had were with the premier event itself (oh god why did you cut to the audience, I don't care which rich people you paid to attend).

[officerkiramman]

cr: ventisbf on twitter

A THREAD

Favorite character ? Compare it to who you thought would be your fav b4 watching !

I don't remember watching the trailer but I do remember reading the description on Netflix. I never thought I would become so obsessed tbh. Btw the idea of two sisters torn apart by a war aligned with my daily life. Not quite literally, but being an elder daughter myself, I could relate to Vi's lore and to her character. Yet Caitlyn is that kind of personality that resembles my being: idealistic, quite resolute and with organized ideas and opinions that make her act like she acts. So probably if I had to choose, I'd say Caitlyn for who I am and Vi for the life I have. Sooo here I am with my broken english.

Which character would wear crocs unironically?

Tobias? Ambessa?? And also Grayson.

Opinion on Caitlyn

One of the bests evolution in the show. She really goes from a normal girl living in the Topside to someone with a goal and ready to do anything for the Greater Good.

Favorite scene ?

When Caitlyn buys the medicine for Vi. She literally trades her gun to help a girl from the Undercity, someone that Cait barely knows. And look at this:

Caitlyn is literally a sweet and precious cupcake. She loves sincerely and cares genuinely about people. This is what makes her a good enforcer. And before that, a good person.

Do you also play lol/does it make you want to play the game ?

I downloaded the game, yet I didn't have the time or the energy to play it seriously.

Opinion on Jinx

Not gonna lie, my broke ass would pay for her therapy. And also I'd wish her to make peace not war with her sister.

Did you skip any scenes, which and why?

I was about to skip the Jayce and Mel fiki fiki scene but there was Viktor in between so I had no choice. Jk jk, I couldn't skip anything. Arcane best show.

Best song on the album

Playground, Bea Miller. And my basic a$$ also says Enemy, Imagine Dragons.

Opinion on Ekko?

His energy is unmatched, also he has a good heart. He created a quiet place for people to live and he decided to protect them no matter what. He's the one that rejects the idea of children living what he lived: pain and bloodbaths.

Opinion on Mel

Rightly ambitious, she dissociates from her mother's ideology. Though the plot is getting more complicated and she will find out that it will be always more complex to follow her morals without becoming corrupted. Her lore in the present wasn't really highlighted so I don't have a neat opinion about her. But from the scenes about her past, I can see that she wants to break ties with the previous generation. She is trying to outbreak the path that her mother had prepared for her a long time ago.

Opinion on Viktor

This character deserves praise for the devotion and patience he showed. But I feel like he is getting corrupted too, in a different way from the one they showed for Jayce. Either way, he's a fascinating character.

Would you recommend Arcane to anyone else?

If they need the ultimate reason to go to therapy, yessir.

What do you think of the animation style ?

Immaculate. The details, the combination of colors, the hidden and not hidden meanings. Everything is exquisitely planned.

Did you cry watching Arcane, if so to which moment?

I don't cry. But there are a lot of emotional scenes and it would be understandable to weep while watching them.

[heraldofzaun]

14. the timeline in which they took a chance they didn’t in canon.

a slightly altered timeline. - 14. the timeline in which they took a chance they didn’t in canon.

It isn't right. This isn’t how it’s supposed to go.

Viktor doesn’t storm into Professor Pididly’s office, doesn’t yell or shout or scream. There has to be a reasonable explanation for this. There has to be a reason for why the news this morning says that Blitzcrank’s revolutionary learning processes were created by Dr. Stanwick Pididly, and not the team of students that he was advising. Not Viktor. Something was misinterpreted, assuredly - the press does it all the time.

Professor Pididly - Stanwick, to his advisees - rises from his desk. He looks calm, maybe even apologetic, although Viktor isn’t sure.

“I assume you saw the news, then.”

“I did,“ Viktor says flatly. One of his hands is worrying at the hem of his sweater. “...What happened?”

“It’s a necessary evil,” Stanwick replies with a sympathetic frown. He steps closer. “If the public knew what we did - that you’re really the brains behind all of this, and I’ve just helped with the organization and funding - you’d be snapped up by a research lab even before your graduation ceremony.”

“That is not a bad thing...” Is it? It can’t be. That’s what he wants for his future.

“Oh, I’m sure it’d be just wonderful in Piltover. Everyone on that side of the bay’s all about morals and ethics, even if it means we beat them in everything else.” The professor gives Viktor a sly grin - like most in Zaun, he has no love lost for the shining city to the northwest. “But here? Do you really want to work for the lab that offers you the highest price?”

It’s a valid point, even as something in Viktor’s gut twists. Research is a business first and foremost in almost every case, which means that any company that offers him a lucrative salary wouldn’t be doing it because Blitzcrank was originally meant to be a waste-reclamation robot. They’d be doing it so they’d have another young bright mind working for them, and he’d...

“You’d probably end up working on making more robots like him,” Stanwick continues, jerking a thumb back over his shoulder. There’s a small photograph on his desk of himself, Viktor, the rest of the doctoral team, and Blitzcrank. They’d taken it after the chassis had been finished. Viktor had been smiling, something of a rarity in pictures of him. “In the sapience sense. And not just for fields that need them, but...”

Oh. Viktor understands. Robots don’t have to be paid. And now, with the ability that Viktor and his team has - but it’s truthfully just Viktor, he’s the one who spent hours working on what could be termed Blitzcrank’s brain - there’s a way to make robots capable of doing almost anything a human could do. It could be a wonderful future, one where no one has to risk their lives in crowded factories or in crumbling mines, one where people don’t have to labor endlessly, but...

Zaun won’t pay those displaced by this invention. The profits would go to who they always do, this time without even an attempt at wages. People would suffer.

Stanwick seems to catch the look in his eye. “I imagine we came to the same conclusion. But there’s a way out of this - I’ll take the credit for some time, while you gain standing and money in the field. Then you can break away, I’ll tell the world exactly who came up with Blitzcrank, and you can start your own lab. I’ll even invest! You’ll be able to work on whatever you’d like, hire whoever you’d like - I’m sure there’ll be plenty of people wanting to work with someone as bright as you - and sell only to places you trust.”

It seems so true. Because Stanwick wouldn’t lie, would he? He’s been nothing but accommodating, even when Viktor’s first and second project ideas had fallen through. Even when his parents had passed. Even when he needed time that the university had hardly wanted to give him. Stanwick wouldn’t lie, and yet...

Viktor’s parents had warned him of people who’d try to take advantage of him. Of people who’d see nothing but a target where his heart is. Of people who’d twist their words around until he’d be all-but-ready to sign away everything for nothing.

But Stanwick wouldn’t do that.

Viktor gives a long, tired sigh. He’s never been good at operating in Zaun. He’s lucky to know someone who is. “I... understand. Will it be a while?”

Stanwick beams. “Just a few years,” he says, and offers his left hand.

They shake on it.

[romioneficfest]

The Moment I knew

Title: The Moment I Knew

Prompt: Day 9 - Their Wedding Day

Tumblr name: 

Rating: K+

Brief summary: At he and Hermione’s wedding, before they take to the dance floor for their first dance as husband and wife, Ron delivers his groom’s speech and talks about the moment he knew Hermione was the one.

Tags: brief mention of sleeping together and of trauma; doesn’t go beyond a mention

“If I could have your attention, please! I’m tired of clinking this fork against this wineglass like some Muggle —no offense to my in-laws, of course—, and if I try to charm them it’ll break and that won’t be good for anyone… That’s better.

"We’re here today not so you can all take advantage of the complimentary alcohol (I’m looking at you, Hagrid, I know that’s your third tankard), but to celebrate the fact that Hermione has officially agreed to only sleep with me forever —ouch, you don’t have to pinch me, sorry to my in-laws again— but no, really, it’s because this beautiful, brilliant witch has somehow agreed to spend the rest of her life with me.

"Marriage is new. It’s scary, but in the way good things should be. And like all things new, a lot of questions come with it. Like how do we choose whose side of the bed is whose? How do you raise a kid without screwing them up too badly? And how on earth do I learn how to sort a sock drawer? But not all questions are about the future. And from those about the past, a single question stands out, the one I think over nightly as I go to sleep next to Hermione: when did I know she was the one?

"I change the answer regularly: living with Hermione Granger means she gives me a new reason to fall for her every day, and not an instant goes by that I don’t think 'she’s the one' all over again. I’ve known her since we were eleven, after all, and I’ve loved her pretty much the whole time. So if you asked me to pick out just one instant when I knew, when I was sure— well, I’d be hard-pressed to find it.

"I could say it was just yesterday as I woke up, when my eyes opened just enough for me to see her already sitting up in bed, frowning down at her book and scribbling something onto it. 7:30 a.m, and the woman wasn’t just reading, she was annotating! To see her entranced by her reading just never gets old— which is a good thing, because she’s not ditching the books anytime soon.

"I could say it was a few months ago, when she got me surprise tickets to a Cannons game, and then she spent the game telling me all these facts, because she’d read a book to be able to understand my favorite team. I didn’t even mind— I complain about her lectures, but I learn more from them than I ever did at school.

"I could say it was a couple years ago, when she proposed we move in together because ‘how are you going to manage on your own'— and it’s true, I don’t think I could’ve, because she keeps me sane and grounded. I once told Harry that we wouldn’t last two days without her, and though I think he needs her less now, it certainly holds true for me.

"I could say it was the first time I met her parents. I was so nervous they’d think I wasn’t good enough for their daughter, and she sat me down and held my shoulders until I breathed normally and she told me they’d love me: not just because I was the man their daughter loved, but because I was Ron. She told me I was good, she told me I was enough, she told me she was lucky to have me. And besides, if they didn’t like me, it didn’t matter, because she loved me more than anyone else could. Let me tell you, when we walked in, I wasn’t shaking anymore, and that’s more magical than any advanced spell she’s conjured, which (if you know Hermione) is no small thing.

"I could say it’s been every time I’ve woken up with a start from a nightmare, thinking I’m still there, feeling the cold weight of the locket against my chest, and she’s been right there to hold me, to warm me up again and let me cry it out on her shoulder, to lull me back to sleep in the comfort of her arms and her kisses. And every time it happens, I’m overwhelmed by how lucky I am to have her.

"I could say it was the first kiss we shared, and, sure, basilisk fangs on the floor don’t make for a very romantic setting, but when I told Harry it was 'now or never’, I wanted that 'now’ to last an eternity. I don’t need to tell all of you how hard and terrifying fighting a war is— and I don’t know if I could’ve done it without that kiss.

"I could say it was at Malfoy Manor, when all that existed in my head was her screaming, and how much I wanted it to stop. I knew nothing would be the same if we didn’t get out of there together, and I wanted more than anything to storm up and protect her, to save her— I promised myself I would. Now I can fulfill that promise forever.

"I could say it was that time she almost killed me with her bare hands after I came back to the forest, and she didn’t talk to me for a few days. I was back with my best friends, I’d destroyed a Horcrux; I should have been exhilarated, but nothing would’ve been worth it if she didn’t give me one of her lovely smiles again.

"I could say it was when we shared a dance at Bill and Fleur’s wedding. I swept her up partly to get her away from Viktor —who’s out here somewhere, hi Viktor—, but as she was steering me across the dance floor and I was holding her hand in one of mine and her waist in the other, it felt like that was where I was meant to be.

"I could say it was when she helped me clean up an ink spill over my homework back in sixth year. Y'know, I actually told her I loved her then— really, I said, "I love you, Hermione,” and she had the audacity to say I shouldn’t let Lavender hear that, as if I hadn’t seen her blush. To this day, I’m not sure she knows I meant it. Well, now I know she does.

“I could also say it was when I almost died from that poisoned mead, and she kept me company at the infirmary every day. She read me books too advanced for me to understand, or sat there and did her homework by me. I’m glad I could hear all the things she told me during those days. That’s the thing about Hermione— she’s always got something fascinating to say.

"I could say it was when she made that Edgecombe girl’s face erupt in boils— it was brilliant, and it showed me a different side of her. A wilder, fiercer side, perhaps, but a new side for me to love. Besides, in the moral scheme of things, it sorta knocked her down a notch, which to someone like me was splendid news.

"I could say it was the summer before fifth year, when we spent so much time alone at Grimmauld Place, laughing in a bedroom and avoiding my mum’s cleaning craze. I got to be with just her for weeks on end, and it showed me just how much I liked being alone together.

"But I think there’s one moment that deserves its place as the moment I knew. It was the Yule Ball, fourth year, and I was wearing rather atrocious dress robes, when Hermione came down the stairs, looking like a dream in blue. She was radiant, and she flashed me an irresistible grin over her shoulder as she took Krum’s hand and let him lead her to the floor. There are plenty of reasons to be jealous of a world-class Seeker, but at that moment, his Quidditch skills weren’t what I envied. That was when I knew she was the only girl I’d ever see as I saw her that night, even if I had to spend my whole life chasing after her.

"But tonight, the chase is over. Tonight, it’s my turn: she’s dressed in white now, not in blue, but she still looks like heaven, and it’s my hand she’s letting guide her to the dance floor now, for our first dance as husband and wife. But before that, I want to tell her how much I love her, and how —at long last, though I’ve never had a doubt— I’m the happiest man in the world, because I’m marrying the only girl there’s ever been for me. And how I hope, in her life —our life—, I can make her even half as happy as she’s made me since the first day she barged into my train compartment and demanded to know my name.”

[moodyvalentinestories]

Direction – Thirteen | Hunt x HWU MC (Danielle)

Warnings: Discussion of Viktor being a sexual predator; not being able to stop a sexual predator because proof is fucking hard to come by.

Summary: Hunt and Danielle’s conversation continues...

Words: 1700+

Notes: I'm pretty sure y'all are smart enough to know this but, um, Danielle is kind of an idiot and her idea was a very, very bad one. So, like, don't do that.

❥ Previous Chapter: Twelve ❥ Moodyvalentine’s Masterlist

Thomas wanted to believe her more than anything in the world as she stood before him, looking so utterly miserable. He so wanted to reach out and take her into his arms, tell her he was sorry and beg for her forgiveness, but he needed answers first, and irrefutable ones at that. He wouldn’t let her fool him with a trembling lip and a voice no louder than a whisper again. It could have very well been another act. He was tempted to believe her without so much as an explanation, now that he’d looked at the contents of the box, wondering why she would have given something that could have landed her in prison for life to him if she’d thought there was any chance he’d release it. But that was just it – it could have been a well-calculated risk, knowing him as she did. Perhaps she’d thought he wouldn’t be that cruel and, had he known just how incriminating the evidence was, she would have been right. He would have burned the whole thing and never even thought about releasing any of it.

“How?” he asked her. “How were you going to fix anything by going with him?”

Danielle looked away and began chewing on her lip. “I offered him a deal.”

“What kind of deal?” Thomas asked, though he could imagine.

She huffed, still not meeting his eyes. “The kind he would have accepted. Asked him to get rid of what he has on you.”

“And you thought he’d uphold such a deal, did you?” He couldn’t believe she’d be quite so naïve. Then again, if what she was saying was true, she’d already proven how naïve she was by entering into a contract with Montmartre in the first place.

Danielle made a noise that wasn’t quite a laugh but was perhaps supposed to be one. “No, I didn’t think he would.”

“Then why—”

“He needed to believe me, didn’t he? I couldn’t have him be suspicious,” she explained, her hands fiddling with the hem of her dress. “Would have worked if Ethan hadn’t interfered, too, I’m sure.”

There was a knot forming in his stomach as Thomas started to piece everything together, though he didn’t understand quite yet. “What would have worked?”

“I had Dean call in some favours. Got into the security cameras in his office. We would have had the footage, then,” she told him and he felt like he was going to throw up. He almost wished he hadn’t eaten just now. “It would have worked, I know it.”

Thomas was once again floored by just how naïve she appeared to be. “It wouldn’t have. I’m certain he’s had people try to blackmail him like this before, Danielle, you wouldn’t have been the first one. You would have—”

“You don’t understand,” she interrupted him, and he did have to stop speaking to hear her, her voice having gone quieter again. “I’d have told him I’ve changed my mind. I’d have asked him to stop.”

That made even less sense to him. How would that have helped anyone? Let alone her, because if there was one thing Thomas was sure about, it was that Montmartre would not have cared a bit. “Danielle, I don’t think…” He cleared his throat. “I don’t think he would have listened.”

She finally looked up at him when she spoke, holding his gaze. “I know. I was counting on it.”

It was then that the penny dropped and Thomas gained a new appreciation for Mr Blake, who, as it appeared, had prevented what would have been a rather ugly outcome to Danielle’s insane plan. “No. No, that’s not – no, you – no.”

“It’s the only way I could think of that would have stopped him for good,” she said, clearly trying for a nonchalant tone but he knew better.

The trembling of her lower lip caught his eye and before he could change his mind or she could protest, he’d rounded the counter and wrapped her up in a tight embrace. It was no later than her face was buried between his neck and his shoulder that tears began to fall from her eyes again, and Thomas could feel them soak through his shirt.

“Oh, sweetheart,” he whispered into her hair, the endearment slipping out unbidden but he couldn’t quite bring himself to care. “What were you thinking?”

She sobbed against him once more before she told him, her voice barely above a breath, “I just wanted to fix everything.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her she wouldn’t have fixed anything – that she would have only put herself in harm’s way – but he found it would be best to wait to tell her that. So he simply pulled her closer then, resting his chin on top of her head, and whispered, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know, Danielle, I didn’t know.”

He’d never felt quite so terrible about not having had all the facts, and he cursed himself for not having talked to her before he’d gone and tried to ruin her life. He almost couldn’t believe he’d acted in such an impulsive way but, then again, it wasn’t so usual for him to have any type of feeling that could cloud his judgement. And the disappointment – the betrayal – he’d felt when he’d seen her go with Montmartre had been one hell of a cloud.

Danielle wasn’t sure just how she had ended up in Hunt’s arms after the day they’d had, but she most certainly was not going to complain. He was warm and comforting and she wished she’d never have to leave his embrace again. Unfortunately, she knew he had more words for her – a proper scolding about how stupid she was, and how wrong it would have been to go through with what she’d planned – but just now she decided to cling to him a little while longer, at the very least until her tears would subside.

Eventually, they did, and she pulled back a little, feeling that Hunt was just as reluctant to let go as she was. He did, though, once she took a step back, and she couldn’t help feeling a little bereft. She had half a mind to just step back into his arms again right away and clasped her hands behind her back to stop her from doing so.

“Are you all right?” Hunt asked before she could even get a word out.

She nodded. “I am. I’m fine,” she confirmed, taking a moment to consider her next words. “I would have been fine, too,

“Maybe so,” he said, though the exasperated look that told her he didn’t believe that in the slightest didn’t escape her. “But it was a bad idea all around.”

Danielle huffed. “Was it? You just told me you didn’t think he would have listened. You know he’s a creep and a… a fucking predator. You know.”

“There’s a difference between suspecting and having proof,” he argued, his eyes pleading with her to understand.

And she did understand, which made it all the more infuriating. “I could have provided proof!”

“And what if your plan backfired?” he asked, his voice raised now. “What if someone found out what you’ve done?”

She didn’t have an answer for that. “Well, I…”

“At best, it would have been a crime in and of itself,” Hunt said, shaking his head. He spoke quietly now, his voice serious. “At worst, your actions would have discredited any real case that could be made against him. You would have discredited his victims.”

He was right, she knew. It would have been wrong in many ways, but she was so sure it would have worked, and if it had, they’d have had a way to make him go away for good. Not just for their sake, but for everybody else’s, too. “What was I supposed to do, then?” Danielle asked. “Wait for some other young actress to fall into his trap for real and hope to catch it on camera?” She shook her head. “That doesn’t sound like the height of morality to me.”

“There has to be another way, Danielle,” he said and she felt like a chided child.

Hanging her head, she said quietly, “It wouldn’t have just been for you, you know.”

“I know,” he assured her. She could see him lift his hand from the corner of her eye, letting it hover above her shoulder before he took it back, not touching her. “He will get his just deserts one day. He will. But not like this, sweetheart. Not like this.”

She hadn’t been sure if he’d noticed he’d called her that earlier, but this time she was. This time it was intentional, and she felt her heart flutter the tiniest bit. It didn’t change anything about the situation, though, and she sighed. “It’s not like I could try it again, anyway.”

“Good,” Hunt said with a nod, and then she felt his hand on her shoulder after all. “I’ll do anything in my power to help you bring Montmartre down if that’s what you wish to do. This time, I’ll be there to help.”

There wasn’t much of a choice but to accept that that was the best option now, and she nodded. “Okay. We will find a way to get you out of this project, and we will find a way to bring Viktor down. Whichever comes first,” she said determinedly.

“We will,” he agreed and gave her a small smile.

Danielle returned that smile, then, feeling as if now was the time to lighten the mood, said, “I do have one question, though.”

Hunt regarded her, eyes narrowed, and she was sure her semi-cheerful tone had made him suspicious. “What kind of question?”

“Were you jealous?”

The smile that tugged at one corner of his lips – though it never quite made it into a full smile – told her everything she needed to know. He didn’t dignify her with an answer, though, and instead asked her, “How would you feel about a little campfire in the backyard?”

“A campfire?” she asked, furrowing her brow.

He grinned then and nodded to the box and papers that still lay on the counter. “We better get rid of those, don’t we?”

“Can we make s’mores, too?”

Hunt chuckled. “I’m afraid I’m all out of marshmallows.”

“I suppose just warming our hands over it will do,” she said as she put everything back into the box and tucked the thing under her arm to carry it outside.

Tags: @flyawayboo​ @lilyoffandoms​ @oneemofungirl​ @trappedinfandoms​ @i-bloody-love-drake-walker​ @alleksa16​ @alj4890​ @silversparrow02​

[viktrkovalenko]

                                                                                    ━ ♕. ‹    𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎   ╱   𝐕𝐈𝐊𝐓𝐎𝐑   ›

hello !! beautiful people !! my name is ella, i like memes way too much, my intros usually get way too long and i am very excited to throw my babies at you guys !! 

tom hardy + cis male + he/him.┊ ❛ ━ hey, is it just me or do you hear kill our way to heaven by michl playing in the distance ? oh, thats just noir, a lawful evil member of the league of villains. i suspect they might be viktor kovalenko, a thirty nine year old mechanic with the ability of telekinesis. according to my sources, he can be intelligent, but also opportunistic, which is probably why they remind everyone of blood stains everywhere but his clothes, detailed organized files missing key information, the need for revenge so blinding it makes it hard to breath so much. anyway, a supervillain or not, crystalline city is keeping a close eye on them !  

                       ( tw: kidnapping, violence, murder )

                                                                                                                ╰        *           𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

kill our way to heaven by michl

leave me alone by nf

5:3666 by machine gun kelly

jesus in la by alec benjamin

                                                                                                                  ╰        *           𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐎𝐌

a fan of silence. if no one talked to him, he would probably spend days without uttering a single world 

thinks it’s funny to stare at people who are uncomfortable with silence until they leave

loves all doggos. has a weakness for all of them. will kill anyone that hurts them.

there are probably lots of strays doggos that stuck around his house, after he took care of and he’s been too weak to let them go. 

carries bullets and instead of shooting the gun he uses telekinesis to send it flying through people’s heads

doesn’t break promises

please read all his internal monologue as a dramatic noir narration, it’s all i ask.

                                                                                                          ╰        *           𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘

personality type: istj ( the logistsian )

moral alignment: lawful evil ( the dominator )

strengths: intelligent, observant, diligent, practical, direct, adaptable, dynamic, patient

weaknesses: opportunistic, manipulative, vengeful, ruthless, closed off, rigid, detached, judgmental.

fashion: loose t-shirts, oversized hoodies, leather jackets, dark t-shirts, boots.

                                                                                                             ╰        *           𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘

at some point viktor kovalenko was set on helping people, protecting them, making the world around him a better place. not only that, but he and his sister worked together as a superhero duo in their small town.

every since they were children, they pushed each other forward, helped one another develop their powers, become stronger, better. their dream was to become legends, to be able to turn the world into a better place.

they stopped their first robbery together, arrested their first criminal only after an effort to use their powers at the same time, depended on each and each other only to achieve their goal.

the plan was always, should have always been to do it forever, until there wasn’t any evil left.

life ( away from all that ) moved on as usual, as it should have. viktor found a girl that made the whole world shine with her smile alone and married her. the two of them had a daughter, nicknamed her lizzie.

he had never seen his heart beat so fast as it had the day she was born.

he never stopped. how could him ? people’s safety were in his and his sister’s hand, the certainty that they would be alright resting on their shoulder.

but time made viktor weary

what was once making sure the least amount of people got hurt, slowly turned into maybe that one bad guy deserves it. what was the need to keep everybody safe turned into a punch in the name of that one person that got hurt, a few hits too strong because of that. what should have stayed as only enough to stop them became a harder hit, a stronger one, just a little more.

his wife died at the hands of armed robber.

viktor didn’t sleep until he found the guy. every second that followed, every moment after that, lost to that goal alone. avenge her, avenge her death. he found the guy, but that wasn’t enough, no. 

viktor moved on to find the security guard that was around that night and didn’t stop it, the police officer parked a few streets over that could have gone to her aid, the men and woman working at that night at the hospital that didn’t do enough. all 

of them were corrupt, all of them contributed to her death in his mind all of them were evil too in a way.

his sister watched his descent into darkness, the ruthless of viktor’s actions and made what she thought was the best decision. took his daughter and left, somewhere where viktor couldn’t find her, where he couldn’t hurt them.

he was blinded by hatred after. nothing else mattered anymore. no other life. no else’s well being. he just needed to find his sister, get his daughter back, exert his revenge on her this time. she didn’t understand how everyone was evil deep down, how every action corrupt in a way or another, but she would, after him, she would.

city after city trying to locate her, he stopped at crystalline. her trailing leading only to the city and dying down in it.

he joined the syndicate to try and use its resources to get to her, got a job as the least possible suspicious thing. 

                                                                                                           ╰        *           𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

someone else that is part of the syndicate and gets under his skin ??

some real nice civilian/hero that makes him question his ‘everyone sucks’ pov

idkk

honestly whatever you are thinking could work, could probably work.

𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 ;; disgust so strong it makes it unbearable to stay still, blood stains forming a perfect circle around him, detailed organized files missing key information, conspiracy boards taking up an entire wall, the need for revenge so blinding it makes it hard to breath so much, 

[lgbtyrus]

TJ’s Playlist Chapter 13

Story Summary: When Cyrus finds a playlist on TJ’s desktop full of old love songs, he realizes that TJ has never been a scary basketball guy but rather a huge sap. TJ just wished Cyrus could realize that all of those songs remind him of a certain boy who likes chocolate chocolate chip muffins without telling him directly.

Ao3 Link | Prev Chapter | Chapter 1

Words: 4,191

They boys laid there, holding hands and listening to the songs TJ had put on C.C.C.M. Crazy Cool Cat Music Cyrus thought to himself. Most of the songs were love songs, and it took a lot out of him to constantly remind himself that that was a coincidence. There was no specific reason why TJ was showing him these songs.

“I owe you cake,” TJ suddenly told him after half an hour of being there. Cyrus lifted a brow before remembering that TJ said he’d bake him a cake with the frosting of his choice. TJ sat up, not letting go of Cyrus’ hand and said, “Come on, we’ll go make the cake and watch the movie downstairs.” Cyrus found himself sitting up, being pulled out the door and down the hallway by TJ.

In the kitchen, TJ refused to let Cyrus do any of the work. Cyrus sat down and watched from the table where TJ was mixing ingredients. “Let me help you,” Cyrus insisted.

“Nope,” TJ stuck his tongue out at Cyrus. “You’re the guest.”

“You’re very stubborn sometimes,” Cyrus frowned, making TJ smile.

“I’m not ashamed of that,” TJ shrugged. Cyrus rolled his eyes but couldn’t hold back his smile. “You can pick out the movie today.”

“Really?” Cyrus placed his hand on his cheek. “I’m usually not allowed to.”

“Why is that?” TJ asked as he poured ingredients into a pan.

“Because Andi and Buffy hate documentaries,” Cyrus bit his lip. He didn’t know why he felt so embarrassed when it came to TJ finding out he was a big dork. It written in neon letters on his forehead basically.

“Pick one,” TJ said, moving away from the table, “I don’t mind.”

“Are you sure? I’ve been wanting to watch this one on weird sea creatures that’s on Netflix.”

“Yeah, Cyrus,” TJ turned around to give him a quick smile, “I don’t mind. My parents make me watch documentaries on bands all the time. I know more about Queen than anyone our age should.” Cyrus smiled before he realized something.

“Do your parents know I’m here?” Cyrus asked him, moving his fingernail between his teeth.

“Nope,” TJ said, turning on the oven.

Cyrus let out a little gasp, “TJ.”

“What?” TJ smiled. “They won’t care. They like all my friends. My dad likes to pretend that he’s cool. He just gets really sad if you don’t understand his music references.”

“I feel unprepared to meet your parents,” Cyrus told him, making TJ laugh.

“You’re fine, Cyrus. They’re not going to go after your blood.”

“Well considering they’re vampires, that’s hard to believe,” Cyrus half-smiled, the anxiety starting to take a toll on him.

“Well vampires stay out late. We’ll probably be asleep by the time they come back.”

“Oh, we’re actually going to sleep?” Cyrus cocked his head to the side. “I thought sleepovers consisted of mandatory all-nighters.”

“Do you want to pull an all-nighter?” TJ raised an eyebrow, a little surprised with him.

“Nope,” Cyrus shook his head, a little relived. “I would die.”

“You wouldn’t die if you became a vampire,” TJ brought up his tongue and placed it on the tip of his canine teeth for Cyrus to see.

“I’m not interested in immortality, but thank you,” Cyrus said politely, making TJ laugh again. “I’m going to go figure out how your TV works now.”

“Okay,” TJ said as he moved around the utensils, “remote might be on the coffee table. It has a Netflix button. The cake is about to go in anyways.” Cyrus left the kitchen and found Macaroni on the arm of the couch, fast asleep. He smiled and went to pick up the remote, a family photo catching his eye. He had noticed very few photos the last time he was here, and the more he looked around, the more photos he saw. He picked up the photo next to the remote and saw a younger TJ, getting a piggyback ride from his dad who was holding Amber’s hand. Amber was wearing a hot pink dress while TJ and his dad had matching blacks shirts. Cyrus was almost positive the shirt his dad had on in the photo was from a band, but he couldn’t read the font. TJ really didn’t look like his dad as much as Amber. Cyrus noted that TJ didn’t look like his dad at all.

Cyrus put the photo down before sitting down next to Macaroni who let out a pleased purr. The smell of popcorn started coming from the kitchen and into the living room, as Cyrus searched for the documentary.

“Oh,” TJ frowned as he came in with a bowl of popcorn, “Macaroni is here.” Cyrus grabbed Macaroni and placed the cat on his lap, causing TJ to glare at the animal.

“Macaroni wants to learn about what’s at the bottom of the ocean,” Cyrus announced to TJ, only to tick him off a little more.

“Macaroni probably came from the bottom of the ocean,” TJ rolled his eyes before sitting down next to Cyrus. Macaroni hissed at TJ, causing TJ to scoot further away from Cyrus. “He’s hoarding you.”

“It’s not my fault I’m attractive,” Cyrus joked around. “Just kidding. Macaroni just hates you.” TJ smiled at him before sticking out his tongue at the cat. Macaroni let out another quiet hiss before Cyrus started playing the documentary.

Cyrus looked over at TJ the entire time, trying to make out if he was paying attention or not. He was more into it than Cyrus was, that’s for sure. Cyrus couldn’t really focus on the screen when he had TJ letting out small gasps of amazements every other minute. It was really cute to him, and all of the feelings he had for TJ would roll through his body. The rest of the night was going to be even more painful, he could feel it.

The documentary was over in less than an hour, and TJ was sitting there, popcorn halfway to his mouth. “Do you think this is all real?” TJ asked Cyrus, the popcorn falling back into the bowl.

“Duh,” Cyrus smiled. “That’s why the ocean is scary, and I don’t trust it.”

“I don’t think I trust the ocean anymore, either,” TJ laughed, looking down at the bowl of popcorn. “I forgot to share with you, sorry.”

“I have cat hair all over me. The last place I want it going is in my mouth.”

“I’m going to go check on the cake,” TJ said, putting the bowl on the table. “You can put on something else.”

“About the sea or corporations?”

“Nothing is going to stop me from eating fast food.”

“This one documentary is one of the main reasons why I only eat at diners now,” Cyrus wiggled his eyebrows at TJ who was contemplating.

“Fine,” TJ let out a dramatic sigh. “Show me what you got.” While TJ was in the kitchen, Cyrus was going through Netflix to find the documentary when the door behind him opened. Macaroni immediately jumped off Cyrus lap as Cyrus turned around.

“Honey,” a lady in a simple black dress said, looking at the nervous Cyrus, “that’s not our kid.”

“Pearl,” the man sighed, walking over to Cyrus, “I know I don’t have my glasses, but I can very clearly see that that’s one of our… nope,” the man smacked his lips on the ‘p’, “he’s not ours.” TJ walked out of the kitchen nonchalantly and smiled at his parents.

“Hey,” TJ said, sitting back down, “you guys are back early.”

“We just came back to change,” the man said, switching his view between TJ and Cyrus. He was squinting, and Cyrus came to the conclusion that he had really bad sight.

“Why?” TJ asked, reaching over for the bowl of popcorn. “Where are you guys going at this time?”

“There’s a local band playing in town, and I can’t go in there in heels,” Pearl said, already reaching down to take off her red shoes.

“I also forgot to put in contacts this morning,” the man waved his fingers all over his face. “I haven’t been able to see shit.”

“Language!” Pearl’s eyes widened. “There’s a guest!”

“Oh yeah,” TJ nodded his head at Cyrus, “this is Cyrus. Cyrus these are my parents.”

“We’re not vampires,” TJ’s dad immediately said, confusing Cyrus. “This is the friend that you tricked into thinking we’re vampires, right?” he looked over at TJ who seemed to be getting flustered all of the sudden.

“Uh,” TJ cleared his throat, “one of them.”

“Nope,” Pearl shook her head. “You only said one name, and it was Cyrus.” TJ was nervously running his fingers through his hair as Cyrus and his parents smiled at each other. “Nice to meet you, Cyrus.”

“Nice to meet you guys, too,” Cyrus told them.

“Hey, are you the one that also helps TJ with math?” his dad asked him. TJ was sinking down into the couch now, obviously regretting not getting his parents out of there as fast as he could.

“I’m mostly there for moral support,” Cyrus told him, “but if we’re not being too tight on facts, that would be me.”

His dad smiled and nodded, “Thank you for that.”

Before Cyrus could say anything, Pearl put a hand on her husband’s shoulder and said, “Let’s go get ready, Viktor. Show starts soon.” Viktor nodded and started heading up the stairs. Pearl stayed a little behind and looked over at TJ, “Did you bake?”

“Yeah,” TJ muttered, a little too miserably.

“It smells good,” she complimented him.

TJ sat up a little and smiled, “Thanks, ma.” Pearl quickly followed behind Viktor, heels in her hand.

“Your parents are really nice,” Cyrus smiled.

“Yeah,” TJ agreed with him. “They went to a marriage counselor on Tuesday. They’re going to start going once a week and see how it goes. It’s been really good so far. No fights.”

“Is Amber still going to therapy?”

“Yeah,” TJ nodded. “She never stopped.”

“Can I ask you something?” Cyrus looked over, not knowing how to put out the words.

“Always,” TJ sat all the way up, looking right at Cyrus.

“Why didn’t you decide to go to therapy?” Cyrus hoped he wasn’t asking a bad question. He was interested in a lot of aspects of TJ, and he wanted to know more and more of him.

“I don’t think I needed it as much as Amber, and also, I wouldn’t be able to open up to a stranger,” TJ bit his bottom lip, his eyes no longer meeting Cyrus’.

“You opened up to me when we first met.”

“You’ve never been like anyone else, though,” TJ scooted a little closer to Cyrus and grabbed his hand, making Cyrus’ face heat up. “I always felt like I could trust you, and I can. I just didn’t know if I could be a good friend to you.”

“You are, TJ,” Cyrus squeezed his hand.

“I’ve been an asshole.”

“Not really. That’s just you,” Cyrus said, making TJ look over at him.

“Want to go decorate the cake?” TJ smiled.

“Will you actually let me do something for once?” Cyrus teased him.

“Maybe,” TJ stuck out his tongue before standing up, once again leading Cyrus by the hand. TJ let go of Cyrus to go through the drawers. “My dad tends to eat things like frosting and honey, so if it’s gone, it’s gone,” TJ smiled.

“I didn’t eat whatever I’m being accused of eating,” Viktor walked up to the doorway. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt instead of the fancy clothes he had on earlier. Cyrus could see his resemblance to Amber.

“A can of frosting,” TJ said without looking away from the shelf.

“I ate a whole jar of jam this morning and that’s about it,” Viktor smiled. Cyrus was cringing on the inside, not understanding how any human could process that through their bodies.

“You’re not my dad,” TJ shook his head, taking out the can of strawberry frosting. He showed it to Cyrus before closing the cabinets.

“I know we don’t look alike, but I’m pretty sure you’re my kid,” Viktor chuckled. “Your Nana designed you somehow to look like your mom’s side of the family.”

“Yeah,” TJ laughed, opening the can of frosting, “she hacked into my genetic code.”

“Exactly,” Viktor snapped his fingers. Pearl walked up the kitchen door, wearing the same thing as Viktor, colors and all. “Awe, we’re matching,” Viktor put his arm around her shoulder.

“I guess we are,” Pearl laughed, taking in their outfits. Pearl looked at the boys and smiled, asking, “Are you sleeping over, Cyrus?”

“That’s the plan,” Cyrus nodded at her. Viktor flashed him an awkward thumbs up that made TJ roll his eyes and Cyrus chuckl.

“Okay, we might be gone for work by the time you guys wake up. TJ you’re not going back to the kiddie’s gym tomorrow right?” Cyrus quickly turned to look at TJ who was biting his lip now.

“Uh, yeah,” TJ told her. He hadn’t told Cyrus that he was quitting the gym. It did make sense why he wasn’t working that day now that he thought about it.

“TJ,” she pursed her lips like a mother about to scold her child.

“I quit, ma,” TJ reassured her, “I promise.”

“Okay, just making sure,” she smiled at him. “See you boys later, okay? Don’t burn anything down.” She gave TJ an eyebrow raise before walking away, leaving Viktor’s arm in the air.

“Later, dudes,” Viktor waved at them before heading out the door behind Pearl. As soon as the front door shut, Cyrus looked over at TJ who was clearly trying to avoid his gaze.

“You quit?” Cyrus raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” TJ bit his lip, looking down at the frosting he was pouring into another bowl. “Yesterday.”

“Why?”

“My parents wanted me to. They didn’t see a reason for me to be working anymore now that dad has a job.”

“Did you want to quit?”

“Not really,” TJ shook his head, filling a baggie with frosting. “But basketball practice starts in two weeks after Buffy gets her team together. I can’t slack off on math right now, especially. It was for the best.”

“I see,” Cyrus frowned. “I liked the kids.”

“They liked you, too,” TJ bit his lip. “A lot.”

“I’m going to miss them.”

“Yeah,” TJ handed Cyrus a bag of frosting, “me, too.”

-

TJ woke up, barely able to open his eyes. The green coming from the TV was hurting his eyes, the sound of Shrek playing in the background filing in. He blinked a couple of times, realizing that the movie was almost over. He looked to his side and saw that Cyrus was under his arm, sleeping peacefully. Cyrus’s head was resting on him, his breathing even. He didn’t want to wake him up, and he wanted to go back to sleep, but his parents couldn’t see them like this.

“Hey, Cy,” TJ whispered, pressing his lips into Cyrus’ temple. He was tempted to kiss him, but held it back. He pulled away a little and whispered, “Cyrus. Let’s go get ready for bed.” Cyrus shifted a little, reaching up to rub his eyes.

“What time is it?” Cyrus said, making the mistake of looking up. TJ’s heart started hammering against his chest. He had Cyrus so close, their noses touching.

TJ gulped, “Late. We should,” TJ was trying his hardest to not lean in, “go.” Cyrus nodded ever so slightly, the tip of his nose pressing against TJ’s. Cyrus was the first to pull away, standing up to stretch. TJ looked down at his hands and took a deep breath before standing up himself. He was a little more awake now, feeling like he was about to go into cardiac arrest. On instinct, he checked his pocket for his phone, but he hadn’t used it since Cyrus texted him that he was on his way.

TJ stood up, following behind Cyrus who was already going up the stairs. They both went into TJ’s room, Cyrus going through his bag. “Where can I change and brush my teeth?” Cyrus asked him, not looking at him. TJ felt like something was off with Cyrus, and it was making him nervous.

“The door right across from here,” TJ pointed at the open door. Cyrus simply nodded and walked out, TJ watching him go with a frown on his face. Did he say something? Or was Cyrus as confused as he was?

Couches seemed to be cursed places for them.

TJ walked over to his bed where he found his phone. He had a couple of texts from his friends on a group chat he thought he muted and two messages from Amber.

Amber: [img]

Amber: Tell him you like him tonight, TJ! Listen to the kiddies from the gym. Kids aren’t liars.

TJ looked at the photo that Amber had sent. It was them sleeping on the couch. She must’ve sneaked down to eat and caught them like that. TJ placed the phone on his bedside drawer, not wanting to think about it too much. The idea of telling Cyrus he liked him made him nervous. They hadn’t even been made up for over 24 hours.

But he couldn’t deny that he hadn’t felt so many feelings for him at once.

When he announced to the kids at the gym that he was leaving, they all immediately asked him if that meant they wouldn’t see his boyfriend, Cyrus, anymore. TJ had never been so embarrassed as he told the little kids that that wasn’t his boyfriend.

“But you guys went on a date once,” a little boy named Elias said, his mouth in the shape of an o.

“Yeah, I thought you liked him, TJ,” one of the older girls named Leandra chimed in.

“Or is he your secret crush?” Cathy giggled, causing all the other kids to let out ooo’s and awww’s.

“No, no,” TJ shook his head furiously, “it’s not like that.”

“You should tell him,” Cathy shouted.

“Tell him what?” TJ raised a brow. His now exboss was now chuckling in the corner, taking in the scene.

“That you like him, duh!” Cathy shouted like it was the most obvious thing in the world. TJ stood there as all the kids agreed with her, looking at him with hopeful eyes.

“Maybe I will,” TJ shrugged, causing all of the kids to roar with cheers.

TJ was at the edge, and he didn’t know how much longer he could hold on for. He looked over at the air mattress, upset that he still had to set it up. He decided to do it after he brushed his teeth.

He sat at the end of his bed, wondering if Cyrus was fed up with him. He wanted to know what he was thinking. Did he like him, too? Did he want to kiss him, too? He wanted to ask him all the questions that had been burning inside of him, and it ached knowing that it came with the risk of losing him.  

TJ looked down at his sweaty palms, wondering if that night was even a good moment to tell him.

Cyrus walked in sluggishly, his shoulders drooping down. He sat down next to TJ, shoulder touching shoulder.

“Are you upset about something?” TJ asked him, sitting still.

“I think I am, but it’s something stupid. Don’t worry about it,” Cyrus muttered. “I just needed to rinse off my face with cold water.” Without thinking, TJ reached over and grabbed Cyrus’ hand, interlocking their fingers. “TJ,” Cyrus sighed. “We’re friends, right?”

“Duh,” TJ said, laying back on the bed, his legs hanging off.

Cyrus mimicked him before whispering an, “Okay.” TJ licked his lips, silence starting to fill the room.

“Friends don’t,” TJ sighed, looking up at the ceiling as he tried to find the right words, “they don’t really do this stuff, do they?” TJ raised their hands up in the air slightly before gently setting them back down in between them.

“Not really,” Cyrus replied quickly.

“We’re a little different, then,” TJ said before whispering, “just a little.”

“Just a little bit,” Cyrus’ voice was trailing off.

Then, TJ broke.

He couldn’t do it anymore.

Not wanting to hold himself back anymore, he pulled his hand away from Cyrus and started furiously rubbing his face, letting out a barely audible, “We have to talk about this, Cyrus.” As soon as those words came out, he knew there was no going back.

“Let’s talk then,” Cyrus said plainly, sitting up on the end of the bed. TJ moved his hands from his face, but he didn’t want to sit up. He couldn’t look Cyrus in the eye right now- not when he felt so vulnerable. “Why did you really not want to see me when I came the day of the party?”

“Honestly, Cyrus,” TJ sighed. “I didn’t want you to see what a mess my life was that day. That’s it. If we’re talking about what happened on the couch… I couldn’t think about that at the moment, okay? I promise that’s it.”

“What happened on the couch? Because I still don’t know what to tell myself.”

“I don’t know what to tell myself either, Cyrus.”

“TJ,” Cyrus groaned, “what is our conversation even about?”

“Things we’re both clearly too afraid to talk about,” TJ sighed, rubbing his eyes. It’d help if he didn’t feel like he was going pass out every other minute.

“You’re not going to lose me if you’re scared of that.”

“That’s exactly what I’m scared of.”

“Well,” Cyrus laid back down next to him, “I’m here to stay.” TJ turned his head and smiled at Cyrus who was looking at the ceiling.

“Cyrus,” TJ clenched his hands into fists, searching for the courage to say the words. “Look,” he took a deep breath, “I’m going to say this as quickly as possible to get this over with so we can go to sleep and pretend this never happened.” TJ relaxed his hands, neatly folding them on his stomach, “I like you. Like you, like you.  A lot.” TJ felt one weight being lifted off his shoulder as the weight of the world fell upon him. Cyrus didn’t say anything, each second going by slower than the last. “Please say something, Cyrus,” TJ pleaded, his eyes started to hurt.

“I like you, too, TJ,” Cyrus finally said, a little chuckle slipping out at the end. TJ’s eyes were wide open now. “I just didn’t think you’d like guys, too. You’re Mr. Heterosexual of Shadyside, honestly.”

TJ let out a snort, “That’s the worst thing anyone has called me. Being in basketball came with one curse.”

“How long have you known?”

“I’ve known for a long time. Only Amber and… I guess you, know.”

“The gays really do group together,” Cyrus joked, reaching over to grab TJ’s hand. TJ ended up pulling his hand towards his cheek, leaving it there. His lips were pressed slightly on Cyrus’ thumb.

“Is this real or another dream of you?” TJ mumbled as he started to process the entire situation. Was this really happened? Finally?

“Do you dream of me?” Cyrus asked, smiling through the question.

“Mostly daydream,” TJ found himself admitting. TJ turned his head to look at the brunet and smiled, “You’re really great, Cyrus. I hope you know that.”

There was a comfortable pause before Cyrus asked, “So what now? I don’t usually take initiatives.”

“I don’t know,” TJ laughed, “I didn’t ever think I’d get this far.”

“Well, really, the only option was for me to jump out your window and run home.”

“Would you do that?”

“Only if it wasn’t you.”

“So,” TJ smiled, “you like me?”

“Don’t make me repeat it, TJ,” Cyrus pressed his hand momentarily into TJ’s face.

“I feel like I didn’t appreciate it enough the first time,” TJ merrily laughed.

“You’re just messing with me now,” Cyrus rolled his eyes. “But,” he bit his lips, “I like you, so I’ll say it again. I like you a lot, TJ Kippen.”

“I like you, too, Cyrus Goodman,” TJ cheekily grinned. Not knowing what else to say, he asked him, “Can I take you out tomorrow?”

“On a date or in a fist fight?” Cyrus asked before quickly adding in a, “Sorry. I make jokes when my heart is beating so fast I can’t feel it.”

“Don’t worry,” TJ said, “I like it. I like you.”

“I know.”

At last my love has come along

My lonely days are over and life is like a song

At last the skies above are blue

My heart was wrapped up clover the night I looked at you

I found a dream that I could speak to

A dream that I can call my own

I found a thrill to press my cheek to

A thrill I've never known, oh yeah

You smiled, you smiled oh and then the spell was cast

And here we are in Heaven

For you are mine at last

 A/N:  Well. There's the confession lmaoooo. I've had this confession written out in my notebook since August 19, 2018. It's currently November 14, 2018. It's only partially the same tbh. They were originally going to be at the swings because this sleepover wasn't planned. This was the only way or else this story was going to get longer and longer than what I wanted. I have 2-3 more chapters left in me. Maybe 4?? But it won't be long before I reach the end :) Anyways, if you survived this long burn from the beginning or any point in time really, congratulations. I made it difficult for myself lmao.

Tysm for the love and support :’) <3 It makes my heart go !!!!!!

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